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FAITH 
 
 V 
 
 MAR 22 1918 
 
 TREATED IN 
 
 A SERIES OF DISCOURSES 
 
 JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D.D. 
 
 KEW YORK : 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER, 124 GRAND STREET. 
 
 1862. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNEK, 
 
 In tho Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 
 District of New York. 
 
 JOHN" F. TROW, 
 
 PRINTER, STERF.OTYPER, AND EbECTROTYPER, 
 
 43 & 50 Greene Street, 
 
 New York. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 DuEmG the years 1856 and 1857 Dr. Alex- 
 ander delivered to his congregation at intervals 
 a series of discourses on Faith. These he in- 
 tended to enlarge and throw into the form of a 
 treatise, and had actually made arrangements 
 for its publication, when his failing health pre- 
 vented its accomplishment. Knowing that the 
 author had expended much labour in the prep- 
 aration of these discourses, and believing that 
 they clear up many difficulties connected with 
 the subject, I now present them to the public 
 just as they were delivered. 
 
 Although much is lost in the arrangement, 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 and in the absence of matter wliicli Dr. Al- 
 exander intended to have incorporated, yet 
 enough remains to authorize their publication. 
 I have added one or two discourses of a more 
 general character, to bring the volume to a con- 
 venient size. 
 
 S. D. A. 
 
 New York. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 •♦» 
 
 I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS, ... 9 
 
 IL 
 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION, . .... 33 
 
 IIL 
 THE NATURE OF FAITH, 63 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE OBJECT OF FAITH, 91 
 
 V. 
 
 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING, . . . .119 
 
 VL 
 
 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH, 141 
 
 VIL 
 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 181 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 viir. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH, 20'? 
 
 IX. 
 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH, 233 
 
 X. 
 JOY IN BELIEVING, 257 
 
 XI. 
 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 281 
 
 XII. 
 FAITH AND BAPTISM, 807 
 
 XIII. 
 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH, . . . .335 
 
 XIV. 
 IN THE BELOVED, 861 
 
 XV. 
 
 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER, .... 887 
 
 XVI. 
 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL, . ... 411 
 
I. 
 
 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
THE EIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE. FOR 
 SINNERS. 
 
 1 John ii. 1.— And if any man sin, we have an advocate 
 with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 
 
 Our translators have left some words in 
 their original Greek and Hebrew form. Sach 
 are Ameii^ Selah, Hallelujah, Baptize, Baptist 
 
 In some instances this was done on account 
 of the want of an exact equivalent. One of 
 these words, which has no answerable term in 
 English, is the very term here rendered Advo- 
 cate. This Greek word, of frequent occurrence, 
 and great preciousness, sometimes means one 
 who takes up his client's cause, to carry it 
 through by pleadings and acts, an Advocate; 
 sometimes one who goes forth to make peace 
 
 y^ 
 
10 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 between two parties, beseeching for an offender, 
 an Intercessor ; sometimes one who stands by 
 the sinking sufferer, uttering words of consola- 
 tion and strength, a Comforter, All these 
 offices concur in Jesus Christ, who is our Advo- 
 cate to urge our cause — an Intercessor to make 
 our peace — our Comforter to fill us with joy ; 
 and hence one might almost wish the text had 
 said, " If any man sin, we have a Paradetos 
 with the Father." 
 
 Kow, though this name of love is also given 
 to the Holy Spirit, there is something delightful 
 in regarding both the adorable Son and the 
 Spirit as standing towards us in this same 
 benignant relation of manifold good. In our 
 mind's apprehension of Divine consolation, there 
 need be no nice discriminating between the 
 Yfork of the Son and the work of the Spirit, 
 for when the Lord Jesus comforts, it is by the 
 hand of the Comforter. Far different, how- 
 ever, is the work here ascribed to Christ as 
 our Paraclete. Here he transacts, not in us, 
 but for us ; not on earth, but in heaven ; not 
 with creatures, but with God. The topic 
 presented to us is the Lord Jesus Christ as 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. H 
 
 OUR Mediator and Head, acting on our 
 
 BEHALF ABOVE, IN VIRTUE OF HiS PEtlFECT 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 You will at once be struck, on examination, 
 with the strong contrast in tlie text between sin 
 and rio-liteousness. It is I the sinful one : it is 
 Jesus Christ the righteous. And this has a 
 bearing which cui^soiy readers and superficial 
 theologians are apt to overlook, being indeed 
 the solution of the main difficulty to mankind. 
 This is clearly and fully before the mind of the 
 apostle John, whose characteristic it is, as a 
 thinker and writer under Divine guidance, to 
 unite depth of meaning with childlike plainness 
 of words. His truths are solid and precious as 
 the diamond, while they are no less simple and 
 pellucid. 
 
 I. Consider the case thus : If there were no 
 such thing in the world as consciousness of sin^ 
 the vast structures of all religions for procuring 
 pardon and peace would tumble down or 
 moulder away. It is sense of sin that troubles 
 mankind. It is a pronouncing and punishing 
 Conscience that anoints priests, declares fasts. 
 
12 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 keeps lents, rears altars, and sacrifices heca- 
 tombs. It is tlie self-accused sinner who cries, 
 " Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and 
 how shall I bow myself before the High God ? 
 Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, 
 with yearlings ? will the Lord be pleased with 
 thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of 
 rivers of oil ? Shall I give my first-born for my 
 transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin 
 of my soul ? " Mic. vi. 6. Yes, many have 
 replied, and vainly endeavored to offer the rich- 
 est and bloodiest oblations to escape the in- 
 tolerable sting of sin in the conscience. So 
 much worse is pain of mind than pain of body, 
 that pagans and papists do most willingly en- 
 dure and even will inflict on themselves any 
 degree of suffering, from hunger, whips, hot 
 iron, knives, ingenious and continued tortures, 
 in order to get rid of the more direful inward 
 furies of an e\dl Conscience. Under Christian- 
 ity relief is afforded, but (mark it) only through 
 Christian means. Christ cures this inward fever 
 and frenzy; but only in those who drink of 
 his fountain. The consciousness of sin, with its 
 accompanying pain, sometimes dull and sub- 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 13 
 
 dued, but always ready on provocation, or at 
 the dying hour, or in eternity, to become poig- 
 nant and agonizing, exists in all men ; and 
 whenever the thought has become explicit, 
 whenever the soul has come to comprehend it- 
 self, it leads up to the idea of God as holy and 
 as offended. 'Nor is this internal principle ever 
 eradicated. It belongs to man as man ; and it 
 stino-s and wounds and curses sinful man as sin- 
 ful man. And when rehgious transfoiTQation 
 takes place, though there be a new nature, there 
 is no new faculty ; and Conscience abides on 
 the vicarious throne as truly in heaven as in 
 hell. The intermediate realm of the present life 
 affords abundant scope for the work of Con- 
 science, both in the righteous and the wicked. 
 None are wholly pure : all are either wholly or 
 partially unclean. As early as the first century 
 this holy Apostle found reason to guard against 
 the shallow conceit of sinless perfection, i. 8 : 
 " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our- 
 selves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess 
 our sins (a prompting of Conscience when led 
 up to the Lawgiver and Judge) he is faithful 
 and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
 
14 THE KIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 US from all unrigliteousness." Consciousness of 
 impurity begets repentance, and so confession, 
 and so cleansing. " If we say (he adds) that 
 we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, 
 and his truth is not in us." Words which 
 strikingly convey that truth we have been 
 asserting, and which deserve our careful con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Any proposition introduced by the holy 
 writer mth such unwonted and startling lan- 
 guage must be of singular moment. Any error 
 that would make the Lord a liar is an error not 
 only to be forsaken, but guarded against and 
 abhorred. This error is the alleging that we 
 have not sinned. The doctrine of sin is funda- 
 mental. This dark side of the contrast is always 
 present, like the background of the painting, or, 
 still more exactly, the chaos out of which order 
 and light emerge. All have sinned and come 
 short of the glory of God. The preaching of 
 every apostle, nay, the entire Christian system, 
 proceeds upon this. There is no such thing as 
 becoming a true Christian by a process of mak- 
 ing that which is not quite good, to grow grad- 
 ually better. It is day out of night. There 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SIXNERS. 15 
 
 must be a tliorougli clearing away of every self- 
 righteous figment, before the first stone of the 
 gracious edifice can be laid In this we discern 
 the reason why Paul, as a master workman, in 
 his great epistle to the Romans, begins his 
 sweeping process by utterly demolishing every 
 ground of merit, and clearing away out of sight 
 every pretence of Gentile and of Jewish right- 
 eousness. And we seem to behold him, after the 
 completion of this herculean task, and cleaning of 
 this Augean stable, proclaiming, " But the Scrip- 
 ture hath concluded all under sin, that the prom- 
 ise by faith might be given to them that believe." 
 Gal. iii. 22. Corresponding to which is the 
 secret operation of God in the heart, by which he 
 turns doctrines into experience, the doctrine of 
 sin into the experience of conviction ; and thus 
 he leads the soul to feel its utter condemnation 
 and absolute need of help from without. How- 
 ever deeply a man may feel the discontent of a 
 worldly life, and how much soever he may de- 
 sire religion, as a new and better means of com- 
 forting himself, he has as yet done nothing, un- 
 less he has known himself to be a sinner. In 
 truth, this is the very thing and only thing, for 
 
16 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 which the Lord Jesus Christ first reveals him- 
 self. All other and lesser benefits are but so 
 many results. That which the sinner wants, is 
 to be freed from his sin. This was the single 
 charm which made the Gospel welcome to 
 thousands, both Jews and Gentiles, at its first 
 publication. The beautiful picture given by 
 Neander in his Memorabilia is not overdrawn. 
 Dire eclipse was over the nations by reason of 
 sin. Athens and Alexandria had reared thought- 
 ful minds, opened their vision to the likeness of 
 virtue, lifted them up to behold the goodly and 
 unattainable prospect, and then dropped them 
 far down into the depth of the ocean. When a 
 conscience-smitten and heart-sick philosopher, 
 like him of the Clementina,^^ had come wan 
 and panting, out of the round of rites, penances, 
 mysteries, necromancies, schools, and systems, to 
 the Church ; which he delighted in, which filled 
 him with rapture, and which was sweetly symbol- 
 ized by his baptism, it was the rising of a new 
 luminary on his midnight of Sin. And the oper- 
 ations of light in the natural world are not more 
 constant than the operations of God's Spirit in 
 
 * Denkwtirdigkeiteu. 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 17 
 
 the world of grace ; for the soul destined to be 
 saved is invariably brought first to pain for'liis 
 sinfulness, and then to hungerings and thii'st- 
 ings for tlie removal of sin. And in this long- 
 ing the subject does not always, perhaj)s does 
 not often, distinguish the longing for pardon 
 from the longing for purity, justification, and 
 sanctification. The poor sick child that tosses 
 in hot fever on your bosom, yearns for health, 
 for rest, for ease, for water, for the heaven-pro- 
 vided fount ; it makes no nice inquii'ies of the 
 pathologist. The poor sin-sick soul is dying for 
 the one gift which the New Testament calls 
 Righteousness. Every one who has ever come 
 to the good Physician knows the burning wish. 
 Every heathen sage, like Cyprian and Justin, 
 went through what had previously been the ex- 
 perience, of every Hebrew apostle, such as John 
 or Saul. There runs through all the Gospel as 
 the deep base of a harmony this consciousness of 
 sin, which we discovered at the first view of the 
 text as the gloomy part of its important con- 
 trast. And the aged and beloved disciple, al- 
 ways a minister of love, and always sorrowing 
 to give even necessary pain, approaches the bed- 
 
18 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 side of his patients witli looks and words of un- 
 usual pity, as fearing to uncover the wound 
 which he must probe. His desire is for their 
 holiness : " My little children, these things write 
 I unto you that ye sin not." This is the great 
 and blessed end, sinlessness, like that of the sin- 
 less One. " This," says Calvin, " is not only a 
 summing-up of what goes before, but, so to 
 speak, a recapitulation of the whole Gospel, 
 that we sliould cease from sinP And when the 
 soul has proceeded thus far in experience, and 
 breaketh for the longing which it hath to be 
 loosed from the loathsome and gigantic foe, 
 which wrestles with it only to defile and poison, 
 the news it hails on bended knees is Glad News, 
 for it is Gospel. 
 
 11. In those four or five verses w^hich precede 
 the text, you have observed the concession, that 
 even true disciples sin, a most mortifying yet 
 familiar fact. And the lesson before us is in- 
 troduced with particular reference to the case 
 of sinning believers, who do the evil that they 
 hate. The sequence of thoughts is this : 1. 
 All commit sin, i. 10. 2. It is dreadful to 
 
' THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 19 
 
 commit sin. 3. If^ nevertlieless, we sin, there 
 is one wlio is sinless : " If KWi man sin, there, 
 
 IN THE COURT ABOVE, IS JeSUS ChRIST, WHO NEVER 
 
 SINNED." All ! here again is a contrast ; but 
 metMnks we liave called one out of tlie hemi- 
 spliere of night into the hemisphere of day. 
 It is good to transfer our observation from 
 sin to righteousness, from earth to heaven, 
 ft'om self to Jesus. Observe, while the principal 
 figure offered to our gaze is Christ, it is Christ 
 in a particular position. Our help and relief 
 under conscience of sin is to be sought in con- 
 templating the Lord our Saviour, not in the an- 
 temundane gloiy when incarnation was only in 
 decree ; not in the foreshadowings of patriarchal 
 or Mosaic times ; not in humility on earth ; not 
 even dying on the cross or sleeping in the tomb 
 of rock ; but as entered " into heaven himself, now 
 to appear in the presence of God for us," Heb. 
 ix. 24 ; a wonderful commentary on the words, 
 " We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus 
 Christ the righteous." This heavenly work of 
 our Kedeemer belongs not to the humiliation, but 
 the exaltation. Both are priestly acts of our 
 gi'eat and only Priest ; but one was below and the 
 
20 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 otlier is above ; one was transient, tlie other is 
 jDerpetual ; one was payment of debt, tlie otlier 
 is demand of release ; one was at tlie bloody al- 
 tar in the outer court, the other is in the most 
 holy place, within the vail, before the resplen- 
 dent glory of the ark. Both concern our sin ; 
 both concern Christ^s righteousness : but in di- 
 vers respects. Our sin was expiated by the 
 passion and death : it is removed by the ap- 
 pearance of our Surety for us in intercession. 
 Chiist's righteousness was in one of the princi- 
 pal parts procured by the oblation of his own 
 holy will in acts of obedience and suffering on 
 earth ; it is gloriously set forth, in the sight of 
 God and the universe in heaven, as an abiding 
 and everlasting merit and ground of our accept- 
 ance to and continuance in favour. The ancient 
 priesthood, by a succession of men transacting 
 with Jehovah in behalf of sinners, was constant- 
 ly interrupted by death, but Jesus, as Paul de- 
 clares, " is able to save unto the uttermost all who 
 come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to 
 make intercession for us," vii. 26. The chain 
 of unstable priests is summed up in one who is 
 immutable. "We have an altar whereof they 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 21 
 
 have no riglit to eat who serve the sanctuary. 
 We have a sacrifice, not of beasts, but of the 
 Lamb of God. We have a tabernacle, model 
 pattern, and antitype of that tent in the desert. 
 We have a vail, embroidered over its dark blue 
 web with constellations, and dividing the court 
 of earth from the Holy of holies in heaven. We 
 have a High Priest of good things to come, by 
 a greater and more perpetual tabernacle, not 
 made with hands, that is to say, not in this build- 
 ing. " A High Priest " (adds Paul) " who is set 
 on the right hand of the throne of the majesty 
 in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and 
 the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and 
 not man." Heb. \4ii. 2. The eye of the ancient 
 sinner in the camp of Israel, as he stood at the 
 altar, was wistfully fixed on the High Priest as 
 he was lost from sight on the great day of atone- 
 ment, mthin the holiest of all. The eye of the 
 modem sinner, under grace, is equally fixed on 
 the apostle and High Priest of our profession, 
 whom the heavens have received, &c., the Para- 
 clete, who pleads for us by all the beseeching 
 and constraining merits of his life and death, 
 before the throne of the heavenly grace. And 
 
22 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 blessed is the moment, when, after long and 
 fixed looking at itself and its sins, tlie soul is 
 drawn to look at the sinless One above ! Here 
 within, there is no righteousness ; there above, 
 is all righteousness. I am all sin ; He is with- 
 out sin. If I sin, my advocate never sinned, 
 and he is there with the Father. Thus the faith 
 of the sinner lays its emphasis on the phrase, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous. 
 
 Now, in order that the doctrinal basis of our 
 confidence may be firmly settled, and that we 
 may escape the weakness of some, whose reli- 
 gion is all sentiment, gust, and emotion, without 
 any substruction of truth, let us consider for a 
 few moments, liow it is that the consciousness of 
 sin is relieved hy tlie vieio of a Jieavenly Advo- 
 cate and 8ponso7\ ivJio is sinless^ Jesus Christ 
 the righteous. 
 
 Even in the most vague and general view 
 of the subject, one must perceive that he who 
 comes before the Sovereign, to intercede for 
 rebels must be purged from rebellion himself. 
 He who comes into court to answer for offend- 
 ers, must be free from offence himself. He who 
 undertakes for sinners, must be without sin: 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 23 
 
 for who could answer for him ? Looking more 
 nearly, we perceive tlie peculiar nature of this 
 mediatory transaction ; that it was intended to 
 relieve this grand difficulty of the universe ; 
 i. e.y how a just God can pronounce the ungodly 
 heirs of heaven. That which the world of sin- 
 ners had lost and could never produce by itself, 
 is conformity to God's will, and satisfaction of 
 God's law. That which the inspired apostles 
 represent our Redeemer as procuring and offer- 
 ing is this very conformity and satisfaction ; in 
 other words, righteousness. It is common for 
 those who have not gone deeply into the theol- 
 ogy of salvation, to ascribe the justification of 
 the sinner exclusively to the death of Chiist. 
 And it is true that the innocent bloodsheddino: 
 and cruel death of our holy Lord was the chief 
 proof of his love, and the culminating point of the 
 redemptive process. Yet neither this nor all the 
 other unutterable sufferings of our Saviour can 
 be said to constitute the whole of that right- 
 eousness through which we are made righteous. 
 For when we come to examine the aspect under 
 which this suffering is exhibited in Him, we find 
 it to be a mode of obedience. " He was obedient 
 
24 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 unto deatli, even tlie death of the cross." Tlie 
 enduring of penalty was liigh obedience. The 
 essence of all obedience is the loving oblation 
 of the subject will to the Supreme Will. This 
 oblation of love, this subjugation of will, was 
 indeed signally manifested in the garden and on 
 the cross. But it was manifested elsewhere. It 
 was manifested always. The whole life of the 
 sinless One, from Bethlehem to Golgotha, was 
 one offering-up of. himself in voluntary self- 
 renunciation unto God as the surety of sinners. 
 The entire circle of acts, words, and thoughts, 
 of sentiment, habit, and disposition, was pure 
 and perfect. The obedience included conform- 
 ity to precept and endurance of penalty. In 
 both, the Lord Jesus Christ offered, in the sight 
 of all holy beings, and of God, an example of 
 immaculate and infinitely illustrious holiness. 
 And such is the righteousness which he ever 
 jDresents before the throne of the majesty on 
 high. It is because he is thus pure and glo- 
 rious, that he can be a prevalent advocate. His 
 plea is unanswerable. That the excellencies of 
 Christ are the excellencies of one person, while 
 the host of sinners is beyond numbering, need 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 25 
 
 cause US no scruple. Tlie original Surety, who 
 failed in the probation was one. " Therefore, as 
 by the offence of one judgment came upon all 
 men to condemnation, even so, by the righteous- 
 ness of One, the free gift came upon all men 
 unto justification of life : for as by one man s 
 disobedience many were made sinners, so by 
 the obedience of One shall many be made 
 righteous." Komans v. 18, 19. Enhanced as is 
 the intrinsic merit by the infinitude of nature 
 and the divinity of person, it outshines what 
 would be the joint splendor of all creature- 
 righteousness ; even though all creatures had 
 been holy, and men and angels had never fallen. 
 The eye of Him who is so holy that the heavens 
 are unclean in his sight, dwells with acquies- 
 cence, approval, and divine delight, on such a 
 spectacle of impersonated righteousness; and 
 the sinner's heart is satisfied that God can now 
 be just and yet the justifier of the ungodly that 
 believeth in Jesus. Hear the precept^ " My lit- 
 tle children, these things write I unto you that 
 ye sin not." Hear the reliefs " and if any man 
 sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 
 
 Jesus Christ " who never sinned ! " Such a 
 
 2 
 
26 THE KIGIITEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 High Priest "became us, who is holy, harmless, 
 unclefiled, separate from sinners, and made 
 hio-her than the heavens." Heb. vii. 26. Be- 
 hold him, as he stands for us, within yonder vail ! 
 The adumbration of this in the type was truly 
 affecting and impressive to ancient Israel. 
 Among all the sacred orders of the most taste- 
 ful Gentiles, there was no personage so majestic 
 as Aaron and his successors. Upon his brow 
 was the plate of pure gold, lettered with the 
 engravings of a signet : Holiness unto the 
 Lord. Fit emblem of Jesus Christ the right- 
 eous. None but the possessor of this " holy 
 crown of pure gold " can fitly approach the 
 King in his glory. Upon Aaron's breast was 
 the twelvefold pectoral, with rows of sculptured 
 gems, bearing the names of the twelve tribes of 
 Israel. Thus our " forerunner " is for us entered, 
 even Jesus, made a High Priest forever, thus he 
 bears the names of his people next his heart. 
 For their sakes he became man ; for their sakes 
 he obeyed and died ; for their sakes he inter- 
 cedes and reigns. All his acts as Elder Brother 
 are sponsorial and vicarious ; and his very 
 sanctity flows down from them. Mark this in 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINXERS 21 
 
 his prayer when near Gethsemane, Jolin xvii. 
 19, " And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that 
 they also might be sanctified through the truth." 
 This is good news for sinners. If we sin, our 
 Paraclete is sinless ; if we are guilty, God looks 
 on us in " Jesus Christ the righteous." Justifi- 
 cation by faith is justification by the righteous- 
 ness which faith appropriates. You are never 
 further from being accepted, O beloved sinner, 
 than when you are most vehemently stirring 
 and struggling to fabricate a righteousness of 
 your own. Desist, for the achievement is im- 
 possible. You have groaned under the load of 
 sin, and have wrought hard to make youi^self 
 better, but without success. The stone which 
 you roll to the steep mountain top, continually 
 rebounds upon you. The outward reforms 
 which you sometimes effect only serve to show 
 you how unreformed is the inward principle. 
 Within you is nothing which can appease that 
 wrathful conscience. 'No amount of zeal for ex- 
 ternal service and legal obedience can atone for 
 past sin, or purchase future happiness. These 
 fruitless endeavors are like those of the Jews, 
 whose condition was such a grief to Paul. " For 
 
28 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and 
 going about to establish their own righteous- 
 ness, have not submitted themselves unto the 
 ricrhteousness of God : for Christ is the end of 
 the law for righteousness unto every one that 
 believeth." Komans x. 3, 4. Endeavors to 
 cope with sin in inflaming conscience, on any 
 principles of mere natural strength, is like fight- 
 ing against the rage of fire with one's naked 
 hands. Attempts to cover up the lacerations of 
 the heart and smother the remorseful pang, are 
 always futile. " When I kept silence, my bones 
 waxed old through my moaning all the day 
 long." " I said I will confess my transgressions 
 unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity 
 of my sin." Ps. xxxii. 3, 4. Bring out, then, the 
 long-concealed distress. Give over the effort to 
 live without pardon and without peace. Dis- 
 close the heavy secret and unbosom thyself to 
 God. Confess judgment, and own the case to 
 be blacker than thy worst enemy ever charged. 
 Go down on thy knees, yea, lie prostrate in the 
 dust, as the leper, the publican, the chief of sin- 
 ners. But O, do not vitiate those sorrows, nor 
 turn those tears into poison, by gauging, weigh- 
 
THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 29 
 
 ing, and testing them, as if a certain amount of 
 humbling would jDurcliase a certain amount of 
 peace. No ! This were only to change the de- 
 nomination of your tendered payment. Oj)en 
 the soul at once to the great truth. There re- 
 mains no payment to be made. The Surety 
 hath paid all and cancelled all. The salvation 
 is Avithout money and without price ; that is to 
 say, we are saved by grace. Ask not w^hether 
 you have been convinced enough, whether you 
 have mourned enough, whether you have re- 
 pented enough; as if you were bound to be 
 convinced, to mourn, repent so much, before you 
 could have a title to believe. Your title to be- 
 lieve is the infinite veracity of God in offering 
 Christ and his salvation to the chief of sinners. 
 Believest thou this? Look upwards and see 
 heaven opened, and the Son of Man standing on 
 the right hand of God. Forget thyself, forsake 
 thyself, with all thy merits, all thy strivings, 
 all thy tears, all thy repentings ; yea, even more 
 and harder, forget thy short-comings, thy iniqui- 
 ties, thy hardness of heart, thy unbelief; flee 
 away from it all, and leave all far behind thee 
 while thou dost ^x thine eyes upon the Advo- 
 
30 THE RIGHTEOUS ADVOCATE FOR SINNERS. 
 
 cate witli the Father. Look unto him and be 
 saved ! This is the beloved Son, in whom the 
 Father is well pleased. Grant that you have 
 sinned to the extent of utter condemnation, so 
 as to be lost in unrighteousness ; he who pleads 
 is Jesus Christ the righteous. The argument 
 which he wields is his obedience unto death. 
 As it pleased the Lord to bruise him, so it 
 pleases the Lord to grant him the travail of his 
 souL Believest thou this? Believe on Jesus 
 Christ the righteous, and thou shalt be right- 
 eous. Dare you close with the offer ? Dare you 
 make a venture, on God's word in promise, and 
 Christ's heart in pledge ? Nay, it is no venture, 
 but the infallible certainty of God. The Judge 
 is ready, the Surety is ready, the righteous- 
 ness, the pardon, the adoption, the kiss of peace, 
 all are ready, except thy lingering, doubting, 
 self righteous, self-destroying soul ! 
 
II. 
 
 SPIRITIJAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 2 Cob. iv. 6. — '' For God, who commanded the light to shine 
 out of darkness, hath shined in oui' hearts, to give the light of 
 the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 
 
 If we compare tlie record of inspiration in 
 tlie Scripture witli tlie equally divine record of 
 grace, in the experience of tlie lieart, we shall 
 arrive at this satisfactory conclusion with regard 
 to the enlightening influence which precedes 
 Faith. The soul is in widely diverse states, as 
 to vision of truth, before and after the mighty 
 and creative call. That effectual summons 
 marks a dividing point and all-important junc- 
 ture. Before that moment, the mind is dark, 
 and has no right and adequate apprehension of 
 divine truth in its spiritual quality, especially 
 the truth concerning the person and grace of 
 
34 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 Clirist. After that moment, liglit having been 
 given to tlie understanding, there is spiritual 
 vision of the truth, which thus becomes attrac- 
 tive, credible, and influential. This change is 
 due to a direct operation of the Holy Spirit 
 upon the nature, transfusing grace, implanting 
 life, and opening the mind to believe the truth. 
 Such is the doctrine, and its close connection 
 with saving faith will be obvious at every step 
 of our progress. Now, my brethren, for the or- 
 derly examination of this great enlightening 
 change, it appears to me that no plan can be 
 simpler than to follow the order of time, and 
 consider, first^ the darkness which precedes 
 the act of renewing grace, and secondly^ the 
 light which follows it. This is the method 
 which we observe in the investigation of any 
 change in the natural world. This is the order 
 of scriptural representation, Eph. v. 8 : " For 
 ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye 
 light in the Lord." And both states are dis- 
 tinctly presented in their succession in the text. 
 
 I. We must briefly consider the state of 
 darkness. " God, who commanded the light to 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMIXATIOX. 35 
 
 shine out of darkness." A more powerful figure 
 of illustration could not be employed. 'The 
 mind goes back to the sublime days of creation ; 
 to periods when no sun, moon, or stars beamed 
 upon our chaotic globe, and then to the moment 
 when light w^as born out of dread obscurity. 
 Such was the utter darkness of the unrenewed 
 soul ; such is the w^ork of grace. 
 
 He must be a careless reader of the New 
 Testament who has not observed how every- 
 where the native condition of man is depicted 
 as one of eiTor, obscurity, ignorance, and even 
 blindness. So constant is this representation, 
 that if we deny or overlook it, we must fail of 
 doing any justice to the transformation w^hich 
 ensues. In this sense, as in many others, the 
 Gospel brings " light to them that sit in dai-k- 
 ness." It is scarcely necessary to inform you, 
 that this is not what w^e commonly mean by ig- 
 norance. No worldly science will supply this 
 defect. The wisdom we are lookins; for is hid- 
 den " from the wise and prudent," and revealed 
 to babes. The darkness in w^hich the ungodly 
 grope may coexist with the brightest attain- 
 ments of civilization, and the consummate lustre 
 
35 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 of taste. The soul may be all light except in its 
 spiritual chamber, its holy of holies, and here 
 may be all blackness. It is very important for 
 persons of all classes to comprehend this distinc- 
 tion between natural and spiritual ignorance. 
 Men may have all knowledge and philosophy, 
 and yet the " preaching of the Cross " may be to 
 them " foolishness." We see it every day. This 
 was the very career of human degeneracy ; — ■ 
 " the world by wisdom knew not God." 1 
 Cor. i. 21. The objects which the unrenewed 
 eye cannot take in are spiritual objects. For 
 " the natural man receiveth not the things of 
 the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto 
 him : neither can he know them, because they 
 are spiritually discerned." The objects them- 
 selves are luminous and lovely ; they are pre- 
 sented in clearness of revelation ; but they are 
 presented to the blind. Men of enlightened 
 and cultivated powers as to every other field, 
 wander in this, without attention, interest, or 
 distinct knowledge. This is the history of the 
 Gospel in every age : " if our Gospel be hid, 
 it is hid to them that are lost ; in Avhom the 
 god of this world hath blinded the minds of 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 37 
 
 them wliicli believe not^ lest the light of the 
 glorious Gosj)el should shine unto them." 2 
 Cor. iv. 4. 
 
 These are strong words, but they are those 
 of the Holy Ghost ; and no words are too strong 
 to represent the absence of all spiritual light in 
 most of those who live amidst the clear shining 
 of Christian day. It is an incantation, and the 
 illusory process is ascribed to the evil one. 
 Part of the malady, and its most fearful symp- 
 tom, is that the blind man does not know that 
 he is blind. " Are we blind also ? " asked the 
 indignant Pharisees, John ix. 40, when Jesus 
 pointed out this dazzling consequence of his 
 light on proud minds. Sinners may be ad- 
 dressed as was Laodicea, Eev. iii. 17 : " and 
 knowest not that thou art wretched, and miser- 
 able, and poor, and blind." Complete experience 
 is on the part of those only who have been in 
 both conditions, and who, with eyes newly 
 opened, look back to the day when they were 
 without sight. And they marvel how they 
 could remain so long without impression from 
 the truth. 
 
 Most obviously, we look for no change in 
 
38 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 tlie object of knowledge : that abides essentially 
 unaltered forever. God and Clirist vary not. 
 The same truth is objectively presented to the 
 believer and the unbeliever. Both read the same 
 characters. Both hear the same messages. Both 
 crucified robbers beheld the same cross betwixt 
 them. All heaven and all hell shall concentrate 
 their gaze on the same Jesus on the day of 
 doom. Yet the apprehended object differs 
 widely. The object is seen divinely. Every 
 object is seen, whether literally or metaphori- 
 cally, according to the optical condition of the 
 seeing organ. The failure may amount to total 
 absence of vision. He sees nothing. It is there, 
 but not for him. The sun is on high, and in 
 meridian, but these are sightless balls which he 
 rolls. This is the condition of the unrenewed 
 man in the presence of glorious and heavenly 
 realities. Following out the resemblances be- 
 tween natural and spiritual taste, we might 
 liken his heedless ignorance to that of a boor, 
 straying unaffected among the galleries of 
 Florence, Dresden, or Rome. He sees, indeed, 
 with that outward organ which he has in com- 
 mon with beasts — the matter and the form of 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 39 
 
 sculptures and paintings ; and tliis may be com- 
 pared to what the natural man beholds of reli- 
 gious verity ; but the higher beauty and con- 
 formity, whether tasteful or moral, are nnseen. 
 The horse sees the mountain or the lake, as well 
 as his master. You can imagine a ^^Tetch so 
 brutalized by passion and base indulgence as to 
 recognize in the purest beauty only a bait for 
 appetite. Every object presented to the cogni- 
 tion of human ruind is apprehended under the 
 forms and conditions belono^ino; to that mind. 
 The rapturous clash of instruments and voices 
 in the Messiah of Handel is to some only a 
 chaos of noise. Having ears, they hear not. 
 Why should it be otherwise in the spiritual 
 world ? It is not otherwise. You are sur- 
 rounded by glories which you do not appreciate. 
 There are qualities, relations, beauties, sublim- 
 ities, to which you are dead. You hear others 
 around you talking of things which you see not. 
 Ah ! the god of this world has made you blind. 
 Not to dwell more than a moment, let me ask 
 what see you of the e\dl of sin, the beauty of 
 holiness, the impersonation of infinite excel 
 lence in Christ, the misery of your defiled and 
 
40 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 helpless condition, the wrath that is to come, or 
 the free offer of abounding grace made to you 
 by God in Christ ? As to all these things, is 
 not the citation from the prophet applicable to 
 you ? Matt. xiii. 15 : " For this people's heart 
 is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hear- 
 ing, and their eyes have they closed, lest at any 
 time they should see with their eyes, and hear 
 with their ears, and should understand with 
 their heart, and should be converted, and I 
 should heal them." 
 
 It has been mooted in the schools of theol- 
 ogy whether the fall has depraved the under- 
 standing, and whether the unregenerate man, 
 as such, sees the truth less clearly or fully than 
 the regenerate man. But surely any one's 
 philosophy must strangely canton off the mind 
 into discerptible faculties, and grossly ignore the 
 unity of the human spirit, if it conceives of a 
 fallen creature wholly unfallen in his under- 
 standing. Whatever Scripture says of this 
 great change lays a mighty emphasis on the 
 clearing of intellectual apprehension. We do 
 not, therefore, hold that the more truly and ade- 
 quately the sinner beholds God, the more he 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 41 
 
 hates Mm. Tlie very view of God whicli lie 
 has is vitiated. The clear view of the God 
 THAT IS would be transforming. In point of 
 fact, it is this very view which actually trans- 
 forms ; as numerous Scriptures show. Ungodly 
 men are void of the true knowledge of God in 
 Christ. Paul explains the enmity of those who 
 murdered Jesus to this cause, in a passage 
 which settles the cjuestion, 1 Cor. ii. 7 : " For 
 we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even 
 the hidden wisdom which none of the jDrinces 
 of this world knew : for had they known it, they 
 would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 
 Unregenerate men know not this wisdom. If 
 they knew this wisdom, (we may argue with 
 Paul,) they would be rightly affected. Mind 
 and heart are both \\Tong. As has been de- 
 clared to you, a certain sort of seeing they have, 
 but not of the objects, as they are, in their 
 spiritual grace and loveliness. And I will ob- 
 serve by anticipation, the human mind is so 
 constituted, in regard to the influence of light 
 on its actings, that as conviction infallibly en- 
 sues on received demonstration, so faith infalli- 
 bly follows upon clear and full spiritual knowl- 
 
42 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 edge. The " vail is done away in Christ." 2 
 Cor. iii. 14. The reason why any man remains 
 in enmity is given by John, 1 John ii. 11 : he 
 " is in darkness, and knoweth not whither he 
 goeth, because that darkness (// Gloria) hath 
 blinded his eyes." And such is the deplorable 
 condition of many who are coolly speculating 
 on their own wretched midnight. But we can- 
 not longer dwell on the state of darkness. 
 
 II. We must next consider the state of 
 LIGHT. " God who commanded the lig-ht to 
 shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts, 
 to give the light of the knowledge of the glory 
 of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This is a 
 most comprehensive passage, carrying all heaven 
 in its bosom, but we are concerned with it now 
 only in a particular aspect. Mark attentively 
 its grand assertion, made in the name of believ- 
 ers : " God Jiaih shined in our hearts.'''^ Like 
 that of John : " The true light now shineth." 
 This is divine illumination. Consider the re- 
 sult of this ray ; it is knowledge. There is a 
 communication from God not merely of feeling, 
 frame, mood, disposition, or heart, but of knowl- 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 43 
 
 edge. This irradiation is " to give tlie light of 
 knowledge." To the intellect or knowing power 
 of man, this is of course the primal gift. It is 
 the boon of the understanding to know, and of 
 the spiritual understanding it is the heaven. 
 " This is eternal life, to Tcnoiv the only tiTie God 
 and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." 
 
 ]S"ow, it only remains to inquire what is 
 knoAvn. What is the object of this science \ 
 What truth is worthy to invoke this Divine in- 
 tervention ? The answer is distinct : the Gloey 
 OF God ; a phrase which in Hebrew idiom 
 brings along with it ideas of surpassing light, 
 such as transfioTired the Hio;h Priest within the 
 vail when it radiated from the cherubic pro- 
 pitiatory throne. Such splendor demands a cur- 
 tain or a miiTor, to dim and modify the blaze 
 of godhead, and this has been afforded in the 
 humanity of the Son of God. From amidst 
 the central and consumins: disk of insufferable 
 deity there smiles and weeps on us a brother's 
 countenance. It is " the glory of God in the 
 face of Jesus Christ." Our eye confronts not 
 the absolute godhead, but the mirrored and 
 subdued glory of incarnation. For " we all. 
 
44 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 with open face beholding as in a glass the glory 
 of the Lord, are changed into the same image 
 from glory to glor^^, even as by the Spirit of 
 the Lord." Such is briefly an exposition of the 
 latter clause of our text. Here we have vividly 
 portrayed the second state of the convert, or 
 that of " light in the Lord." This is a great 
 contrast, which is most marked in abrupt con- 
 versions, like that of Paul himself, whose history 
 furnishes us with a lively type at that juncture 
 when Ananias put his hands on him, and 
 " there fell from his eyes as it had been scales." 
 Acts ix. 17. All language fails to convey in- 
 ternal transformations, but experience identifies 
 the various scriptural statements, as indicating 
 precisely what has happened to the believer 
 himself A voice has said, " Awake thou that 
 sleepest and arise from the dead, and Christ 
 shall give thee light." Old things are passed 
 away, behold all things have become new. As 
 when a voyager long familiar with our northern 
 stars, but for days confined to his berth with 
 illness, suddenly emerges on some fair tropical 
 night, and, standing on deck, gazes into the 
 deep dark blue of a new heaven, wdth twinkling 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMIXATION. 45 
 
 constellations, and salutes tlie Soutliern Cross. 
 Nay, it is a transporting from a dark to an illu- 
 mined planet, as in tliat word. Col. i. 12, 
 13 : " Giving thanks unto the Father, wkicli 
 hatli made us meet to be partakers of the inher- 
 itance of the saints in light : who hath delivered 
 us from the power of darkness, and hath trans- 
 lated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son ; " in 
 which you cannot fail to observe that the King- 
 dom of God's dear Son is the inheritance of the 
 saints in light. The same eye which just now 
 saw nothing, sees all things ; not fully, not 
 clearly, yet really. Let the soul stand still 
 amid the spiritual panorama and see the sal- 
 vation of God. Thus in the beautiful dioramic 
 exhibitions of art, we have sat in darkened 
 chambers, awaiting some exquisite dissolving 
 view, and have seen magical apparitions of cities, 
 lakes, and Alps, growing brilliant upon the 
 canvas. It was all there before. What has 
 been added ? My brethren, it is Light ! God's 
 chosen metaphor is best. It is Light. The 
 FIAT LUX has been uttered. God, who com- 
 manded light to shine on chaos hath shined in 
 our hearts. The things which ^vere lately un- 
 
46 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 seen now stand forth radiant. Sin is tlie dread- 
 ful sombre background ; Clirist, on tlie Cross, is 
 tlie heavenly centre of the scene. In that dying 
 face shines all the fulness of the godhead bod- 
 ily. It was all there before, objectively, but in 
 darkness. Light has broken in, " the spirit of 
 wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of 
 Hi^r : the eyes of your understanding being en- 
 lightened, that ye might know what is the hope 
 of your calling, and what the riches of the glory 
 of his inheritance in the saints." Eph. i. 17, 
 18. Light is thrown on a magnificent object 
 which was late in obscurity. And the lovely 
 image of God, from being a dead statue, opens 
 his lips and says to thee : " I am tlie Light of 
 the World : he that followeth me shall not walk 
 in darkness, but shall have the light of life." 
 John viii. 12. 
 
 Students of Scripture learn, day by day, what 
 a manifold wisdom lies WTapped in the vocab- 
 ulary of Inspiration, in which every figure, 
 phrase, or illustration is the best possible. For 
 the heavenly act here intended no metaphor 
 would serve but that of illumination. Of all 
 God's creatures, one of the most glorious, as he 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 47 
 
 who lias lost it will tell you, is Light. It was 
 well called tlie shadow of God. It is truth ma- 
 terialized. It is the indispensable condition of 
 seeing; every thing else may be present, object, 
 organ, sensation, but if there is no light, there 
 is no vision. Light makes known to us fonn, 
 color, and beauty. In truth, we see nothing but 
 light ; since all we call visible objects are only 
 so much light reflected to the eye. How easily, 
 therefore. Light represents Truth ; especially the 
 absolute, infinite, and eternal Truth. "God is 
 Light, and in him is no darkness at all." He is 
 the first supreme, essential object of spiritual 
 vision ; but he is such an object only to the ab- 
 solute Reason ; i. e.^ only to himself God is eter- 
 nally both knowing and known. The mind is 
 plainly made to receive truth, as the eye to re- 
 ceive light. To an intelligent spirit we con- 
 ceive no other way of God's communicating 
 himself than by communicating truth, and him- 
 self as truth. Hence most naturally proceeds 
 the figure of radiation or illumination. The 
 divine way of communicating himself as truth 
 is by the Word, Xoyog^ so called as being reveal- 
 ing Reason, manifestative light : into this deep 
 
48 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 and precious mystery we may not now inquire. 
 " In Him was life, and the life was tlie liglit of 
 men, and tlie liglit sliinetli in darkness, and tlie 
 darkness received it not." Some, however, re- 
 ceive ; and thus we are brought back to the 
 very point from which we diverged. The act 
 of God, by which the passage from the first state 
 to the second is accomplished, is an act which 
 ]nay best be described as the giving of liglit 
 
 Let me flatter myself, beloved, that no in- 
 dulgence of mine in the lang^uasre of fio;ure has 
 misled any to sup23ose the interposition of any 
 medium, whether of ray or ether, to be materi- 
 ally present between the thinking substance and 
 the objective truth. Most lamely and feebly we 
 try to clamber up this ladder of w^ords to the 
 heights of God. Sometimes Ave use one round, 
 and then we leave it for one hio'her, and at 
 length ascend above them all. When God 
 gives light, that which he operates is "wi^ought 
 in and upon the thinking subject, the mind. 
 Hence the other scriptural emblem. God's 
 touch gives light to a blind eye ; in other 
 words, gives sight, or enables it to see. The 
 faculty is awakened. There is visual power 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 49 
 
 where there was none. The nerve that was 
 dead is alive ; what the old English of our Bi- 
 ble calls " quickening." By another figure it is 
 named " calling." God " hath called you out of 
 darkness into marvellous light." 1 Pet. ii. 9. 
 All these modes of representation go to indicate 
 that the faculty of vision is a gift of God's 
 grace, and product of his immediate power, and 
 not merely a new and unprompted activity of 
 the hitherto unquickened nature. 
 
 I^ow, the progress of our experimental in- 
 vestigation constrains us to look at the scrip- 
 tural connection between God's sovereign reno- 
 vating act and light. It is not a pulpit trope, 
 nor a metaphysical vagary, but a connection set 
 forth in biblical statements, too often recurring 
 to be accidental or unimportant. We have seen 
 the apostle John's identification of light and life, 
 A\^e have seen in juxtaposition the new light 
 and the new life. 1 John i. 1. The Christ 
 who had been subjected to their senses was 
 " the Word of life." " The Life was manifested 
 and we have seen it, (/. <?., it is Liglit^ for only 
 light is seen.) Then, in verse 2, it was " mth 
 the Father," as in John i. 1 , " The Word was 
 
 3 
 
50 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 witli God." Now, this identity of light and life 
 is instructive and comforting. There is light, 
 there is life, in the Word ; there is truth, and 
 there is a new nature by eflfectual calling. Peter 
 affirms the like instrumentality of truth. He 
 who has this light, this truth, this Divine eter- 
 nal Word, has regeneration, 1 Peter i. 29 : "be- 
 ing born again (here is regeneration) by the 
 Word of God, (here is the Logos as communica- 
 tive of truth,) which liveth and abideth forever." 
 (Here is the eternity of the divine truth or 
 Word, so communicated.) A wretched dark- 
 ling, under conviction of his sin and sorrow for 
 the same, is astray in a waste, howling wilder- 
 ness. The path of deliverance is right before 
 him, but he dares not advance his foot one step 
 lest he plunge over a precipice. Either by de- 
 grees, or all at once, a wide-spread light ad- 
 dresses itself to the eye, and every thing is clear. 
 ]^ow, the result would be precisely the same if 
 the traveller were blind, and his sight were sud- 
 denly restored. Both figures are used in Scrip- 
 ture. In both what is vouchsafed is vision. 
 In both it is the Spirit of God who acts. In 
 both, God " shineth in our heart to give the 
 
ISPIRITUAL ILLUMINATIOX. 51 
 
 light of tlie knowledge of liis glory." It is tlie 
 waking up of a new nature, a quickening, a 
 new birtli, a renovation, a regeneration, an effec- 
 tual call from darkness to liglit. If tke text 
 teaches any thing, it teaches that bold doctrine 
 of the Reformation champions, that the first 
 touch is that of God. While he does no vio- 
 lence to freedom ; while he conducts his great- 
 est marvel in new creation according to the 
 laws he has impressed on the human mind ; 
 while he draws by the bands of a man ; while 
 he allows the soul to move agreeably to vision 
 of truth, — it is God who begins. It is the 
 same God who commanded the light to shine 
 out of darkness, that hath shined in our hearts. 
 In the first motion our hearts have no activity. 
 The irradiation is of God. Of God's part in the 
 spiritual birth, we cannot be conscious. Our 
 consciousness takes knowledge of a lowxr plane, 
 or of our own acts and states ; but of the instant 
 result we are instantly conscious. The blind 
 eye is turned towards the benignant surgeon ; 
 it sees not the hand, or the couching-needle ; 
 but it looks and sees the countenance of love. 
 The acts of God are graciously mysterious, es- 
 
52 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 pecially in tlie birtli of a new nature. " The 
 wind blowetli wliere it listetli, and tliou liearest 
 the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it 
 Cometh nor whither it goeth ; so is every one 
 that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. Yet 
 the results are visible and momentous. It is, 
 however, of great importance to warn every 
 young Christian that experiences so far removed 
 from those of common life cannot be adequately 
 reported in words or comprehended in defini- 
 tions. The very simplicity of the acts forbids 
 this. That which is unique baffles comparison. 
 The difficulty is not peculiar to this subject, nor 
 to matters of religion. It inheres in many parts 
 of the world of intellect and even of sense. Try 
 a few instances : Give a perfect definition of 
 Truth. Explain to one who never felt it the 
 feeling of love. Give a deaf man some no- 
 tion of harmony. Describe light to one born 
 blind. How, then, can you hope, by any art of 
 cunning language, to represent what is peculiar 
 to spiritual apprehension of truth ? Experience 
 only can set it beyond all mistake ; and expe- 
 rience, guided by the Word, will distinguish it 
 as simple cognition from all those emotional 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 53 
 
 consequences wliicli color it, and sometimes seem 
 to be included in it, but wliicli really follow it 
 as effects in tbe order of nature. 
 
 But, supposing this divine illustration to 
 have been vouchsafed to the soul, what lias this 
 to do with faith ? There is a spiritual knowl- 
 edge, a new and peculiar apprehension of the 
 truth. But is this Faitli? The question is 
 imj^ortant and delicate, and the reply should 
 be well considered and diligently weighed. 
 Before offering a categorical answer, there are 
 some general remarks which will serve to clear 
 not only this, but many kindred subjects. The 
 operations of the mind in regard to objective 
 truth are very recondite and very rapid. This 
 is true, even of those which are most familiar 
 and simple. Thoughts, emotions, and choices, 
 which are successive, may seem to our conscious- 
 ness to be simultaneous. As the ray of light 
 and the ray of heat, to use j)opular phraseology, 
 enter by the same aperture at the same instant, 
 so a perception and an emotion may be undis- 
 tinguishable in time, and yet one may be the 
 caus^ of the other. The final cause of such 
 rapid succession is occasionally discoverable. I 
 
54 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 behold a ferocious Avild beast beside my bed — I 
 am filled witli terror. Safety is promoted by 
 sucli constitutional fears ; and sucli fears to be 
 useful, must follow instantly upon the mental 
 apprehension. It is this which causes, and, of 
 course, precedes the fear, yet no measurable 
 tune can be interjDOsed between them. Hun- 
 dreds of similar examples might be gathered 
 from every field of human knowledge and sensi- 
 bility. The cases are innumerable, where, in 
 the order of time, two mental acts, states, exer- 
 cises, or phenomena j)resent themselves to us as 
 synchronous, when one is as really the cause of 
 the other as the entrance of light is the cause 
 of vision. And this has a direct bearing on the 
 subject of spiritual apprehension, as connected 
 with saving faith. In the happy experience of 
 the renovated soul they may seem to be one 
 and the same ; an undivided look at Jesus 
 Christ, dying and drawing sinners to himself 
 We might even go further : though we have 
 no prism to divide the ray, many colors go to 
 form this look of the new creature ; not only 
 faith, but hope, love, and joy. Yet these seem- 
 ingly inseparable rays may be distinguishable. 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 00 
 
 There is no faitli wliere there is no knowledge. 
 There is no evangelical faith where there is no 
 spiritual knowledge. Wherever sj)iritTial knowl- 
 edge is present, there is genuine faith, by a ne- 
 cessity of nature and grace. It is not necessary 
 for the redeemed soul to determine the names 
 or effect the analysis of these acceptances of 
 truth. Yet, in strictness of philosophical lan- 
 guage, spiritual knowledge is distinct from 
 Faith, and precedes it. By knowledge, the ob- 
 ject is furnished Avhich is received by faith as 
 true. The divine ray breaks on the face of Je- 
 sus, making it luminous ; this is Knowledge ; 
 the soul recog-nizes in it the face of its Saviour ; 
 this is Faith. But this will become more clear 
 when we come to treat of the nature and the 
 object of faith itself 
 
 The statements of doctrine which have occu- 
 pied us in this discourse touching the spiritual 
 knowledge which precedes faith, may be summed 
 up in few words. Since the fall, man comes 
 into the present life destitute of any clear, just, 
 and adequate knowledge of divine things, and 
 this his ignorance being derived from a deprava- 
 tion of his entire nature, including the intellec- 
 
56 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 tual faculty, is not removed by any natural dis- 
 cipline or accomplisliment in worldly science. 
 This darkness, while it remains, is an effectual 
 preventive of all right views, feelings, and de- 
 terminations. To remove this, and to connnuni- 
 cate to the soul just apprehensions of divine 
 realities, God is pleased to intervene in the case 
 of his people by a direct and instantaneous act 
 terminating on the mind itself, and empowering 
 it to see. This act is j)revious to all saving ex- 
 ercises, and is of God's sovereignty. Though 
 known only by its effects, it gives life, and in 
 giving life, gives the power of spiritual vision. 
 It is variously represented as giving sight to 
 the blind, and as giving light to an eye in dark- 
 ness. This spiritual illumination takes place at 
 the new birth. The instrument employed by 
 the sovereign Spirit in all the acts, believings, 
 feelings, and volitions of the soul so regenerated, 
 is Truth. The renewed mind beholds divine 
 objects in a new and indescribable manner, in 
 their self-evidencing brightness, in their beauty, 
 loveliness, and glory, so as to appreciate, taste, 
 and relish them, and in a certain as yet imper- 
 fect degree discern them as they are. This 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 57 
 
 new and spiritual cognition, wliicli cannot be 
 represented to sncli as possess no experience, 
 comprises all the circle of revealed truth, and 
 all the objects of the spiritual interest ; but in 
 its first actings it more especially fixes on and 
 takes in the glory of grace in the face of Jesus 
 Christ, which object it now, for the first time, 
 apprehends. Under the enlightening of the 
 Holy Ghost the mind most particularly views 
 with apprehension and interest the truth that 
 God is reconciled to it through this Redeemer. 
 And all this apprehension or cognition of the 
 new creatm^e is preparatory to saving faith, from 
 which, when both are in high measure, it can- 
 not be distinguished. 
 
 But what, my dear hearers, is doctrine with- 
 out experience ? The mountain spring is but a 
 mockery of the man athirst, unless its cool 
 crystal stream be tasted ? The sun is nothing, 
 unless its ray be seen or felt. Have you made 
 any appropriation of the truth revealed ? Has 
 this great luminary ever risen upon your be- 
 nighted soul ? You know something of the 
 cloud, the obscurity, the tempest — but w^hat do 
 you know of any brightness of grace, breaking 
 
58 SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 
 
 througli tliose lowering skies ? Awake, thou 
 tliat sleepest, and arise from tLe dead, and Christ 
 shall give thee light. Cry aloud to him who 
 giveth liberally and upbraideth not. Let your 
 request be, " Lord, that I may receive my 
 sight ! " The grace, the glory, are ready to 
 break through. See you not abeady the dawn 
 of a light, which is the knowledge of the glory 
 of God in the face of Jesus Christ ? Fix your 
 eyes there. Let Jesus Christ be the one object. 
 Follow up each leading ray. Sigh and pant for 
 nearer vision. There is but one object for the 
 convinced sinner, and that is the dying Jesus. 
 It is before you. He, he is before you ! That 
 vail of incredulity hides one whose hand is al- 
 ready reaching towards you to give sight. Oh ! 
 be persuaded of his love; see him as he is; 
 accept him as Saviour, Teacher, Master. Make 
 our hearts glad by receiving a grace offered 
 through the medium of a broken ministry, and 
 the honor will be all his ; for let me close mth 
 the entire contexture of the passage : " For we 
 preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, 
 and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 
 For God, who commanded the light to shine 
 
SPIRITUAL ILLUMINATION. 59 
 
 out of darkness, liatli shined in our hearts, to 
 give tlie liglit and the glory of God in the face 
 of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in 
 earthen vessels, that the exercise of the power 
 may be of God, and not of us ! " Amen. 
 
III. 
 
 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
THE NATUEE OF FAITH. 
 
 Maek i. 15. " Believe the Gospel." 
 
 There are times when it seems to the Chris 
 tian preacher almost a mockery to present him 
 self again and again before large assemblies 
 with arguments which produce no conviction 
 and entreaties which are gravely set aside 
 It would be otherwise if the discourses we de 
 livered were mere entertainments of the hour 
 as, indeed, they have come to be considered by 
 many. But if they convey messages from God 
 himself, on the most important interests of the 
 hearer, and with a design of producing immedi- 
 ate action, then this neglect and apathy are 
 strange. One might wonder how men could 
 bring themselves to hear for so long a time 
 
64 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 voices wHcli they do not mean to heed. On 
 other subjects, he who listens to reasoning is pre- 
 pared either to admit or deny ; and, if the mat- 
 ter is one of practice, to act accordingly. Con- 
 vince a man that the adventure in which he has 
 placed his property is hazardous, and he flies to 
 withdraw it. Show him that his house is tot- 
 tering overhead, and he props it, or leaves his 
 abode. Point out to him some angry symptom 
 in his disease, and he repairs to regimen and 
 physic. Make it clear that a political leader is 
 corrupt, and he abandons him. These results 
 follow mth unvarying certainty, wherever the 
 conviction or persuasion is complete. We might 
 almost say that action follows assent, in these 
 cases, as certainly as assent follows demonstration 
 in a geometrical theorem. If, on hearing that 
 his mercantile enterprise is hollow, your friend 
 adheres to it, you ascribe it to disbelief of your 
 statement. If he still sleeps under the nodding 
 roof, you are sure he thinks it sound. If he 
 neglects the cough or the hectic, it is, you 
 say, because he cannot believe it threatening. 
 And if he remains a zealous follower of party- 
 chieftains whom you denounce, he must withhold 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 65 
 
 faitli from wliat you say. But in religion all 
 this is reversed. He liears, and hears a thou- 
 sand times, that God is angry with the wicked 
 every day ; that the soul that sinneth shall die ; 
 that he w^ho believeth not shall be damned ; 
 that of those who are ashamed of Christ here, 
 Christ himself will be ashamed in the Judg- 
 ment ; that God has sent his Son to be the Sav- 
 iour of his soul ; that the offer will not be made 
 forever ; that the day of grace is about to close ; 
 and that, in an hour when he thinketh not, 
 death may transport him to eternal woe. All 
 this he hears. It is the very habit of his life so to 
 hear. He deliberately makes a business of com- 
 ing, at least once a week, to the presence cham- 
 ber of God, to hear God renew an offer of terms, 
 which he as deliberately makes uj) his mind 
 to postpone or reject. Great threat enings come 
 to him on the part of God, enough to make the 
 ears of every one that heareth them to tingle. 
 But by a calculation of chances on which he 
 would not stake a penny, he assures himself 
 that he may face the risk. The voice of God, 
 fairly expounded, as he professes to admit — for 
 we now leave infidels out of consideration — calls 
 
66 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 loudly and peremptorily for liim to leave one 
 patli of life and enter another. This voice lie 
 lias distinctly heard uttering these things all 
 his life. But by none of these declarations, ar- 
 guments, warnings, or invitations, has he, in the 
 slightest degree, been moved to practice. Pro- 
 fessing to believe that which he so hears, he 
 acts in point-blank opposition to it. Such is 
 the paradoxical condition in which the majority 
 of hearers, in the lands of the Gosj)el, allow 
 themselves to remain, and it is this which is 
 the main discourao:ement of the Christian min- 
 istry. 
 
 Can we reasonably suppose that persons 
 who hear in this manner believe what they 
 hear ? Does that indolent assent, or rather that 
 passive inability to disprove, or that apathy 
 which will not wake up enough to deny, de- 
 serve the name of faith ? We have seen how 
 the question should be answered in secular and 
 common things. The principle is the same in 
 the things of God. That truth which has no 
 influence is not credited ; that man who is 
 moved to no correspondent purpose or volition 
 by what is said, has no faith. We know how 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. (57 
 
 common it is for men to persuade themselves of 
 tlie reverse. According to tlieir own statement, 
 tliey do believe the scriptural record, sincerely 
 and firmly. Their conviction, persuasion, belief, 
 assent, or credence, is honest and immovable. 
 And if you press the matter a little further and 
 they are willing to be examined, they allege 
 that there is no defect in their belief, but only 
 in their feelings. They believe all that is said 
 fi'om the Word, but their belief does not move 
 the affections and the will. Let us illustrate by 
 familiar example : You rush into a chamber at 
 midnight — arouse your friend — tell him the 
 house is in flames and the only stairway ready 
 to sink in ruin — and assure him he has but a 
 moment to escaj)e for his life. He replies, with 
 a pleasing smile : Yes, I am aware of it, but 
 somehow it makes no impression on my feelings, 
 and affords no motive to my wilL On the 
 presentation of such a case, you j)ronounce the 
 man either to be mad, or to have no faith in 
 w^hat you say. This is just the case of men and 
 women who sit in God's house and hear that 
 without being born again, they cannot see the 
 kingdom of God, and nevertheless remain stupid 
 
68 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 and impenetrable. Why not in these instances 
 declare that they do not believe what the 
 preached Word conveys ? Why not deny that 
 they have faith ? 
 
 As matter of fact, we must acknowledge 
 that there is a prevalent reluctance to give this 
 solution. There must be reasons why it is dis- 
 agreeable to admit the charge of disbelieving 
 God. And yet, if such unbelief exists, most as- 
 suredly it ought to be charged home upon the 
 conscience, and recognized not only as a misfor- 
 tune, but a sin. 
 
 Many fogs and mists have been gathered 
 around these familiar operations of all human 
 minds, by the ingenious speculations of philo- 
 sophic theology. Angry controversies have often 
 been maintained durins: 2:enerations about the 
 definition of terms which express states or acts 
 of which we are hourly and directly conscious. 
 Simple phenomena have thus been made com- 
 plicated, and humble souls have not seldom 
 been perplexed. If faith, about which we are 
 now speaking, were so inscrutable, un distin- 
 guishable, and complex a product of our activ- 
 ity as many suppose, we might have expected 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 69 
 
 numerous and most guarded definitions of it in 
 the Scriptures. As faitli is the instrument of 
 salvation, we might expect that so doubtful an 
 act of the soul would be set forth by numerous 
 distinctive tests. If the faith of true experience 
 is so utterly diverse from all the believings of 
 mankind about all other things, we might confi- 
 dently look for certain marks of difference. On 
 the contrary, often as believing, belief, and faith 
 are mentioned in the Scriptures, they are always 
 introduced as if with a presumption that the 
 words are to be taken in their ordinary sense. 
 This gives us much reason to conclude that 
 evangelical faith is a simpler thing, and more 
 familiar to us every day, than theologians some- 
 times teach. The fear of such theologians is, 
 lest faith shall be made so easy, and so little di- 
 verse from common natural acts of men, that 
 careless and unconverted sinners will flatter 
 themselves that they have faith when they have 
 none. They therefore interpose numberless 
 cautions, to prevent mistake as to faith. They 
 sedulously distinguish various kinds of faith. 
 They refer faith to various so-called faculties or 
 powers of the soul ; the nomenclature of which 
 
^0 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 faculties varies witli every system. They dis- 
 sect tlie act of faitli into several parts, nicely 
 following one another, and of which no one 
 must be wanting, or the faith is spurious. And 
 they succeed in hopelessly confounding some, 
 and landing others on the unscriptural conclu- 
 sion that faith is something different from be- 
 lieving, or accepting truth as true. 
 
 One singular consequence of such refinements 
 is this : As I should be sure of my being safe 
 if I were sure I believed, the most interesting of 
 all questions is, Do I believe ? But if faith is so 
 recondite and difficult of discovery, then the 
 very question which is to decide the other is the 
 hardest of all. And multitudes ]3uzzle and dis- 
 tract themselves with unavailing and unanswer- 
 able inquiries as to the sorts of faith, and which 
 sort is theirs ; as to the ingredients of faith, and 
 which ingredient is wanting, a species of mental 
 anatomy of which we find no example in holy 
 Scripture. 
 
 That unreconciled and irreligious persons 
 have no faith in divine truths which concern 
 their own state and the objects of evangelical 
 Christianity, is sufficiently plain from their lives. 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH 71 
 
 It must, liowever, be our present task to make 
 evident tke very obvious and simple notion 
 wliicli tlie Scripture gives of Faitli. The word 
 is perpetually and in tlie most childlike man- 
 ner introduced, as just meaning persuasion of 
 the truth. When a statement is true to me, 
 when I see it, not merely as intelligible, but as 
 true, then I have faith. In other words, I be- 
 lieve it. Faith is belief: belief is faith ; both 
 import accepting that which is presented as true. 
 Truth and Faith are therefore correlative temis. 
 The objects of faith are vastly different ; and 
 this gives origin to innumerable varieties of l^e- 
 lieving. That is, the mind behaves itself differ- 
 ently in view of one truth believed, and of an- 
 other truth believed ; yet the mind's operation 
 is the same. My hand may grasp an empty 
 nutshell or the great diamond, but the act of 
 gTasj)ing is the same. My believing thoughts 
 may light on the truth that the thermometer is 
 at G0°, or that the day of judgment has arrived. 
 How vastly different the contingent phenome- 
 na ! Yet the belief, as belief, is one and the 
 same. This may account for the hurtful error 
 of those who have suffused the colors which come 
 
72 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 from the object over the eye tliat beliolds it, and 
 tlius have made as many faiths as there are or- 
 ders of things believed. In every jDossible in- 
 stance, when I have faith, I hold somewhat to 
 be true; The immediate consequences may va- 
 ry. The same proposition believed may carry 
 very different emotions to different hearts. Tell 
 one man that the post has arrived, and he is in- 
 different ; but his next neighbor rejoices — it 
 brings news of his long absent son ; a third is 
 speechless with horror, for it comes with tid- 
 ings of his ruin. The proposition believed be- 
 ing the same, two men may believe it with 
 different intensity, for faith has degrees. But 
 still the simple essential act of faith is one with 
 which we are perfectly familiar, and of which 
 we are conscious every hour. Let us see this 
 for ourselves in Scripture. " Thomas, because 
 thou hast seen me, thou hast believed." John 
 XX. 29. Here the truth accepted is that the 
 person before Thomas is the very Jesus who 
 was crucified. A train of other believings fol- 
 lowed this. God says to Abram, " Thy seed 
 shall be as the stars in yonder heavens." " And 
 he believed in the Lord ; and he counted it to 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 him for rigjbteousness." Gen. xv. 6. " If ye 
 believe not tliat I am lie [said Jesus] ye shall 
 die in your sins." Here tlie trutli to be accept- 
 ed is that Jesus is the Messiah, the fundamental 
 fact of Christianity. So 1 John v. 1, " Whoso 
 believeth that Jesus is the Messiah, is of God." 
 In none of these cases is there any room for the 
 person so believing to go back into his mental 
 operations, to examine the nature of his believ- 
 ing acts. A truth is presented as an object of 
 faith, and he is persuaded of this truth, it is 
 certain to his apprehension. He believes and 
 knows that he believes. Or rather, he knows 
 what he believes ; for the importance of the ob- 
 ject entirely takes away his mind from the act 
 of believing. 
 
 But there is a variation of the phrase in 
 such New Testament passages as speak of believ- 
 ing on Jesus Christ. These are numerous. In 
 them all, a Person is the object of the believing ; 
 and in a particular aspect and relation. We 
 believe on Christ, when we are persuaded that 
 he is such as he claims to be, and such as the 
 Scriptures present and offer him. We appre- 
 hend him, and recognize him as tlie Saviour of 
 
 4 
 
74 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 sinners, and as able and willino; to save ns. He 
 who is tlius persuaded concerning the Lord, 
 need not vex himself as to the metaphysical 
 character of his mental acts. The more he be- 
 lieves, the less is he likely to ask what is believ- 
 ino^. Faith is a kind of inward seeing;. He 
 who sees a beautiful countenance does not 
 much pause to inquire into the process of vision. 
 That countenance tills his eye. In like manner, 
 he who believes on Jesus as his Redeemer, is 
 taken up v/ith that countenance of love. The 
 object of faith occupies the field of vision. For 
 the time, reflex acts, such as " Is this the right 
 sort of faith ? '' are impossible ; for the mind 
 cannot look inward and outward at the same 
 instant. And no man's salvation depends on 
 his believing that he believes. At Cana, the 
 disci]3les " believed on him." The Jews who 
 saw Lazarus raised by Jesus " believed on 
 him." " He that believeth on the Son of God, 
 has the witness in himself." 
 
 Nothing is harder than to describe in words 
 the simplest acts of the soul. Suppose one had 
 never loved, how would you choose words to 
 convey the notion ? Yet you love, and know 
 
 { 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 75 
 
 that you love. We may try manifold phrases. 
 Faith is the whole soul accordins; and assentins: 
 to the truth and embracing it. Faith is admit- 
 ting and receiving the revelation. Faith is ap- 
 prehending the true as true, the beautiful as 
 beautiful, the good as good. Faith in Christ is 
 persuasion that Christ is a Saviour. The soul 
 receives and rests upon him alone for salvation 
 as offered in the Gospel. It is not a process, 
 divisible into parts and stages ; but an outgoing 
 of the whole soul, to the object, at one time, 
 and, so to speak, by one outlet. It is not wisely 
 determined by some to be an intellectual act 
 solely ; because the simplicity of the believing 
 subject is afl&rmed as much by true philosophy 
 as by Scripture. When Jesus Christ, dying in 
 love for sinners, and radiant with Gospel grace, 
 is full before the soul, so as to appear somewhat 
 as he is, an Almighty and infinitely willing 
 Redeemer, true to his word, then the sinner be- 
 lieves, receives him, has power to be a child of 
 God ; though, at the moment, nothing is further 
 fi'om his thoughts than any analysis of this be- 
 lieving. After all, nothing but experience can 
 fnlly explain what faith is. Believe and Knoio. 
 
76 THE XATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 In comparing faith witli knowledge, we toucli 
 a question wliicli has agitated all the schools 
 from Alexandria downwards. Assurance of 
 truth, certitude, is the same, by whatever 
 process it may be arrived at. But in some 
 cases it comes by intuition^ in some cases by 
 reasoning^ and in some cases by reliance on 
 testimony. This last is more properly faitli^ 
 and this shows how faith is connected with per- 
 sons. We may regard this explanation as 
 two-fold : (1.) I believe the testimony of him 
 who is true. I believe the testimony of God, 
 who is infinitely true. A child is assured that 
 the angle in a semicircle is a right angle, or that 
 the surface of a sphere is equal to the convex 
 surface of a surrounding cylinder, because his 
 father tells him so. This is faith in its stricter 
 sense. The child becomes a man, and is assured 
 of the same geometrical propositions by irrefra- 
 gable process of demonstration ; this is hiowl- 
 edge hy proof though we name even this assur- 
 ance belief, in common parlance. The child, 
 from being a man on earth, becomes a higher 
 intelligence in heaven, and sees the same rela- 
 tions of lines and surfaces, by insight ; this is 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 77 
 
 intuition. The things are so and so in Eternal 
 Reason. God sees all things thus, and hence we 
 never speak of God as believing or as reasoning. 
 In his own infinite Truth he eternally, and with 
 open face, beholds all truths. We are inquiring 
 into the mode of arriving at assured certainty of 
 truth. Most of our certainty, even in common 
 life, is from testimony. IS'ot ^\q in this house 
 have ever seen the Great Deseet. Not one in 
 ten has ever seen the Souther]^ Cross. Few of 
 us have ever seen the planet Mercury. None of 
 us have ever seen the j)lanet Neptune. As to 
 these certainties, we believe the testimony of 
 trustworthy persons, even where sight and de- 
 monstration are ]30ssible. Such, I say, is the 
 case in a great number of common things. But 
 this is in the first instance the only way in 
 which we can acquire certain assurance of Avhat 
 transcends human intuition and experience ; 
 such as Creation, Eedemption, Future Glory. 
 And as none but God, or, what is the same 
 thing, God's messenger, can command our 
 credence on such heads, we come to our persua- 
 sion of these truths by simple faith in him who 
 is credible. Faith, receiving such testimony, 
 
78 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 admits God as teue. Faitli, receiving such tes- 
 timony, admits tlie Lord Jesus Christ as true. 
 Jesus Christ is pre-eminently the Word, the Re- 
 vealer, the " True Witness." We accredit him 
 as such. Observe, here, how much faith has a 
 personal character. You believe one thing be- 
 cause a man has proved it to you ; this man you 
 may despise and hate, as a liar and a blas- 
 phemer. You believe another thing, because 
 your beloved, honoured, pure, trustworthy friend 
 has witnessed it. Mark the difference. Here 
 is faith. You believe on him, as well as what 
 he utters. (2.) But we may proceed a step fur- 
 ther. Not only do we behold Christ as a true 
 Witness, and so believe in him, in general, but 
 we behold him as communicating certain truths 
 concerning Mmself^ and so believe on iiim in 
 particular. We might believe on Gabriel in the 
 former and minor sense, as did she who was 
 blessed among women ; or as the other Marys 
 believed the other angel testifying of Christ. 
 But Christ himself we believe, testifying con- 
 cerning himself; and this is in the high and pe- 
 culiar sense to helieve on lihn^ and to believe in 
 his name. He comes to us to tell us who he is, 
 
THE NATURE UF FAITH. 79 
 
 and wliat lie liatli wrought, and we believe it, 
 and so believe on liim. Doubly, therefore, faitli 
 becomes a personal matter, and lays bold of a 
 personal Jesus. First, because I rely on his j)er- 
 sonal truth, and consequently believe his mes- 
 sage ; and, secondly, because the message which 
 I believe from his blessed lips concerns his own 
 person. 
 
 Yet, while we have made this advancement 
 towards a more explicit understanding of our 
 own experience, we have not, I trust, lost the 
 clew which guided our first steps of investiga- 
 tion, nor added any new complexity to faith. 
 From beginning to end, we have found it to be 
 believing, or acceptance of truth. Oh ! my be- 
 loved hearer, how sjDcedily would this matter 
 be cleared up to you if this moment Almighty 
 Grace were to make the Son of Righteousness 
 arise upon your soul ! Here you have been sit- 
 ting in darkness, and with j)ainful effort rolling 
 your sightless orbs towards the j)oint where 
 light is shining. A blind man, having no more 
 experience of daylight than you have of Grace, 
 may learn, and reason, and talk about rays and 
 their reflection and refraction, the humours of the 
 
80 THE NATUKE OF FAITH. 
 
 eye, aud tlie impression on tlie retina ; lie may, 
 like Sanderson, the friend of Newton and pro- 
 fessor at Cambridge, invent and communicate 
 demonstrations in Optics, but one tiling is lack- 
 ing : lie lias no notion of liglit, lie does not see. 
 One instant of faitli would drive you away from 
 all your disputings. One view of Jesus Clirist, 
 dying and drawing sinners to himself, would 
 make the subject plain. And it is my inward 
 conviction of this which leads me to draw your 
 thoughts away so much from the manner of be- 
 lieving to the object believed; to induce you, 
 if possible, to ask less How is the act of faith 
 defined and distinguished ? and more "What am 
 I to believe ? What is the plan of salvation ? 
 Who is the Son of God? In what does his 
 righteousness consist ? What is Truth ? The 
 object of faith, in its widest generality, is all 
 revelation. " By this faith a Christian believeth 
 to be true, whatsoever is revealed in the Word, 
 for the authority of God himself speaking there- 
 in." Confession of Faith, chap, xiv.'^ 
 
 * As an example, Heb. xi. 3, " through Faitli we understand 
 that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things 
 which are seen were not made of things which do appear." 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 81 
 
 But the great achievement of faith is its jus- 
 tifying the sinner ; great because of its result, 
 salvation ; and great because of its object, the 
 Lord Jesus. And as this is the momentous 
 affair of life, with every man who ever has 
 awakened to his misery in sin ; all earnest and 
 importunate inquiries concerning faith have re- 
 spect to that faith which justifies. Now, we 
 only carry out princij^les already laid down, 
 w^hen we say, this is no new kind of believing, 
 so far as the mental act is regarded. All that 
 it has of peculiarity belongs to its origin, its 
 object, its degree, and its consequences. He 
 who believes to the saving of his soul, accepts 
 the truth concerning Jesus Christ. Previously 
 " convinced of his sin and misery, and of the 
 disability of himself and all other creatures to 
 recover him out of his lost condition," which 
 conviction is belief in these truths, he receives 
 and rests u^Don Christ and his righteousness, for 
 pardon, acceptance, and life. This language is 
 metaphorical and inadequate. But the soul 
 that has been in the midnight and then all at 
 once gains a first glimpse of Jesus, knows what 
 
 it is to receive him and rest on him. 
 4* 
 
82 . THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 In thus far treating of faith, we have con- 
 sidered it altogether in itself, as a phenome- 
 non, state, act, or exercise ; Ave have reserved for 
 other times, its origin in divine power, its ob- 
 ject in detail, its degrees or variations, and its 
 fruits, first in justification, then in sanctification. 
 These are important subjects, too important to 
 be handled in the subdivision of a discourse. 
 It is enough to say, that saving faith is wrought 
 by the Holy Ghost, who endows the soul with 
 a new and spiritual apprehension of the truth. 
 That which regeneration interposes between the 
 soul and the objective truth, is analogous to 
 light in natural vision. " For God, who com- 
 manded the light to shine out of darkness, hath 
 shined in our hearts, to give the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God in the face of 
 Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. iv. 6. Let that face, in 
 that glory, by that light, be once beheld, and 
 sight melts into believing, faith expands into 
 salvation. The unwritten biographies vary ; 
 some Christian lives are stormy, and others calm. 
 The voyage of some is driven off into vast cur- 
 vatures in the course, while others seem to run 
 straight into port. Yet there are some things 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. §3^ 
 
 in common. All who come into liarbour come 
 believing; all come renouncing self; all come 
 as ruined sinners. The degree of conviction or 
 sorrow for sin or fearful apprehension is not 
 prescribed and is not uniform. But all who 
 come to Christ, come to him in distress. And 
 this distress, in the case of all, is removed by a 
 distinct and open view of the Lord Jesus as 
 freely offering himself to pardon sin and bestow 
 righteousness and favor. Hesitation to accept 
 the bountiful and gratuitous offer in the Gospel 
 arises from disbelief or doubt in res^ard to the 
 doctrinal truth involved. If you could be thor- 
 oughly convinced of what has just been uttered, 
 namely, that your not acce2:>ting Christ is owing 
 to your not crediting the Gospel truth concern- 
 ing Christ, you would have made a large stej). 
 You would then see hoAV important is Truth 
 especially such cardinal and saving truth. You 
 would no longer hang about the untenable po- 
 sition that you actually believe this truth, while 
 you show no influence of such belief. You 
 would learn what is the precise hindrance, to 
 wit, your unbelief; and you would be made 
 conscious of your principal sin, which is, refus- 
 
84 THE NATUKE OF FAITH. 
 
 ing to credit God's gracious declaration concern- 
 ing liis Son. Tliose who remain long convinced 
 ^vitliout being converted, frame to themselves 
 manifold reasons, why they do not repose their 
 souls on the Lord Jesus, as made over to them 
 in the offer of love. But they shrink from 
 looking at the true reason, which is their not 
 believing tlie truth comprehended in that offer. 
 Once suppose a soul awakened and desiring sal- 
 vation, and all that is wanting in order to peace, 
 is simple faith. The pleas which are commonly 
 urged by the inquirer, that his sin is too great 
 to be pardoned ; that his case is peculiar ; that 
 he has forfeited all possibility of grace ; that his 
 heart is hard; that he has not been humbled 
 enough ; or does not feel terror enough or grief 
 enough ; in a word, that any conditions remain 
 unfulfilled ; all these pleas spring from disbe- 
 lief of the fulness and gratuity of salvation. All 
 this lingering betrays erroneous doctrine in the 
 mind, or denial of true doctrine. All proceeds 
 from narrow, dishonourable, and therefore false 
 views of Christ and his work. The moment the 
 soul apprehends the Lord Jesus Christ as he 
 is, no longer as a taskmaster demanding condi- 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. 85 
 
 tions, but, as a Surety, fulfilling them, it falls 
 into his arms. You doubt him ; it is the same 
 as want of faith. You doubt him ; hence your 
 evil conscience. You doubt his power, his love, 
 his truth, his willingness to save. He has 
 saved others, but you doubt his readiness to 
 save you. The very instant that complete truth 
 gains possession of your soul, you will surren- 
 der. It is the simplest thing in the world, but 
 the hardest, where the truth is not believed. 
 Even true Christians, who have some faith, are 
 not always in the exercise of faith in high de- 
 grees. The sun is not always equally bright in 
 the soul's firmament. But when relief comes, it 
 comes by seeing this truth and believing it. 
 As this truth, which is the object of saving 
 faith, relates to Jesus Christ, or rather as Jesus 
 Christ is himself the Truth ; the best of all di- 
 rections to the inquirer, and the doubter, and 
 the backslider, and the mourner, is contained in 
 the trite phraseology that he should be continu- 
 ally " looking unto Jesu-s^^ If life depended on 
 your seeing the sun, whither, I beseech you, 
 should you be bending your eyes, but yonder, 
 eastward, where the reddening dawn, breaking 
 
86 THE NATURE OF FAITH. 
 
 into streaks of gold, harbingers the approaching 
 orb of fire ? Set up before your mind the one 
 great aim of faith, Jesus Cheist the Eighteous. 
 All our exposition, argument, exhortation, and 
 entreaty can only reiterate the cry, Behold him ! 
 behold him ! Infinitely below the reality are 
 all our representations of his graciousness and 
 earnestness to save. Angels and sainted spirits 
 would hardly recognize the Jesus whom we de- 
 lineate. Prophecy and Gospel combine to rep- 
 resent him as waiting to save. This is precisely 
 what you disbelieve. In your careless hours of 
 open sin, you scarcely considered whether he 
 would save or not ; you entertained no genuine 
 estimate of the Olirist that is, in beauty and 
 glory ; you believed nothing. 'Now, though 
 you have a partial illumination breaking 
 through chinks of the dungeon, enough to re- 
 veal loathsome horrors, you nevertheless have 
 not yet enough to show you the Son of God, 
 standing in grace and beauty, yearning over 
 you -svith compassion, and offering to make you 
 his at once. Still we cry, Behold him ! behold 
 him ! He is holy, he abhors your unholiness. 
 But he offers you a redemption which includes 
 
THE NATURE OF FAITH. §7 
 
 your being holy. Keep your thoughts directed 
 to the gracious form, who dignifies the Altar 
 and the Cross. See in him your priest. See in 
 him your sacrifice. " Behold the Lainb of God^ 
 which taketh away the sin of the world! " 
 
IV. 
 
 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 1 John v. 11. — "And this is the record, that God hath given 
 
 to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.' 
 
 So long as the great means of raising man to 
 life is Trutli, so long there will be importance 
 in Faith. And inasmuch as salvation is by be- 
 lieving, there is not one of us who is not inter- 
 ested in the inquiry, What is it that I am in- 
 vited to believe ? From the very nature of the 
 subject it allies itself to every other truth of the 
 system. And the doctrine is so important that 
 it requires to be held uj) in various lights and 
 revolved in various phases, in order to a com- 
 plete view. There is a species of religious 
 teaching which affects to disregard all doctrinal 
 statement and distinction ; you know where to 
 find it, but it belongs not to the children of the 
 
92 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 Keformation. Our characteristic for centuries 
 lias been tlie establishing of all emotion, pas- 
 sion, purpose, and activity on a settled basis of 
 unmistakable truth, so essential as to sustain its 
 friends, and so outspoken as to offend its ene- 
 mies. In the ministry of this doctrine, our 
 whole reliance under God is on its being clearly 
 and honestly stated. If it is false, our preach- 
 ing is vain, and your faith is also vain. " There- 
 fore, seeing we have this ministry, we faint not, 
 but have renounced the hidden thino^s of dis- 
 honesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling 
 the Word of God deceitfully, but by manifes- 
 tation of the truth, commending ourselves to 
 every man's conscience in the sight of God." 2 
 Cor. iv. 2. The day was, dear brethren, when 
 we ourselves disbelieved these blessed verities ; 
 hence are we more earnest in bringing them as 
 near as possible unto you ; and " the Word is 
 nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart ; 
 that is, the Word of Faith which we preach." 
 Rom. X. 8. Concerning faith, many things 
 have already been said, but the inquiry which 
 now presses with most importance, and which 
 I design to treat simply and by familiar illus- 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 93 
 
 tration, regards the object of saving faith; in 
 other words, What is it that I believe, when 
 
 I HAVE THE faith WHICH IS UNTO SALVATION? 
 
 The text contains a sufficient reply, being one 
 of many comprehensive statements of divine 
 grace and mercy : " God hath given to us eter- 
 nal life, and this life is in his Son." Now, the 
 point which we cannot too ^particularly observe 
 in the context is, that this declaration of God, 
 this critical and cardinal truth, is the very truth 
 held forth to be believed in order to salvation. 
 That is, this is the truth, the believing of which 
 is saving. In other words, this belief is saving 
 faith. Or, more exactly for our purpose, this 
 declaration contains what we are to believe in or- 
 der to be saved, i. e.^ the precise object of faith. 
 Let me request your more particular atten- 
 tion to the way in which the words are intro- 
 duced. The apostle is discoursing of testimony, 
 or witness-bearing, and for this plain reason, 
 that faith is belief of a witness, and that divine 
 faith is belief of God as a witness. Mark, then, 
 how he brings the sinner up to the point — most 
 critical and momentous point — in which he 
 must credit God or discredit him, in which he 
 
94 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 must rest on God's veracity or hold it unworthy, 
 in which he must recognize the grand object or 
 deny it. For observe what is said, verse 9, of 
 testimony in general, and divine testimony in 
 particular : *' If we receive the witness of men, 
 the witness of God is greater, and this is the 
 witness of God which he hath testified of his 
 Son." Observe, further, what is said, verse 10, 
 of crediting the Son, by crediting the Father, 
 who speaks in testimony of him : " He that be- 
 lieveth on the Spirit of God hath the witness in 
 himself: he that believeth not God hath made 
 him a liar ; " here the sinner is brought to the 
 critical point of acknowledging or denying 
 God's veracity " because he believeth not the 
 record that God gave by his Son." In these 
 words it is put beyond controversy, that the 
 matter to be believed, the object of faith, is 
 " the record that God gave of his Son." But to 
 remove the last remnant of doubt as to what 
 this record is, these words are added : " And 
 THIS is the record, that God hath given to us 
 eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Behold 
 here the truth to be believed : behold here the 
 object of faith. 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 95 
 
 Now here we miglit rest, and here, indeed, 
 many a simple childlike soul has rested and 
 been saved. For pure, clear, unsophisticated 
 affiance, this word of God's redeeming mercy is 
 enough. But ah ! how much does the Father 
 of Lies, the primeval deceiver, the murderous 
 suggest er of doubts, abhor this saving verity, 
 and how constantly does he try, first to remove 
 it out of the way, and in default of this, to per- 
 plex and tangle it with many complications ! 
 Nine-tenths of the work of the Bible-theologian 
 consists in sweeping the cobwebs of ages from 
 the windows of the soul. And though Provi- 
 dence raised up a Luther to tear away this ob- 
 scuring curtain, the noxious foe as by ten thou- 
 sand spiders is weaving, weaving, weaving it 
 again. Even such decisive terms as those of the 
 text become obscured, by being painted over 
 and over by erroneous theology. Hence we 
 have to substitute other terms, diversity of 
 phraseology, manifold illustrations, thus imitat- 
 ing the Scriptures, which change the language 
 again and again, lest the simplest should fail to 
 catch the meaning ; but above all, must we 
 gather and make plain the varied statements of 
 
96 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 the Word itself. For instance, not to go beyond 
 this short letter, we find the following passages, 
 which convey the same meaning with the text, 
 and so equally hold np the object of faith, ii. 2 : 
 " He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for 
 ours only, but for the sins of the whole world." 
 ii. 25 : " And this is the promise that he hath 
 promised us, even Eternal Life." iv. 10 : " Here- 
 in is love, not that we loved God, but that he 
 loved us, and sent his Son as the propitiation 
 for our sins." All which is summed up in the 
 Gospel epitome of another apostle, 2 Cor. vi. 19, 
 to wit, " that God [is] in Christ reconciling the 
 world unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
 passes unto them." We may, therefore, confi- 
 dently say that the truth to be believed, in or- 
 der to be saved, or, in other words, the object 
 of saving faith, is this : God^ for Christ s sdke^ 
 now loohs with reconciling love on me a sinner, 
 
 I. Keeping out of view entirely all that con- 
 cerns the mental act which we call faith or be- 
 lieving, and which is sufficiently treated in an- 
 other discourse, let us place before us, and in 
 the converging rays and focal point of Biblical 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 97 
 
 ligM, tlie great but simple truth wliicli is to 
 save us ; hoping and praying that by the guid- 
 ance of the S]3ii'it we may not mistake, but be 
 enabled to jDenetrate through all mists and col- 
 oured clouds to the vital reality. What is it 
 that I helieve^ loheii I savingly come to Christ ? 
 To the unawakened hearer, the answer seems of 
 no interest. God has uttered it to his deaf ear 
 a thousand times ; but to a soul pierced by the 
 arrow of law, it is an answer of life. "What do 
 I believe ? This : that God^ for Christ s sake^ 
 noiD loohs in love on me^ a sinner. The dis- 
 closure of this is a great fact, the gift of his Son. 
 " He gave his only-begotton Son "... and, as this 
 demonstrates, " so loved the world "... that the 
 sinner's faith is commanded. He takes God at his 
 word ... he reads the letters of blood ... he ac- 
 cepts the pledge of the Cross ... he sets to his 
 seal that God is true ; he says, though fainting, 
 " I give up ; Christ does love me, God is my God, 
 and I am a pardoned soul ! " But hold, we 
 must go to work coolly, for it is a matter of in- 
 vestigation. We are looking closely, to desciy^ 
 in God's light the very object of saving faitli. 
 All God's truth is the general object of faith ; 
 
98 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 but we seek the particular object of tie faith 
 which brings pardon. What is a dying child to 
 believe, in order to be instantaneously justified ? 
 
 hearer ! O thou who hast heard the truth 
 from these poor lips so often, to thy hardening 
 and perhaps to thy eventual destruction, O that 
 
 1 could think thou wouldst listen to my reply as 
 touching thy case. Hearken to the answer. 
 The truth to be believed is one, yet comprehen- 
 sive. It is this : God, for Christ's sake, now 
 makes over to me in the offer of the Gospel, a 
 full pardon, without price or meritorious condi- 
 tion. Or thus: God here and now gives me 
 Christ as my salvation from sin, a salvation to 
 be received this instant. Or thus : Christ Je- 
 sus came to save the chief of sinners, and so to 
 save me. Or thus : God is infinitely loving, 
 and infinitely willing to save me, just as I am, 
 and the moment I believe. Or thus : God is 
 now become my reconciled Father through Je- 
 sus Christ. 
 
 Already you are whispering to yourself, 
 " There is nothing very great in this ; all this 
 have I known from my youth up ! " Yea, dear 
 incredulous sinner, you have indeed known, but 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 99 
 
 never believed. Tlie grandest, strangest, love- 
 liest truth in all the universe, wliicli makes, the 
 theme of all redeemed choirs above, is to you a 
 hackneyed proposition, and a discredited com- 
 monplace. It would be far otherwise if you 
 felt your soul sinking. The life-boat carried 
 along our streets is a thing of indifference, per- 
 haps an obstruction of the drive ; but in the 
 howling breakers and boiling surf, it is, in re- 
 gard to life, the way of salvation. The truth on 
 which faith seizes is very simple. Let us, how- 
 ever, turn it upon its axis, that different aspects 
 of the orb may face our vision. 
 
 II. " God, for Christ's sake, is reconciled to 
 me, a sinner.^ Here is a proposition sufficient 
 to save the soul even in the jaws of damnation, 
 
 but IT I^WOLVES SEVERAL TRUTHS. 
 
 He who believes it, believes other things as 
 well. All his antecedent beliefs are taken up 
 as Ijy summation in this, as all the previous 
 stages and developments of the seed, blade, 
 stem, leaf, bud, and blossom are perfected in the 
 simj^le but matcliless rose. In receiving Christ 
 I receive a world of blessed truth, heavenly but 
 
100 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 childlike, because of children is the kingdom of 
 heaven. I receive and admit who Christ is, 
 what he is, the love that was incarnate in him, 
 the works he wrought, the words he spake, the 
 Cross he endured, the righteousness he fur- 
 nishes, the offer he sends me, the holy salvation 
 which he bestows. Hence so much is made of 
 believing on Christ. Sitting with my fellow- 
 sinners and fellovz-weepers, and fellow-lovers, 
 Avhere the Marys sit, at Calvary, and looking 
 up into the pale and livid face that speaks di- 
 vine sorrow and compassion, I am visited with 
 many beliefs, but all harmonious. I believe, as 
 never before, that there is no other salvation, 
 that I cannot save myself, and that this saves 
 me. I believe myself wretched, impure, justly 
 condemned, and utterly helpless. I have a sin- 
 cere faith in the doctrine that God loves sinners, 
 even the world of them, and that this dying Son 
 of God is sent to save them from perishing. I 
 read in the crimson spectacle, the mighty cost 
 at which God the Father redeems and rescues. 
 Recalling what this Jesus has said and done, 
 and forborne and endured, I behold law satis- 
 fied and justice enthroned and glorious. In the 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. IQl 
 
 outstretclied arms of my neglected but now be- 
 loved Jesus, I discern a welcome to me and all 
 the world to come and take wisdom, rigliteous- 
 ness, sanctification, and redemption. ISiow, now 
 I know, tliat God makes a free and unreserved 
 gift of Christ, and makes the gift to me. Yes, 
 this Jesus, and with him pardon, acceptance, 
 and life ; this Jesus is mine on my acceptance. 
 And I do accept. Lord, I believe, help thou 
 mine unbelief All this is only an imperfect, 
 free translation of the expression that God, for 
 Christ's sake, is now reconciled to me, a sinner. 
 
 III. It is important to guaed AOAiisrsT sev- 
 eral EREOES EESPECTING THE OBJECT OF FaITH. 
 
 For though that which is to be believed may be 
 stated in many ways, it is not every statement 
 which may be made, that contains the truth 
 which saves. Some who have never had a 
 breath of genuine Gospel wafted to their legal 
 wilderness, imagine that they have long knowai 
 the heavenly message, and that it is this : Who- 
 soever lives so as to please God shall be saved. 
 In whatever sense this might be true in a per- 
 fect state, it is not the record which faith ac- 
 
102 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 cepts, and it sliows itself not to be sucL, by its 
 wanting tlie essential idea of tlie GosjDel, viz., 
 free gift. The belief of tliis ^proposition, how- 
 ever strong, would give no relief to a sin-bui^- 
 dened soul. Neither is this the thino^ to be be- 
 lieved, that salvation is possible. This is true, 
 as many other sayings are true ; but it does not 
 reach the case. Some have taught that, by the 
 mediation of Christ, we are placed in a salvable 
 state. This would throw the selfcondemned 
 wretch, already despairing of escaj)e by his own 
 struggles, back into the sea where he was 
 droAvning. It is the deep conviction that his 
 most vehement endeavours are worthless, which 
 has clriven him to look beyond himself for aid. 
 The truth which the sinner takes hold of at his 
 calling is not that God, by the plan of salvation, 
 has come down from heaven to meet him half- 
 way, and that by his own doing he is to make 
 up the remainder of the distance. This is no 
 Gospel, least of all a free Gosj)el, in the ears of 
 one who is not merely crippled but dead in 
 trespasses and sins. Many there are who go all 
 their lives halting between two opinions, and 
 balancing between law and Gospel, by reason 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 103 
 
 of unscriptural teaching on tliis point. It may 
 be laid down as universally true, tliat lie wlio 
 suspends liis peace of soul, or his warrant to 
 rejoice, upon any amount of performance by 
 himself, either outward or inward, can never be 
 certified that he has performed enough, and 
 therefore can never attain to unshaken confi- 
 dence. The proposition that God has done 
 part, and we must do part, in respect to re- 
 demption, is not so much inadequate or irrele- 
 vant, as utterly false. " Salvation is of the 
 Lord." A<>:ain, saving^ faith is not the believino; 
 that, after I shall have gone through a certain 
 mental and moral process or train of exercises, 
 such as awakening, conviction, submission to 
 law, purpose of entire holiness, or what is by 
 many taken as repentance — though scrijDtural 
 repentance is a difierent thing — then I may find 
 God reconciled to me. Such is not the proposi- 
 tion to be believed, and if it were, no one could 
 know, without inspiration, whether he had 
 reached the necessary j)oint in the process, and 
 therefore no one could know whether he mig-ht 
 yet rely on the Eedeemer of the lost. It is 
 a more full, a more sure, a more present salva- 
 
104 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 tion, that is in God's "gift" and in faith's 
 " record." 
 
 To evince how nearly Christians of differ- 
 ent schools agree on this point, let me quote 
 some words from the sermon of a Moravian 
 brother ; they were published with approval by 
 J. Wesley, and to the endorsement we add our 
 humbler name : " But you will say, ^ Must I 
 not grieve and mourn for my sins ? Must I 
 not humble myself before God? Is not this 
 just and right ? And must I not first do this 
 before I can expect God to be reconciled to 
 me?' 
 
 " I answer, It is just and right. You must be 
 humbled before God. You must have a broken 
 and contrite heart. But then, observe, this is 
 not your own work. Do you grieve that you 
 are a sinner ? This is the work of the Holy 
 Ghost. Are you contrite ? Are you humbled 
 before God ? Do you indeed mourn, and is 
 your heart broken within you ? All this work- 
 eth the selfsame Spiiit. 
 
 " Observe, again ; this is not the foundation. 
 It is not this by which you are justified. This 
 is not the righteousness ; this is no part of the 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 105 
 
 righteousness by which you are reconciled unto 
 God. You grieve for your sins. You are deep- 
 ly humble. Your heart is broken. Well; but 
 this is nothing to your justification. The re- 
 mission of your sins is not owing to this cause, 
 either in whole or in part. Your humiliation 
 and contrition have no influence on that. Nay, 
 observe, further, that it may hinder your justifi- 
 cation, i. e.^ if you build any thing upon it ; if 
 you think ^ I must be so or so contrite ; I must 
 grieve more, before I can be justified.' Under- 
 stand this well. To think you must be more 
 contrite, more humble, more grieved, more sen- 
 sible of the weight of sin, before you can be jus- 
 tified, is to lay your contrition, your grief, your 
 humiliation, for the foundation of your being 
 justified, at least for a part of the foundation. 
 Therefore it hinders your justification; and a 
 hinderance it is, which must be removed before 
 you can lay the right foundation. The right 
 foundation is, not your contrition, not your 
 righteousness, nothing of your own ; nothing 
 that is wrought in you by the Holy Ghost ; but 
 it is something without you, viz., the righteous- 
 ness and the blood of Christ." 
 
106 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 Coming still more nearly to tlie point, the 
 object of faitli is not any vague and general 
 mercy. Saving faitli is not tlie belief tliat God 
 is reconciling himself to some, to many, to 
 others. No ; the overburdened soul sighs for 
 something: more individual than this, and long-s 
 for a voice which shall call it, and speak to it 
 by name. And then it cries, " God hath given 
 me eternal life ! " 
 
 ly. But it is so much better to treat sub- 
 jects of this nature a£6.rmatively than negative- 
 ly, that we return with pleasure to the positive 
 object of faith. That which the opening vision 
 of the new creature looks forth upon, then, in- 
 stead of inherent holiness, sincere preparation, 
 or even faith itself as regarded by reflex acts, is 
 something altogether without, above, and be- 
 YOis^D ITSELF. Leaving out of question those — 
 many such are among my hearers — who are 
 altogether indifferent to the whole matter, the 
 majority of those who fail to believe God do so 
 because they cannot be drawn away from the 
 fruitless employment of gazing into their own 
 nothino^ness. The time and strenj^th which 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 107 
 
 miglit be given to tlie Cross are spent in qne- 
 r}TQg, Have I holiness ? Have I repentance ? 
 Have I conviction ? Have I feelino; ? As if 
 title to come to Clirist were made to depend on 
 sucli or sncli desi'ees or kinds of feeline, wlietli- 
 er tender or joyous. Looking at self prevents 
 tlie greater and more indispensable work of look- 
 ing at a glory infinitely liigker than self, and 
 vrliicli is the proper object of faith. When a 
 conveiled soul has once been brought to the en- 
 raptured sight of " Jesus Chiist and him cruci- 
 fied," rising above its horizon ^^dth the morning 
 effulgence of love, " full of grace and truth," it 
 seems easy to look away fi^om j^reparations and 
 conditions. But where is the believer who does 
 not recall the time when nothing was harder 
 than to turn the thoughts away fi'om home ? 
 
 The single point at which the believing eye 
 is directed is not only exterior to itself, but is 
 altogether perfect, heavenly, and divine. It is 
 something that God has fully done. It is a 
 work wrought and consummate ; a finished 
 righteousness ; a fact accomplished ; an event 
 which cannot be repeated ; a deed which satis- 
 fies all heaven, and proclaims God a Saviour. 
 
108 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 The tearful eye of faitli fixes itself on an object 
 wliicli is not made greater or less, better or 
 worse, by tlie act of believing, but wliicli is al- 
 ways tlie same. The " one sacrifice of Himself," 
 the one atonement, propitiation, expiation, obe- 
 dience, and satisfaction, lies there before the 
 throne of God, as unalterably and eternally ac- 
 cepted. The quality, or preciousness, or jDower 
 of this finished work is not to be increased by 
 any thing that the sinner can do, or forbear to 
 do. This immutable object of faith abides there 
 in a sublime plenitude and incorruptible glory, 
 typified by the golden covering of the holy ark. 
 Being something not his own, the sinner sees it 
 as pure gratuity. Moreover, in believing, he 
 regards it especially as something given of God, 
 made over in free ofifer, and tendered to the ac- 
 ceptance of every one who hears. How can we 
 better represent this mysterious and lovely ob- 
 ject, than by naming it Christ ? It is the per- 
 sonal Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us, who is 
 made over by deed of gift to sinners of man- 
 kind. What we call Glad Tidings, or Gospel, 
 is the record of this gift, " God hath given to us 
 eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Believe 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 109 
 
 this, and tlie gift is yours ; tlie contract is 
 joined ; tlie connection is complete ; tlie soul is 
 married ; God's anger is turned away ; Christ's 
 righteousness is your righteousness ; you can 
 never perish, neither can any pluck you out of 
 God's hand. This is present salvation ; and it 
 is accomplished in the case of the humblest 
 soul, that, perhaps at this moment, joins itself 
 to Christ. Such are the consequences of admit- 
 ting the truth that God is reconciled to us for 
 the sake of his Son. 
 
 V. Finally, lest some unremoved scruples or 
 unanswered objections should prevent any from 
 directly acting on the truth laid down, we ask 
 a hearing for these i^ecessaey cautions and ex- 
 planations. 
 
 1. This is not saying, as some have ven- 
 tured to say, that saving faith is the belief 
 that Christ died for me in particular. Faith 
 does not busy itself with God's decree as to 
 who shall be saved. Faith accepts the glorious 
 truth that Christ died, and otherwise made 
 satisfaction, of such value as to suffice for all 
 human sin, and adequate to accomplish all hu- 
 
110 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 man salvation, and that God makes a frank 
 offer of tkis atonement to every one wlio hears 
 the Gospel. 
 
 2. This is not saying, as some have said, 
 that assured certainty of being in a state of 
 grace is of the essence of saving faith. Such 
 assurance is of priceless value ; but where it 
 exists it is not faith, but a fruit of faith. Even 
 the assurance of faith is distinguishable from 
 certainty of being saved, which is the assurance 
 of hope. Saving faith is man's setting to his 
 seal, " that God is true ; " assurance of hope is 
 wrought by God's seal that the soul is his. 
 One may precede the other. Eph. i. IB, 14: 
 " In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard 
 the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salva- 
 tion ; in whom, also, after that ye helieved^ ye 
 were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, 
 which is the earnest of our inheritance, until 
 the redemption of the purchased possession." 
 But " this infallible assurance doth not so be- 
 long to the essence of faith, but that a true be- 
 liever may wait long, and conflict with many 
 difficulties before he be partaker of it." Con- 
 fession of Faith, xviii. 3. To believe that he 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITU. HI 
 
 believes, is nowliere made necessary to justifica- 
 tion. Tliis matter will be made clearer by 
 means of the particular \Yliicli follows. 
 
 3. While the object of faith, or truth to be 
 believed, remains constant or invariable, faith 
 itself lia-s degrees. It may be weak or strong, 
 and the weak as well as the strong may be 
 saving. It is the object, not the receptive in- 
 strrmaent, which saves. If it had been any- 
 where said that he who believes enough shall 
 be saved, we mio'ht be forever doubtful whether 
 the standard had been reached. But the prom- 
 ise is, " He that believeth shall be saved." A 
 feeble hand may as effectually endorse a check 
 for a hundred thousand j)ounds as the hand of 
 a giant. The entire charge of an electro-mag- 
 netic system of batteries may be drawn out by 
 the touch of an infant. But though the small- 
 ness of degree in faith does not impair its in- 
 strumental validity, it does greatly lessen its 
 power to comfort. And high j)ersonal assur- 
 ance is attainable only by means of great faith. 
 In discussing that which is essential to faith, 
 and therefore common to all instances, we must 
 not exclude its ])eginnings, or earliest breath- 
 
112 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 ings. JSTay, we ought to treat these of prefer- 
 ence, because our address is chiefly to sucli as 
 have either small faith or uone at all. So faint 
 are the dawnings of grace, that it would be un- 
 j)rofitable for the young Christian to spend 
 much time in contemplating them. The only 
 safe direction is, that you abandon all thought 
 of what goes on within you, and allow yourself 
 to be swallowed up with a view of the wonder- 
 ful gift of God. Take your flight from subject- 
 ive to objective truth. Believe, and you shall 
 know. 
 
 4. The blessedness of helieving will he in pro- 
 portion to the strength and fulness ivith ivMcJi 
 the ohject of faith is apprehended. Having al- 
 lotted another portion of these remarks to the 
 work of the Holy Spirit, as the author of faith, 
 we shall not open that subject here. It is, how- 
 ever, proper to say, that when the Blessed Com- 
 forter begins the work, as a Vivifier, New Crea- 
 tor, and Enlightener, he carries it on with lov- 
 ing care as a Strengthener, Sanctifier, and Com- 
 forter. Every part of this divine process is 
 conducted by means of Truth, and every new 
 accession of truth is taken up by the assimilat- 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 113 
 
 ing powers of tlie spiritual constitution tlirougli 
 Faitli. More especially, it is by believing tliat 
 tlie hope, cheerfulness, and joy of the soul are 
 exalted. Every fresh view of Christ in his 
 manifold excellencies becomes a new inlet of 
 happiness ; and this by drawing the thoughts 
 and affections more and more away from inward 
 acts, intentions, habits, graces, and experience, 
 and from all that is of the creature, to dwell 
 upon infinite brightness, to admire eternal beau- 
 ty, and to be bathed in the rays of celestial love. 
 The rapture of a newly-converted sinner is 
 great ; his mouth is filled with laughter and his 
 tono-ue with sino^ino; ; in his trance of deli o lit 
 he is like them that dream. Yet how much is it 
 that he yet sees of Christ as the gift of God ? 
 Only the dim grey twilight which precedes the 
 day. He has faith, indeed, but its capacity is 
 slender, and receives the object in small meas- 
 ure. Miserable is that professor who aspires to 
 nothing better. The New Testament experience 
 is a continual commentary on the prayer, " Lord, 
 increase our faith ! " If I were to paint the 
 portrait of a mature saint, he should be one who 
 speaks and thinks little of himself He does 
 
114 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 not descant on liis own experience. He has no 
 time for j)rotracted inventories of Lis states and 
 feelings. He says, in the sj)irit of the personi- 
 fied Church in, the song : " I am black bnt 
 comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the 
 tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon ; 
 look not upon me, because I am black, because 
 the sun hath looked upon me." i. 5, 6. He is 
 taken up elsewhere, and is all eye, to take in 
 the radiance of the Heavenly Bridegroom. If 
 once he received the " record which God hath 
 given of his Son," now by augmented faith he 
 receives a thousandfold more by the same 
 words, even as the portrait of one beloved 
 grows more dear by renewed knowledge of the 
 original. Faith springs up at the slightest 
 whisper, like the young wife at the husband's 
 greeting, " the voice of my beloved ! behold, he 
 cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skij^ping 
 upon the hills ! " Faith develops the latent ele- 
 ments of the great salvation, which it received 
 wrapped up and unscrutinized, just as spring 
 develops animal and vegetable nature ; and each 
 new unfolding of Christ's beauty adds warm 
 showers and joyous zej)liyrs to the advancing 
 
THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 115 
 
 fellowship. Hear how the Church recounts her 
 experience of " trjsting times " with the King : 
 " My beloved siDake, and said unto me, Eise up, 
 my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, 
 the winter is past, the [cold] rain is over and 
 gone ; the flowers appear on the earth ; the 
 time of the singing of birds is come, and the 
 voice of the turtle [dove] is heard in our land ; 
 the ^g tree putteth forth her green figs, and the 
 vines with the tender grape give a good smell. 
 Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." 
 Why, my brethren, should we always remain 
 among the beginnings of Christianity, beating 
 about the port of departure, and hugging the 
 coast of wintry doubt ? Wherefore shall we 
 not rather give all our canvas to the blessed 
 wind of heaven, and set forth boldly into the 
 broad ocean, where so many happy souls have 
 gone before us, to climates of serene hope and 
 sunny joy? AVe need, and we may have, a 
 more meridian blaze of the Sun of Eio-hteous- 
 ness. The indwelling of the Lord in your souls 
 is the great necessity. It will produce the effects 
 which Paul prays for : " For this cause I bow 
 my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 
116 THE OBJECT OF FAITH. 
 
 Christ, of wliom the whole family in heaven and 
 earth is named, that he would grant you accord- 
 ing to the riches of his glory, to be strength- 
 ened by all might in the inner man ; that Christ 
 may dwell in your hearts hy faith ; that ye, be- 
 ing rooted and grounded in love, may be able 
 to comprehend with all saints what is the 
 breadth, and length, and depth, and height, 
 and to know the love of Christ, which passeth 
 knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the 
 fulness of God ! " 
 
V. 
 
 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 EoMANS iv. 16. — "Therefore it is of Faith, that it might be 
 by Grace." 
 
 Although tlie liigHy interesting subject of 
 Christ's righteousness as our justification before 
 God, must be frequently brought into view in 
 this series, it will come before us now only as 
 incidental to our main incjuiry. As an intro- 
 duction to what is chiefly proposed, these few fa- 
 miliar statements must suffice in resrard to this 
 foundation truth of evan2:elical theolosry. In 
 the com'se of ages Catholic divines, as they are 
 called, met upon certain platforms of doctrine 
 which they defined in creeds and treatises. 
 These were tauGrht in all the schools, with a 
 certain degree of unanimity. Among the doc- 
 trines of these was that view of justification 
 
120 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYIXG. 
 
 whicli the Keformers, without a dissentino' 
 voice, rejected. Luther and the rest showed 
 from Scripture that Komish theology confound- 
 ed justification and sanctification. It asserted 
 that a man is justified when he is made inward- 
 ly holy by a supernatural operation ; by an in- 
 fusion from above of inherent sanctity, which 
 they call an infused habit, (JiaUtus iiifusus.) 
 Eeformed theology admitted the necessity of 
 this inward holiness, this supernatural aid, 
 and this change of disposition, referring all 
 these to the head of sanctification. But it 
 went to the Law and to the Testimony, to 
 show, that this is not the way in which Divine 
 Wisdom has chosen to represent justification. 
 In the Old and N"ew Testament, wherever the 
 sinner's rescue is spoken of, the great matter is 
 made to be the removal of guilt, or that relation 
 to God's justice, law, wrath, and penalty, which 
 excludes and must forever exclude the ofi'ender 
 from peace and perfection. Viewed from our 
 low human point of observation, it is as if God, 
 sitting in his august judgment-seat, should say, 
 " This guilty man is no longer guilty," which is 
 dififerent from saying, This impure man is no 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 121 
 
 longer impure. This sentence or declaration is 
 pronounced in court, wlience our fathers, from 
 the Keformation downwards, spoke of justifica- 
 tion as a judicial or forensic act. All such 
 terms are metaphorical, and are not even by 
 generous opponents pressed to all the inconven- 
 ient results of a perfect analogy. So to press 
 a metaphor, would render absurd all that we 
 say about God's " council," " throne," or " moral 
 government." These are phrases borrowed from 
 the affairs of men, to helj) our understanding of 
 the aflPairs of God. God justifies the sinner by 
 declaring the Law satisfied in regard to him. 
 In regard to this sinner, the Law has no demand 
 of wrath, no sword of punition, no bar of exclu- 
 sion. But how can this be, while the sinner is 
 still in fact a sinner ? In no way could it be, 
 if the sinner were regarded as in himself, or if 
 justification imported a real or intrinsic change. 
 For that real and intrinsic change we must look 
 to another quarter. What we now seek is a 
 change of state, from wrath to favour — from guilt 
 to righteousness. God pronounces the sinner 
 to be thus removed from one state to another, 
 just as the judge pronounces the accused pris- 
 
122 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 oner at tlie bar to be innocent. The declaration 
 of the judge does not make the prisoner either 
 better or worse as to his inward character. The 
 declaration of God does not, as a declaration, 
 make the justified sinner either better or worse ; 
 though he is then and there made better, and 
 placed in a train of being made better eternally, 
 but by an influence which clear minds love to 
 keej) separate. This logical discrimination was 
 not observed by the Komanists, and hence the 
 darkness which overspreads their entire scheme 
 of redemjDtion, the more remarkable in contrast 
 with the clearness of their statements concerning 
 the Trinity, the godhead of Christ, and the In- 
 carnation. In pronouncing the sinner to l)e 
 right in the view of law, which includes nega- 
 tive and positive righteousness, remission of sin, 
 and title to favour, God does not pronounce 
 what is contrary to the truth of the case, which 
 would be so, if he pronounced him one who had 
 never sinned, or one who is this moment sinless. 
 The justifpng act is the apjDlication to the sin- 
 ner of Christ's satisfactory work. By a meta- 
 phor we call it forensic, or declarative. It sets 
 over to the believing sinner the satisfaction of 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 123 
 
 the Divine Surety. 1. The righteousness of 
 Jesus Christ with all its merits is placed to the 
 account of the sinner ; not as actually wrought 
 by him, which would be untrue, in fact, but as 
 wrought for him, in his name, and on his behalf. 
 2. As a necessary concomitant, or rather as a 
 blessing involved in this, the sins of the believer 
 with all their guilt are remitted ; not on the 
 ground that he has never committed them, nor 
 on the ground that he has made personal satis- 
 faction, both which would be untrue, in fact, 
 but because the righteousness of Christ presents 
 a complete satisfaction. 3. And, as a third 
 particular, the soul thus justified because thus 
 viewed in Christ, is admitted to favour, life, and 
 the rewards of grace. To these advantages, all 
 included in justification, the sinner is admitted 
 immediately on his believing. 
 
 In any investigation of Faith, it is necessary 
 to inquire. What is the jpart or province of Faith 
 in this important act of Justification ? And 
 this is what we propose to consider in the se- 
 quel of this discourse. 1. The Word of God 
 declares that he who is justified is justified by 
 faith. " The just shall live by his faith." Heb. 
 
124 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 ii. 4. "For tlierein [in the Gospel] is tlie 
 righteousness of God revealed from faith to 
 faith ; as it is written, The just shall live by 
 faith." Kom. i. 17. " Therefore we conclude 
 that a man is justified by faith without the 
 deeds of the law." Kom. iii. 28. "Knowing 
 that a man is not justified by the works of the 
 law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we 
 have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
 be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by 
 the works of the law." Gal. ii. 16. " The law 
 was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, 
 that we might be justified by faith." iii. 24. 
 " We wait for the hope of righteousness by 
 faith." V. 5. " The righteousness which is of 
 God by faith." Philipp. iii. 9. No proposition 
 can be proved from the Scriptures, if such pas- 
 sages do not prove that a man is justified by 
 faith. And, indeed, this is acknowledged to be 
 true in some sense by all with whom we have 
 to do in this argument. The question, however, 
 is still open. Why, and in what manner, are we 
 justified by faith ? 2. Faith does not justify, in 
 whole or in part, as a righteousness, or as a mer- 
 itorious obedience. It is not the intrinsic excel- 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 125 
 
 lence of faith as an exercise of mind, or as a Cliris- 
 tian virtue, which procures our justification. It is 
 true that faith is highly honourable to God and 
 beneficial to man. Taking all scriptural pas- 
 sages together, there is no single grace of which 
 more excellent things are affii'med, than faith. 
 It is the spring of all obedience, and the begin- 
 ning of all sanctification, being the soul's hom- 
 age to God as Infinite Truth. Faith is greatly 
 acceptable to the living and true God, and 
 ^' without faith it is impossible to please him." 
 But no one of these qualities, nor all together, 
 give Faith its justifying power. 
 
 In all the respects just mentioned, faith is 
 part of our dues ; an obligation to be rendered ; 
 a tribute exacted ; a spiritual service coramand- 
 ed ; an inward and most desirable work, and so 
 a part of conformity to law. Under these as- 
 pects. Faith stands among sister Graces, such as 
 Hope, Humility, Patience, Joy, Purity, and 
 Love, as offering an obedience which in an un- 
 fallen state would satisfy divine justice, but 
 which in our present broken condition, as con- 
 demned, must not be pleaded before God. As 
 a meritorious part of obedience, faith cannot be 
 
126 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 accepted in lieu of a whole obedience. It would 
 be tlie j)aying of a single sheaf by one who 
 owes the entire harvest. The more we enhance 
 the value of faith, in itself considered, the more 
 do we lean towards a justification by works. 
 But the very places which attribute justification 
 to faith, do as in the same breath deny justifica- 
 tion by works. And on collating the passages, 
 you will be struck with the truth, if you have 
 not already observed it, that when Paul intends 
 most strongly and absolutely to represent our 
 salvation as gracious or independent of all 
 works, obedience, or cleservings, he chooses to 
 say it is by faith. In Paul's mind, justification 
 by faith is justification by grace, or gratuitous 
 justification, which clearly shovvs that faith does 
 not justify as a rendering of meritorious obe- 
 dience. For example, boasting is excluded, 
 " By what law ? of works ? Nay, but by the 
 law of faith." Rom. iii. 27. Again, iv. 2 : "If 
 Abraham were justified by works he hath 
 whereof to glory ; but . . . Abraham believed 
 . . . and it was counted unto him for righteous- 
 ness." iv. 16 : " It is of faith, that it might be 
 by grace." iii. 28 : "A man is justified by 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 127 
 
 faith, without the works of the law." Gal. iii. 
 12. " The law is not of faith, but the man that 
 doeth them shall live in them." These passages 
 are cited to show how the apostle places faith 
 and works in the relation of diametrical oppo- 
 sites. To be justified then by faith, on its own 
 deservings as a meritorious act, were to be 
 saved after all by our doings, or, what is the 
 same, it were justification by works under the 
 denomination of faith. In any comprehensive 
 and spiritual view, faith is itself a work of obe- 
 dience ; and in this naked character it is exclud- 
 ed, like every other work, from any share in 
 justification. 
 
 3. The act of faith is not set to the believ- 
 er's account as an equivalent, which God accepts 
 instead of a complete satisfaction to law. Thus 
 asserting, we only deny the same error under a 
 difi*erent form, somewhat more specious, because 
 it is supported by the superficial meaning of 
 certain passages of the Scriptures. The pas- 
 sages ought to be candidly weighed ; they are 
 these : of Abraham, Eom. iv. 20, it is said that 
 he " was strong in faith, giving glory to God 
 . . . and therefore it was imputed to him for 
 
128 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 righteousness." James ii. 23. " And the Scrip- 
 ture saith, Abraham believed God, and it was 
 imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was 
 called the friend of God." Gal. iii. 6 : " Even 
 as Abraham believed God, and it was account- 
 ed to him for righteousness." Certain theolo- 
 gians hastily argue from the sound rather than 
 the sense of these passages, that the very act of 
 believing is placed to the believer's credit, or, in 
 scriptural phrase, is imputed to him, as equiva- 
 lent to all the debt of duty, as payment in full 
 of all other obligation, in a word, as a righteous- 
 ness before God. There is something so strange 
 and startling in this, there is in it so little re- 
 lief to the mind which labours with the problem 
 of making an unrighteous subject righteous, it 
 presents so much of new difficulty, while it re- 
 moves so little of the old, that one would glad- 
 ly find any fair way of escape from the interpre- 
 tation, and such a way is happily obvious. All 
 these similar expressions teach one grand Gos- 
 pel verity, viz., not that any single act of duty, 
 such as faith, is accepted in lieu of all acts of 
 duty ; which would satisfy grace as little as it 
 satisfies justice ; but that it is as believing, not 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 129 
 
 as working, that man is regarded when God ac- 
 cepts him. He believes " unto righteousness." 
 Eom. X. 10. And this faith is not the ground, 
 but the means of his justification. So that we 
 may safely fall back upon the conclusion just 
 now stated, that faith, viewed as a rendering of 
 dues to the law, is not accounted to the believ- 
 ing sinner as his righteousness. All within him 
 rises to testify that his righteousness in God's 
 sight is something vastly different from any act- 
 in2:s of his own mind. 
 
 4. Equally would we protest against the so- 
 lution proposed by some distinguished and pious 
 authors, that faith justifies, because faith carries 
 in it as in a germ all the obedience which God 
 requires ; because " faith works by love," and 
 ^' love is the fulfillino; of the law " because faith 
 is obedience in the source or in the bud ; be- 
 cause faith is necessarily followed by universal 
 holiness, and therefore is contemplated by God, 
 who sees the end from the beginning, as pro- 
 phetic of this and as the radical and all-compre- 
 hensive grace. As to all these beauties and 
 glories of faith we \^dll not unsay what we have 
 already said. None shall go beyond us in high 
 
130 AITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 tliouglits of faith. Already have we wearied 
 more tlian one by liarping on this string. As 
 the grace which most honours truth and God as 
 true and the Word made flesh as God's Re\'eal- 
 er of truth, faith stands forth forever as the fore- 
 runner and strengthener of all virtues. Never- 
 theless, we will not ascribe to the channel that 
 which belongs to the fountain, nor to the means 
 that which belongs of right to the cause. To 
 all these several schemes which would discover 
 in faith itself some intrinsic cause of its being 
 the justifying work, we have one and the same 
 objection ; it is simple and insuperable ; they 
 all ascribe the righteousness of the soul to itself 
 rather than to Christ. Though it be acknowl- 
 edged by them that faith is wrought of God, 
 w^e dare not make particular works of God in 
 the soul to be a substitute for the souPs uni- 
 versal righteousness. We will not build up 
 a structure, half meritorious and half gracious. 
 We cannot accept a justification due to obe- 
 dience under the name of gratuity, however re- 
 fined that obedience may be made, and even 
 though it be the seed of all obedience. 
 
 To sum up this part of the reasoning, we 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 131 
 
 must abandon all liope of being saved, even by 
 faitli, if our acceptance to favoui' is to depend on 
 some value inherent in faitli as a state, liabit, 
 or act of tlie liuman soul. 
 
 The Gospel is very intelligible when we 
 look at it simply. Salvation there is all of 
 Grace, all of Christ, all of God. The pardon, 
 and the admittance to favour, and the reward, 
 are all free, by which we mean gratuitous. ISTot 
 merely works in their grosser sense do not de- 
 serve it, but faith, though it were the heaven- 
 liest of works, does not deserve it. And this is 
 so far from being a speculative point, that the 
 labom'ing soul needs this to rise from the dust of 
 unrighteousness, and throws out ballast, ascends 
 swiftly and surmounts many a cloud the mo- 
 ment it learns enough of free grace to cease all 
 weighing or measurement of the believing acts. 
 The glory of faith is that its utter emptiness 
 opens to receive consununate good. 
 
 5. By these steps we are fairly reduced to 
 something like a general conclusion. From de- 
 nials of erroneous doctrine, it is high time we 
 should come to an affirmation of the true. Tlie 
 Ijavt of Faith,, in the worh of Justification,, is 
 
132 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 altogether instrumental. Faith lierself, lost in 
 tlie dazzling rays, points away from lier own re- 
 flections to tlie glorious Sun of Righteousness. 
 All that we have recently said of Faith, repre- 
 sents it as essentially conversant with Truth, 
 even with God as Infinite Truth. It is Truth, 
 my brethren, which, to all eternity, is the satis- 
 fying nutriment of intellectual beings. It is the 
 Truth of the Gospel which occupies, fills, trans- 
 forms, and satiates the renewed soul. The 
 truth presented in the person and atoning work 
 of Jesus Christ is the special object of the re- 
 turning sinner's faith. That which gives him 
 relief and peace is not any thing of excellence 
 which he discovers in faith as faith. The ship- 
 wrecked mariner, who descries the succouring 
 vessel approaching his frail raft, spends no 
 thought on the process of vision by which he 
 sees the relief The ship, the ship, fills his eye. 
 The drowning wretch who has sunk and sunk, 
 and now, as he rises out of the waves, seizes the 
 offered rope with a spasm of agonizing vehe- 
 mence, considers not the quality of that grasp ; 
 it is the cord, the arm, the friend who saves his 
 life. The sinner, going down again and again 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. I33 
 
 in a sea of troubles, where God liimself plunges 
 liim, and with renewed conviction still plunges 
 him, while all his waves and his billows go over 
 him, and deep calleth unto deep at the noise of 
 his waterspouts, and who stretches out those cold, 
 clammy, convulsive, dying fingers to the almigh- 
 ty hand of Jesus, which is reached towards him, 
 and which he knows by the print of the nails, 
 makes no account of that stretching out of the 
 hand. It is but the instrument, and yet it saves 
 him. His faith saves him. But how little does 
 he ^x his eye on that faith ! What is it but a 
 receptive faculty, a hand that clings, a conscious 
 vacuity that longs and receives, an acquiescence 
 that is satisfied, a recumbency that finds rest ? 
 Kepose there, thou long troubled soul, on the 
 bosom of thy Jesus, for he loves thee, and would 
 ever hold thee there. Cling on, and hide thy- 
 self in the ample folds of that golden, yea that 
 crimson righteousness, and let believing make it 
 all thine ; but oh ! dwell not a moment on thy 
 believing. Learn the true excellency of faith, 
 and it is enough, it receives Christ, it makes 
 Christ thine. As a naked instrument, it appre- 
 hends and accepts the righteousness of Christ. 
 
134 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 The more you ^x your attention on faith as if 
 faith were the object of inquiry, the less faith 
 you will have. Meditating and prying into the 
 mystery of the eye produces no vision; turn 
 those organs towards the light. Forget the 
 means in the end, and the instrument in the 
 consummation. Believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved ! 
 
 6. As in the matter of justification, faith is 
 simply receptive and instrumental, it follows 
 that our profoundest attention should be given 
 to the glorious object of faith, which is none 
 other than the Lord Jesus Christ as our Rio-hte- 
 ousness. All the brightness which faith has is 
 reflected upon it by the luminary on which it 
 gazes. When the once darkling soul is made 
 the subject of that divine operation, by which 
 a principle of life is infused, the very earliest 
 symptom of such birth is its apprehension of 
 truth. It has emerged into daylight. The 
 great and infinitely lovely object which, though 
 present before, was in obscurity, begins to be 
 faintly visible. The face of infinite purity and 
 love shining from the Cross, radiates unwonted 
 grace and beauty. The historical Christ be- 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 135 
 
 comes the personal love of tlie new-born soul, as 
 beheld not merely in the dull hard outline of 
 facts and doctrines, but in the celestial and rav- 
 ishing qualities of personal fascination. Inade- 
 quately but truly, because supernaturally and 
 spiritually, the Christ of God is seen as he is ; 
 and now for the first is he thus seen. The eyes 
 of this prodigal sinner's understanding are 
 opened to see the light of the glory of God as it 
 shines in the face of Jesus Christ. And as that 
 which tempestuously drove him through moun- 
 tain seas into this haven, was horrible and con- 
 suming Consciousness of guilt and dread of God's 
 anger, so that which the opening eye of the new 
 creature first beholds, as he believes, is the infi- 
 nitely satisfying value of Christ as his righte- 
 ousness. " Surely, shall one say, In the Lord 
 have I nghteousness and strength." Is. xlv. 24. 
 Conscience is brought to peace by this means 
 only. 
 
 See in this the completory antitype of what 
 took place 3,000 years ago when a poor Hebrew 
 wretch, in anguish for his crime, came with his 
 kid or his lamb to the altar before the taber- 
 nacle. There he stands, all crimson and scarlet in 
 
136 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 conscious defilement. The sword of God's ven. 
 geance seems lifted. He hardly conceives that 
 for such guilt Jehovah will accept an offering. 
 He trembles and is pale. See, the priest has 
 taken the unblemished little victim and laid it 
 palpitating on the altar. "What a type of inno- 
 cence in the room of guilt ! What a signal 
 hieroglyphic of substitution and imputation! 
 Look again, for the anxious sinner has laid his 
 unsteady hand upon the head of the offering ; 
 and hark, he is confessing over it his sins. But 
 what is this ? The gentle and holy priest, as 
 if waking to sudden vengeance, has plunged the 
 knife into the meek, unresisting heart, and the 
 vital stream of the atonement baptizes the altar. 
 Bowing his head, as if he looked through the 
 emblem to a future Cross, the sinner receives 
 from the priestly hand the sprinkling of a hys- 
 sop-branch dipped in expiation, and he knows 
 himself to be pardoned. What is this scene ? 
 My fellow-sinner, it is sacrifice, it is atonement, 
 it is the prelusive cross and passion, it is the 
 Old Testament sacrament expounding the new. 
 Only a dim morning twilight was that levitical 
 Gospel compared with our meridian illumina- 
 
FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 137 
 
 tion. Jesus cries, Look unto me and be ye 
 saved ! It is tlie perpetual voice with wliich 
 we come to you. Looking is believing. 'Suck 
 looking is salvation. Look and live. Look 
 away from self, and even from faith as wrought 
 in yourself, unto the great and sole meritorious 
 ground of acceptance. The faith which, by pre- 
 eminence, saves the soul, looks at Christ. Bit- 
 ten by fiery serpents, and burning with deadly 
 poison in the veins, the Israelite in the desert 
 gives one look, one look, at the lifted brazen 
 type, and lives. " As Moses lifted up the ser- 
 pent in the wilderness, even so [hath] the Son 
 of Man [been] lifted up, that whosoever believ- 
 eth on him should not perish, but have eternal 
 life." Believeth on him ! And do I believe ? 
 Oh ! do I believe ? Look steadily. Look in 
 one direction, and see to it, that direction be 
 not self- ward. Unlearn the perverse lesson of 
 a lifetime, and turn your thoughts yonder, tow- 
 ards the light, towards the healing serpent, 
 towards the cross, towards the heart of divine 
 love that breaks in agony upon the accursed 
 tree, out of very longing for your salvation. 
 Look, for looking is believing. And while you 
 
138 FAITH CONSIDERED AS JUSTIFYING. 
 
 look, and believe, and receive Christ as offered, 
 and repose all your weight on Mm as yom* ulti- 
 mate rest ; yea, while you are forgetting self in 
 the contemplation of him who is all your salva- 
 tion and all your desii^e . . . the God of Justice 
 and of Mercy, is writing your name among the 
 ungodly who are justified. The Author and 
 Finisher of faith, who has been leading you to 
 believe, has in that instant and by that faith 
 knit you indissolubly to his Son. As surely as 
 you believe in Christ, so surely the righteous- 
 ness of Christ has become yours. ISTor is there 
 a height or a depth, in heaven or earth, that can 
 break the bond. *' Who is he that condemneth ? 
 It is Christ that died ? Yea, rather that is risen 
 again, who is even at the right hand of God, 
 who also maketh intercession for us ! " Eom. 
 viii. 34. 
 
VI. 
 
 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 Romans iii. 28. — " Therefore we conclude, that a man is jus- 
 tified by faith, without the deeds of the law." 
 
 The labours of tlie early Eeformers were 
 specially directed to the interpretation of tlie 
 term " Justification " ; for among tlie errors of 
 Komanism, whicli liad been accumulating for 
 ages, one of tbe most fatal was on this point. 
 It subserved the popish defences of human 
 merit, to teach that justification signified a 
 change of character. Hence they taught, that 
 to justify was to make just, in the sense of 
 making holy ; and they introduced the fig- 
 ment of a first and second justification. By 
 the first, the unrighteous man was made right- 
 eous ; by the second he was continued such. 
 
142 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 So justification was confounded witli sanctifica- 
 tion. These opinions were almost universal 
 among the Eomanists. They were authorita- 
 tively established by the Council of Trent; 
 and, what is more interesting to us, they have 
 been revived, and earnestly maintained, by the 
 Komanizing party in the Church of England. 
 It is therefore of the utmost importance to at- 
 tain a clear notion of justification, in its Scrip- 
 tural sense. 
 
 To justify, then, is not to make just, in the 
 sense of making holy, but to declare just. It 
 is derived from courts of law, where every one 
 who is arraigned is either justified or con- 
 demned. It is for this reason called a forensic 
 or judicial term. To condemn, and to justify, 
 are exact opposites. When the judge con- 
 demns a man, he does not by that act render 
 him any worse than he was before : he simply 
 adjudges him to be guilty. When the judge 
 justifies a man, he does not by that act render 
 him any better than he was before : he simply 
 adjudges him to be innocent. In this sense, 
 the term is used in the Scriptures : " If there 
 be a controversy between men, and they come 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 143 
 
 unto judgment, that tlae judges may judge 
 them, then they shall justify the righteous and 
 condemn the wicked." Deut. xxv. 1. " He 
 that justiiieth the wicked, and he that con- 
 demneth the just, even they both are abomina- 
 tion to the Lord." Pro v. xvii. 15. It is obvi- 
 ously only in this declarative sense that God 
 can be said to be justified by men, and Wisdom 
 to be justified by her children. 
 
 We further observe, that where this term is 
 used in a relio-ious sense, an allusion to forensic 
 practice runs through the whole statement. 
 Thus Job says : " How should man be just 
 with God? if he will contend with him, he 
 cannot answer him one of a thousand." ix. 2, 3. 
 And David: "Enter not into judgment with 
 thy servant : for in thy sight shall no man liv- 
 ing be justified." Ps. cxliii. 2. We seem by 
 the Scriptural language to be introduced to a 
 court : there are a law, a sanction, a tribunal, 
 a judge, an accusation, a condemnation, an advo- 
 cate, a surety, an acquittal. But there is not a 
 syllable about changing the character; it is 
 only a change of state, standing, or relation to 
 law. A misunderstanding here, darkens the 
 
144 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 whole system of grace, and ensures an unsound 
 theology. This, as Calvin says, is the very 
 hinge on which the whole work of redemption 
 turns. And en-or in this point is the more 
 easy, because the word sometimes has another 
 meaning ; because it has been extensively used 
 for sanctification ; and because, in point of fact, 
 justification and sanctification are inseparably 
 connected. Justification, therefore, is an act of 
 God, whereby he remits our sins, and accepts 
 us as righteous. 
 
 Having settled the meaning of the term, we 
 proceed to consider the act itself It will be 
 agreed on all hands, that the moving or impul- 
 sive cause of our justification is the eternal 
 goodness of God; but for which, no offender 
 could ever have been received to favour. But 
 men are so ignorant of God's true character, 
 that they sometimes ask the question in their 
 hearts, if not with their lips. Why this circuit- 
 ous method ? Why might not God accept the 
 sinner by a sovereign declaration, irrespective 
 of any acts on his behalf? Such inquiries arise 
 from exceedingly low thoughts of the most 
 high God. 
 
JUSTIFICATIOX BY FAITH. 145 
 
 But let US present ourselves in thought be- 
 fore his awful tribunal. Let us meditate on 
 that Judge whose brightness eclipses the stars, 
 and whose holiness sheds condemnation on the 
 heavens, whose anger shakes the earth, and 
 whose power melts the mountains, whose jus- 
 tice is dreadful to angels, who acquits not the 
 guilty, and whose wrath has ordained Tophet 
 of old ; and we shall be ready to exclaim, If 
 thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, 
 who shall stand ! 
 
 The law of God partakes in an awful de- 
 gree the majesty of that character of which it 
 is the transcript. It is holy, just, and un- 
 changeable. Every thing which made a law 
 proper in the beginning, remains in full force to 
 demand satisfaction to it. Eveiy reason which 
 lay in the Divine mind for annexing a penalty 
 remains in full force to exact the execution of 
 that penalty. All the wisdom and justice which 
 made it necessary that creatures should be 
 threatened with punishment, in case of disobe- 
 dience, make it necessary that the sinner s ac- 
 ceptance should not take place without some 
 amends being made to the violated law. It is 
 
146 JUSTiriCATIOx\ BY FAITH. 
 
 indeed a sovereign act of God, whidi justifies 
 the sinner — an act of sovereign mercy ; but an 
 act in wliicli justice no less tlian mercy is ex- 
 hibited and sustained. 
 
 Seeing, then, that something is necessary to 
 manifest the glorious justice of God in accept- 
 ing sinners, the question remains, what this is ; 
 in other words, what is the impulsive and meri- 
 torious cause, for the sake of which the sinner 
 is justified in the sight of God ? All answers 
 to this question reduce themselves to these two : 
 The ground of justification is something in the 
 sinner, or something out of him ; something 
 done by himself, or something done for him, by 
 another. He is justified either by works, or 
 without works. And the doctrine which pre- 
 vails in the Romish Church, is, that the sinner 
 is justified, in some way or other, by works. 
 The doctrine of the Scripture is, that he is jus- 
 tified without w^orks. Indeed, so explicit is the 
 language of Scripture on this point, and so dis- 
 tinctly is it sounded by the trumpet of Paul, as 
 not merely his doctrine, but his capital doctrine, 
 that few have the efii'ontery to declare in plain 
 terms that their own works are the proper 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 147 
 
 ground of their justification. In order, there- 
 fore, to guard against the finesse of errorists, 
 we must examine a little their mode of evadino^ 
 the truth. 
 
 It is agreed by all, and may be set aside 
 among concessions, that spirits who have never 
 sinned, and man in a state of innocence, were 
 justified by works ; that is, by an immaculate 
 obedience to the law under which they were 
 created. And in this case we have the simplest 
 form of justification, namely God's pronouncing 
 him just, who is such j)roperly and in every 
 sense. But the problem becomes less easy, 
 when it refers to those who have already bro- 
 ken the law, as it is agreed that all men on 
 earth have done. 
 
 There is a further concession to be made, in 
 order to clear the question, and stop the mouths 
 of adversaries. We fully admit, that he who 
 is justified is in every case made the subject 
 of holiness ; which, if the term had not been 
 abused, might be called inherent righteousness. 
 Our opponents, not only of Kome but of Ox- 
 ford, reproach evangelical teachers with reject- 
 ing inherent righteousness, both name and thing. 
 
148 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 We indignantly resist the charge, and affirm 
 that in every case of true justification, the 
 adorable Spirit infuses a principle of holiness, 
 which manifests itself in good works. But we 
 firmly deny that these good works constitute, 
 in whole or in any part, that righteousness 
 whereby we are accepted in the sight of God. 
 And this is the great position on which we 
 make our first stand. Be it observed, that we 
 deny this, as well of the principle as of the 
 fruits ; as well of works wrought after regen- 
 eration, as of works wrought before regenera- 
 tion ; as well of works wrought in faith, as of 
 works wrought in unbelief; as well of works 
 wrought with a spiritual influence, as of works 
 wrought without a spiritual influence. Of 
 works and of their principle, all and particular, 
 we say they have no part in our justification. 
 
 The opponents of this doctrine, in order to 
 give some place to the work of our Eedeemer, 
 teach that Christ has merited by his obedience, 
 that internal righteousness should be communi- 
 cated to us; but that the righteousness thus 
 infused is our justifying righteousness. Their 
 language is such as this : The righteousness by 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 149 
 
 wMcli God justifies us, is tliat whicli lie gives 
 us when he renews us in the spirit of our minds, 
 so that we are not merely accounted righteous, 
 but are such in reality.*^ This is familiarly 
 known in theology as justification by infused 
 or inherent righteousness ; and it is wonderful, 
 that at the very first presentation of the sub- 
 ject, it should find any tolerance in a soul which 
 has ever been truly convinced of sin, or a con- 
 science which has ever been arraigned before 
 the bar of an infinitely holy and heart-searching 
 God ; or that it should ever be maintained, in 
 the face of New Testament declarations that we 
 are justified freely, and without works of law. 
 
 The Scriptures teach, and the most experi- 
 enced Christians admit, that even after res^ener- 
 ation their obedience is unspeakably deficient in 
 kind and degree ; that in many things they all 
 offend ; that after a]l their performances, they 
 are unprofitable servants ; that their highest 
 affections fall short of supreme love ; and that 
 there is no command, the spirit of which they 
 have not broken, nor any hour of their lives, or 
 single act, on which they could rest their hope 
 
 * Trent. 
 
150 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 of justification in the siglit of a holy God. 
 Gratefully owning tlie influences of tlie Divine 
 Spirit, in renewing and gradually sanctifying 
 tlieir souls, tliey nevertheless find no inherent 
 riditeousness on which for an instant God could 
 look with complacency. 
 
 On opening the New Testament, we are im- 
 mediately struck with such passages as this : 
 "Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no 
 fl.esh be justified in his sight." To an unsophis- 
 ticated mind, this w^ould seem to settle the ques- 
 tion ; but such is the ingenuity of unbelief, that 
 we are constrained to spend some time in remov- 
 ing the glosses which have obscured the text. 
 
 When w^e are said to be justified without 
 works, the works meant, say some, are those of 
 the ceremonial law. As this is not the most 
 tenable position of our adversaries, so neither is 
 it their favourite one in the present day. The 
 New Testament writers do not much advert to 
 our modern distinction of ceremonial and moral 
 law ; but apart from this, the supposition can- 
 not be sustained. The Apostle Paul, who is 
 most frequent in treating this doctrine, does not 
 merely assert that salvation is without works. 
 
JUSTIFICATIOX BY FAITH. 151 
 
 but in more tliaii one instance i)roceeds to prove 
 it ; and in every sucli case his argument is such 
 as to sliow that he is not speaking of ritual or 
 ceremonial works. Thus in the third chapter 
 of Romans, when he concludes, " therefore, by 
 the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be jus- 
 tified in his sight," the whole preceding argu- 
 ment is a series of charges against transgressors 
 of moral precepts. There is not one word con- 
 cerning the emptiness of rites, or even concern- 
 ing their being fulfilled in Christ ; j)oints which 
 would have been unavoidable, if these onlv had 
 been intended. If it had been his object to 
 show that we are justified by moral, and not 
 by ceremonial works, he would necessarily have 
 contrasted the moral and the ceremonial law. 
 On the contrary, the ojDposition which he estab- 
 lishes, is between works and faith, between law 
 and i)romise, between debt and grace. And his 
 principal instance of justification without works 
 is that of Abraham, which occurred long before 
 the institution of the Levitical service. Indeed, 
 the presumption is so violent, that it has long 
 since been abandoned by the most able contro- 
 vertists even on the Eomish side. 
 
152 JUSTIFICATION BY iAITH. 
 
 A candid examination of the apostle's argu- 
 ment will sliow, tliat under tlie name of law 
 and of works, lie excludes moral as w^ell as cere- 
 monial requisitions, and obedience of every sort. 
 Tliis is aj)parent from the universality of the 
 expressions, that we are justified " without works 
 of law," " without deeds of law," that " a man 
 is not justified by the works of the law," that 
 " no man is justified by the law, in the sight of 
 God." 
 
 It has therefore been pretended, that the 
 works here excluded are Avorks before regenera- 
 tion, or without faith. So important a distinc- 
 tion could not have been left unexpressed. 
 The opposition is not between one sort of 
 works and another, but between debt and 
 grace, between law and promise, between our 
 own righteousness and the righteousness of 
 God, between working and not working. The 
 very tenour of his argument shows that it is 
 the moral law which he excludes ; for it is that 
 law (Rom. iii.) which condemns both Jews and 
 Gentiles, saying, " There is none righteous, no, 
 not one." It is that law, by which " is the 
 knowledge of sin." It is " the law of works," 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 153 
 
 as ojDposed, not to ceremonies or imperfect obe- 
 dience, but to the " law of faith." It is that 
 law w^hich worketh wrath, and without which 
 " there is no transgression." It is that law 
 which says, " Thou shalt not covet," and those 
 precepts, by which " the man that doeth them 
 shall live in them." This can be no other than 
 the moral law, in all its extent. 
 
 That Paul does not mean to exclude such 
 works only as are done without faith and be- 
 fore regeneration, is evident from the case of 
 Abraham. He argues, that if Abraham were 
 justified by works, he had whereof to glory. 
 But he was justified as one who " worketh not." 
 Surely he of whom these things are spoken was 
 not unreo^enerate or unbelievins:. " Thou<>-h the 
 life of the patriarch was spiritual and almost 
 angelical, yet his works did not possess suf- 
 ficient merit to justify him before God."^^ 
 Equally pertinent is the instance of David, 
 who is adduced as describing " the blessedness 
 of the man unto whom God imputeth right- 
 eousness without works." 
 
 Here and elsewhere Paul opposes works to 
 
 * Calvin. 
 
154 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 faitL, and justification by works to justification 
 by faitli. By Avorks, therefore, lie must mean 
 obedience of every kind. And when lie ex- 
 cludes sucli works as might be matter of boast- 
 ing, he manifestly excludes all works. The 
 same thing is proved by the declarations, that 
 we are justified gratuitously ; that we are jus- 
 tified by Christ ; and that we are justified by 
 faith. The conclusion seems unavoidable, that 
 we are justified by something out of ourselves ; 
 and that the matter of our justification is noth- 
 ing which we can render to the requisition of 
 the law. The ground of our acceptance must 
 therefore be sought where the text places it, in 
 the rio-hteousness of another. But how can 
 this be ? 
 
 All the acts and declarations of God are 
 according to truth. As the God of infinite jus- 
 tice, he sees all things just as they are, and de- 
 clares all things according to their reality. He 
 cannot pronounce him righteous who is unright- 
 eous ; and as it is confessed that we have no 
 righteousness of our own, it would be forever 
 impossible for us to be justified, if God were 
 not to behold us in another, rather than in our- 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 155 
 
 selves. Tliis is the great and precious mystery 
 wLicli deserves our most special consideration. 
 God looks upon Lis people as the body of 
 Christ, as united to him — as one with him. 
 Here we see the infinite importance of union 
 with Christ. He not only represented his peo- 
 ple, but acted as theu' head. From the moment 
 of union, his acts are accounted theirs. And I 
 have purposely introduced the consideration of 
 this, before the inquiry, w^hat constitutes the 
 righteousness, that w^e might approach the lat- 
 ter cj^uestion more free from prejudice. The 
 way is therefore clear for the inquuy, What is 
 the Scripture method of justification ? 
 
 And here the reply of the word is perfectly 
 intelligible. That Avhich justifies us, is not the 
 righteousness of laiv, the righteousness of works, 
 or our own righteousness ; but " the righteous- 
 ness of God without the law^ ; " " righteousness 
 wdthout works;" "the righteousness of God 
 which is by faith of Christ ; " the " righteous- 
 ness of faith." It is the righteousness of Christ, 
 for we are made " the righteousness of God in 
 him." The two most important questions con- 
 cerning this righteousness are, — 
 
15G JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 1. What it is. 
 
 2. How it becomes ours. 
 
 1. It requires little consideration to perceive, 
 that it is not the essential righteousness of the 
 Divine nature in Christ, but his perfect satisfac- 
 tion of the law. In a single word, the right- 
 eousness of Christ is his obedience ; and his 
 obedience rendered for us. The whole of his 
 subjection to the law was mediatorial and rep- 
 resentative. Except by virtue of the covenant 
 of grace, the law made no demand that the Son 
 of God should come under its yoke. In infinite 
 mercy, he took our nature, to render to the law 
 every satisfaction which was necessary to our 
 salvation. This satisfaction is called his right- 
 eousness. It is called the " righteousness of 
 God," because he devised it, and because he ac- 
 cepts it. The debt which sinful man owes con- 
 sists of two parts, — penalty and performance. 
 The righteousness of Christ, to be available, 
 must furnish both. Accordingly, he exhausted 
 the penalty and fulfilled the precept. By one, 
 he provided for the remission of our sins : by 
 the other, he procured for us a right to salva- 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 157 
 
 tion and reward. For justification is something 
 more tlian the remission of sins : it includes 
 both remission of sin and riD:ht to eternal life. 
 Both are procured by the righteousness of 
 Christ. That both are necessary, may be seen 
 by the case of Adam in Paradise. At the very 
 moment of his creation, he was perfectly inno- 
 cent, and therefore in the state in which remis- 
 sion of sin places a sinner. But something- 
 more was necessary to give a right to the re- 
 wards of life, namely, obedience to a prescribed 
 law. By mere remission of sins, the believer 
 would at best be no further advanced than was 
 Adam at the moment of his creation. By a 
 title to the rewards of life, he attains that place 
 in the sight of God which Adam would have 
 reached at the close of his probationary obedi- 
 ence. The former of these advantages is pur- 
 chased for us, by our Surety's endurance of the 
 penalty of the law : the latter, by his perform- 
 ance of all its requisitions. Both are included 
 under the term obedience. But while the right- 
 eousness of Christ is a resplendent whole, it ad- 
 mits of beino; considered under a twofold division, 
 which we may now profitably contemplate. 
 
158 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 ((7) The Lord Jesus Christ, for our sakes, 
 endured the penalty of the law. This includes 
 the whole of his mysterious suffering. " Being 
 found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, 
 and became obedient unto death, even the death 
 of the cross." This expresses all. The law de- 
 manded the death of the sinner : it is satisfied 
 by the death of an infinite Substitute. The all- 
 wise Jehovah, who best understands the claims 
 of his own glory, is pleased to recognize the 
 suffering of his Son, as a more full satisfaction 
 to the law, than the eternal pains of his people. 
 It is the infinite dignity of the substitute which 
 gives a value to temporal sufferings ; making 
 these more than equivalent, in the eye of the 
 law, to the sufferings of creatures through all 
 eternity. The crowning event of these suffer- 
 ings was the death of Christ upon the cross ; to 
 which, therefore, above all the rest, our pardon 
 is ascribed. This obedience of Christ to the 
 penalty of the la^v was propitiatory or. expia- 
 tory, washing away the guilt of our sin. It 
 was a proper sacrifice, which gave significancy 
 to all the sacrifices of the Levitical law. 
 
 For ages God had been educating his an- 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 159 
 
 cient Cliurcli in tlie persuasion, tliat witliout 
 sliedclino; of blood there was no remission. 
 Substitution was inscribed on every vessel , and 
 altar of tlie tabernacle and the temple. The 
 bloody services of the priesthood, for ages, were 
 but a preparing of the way for the entrance of 
 the great Pligh Priest. And every unblem- 
 ished animal which panted and bled in the Le- 
 vitical courts, foreshadowed the Lamb of God, 
 " slain from the foundation of the world." The 
 ancient sinner, as he laid his hand on the head 
 of the victim, typically transferred to it his 
 guilt. The ancient priest, as he sprinkled the 
 blood on the penitent, typically absolved him. 
 It was one beino; sufferino; for another. It was 
 the death of the sacrifice for the death of the 
 sinner. All these shadow^s were accomplished 
 in the death of Christ, who ivas both sacrifice 
 and priest ; and herein a glorious satisfaction 
 was made to the law, in regard to its penalty. 
 We are redeemed " with the precious blood of 
 Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- 
 out spot ; " " who his own self bare our sins in 
 his own body on the tree ; by whose stripes ye 
 were healed." He was made sin for us, a curse 
 
160 JUSTIFICATIOX BY FAITH. 
 
 for US, that we mig^ht be the ris^hteousness of 
 God in him. By his own blood, he entered in 
 once into the holy place, having obtained eter- 
 nal redemption for iis. This obedience of 
 Christ unto death, whereby he made a full 
 satisfaction to the law, in regard to its penalty, 
 is known in theology as his passive obedience ; 
 and to this we owe the remission of our sins. 
 
 (b) The Lord Jesus Christ, for our sakes, 
 fully obeyed the precept of the law. This is 
 what the law demanded of the creature, to con- 
 stitute a title to the rewards of life. The infi- 
 nite dignity of the Mediator caused his obedi- 
 ence, though rendered in time, a satisfaction to 
 the law more glorious and acceptable than the 
 perfect obedience of all his people could have 
 been. And it is quite as just and reasonable as 
 what we have been considering. Yet, while all 
 who admit a proper atonement agree that the 
 sufferings and death of Christ were in order to 
 the remission of our sins, there are many who 
 deny that the personal holiness of Christ, and 
 his subjection to the precept, had any similar 
 intention. This is truly surprising, when we 
 consider that it was no less necessary that the 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 161 
 
 precept should be fulfilled in order to life, than 
 that the penalty should be endured in order to 
 pardon. Indeed, if the law demands one thing 
 more than another, it is obedience. If any repa- 
 ration is to be made, we might exi)ect it to be 
 the reparation of due performance. The acts of 
 the Surety, in what he did, are as available for 
 us, as his jDains in what he suffered. Even his 
 sufferings are inlcuded under the name of obe- 
 dience — he was " obedient unto death, even the 
 death of the cross." It was to be expected that 
 our Surety should fulfil for us all the demands 
 of the law, as well preceptive as punitive. It 
 is undeniable that the Lord Jesus Christ was 
 made under the law, that he subjected himself 
 to it, and actually fulfilled it. It is reasonable 
 to conclude that acts so important, included in 
 his mediatorial life, were a part of his surety- 
 ship, and were rendered on our behalf And 
 unless these acts are the ground of our accept- 
 ance, we must resort to our own acts for this 
 end. But the letter of the Scriptures on this 
 point is too plain to be mistaken. The obedi- 
 ence of Christ is expressly declared to be the 
 ground of our acceptance, and the sufferings of 
 
162 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 Christ are but a part of that obedience, and 
 receive this name only in a secondary sense. 
 He is the Lord our Righteousness. He is made 
 of God unto us " righteousness." And in terms 
 Avhich baffle all the ingenuity of opjDosers, we 
 are told, that " as by one man's disobedience 
 many were made sinners, so by the obedience 
 of one shall many be made righteous." It is 
 this which is called the active obedience of 
 Christ ; and these two taken together, the 
 active and the passive obedience, constitute 
 that one righteousness which is the sole meri- 
 torious ground of our acceptance. What he 
 did, and what he suffered, are but one object in 
 the sight of the law ; a glorious righteousness, 
 with which we are graciously invested ; wrought 
 out by our Head, in our nature, but deriving 
 infinite value from the hidden fountain of the 
 Godhead. 
 
 2. Havino; learned what this rio-hteousness 
 is, the remaining question is. How it becomes 
 ours. It does not avail for all, for some are 
 never justified. The explanation is, that this 
 righteousness is made over to those who be- 
 
JUSTIFICATIOX BY FAITH. If} 3 
 
 lieve, and immediately upon their believing. 
 Hence it is called " the rio^iiteousness of 
 f^iitli " ; the ^' righteousness ^vhich is of faith " ; 
 the "righteousness of God Ly faith of Jesus 
 Christ " ; and we are repeatedly said to be 
 "justified by faith." These declarations are too 
 numerous and too explicit to leave room for 
 doubt, except as to the place which faith occu- 
 pies in justification. And here arises a class 
 of theologians, who teach that the. very act of 
 fiiith is reckoned to our account, instead of the 
 ricchteousness of our works. Thev conceive 
 that they find some colour for this statement in 
 such texts as these : " To him that worketh not, 
 but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, 
 his faith is counted for righteousness." " Faith 
 was reckoned to Abraham for rifirhteousness." 
 But if we carefully examine the reasoning of 
 the apostle in these places, we shall find his 
 meaning to be, that justification is a matter not 
 of working, but of believing ; in other words, 
 that it is gratuitous. In his argument, to say 
 that justification is by faith, is the same as to 
 say that it is a matter of grace ; and his ol>ject 
 being to prove that Abraham was justified 
 
164 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 without works, lie cites tlie declaration that he 
 was justified by faith. 
 
 Nothing short of perfection can justify. To 
 suppose any such commutation in the demands 
 of the law as should receive the act of heliev- 
 iiig in place of other acts of obedience, is to 
 annul the apostle's argument, and the whole 
 method of grace is simply the substitution of 
 one work in place of all the rest ; and, strange 
 to say, it is assumed to get rid of the substitu- 
 tion of Christ for his people. The act of be- 
 lieving is of course a work, and as such is de- 
 manded by the law ; but as such it is also 
 excluded by the Gospel. The very gratuitous- 
 ness of the salvation is vacated by considering 
 faith as the ground of acceptance. Faith has 
 indeed a value, which shall be pointed out, but 
 one which renders this supposition unnecessary. 
 All the cogent reasoning of the apostle against 
 justification by works bears in full force against 
 justification by faith considered as a work. He 
 most carefully distinguishes faith from the right- 
 eousness which is received by it. That which 
 justifies must be a perfect satisfaction to the 
 law, which faith is not. If faith is the ground 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 165 
 
 of our acceptance, we are justified without any 
 satisfaction of tlie law ; unless we say that it is 
 satisfied by the obedience of Christ, which, in- 
 deed, is most true ; but then the imputation of 
 the act of faith is more than needless. To sup- 
 pose the apostle, in the very discourses in which 
 he is reasonino^ aojainst all ris^hteousness of our 
 own, to represent the act of faith as set to the 
 sinner's account in lieu of obedience, is absurd 
 in no ordinary degree. 
 
 These reasons go far to set aside the kindred 
 error, that we are justified by faith, because it 
 is considered as the root and principle of all 
 obedience. Faith is here regarded as inchoate 
 obedience. This is justification by works under 
 the name of faith. The supposition destroys at 
 a blow the gratuitousness of salvation. It is 
 only a refined righteousness of works. It is as 
 much our own righteousness, as w^orks are our 
 own righteousness. It is a payment of the 
 debt, in a difterent denomination. Nothing can 
 be plainer, than that in every declaration that 
 we are justified by faith, there is involved a de- 
 nial of our justification by any thing proceed- 
 ing from ourselves. Does Paul say that " boast- 
 
1G6 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 ing is excluded " ? " By what law ? " " By tlie 
 law of faith." Does he say that Abraham was 
 justified by faith ? He adds : " Now to him 
 that worketh not, .... but believeth on him 
 that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reck- 
 oned." And such is the irreconcilable opposi- 
 tion between faith and works, as justify ins:, 
 that Paul assumes it as a maxim, that " the law 
 is not of faith, but the man that doeth them 
 shall live in them." 
 
 It is undoubtedly true, that faith worketh 
 by love, and that love is the fulfilling of tlie 
 law, and consequently that faith is the principle 
 of all obedience. It is also true that no faith 
 but that which is operative justifies ; but it 
 does not derive its power to justify from its 
 fruitfulness. Indeed, the assumption is a covert 
 method of bringing in inherent justification. 
 
 The Scripture, in sjieaking of justification^ 
 passes very lightly over the act of believing, as 
 if not to ascribe to it a substantive part in 
 the work ; always introducing it as a sign and 
 proof of the freeness of the benefit, and always 
 as the channel for communicating: somethin^j- 
 higher. It is this view which we should accus- 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 167 
 
 torn ourselves to take. Faitli is simply instru- 
 mental and receptive. It is the liaiid stretclied 
 fortli to receive an infinite bounty, namely, the 
 perfect rigliteousness of tlie Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Its whole office is discharged when it brings the 
 sinner into connection with that rii2:hteousness, 
 to which he would otherwise have no claim. 
 Being a j)ersuasion of God's mercy, an acquies- 
 cence in God's plan, involving a despair of our 
 own strength, and an acknowledgment of free 
 grace, faith is above all other exercises fitted to 
 exclude the pretence of merit, and to exalt the 
 riches of Christ. The moment a sinner be- 
 lieves, he is justified. It is of all things the 
 furthest from his thoughts that this act consti- 
 tutes any claim ; he scarcely makes it an object 
 of attention ; his soul is absorbed in the infinite 
 object which it apprehends. Yet at this point 
 of time the righteousness of Christ becomes his 
 own ; and it becomes so, because faith unites 
 him to the Surety. This is the secret of its 
 power. It establishes the communication witli 
 the source of merit. He is thenceforth in 
 Christ, and the rio^hteousness of God in him. 
 Being one with Christ, he possesses in the eye 
 
168 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 of the law the acts and merits of Lis Head. 
 These are no longer the righteousness of an- 
 other infinitely removed from him, but of one 
 with whom he has become indissolubly con- 
 nected. The oneness is so complete, that it is 
 likened to the unity of the Father and the Son. 
 On the page of God's awful account are written 
 all the enormous debts of his people ; but on 
 the other page God's own hand has written, in 
 letters of blood, the payment of his Son. God 
 is pleased to regard the righteousness of the 
 Head as the righteousness of the members. 
 Nor is there error or deception in such a reck- 
 oning. This righteousness, though not ren- 
 dered by ourselves, is rendered for us by one 
 who is our Surety ; and " we are members of 
 his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." " We 
 are not declared righteous in ourselves, which 
 would be false, but in Christ, which is most 
 true." * " God does not judge that we in our 
 own persons have rendered this righteousness, 
 which is false ; but that Christ has so falfilled 
 it for us, that we may justly be invested with 
 his merit : which is so true, that it is the sum 
 of the whole Gospel. "f It was rendered for 
 
 * Turret ine. f WitsliK. 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 169 
 
 no other purpose. The law made no demand 
 of it, except for this purpose. The Son of God 
 became incarnate, to render it. He was under 
 no obligation, except the obligation of his peo- 
 ple. When he bowed under the law, it was 
 the world of elect sinners which bowed. " If 
 one died for all, then all died.'' The infinite 
 Judge does not merely accept it : he devised it. 
 It was the very thing which from all eternity 
 he contemplated, as the most glorious satisfac- 
 tion to the law ; it would be the height of pre- 
 sumptuous scruple, for us to find fault with it. 
 And all heaven rejoices in beholding a glorious 
 body of saints, so united to the Messiah, that 
 every act of his redounds to their salvation. 
 
 It is a view of the subject which avoids 
 many difficulties and anticipates many objec- 
 tions. The union of believers with Christ is 
 the ground of their receiving his righteousness. 
 That is set to their account which has become 
 theirs by this gracious connection. This, and 
 no more, is what we mean by the imputation 
 of Chi'ist's righteousness. Instead of an arbi- 
 trary ascription to us of something contrary to 
 fact, as our adversaries allege, it is God's be- 
 8 
 
170 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 holding us as intimately connected with tlie 
 Gi'eat Surety. The obedience whicli lie ren- 
 dered was rendered by him in our nature in 
 our name, and as our covenant head. It was 
 in its very intention that it should be regarded 
 as ours. It had no other intention. Faith com- 
 pletes the union, long contemplated in the cove- 
 nant, and thenceforth God regards the believer 
 no longer in himself, but in Christ, and the 
 Church of elect saints as the body of Christ, 
 invested with his righteousness. 
 
 From what has been said, it is apparent 
 that justification is instantaneous. The notion 
 of progressive justification is inseparable from 
 the tenet of inherent righteousness. At every 
 moment the soul is either condemned or ab- 
 solved, either unrighteous or righteous. It is 
 equally apparent that the favourite Antinomian 
 notion of eternal justification, is unscriptural. 
 The covenant counsels of the Godhead and the 
 purpose to justify, were indeed from eternity, 
 but the act of justification takes place in time. 
 Neither can we say that actual justification en- 
 sued immediately upon the accomplishment of 
 the satisfaction by the Lord Jesus. For although, 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. I7l 
 
 at that instant, tlie righteousness was complete, 
 it was not yet applied to those for whom it was 
 intended ; because, as we have seen, this appli- 
 cation is founded on the union of believers to 
 Christ, w^hich had not yet taken place in regard 
 to all. The moment of justification is the mo- 
 ment of believing : in the order of time, it is 
 therefore identical with, the moment of effectual 
 calling. This appears from all those expressions 
 which speak of believers as having been under 
 condemnation and wrath, as passing from dark- 
 ness to light, from enmity to friendship, from 
 death to life. In regard to holy men who lived 
 under the Old Testament, they were united by 
 faith to a Redeemer not yet incarnate, and jus- 
 tified by a righteousness yet to come. 
 
 At this blessed moment of justification, the 
 sinner is at once admitted to the favour of God. 
 He is accepted as righteous. The law is as 
 fully satisfied witb regard to him, as if he had 
 never sinned. The righteousness of Christ is 
 now his rio-hteousness. He can no more come 
 into condemnation, than Christ can come into 
 condemnation. He is delivered from the guilt 
 and penalty of all his sins. With regard to 
 
172 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 sins wliicli lie may liereafter commit, lie is not 
 indeed pardoned; because it would be incon- 
 gruous to say tliat sins are pardoned before tliey 
 are committed; but God lias graciously ac- 
 cepted tlie rigliteousness of Christ, even in 
 respect to these, and in process of time pardon 
 is dispensed. The eflPect of this grace is to 
 remove all condemnation and all punishment. 
 That sin which has been visited on the Surety, 
 will not be visited on us. The afflictions of 
 this life are not legal pains, but fatherly trials 
 and corrections. And death itself, being de- 
 prived of sin which is its sting, and the la^sr 
 which is its strength, is despoiled of all its 
 punitive force. Here is a change of state so 
 great, that it is amazing even to him who expe- 
 riences it. The absolving act is not in every 
 case pronounced to the soul of the believer : it 
 is, however, sooner or later, sealed to every one 
 by the Holy Spirit. But the vastness of its 
 import will not be appreciated by any, until 
 the time of the general judgment, when, before 
 the assembled universe, the Judge shall acquit 
 his people as a body, and welcome them to the 
 joy of their Lord. 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 173 
 
 Sucli is the doctrine of the Bible on this 
 important subject ; and if my endeavour has 
 been successful, I have shown that justification 
 is a forensic term, expressing an act of God by 
 which he accepts a sinner as righteous in the 
 sight of the law ; that the best obedience of 
 the sinner, even in his renewed state, is insuffi- 
 cient for this end ; that we are justified with- 
 out w^orks, and that the works thus excluded 
 are not merely ceremonial works, nor works 
 WTought in unbelief, but all works w^hatever ; 
 that the righteousness which justifies us is that 
 of our Divine Mediator, consisting of what he 
 did and what he suffered ; that this righteous- 
 ness becomes ours upon our believing ; that the 
 efficacy of faith does not arise from the act of 
 believing being imputed in lieu of obedience, 
 nor from faith viewed as the source of all obe- 
 dience, but from its uniting us with the Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; that in consequence of this union, 
 the acts of the Redeemer are considered as the 
 acts of his people, which is otherwise called the 
 imputation of his righteousness ; and that hence 
 the believing sinner receives the absolute remis- 
 sion of all his sins, with a right to eternal sal- 
 vation. 
 
174 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 Two reflections will sum up our discussion 
 of tlie subject, and will at tlie same time be a 
 reply to objections wliicli some think formidable. 
 
 1. The first is, that justification by faith is 
 gratuitous justification. From beginning to end, 
 the work of salvation is of grace. And it is 
 futile to object that this grace is impaired by 
 the satisfaction rendered to the law. The debt 
 which we owed is indeed paid, but not p'aid by 
 us. The means of paying it is freely given us 
 by God. He who places in the hands of an 
 insolvent debtor the amount which shall dis- 
 charge all his liabilities, does not thereby lessen 
 the obligation of the person relieved. Our own 
 part in justification is merely receptive. It is 
 not our own works or even our own faith which 
 is the ground of our acceptance. And though 
 the law is fully satisfied, and the debt cancelled, 
 it is done by a gracious gift to us; and a gift 
 from the hand of Almighty God. The oftended 
 Judge is he, by whom the propitiation is de- 
 vised, applied, accepted, and perfected. This 
 is deeply impressed on the heart of the rejoicing 
 believer. The more clearly he views the right- 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 175 
 
 eousness of the Surety as the basis of all his 
 hope, the more humbly does he acknowledge 
 that his salvation is all of grace. The doctrine 
 is abasing to human pride and exalting to the 
 riches of Divine favour. And we may confi- 
 dently appeal to experience to show that none 
 have been more constant in praise of free grace, 
 than those w^ho behold it manifested in the im- 
 putation of perfect righteousness. 
 
 2. The belief of justification by faith tends 
 to personal holiness. In answer to the objec- 
 tion of adversaries, we maintain that the obli- 
 gations to obedience are not weakened, but con- 
 firmed. He who expects justification in this 
 way, so expects it, for the very reason that his 
 conviction is so strong of the eternal obligation 
 of the law, which could not relax one jot or 
 tittle of its claim, without satisfaction. He 
 connects with this such a sense of the evil of 
 sin, as can be produced only by seeing it visited 
 on the holy Son of God. He sees, as none oth- 
 ers see, the dreadful nature of its punishment. 
 He sees, as no others can see it, the infinite 
 purity of the Divine character. But especially 
 he feels the obligation of gratitude, for the free 
 
176 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 compassion and infinite love of God, so as to 
 have a motive to obedience wMdi is tlie strong- 
 est possible. Every view whicli lie takes of the 
 mediatorial work and suffering, affords a fresh 
 inducement for him to live no longer unto him- 
 self, but unto him who loved him, and gave 
 himself for him. Consequently, the history of 
 the Church shows that Gospel morality has 
 most flourished where this doctrine has been 
 preached. To which side shall we look for 
 strictness in observing the law of God — to the 
 Romish body, where human merit was trium- 
 phant, or to the churches of the Reformation ? 
 Where shall we go to find poignant convictions 
 of sin — to the assemblies where human merit 
 is exalted, or to those where free salvation is 
 proclaimed ? What charge was ever more vio- 
 lently brought against our forefathers, than the 
 charge of undue scrupulosity and pharisaical 
 punctilio? To what class of preachers do 
 worldly people attach themselves — to those 
 who make every thing of morals, or to those 
 who preach the righteousness of Christ? By 
 whose labours are great reformations wrought, 
 and extensive awakenings produced, if not by 
 
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 1^7 
 
 that of tlie defenders of a gracious justifica- 
 tion ? 
 
 Are any disposed to say, tliat a doctrine can- 
 not be true, whicli is open to such an objection ? 
 We answer, the misrepresentation is as old as 
 Paul himself. The truth was misconstrued even 
 in a^DOstolic times. " What shall we say, then ? 
 Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? 
 God forbid." The identity of the objection in- 
 fers identity of doctrine. And we may reply, 
 as Paul replied, " How shall we that are dead 
 to sin, live any longer therein ? " 
 
 We may go further, and say, that of all 
 means for promoting personal holiness, there is 
 none more efficacious than the steady and ajQfec- 
 tionate contemplation of the very truth which 
 has now been presented. It is when we behold 
 our blessed Saviour suffering for us, and obey- 
 ing for us, that our self-devotion rises to its 
 height. Draw your motives, beloved brethren, 
 from the cross of Christ. Your obedience will 
 then have a perennial spring. Instead of being 
 a cold observance, it will be the outo-oino- of a 
 melted, broken heart. The more free you feel 
 yourself from the law as a covenant of works. 
 
178 J UHTIFICATION BY FAITH. 
 
 the more A\dll you feel it to be a delightful yoke 
 as a rule of life. The more you feel disen- 
 thralled from the bondage of sin, the hardest 
 of all masters, the more will you exult in the 
 service of a gracious Lord. And if ever the 
 insidious adversary should abuse your minds 
 by Antinomian suggestions, you will answer his 
 seductive argument, as it is answered by the 
 apostle : " What then ; shall we sin, because 
 we are not under the law, but under grace? 
 God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye 
 yield yourselves servants, his servants ye are ? 
 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants 
 of sin, but being made free from sin, ye became 
 the servants of righteousness, having your fruit 
 unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." 
 
VII. 
 
 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 Romans iii. 31. — " Do we then make void the law through 
 faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law." 
 
 There are times in every Christian experi- 
 ence wlien it "becomes a question for the soul 
 liow to reconcile free salvation with the con- 
 tinual prescription of good works. Both are 
 very clearly set forth in Scripture. We are 
 said to be justified freely by his grace, without 
 the works of the law, and we are commanded to 
 be perfect as our Father who is in heaven is 
 perfect. One passage tells us that by the deeds 
 of th« law shall no flesh living be justified, and 
 another passage tells us that without holiness 
 no man shall see the Lord The chief of sinners 
 is invited to be saved by him who justifieth the 
 ungodly ; and the pure in heart are blessed, be- 
 
182 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 cause they shall see God. Now, while a cap- 
 tious and half-learned mind will seize on these 
 as discrepances, if not contradictions, and thus 
 discredit the Word of God, the wise and rev- 
 erent inquirer will fall back upon a maxim as 
 modest as it is reasonable, by means of which 
 to solve the problem, or at least to prepare the 
 elements of a solution. It is this : In all com- 
 munications from a high source, apparent incon- 
 sistencies must be ascribed to the want of suffi- 
 cient knowledge in our o^^ai minds. In the 
 world of grace, as in the world of nature, we 
 must sometimes sit down and wait for more light. 
 Common reason will presume that in a book 
 not only accepted by the Catholic belief of all 
 Christian ages, but established by irrefragable 
 proof as authentic and inspired, there can be no 
 real contradictions. It is far more easy for a 
 sound reasoner to believe that he is himself in 
 the dark, than to believe that Holy Scripture 
 contains propositions which are irreconcilable. 
 It is more likely that any given set of words 
 admits of another interpretation than that books 
 penned and published by men of shrewdness, to 
 say no more, should assert diametrical oppo- 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 1^:3 
 
 sites. It is more likely that a single text, or a 
 few texts, should be obscure, than that the con- 
 current lio:hts of the whole record should be de- 
 ceptiv^e. All which brings us safely and surely 
 round to the divine principle of interpretation, 
 viz. :" the proportion of faith." Rom. xii. 6. 
 All divine doctrine goes by a sacred analogy. 
 If seemins: irreo:ularities in the motions of Mars* 
 led Kepler to doubt the universal exposition of 
 circular planetary orbs which belonged to as- 
 tronomy even as reformed by Copernicus ; much 
 more may inconsistency with the " analogy of 
 faith," or the concurrent teaching of all Scrip- 
 tures lead us to doubt our exposition of phrases 
 however literal or natural these may seem. To 
 give one instance out of thousands, it is thus 
 we dispose of all tliose passages which asmbe 
 bodily parts and passions to the Infinite and 
 Unchangeable Spu*it. In like manner, huml^le 
 piety, here sustained by sound philosophy, ^vill 
 conclude that the seeming contradictions of 
 Scripture concerning salvation without works, 
 and salvation with works, admit of being per- 
 fectly harmonized. 
 
 * Encv. Brit. iii. 739. 
 
184 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 It is a great encouragement to think that 
 we have lighted on a true interpretation of 
 Scripture when we find such interpretation as- 
 sailed by the same objections which assailed the 
 original scriptural statement. For example, we 
 interpret Paul as teaching that as the procuring 
 cause of a sinner's acceptance with God, his 
 works, doings, righteousness, and merits have 
 no validity ; that pardon and title to life are re- 
 ceived by believing and not by doing ; and that 
 justification is a gratuitous act of God, so far as 
 our obedience is concerned, while in regard to 
 the Mediator, it is founded on the obedience 
 unto death of the Divine Substitute. This is 
 what we derive from the Epistle to the Eomans. 
 Now, the doctrine thus derived is met with an 
 objection of this sort : You thus destroy the mo- 
 tive to holy obedience and relax the binding 
 stress of law. I say, it is encouraging to our in- 
 terpretation of the passage in Paul to know that 
 in Paul's life time the same objection was made 
 to his own words. He had been saying, iii. 28, 
 that " a man is justified by faith without the 
 works of the law." What is the kind of objec- 
 tion which Paul anticipates and precludes ? It 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 185 
 
 is that by so teacliing he vacates the law, verse 
 31, " Do we then make void the law through 
 faith ? God forbid, yea, we establish the law." 
 But this is the very objection which in our own 
 day is made against our j)reaching of a free 
 GosjDel. It is therefore our encouragement to 
 believe, that this free Gospel is the identical 
 Gospel which w^as taught by Paul. 
 
 I desire to treat this part of Christian doc- 
 trine in its relation to individual experience, 
 and the case of those who are about to pass, 
 or who have already passed, from death unto 
 life. The high and glorious doctrines of the 
 Pauline theology never seem so self evidencing, 
 and so precious, as when they are brought into 
 apj)osition with the repentant soul, and when 
 they are used as instruments in the hand of the 
 Spirit, for converting the soul to God. If, leav- 
 ing the schools of divinity, we proceed to inves- 
 tigate this matter in the light of inward experi' 
 ence, we shall find ourselves greatly aided. Di- 
 vine theology was not sent down from heaven 
 to be treated with dialectical nicety, or reduced 
 to formulas as dry as the bones on the anato- 
 mist's table. Taking our position, therefore, 
 
186 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 among new converts, we lend our ear to the ob- 
 jection, that he who believes himself justified 
 without some personal obedience to render, pro- 
 ceeds as if the law were nullified. Let us go 
 with this allegation into the court of religious 
 consciousness. It is charged that this lately 
 forlorn sinner, who just now stood trembling 
 before the tribunal of divine justice, and who 
 has just heard the gracious Judge pronounce his 
 free acquittal, is released from all obligation, 
 disposition, and motive. Now, if this objection 
 were well taken, it would conclude not only 
 agcainst the evansrelical scheme, but ao-ainst 
 Christianity itself ; inasmuch as the declarations 
 complained of are inseparable from the book and 
 appear in all their fulness on its face. The ethi- 
 cal reason is final and overwhelming — that 
 what is immoral is not of God. No evidences 
 for Christianity can be stronger than that would 
 be against it. And therefore we defend Chris- 
 tianity, not by showing that immorality is en- 
 durable, but that Christianity is not immoral, 
 which we shall now make obvious in the case 
 of the returning sinner ; following the very or- 
 der of thought in the objection, which denies 
 obligation, motive, and disposition. 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. IgJ 
 
 I. Oblio^ation. The believi:ng sinker ad- 
 
 MITS AIS^D AVOWS HIS OBLIGATION TO OBEY THE 
 
 LAW No truly converted man, at the time of 
 his conversion, has loAver thoughts of duty than 
 before, but altogether higher. At no moment 
 of his life has he had such a vie^v of justice and 
 legal demand as he now has. His apprehension 
 of the infinite Tightness and fitness of doing 
 God's will is greater than that of any legalist in 
 the world. The fact that the legalist hoj)es by 
 such obedience to merit life, does in no degree 
 cause him to have higher moral convictions. 
 Moral convictions, ^. ^., convictions of the Tight- 
 ness or wrongness of actions are not dei^endent 
 on any notions of merit and reward. The rec- 
 titude, beauty, and binding validity of the law^ 
 are distinctly view^ed apart from its sanctions. 
 The returning and now believing sinner has be- 
 come convinced and ]3ersuaded that God, for 
 Christ's sake, is his reconciled Father and ab- 
 solving: Judo^e, fore:ivino; his offences and receiv- 
 ino^ him to favour and life without the consider- 
 ation of any righteousness of his own ; but the 
 entire transaction as the ground of his confi- 
 dence and peace is such as to exalt beyond all 
 
188 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 previous experience liis estimate of holiness, 
 justice, law, and righteousness. The sinner has 
 fled to this grace of salvation, not because there 
 was no claim of law, but because the claim of law 
 was immense. He has rejoiced in this surety, 
 not because payment was superfluous, but be- 
 cause he had nothing to pay. He has escaped 
 breathless into this city of refuge, not because 
 there was no retribution, but because the 
 avenger of blood was at his heels. Justice, 
 justice, it was, which drove him to grace. Jus- 
 tice, eternal justice it is which still abides. It 
 was not simple fear, but contrition which im- 
 pelled him to the altar; he not only dreaded 
 penalty, he also had remorse for sin ; it was 
 more than wrath, it was conscience of guilt, 
 which made him thirst for expiation. Now, 
 conscience of guilt involves approval of recti- 
 tude, of holiness, and of law. Pardon of sin, 
 though free, tends in no degree to lessen ap- 
 proval of law and consequent abhorrence of 
 sin. 
 
 But there is much more to be said on this 
 head. The believing sinner admits his obliga- 
 tion to the holy law, because he reads that obli- 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 189 
 
 gation iu tlie very method of redemption. The 
 method is one of substitution and vicarious 
 atonement. The high obligation of the subject 
 to law has been assumed by the Son of God in- 
 carnate, acting in covenant as Mediator and 
 Sponsor. What was it that made the soul de- 
 spair ? It was sense of obligation. What was 
 it that made it necessary for the Word to be- 
 come flesh ? It was obligation. What was it 
 that caused Jesus to obey the precept and en- 
 dure the penalty ? It was obligation. Man 
 must die. " Die he, or justice must." Divine 
 justice becomes man, and dies to meet the obli- 
 gation. In the stains of holy blood upon the 
 ignominious tree, upon the accursed earth, and 
 upon the fair cold body of the lovely Redeemer, 
 the believing sinner reads, as in letters of crim- 
 son. Obligation, Obligation. This is a matter 
 of experience. All true penitents find it so. 
 Who shall affront my deepest sensibilities and 
 holiest apprehensions of generous love, by 
 charging that this my view of gratuitous re- 
 demption by the blood of the Cross tends to di- 
 minish my conscientious sense of duty to Him 
 who died ! What spectacle in heaven, earth, or 
 
190 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 hell, SO magnifies the Law as the spectacle of 
 Christ expiring in the tortures of law, and of 
 vicarious endurance ? The faith that accepts 
 this as redemption accepts it also as the grand 
 testimony of obligatory command. Laying my 
 hand on the head of the sacrifice to Infinite Jus- 
 tice, I thereby declare, as nowhere else, my obli- 
 gation to the code of justice which demanded 
 this sanction. He whom I behold dying in 
 pangs and blood came not to destroy the Law 
 and the Prophets, but to fulfil them. I believe 
 in Him who is the end of the law for righteous- 
 ness unto every one that believeth. And my 
 conviction of the power of Law, henceforth and 
 forever, is raised to its acme when I hear the 
 cry of consummation from those lips, " It is fin- 
 ished ! " 
 
 II. Motive. The BELiEvma smisrEE, m his 
 
 VERY BELIEVING, RECOGNIZES THE STRONGEST MO- 
 TIVES TO PERSONAL HOLINESS. ThcSC motivCS, 
 
 though reducible to a common head, apply them- 
 selves to the mind with the distinctness of sepa- 
 rate forces, all moving it to obey. Some of these 
 arrange themselves under the heads of holy ad- 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 191 
 
 miration of law, sight of perfect example, and 
 grateful love. 1. Hohj admiration of GocVs laiv 
 is a powerful motive to obey, and it is produced 
 by faitli ; for the soul in believing looks forth 
 on the Law as brightly effulgent in the plan of 
 redemption. Proof of this has already been 
 given. Admiration of the law is admiration of 
 infinite holiness, which is admiration of God. 
 This is immensely more operative than cold ap- 
 proval of moral beauty or excellence ; it takes a 
 wider sweep ; it goes nearer the primal source 
 of all ethical relations ; it gathers around con- 
 science the kindling fires of ascending passion ; 
 it reflects the radiance of a personal glow from 
 the face of Jesus Christ, who is our law. Per- 
 sonal holiness in perfection is the realization of 
 law. Now, personal holiness in perfection not 
 only is apparent in Jesus Christ, but is most 
 of all apparent in his cross and passion. That 
 which faith apprehends at the moment of the 
 sinner's conversion, is this very glory of God as 
 it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. The ad- 
 miration of infinite loveliness can never rise 
 higher than at this Cross ; and thus the very 
 belief which makes the sinner a trophy of free 
 
192 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 grace, subjects him, at the same time, to a mo- 
 tive of obedience. 2. The sight of a perfect exam- 
 ple brings fresh motive to holiness before the 
 soul that believes. The power of example is 
 great and obvious. Example, as additional to 
 mere precept, shows us several distinct objects : 
 first, the beauty of holy obedience in palpable 
 action ; secondly, the practicability of holy obe- 
 dience, and thirdly, the manner and detail of holy 
 obedience. The only perfect example which the 
 world has seen is the Lord Jesus Christ. Of his 
 holiness thus exemplified in our human nature 
 and under our human obligations, the crowning 
 portions are in his atoning work. Never did he 
 so please God the Father, never did he make 
 manhood so lovely, according to the creative 
 idea of the Father ; never, in other words, did he 
 radiate the splendours of so great a holiness, as 
 when he sanctified himself in that offering, and 
 gave up his life for his people. Of this work 
 part was divine, and therefore inimitable ; but 
 a great and lovely part is sublimely exemplary. 
 And these acts and sufferings of Christ, this 
 subjugation and oblation of his innocent and 
 blessed will, this atoning obedience unto death, 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 1^3 
 
 are the very object of saving faitli, tlie very 
 point on wliicli the soul fixes its eye in believ- 
 ing, the very motive which the convert to free 
 grace has to obey the law of his Redeemer. 
 Shall we continue in sin that grace may 
 abound ? God forbid ! how shall we that are 
 dead to sin live any longer therein ? If bap- 
 tized into Jesus Christ we are baptized into his 
 death. The atoning work, which frees us from 
 condemnation, wins us to holiness by its lofty 
 example. 3. Grateful love is a motive to obey 
 the law. The love of" Christ constraineth us, 
 for we thus judge, that if One died for all, then 
 were all dead, and that he died for all, that they 
 which live should not henceforth live imto 
 themselves, but unto him which died for them, 
 i. e.^ should obey. Love constrains. Grateful 
 love constrains — and to obey ! O, the child- 
 like simplicity of the motive. I believe, I 
 love, I obey. First I believe. I take in all 
 the wonderful demonstration of Christ's power 
 and willingness to save me freely. I lean 
 on it for my hope. Then, in this very instant 
 of believing or accepting free pardon, I love. I 
 love my redeeming God. And thirdly, I obc}-. 
 
194 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 for as obedience is love in act, so love is ob( 
 dience in princi23le. Tliis golden chain bind 
 the sinner at his believing to the throne o: 
 Christ. The voice of his Redeemer says : If y 
 love me keep my commandments, and in propoi 
 tion as he loves, so he obeys. Thus the sinne 
 who acts upon the principle of free grace, doet 
 while he exercises the faith which justifies witl 
 out works, recognize the strongest motives t 
 personal holiness, even the motives of holy ac 
 miration of law, sight of perfect example, an< 
 grateful love to Christ. 
 
 III. Disposition. The BELiEviijq^a smNEE, a 
 
 HIS BELIEVIKa, AND BY ]\IEANS OF HIS BELIEVINC 
 IS BROUGHT IT^TO A DISPOSITION TO OBEY THE LA^ 
 
 OF God. If this can be proved it must entire! 
 remove the objection, of which the whole fore 
 resides in the allegation that, in regard to thos 
 who hold it, the doctrine of a free salvation b 
 faith indisposes to holy living. What we mail 
 tain, on the contrary, is that the soul which s 
 believes in gratuitous redemption is at the sam 
 moment brought into a state most favourable t 
 obedience. Our proof of this respects thre 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 195 
 
 particulars : the posture of the soul in believing^ 
 the nature of the truth helieved^ and tlie tender 
 exercises of saving repentance, 
 
 1. The more you consider it, the more will 
 you perceive that no condition into which a 
 human soul can be tlu^own more disjDoses for 
 the rendering of obedience to God's law than 
 that in which such a soul puts forth acts of be- 
 lief in the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be evi- 
 dent if you remark the precise posture of the 
 mind in helieving a Divine record. It is a i)os- 
 ture of inward obedience. It is a state of sub- 
 mission to the Great Supreme. Faith is obe- 
 dience to God as true, just as right offerings 
 and choices are obedience to God as holy and 
 sovereign. So near akin is the temper of be- 
 lieving to the temper of obeying. He who is 
 ready to believe is at the same time ready 
 to obey. Both dispositions flow from one 
 and the same spirit of self-surrender or grate- 
 ful oblation of heart to God in Christ. Both 
 are streams from the same fountain of prin- 
 ciple opened in the soul by the regenerative 
 power of the sj)irit. The new creature acts 
 in both these parallel lines as by one and the 
 
196 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 same impulse, believing truth and performing 
 duty. 
 
 2. How the disposition to obey springs up 
 in tlie new convert will be further manifest 
 from considering the nature of the truth believed. 
 It is absurd to speak of belief, unless we imply 
 some truth to be believed. Now, the particular 
 truth which I believe when I " receive the 
 atonement " is that God, for Christ's sake, is 
 reconciled to me, a sinner. This belief directly 
 and infallibly operates to produce a disposition 
 of loving obedience. Partly because sin is that 
 from which I seek deliverance by believing, and 
 deliverance from sin is holiness. Partly ]3ecause 
 the sight of God reconciled through Jesus Christ 
 is fitted above all other views to kindle the 
 flame of gratitude. This is the faith w^hich 
 worketh by love, and this is the love^ w^hich is 
 the fulfilling of the law. This new disposition is 
 properly called evangelical, because it proceeds 
 upon motives of Gospel rather than motives of 
 law. Sinai, with its barrier of threatening, its 
 furnace smoke, its lightnings, its trumpet alarm, 
 and its voices of terror, its wrathful volleys, and 
 its portentous quakings, does not create one lov- 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 197 
 
 ing sentiment ; but the accents of pardon issu- 
 ing from tlie Cross compel tlie relenting sinner 
 to love, gratitude, and obedience. 
 
 3. It is tlius tliat faitli causes repentance. 
 By repentance I do not mean sorrow, wliicli is 
 only one ingredient in it, but that grace by 
 which the soul, convinced of the evil of sin, is 
 also made to apprehend the mercy of God in 
 Christ, and hence with sincere grief to turn the 
 back on sin, and to turn the face towards God, 
 in the full purpose of new obedience. By faith, 
 therefore, we establish the law ; because faith is 
 this very appreliension of tlie mercy of God in 
 Christ. Ko man ever truly beheld himself a 
 wretched sinner and Jesus a glorious pardoning 
 Saviour, without, in the very act, and in the 
 very proportion of these exercises, desiring and 
 purposing to walk in the way of God's com- 
 mandments. We rdight expect this from the 
 consistency of God's dealings in conversion. 
 The Holy Spirit, who seizes on a chosen soul in 
 order to save it, purposes in this salvation a 
 doul)le deliverance, namely from guilt and cor- 
 ruption ; from guilt by a baptism of blood, from 
 corruption by a baptism of water. Both inward. 
 
198 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 This is the twofold current from the sacred 
 heart of Jesus ; who came not by water only, 
 but by water and blood. The blessed Quicken- 
 er and Sanctifier at one instant breathes into the 
 soul two influences, one respecting Truth and 
 the other respecting Holiness ; one is Faith, the 
 other is Obedience. " Both v/orketh that one 
 and the selfsame Spirit." The hand which 
 touches Christ as a Saviour or Priest, does hom- 
 age to him as a King. It is true, indeed, that 
 the justifying power of Faith does not consist in 
 its being thus the root and origin of obedience. 
 Exact theology prefers to say that the same re- 
 newed nature which breaks forth in believing 
 on the presentation of Truth, breaks forth into 
 loving obedience on the presentation of Duty. 
 The very sense of deliverance by free grace 
 makes the soul abhor the license of sin. " What 
 then ? Shall we sin, because we are not under 
 the law^, but under grace ? God forbid ! " 
 " Now, being made free from sin, and become 
 servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holi- 
 ness, and the end everlasting life." Eom. vi. 
 15, 23. The temper of the believer is a temper 
 of holy subjection ; obeying not as a price for 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. l[)(J 
 
 life, but as an irrepressible expression and out- 
 going of a heart' all in fusion from infinite com- 
 passion and grace. Thus the sinner, by faith, is 
 brought into a disposition to obey the law of 
 God. And, in recapitulation of our whole pro- 
 gress, we have proved, first, that the convert to 
 free grace admits his obligation, secondly, that 
 he finds his motive, and thirdly, that he acquires 
 his disposition to serve ; and all three by believ- 
 ing. And in so proving, we have established 
 our position, that the doctrine of salvation l)y 
 faith, without works of* merit, does not make 
 void the law, but establishes it. 
 
 In coi^CLUSioN : While motives of mere law 
 are cold and inoperative, in effecting genuine 
 obedience, motives of the Gospel warmly and 
 commandingly act on the aftections and the 
 will, and tend to universal holiness ; thus the 
 Gospel confirms the law. Give me these few 
 moments to compare the two sets of motives, in 
 regard both to principle and fact. 1. The prin- 
 cij)le of the legal motive is one of conscience, 
 and it keeps in view retribution. Its maxim 
 is : Do this and live ; fail of this and perish. 
 Especially, when its most violent forces are 
 
200 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 applied, it denounces tlie damnation of hell. It 
 cruslies, but has no power to elevate, to melt, 
 or to inspire. It reveals guilt, and seals con- 
 demnation ; but it stupefies and petrifies in de- 
 spondency and woe. It wakes up sin as light 
 wakes up a torpid viper. " I was alive without 
 the law." The legal principle alone begets no 
 love^ which after all is the true spring of obe- 
 dience ; and hence, in our fallen state, we can- 
 not reasonably exj)ect the doctrine of merit to 
 inspire afifection, nor the law to secure its own 
 fulfilment. 
 
 What we thus admit in principle we observe 
 to be true in fact. Answer all ye who under 
 this yoke have been all your lives toiling to 
 work out your salvation, like the slave, under 
 the lash ; and who, at each fresh agony of en- 
 deavour, find yourselves only more convinced of 
 your incapacity to perfect holiness in the fear 
 of God. Witness ye who day by day are no 
 better, but consciously worse, from working 
 amidst these sullen fires of obligation under the 
 thundering doom ^' Cursed is every one that 
 continueth not in all things which are written 
 in the book of the law to do them." "The 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 201 
 
 law worketli wrath," and its effect is not 
 acceptable to heaven, being void of love, 
 which is the heart and soul of all fulfilment. 
 The hosts of deluded Papists stand out in 
 history as so many ghastly examples of what 
 the expectation of meriting God's favour by 
 legal performance can beget. So far from be- 
 ing the holiest of men, they have let down the 
 pale of duty, made sin easy, published tariffs 
 of transgression, made traffic of indulgences, 
 dispensed solemn obligations, and in the very 
 proportion of their prevalence and power, in 
 all countries, established a looseness of morals 
 which is a proverb, so that where they are least 
 restrained by Protestantism they are most un- 
 holy, and their most sacred ministers are the 
 w^orst of men. Such is the fact as to the doc- 
 trine of merit in its grosser varieties. Lesser in- 
 stances, among degraded Protestant churches, 
 exhibit the same tendency of legal teaching to 
 make void the very law w^hich it vaunts. Thus 
 we trace the legal motive, both in principle and 
 fact. Its great opposite remains. 2. The evan- 
 gelical motives act warmly on the affections and 
 the will, tending to a universal obedience and 
 
 9* 
 
202 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 thus establishing the law. The principle here 
 is just that which the whole preceding discus- 
 sion has set forth. It is no faith which does 
 not prove influential in obedience, just as on 
 examination you pronounce that to be no heat 
 whch does not cause expansion. Such faith is 
 nominal and dead. " For as the body without 
 the spirit is dead, so faith without works is 
 dead also." 
 
 The fact is not less apparent, and we appeal 
 to it with the confidence of triumph. Whether 
 we survey the individual soul, or entire commu- 
 nities, stretching through many generations, we 
 discern that where the doctrine of justification 
 without works has been most freely and fully 
 preached, believed, and experienced, there the 
 standard of morals has been highest. Not only 
 are there warmer feelings, there is also stricter 
 observance. Our arrogant opponent charges us 
 with relaxing the bonds of morals, and an apos- 
 tate Calvinist in this city, once an orthodox 
 preacher, has calumniously stated that the doc- 
 trine of justification by faith tended to looseness 
 of morals. This opprobrium is cast upon us by 
 those maligners who in the next breath accuse 
 
FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW 203 
 
 US of sourness, puritanic scruj)le, ascetic observ- 
 ance, Sabbatarian harshness, and pharisaic stern- 
 ness of rule. The fact is one of history. For 
 wide-spread and deeply-rooted morality of life, 
 the world can show no such examj)les as those 
 of the lands of the Reformation ; I mean those 
 in which the doctrines of Calvin, Knox, Cran- 
 mer, Fox, and Jewell prevailed ; the lands of 
 the Huguenots, the Covenanters, and the Non- 
 Conformists ; the lands, thank God, of our fore- 
 fathers. As diversity of opinion has come in, 
 as we have refined upon the tenets which lifted 
 the souls and nerved the arms of our forefa- 
 thers ; as the doctrines of our immortal Confes- 
 sion have become less those of the people, I call 
 you to witness that public morals have become 
 degraded. Let us praise the Lord that there 
 are still in our national counsels men whose 
 tongue is not " set on fire of hell," and who do 
 not " smite with the fist of wickedness." Our 
 hope of salvation is in the j)ure Gospel. Be- 
 lieve it, love it, act on it, and you do so much 
 to bless the country, while you fulfil a higher 
 law. Convinced of your sin, you need a Savi- 
 our who stands before the tribunal all sinless — 
 
204 FAITH ESTABLISHING THE LAW. 
 
 " Jesus Christ tlie righteous." When you be- 
 lieve in him who thus fulfilled the law you be- 
 gin yourself to fulfil it. Tarry not a moment in 
 the legal plain. Look not back to the ruins of 
 your own insufficient righteousness. Approach 
 at once, as you are, but believing, to the open 
 arms of the inviting Saviour. The faith you 
 thus attempt will not embolden you in sin, but 
 will make sin your abhorrence. And, despair- 
 ing of justification from the law, you will never- 
 theless establish the law. 
 
VIII. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
THE PKOGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 LrxE xvii. 5. — " And the apostles said unto the Lord, In- 
 crease our faith." 
 
 When the disciples of our Lord and Master 
 prayed him to increase their faith, there was im- 
 plied in their request a truth which continually 
 reappears in our discussion, namely, that faith 
 has degrees. There is a weak faith, like a grain 
 of mustard seed, and there is a strong faith, like 
 a great tree of the forest. And all that makes 
 faith valuable goes to awaken the desire that 
 our own faith should grow in strength. The 
 subject now before us is this very growth of the 
 believing principle, considered in its source and 
 manner. 
 
 While evano-elical faith is not without a 
 constant blending with the emotional and vol- 
 
208 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 untary part of our nature, it is not so within 
 reach of command, as that we can effectually tell 
 our minds to believe, or not believe. Even 
 though a man does not believe against his will, 
 he cannot ensure belief or disbelief of a given 
 truth by the putting forth of a direct volition. 
 This is too plain to need proof or elucidation. 
 So far as evangelical faith is concerned, it is 
 God who is its author, and we may regard the 
 point as no longer open for debate. We have 
 already seen that at the moment when the heav- 
 enly call brings a soul out of darkness into light, 
 God implants in it a j)rinciple of believing, and 
 so acts upon the faculties previously existing, as 
 to secure the due reception of the truth which 
 he reveals. All our terms on this point are 
 figurative. The words renewal and regeneration 
 are themselves such. We are not competent to 
 define precisely what that is, which God does in 
 regard to the soul, at its effectual calling. The 
 very throwing in of light into the dark chamber 
 is under divine efficiency the cause of faith. 
 The nature shows its first sign of renovation, by 
 actual believing. It lives, and the proof of this 
 is, that it sees. This is the beginning of faith. 
 
THE TROGRESS OF FAITH. 209 
 
 God gives botli tlie vision and the object of 
 vision, and in tliis twofold manner he continues 
 to operate, during all the Christian career. He 
 gives vision at the regenerating call out of dark- 
 ness into marvellous light. The new creature 
 is not blind. It is of its very nature to turn 
 towards the light and to enjoy it. This is the 
 specific way in which it acts, and this mode of 
 action conditions all its subsequent life. As 
 natural life is kept up by nourishment, so spirit- 
 ual life is kept up by perpetual repetition of 
 believing acts, all flowing from the inward prin 
 ciple of divine habitude, communicated at re 
 newal, and predisposing the mind to receive di 
 vine communications Avith persuasion of their 
 truth and excellency. This is the true theory 
 of growth ; thus is faith increased. The soul 
 has an affinity for divine truth, and turns to it, 
 just as the young plant in your greenhouse 
 looks, and bends, and clambers towards the sun- 
 ny window. Or the Heavenly Father may be 
 said continually to hold up the infant believer, 
 to look out upon the processions and prospects 
 which are afforded by the Word. But we have 
 seen that God gives not only the vision, but the 
 
210 THE PROGEESS OF FAITH. 
 
 objects. That this liolds good in regard to tlie 
 original revelation of the truths revealed, it is 
 hardly needful to say; but we go further. The 
 Father of Lights is perpetually bringing before 
 the mind the great spiritual realities upon which 
 faith seizes. This manifestation of heavenly 
 things begins, as we have already seen, at re- 
 generation. Especially the great central object 
 is then revealed to the wondering eye of the 
 awakening sinner, even God, in Christ, reconcil- 
 ing the ungodly to himself This illumination 
 is coincident with the beginning of the new life. 
 But the series of divine objects has only begun, 
 and all through the religious life, he who affords 
 the faith furnishes that upon w^hich it shall feed. 
 The newborn babes who desire the sincere milk 
 of the Word, find supplies continually replen- 
 ished from these breasts of consolation. As long 
 as we are in this world we may be said to be 
 walking through a gallery of marvels, to each 
 of which the Great Master who holds us by the 
 hand directs our attention. 
 
 When we speak of God as maintaining the 
 increase of faith by rene^ved and perpetual ex- 
 hibition of that which shall be the object and 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 211 
 
 pabulum of faith, we include botli outward 
 presentation and inward influence. The. out- 
 ward presentation of truth, falls under the do- 
 main of Providence, which perfectly concurs 
 with grace. The believer, in his state of pupil- 
 age, is ]3laced under an economy of merciful in- 
 struction. He is now in Christ's school. By 
 parents, teachers, friends, ministers, and holy 
 books, he has offered to his view the facts and 
 doctrines of religion ; and this external instru- 
 mentality is indispensable. But something is 
 needed nearer the centre. The inward influence 
 of the Holy Spirit prints the rays on the table 
 of the heart, and faith here finds its precious 
 materials. This is the secret source from which 
 all graces are iiTigated. In the ordinary work 
 of sanctification we know not that God ever 
 operates on the soul with an entire independence 
 of the truth. He answers the intercession of the 
 Son, when he sanctifies them by the truth, his 
 " Word is truth." But we dare not, with some, 
 confine these influences to a bare presentation 
 of objective truth. All observation and all 
 Christian consciousness show that this is utterly 
 ineffectual, unless something be added ; which is 
 
212 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 tlie clarifying, directive, and swaying potency 
 of God put forth upon the thinking principle ; 
 which now not merely has an object presented, 
 but actually sees it in something of its reality 
 and excellence. By this double favour, in which 
 we have both the exterior truth as something to 
 be received, and the interior faculty of receiving 
 it, God is day by day carrying forward the pro- 
 cess of assimilation, nutrition, and strength. 
 
 What we are now considering belongs to 
 what may be called spiritual physiology ; it be- 
 comes known to us only by experience. But the 
 biographies of all Christians harmonize here in 
 a surprising degree. The disciple will find it 
 useful to look back on his own. You were once 
 an infant in faith. If there has been any in- 
 crease you perceive it has been by a never-ceas- 
 ing engagement of your mind upon the commu- 
 nications of ScrijDture. Having begun with 
 milk, you have been gently led on to partake 
 of strong meat, as you were able to bear it. 
 Happy was it for you, if you early learned to 
 covet an experience more robust than that which 
 consists of flights, and frames, and moods ; flashes 
 of joy, chills of fear, effusions of grief; good 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 213 
 
 days and bad days, independent of Christian 
 doctrine. You entered yourself upon the study 
 of the Scripture with method and perseverance ; 
 you hearkened to the preached Word with mod- 
 est expectation. These truths had a savour 
 Avhich made you come again. Not content with 
 the mellow fruits which lay on the ground, you 
 were taught to search for others among the 
 branches. From that which was easy you ad- 
 vanced to the keener relishes of that which was 
 difficult. The Master met you where you did 
 not expect him, and you tasted honey in the open 
 field, and your eyes were enlightened. Some- 
 times that which had once made youi^ pride re- 
 volt, became the soiu'ce of edification : " out of 
 the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong 
 came forth sweetness." Passages, and even 
 whole books of Scripture, which had lain by 
 you 'as lumbering unopened caskets, were in 
 time brou2:ht forth and made to reveal their 
 "hid treasure." You were taken in twilight 
 hours into the " House of Mourning," and there 
 taught lessons ^^'hich you would never have 
 learned by day. Comparing Scripture with 
 Scrij)ture, and summing up scattered expres- 
 
214 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 sions into great comprehensive Leads, you have 
 risen to schemes of theolos-ical method, and 
 have discerned the beautiful consistency of 
 truth. These lessons have not been specula- 
 tive ; they have exercised the heart. While 
 knowledge has been pouring out the heavenly 
 wine of evangelical doctrine, faith has carried it 
 round to all the sisterhood of graces, till each 
 has been revived. The work of the understand- 
 ing and the work of the affections so run into 
 one another, that happy souls are never more 
 a glow, never more melted, than while they are 
 in contact with some good word of God ; just as 
 on a fair autumnal day we walk abroad, and 
 while we bask in the gentle ray, receive from it 
 silently both light and heat. Did you ever see 
 the array of clouds at sunrise show the same 
 colors on two occasions ? Just as diverse are 
 the lessons of truth which Christ has taught 
 you out of the Bible ; day by day changing the 
 instruction, " He wakeneth morning by morning, 
 he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." 
 Is. 1. 4. 
 
 In all the departments and families of ani- 
 mal nature, we find analogies, and these are not 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 215 
 
 to be despised, partly because of the laws per- 
 vadino; tlie universe wliicli sustain tliese analo- 
 gies, and partly because they are made use of 
 in the teachings of Scripture. However high 
 and however low we go in our range, we find 
 every creature which lives depending on nour- 
 ishment. Whatever be wanting, some organ or 
 faculty receptive of aliment is always present. 
 Now, I say this very analogy is used in the les- 
 sons of faith, when we are taught that the soul 
 is nourished by truth. That this is implied in 
 the milk and strong meat, to which we have 
 alluded, is exceedingly plain. But in addition, 
 and with yet more impressive figure, the simili- 
 tude of this vital law is brought before us in 
 regard to our reception of the truth concerning 
 Christ. We receive Christ, when we fully be- 
 lieve the truth concerning him. And as all 
 truth centres in him^ and faith accepts not only 
 his Word, but his person, we are represented as 
 receiving himself ; and this not only in a gen- 
 eral way, but particularly as to his flesh and 
 blood ; that is, his sacrificial body, as represent- 
 ative of his redeeming work, w^hich centres in the 
 Cross. Nay, to make the correspondence more 
 
216 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 complete, the mode by whicli our faitli receives 
 tlie Lord Jesus is set forth by the particular 
 figure of eating and drinking ; and the Lord 
 Jesus is exhibited as the bread which came 
 down from heaven. After the miracle of the 
 loaves, which gave occasion to our Lord's most 
 remarkable Capernaum discourse, he said to his 
 hearers, in words connecting the whole subject 
 with his atonement, John vi. 51 : "I am the liv- 
 ing bread which came down from heaven ; if 
 any man eat of this bread he shall live forever ; 
 and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which 
 I will give for the life of the world." Concern- 
 ing this sixth chapter of John, it is disputed in 
 the schools whether it relates to the Lord's 
 Suj)per. Roman Catholics affirm this, founding 
 on it their monstrous dogma of a real bodily 
 presence. Protestants usually deny. The true 
 solution seems to be that these words do not 
 primarily relate to this sacrament, not instituted 
 as yet, but that they do relate to that great 
 truth which underlies it and on which it is 
 founded. For we are not to suppose that the 
 Lord's Supper is an arbitrary ordinance, or that 
 one emblem would have answered as well as 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 217 
 
 another for a commemorative sign. On tlie 
 contrary, the ordinance has its essence, vivifying 
 form, or idea, which is the resemblance between 
 the taking of food and drink for bodily suste- 
 nance, and the receiving of Christ by faith. To 
 return, then, the varieties of truth revealed in 
 the Scripture yield increase to faith, as so many 
 different sorts of nourishment. The actings of 
 faith are modified by the nature of the commu- 
 nication made. Thus the believer receives his- 
 torical teaching with instruction and reverence, 
 as on the authority of God speaking in the 
 Word. He bows in obedience to that which is 
 communicated in the shape of command. He 
 trembles at divine threat enings, and rejoices at 
 divine promises. While his capital acts of be- 
 lieving are his accepting, receiving, and resting 
 upon Christ alone for salvation, by virtue of the 
 covenant of grace. 
 
 In giving increase to faith, it may be ob- 
 served that God adds to its greatness in two 
 respects, first as to its extent, and secondly as 
 to its intensity; its extent meaning here the 
 range and number of truths discovered and be- 
 lieved, and its intensity the degree of certainty 
 
 10 
 
218 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 to whicli the persuasion arises. Tlie difference 
 among true believers, as to clearness of apjDre- 
 hension and multitude of objects, is immeasur- 
 able. Here is a babe in religion, whose mind 
 just twinkles with the smallest, feeblest ray 
 that can save a soul, and whose creed contains 
 only this : " I am a sinner, but Christ has died ; " 
 and yonder, near the founts of light, is a Paul, 
 who from that source of illumination beholds 
 worlds and systems of revealed knowledge. 
 Between these the scale has innumerable de- 
 grees, which we are unable to graduate. From 
 the lowest to the highest, in regard to knowl- 
 edge of the objects, God did actually conduct 
 such a saint as Paul. Every addition which we 
 make to our stock of divine communications 
 gives so much increase to the field of vision, and 
 so to the amplitude of faith. 
 
 But growth equally concerns the intensity 
 of believing, and this was doubtless the chief 
 thing meant by that prayer of the twelve, " In- 
 crease our faith." One man believes more 
 strongly than another, and some truths more 
 strongly than other truths. It is of great prac- 
 tical moment for us to recos-nize this law of men- 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 219 
 
 tal action, that faith has degrees. Its fainter 
 measures just glimmer above the point of incre- 
 dulity and doubt ; its higher soarings are among 
 the certainties of assurance. The same man 
 may believe the same truth with very sincere 
 degrees of strength at one time and at another. 
 The advanced Christian, who has the substance 
 of things hoped for, and the evidence of things 
 not seen, looks back on the early beginnings of 
 his persuasion as scarcely any faith at all. One 
 of the most precious gifts w^hich God ever 
 vouchsafes us, is a clear, unwavering insight of 
 the soul into future and unseen things, which 
 on God's authority become so sure to us, that 
 they stand out palpable and real before us, and 
 though not by the same evidence, become as 
 influential upon our affections and will, as the 
 material objects of our senses. Such faith is no 
 fancy, but self evidence. He who is strong in 
 faith is as certain that God made the worlds as 
 if he had seen it done ; as certain that they shall 
 be dissolved as if he heard the final trumpet. 
 Though humble and illiterate, and though he 
 may have followed out the branches of truth to 
 few of their inferential conclusions, ho has a 
 
220 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 precedence over tlie pliilosoplier in virtue of this 
 his intensity of believing. Brethren, we only 
 need greater faith to transport lis at once into a 
 new world. This Abram had, when, against all 
 appearances, he took the wife of his youth by 
 the hand, and went out, not knowing whither he 
 went. This Isaac had, when his prophetic eye 
 looked down throucrh ao-es on the fortunes of Isra- 
 el and Edom. This Jacob had when he, in like 
 manner, became a seer, in regard to Ephraim and 
 Manasseh. This Joseph had, when, amidst the 
 mausoleums and pyramids of Egypt, he ordered 
 that his burial should be in the land of his birth. 
 This Moses had, when, contrary to every human 
 probability, he gave up ^' the treasures in Egypt," 
 gave up the learned pride of the Court, gave 
 up " the pleasures of sin," gave up the honour of 
 being son to Pharaoh's daughter, and " chose 
 rather to suflfer affliction with the people of 
 God " in sure and certain faith in " the recom- 
 pense of the reward." In conducting his chil- 
 dren forwards, God is pleased to work step 
 by step, and sometimes slowly. The progress, 
 however, in such hands, is certain. Hard win- 
 ters may make the tree leafless and seem to con- 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 221 
 
 geal its juices, but there is life, uay, there is 
 growth, though comparison must be at long -in- 
 tervals to make it apparent. There are many 
 ways in which it may be assailed and weakened, 
 and there are times when even a true Christian 
 may think of himself that he is a rejected hypo- 
 crite. How, you will be ready to ask, can this 
 be ? Can a man have so remarkable and heav- 
 enly a prize within him and yet not know any 
 thing about it ? No, indeed, he cannot. If 
 faith is in exercise, he knows it, that is, he is 
 conscious of believing ; but it by no means fol- 
 lows that he knows this believing to be saving 
 faith. In like manner, when other exercises, 
 peculiar to the new creature, are present in the 
 mind and heart, he is conscious of them ; but 
 the knowledge that these are gracious affections, 
 is altoccether a different matter. As this is true 
 of early religion, it is likewise true of religion in 
 progress. There may be advancement, where 
 the reigning experience is so shaded by sadness, 
 self-reproach, lowly views of inward sin, and ap- 
 prehension of chastisement, that the soul may 
 seem to itself to be drifting in a direction away 
 fi'om God. More serious maladies of the mind 
 
222 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 and lieart may, for a time, not only seemingly, 
 but really, put back the religious movement, 
 causing painful but temporary decays. Temp- 
 tations may harass and even defile, the world 
 may come in like a spring-flood, inbred sin may 
 reassert its sway, clouds of error may overshad- 
 ow, despondency may impair the comforts of 
 believing ; but amidst all, and through all, God 
 carries on the good work and " will perform it 
 unto the day of redemjotion.'' The case of Pe- 
 ter, about the period of his dreadful denial, is 
 full of instruction. Some think his faith then 
 utterly failed, but if this were so, Christ's prayer 
 was never answered. " Simon, Simon, behold 
 Satan hath desired to have you [disciples] that 
 he may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed 
 for thee [Simon] that thy faith fail not." Luke 
 xxii. 31. Faith at length gets the victory, 
 growing up in many to the attainment of a full 
 assurance through Christ. 
 
 From first to last that which waters and re- 
 freshes inward faith is the river of divine truth, 
 constantly kept in its channel and directed to 
 the roots by the Holy Spirit. Truth is at once 
 means and object. By looking at the truth, 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 223 
 
 faith is clierislied and increased. And this is so 
 important that we may profitably spend a little 
 time in considerino; the manner in which this 
 work of increase is conducted. 
 
 1. God increases faith by presenting new 
 truths to the mind, or by shedding new light 
 on truths already presented. In addition to 
 what has been akeady ofi*ered on this topic, we 
 may remark that Christian knowledge is con- 
 tinually carrying forward its frontier into con- 
 tiguous territories. The field of discovery is 
 the Word of God itself This is to the believer 
 what the starry heavens are to the astronomer. 
 It is a noxious error to suppose that we have 
 found out all that is in the Bible. There are 
 seals yet to be broken and interpretations yet in 
 the hand of Providence, which may surpass in 
 glory all that has shone upon the church since 
 Pentecost. In the individual believer there is a 
 perpetual conquest by believing. He may have 
 known before, but this was only surveying the 
 domain which he is to possess. His progress is 
 towards the acquisition of all truth, but this end 
 he shall not reach, till that state where he shall 
 know even as also he is known. But every 
 
224 THE PUOGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 proposition of tlie Word wMdi is taken up by 
 genuine faitli becomes a source of new strength. 
 Some of these are never whispered out of doors, 
 being communications from tlie Heavenly Spouse 
 within the curtains of tlie heart's tabernacle, 
 concerning the person and grace of Jesus. " The 
 secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, 
 and He will show them his covenant." Every 
 one of these blessed experiences, often little 
 flowers of heaven, will be found, on examina- 
 tion, to have proceeded from some bud of dis- 
 tinct revealed truth. The more, therefore, truth 
 is added, the more does faith advance. 
 
 2. God increases faith by presenting known 
 truths in new relations. In all knowledge, 
 whether of divine or human science, this is a 
 principal part. The knowledge of simple ob- 
 jects, in a given circle, would soon be exhaust- 
 ed, if it were not for the knowledge of relations 
 between -their objects. How few are the origi- 
 nal and elementary objects from which geometry 
 takes its departure ; yet at length it reaches the 
 extraordinary and to common minds inconceiv- 
 able heights of analysis which lead to the 
 weighing of planets and the mensuration of un- 
 
THE PKOGRESS OF FAITH. 225 
 
 seen orbits. Tlie relations of divine truth afford 
 an endless study. The ramifications of these 
 truths never terminate, and connected as they 
 are with the highest and purest enjoyments of 
 the soul, they furnish the best occupation of the 
 human mind. This is one of the greatest differ- 
 ences between Christians. Compare a pious 
 but naiTow believer, whose whole theolog}^ is 
 contained in a few precious propositions, seldom 
 compared with one another, and never made to 
 produce important deductions, with an Augus- 
 tine, Avhose width of view, fertility of compari- 
 son, keenness of insight, and subtlety of logic, 
 rendered the most abstruse theology a delight- 
 ful play ; or with Calvin, whose mind, even in 
 youth, had cast all religious tenets into a crys- 
 talline regularity of method, whose judgment, 
 by a sort of dialectic instinct, separated truth 
 from falsehood, and whose never surpassed ele- 
 gance of diction rendered him the master of his 
 period ; or with Owen, who, Avith all his inele- 
 gance, is equal to these in learning, in compre- 
 hensiveness, in subtlety, in wisdom, and in 
 piety, and who traced out the lines of orthodox 
 theologv to lengths never reached by any pre- 
 
 10+ 
 
226 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 vious inquirer. These are marvellous instances 
 of tlie " diversity of operations " in the great 
 Master. By such processes, He is pleased, ac- 
 cording to his own pleasure, to exercise and aug- 
 ment the faith of his people, leading them, espe- 
 cially in devotional hours, to think deeply and 
 profitably on common topics, which, to less ob- 
 servant or less patient minds, might seem to have 
 nothing left for inquiry. Here it is that solemn 
 and continued meditation brings in rich spoils. 
 
 3. God increases faith by gradually purg- 
 ino- the mind of its errors. In some this is a 
 work of vast extent, in others comparatively 
 small. Religious education and the absence of 
 seducing causes give some minds a signal ad- 
 vantage. There are none, however, in whom 
 this purification does not become necessary. 
 Some errors are j)oisons, and others are like in- 
 digestible or noxious matter taken into the sys- 
 tem. There is no religious error which does 
 not impede sanctification. The tendency of in- 
 creasing truth is to thrust out and at length en- 
 tirely eliminate contrary falsities. The process 
 is like that which takes place when, as we say, 
 a child outgrows some deformity, or as when an 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 227 
 
 ulcer tends to healing witli sound flesli. The 
 law of a suj)erior nature ^yorks towards the es- 
 tablishment of symmetry and the casting off of 
 temporary irregularities. This is the more suc- 
 cessful where it is not mere knowledge, but re- 
 ligious faith, which is the reformatory agent. 
 Growth in grace and holiness of heart, beyond 
 all other means, give the soul a repugnance to 
 falsehood, and tend to unity in the truth. 
 Hence, as differing Christians approach nearer 
 to the heavenly state, they are found to be near- 
 er to one another in opinion. The secret but 
 uncontrollable affinity of the soul for God's pure 
 truth tends more and more to eject remnants of 
 falsehood. 
 
 4. Above all, God increases faith by strength- 
 ening the inward habit of believing. This hab- 
 it may be viewed from two different sides ; 
 either as the principle, infused with the new na- 
 ture, to be the origin of all acts of believing, or 
 as the faculty of believing called up by frequent 
 practice and rendering all subsequent acts of 
 believing more easy. Of course, we regard this 
 as respecting chiefly the intensity of faith. As 
 a man advances in religion it is more easy for 
 
228 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 liim to helieve. Habitual intercourse enables 
 us to recognize the voice of a dear friend ; so 
 tlie slieep know the voice of tlie shepherd. A 
 single whisper from God becomes effectual and 
 ensures persuasion. To which we must add 
 that as faith is an immediate product of the 
 life of God in the soul, whatever adds to the 
 vigour of that life, that is, whatever increases 
 inward piety, gives strength to the habitude 
 of faith. All the means of grace, therefore, and 
 all that elevates, purifies, and comforts the 
 soul, go to help forward the disposition to be- 
 lieve ; so that, however little w^e may know 
 of it by our own experience, Vv^e have reason 
 to think that there are persons, especially in 
 the quietude of a Christian old age, who have 
 reached a state in which questionings have 
 ceased, and in which the abiding disposition 
 of the soul is to rest upon God's truth, faith 
 beino* brought into close resemblance to vision. 
 It is the more necessary to dwell on this mode 
 of increasing faith, lest any should suppose it is 
 due to any natural course of learning or process 
 of reasoning. There may be much knowledge 
 where there is no faith, and powerful believing 
 
THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 229 
 
 where there is little science. But the more we 
 believe, the more we are able to believe. And 
 with this will come clearer views of the object, 
 and more profound, immovable, and intense per- 
 suasion. All accompanying and resulting graces 
 or holy affections react on faith and increase its 
 streno;th. 
 
 Since these things are so, we see at once 
 how wise was the resort of the apostles to Him 
 who is the Author and the Finisher of faith. 
 Some of us here present, I am quite sure, are 
 convinced that the very greatest -blessing we 
 could receive this moment would be a mighty 
 and immediate lifting up of our souls to great 
 faith, such as should realize to us and make 
 present to us God, and Christ, and the eternal 
 world. We err by seeking this too much from 
 our own efforts. There is unbelief in the very 
 endeavour. This is a case in which no man can 
 receive any thing unless it be given him from 
 above. An hour of prayer will do more than a 
 week of study. The very posture of the soul 
 in prayer is favorable to believing. Prayer as- 
 cends to the very source of the good which we 
 most need. Do we believe that God, by one 
 
230 THE PROGRESS OF FAITH. 
 
 almighty touch, can create in us the faith which 
 would so bless us ? Then why not ask him ? 
 why not ask him now ? why not ask him im- 
 portunately, jointly, and for one another, look- 
 ing unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
 faith ? One look in that heavenward direction, 
 of a longing, aspiring heaii:, will accomplish 
 more for us than a lifetime of unaided reason- 
 ings. And let us remember that in praying for 
 faith we pray for all good things at once. There 
 is a sound sense in which still " all things are 
 possible to him that believeth." Faith is the 
 chief of sister graces, and she leads in all the 
 rest. He who is the Author, is at the same 
 time the object of faith. While we look tow- 
 ards him praying, let us also look believing. 
 Lord, increase our faith ; Lord, increase our 
 faith ! Methinks I hear it coming up, as an 
 irrepressible sigh, from various parts of our 
 church ! And if so, then I know that a general 
 blessing is nigh, which will be felt in our 
 hearts, in our children, in every assemblage of 
 worshipping people. 
 
IX. 
 
 EFFECTUAL WORKIXG OF FAITH. 
 
EFFECTUAL WOEKING OF FAITH. 
 
 1 Thess. ii. 13.—" The AYord of God, which effectually work- 
 eth also in you that believe." 
 
 Keligion is not tlie tame ana sleepy thing 
 whicli some suppose. This misapprehension is 
 derived partly from erroneous views of doc- 
 trine, but yet more from the examples of actual 
 Christianity among us, which fall so far short 
 of the biblical standard. In its beo-inninors, the 
 religion of Jesus must have had an extraordi- 
 nary fund of warmth and power, or it never 
 would have accomplished such changes. Even 
 of false religions, however we may detest their 
 pretensions, we judge rightly that they have an 
 inward motive power of great expansive force, 
 when we behold them rapidly pervading whole 
 
234 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 nations. Such is our just conclusion in reference 
 to this particular, when we see Mohanimedism 
 diffusing itself like a conflagration over the 
 most celebrated countries of the East, and even 
 sending its victorious flame into southeastern 
 Europe. And such must be our conviction re- 
 specting certain forms of popery, as, for example, 
 Jesuitism, which embodies most of what belongs 
 to the Komish system. But never was this more 
 true than of the early progress of Christianity. 
 Wherever it came, it was hailed as a mighty 
 revolution. Those that turned the world upside 
 down were its 2:)ropagators. Without aid from 
 philosophy, government, or arms, nay, in the 
 face of all these, it began a triumphal march, 
 which for a while looked as if it would reach 
 the limits of the habitable globe, and which did 
 attain to boundaries, compared with which all 
 later missionary successes have been small and 
 insignificant. To reach such results, there must 
 have been a secret, operative, and indomitable 
 force in the souls of early disciples. And it is 
 the absence of this to which we ascribe the tar- 
 dy pace of modern evangelism. The new relig- 
 ion did not simply claim to be admitted to a 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 235 
 
 purity witli existing superstitions, nor was Jesus 
 offered for a coequal jplace among the divinities 
 of the Pantheon ; but the conquering faith, 
 claimed to reign alone, and pushed with a 
 mighty assault against all that had hitherto 
 prevailed over the minds of men. It not only 
 transformed rude and violent men into the gen- 
 tlest creatures, full of graceful love ; but elevat- 
 ed the humblest and meekest into heroes and 
 martyrs ; so that women, slaves, and children 
 went joyfully to chains, peril, and death in the 
 fulness of their persuasions. The point to which 
 I ask attention, is, that the minds, thus nerved 
 and thus proj^elled, must have been actuated by 
 a principle of immense force ; and accordingly 
 that this belongs to the Christian religion, in its 
 vigorous condition. This actuating principle 
 was, in its simplest form, the conviction of di- 
 vine truth. Here we arrive at one of the great 
 constituents of the true Christian character, the 
 consideration of which will explain much of the 
 extraordinary operation concerning which we in- 
 quire. This persuasion of the truth wrought 
 by the Holy Spirit, is faith ; which occupies so 
 high a place in the inspired account of grace. 
 
236 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 At present we are to look at it simply in regard 
 to its tendency to stimulate and exalt the na- 
 ture. Strong belief makes strong characters. 
 We see this in common life. The man who 
 clings to some great conviction, even though it 
 be of error, becomes a man of energy. He has 
 a hidden fire perpetually urging him to act. 
 His motive power is sometimes wonderful to all 
 beholders. Genuine belief propels its subject to 
 a degree far beyond all that can be imitated by 
 simulation and hypocrisy. The fixed idea is 
 always driving on the wheels of fervid action. 
 This is apparent every day, among men of sci- 
 ence, artisans, inventors, speculators, bold' trad- 
 ers, popular reformers, enthusiasts, and fanatics, 
 as well as in great discoverers, commanders, and 
 philanthropists. The man is energetic, hopeful, 
 laborious, and untiring, simply because he be- 
 lieves. Difiiculties vanish before him, and the 
 scoffs of those who predict disaster, pass by him 
 unheeded. This conviction distinguishes him 
 from the half-persuaded, who desist from the 
 race, and the unbelieving, who never commence 
 it. To this must we trace the toil, patience, and 
 success of Columbus, "Watt, Fulton, Dewy, and 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKIXG OF FAITH. 237 
 
 Henry; of Cesar, Marlboro, and Napoleon. 
 Bring this principle into tlie field of religion, 
 and its power is so mucli the more apparent, 
 because religion deals so much with mental and 
 spiritual objects, the proper nutriment of faith. 
 Men are strong and influential just so far as 
 they have some darling thought, some immov- 
 able conviction, some urgent belief And their 
 strength lies in the precise direction of this their 
 inward judgment. In other matters they may 
 be as weak as other men. In nothing do we 
 more observe the pow-er of mind over mind, 
 than in great revolutions of human opinion. 
 The champions who have accomplished these 
 have been those who had each some cherished 
 truth, or cherished falsehood, to which he clung, 
 even amidst peril of death. Whether a Pela- 
 gius or a Luther, a Loyola or a Calvin, a Wes- 
 ley or a Pusey, there was a certain strength of 
 purpose and action, and this was traceable to the 
 great controlling idea. And the true reason why 
 many men of fertile minds and a most diffusive 
 activity, leave little mark upon their age, is that 
 they lack this high commanding belief of some 
 grand truth which they deem all-important. 
 
238 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 Such, tlien, is the manifest influence of faitli, 
 considered barely as a general principle ; it en- 
 larges, and fortifies, and impels the character. 
 Each of us, my brethren, in his own little 
 sphere, is strong or weak, according to the pres- 
 ence or absence of inward hearty belief. And 
 he is the feeblest of mortals who has nothing 
 to which the power of his mind adheres tena- 
 ciously as true and excellent. It is very evident 
 that this force is not w^anting, when applied to 
 religious truth. Here, pre-eminently, earnest- 
 ness of conviction works upon the character 
 with a moulding and in^esistible efficacy. 
 
 Thus far we have contemplated faith in its 
 most general idea, without reference to the 
 things believed ; but when we come to inquire 
 for its appropriate objects, the reality and ex- 
 tent of its power rise before us with increased 
 importance. We shall see then that the objects 
 of faith are of such a nature and magnitude, 
 that the belief of them awakens the strongest 
 principles of our nature, elevates the aims, sus- 
 tains the purposes, and confirms the manly ar- 
 dour. We are no longer concerned with the 
 faith of earthly things. Our field is exclusively 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 239 
 
 that of religion. Here faitli erects her throne 
 and predominates over her wide dominion. .And 
 how much more extended is the w^orld of faith 
 than the world of science or of sense ! It is the 
 opposite supposition which keeps multitudes 
 from taking the sweep of this great sj)iritual 
 horizon. Their views are bounded by the little 
 hills which embosom their confined valley, an 
 area which to them is all the world. The thinsfs 
 of eternity seem to them airy, visionary, unreal. 
 But true faith gives intense reality to these spir- 
 itual existences, and introduces the wonderinir, 
 awed, and delighted spectator to new heavens 
 and a new earth, which he sm^veys from his 
 mountain-top of observation, without a lingering 
 doubt. When one comes, under the influence 
 of the Spirit, and by the aid of Scripture, to be- 
 lieve in spiritual and eternal things, the visible 
 frame of nature and all the objects of our senses, 
 the matters which surround and touch us every 
 moment, dwindle away in the comparison, and 
 become as nothing. And this is the great 
 change which is wTought in a truly religious 
 man. The first and greatest object of faith is 
 God ; that he is, and what he is. To the mind 
 
240 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 of the unbeliever, God can scarcely be said to 
 exist. For him, and to Lis apprehension, there 
 is no God. Walking amidst the multitudinous 
 traces and signatures of divine power, wisdom, 
 and beneficence, and receiving showers of favour 
 from his hand every moment, the unbeliever 
 entertains no willing thought of his Creator and 
 Preserver. Faith works here an entire revolu- 
 tion. God is seen, by the inward vision, in all 
 his excellent glory and mysterious presence. 
 The great truth that God is, that most undeni- 
 able, precious, and fundamental of all truths, 
 enfolds the soul, as its very atmosj)here. In 
 Him we henceforth live, and move, and have 
 our being. We set the Lord always before our 
 face. It is good for us to draw nigh to God. 
 We walk with God. Now, can a human being 
 come under the impression of this sublime prin- 
 ciple without a change of thought, feeling, hab- 
 it, and character ? Can he be the same sordid, 
 or selfish, or trifling one as before ? Nay, can 
 such a great belief enter the soul without at 
 once advancing to the throne, and reigning over 
 all the propensities and passions ? Faith of such 
 a reality takes guidance of the soul, and^ gives 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 241 
 
 it new motives and a n^v direction. But tliis, 
 thougli the greatest, is only one of the truths of 
 religion. You will not expect me to enter into 
 all the details of things believed ; this would 
 require an epitome of all theology. Let me no- 
 tice one or two of these objects of faith, still 
 with reference to their j)ower to confer strength 
 and greatness on the man. Sin and its remedy 
 are matters of revelation, and so of faith. When 
 a man comes to believe that he is a sinner, com- 
 prehending the dreadful import of these terms, 
 he lives in a new world. He is a sadder and a 
 wiser man. Till this eclipse, that darkens all 
 his skies, has passed away, no other thought can 
 interest his soul. His mind runs on beyond the 
 boundaries of the present life, and seeks to ex- 
 plore the palpable obscure of that untried state, 
 where this tremendous evil of sin shall have 
 full development, and work out dire results, and 
 this forever. And when the sun breaks in upon 
 the lurid prospect, and God's grace is manifest- 
 ed, and salvation is proclaimed, and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, now the most lovely object in the 
 universe, stands forth revealed as the most ac- 
 cessible, and the freeness of heavenly love irra- 
 
242 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 diates the soul, and the bliss of pardon and 
 communion sends wave after wave over the re- 
 conciled conscience ; of a truth, faith has wrought 
 its chief earthly wonder ! Now the earth is 
 forgotten, as it was by the three upon the 
 mount, when they said " Lord, it is good to be 
 here ! " Now the grandeur of the new spiritual 
 objects occupies the entire faculties. And as 
 these are occupied, so are they also shaped, 
 warmed, and expanded. Who can think large- 
 ly, deeply, and constantly of the glorious Em- 
 manuel and his work without having a glow, a 
 hopefulness, and an energy which he never 
 knew before ! We see this, as matter of fact, in 
 all the history of the church, and all the round 
 of our religious observation. It is transform- 
 ing. The vile are purified. The grovelling are 
 caused to soar. The fickle are established. The 
 feeble are made strono;. Faith, as terminatins: 
 in Jesus and his cross, proves the renovator of 
 human habits and will. He who continually 
 thinks of Christ, with firm belief, such as makes 
 him real to the soul, and present as truly as 
 things of sight, as friends, as family, as the very 
 body ; he who lives on this truth and so dwells 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 243 
 
 in fellowsliip with the Son of Gocl, hearkening 
 to him, speaking to him, consulting him, loying, 
 enjoying, adoring him, cannot but be trans- 
 formed. The littleness of earth and self must 
 in some measure pass away. And the reason 
 why our common religious warmth and vigour 
 are so small, is that we have so faint and wa- 
 vering a faith. 
 
 People of the world are remarkable for this, 
 that they live entirely in time. The temporary 
 and the transient absorb their thoughts. Theu^ 
 future is only a little snatch of days or years 
 that shall presently be ov^er. True, if pressed, 
 they will acknowledge that there is such a thing 
 as death. It is found ujDon them, hj badges, 
 obituaries, processions, vacancies in their circle. 
 Ah ! sometimes the dart strikes in the very bo- 
 som of their families, and they owai, for an in- 
 stant, that they are mortal. Or they are shaken, 
 in the mighty hand of God, over the gaping 
 vault, and terrified with the certain prospect. 
 But these are thoughts which they love not ; 
 and to the w^orldly eye a thick veil hangs at 
 that point, w^hich they care not to lift, and be- 
 yond which all is darkness. Dreadful infatua- 
 
244 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 tion ! For beyond tliat sable pall is Eternity, 
 — awful, deligbtful word, Eternity ! — compared 
 witli wliicli all the lifetime liere, nay, all tlie 
 lifetimes of our race together, are but as the 
 breath, the moment, before continued existence ; 
 Eternity, fraught with happiness or woe ; Eter- 
 nity, which you and I must inevitably enter and 
 experience, after a lapse of time, which, in the re- 
 trospect, shall seem but the twinkling of an eye ! 
 My brethren, here is enough, at this single 
 point, to account for peculiarities of character, 
 and to mark the difference between two souls, 
 one of whom neglects this whole subject wdth 
 averted eye, while the other lives in full view 
 of that boundless, endless existence. It is the 
 Word of God w^hich reveals these sublimities ! 
 It is Faith which takes hold of that Word. And 
 the Word, so believed, energizes [such is the 
 term] in the soul of the true disciple. For 
 Faith is the substance of things hoj)ed for, sub- 
 stantiating them to the apprehension, realizing 
 them to the heart, making them operative mo- 
 tives, as much as the gain, the pleasui^e, and the 
 fear of our daily walks. 
 
 Keflect, moreover, that in the case of the es- 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. :245 
 
 tablislied Cliristian, the eternity wliicli perpetu- 
 ally floats before liis thoughts and colours all his 
 prospect, is an eternity of consummate knowl- 
 edge, immaculate purity, angelic society, and 
 absolute bliss. Shall such a belief lie dormant 
 in a soul made up of susceptibilities ? Shall it 
 not cause the believer to leap for joy ? Shall it 
 not arm him for all adventures, and quicken 
 him for every labour, and steel him for thor- 
 ough endurance ? But this is the idea which 
 rules in the minds of all God's ]3eople, and 
 which, according to our text, works mightily in 
 them, pervading their nature, stimulating their 
 activity, and altering every lineament of their 
 moral countenance. 
 
 Thus have a few leadins^ truths been sino^led 
 out, to show that, as objects of faith, they have 
 an energy in changing the character. The same 
 is true of all the contents of Scripture, of all the 
 revelation of God. All doctrines have not, in- 
 deed, the same importance or the same potency. 
 But all do their part, and faith works by all. 
 There is no lesson of the Word Avhich does not 
 contribute to form the Christian man. And 
 there is no moment of life in which some part 
 
246 EFFECTUAL WOKKING OF FAITH. 
 
 of the work is not going on under the hand of 
 the new-creative power. As in the studio of 
 the statuary, all the operations are not of the 
 same dignity, yet all conduce to the harmonious 
 and exquisite result. There must be the beauti- 
 ful idea in the artist's soul ; the careful mould- 
 ing of his clay model ; the choice of his rude 
 material ; the measurement and blocking out of 
 his marble ; the rough removal of unsightly 
 masses ; the patient work of mallet and chisel ; 
 and the final polish of the resplendent surface ; 
 all needful to secure a thing of beauty to be a 
 joy forever. So, in the hands of God, who car- 
 ries out his perfect and loving idea, it is Faith 
 which, by a patient and perpetual energy, oper- 
 ates with ten thousand separate shaping influ- 
 ences of Truth, all carrying forward the living 
 sculpture and bringing out the eventual form 
 of holy grace, which shall be the everlasting de- 
 light of angels and of God. How happy are 
 we, if, indeed, we are the subjects of such a pro- 
 cess ! And how low are the views which we 
 ordinarily take of this plastic force, continually 
 operating through faith of the operation of God. 
 IS'o wonder Paul so eloquently dilates on the 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 247 
 
 virtue of faitli in transforming the saintly char- 
 acters of every age. " Who, through faith, sub- 
 dued kingdoms, \M:ought righteousness, obtained 
 promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
 the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the 
 sword, out of weakness w^ere made strong, 
 waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the ar- 
 mies of the aliens. Women received their dead 
 raised to life again ; and others W'Cre tortured, 
 not accepting deliverance, that they might ob- 
 tain a better resuiTection ; and others had trial 
 of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, 
 of bonds and imprisonment ; they were stoned, 
 they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were 
 slain with the sword ; they w^andered about in 
 sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflict- 
 ed, tormented, of w^hom the w^orld was not 
 worthy." 
 
 Although the subject has already been 
 touched in the way of allusion, w^e must spend 
 a few moments on the power which truth, as 
 believed, exercises upon the afi'ections. Man is 
 made up of emotions and passions. From these 
 spring his actions, and hence they have been 
 philosophically classed as the active powers. 
 
248 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 At tlie first presentation of tlie objects of faith 
 they are undoubtedly seized upon by the intel- 
 lectual faculties; but their influence does not 
 cease here. Even after knowledge has been ele- 
 vated into belief, there is a further work upon 
 the emotional part of man. And just here the 
 prime energies of faith are expended. While 
 the affections take their origin and complexion 
 from the nature or character, it is also true that 
 they react, and by reflex operation mould Jhe 
 habits and tendencies, and even remotely the 
 intellectual exercises. It is from the affections 
 that all actions take their first motion ; for will 
 is inward action, and will is moved by the feel- 
 ings and desires. The grand problem, then, is, 
 if we would change the character, what lever 
 shall we bring to bear upon the affections. 
 Here we ariive at the energy of faith. Truth 
 believed operates upon the emotions and pas- 
 sions, and so upon the will and its acts. The 
 force of genuine belief is obvious and universally 
 acknowledged. This force will be in proportion 
 to the strength of the persuasion. A wavering 
 confidence mil scarcely stir the heart, but let it 
 swell like a torrent, and it will carry all before 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 249 
 
 it. Hence faith works mightily in them that 
 believe, to produce the other graces. Slight 
 views of Christ's atonement and of the future 
 glory which it ]3urchases, may give a man cold 
 and doubtful expectations ; but let him be per- 
 suaded that these things are as real as his own 
 existence, and straightway he rejoices in hope 
 of the glory of God. Here is faith engendering 
 hope. Faint apprehensions of the love of God 
 in Christ may leave the heart void of corre- 
 sponding affections, but let the full excellency 
 of the benignant dying Redeemer overpower the 
 soul, and it is dissolved in tender attachment. 
 Here is faith working by love. The same is 
 true of all these ever busy emotions, which, like 
 a ceaseless sea, forever fluctuate in the soul of 
 man. Faith rises over these waves of feelins: 
 and commands them. The cordial belief of un- 
 seen things makes the heart's pulses play with 
 new animation. And then these moving powers 
 give animation to the whole Christian life. The 
 main spring of all, however, still is " the word 
 of God, which effectually worketh also in you 
 that believe." 
 
 Study the terms of the text, and you Avill 
 
250 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 recognize that form of expression whicli indi- 
 cates an action now in progress, actually going 
 on at the moment, and always going on ; a reg- 
 ular and constant operation of this great princi- 
 ple, to which all things in religion are due. It 
 '' effectually worketh," or puts forth its energiz- 
 ing and transforming virtue, now and at all times. 
 The work of truth and faith in the soul is a con- 
 tinual progress. Growth in grace is growth in 
 the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. As knowledge of the truth is gradual, 
 Iby continual fi^esh apprehensions of Christian 
 doctrine by the intellect, so faith which takes 
 up and employs this knowledge goes on from 
 step to step. Mere knowledge may increase, in- 
 definitely, without saving effect ; here there is 
 no energy, no renewal ; but knowledge believed 
 and appropriated spiritually, diffuses its illumi- 
 nation through the entire nature. Knowledge 
 resting in the understanding gives a certain 
 light, which may be compared to the taper, con- 
 fined within the sides of the lanthorn, on which, 
 nevertheless, it works no change. But knowl- 
 edge transformed to faith, is like the mass of 
 crystal which the artificer brings from the fur- 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 251 
 
 nace of the glassliouse, a molten globe of fire, 
 all luminous, in every particle, all pervaded by 
 tlie principle of liglit. Oui' progress is real, 
 when there is advance in faith, corresponding 
 to the advance in knowledge. And this may 
 be going on during all our Christian course. 
 Every perusal of the Scriptures, eveiy hearing 
 of the preached Word, should make us stronger 
 and happier Christians, by the energy of faith 
 within. And this is most likely to be the case, 
 when we look away most from the particular 
 instrumentality, and regard the divine authori- 
 tative source. So was it with the Thessaloni- 
 ans, to whom Paul says : " For this cause also 
 thank we God without ceasing, because when 
 ye received the Word of God which ye heard 
 of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but 
 as it is in truth the Word of God, which effectu- 
 ally worketh also in you that believe." And 
 here we close what may be considered the doc- 
 trinal part of this discussion. A few words of 
 application may be allowed. 
 
 What is the grand defect of our popular 
 Christianity, in this busy, bustling city ? It is 
 want of faith. Let me apply the question in 
 
252 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 another form : Why is it, that, knowing many 
 things in religion, you nevertheless are conscious 
 of no such energy of transformation, as has been 
 described ? It is because you do not believe. 
 I anticipate your reclamation. You reply, We 
 do believe ; we are unwilling to be ranked 
 among infidels. Ah ! beloved hearers, I protest 
 to you that you believe not ! This faint, inop- 
 erative assent to the august truths of religion, 
 which works no repentance, no love, no joy, 
 which hardly ruffles the surface of the stagnant 
 pool within, this is not the faith of God's elect. 
 This is not that mighty, heaven-wrought spirit- 
 ual persuasion, which has made saints and con- 
 fessors, and shall one day revolutionize the 
 world. You have only to compare it with your 
 convictions respecting worldly things, to find 
 how weak it is. The news of the day, brought 
 across the ocean, and affecting the trade of na- 
 tions, how differently does it agitate your bos- 
 oms ! Here, all is clear and undeniable. Men 
 of the world, ye need no tables of self-examina- 
 tion to settle the question whether your interest 
 in the things of earth is sincere or not. But 
 how nice a scrutiny must be instituted, in order 
 
EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 2.53 
 
 to discover your faitli of things divine ! And 
 after the inquiry, how often does the search re- 
 sult in absohite negation. O, how long shall 
 we trifle on the brink of that dread spiritual 
 world which stretches away beside our very 
 path ! When shall we awake to consider the 
 stupendous interests which shall soon burst 
 upon us to the utter obliteration of all our tem- 
 poral fancies ! The single truth of the incar- 
 nation and death of the Son of God, duly in- 
 wrought into the soul, would arouse, and at- 
 tract, and transform. But to influence, it must 
 be believed. And to be believed, it must be 
 contemplated and pondered. And in order to 
 this, you must come to a deliberate pause in 
 your whirl of engrossing occupations. Wonder 
 not that I repeat this again and again to the 
 children of this world. For your salvation de- 
 pends on it. You must consider, or be lost. 
 While you wait for some sudden shock, to rend 
 you from your idol, you tempt God's providence 
 and rush upon his indignation. Let me cry 
 once more in your ears, that unless you turn the 
 concentrated powers of thought on revealed 
 truth, and unless you believe it, you will live 
 
254 EFFECTUAL WORKING OF FAITH. 
 
 on as you have lived hitherto, and die in your 
 sins. 
 
 Dear brethren of the Christian profession, 
 we have failed to exemplify the truths which 
 we profess. Who, that beholds our daily walk, 
 would infer that we are living under the powers 
 of the world to come ? Our faith, if we believe 
 at all, is too feeble to evince the energy of the 
 Word. All churches among us need a deepen- 
 ing of the inward experience. Should such an 
 influence come over us, we should become a 
 wonder to each other, and a blessing to the 
 world. 
 
X. 
 
 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 Romans v. 11. — ''And not only so, but we also joy in God, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received 
 the atonement." 
 
 If you vfill take tlie trouble to look at tlie 
 aro-ument wliicli runs like a strono; tliread 
 througli all tke preceding verses, you will see 
 that our apostle goes on witli a cliain or series 
 of assertions, uttered in the name of renewed 
 persons. For example, verse 1, " We have 
 peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; " verse 2, " We have access by faith un- 
 to this gi^ace wherein we stand ; " " we rejoice 
 in hope of the glory of God ; " verse 3, " We joy 
 [glory] in tribulations also ; " verse 9, " We 
 shall be saved from wrath through him ; *' verse 
 10, " We shall be saved by his life." These are 
 
258 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 glorious asseverations, containing the whole of 
 our redemption ; but before going into another 
 division of the discourse, as he does in the 12 th 
 verse, instituting his immortal parallel between 
 the first Adam and the second Adam, between 
 the ofl'ence and the grace, between condemna- 
 tion and salvation, he utters a burst of satisfac- 
 tion, as he surveys the goodly prospect, and 
 thus expresses the joy of a soul which accepts 
 Christ : " And not only so, but we also Joy in 
 God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through 
 whom we have now received the atonement." 
 Our margin says reconciliation, and in this 
 sense the word atonement was doubtless em- 
 ployed. The same Greek w^ord is elsewhere 
 translated reconciliation. The joy here spoken 
 of is that high exulting joy, when the soul is 
 lifted up with complacency in the blessing pos- 
 sessed. It is the word employed to signify a 
 proud joy, such as brooks no silence or conceal- 
 ment, but would fain cry aloud, clap the hands, 
 and shout : " We exultingly rejoice and gladly 
 glory in God." This joy is founded on a fact 
 here recorded, " By whom we have now received 
 the atonement or reconciliation." We, i. e., be- 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 259 
 
 lievers, have received the reconciliation. This 
 is a summing up of all the bright and stupen- 
 dous things contained in the foregoing verses 
 of this chapter. All comes to this, We are re- 
 conciled, and hereupon the great joy. It is my 
 design to draw your thoughts to this subject : 
 
 THE JOY OF THE SOUL WHICH EECEIVES THE EE- 
 
 coNciLiATioN. And we shall find it best to 
 view the experience doctrinally, and the doc- 
 trine experimentally. Then is experience safe, 
 and zeal not without knowledge, when it is 
 distinctly authorized by definite statements of 
 theological truth; and then is doctrine efiica- 
 cious, savoury, and fruitful, when it enters 
 into the emotions of the heart, the testimonies 
 of the conscience, and the determinations of 
 the will. You almost anticipate the division 
 forced on us by this exposition of the words. 
 We must consider : I. The fundamental truth, 
 " We have received the atonement." II. The 
 emotion resting on it, " We joy in God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 I. The FUNDAMENTAL Teuth, We liave re- 
 ceived the atonement^ or reconciliation. This is 
 
260 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 the corner-stone of tlieology, so far as regards 
 personal salvation. To be reconciled was the 
 great thing about which there were suspense and 
 wonder in the universe. All the Gospel, the 
 good news, the glad tidings, is in this one word. 
 Reconciliation, This is the message, sent by 
 the word of preaching to be believed, that God 
 is reconciled ; and he that believes this is saved. 
 In all this it is implied that there was a differ- 
 ence or alienation. This controversy must be 
 settled before any amity can take place between 
 the contracting parties. The problem was, how 
 God could be just, and yet justify the ungodly. 
 This is a difficulty very lightly treated by those 
 who have low thouc^hts of God's holiness and 
 justice, and consequently slight thoughts of sin, 
 its guilt, wrath, and punishment. All this ar- 
 gument of Paul, and the uniform current of 
 Scripture, go to show that there was wrath to 
 be removed. Many deny this altogether, re- 
 move from God every thing punitive and vindi- 
 catory, and bring in the whole human race as 
 already objects of God's favour. But all the 
 previous parts of this epistle represent sinners 
 as justly exposed to the anger of the righteous 
 
JOY IX BELIEVING. 261 
 
 Judge. Vain are all attempts to show that 
 the only reconciliation needed was the reconcili- 
 ation of the human soul to God. The Scrip- 
 tures most clearly and repeatedly show that 
 God must be reconciled to us. We are to be 
 brought near by an expiatory work, a sacrifice, 
 a vicarious obedience, a propitiation, or what is 
 summarily named an atonement. Whatever 
 may be the precise rendering of the word here, 
 we must admit that all reconciliation grows out 
 of atonement. And as this is true in respect of 
 the nature of God, and the demands of his law, 
 so it is strikingly true of the soul's experience. 
 Conscience is a stern and mighty vindicator of 
 the claims of divine justice. Working in all 
 men, but most mightily in those who have 
 Christian light, Conscience assures the sinner 
 that he is lost. The law of commandments is 
 applied to the heart and life. ISTow the inward 
 nature testifies, that as surely as God is true 
 and righteous, he must punish the sinner. And 
 the only legitimate way of arriving at any paci- 
 fication is by receiving the atonement. The 
 text speaks of our receiving reconciliation 
 through the Lord Jesus, " by whom we have 
 
262 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 now received tlie atonement." By him, because 
 lie is himself the reconciler, the propitiation, the 
 surety, intervening between God and the sinner, 
 bridging over the gulf, slaying the enmity, 
 nailing it to his Cross, and so making peace. 
 By him again, because, subjectively, as a mat- 
 ter of experience, we receive the reconciliation 
 thi'ough Jesus Christ. It is from his hand we 
 receive our succour. His mouth speaks our ad- 
 mission to favour. His Spirit seals the recon- 
 ciling truth on the heart. So likewise, we are 
 said to receive the reconciliation in two senses. 
 First, we have now, since the death of Jesus, re- 
 ceived a gift of salvation in offer. Now, but 
 never before, there is a full and open manifesta- 
 tion of a way of life. This is the " Kedemption 
 that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth 
 to be a propitiation through faith, in his blood, 
 to declare his righteousness." ii. 24, 25. The 
 closing verses of the context gleam with the 
 effulgent radiance of this truth of free salvation. 
 " The free gift is of many offences unto justifica- 
 tion ; the free gift came upon all men unto justi- 
 fication of life ; by the obedience of one shall 
 many be made righteous." " That as sin hath 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 263 
 
 reigned unto death, even so miglit grace reign 
 tlirough rigliteousness unto eternal life by Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." This is that Cross of Christ 
 in which Paul gloried. God is reconciled by 
 the blood of the Cross. His anger is turned 
 away from all who l^elieve. This offer of salva- 
 tion, tendered to us as a truth, we now have 
 knowledge of. But secondly he would say, We 
 now by faith accept this offer, and are safe, " by 
 whom we have now received the reconciliation." 
 Here we plunge at once into saving experience. 
 This is a matter which none can understand but 
 he who makes trial of it. On this point, pre- 
 cisely, hinges oui' salvation. By faith, or believ- 
 ing, we receive the reconciliation. It is faith 
 which makes the atonement ours. This most 
 simple acquiescence of the soul, in the great 
 truth that " God is in Christ Jesus reconcilinc: 
 the world unto himself, not imputing their 
 trespasses unto them," unites the believer to 
 Jesus and gives him a share in the reconcilia- 
 tion. He receives the atonement. 
 
 Generally this most free and immediate of 
 all acts is preceded by severe struggles. The 
 convinced sinner sees mountains of hinderance 
 
262 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 now received tlie atonement." By liim, because 
 lie is liimself tlie reconciler, the propitiation, tlie 
 surety, intervening between God and tlie sinner, 
 bridging over tlie gulf, slaying tlie enmity, 
 nailing it to his Cross, and so making peace. 
 By him again, because, subjectively, as a mat- 
 ter of experience, we receive the reconciliation 
 through Jesus Christ. It is from his hand we 
 receive our succour. His mouth speaks our ad- 
 mission to favour. His Spirit seals the recon- 
 ciling truth on the heart. So likewise, we are 
 said to receive the reconciliation in two senses. 
 First, we have now, since the death of Jesus, re- 
 ceived a gift of salvation in offer. Now, but 
 never before, there is a full and open manifesta- 
 tion of a way of life. This is the " Redemption 
 that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth 
 to be a propitiation through faith, in his blood, 
 to declare his righteousness." ii. 24, 25. The 
 closing verses of the context gleam with the 
 effulgent radiance of this truth of free salvation. 
 " The free gift is of many offences unto justifica- 
 tion ; the free gift came upon all men unto justi- 
 fication of life ; by the obedience of one shall 
 many be made righteous." " That as sin hath 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 263 
 
 reigned unto death, even so miglit grace reign 
 tlirougli righteousness unto eternal life by Je$us 
 Christ our Lord." This is that Cross of Christ 
 in which Paul gloried. God is reconciled by 
 the blood of the Cross. His anger is turned 
 away from all w^ho believe. This offer of salva- 
 tion, tendered to us as a truth, we now have 
 knowledge of. But secondly he would say, We 
 now by faith accept this offer, and are safe, " by 
 whom we have now received the reconciliation." 
 Here we plunge at once into saving experience. 
 This is a matter which none can understand but 
 he who makes trial of it. On this point, pre- 
 cisely, hinges om' salvation. By faith, or believ- 
 ing, we receive the reconciliation. It is faith 
 which makes the atonement ours. This most 
 simple acquiescence of the soul, in the great 
 truth that " God is in Christ Jesus reconcilino; 
 the world unto himself, not imputing their 
 trespasses unto them," unites the believer to 
 Jesus and gives him a share in the reconcilia- 
 tion. He receives the atonement. 
 
 Generally this most free and immediate of 
 all acts is preceded by severe struggles. The 
 convinced sinner sees mountains of hinderance 
 
264 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 between liiiu and Christ. A hundred things 
 must be done before he can be reconciled. At 
 length, conquered, and with pride and self- 
 righteousness humbled, and all activity in the 
 way of effort slain, he gives all up, repudiates 
 all his own strivings, desists from self-prepara- 
 tion, and receives the atonement. IS[ow, what 
 is it that he receives ? He receives the wonder- 
 ful tidings that God is now reconciled to him, 
 freely, fully, and forever. There are those to 
 whom this is long incredible, too simple to be 
 worth any thing, too good to be true. Their 
 sins are so great that the breach between them 
 and God is infinite. They must be washed be- 
 fore they can venture near the fountain. They 
 must be melted before they come to the fire. 
 They must have good feelings, which are the 
 beginnings of salvation, before they come to the 
 Saviour. These are all different ways of recon- 
 ciling themselves ; these are all hinderances in 
 the way of receiving the reconciliation. He 
 who receives it receives all at once and all for 
 nothing. He communicates nothing, brings 
 nothing in his hand, offers nothing. Of what 
 avail are his tears, his relentings, his reforms, 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 265 
 
 liis earnestness, liis compunctions, liis soft feel- 
 ings ? Will lie add these straws and rags as 
 a makeweiglit in God's awful scale of justice 
 to tlie golden talents of Christ's righteousness ? 
 Will the beggar lying at the gate refuse to en- 
 ter in till he has offered some of his shreds in 
 pawn for the admission ? Will the sinful soul 
 hold back when the eye of Jesus sparkles with 
 love, and both his hands are stretched out with 
 the completed and all-perfect reconciliation ? 
 ISTo ! The first real light of grace shot into the 
 chinks of the prison house compel the sinking 
 despondent one to receive the reconciliation ; 
 and the comprehensive word means the entire 
 pacification between God and man, of which 
 what is theologically called the Atonement is 
 the basis. By Jesus he receives the reconcilia- 
 tion. From Jesus he receives it. Nay, it is Je- 
 sus himself that he receives, and this is faith. 
 In that moment he is united. He is a child of 
 God. John i. 12 : " But as many as received 
 him to them gave he power to become the sons 
 of God, even to them that believe on his name." 
 
 IT. The emotions founded on it : " We joy 
 
 12 
 
266 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 in God through our Lord Jesus Christ J'^ It 
 cannot be necessary to repeat tliat this joy en- 
 sues upon receiving tlie reconciliation. World- 
 ly j)eople have a great deal of joy, and look 
 U23on a Christian life as joyless. But their joy 
 has some capital defects, in the view of a ration- 
 al and immortal being : it is variable, uncertain, 
 short lived, mixed, impure, and dangerous. 
 Self-deceived and worldly professors, who have 
 a name to live while they are dead, experience 
 no joy. They are generally uneasy and self- 
 condemned; an evil conscience, never yet 
 touched by the great reconciliation, forbids 
 the spreading of the Avings in religious rap- 
 ture. The awakened unbeliever has no joy, be- 
 cause he has no reconciliation. He has heard 
 the sound of the coming storm, as he paces the 
 sands over which the gathering tide angrily 
 rises. He looks out from his desolate coast, 
 seaward, upon a waste of waters on whose edge 
 he has been long a traveller, but whose low 
 murmur of wrath he never heeded before. He 
 has been anxiously looking to the beetling wall 
 of precipice which overhangs him and forbids 
 escape from the rising flood ; but the long black 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 267 
 
 parapet of cliff betrays no path, no step, no fis- 
 sure. He has not been able to scale it by. any 
 self-relying efforts, such as personal amendment, 
 humiliation, devotion, penitence. That bulwark 
 is impregnable. But what is this suddenly ap- 
 parent in the relentless rock ? An open door ! 
 An inviting friend ! A helping arm ! It is 
 the atonement of Christ. It is the peacemak- 
 ing of his blood and righteousness. It is prof- 
 fered reconciliation. And he receives it ! He 
 accepts it ! He abandons forever his methods 
 and appliances of selfrescue. He believes, is 
 justified by faith, and has peace with God 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. "And not 
 only so," says Paul in the name of true Chris- 
 tians, " but we joy ! " Yes, joy has now re- 
 visited the human soul ; and it is this which 
 we must more particularly contemplate. 1. It 
 is a joy specifically refeiTed to this one persua- 
 sion ; joy hecaU'Sd ofheing reconciled or brought 
 to peace with God, after having lain long under 
 his displeasure. " We have received the recon- 
 ciliation." It is God who properly receives the 
 Atonement ; it is we w^ho receive the reconcilia- 
 tion. And hereupon there is joy. Heaven is 
 
2C)8 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 no longer hostile. The feud caused by sin is 
 made uj^. The fear of a punishment, which was 
 all the greater because it was just, is taken 
 away. This is included in the reconciliation. 
 See 2 Cor. v. 18. The embassadors of the king- 
 dom carried this message to you, if you ever 
 heard the Gospel ; theirs was " the ministry of 
 reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ 
 reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing 
 then- trespasses unto them." And when Paul, 
 at the head of these embassadors, beseeches thus 
 for Christ, as though God did beseech you by 
 them, saying, " We pray you in Christ's stead, 
 be ye reconciled to God," mark the ground and 
 argument which he subjoins : " For he hath 
 made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 
 that we might be made the righteousness of 
 God in him." 2 Cor. v. 21. Matter of indiffer- 
 ence to the " whole," who need not a physician, 
 but of life or death to one under the law. How 
 a true, and a holy, and a just God could admit 
 him to the bosom of love, he did not see. The 
 Babel tower of works, and frames, and feelings 
 by which he would fain have reached heaven, 
 has tumbled about him in confusion. Behold 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 269 
 
 all obstacles swept away by the mighty arm of 
 God, who takes the whole work into his .own 
 hands. " Salvation is of the Lord." That which 
 you could not do he hath done. He does not 
 require your preparations, amendments, convic- 
 tions, moods of grief, submissions ; these are no 
 parts of your justification. God sweej)s them 
 away, as you would a house of cards on your 
 carpet, to replace them by the glorious finished 
 work of Christ, and as you receive the atone- 
 ment, you rejoice. 
 
 Some measure of joy there will necessarily 
 be whenever any soul accepts pardon and peace. 
 The contrary is as inconceivable as that a mur- 
 derer under the gallows should receive sudden 
 pardon without emotion. The degree of joy is 
 nowhere stated nor prescribed. It might be a 
 rapture almost to burst the clay integuments ; 
 it often is a gentle acquiescent glow of infant 
 recognition. Nothing more recalls the fresh in- 
 nocent delights of childhood, than the convert's 
 love of espousals. But the quantity of joy is 
 indeterminate. Let no man rashly acquit or 
 condemn himself on any such uncommanded 
 criterion. The constancy of this early joy may 
 
270 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 not be Tinbroken. The sun may rise and enter 
 clouds. The sun may shine dubiously, and we 
 may not discern his radiant disk. But he is 
 there, and sometimes he breaks forth. Our joy 
 in any good is proportional to om^ previous de- 
 sire of it and the present value set on it. Hence, 
 where convictions of sin have been very bitter, 
 the delight of pardon is most remarkable. Our 
 joy in any piece of good news is proportional 
 to our belief of it. How often must I recall to 
 you the maxim that faith is faith, however 
 weak ; and where there is faith there is recon- 
 ciliation, just as where there is breath there is 
 life. But just as an infant which barely 
 breathes, though certainly living, has no con- 
 scious pleasure, so the new convert who barely 
 believes has no conscious safety. Yet is he safe. 
 Greater faith is to be desired. If you have not 
 believed enough, or believed aright, go not back, 
 O sinner, over yom^ track of error ; believe again, 
 believe again ! Look out of self, far away from 
 home, to the work which ended at Calvary, to 
 the righteousness summed up in the Cross 
 and Passion, and receive the Atonement ! The 
 more bright this vision the clearer your joy. 
 
JOY IX BELIEVING. 271 
 
 You cannot trust in Christ's work too mucli. 
 He who by salvation means deliverance from 
 sin, cannot for salvation too soon and too heav- 
 ily lean and roll his whole weight on the arm 
 of Emmanuel. And when you accept a fi^ee i^an- 
 som thus offered, you cannot joy too strongly. 
 2. The rejoicing of a new-born soul is character- 
 ized as joy ill the Lord our Saviour ; " we joy 
 . . . through our Lord Jesus Christ." This 
 differs very much from certain doubtful if not 
 counterfeit conversions, in which there is high 
 rapture, but without any views of Christ as the 
 reconciler. We have had painful interviews 
 with such persons. From defective theology, 
 from training under a ministry which under- 
 values doctrine, from ignorance of the evangelic 
 method, they have emerged into a sort of Christ- 
 less peace. They first had trouble and next 
 had peace. But out of trouble unto peace they 
 have come without any special thought of Christ 
 or Atonement. They have climbed the wall, 
 and did not enter the celestial gate. " I [says 
 Jesus] am the Way, the TiTith, and the Life : 
 no man cometh unto the Father but by me." 
 No man can rejoice too strongly in Christ's will- 
 
272 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 iiigness to receive liim. If without waiting for 
 any feelings, you now, on that sj)ot, credit what 
 I say, viz., that Christ will take you, here, and 
 reconcile you to the Father, then rejoice, for 
 heaven rejoices ! You do well, you cannot do 
 better. But if your joy is in looking back to 
 the efforts you have made, to the repentings 
 you have produced, to the submissions you have 
 effected, to the new course you have entered on, 
 and if this is all, if no Sun of Righteousness beams 
 in your heavens, then I exhort you to do what 
 you have left undone : Believe in the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ; accept the 
 reconciliation, and thou shalt legitimately rejoice. 
 All true Christians' joy, whether at first believ- 
 ing or at the moment of dying, is " through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ." 3. Yet tlie convert'' s joy is 
 in God: " Not only so, but we also joy in God." 
 There is no contradiction or inconsistency. Not 
 to say that Christ is God, our rejoicing through 
 Christ or on account of Christ, is in a hio^h and 
 peculiar sense joying in God. This is the crea- 
 ture's return to its chief good. Unfallen spirits 
 rejoice always in God, as did Adam and Eve in 
 Eden. Fallen spirits have naturally no joy in 
 
JOY IN BELIEVLNG. 273 
 
 God. Hence, as love of happiness abides, they 
 long and lust for happiness in idols. The deejD 
 consciousness of being unreconciled to God 
 keeps the soul shy of him in sullen alienation. 
 This inward dull pain from subdued conviction 
 of wrath makes the sinner shun God. This ac- 
 counts for your having no Bible : you are afraid 
 of it. This accounts for your using no prayer : 
 prayer looks God in the face. Dissociated from 
 God, the soul comes to shrink from the divine 
 idea itself. Bad becomes worse, and distrust 
 shows itself as enmity. Ah ! my brethren, we 
 have now travelled very far fr^om joy in God. 
 We have only to carry out this line towards 
 infinity to reach eternity of sinful alienation. 
 What a life from the dead, wlien the sinner 
 looks up and sees in God a reconciled Father, 
 when the prodigal feels the warm tears of one 
 falling upon his neck and kissing him, w^hen the 
 rebel receives the Atonement ! 'Now the pre- 
 cious theme is God the Saviour. I cannot re- 
 frain from saying, in borrowed language : " To 
 feel as if you were in the company of God, to 
 have delight in this feeling, to triumph in God 
 as you would in a treasure that had come into 
 
 12* 
 
274 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 your possession, to dwell upon him in fancy 
 and with fondness, just as one friend dwells in 
 pleasing remembrance on another, to reach the 
 ecstasies of devotion and find that the minutes 
 spent in communion with the heavenly and un- 
 seen Witness are far the sweetest and the sun- 
 niest of your earthly pilgrimage, to have a sense 
 of God all the day long, and that sense of him 
 in every way so delicious as to make the crea- 
 ture seem vain and tasteless in the comparison, 
 to have his candle shining in your heart, and a 
 secret beatitude in him of which other men have 
 no comprehension, to bear about with you that 
 cheerful trust in him, and that cherished regard 
 to him, which children do to a father whose 
 love they rejoice in, and of whose good will they 
 are most thoroughly assured, to prize the peace- 
 ful Sabbaths ^nd the sacred retirements when 
 your soul can wing its contemplation towards 
 his sanctuary and there behold new glories of his 
 character at the very time that you can exult 
 in confidence before him, — thus to be affect- 
 ed towards God, and thus to glory and be glad 
 in him, is certainly not a common attainment ; 
 and yet we do not see how any tnie saint, any 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 275 
 
 genuine disciple, can be altogether a stranger to 
 it."* Of this quotation, mark the qualifying 
 phrase at the end — no genuine disciple is alto- 
 gether without it. Yet the stream of joy may 
 be like the brook Kedron, very shallow, and 
 dry most of the year. The reality of conversion 
 must not be judged by the amount of the joy. 
 Indeed, the mind had better be turned away 
 from considering joy as an evidence, to consider- 
 ing Christ as the source of joy. Come boldly 
 to God in Jesus Christ, as already reconciled by 
 the blood of his Cross. He that was your ene- 
 my has become your friend. The high model 
 may never be reached ; and in your present in- 
 fantile experience you may never be wafted so 
 high ; but look high ! Establish it as the law 
 of progress forever, that your joy is to be all 
 in God. Even the Old Testament reveals such 
 exercises. " My soul shall make her boast in 
 the Lord." " Oh ! magnify the Lord with me, 
 and let us exalt his name tos^ether." " I will 
 rejoice in the Lord, I mil joy in the God of my 
 salvation." " I will go unto the altar of God, 
 of God my exceeding joy." 4. This great exult- 
 
 * Cbalin. Pwom. in loc. 
 
276 JOY IN BELIEVING. 
 
 i^^o j^y '^^^^f^y i^ yours. To you, also, is offered 
 the reconciliation. To every hearer of the Gos- 
 pel, in all the universe, who believes, this re- 
 denij^tion is made over. Are you doubtful 
 whether some of the steps you have taken are 
 right or not ? Here is a step which is always 
 right. It is always right to believe. It is al- 
 ways sinful not to believe. No delay is lawful 
 with a sovereign. The king's business requireth 
 haste. It can never be wrong to accept what 
 God offers : it can never be safe to put off ac- 
 cepting it. Now, that which God offers is re- 
 conciliation. The atonement propitiation was 
 offered to God, and was accepted of him. Jus- 
 tice is satisfied with every one who believes. 
 As the result of this atonement, God offers to 
 you entire pardon, peace, and life. What shall 
 you do ? Receive the reconciliation. Receive 
 the atonement. Receive the Cross. Receive the 
 Righteousness. ' Receive the Lord Jesus ! Is it 
 done ? Then he is yours. The espousal is ac- 
 complished. The iniquity is pardoned, and the 
 sin covered. That believing has made you 
 Christ's. You are one with him. His substi- 
 tuted acts and sufferings go for yours. His 
 
JOY IN BELIEVING. 277 
 
 rigliteoiisness is your righteousness, his Father 
 is your Father, and his God your God. I seem 
 to hear the new song from your mouth. Is. xii. : 
 ^' Behold ! God is my salvation ; I will trust 
 and not be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my 
 strength and my song, he also is become my sal- 
 vation. O Lord ! I will praise thee. Then thou 
 wast angry with me ; thine anger is turned away 
 and thou comfortedst me." The voice of God's 
 truth to delaying seekers is, Ye will not come 
 unto me, that ye may have reconciliation. Lo ! 
 it is here, it is complete. Take of the water of 
 life, take of the blood of expiation, freely. The 
 Lamb of vision lies on the altar before the heav- 
 enly throne, still bleeding as from recent death. 
 God accepts the amends. Sinner, why should 
 not you ? Add not to your other sins the de- 
 structive sin of unbelief, for if it be final, you 
 perish. But " be ye reconciled to God." 
 
XI. 
 
 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
HOPE OF EIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 Galatiaxs V. 5. — "For we through the Spirit wait for the 
 hope of righteousness by faith." 
 
 Ii^ partially sanctified liuman nature we dis- 
 cern a uniform tendency to slide away from a 
 religion tliat is spiritual, to one wliicli is out- 
 ward aud ceremonial. Carnal, self-righteous 
 man loves to have something palpable in his 
 hand, which he can show as his title . . though 
 it be only a cross, or a string of beads, or a sac- 
 rament. Among early Christians, no sooner 
 was the Evangelist or Apostle out of the way, 
 than they strayed off after some false teacher. 
 The simplicity and the liberty of Gospel grace 
 were both yielded. "Ye observe days, and 
 months, and times, and years," verse 10 ; "I am 
 afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you 
 
282 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 labour in vain." They stood not fast in the 
 liberty wherewith Christ had made them free, 
 but, under the guidance of false teachers, had 
 entangled themselves with the Judaic yoke, of 
 which circumcision was the pledge and sign. 
 The consequence of this, as Paul assures the 
 Galatians, was very serious. Those who did so 
 under the idea of being thereby justified in the 
 sight of God, had abandoned the free Gospel. 
 " Ye are fallen from grace," verse 4 ; " For we 
 through the Spirit wait for the hope of right- 
 eousness by faith." 
 
 This is a proposition which merits our study, 
 as confirming the evangelical spirit on a particu- 
 lar point, not confined to Galatia or to apostolic 
 days. We shall inquire first what righteousness 
 is ; secondly, what the hope of righteousness is ; 
 thirdly, whence righteousness and hope pro- 
 ceed ; and fourthly, by what agency this happy 
 state of mind is wrouo-ht. 
 
 I. What is Kighteousness ? It is that which 
 puts us right in the sight of God. It is legal 
 rightness. When the rule is applied to a sur- 
 face in carpentry, and all is coincident,^ we say 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 283 
 
 it is right. When the moral rule, the Law, is 
 applied to human character and deeds, and all 
 is in full conformity, we say such character and 
 deeds are right, and such person is righteous. 
 Observe, though the same person may be in- 
 wardly virtuous or holy, and relatively right- 
 eous, the two notions are different. The perfect 
 man, for example, unfallen Adam, would be 
 righteous on account of his holiness, but the 
 former is distinguishable as having reference 
 to law and its sanctions. When we think of 
 righteousness strictly so named, we think of a 
 law-giver, ^. ^., God ; and we think of his pub- 
 lished commandments, his glorious rewards, his 
 awful threatenings, his award of both at the 
 day of judgment, and the heaven and hell which 
 ensue. The character and course of conduct 
 which can answer these demands, meet this 
 scrutiny, and claim this reward, are righteous. 
 And the performance, in human nature, and 
 under the law, which answers all these condi- 
 tions, is righteousness. The least defect, failure, 
 or blemish destroys the whole claim. Tlie 
 flight towards heaven equally fails if one league 
 or millions of leagues be lacking. Were we 
 
284 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 sj)eakiDg of mercy, or forbearance, or divine com- 
 passion, it would be a different matter ; but 
 wlien we speak of righteousness, we mean per- 
 fection. Imperfect righteousness is no right- 
 eousness, as a line which deviates is not a right 
 line. Grace may work otherwise, but we are 
 now in the forum of justice, where the question 
 is, Has the debt been fully paid ? and he who 
 has discharged all is righteous. God's law, like 
 himself, demands the utmost obedience ; it can- 
 not demand less. Adam rendered this up to 
 a certain point ; Christ rendered it to the end. 
 But it is very evident that no mere man, since 
 the fall, has rendered or can render any such 
 obedience ; no man is right in the view of 
 law ; no man is just in the sight of God. Ex- 
 actly thus our apostle speaks, iii. 10, " For as 
 many as are of the works of the law are under 
 the curse, for it is written. Cursed is every 
 one that continueth not in all things which are 
 written in the book of the law to do them ; " 
 again, 11, " that no man is justified by the law 
 is evident." The award of every enlightened 
 man's conscience responds in full agreement. 
 You, my resDected hearer, know assuredly that 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 285 
 
 your heart and life are not in sucli blameless 
 undeviating agreement witli God's law that you 
 can lay the hand on the heart and say, " O God, 
 thou knowest I am perfectly just." And, there- 
 fore, the sole and inevitable issue, by any law- 
 method, is simply damnation. 
 
 But what ? Is the whole race consigned to 
 wrath, and is there no such thing as actual right- 
 eousness or j ustifi cation ? Clearly, such would be 
 the result, if right, and law, and mere justice were 
 left to work out the problem. Eternal justice, 
 not blind, but too keenly seeing, holding aloft 
 the infallible scales, lifting the gleaming and in- 
 sufferable sword, knows nothing of mercy, and 
 can pronounce just him only who sinneth not. 
 Is there then no human righteousness in the 
 universe ? Sing, O heavens, there is ! Just this 
 is what the Son of God became human for, that 
 he might produce and present a human right- 
 eousness, an absolute conformity to law, in the 
 sinning nature. God, whose judgments are al- 
 ways according to truth, pronounces Jesus 
 righteous. But he does more. He makes over 
 this righteousness of Jesus to the sinner. God 
 gives him it ; it is his. This single act of free 
 
286 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 grace turns the scale. This infinite weight 
 thrown in makes it preponderate in the sinner's 
 favour. This immeasurable value pays the 
 debt. This intervening substitution shifts the 
 edge of the sword from the sinner to the Sav- 
 iour. What has come in to make this amazing 
 difference is righteousness, the righteousness of 
 Christ, made up of his doing and his suffering, 
 or active and passive. It is the righteousness 
 of God, for God ordained it, accepts it, and con- 
 fers it. It is the sinner's righteousness, because 
 God, by a sovereign act in his own court, puts 
 it over to the sinner's credit, reckons it to the 
 sinner, i, ^., imputes it to the sinner. And this 
 is the imputation of Christ's righteousness, on 
 the ground of which the Lord God justifies the 
 ungodly. This, and nothing less or more, is the 
 available righteousness of every one who is ac- 
 cepted. This made all ring again in apostolic 
 days. " The righteousness of God without the 
 law is manifested." iii. 21. "To declare his 
 righteousness for remission of sins that are past." 
 iii. 25. " Unto whom God imputeth righteous- 
 ness without works." iv. 5. " By the obe- 
 dience of one shall many be made righteous." 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 287 
 
 V. 19. " Christ is the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth." x. .4. 
 " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
 law, being made a curse for us." Gal. iii. 13. 
 The justification or declaring righteousness is 
 complete at one act, and is different from the 
 making holy or sanctification. By virtue of 
 Christ's obedience unto death, undertaken in 
 our stead, performed in our name and nature, 
 and imputed to us, who are at the same moment 
 made one with Christ, God freely, and of his 
 sovereignty, but in infinite grace so far as we 
 are concerned, is pleased to regard his law as 
 satisfied and his glory manifested. And this is 
 righteousness. 
 
 II. AVhat is the hope of Righteousness ? It 
 lies in the entire clause, '' Wait for the hope of 
 righteousness." " We most earnestly and ex- 
 pectantly look forward for the accomj)lishment 
 of the great hope of life, namely, the celestial 
 glory awaiting those who are justified." Called 
 the hope of righteousness, because where there 
 is guilt there is despair, and where there is par- 
 don there is hope of glory. As long as a man 
 
288 HOPE OF TvIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 is under bondage of sin, at enmity with God, 
 feeling a bad conscience, dreading his Maker, 
 and uncertain what moment wrath may break 
 upon him to the uttermost, he lives, a wretched, 
 desponding creatui^e. " Having no hope." He 
 may divert his attention, but whenever he re- 
 turns to the great matter . . . the sword is 
 hanging over him by a hair. All men desire 
 happiness after death, and the least ray of relig- 
 ion shows that this is connected with God's fa- 
 vour. Conscience sits at the threshold keeping 
 out all hope of peace, till the doorpost is sprin- 
 kled with paschal blood. It is a good day for 
 any house, when Christ's righteousness comes 
 in, bringing peace and joy in its train. I have 
 been greatly struck with the breadth and gran- 
 deur of the term Hope in the New Testament. 
 It takes in all heaven. Especially in reference 
 to this matter of justification, it looks forward to 
 the sublime adjudication, when the sinner who 
 has already been justified in the court of God's 
 decree, and in the court of conscience, shall be 
 openly acknowledged and acquitted in the court 
 of the universe. That is the ultimate justifica- 
 tion, immediately antecedent to the throwing 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 289 
 
 open of lieaven-gate and tlie entrance of the 
 countless tlii^ongs into the joy of the Lord. As 
 future, this is an object of expectation, and as 
 good, of hope. And, as the original imports, 
 this looking forward is wistful and intense. 
 Amidst the throes of this dark and troubled 
 period of transition and discipline, the saints 
 look to the hills, and watch for the morning. 
 This holds up the head, in deep waters, and 
 makes pain tolerable. " For I reckon that the 
 sufferings of this present time are not worthy 
 to be compared with the glory which shall be 
 revealed in us, for the earnest expectation of 
 the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the 
 sons of God." viii. 18. The whole company 
 of believers on earth are, as it were, looking 
 with outstretched necks towards the sunrising. 
 " Ourselves also which are the first fruits of the 
 Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within our- 
 selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the re- 
 demption of our body ; for we are saved by 
 hope." viii. 23. This hope " we have as an 
 anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast ; " &c, 
 Chrisf s righteousness has this heavenly reward ; 
 and the redeemed soul, at favoured hours, looks 
 
 13 
 
290 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 forward to tlie meeting witli inexpressible de- 
 sire. Sucli is tlie hope of righteousness. 
 
 III. Whence proceed this righteousness and 
 this hope of righteousness ? Both from faith ; 
 "we wait for the hope of righteousness by 
 faith." The righteousness and the hope are by 
 faith. 1. The righteousness is by faith. You 
 will hardly expect me now and here to go over 
 the oft-recited passages which prove that our 
 justification is by faith. Let me rather spend 
 the time in explaining to humble minds the 
 point of doctrine which is there proved. 
 Righteousness exists, yonder, in " Jesus Christ 
 the righteous." But how does this become 
 mine ? Seeing all men are not made righteous, 
 how shall I be so made ? Or, as the sinner, 
 wrestling with his sins is sometimes led to ex- 
 press it. How can I reach Jesus the Saviour ; 
 how is it possible for me to get up to him, so as 
 to be possessed of the advantages of his death ? 
 I know he is rich in all treasures of salvation, 
 and has merits enough to lift a universe out of 
 the throat of perdition ; but are they mine ? 
 or how can they be made available ? O, tell 
 me, how to pass this gulf between the Redeemer 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 291 
 
 and my soul ? It is true, my dear hearer, tliat 
 Jesus, all-sufficient Saviour as lie is, does not 
 actually save all men; and it is certainly a 
 possible thing that he may never save you, and 
 that after all your instruction, and all your 
 seeking, and all your impressions, you may go 
 away from the face of Him that sitteth on the 
 throne, without a righteousness. It is not ne- 
 cessarily yours. But, hear me, for your soul's 
 sake. It is yours in sufficiency, yours in fitness, 
 and yours in God's gift to sinners of mankind. 
 And it is yours in all its largest meaning, and 
 for all your boundless want, if believing you 
 accept it. Faith receives. There is no adding 
 a link of your own to the golden chain which 
 God lets down from heaven ; but faith receives. 
 The righteousness of Jesus becomes yours on 
 your simj^le believing ; it is " received by faith 
 alone." And this is the reason why with every 
 variety of command, argument, and entreaty, 
 we again and again call upon you to believe. 
 There is nothing that a man can do, say, or feel, 
 which occasions him so little ground of glorying 
 as his faith. Indeed, he does not come to fiiith, 
 till he has tried every thing else and run the 
 
292 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 whole round of self-righteous endeavour. And 
 when he comes to faith, he finds it so slender, 
 imjDonderable, evanescent an act, that he sees in 
 it only a mode of connection, an instrument of 
 union. But for the very reason that it is all 
 meritless in itself, it glorifies Christ's righteous- 
 ness. If there were any even the least particle 
 about faith, to which the old merit-mono;erino; 
 nature could cling, it would do so. But faith, 
 in the scale of merit, is sheer nothing ; and 
 hence again and again in the Scriptures, to be 
 justified by faith is to be justified by nothing 
 of our own. Mark how it is put right over 
 against justification by works, as necessary and 
 essentially its opposite, so that justification by 
 faith is gratuitous justification. Romans iii. 22. 
 " The righteousness of God, which is by faith 
 of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all that be- 
 lieve." 28. " Therefore we conclude that a 
 man is justified by faith . . . without the deeds 
 of the law." 4, 5. '^ To him that worketh 
 not, but believeth on him that justifieth the un- 
 godly, his faith is counted for righteousness." 
 And examine with me the words preceding my 
 text, and out of which, as by contrast, my text 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 293 
 
 arises. " Beliold, I, Paul, say unto you, tliat if 
 ye be circumcised, Christ sliall profit you noth- 
 ing ; Christ is become of no effect unto you ; 
 whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye 
 are fallen from grace, for we [mark the contrast, 
 which establishes the doctrine] we wait for the 
 hope of righteousness through faith." He that 
 believes, then, does, instantly on his believing, 
 receive the rio;hteousness of Christ as his own. 
 And thus our third inquiry is answered in part ; 
 the righteousness is by faith. 
 
 But, 2. The hope of the righteousness is by 
 faith ; a point of vast importance, but sjDcedily 
 settled. Faith so takes God at his word, so 
 "sets to" its seal, so credits the utterances of 
 eternal love, so appropriates the obedience of 
 Christ, and so cleaves to hun, as a Mediator, 
 Priest, and Deliverer, that where it is strong 
 or of high degree, it instantly grows uj) into 
 hope of salvation. It instantly places this hel- 
 met on the head. It j)iercingly looks forward 
 to the future and invisible, and beholds the 
 judgment set and the books opened, but as 
 clearly descries the ever-fresh sacrifice and ever- 
 prevailing righteousness, lying in heavenly obla- 
 
294 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 tion on tlie altar. Hence tlie more faitli rises, 
 and it is a tiling of degrees, tlie more does Hope, 
 blessed hope, take hold on immortality. And 
 so we have learned whence this righteousness 
 and this hope of righteousness proceed. 
 
 IV. By what agency is this happy state of 
 mind wrought ? By the operation of the Holy 
 Ghost. ^' For we, through the SpiPwIT, wait for 
 the hoj)e of righteousness by faith." In Paul's 
 writings you have long ago remarked the con- 
 tinual parallel and contrast betAveen two princi- 
 ples of action, which he calls the flesh and the 
 spirit. There is no understanding his high ar- 
 gument without keeping this fully in mind. In 
 two places this subject is specially discussed ; 
 in the seventh chapter of Romans, and in our 
 context. Our apostle represents the two as not 
 only in opposition, but in the struggle of con- 
 flict. In the unconverted, it is all flesh ; in the 
 glorified, it is all spirit. In the militant mem- 
 bers of Christ, there is contest, such as to give 
 pertinency to the exhortation, verse 16, " This I 
 say, then. Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not 
 fulfil the lust of the flesh, for the flesh lusteth 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 295 
 
 against the spirit, and the spirit against the 
 flesh ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye 
 would." Yet, day by day, the flesh grows 
 weaker, and the new creature stronger, while 
 the "inward man is renewed day by day." 
 Comp. John iii. 6. That portion of humanity, 
 so to speak, which is inhabited by the Spirit of 
 God, and from him named spirit, is perpetually 
 actuated by a supernatual and divine energy, 
 under which it puts forth acts in modes of spir- 
 itual action which we call graces. Faith, Hope, 
 and Love are the chief of these, but faith and 
 hope are those which concern us here. Every 
 act of believing and holy assurance is produced 
 in the soul by the influence of the indwelling 
 Spirit. The moment a sinner believes, and is 
 thereby united to Christ, he receives, in gracious 
 effluence from the Head, the Spirit of Christ, to 
 be in him an abiding source, a well of water 
 springing up to everlasting life. Those trust- 
 ings, hopings, and waitings of which we read, 
 are but the filial voices of the Spirit in the heart, 
 the new-born soul crying out for God, for the 
 living God. Slavish feelings, disquietudes, and 
 doubts, are no more from Christ than dark- 
 
296 HOPE OF PJGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 ness is from tlie sun ; tliougli incidentally we 
 know the sun occasions shadows. But the 
 operation of the new nature is hope and joy. 
 " So, then, brethren, we are not children of the 
 bondwoman, but of the free." As surely as we 
 are actuated by this influence, or " led by the 
 Spirit of God," so truly are we " sons of God." 
 For thus Paul proves it, " for ye have not re- 
 ceived the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but 
 ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby 
 we cry Abba, Father." And thus we find our 
 answer to the question by what agency this 
 blessed state of mind is wrought. "Through 
 the Spirit, we wait for the hojDe of righteousness 
 by faith." 
 
 Our meditation has caused to pass before us 
 the great idea of Gospel righteousness, the hope 
 of redemption from this righteousness, the 
 ground of both righteousness and hope in faith, 
 and the origin of all in the Spirit. 
 
 Now I turn suddenly from these doctrinal 
 statements to address those who have no Spirit 
 of power, no faith, no righteousness, and no 
 hope. As the subject has revolved before you, 
 you have wondered perhaps that any should be 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 297 
 
 interested, and we have been unto you as " one 
 tliat mocketh." Even if the entire discussion 
 has not seemed dull, it has waked no vibratins; 
 chords of experience. Ah ! my hearers, thus it 
 has been in all ages of the church. If our Gos- 
 23el be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. 
 Blindness on this point remains with many all 
 their days, and accompanies them into the gates 
 of death. Having eyes, they see not, and hav- 
 ing ears, they hear not. And, what is fearful, 
 they are at ease. One may be blind and not 
 know it. Great cause have you, my perishing 
 fellow-sinner, to bewail that dark and carnal 
 mind which will not admit a ray from the face 
 of Jesus Christ. We hold over your head a ce- 
 lestial crown, but you will not heed it. The 
 terms in which we describe great heavenly 
 blessings are unintelligible to you, through 
 your want of spiritual understanding. You are 
 growing older without coming any nearer to the 
 door of mercy. Again and again you have seen 
 it open to receive some friend or neighbour, and 
 then you have seen it shut. There is an hour 
 coming, hastening on the mighty wings of Time, 
 
 when either you will have believed in this sai- 
 ls* 
 
300 HOPE OF KIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 a ray of sunliglit, steals into tlie cMnks of this 
 dungeon, and reveals the Son of God standing 
 beside the sufferer, who sinks and says, " My 
 Lord and my God ! " Now he knows that jus- 
 tice is satisfied and God reconciled. How glo- 
 riously resplendent shines that righteousness 
 which covers the sin and shame of millions ! 
 How sweetly he falls into the arms of Divine 
 Love ! Lord, I believe, help mine unbelief ! 
 The Lord helps indeed, lifts up the fainting 
 one, whispers syllables of peace, and pours in 
 cordials of promise. Is he not secure 1 He 
 looks towards Jehovah as a reconciled father. 
 He looks towards the Judgment Day as a meet- 
 ing of love with his King. There, at that once 
 dreaded tribunal, he beholds the display of the 
 perfect righteousness in which he trusts. He 
 believes ; he is justified ; he hopes ; he waits in 
 joy. He, through the Spirit, waits for the 
 hope of righteousness by faith. Here is our 
 doctrine turned into experience. 
 
 But all this time I am sjDeaking only of the 
 childhood of experience ; of sentiments which 
 belong to the babe in Christ. Li spite of the 
 \vorld's disbelief and the ignorance of shallow. 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSXESS. 301 
 
 worldly Christians, the truth must be declared. 
 Keligion is a living process. When the Spirit 
 takes hold of a man to transform him into a 
 child of grace, working faith in him, and open- 
 ing his eyes to see the boundless riches of grace, 
 the work goes on continually. There is growth 
 of knowledge, faith, and hope. The more the 
 spiritual process advances, the more does relig- 
 ion become distinguished from all its outward 
 forms, and attain likeness to the infinite benevo- 
 lence of God; as the words next following 
 show : " For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision 
 avail eth any thing nor uncircumcision, but faith, 
 which worketh by love." If we have known 
 that faith, my brethren, we are in the state of 
 waiting described in the text. We wait, as the 
 servant, for his Lord's return. We wait, as the 
 heir, for his inheritance. We wait, as the bride, 
 for her Beloved. The time seems wearisome 
 and the earth is a prison-house, till the day 
 break, and the shadows fly away. There is 
 something better coming than even the higher 
 joys of earthly experience ; though this is 
 greater than most of us imagine. We wait for 
 that which shall as much surpass all revelations 
 
302 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 of the earthly church, as the bright morning 
 surpasses the early twilight. " For we are saved 
 by hoj)e ; but hope that is seen is not hope ; for 
 what a man seeth what doth he yet hope for ? 
 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we 
 with patience wait for it. And we so wait, we 
 have seen, through the Spirit, " because he 
 maketh intercession for the saints according to 
 the will of God ; and we know that all things 
 work together for good to them that love God, 
 to them that are the called according to his pur- 
 pose." When we cast away our own righteous- 
 ness and betake ourselves to the righteousness 
 of God, we were like some shipwrecked crea- 
 tures on the wild ocean, who had left one sink- 
 ing bark and swam to the gallant vessel of re- 
 lief But not for relief only. Has she not 
 spread her sails, and is she not bearing away 
 towards those green shores where pain and sin 
 are unknown, and where the hope of righteous- 
 ness is consummated ? We cannot rest here. 
 There, there is our home. Every scene of life, 
 to the eye of the believer, must be tinged with 
 colours fluno^ over it from the comino: state. Be- 
 lieve in a heaven at all, in a meeting with Jesus, 
 
HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 303 
 
 in a gatliering togetlier unto liim, in a resurrec- 
 tion, and assembling, and universal home-bring- 
 ing of elect ones, to go out no more for ever — . 
 once believe in this, and human life becomes a 
 different thino;. All its relations are chano^ed. 
 Ten thousand matters, otherwise of great inter- 
 est, grow pale, as stars at sunrise. Of every 
 acquisition and connection we henceforth in- 
 quire, How will it stand the test of fire ? how 
 will it pass through the judgment ? how will it 
 look one thousand years hence ? yea, a million 
 ages and millenniums hence ? how does it con- 
 sort with the hoj)e of righteousnsess by faith ? 
 If we have a religion which is a progress, we are 
 finding it thus, beloved fellow-Christians, and are 
 coming to him more in the climate and atmos- 
 phere of that other country. I say not that our 
 exulting joys necessarily increase ; though they 
 often do so ; for all are not favoured alike, to 
 wander in the sweet enchantments of the land 
 of Beulah. But this I will affirm, that the 
 growing Christian lives more and more under 
 the powers of the world to come. Losses, gi'iefs, 
 w^eariness, disappointment, decay may come ; 
 weights may hang on the outward man; life 
 
804 HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 may have clouds skirting its evening sky ; yet 
 tkere is an increasino^ and abidins; feelinsr that 
 the day's work is nearly over, and that the hire- 
 ling will presently be set free. There is a sense 
 of the utter worthlessness of those things which 
 have only the stamp of a lifelong value, and the 
 immeasurable moment of those things which 
 stretch on into eternity. And this substantiat- 
 ing of things hoped for, this evidencing convic- 
 tion of things not seen, is Faith. This firm out- 
 looking for its j)ermanent glories, is Hope. And 
 the play of these two great lights upon the soul 
 is the preparation which God gives for bidding 
 farewell to earth and entering into heaven. 
 The face of Jesus, who is our righteousness, 
 shines brightly on the soul that waits for him. 
 My fellow-disciples, w^e have known him long, 
 and, beholding his approach, can say, while we 
 rejoice with trembling. This is our Beloved, and 
 this is our Friend ! 
 
XII. 
 
 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 Mark xvi. 16. — "He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
 saved." 
 
 Faith is believing, and it would be super- 
 fluous to make so simple a statement if it had 
 not become common to think it something else. 
 Faith is belief, and he who believes has faith. 
 Since salvation is dependent on faith, it is of 
 the utmost importance that every one of us 
 should know what faith is. When the sinner is 
 exhorted to have faith, it is indispensable for 
 him to comprehend what is meant by the ex- 
 hortation. Here as elsewhere, that which is 
 very clear in Scripture is made very dark by 
 the perplexing varieties of human teaching. 
 The Bible does not very often give formal defi- 
 nitions of Faith ; for this reason, that the word 
 
308 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 is not used in any strange or extraordinary 
 sense, but is taken as a part of existing lan- 
 guage, and applied to spiritual matters. Scrip- 
 ture often mentions faith, often assumes it as an 
 exercise of tlie mind easily understood, and, 
 above all, often gives examples of it. The best 
 way of learning what this momentous word 
 means is to discharge from our minds the no- 
 tions which we have derived from conflicting 
 systems, and to come to the divine oracles to 
 learn how it is employed in its different connec- 
 tions. It is one of the secrets of Bible-study to 
 approach these oracles with a childlike freshness 
 of mind, somewhat like that of those to whom 
 the Gospels and epistles were given when they 
 came newly from the pen of the inspired writers 
 themselves. This is a state of mind very differ- 
 ent from ignorance, and very different from 
 scepticism, and is the result of continued inward 
 labour and prayer. In making such an investi- 
 gation, the language of the soul should be, " I 
 will hear what God the Lord will speak.-' 
 
 Opening the sacred volume, then, for this 
 purpose, we proceed to inquire what an unbi- 
 ased thinker will discover on this point from 
 
FAITH AXD BAPTISM. 309 
 
 the way in wliicli faitli or belief is liere men- 
 tioned. And altliousfli there is much on the 
 subject in the Old Testament, we shall find 
 more than enough in the New to occupy all our 
 research upon the present occasion. Besides, it 
 is the New Testament which is the key to the 
 theology of the Old, as containing the more ex- 
 plicit and the final teaching of the Spirit on the 
 method of man's salvation. 
 
 The reason why I begin with the histories 
 of the Gospels is, that abstract truths are most 
 easily apprehended in the shape of examples. 
 It is not A\dthout intention that we find the nar- 
 rative of our Lord's works and sufterings, placed 
 before the doctrinal arguments of the apostles. 
 Let us see, then, w^hether any light can be 
 thrown on the nature of faith from the beauti- 
 ful incidents of the evangelical story. 
 
 The very first instance is remarkable. A 
 Roman ofiicer, a centurion of Capernaum, has a 
 domestic servant who is paralytic, and he re- 
 lates the case to Jesus. The merciful Saviour 
 instantly proposes to go and effect his cure. 
 The astonished and humbled captain, convinced 
 of the power and now persuaded of the willing- 
 
310 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 ness of the Lord, exclaims, " Speak tlie word 
 only, and my servant shall be healed ! " He is 
 sure that Christ has the same command over 
 diseases that he himself exercises over his sol- 
 diers. In other words, " I fully believe thou art 
 competent and ready to cure my servant, even 
 without stirring a step." What is our Lord's 
 comment ? " Verily, I have not found so great 
 faith, no, not in Israel." Here is faith. Here is 
 great faith. Here is faith in a Gentile mind, 
 stronger than all that had been manifested by 
 the more favoured Jews. This man admits the 
 claims of the great Teacher and Healer. He has 
 an unhesitating persuasion of the truth that the 
 Son of God is endowed with power to heal dis- 
 ease by miracle. If you consider this frame of 
 mind, you find it simple and easily comprehend- 
 ed. There is not a day of our lives in which we 
 do not exercise this very persuasion in regard to 
 common things. A commercial friend assures 
 me that he will, in my stead, meet a particular 
 responsibility as to money. I ask myself. Is he 
 able ? is he true ? is he willing ? The moment I 
 affirm these points, I am a believer in his prom- 
 ise, I have faith in his word ; my mind immedi- 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 311 
 
 ately reposes on Ms declaration, and I act ac. 
 cordingly. In common life we more usually 
 apply the word trust to this reliance ; and trust, 
 even in religion, is the belief of a promise. The 
 difference between this faith and that which 
 saves the soul, is not so much in the way the 
 mind acts, as in the nature of the truth believed. 
 And the character of the mental act will not be 
 altered, if, hereafter, we should see cause to as- 
 cribe it to a superior and divine agency. It is 
 still jDersuasion of a truth, ^. d, it is still believing. 
 Let us look at an example of the contrary 
 character, for such contrasts are not only strik- 
 ino; but instructive. Mat. viii. 23. The cases 
 are two and identical as to princij^le. Both con- 
 cern storms on the lake. The disciples are 
 alarmed beyond measure, and awake our Lord, 
 crying, " Lord, save us, we perish ! " And he 
 rebuked them, " Why are ye fearful, O ye of 
 little faith ? " The other case is. Mat. xiv. 29, 
 when, as you remember, Peter undertook to go 
 to his Master by walking on the water. Terri- 
 fied at the tempest, he began to sink, saying, 
 " Lord, save me ! " Observe, now, our LordV 
 remark : " O thou of little faith, wherefore didsl 
 
312 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 thou fear ? " Here we read a lesson concernincc 
 belief from two examples of unbelief. There 
 would have been no fault, unless the disciples, 
 in the first case, and Peter in the second, had 
 had assurance that Christ would take care of 
 them. This assurance is in its nature a promise 
 of Christ. It may have been implied rather 
 than expressed. If they had imjDlicitly and 
 strongly believed it, they could not have been 
 struck with panic. Some belief of this assur- 
 ance there undoubtedly was, but it was slender ; 
 and Jesus upbraids them as of little faith. 
 Though the case was one of temporal danger, 
 the principle is applicable to spiritual danger. 
 Only, in place of the storm of wind and waves, 
 put the storm of God's wrath, and in place of 
 disbelieving Christ's ability and readiness to 
 save the body, put disbelief of his ability and 
 readiness to save the soul, and you have a per- 
 fect example of ordinary religious unbelief 
 
 The transition is easy from these cases to 
 that of Jairus, Mark v. 22. His little daughter 
 was at the point of death. He had heard of 
 Jesus, and such was his faith in him that he 
 came in person and importuned him to go to 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 313 
 
 the sick-bed. On tlieir way they were met by 
 distressing tidings : " Tliy daughter is dead ; 
 why troublest thou the Teacher ? " Now, 
 whatever belief this ruler may have had of 
 Christ's power to heal a diseased child, we must 
 conceive it to need vast increase in order to be- 
 lieve that he could raise her from death. And 
 it is a sweet trait of the Lord's manner, and one 
 which may encourage trembling souls now, that 
 he anticipates this shock to the heart-broken 
 father's faith, and, as it were, places his hands 
 under him as he sinks, saying, " Be not afraid, 
 only believe." v. 36. You bear in mind the 
 happy result. 
 
 This incident greatly illustrates the doctrine 
 of faith. It required confidence to go even with 
 a prophet to the house were lay the corpse of 
 a beloved child, in expectation of resurrection. 
 As yet no instance of raising the dead had oc- 
 curred in Christ's ministry. Jairus seems to 
 have received strength from Christ's words, and 
 his belief that Christ could and would save his 
 child reached the proper point. Christ's words 
 have no meaning unless they involve a promise. 
 They mean, "Jairus, your daughter is dead, but 
 
 14 
 
314 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 I can bring her to life ; I am about to do so ; be 
 not afraid ; only believe this assurance." The 
 faith of Jairus was simple believing ; and was 
 exactly like the faith of many a sinner, when his 
 sjDiritual case looks quite as desperate. 
 
 But we must go back a little to an episode 
 in this charming narrative. It is justly reck- 
 oned one of the loveliest of our Lord's acts of 
 mercy. As Jesus, accompanied by Jairus and a 
 great throng, was on his way, a woman who 
 had been a sufferer for twelve years came be- 
 hind him and strove to touch his garment. " If 
 I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole." 
 Mark what this short saying includes : " I be- 
 lieve this Jesus of Nazareth has power to heal 
 me." This belief produced action, as true be- 
 lieving always does. She touched — she was 
 made whole. " Daughter," said Christ, " thy 
 faith hath made thee whole ; go in peace." Thy 
 faith : it was her perfect confidence of the truth 
 that there was healing in Christ. 
 
 In the similar case of a convinced sinner, 
 faith is the perfect confidence that there is sal- 
 vation in Christ. 
 
 Not unlike this is the account of the scene at 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 31 5 
 
 the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration. A 
 demoniac child was in the very agonies of a seiz- 
 ure, which made him fall, and foam, and lie in 
 spasms on the earth. Mark ix. 20. The j)ros- 
 pect was darker, because the discij)les had failed 
 to effect a cure. The father burst into tears, 
 but did not despair ; yet his w^ords are those of 
 a man only half persuaded : " If thou canst do 
 any thing, have comj)assion on us and help us ! " 
 The answer is most significant : " If thou canst 
 believe, all things are possible to him that be- 
 lie veth," i, ^., " Thou art half persuaded of the 
 truth that I am able to save ; be wholly persuad- 
 ed ; make the effort, put forth the act of faith ; 
 to faith there is no impossibility." My breth- 
 ren, which of us has not often made this poor 
 man's words his own? With tears he cried, 
 " Lord, I believe ! help thou mine unbelief ! " 
 For here, again, we see that faith has its degrees. 
 It is as if he had said, " Lord, I believe ; I be- 
 lieve thy power and goodness; yet not as I 
 ought, nor as I would ; I only half believe. Yet 
 I do believe, and as to what is lacking, Lord, 
 help thou my unbelief, and raise me to fulness 
 of faith ! " And Christ expelled the demon. 
 
315 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 No instance in Scripture lias been more cheer- 
 ing to inquirers tlian tliis. It has been a balm 
 to. wounded souls in all ages. The convinced 
 sinner has a glimpse of light, from the person 
 of the mighty Saviour. He can go to no other. 
 All other resorts have failed him. He hears of 
 the need of faith, and that salvation is possible 
 even to him, if he could but believe. Despair- 
 ing of every thing else, he falls at Christ's feet, 
 saying, Lord, I believe^ help thou mine unbe- 
 lief ! His belief is mingled with unbelief ; yet 
 belief is there. Faith is feeble, but it is faith 
 still. And, as has been said, the hand of an in- 
 fant may receive a free gift as well as the hand 
 of a giant. It is not the greatness, but the 
 reality of faith which connects the soul with 
 salvation. And though it be but as a grain 
 of mustard-seed, it justifies as certainly and 
 fully as though it were consummate. The in- 
 dispensable thing is this persuasion of Christ's 
 truth. 
 
 In these several instances, each of the per- 
 sons in question had been led to consider the 
 claims of Jesus to be the great Teacher, the 
 Messiah of Israel, the Son of God. The mirac- 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 3IY 
 
 TiloTis powers belonged to Mm in these charac- 
 ters. The question with each had been, Re- 
 ceive him as Messiah, or not receive him — be 
 persuaded, or not persuaded of this truth — be- 
 lieve, or not believe. And observe how these 
 terms all come to the same thing in that noted 
 passage, John i. 12, " But as many as received 
 him, to them gave he power to become sons of 
 God, even to them that believe on his name. 
 
 To receive Christ is to believe on his name. 
 So it was with the Samaritans. First they 
 heard the woman relate what she had seen and 
 learned at Jacob's well ; then they came in per- 
 son. Hear how they addressed their converted 
 townswoman : " Now we believe, not because of 
 thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, 
 and know that this is indeed the Christ, the 
 Saviour of the world." John iv. 42. They 
 gave credence to the truth that this Jesus was 
 Messiah and Saviour ; they received him ; they 
 became sons of God. 
 
 On one occasion, John ix., our Lord gave 
 sight to a man born blind, whom the Jews then 
 excommunicated. Jesus sought him out in his 
 disgrace and said to him, " Dost thou believe on 
 
318 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 tlie Son of God ? " He answered, " Wlio is he, 
 Lord, tliat I might believe on liim ? " And Je- 
 sus said unto liim, " Tliou hast seen him, and it 
 is he that talketh with thee." And he said, 
 "Lord, I believe," and he w^orshipped him. 
 Now, we may suppose the man's darkened mind 
 to have worked somewhat thus : " Blind from 
 my birth, I have been admitted to vision by 
 One who is plainly full of mercy, full of gra- 
 cious words, and full of divine power. These 
 tokens prove to me that he is sent of God, and 
 that what he says is true. For God will not 
 set his seal in attestation of falsehood. What 
 he says commands my belief. He says he is the 
 Messiah, yea, the Son of God. I believe the tes- 
 timony ; Lord, I believe ! " Here we have faith 
 in full act ; faith in Jesus as the Son of God ; 
 and faith by persuasion of the truth, i. e., belief 
 The apostle who relates this, wrote several 
 letters about thirty years after, which contain 
 expressions that derive much light from this in- 
 cident. 1 John iv. 42. " Every spirit that con- 
 fesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is 
 born of God," i. e., to believe in the incarnation 
 of the Son of God is proof of regeneration. 
 
FAITH A2sD BAPTISM. 319 
 
 Again, iv. 15, "Whosoever shall confess [sin- 
 cerely and of persuasion] that Jesus is the Son 
 of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." 
 The truth here confessed is precisely that which 
 the blind man confessed. Every such profes- 
 sion (of course, out of inward belief of the truth) 
 is proof of union with God. 1 John v. 1 : 
 " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ 
 is born of God." Belief of the Messiahship of 
 Jesus is proof of regeneration, v. 10 : " He that 
 believeth not God, hath made him a liar, be- 
 cause he believeth not the record that God gave 
 of his Son. And this is the record, that God 
 hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in 
 his Son." In all these cases — the case of the 
 blind man included — it is one and the same 
 truth which is believed, but this is expressed 
 by different phrases ; Jesus is come in the flesh 
 — Jesus is the Christ — Jesus is the Son of God. 
 It is a comprehensive truth, and carries more 
 than this naked proposition, as is evident from 
 the last verse we read, v. 10, where it is said 
 that God has given us eternal life in his Son ; 
 an epitome of the Gosj^el ; nay, the Gospel it- 
 self ; the good news ; God's record ; the very 
 
320 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 trutli for a sinking soul to believe, and wliicli 
 he must believe, or make God a liar. So that 
 we have really made progress in our inquiry, 
 having found not only what sort of a mental 
 exercise faith is, viz., that it is believing, or be- 
 ing persuaded of truth, but, further, what that 
 truth is, which is to be believed, viz., that God 
 freely bestows on us eternal life, in and by Je- 
 sus Christ, who is his Son, the Messiah, manifest 
 in the incarnation. And this agrees with my 
 text and the great commission under which all 
 addresses to mankind have their authority. 
 " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gos- 
 pel to every creature. He that believeth and is 
 baptized shall be saved." Mark xvi. 15, 16. 
 We are not just now concerned with baptism. 
 " He that believeth shall be saved." Believeth 
 what ? Clearly " believeth the Gospel " just 
 named. The truth, then, to be believed, is the 
 truth of the Gospel. This truth may be ex- 
 pressed in a volume, or in a sentence. In the 
 Bible, the compendious expression of it is often 
 chosen. John i. 16 : " For God so loved the 
 world that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish. 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 321 
 
 but have eternal life." Here the Gospel is 
 God's love to the world in giving his Son. The 
 thorough persuasion of this, with all it compre- 
 hends and implies, is saving faith. This is what 
 the ancient Jew believed, when he owned that 
 Jesus was the Messiah, or that he was the Son 
 of God. Express it as you will, it is still the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as the gracious Saviour, who 
 is the object of faith. 
 
 Hitherto we have sought our examples in 
 the four Gospels. But how was this matter 
 treated in the discourses of the Apostles after 
 the Ascension ? Pentecost will tell us. Peter 
 preached. The text of his sermon, though 
 placed last, was these words : " Therefore let 
 the house of Israel know assuredly that God 
 hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have cru- 
 cified, both Lord and Christ." Here is law and 
 Gospel ; law to convince ; " whom ye have cru- 
 cified ; " Gospel to convert ; " God hath made 
 him the Saviour." Under such words the cry of 
 the congregation was, " Men and brethren, what 
 shall we do ? " Then Peter said unto them, 
 " Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in 
 the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
 
 14* 
 
322 FAFTH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 sin, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
 Ghost." Where is faith here ? It is included 
 in baptism. Never imagine, as some childishly 
 do, that the application of water, whether little 
 or much, is in itself the great regenerating or 
 saving operation. Baptism was a sign. It was 
 a seal. It was an initiation. It was a symbol- 
 ical profession of Christ. He who was baptized 
 thereby said, I thus avow myself a Christian, 
 i. ^., " Let all men know by this rite that I be- 
 lieve in Jesus." Here, then, is faith ; and the 
 verse, expounded, runs thus : Eepent, i. e., Turn 
 round to a new mind, and new thoughts, and 
 new life ; you are already pricked in heart, you 
 already have conviction, repent, let the change 
 of heart and conduct begin ; it includes convic- 
 tion and faith ; and be baptized every one of 
 you, i, 6'., Come hither and be washed with wa- 
 ter, as many of you once were by John. By 
 being thus washed you become visible disciples, 
 learners ; you put yourselves to school, are initi- 
 ated as Christ's people, in a word, you declare, 
 publicly. We believe. For the remission of sins, 
 i. e., Believing thus, you shall be saved. And 
 ye shall receive the Holy Ghost. The ascended 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 323 
 
 Christ has purchased, by his death and merit, 
 the gift of the Comforter. On believing, you 
 shall receive this promised Spirit. Read verse 
 41, and you will find this justified : " And they 
 that gladly received his word [believed] were 
 baptized, and the same day there were added 
 unto them above 3,000 souls." 
 
 Let us go farther, and join ourselves to a 
 chariot, viii. 26, between Jerusalem and Gaza, 
 in which an African treasurer is busy reading a 
 scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The chariot stops 
 and takes up a missionary, Philip, who now be- 
 comes the teacher of the Ethiopian noble. He 
 begins " at the same Scripture and preached 
 unto him Jesus." And as they went on their 
 way they came to a certain water, doubtless 
 some rivulet crossing the way, and not wanting 
 even in that way " which is desert." And the 
 eunuch said, " See, here is water, what doth hin- 
 der me to be baptized ? " i. d, " I am persuaded 
 by your exposition, and am ready to express 
 my persuasion ; here is water, apply it to me 
 and make me a Christian by sign, as I already 
 am by conviction." And Philip said, " If thou 
 belie vest with all thy heart thou may est." And 
 
324 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 he answered and said, " I believe tliat Jesus 
 Christ is the Son of God." Mark well the sen- 
 tence. It is a primitive profession of faith. 
 Compare it with what we have already said 
 about the truth to be believed. " And he com- 
 manded the chariot to stand still, and they went 
 down both into the water, both Philip and the 
 eunuch, and he baptized him." In this place 
 we have several confirmations of what has been 
 already discovered. 1. The nature of faith, as 
 belief, or persuasion of truth. 2. The truth be- 
 lieved, or object of faith ; Jesus Christ as Son 
 of God, in the senses set forth in the famous 
 prophecy. Is. lii. 3. Baptism is the outward 
 symbol of this faith, and follows on the profes- 
 sion of it. If the eunuch had died between 
 the chariot and the spring or river, I do not 
 suppose he would any the less have gone to 
 Paradise. It was faith, not water, which saved 
 his soul, and it was already saved ; as was that 
 of the penitent thief, who never was baptized at 
 all, except vdth a baptism of blood. 
 
 If you are not weary of instances, take yet 
 another, which is perhaps already in your 
 thoughts. It is that of the gaoler at Philippi. 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 325 
 
 He had in charge two foreigners, the very first 
 missionaries of Europe, who had been insulted 
 by a mob, whipped by order of the magistracy, 
 and condemned to prison. At midnight, in the 
 inner dungeon, with feet in the stocks, they sang 
 Christian psalms of praise to God. But another 
 music came suddenly. The walls shook and 
 the doors flew open, and chains and stocks fell 
 off; and the very gaoler, affected by these attes- 
 tations, and by the sermons, or the private talk, 
 or perhaps the hymns of Paul and Silas, thought 
 his hour was come, and was going to commit 
 self murder. But Paul prevented this, and the 
 man found a lamp and sprang in, and being 
 first relieved of anguish about his charge, then, 
 I dare say, reinforced by words of Christianity, 
 exclaimed, " Sirs, what shall I do to be saved ? " 
 And they said, " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." 
 Paul and Silas then " spake unto him the words 
 of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." 
 And he took them the same hour of the night, 
 and washed their stripes, and was baptized, he 
 and all his, straightway. He was baptized, i. e., 
 he " took the pledge " of Christianity. He be- 
 
326 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 came an adherent to the Gospel. He was en- 
 rolled. He subscribed under the name of 
 Christ. He entered himself a disciple, a Chris- 
 tian learner. He initiated himself and his 
 house, small and great, as designated for Chris- 
 tian teaching and training. It would have 
 been wonderful, indeed, if primitive converts 
 had been willing to leave their families behind ; 
 if a single bondsman or a single infant had 
 been left without the washing which marked 
 them as learners in the school of Jesus. And 
 if any scoffing Jew had sneered at a rite be- 
 stowed on infancy, as if it could do no good to 
 little ones, he might have been reminded of his 
 own national initiation by the Old Testament 
 sacrament. 
 
 You will observe the close connection be- 
 tween faith and baptism, in that form of the 
 commission which occurs in Matthew xxviii. 19, 
 " Go ye, therefore, and teach [disciple] all na- 
 tions ; baptizing them." And in Corinth, Acts 
 xviii. 8, " Many of the Corinthians, hearing, be- 
 lieved, and were baptized." You will see that, 
 in the common language of the day, baptism 
 was used for initiation, profession, adhesion to a 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 327 
 
 teacher, or a doctrine. " All our fathers, 1 Cor. 
 X. 1, were under the cloud, and all passed 
 through the sea ; and were all baptized into 
 Moses in the cloud and in the sea." And just 
 as Old Testament believers were baptized unto 
 Moses, so were New Testament believers bap- 
 tized unto Christ. Romans, vi. 3 : " Know ye 
 not that so many of us as w^ere baptized into 
 Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" 
 In the very act of receiving their baptism, they 
 professed their belief in the doctrine of Christ's 
 death. Gal iii. 27 : " For as many of you as 
 have been baptized into Christ have put on 
 Christ." And then he argues that other distinc- 
 tions are merged in this. 
 
 It is well worthy of remark, that while it is 
 said he that believeth and is baptized shall be 
 saved, it is not said he that is not baptized shall 
 be damned ; but " he that believeth not shall 
 be damned." The difference is great. 'No 
 Scripture teaches anywhere that any are lost 
 for want of baptism ; but many Scriptures teach 
 that many are lost for want of faith. It is no- 
 where asserted that baptism alone saves the 
 soul, but it is repeatedly asserted that faith 
 
328 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 saves tlie soul. The inference is inevitable, that 
 baptism derives its value from the faith that it 
 professes. Shall we then make little of bap- 
 tism ? God forbid ! It is the seal of the faith 
 which is professed. And where there is faith 
 in the heart, it will break forth into profession. 
 Modern times of degeneracy show the painful 
 spectacle of persons indulging the hopes of 
 Christianity, and yet declining to own Christ 
 before men ! They imitate what was worst in 
 Nicodemus. But sincere and hearty believers, 
 in apostolical times, no sooner believed than 
 they professed it, and were baptized. Though 
 we often speak as if coming to the communion 
 was entering the church, we err in so speaking. 
 All who rightly come to the communion have 
 already joined the church. " All baptized per- 
 sons are members of the Church ; are under its 
 care, and subject to its government and disci- 
 pline ; and when they have arrived at the years 
 of discretion, they are bound to perform all the 
 duties of church members."* 
 
 The words of our Lord have a meaning 
 which is important enough without the figment 
 
 * B. Disc. chap, i., p. 6. 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 329 
 
 of baptismal regeneration. They import at 
 least this : " I now send you to preach the glad 
 tidings of salvation, not to the Jew only, but 
 also to the Greek, to men of every nation, till 
 all mankind have heard the testimony. And 
 when this Word of the Lord is declared, he that 
 believes it, and becomes a Christian, [is bap- 
 tized,] he who accepts it inwardly with such 
 heartiness as to profess it outwardly, shall reap 
 the benefit of such faith — shall be saved ; but 
 he that believeth not shall be damned." 
 
 Thus have I endeavoured to set before you : 
 
 1. The nature of faith, or what it is to believe ; 
 
 2. The object of faith, or what it is to be be- 
 lieved ; and 3. The connection between faith 
 and baptism. Some application to our own case 
 will properly follow this doctrine. 
 
 I. If you would be saved, believe. Till this 
 is done you have not stepped on solid ground. 
 Whatever you have done, whatever you have 
 forborne, you are as yet displeasing to God, 
 for " without faith it is impossible to please 
 him." Unbelief is very common, but it is a sin 
 which leads to hell : " he that believeth not 
 
330 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 shall be damned." The Pagan has never heard 
 the Gospel, he will not be condemned for disbe- 
 lief of it. But you have heard it ; line upon 
 line, with every diversity of talent and applica- 
 tion. If you are one who has often made a 
 temporary effort to be saved, examine whether 
 you have not striven in a wrong direction. 
 AVliat vou need is faith. Now, faith is nothins: 
 without truth, any more than eyesight without 
 a visible object. As faith comes by truth, ac- 
 quaint yourself with that truth ; find it ; con- 
 sider it. Make it your study and contemplation. 
 As saving faith embraces the Gospel, examine, 
 ponder, familiarize the Gospel. And as the 
 Gospel is the testimony concerning Christ, bend 
 all your powers of soul on Christ, the Messiah, 
 the Incarnate Word, the Saviour of the world. 
 Fall on your knees before the Cross of Christ, 
 and remain there, looking and praying, and you 
 cannot but see a glory, a beauty, and a grace, 
 which will end in faith. 
 
 II. If you believe, profess your faith. This 
 is what in scriptural language is called a good 
 confession. In primitive times this avowal of 
 
FAITH AND BAPTISM. 331 
 
 Christ was connected with baptism. It is so 
 still where any come in from the imbaptized 
 world. But the great duty now pressed is that 
 of coming out and professing faith in Christ. 
 No one can remain neutral without sin. To be 
 ashamed or afraid to own Christ is to deny him. 
 A consistent believer will not be willino; to 
 withhold his feeble testimony of attachment to 
 his Redeemer for a single moment. Do you 
 believe ? Then, if unbaptized, hasten to make 
 your faith public, by submitting to the Christian 
 rite. 
 
 Or are you one who has been baptized in 
 infancy ? The case is somewhat different, but 
 by no means less solemn. You are already 
 marked with the seal of the covenant. You are 
 already entered in the nominal church. You 
 have enjoyed those inestimable privileges which 
 are consequent on this initiation. You have 
 been from childhood in the Christian school. 
 Your parents, if faithful to their. vows, have 
 brought you up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord. You have been cherished at the 
 bosom of the Church, have learnt its lessons, 
 listened to its Gospel messages, and witnessed 
 
332 FAITH AND BAPTISM. 
 
 its sacraments. Having lived tlins long on its 
 advantages, will you now requite the Giver with 
 contempt ? Is it nothing to have been all your 
 life under a dispensation of grace ? Is there no 
 obligation consequent on such benefits ? Do 
 you wish you had not received them ; that you 
 had been born among heathens or unbelievers ; 
 that you had never been taught the name of Je- 
 sus and the way of life ; in a word, that you 
 had never been ofl:ered to God in holy baptism ? 
 No, you shrink from such ingratitude and im- 
 piety. And no course is left for you, but either 
 to refuse compliance with a duty which you tac- 
 itly admit, or [which may God grant] to as- 
 sume the vows which were made for you by 
 your pious parents. 
 
XIII. 
 
 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STKONG FAITH. 
 
 Hebrews xi. 34. — " "Who, through faith .... out of weakness 
 were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the 
 armies of the aliens." 
 
 The purpose of this discourse is to set forth 
 Faith, as the principle of Christian strength, 
 progress, and victory. It is no slander to say 
 that religion is not making itself felt on every 
 side, as at some favoured periods in the history 
 of the Church. Individual professors, individ- 
 ual churches, large bodies of associated Chris- 
 tians, nay, the Church itself, are not putting 
 forth a characteristic energy. In these respects, 
 we compare disadvantageously with primitive 
 Christians ; with the Reformers and their im- 
 mediate successors ; with the great Noncon- 
 formists of the Commonwealth times ; with the 
 
336 THE EFFICACY OF STROXG FAITH. 
 
 associates and followers of Whiteiield ; and 
 even with some wliom we can remember, in 
 revival days, thirty years ago. While we as- 
 cribe the efficiency to God, and refer the opera- 
 tion to his sovereignty, it may yet be safely 
 said, that the power of these persons and com- 
 munities, and their consequent increase and 
 diffusion, may be traced to the intensity of their 
 inward fires. No man strongly influences oth- 
 ers on any subject which does not strongly 
 influence himself. Some there are, in all ages, 
 who make no impression on any around them, 
 in regard to any subject. They accomplish 
 nothing, because they feel nothing. The reser- 
 voir is void ; nothing can flow from it. There 
 is no fund of high aspiration and swelling 
 wishes. Their views are limited by the paltry 
 circle of daily wants, gains, appetites, and com- 
 forts. To such a man, his own household and 
 his own business constitute his world. For 
 this he enslaves himself, for this he amasses, for 
 this he makes provision in his will ; of this he 
 dreams. We lay such men out of our inquiry, 
 in examining the secret of influence. They 
 have none. In the words of the Roman poet. 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 337 
 
 they are " born to consume the crops." But 
 there are others, discoverable without going 
 beyond the domain of worldly men, who cause 
 themselves to be felt far and near, and are re- 
 membered, and, in a certain sense, active, after 
 they are dead. Such are found in every profes- 
 sion, and to such the great changes in the world 
 are to be attributed. 
 
 Looking now at instances which occur to 
 our view in common life, we shall perceive that 
 energy and success arise from the choice of a 
 distinct object in life, and from a deep persua- 
 sion of certain truths, or what are held as truths, 
 according to which the conduct of life is ordered. 
 This may be called the faith of the natural 
 world. A man of this class cannot live in a 
 pent-up circle. He lifts himself to an eminence, 
 and secures a wide horizon. He seeks to alter 
 the state of affairs. He forms large plans, and 
 executes them. His survey takes in society, and 
 future generations. Though often eminently 
 prosperous for himself, he becomes the stimula- 
 tor, example, guide, and benefactor of others. By 
 happy devices, and by courageous adventure, he 
 shows (it may be in commerce, or any produc- 
 
 15 
 
338 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 tive labour) that tlie slow and contracted meth- 
 ods wliicli lie found in use, may be replaced by 
 others more rapid and effective. His success 
 calls others into the arena. The wisdom of one 
 becomes the policy of many; until we have 
 sometimes found the whole mode of procedure 
 in some department of worldly enterprise revo- 
 lutionized by one or by a few leading spirits, 
 in the course of a single generation. These are 
 what we denominate men of influence, as they 
 are certainly men of energy. And it lies directly 
 in the line of our investigation to inquire, what, 
 after all, is the secret of their streno;th ? Philo- 
 sophic minds will not sit down contented with 
 an answer which refers all these results to for- 
 tune, to happy hits, to pure chance. The per- 
 sistency of effort, in such persons, their con- 
 stancy of operation, and the uniformity with 
 which they repeat their experiments, assures us 
 that the cause must be w^ithin themselves. If 
 we endeavour to trace the stream up to the 
 fountain, we shall probably attain some satis- 
 faction on this interesting point. When, there- 
 fore, we find any man, of any profession, emi- 
 nently successful, influencing large circles, and 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 339 
 
 operating on society, "vve shall always observe 
 tlie following conditions as present. He is 
 always at work. This needs scarcely be said. 
 The matter in which he thus makes himself 
 known is his great business, to which every 
 thing else gives place. Other men may take 
 up the same by the way, for amusement, or 
 during a short period; but for him, it is the 
 grand affair of life, and he never lets it go. 
 Now I beg you to observe, that where this is 
 the case, the individual always has a definite 
 end in view ; and no man leaves his mark on 
 society, who has not a definite end. It may be 
 very sordid ; no more than the accumulation of 
 substance. It may have added to it the van- 
 ity of being first in his own line of business, or 
 the ambition of wielding power by these means ; 
 or the love of that excitement which belongs to 
 every successful chase. But success in this par- 
 ticular mode of activity is present to his mind, 
 as the great object of his life, and to this he 
 makes every thing else subservient. He has an 
 aim in life, and he lives for it. The higher the 
 value he sets upon this end, the more intense 
 will be his activity. 
 
340 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 If lie be one who rises higher in the intel- 
 lectual and moral scale, and seeks to benefit 
 multitudes, instead of living to himself, we 
 must include this in his aim. It is his fixed 
 purpose to make his power felt on a circle of 
 fellow-creatures, large or small. To this he 
 resolutely and unceasingly bends his energies. 
 But we must go further. We never fail to 
 notice, if we examine deeply, that the man of 
 influence is in some sense a man of fixed prin- 
 ciples. He has some definite truths, or sup- 
 posed truths, which are the law of his whole 
 action. I add, " supposed truths," because faith 
 is so mighty an agent, that even error may be- 
 come energetic and j)ropulsive, if only it be 
 believed strongly enough. This man of power 
 has his beliefs, on matters connected with his 
 own successes. These are the tenets of his 
 worldly creed. They may be few, but not the 
 less operative. They may be concealed, but 
 sagacious observers will divine them from his 
 conduct. Nay, he may not be able to express 
 them ; for there are implicit as well as explicit 
 principles of action. Not every wise adminis- 
 trator can verbally interpret his own schemes ; 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STROXG FAITH. 341 
 
 not every pLilosoplier can, like Franklin, em- 
 body in distinct enunciation tlie precepts of Jife. 
 But tkere they are ; and tliey are the secret of 
 Lis activity and Ms influence. A revolution in 
 these would instantly change the entire current 
 of his life. They are really the motive-powers 
 of the whole complex machine. His belief, I 
 repeat it, of certain principles, gives origin to all 
 he effects. This belief is concerned in the very 
 choice of an object, and in adapting and em- 
 ploying all means. Upturn these principles, 
 and you invert or nullify the whole man. 
 Suppose, for example, that his field is com- 
 merce. Convince him that worldly wealth is 
 undesirable, that commerce is not the way to 
 attain it ; convince him that his own branch of 
 trade is unfortunate ; convince him that his 
 mode of conducting affairs is ruinous ; and you 
 have already cut the sinews of all his activity, 
 and consequently destroyed all his power. Such 
 is the efficacy of principles, even in things which 
 it is not common to refer to this source. Ex- 
 amples might be added, which would yet more 
 directly evince the operation of a natural secu- 
 lar faith uj)on the influential conduct of man- 
 
342 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 kind. All can perceive, that in every such case, 
 the energy, persistency, and success of the action 
 will be in proportion to the strength of inward 
 conviction. Belief has its degrees, and he who 
 believes feebly, will strike faint blows. 
 
 'Now it will need no long array of argument 
 to show, that this influence of inward convic- 
 tion must be more direct and powerful, in 
 cases where the effect is sought to be produced 
 through the very medium of supposed truth, 
 and where the effort is directed towards bring- 
 ing men over to their own opinion. " If you 
 would have me weep," said the ancient, " weep 
 yourself." Still more justly, "If you would 
 have me believe, believe yourself." To show 
 the great strength of the principle, allow me to 
 cite the case of those who teach error. The 
 power of such men is in their belief. It is a 
 vulgar and suj)erficial blunder, to suppose that 
 many or most of these inculcate known false- 
 hood. They believe, and believe strongly. 
 They are not only deceivers, but "being de- 
 ceived." They are blind, as well as leaders of 
 the blind ; and in countless instances they are 
 followed by misguided multitudes. The very 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 343 
 
 finnness and vehemence of their persuasion, 
 act on them with a perpetual momentum, and 
 sometimes confer a sort of sublimity on their 
 character. No man ever influenced great mass- 
 es, who had not some leading opinion deeply 
 impressed on his own mind. According to his 
 belief of its truth and its importance, will be 
 the efficacy of his endeavours. In all the in- 
 stances which we have supposed, there has been 
 an inward persuasion of some supposed truth, 
 and an inward fervour in carrying it out in 
 practice ; all which may be fitly used to illus- 
 trate the power of high religious principle and 
 feeling, in the vastly higher work which we 
 have to perform in our Christian life. 
 
 Thus are w^e brought to the heart of the 
 subject proposed for consideration, namely, that 
 faith is the principle of strength, progress, and 
 victory. 
 
 I think we have already discovered the cause 
 of our inefficacious and drooping church life. 
 We make little impression on the world, be- 
 cause we believe so little, and that little so 
 weakly. If our faith were strong, we should 
 feel ardently, speak boldly, act strongly, and 
 
344 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 conquer certainly. Leaving out tlie special and 
 divinely-constituted power of faith, all tlie anal- 
 ogies we have been considering go to confirm 
 this view. Wherever a man strongly believes, 
 he is successfully active, in the proportion of his 
 other powers. In this sense we may say, " This 
 is the victory that overcometh the world, even 
 our faith." If this spring be wanting, all power 
 is gone. Faith may be defined, a persuasion of 
 the truth. Evangelical faith is a persuasion of 
 Gospel truth. Viewed in its origin, it is the 
 product of Divine influence. Viewed in its con- 
 nection with preceding exercises, it arises from 
 spiritual apprehensions of the truth. In the 
 matter of our personal pardon and acceptance, 
 it takes hold specially of the promise of grace 
 in Jesus Christ ; but faith has its wider range, 
 in which it embraces as true the whole round 
 of revelation. And that which concerns us now, 
 is, that the hearty conviction of God's truth is the 
 great strengthening, operative and triumphant 
 principle. Universally, as a man's faith, such 
 will be his spiritual power. He cannot afi^ect 
 others save with that which first affects himself 
 If faith wavers or declines, the entire Christian 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 345 
 
 character is enfeebled. We see this at once in 
 regard to great fundamental points. Let . any 
 one begin to totter about the being of a God, 
 and he is palsied for every religious feeling and 
 effort. Or concerning whatsoever truth he may 
 harbour doubts, he will be unmanned for the 
 whole corresponding class of emotions and acts. 
 But faith may suffer not only in its extent, but 
 in its intensity. We may deny no one doc- 
 trine — we may hold the complete system, in a 
 certain way; but a way so faint and low as 
 scarcely to differ from unbelief, and thus to be 
 totally inoperative. 
 
 It is just in this modification that faith 
 exists in many Christian professors ; and can 
 we wonder if they bear little fruit ? How 
 different a creature is one who is all on fire 
 with the persuasion of Gospel verities. He 
 is transformed. The instance of Saul of Tar- 
 sus at once occurs to us ; for we are able to 
 contemplate him imder two opposite faiths. 
 The first, that of Judaism and Pharisaism, was 
 as sincere as the second. There was no feign- 
 ing. He verily thought he should do God ser- 
 vice by violence and murder. His faith was of 
 
 15 
 
 ^^ 
 
3-iG THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 falseliood ; but it was not inert. It propelled 
 liim. It made him a persecutor, a blasphemer, 
 injurious ; it caused him to breathe forth threat- 
 ening and slaughter, and to make havoc of the 
 Church. His second faith, as you know, came 
 to him suddenly. He has a new attraction, and 
 moves in a new orbit. Straightway he has 
 become a new man. He preaches that Jesus 
 whom once he blasphemed. The whole remain- 
 der of his life is a motion derived from this new 
 impulse. Does any man doubt whether Paul 
 believed ? Does any man doubt whether his 
 belief was the impelling power of his activity ? 
 It was faith that made him. His former prin- 
 ciples, his former life, were obliterated by this 
 new force. " The life that I now live, I live by 
 the faith of the Son of God." No wonder he 
 speaks perpetually of faith ; it perpetually oper- 
 ated in him, urging him to endurance, to utter- 
 ance, and to action. He writes to the Corinth- 
 ians, expounding the principles of his extraor- 
 dinary life, and showing that his contempt of 
 difficulties, and his earnestness of labour, arose 
 from his exalted apprehension of the truth of 
 the Gospel ; and this was faith. For this cause, 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 347 
 
 he fainted not. And thongli "already deliv- 
 ered unto deatli for Jesus' sake," lie reveals tlie 
 secret iipliolding power of his ministerial work 
 when he adds : " We having the same spirit of 
 faith, according as it is written, I believed, and 
 therefore have I spoken ; we also believe, and 
 therefore speak." Behold the source of pro- 
 phetic and of apostolic utterance ! The deep 
 persuasion of a single great truth may sway a 
 man s character and actuate his life. Let it be 
 the resurrection, or the judgment, or justifica- 
 tion by faith — it casts its broad shadow over 
 the whole prospect ; every day of life feels its 
 impression. Was it not something like this, 
 which gave tone and dignity to the mind of 
 Martin Luther ? If he had not possessed one 
 vast truth — if he had not believed it strongly — 
 he would never have been so out of weakness 
 made strong; he would never have so put to 
 flight the armies of the aliens. It is a great 
 blessing to a man to be fully charged with one 
 sublime idea. It elevates him to somethins: of 
 its own stature. It preserves him from the 
 calms and stagnations, in which too many of 
 us dream away our lives. There is something 
 
348 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 which he believes. Faith has the throne, and 
 wields the sce23tre. He need never look about 
 for wherewithal to interest his vacillating mind. 
 He possesses the luxury of a cherished truth. 
 Oh ! know ye not that this is sweeter than the 
 honeycomb — richer than rubies? Ye, whose 
 minds were never really awakened to any thing 
 intellectual or spiritual, ye have a w^orld of 
 bliss into which yet to enter ! Early disciples 
 felt this, especially under the words of the 
 Great Teacher. When once they heard him 
 speak as never man spake, they were smitten 
 with his heavenly voice, and received into their 
 bosoms a secret, on which to ponder without 
 weariness as long as they lived. Thus, also, 
 many came from their philosophies, all unsatis- 
 fying, to the apostles and primitive teachers 
 of Christianity. They believed, and the new 
 truths lived in them as mighty forces, propel- 
 ling them to speech and act. In reformation 
 times, how many from all parts of Europe came 
 to sit at the feet of Luther and of Calvin? 
 The great re-discovered doctrine of free salva- 
 tion had become their darling belief, and they 
 were wrought upon accordingly. 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRO.\(J FAITH. 349 
 
 Even in our later times, how liave our hearts 
 rejoiced, if we have been favoured to alight on 
 a teacher, who is all alive with some vital truth 
 of Christianity ; who expounds, illustrates, and 
 enforces it ; who dwells on it, to the weariness, 
 perhaps, of many, but not to ours. We almost 
 learn to love the instructor, for the sake of his 
 lesson. But the lesson, after all, is that which 
 feeds our faith. 
 
 The majority of Christian professors, I know 
 very well, have no great interest in Divine 
 truth. They could give up this or that tenet 
 of their creed, without feeling much loss. Little 
 could they comprehend the spirit of dying for 
 one's faith. At times, all sects and all confes- 
 sions seem to them alike. But he who has 
 clung to the doctrine of Jesus, as to a life-boat 
 after ship^vreck, knows no such apathy. His 
 great belief is ever before him. It is the en- 
 kindlino: cause of all his ardours. It excites 
 him to an energy which he never felt in the 
 days of his ignorance. All merely secular veri- 
 ties, however acknowledged as important in 
 their place, grow dim and fade and die out, 
 in comparison, as stars before the rising sun. 
 
350 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 Above all, tlie belief of Jesus Christ, in his 
 person and his work, his excellencies and his 
 invitations, his dying and his reign — when once 
 settled on the throne in any heart, destroys all 
 rivals, and becomes the principle of true Chris- 
 tian strength. Christ is formed in the heart 
 the hope of glory. If any thing can make a 
 weak believer strong, it is this. Hence, O my 
 beloved brethren, in much infirmity, but with 
 an unspeakable earnestness, am I thus con- 
 stantly endeavouring, in my imperfect way, to 
 win you to the contemplation of the Lord, and 
 to faith in him. It is only by faith in Jesus, that 
 these signal effects can be wroudit. We mio-ht 
 take up all the important doctrines of the Gos- 
 pel, one by one, and show how each in its turn be- 
 comes a source of power and a means of victory. 
 No man can be any greater or any stronger, in 
 Christianity, than his faith. There can be no 
 addition to real faith, without an accession of 
 religious strength. And (using a distinction 
 already noticed) this faith, which is thus impor- 
 tant, may be increased in two respects, as to its 
 extent and as to its intensity. 
 
 (1.) If the principle of Divine faith is in 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 351 
 
 US, we may be continually adding to the objects 
 of faith ; tliat is, to the doctrines which we be- 
 lieve. New objects or ideas, and new relations 
 between them, rise upon the discovery of the 
 believer, as new stars and planets before the 
 gaze of the astronomer ; and each he hails as 
 the revelation of his God. Truth is the ful- 
 crum of the lever, faith. Particular truths are 
 so many polished stones, which faith builds 
 into the wall of the spiritual temple. The 
 doctrines of religion therefore nourish faith. 
 In proportion to our faith, will be our desire 
 for the increase of knowledge. No docti'ines 
 will be unimportant, though some will lie closer 
 to our bosom than others. But doctrine — doc- 
 trine — doctrine — is that which faith desires. It 
 is lamentable that the Christianity of our day 
 desires it not. There is a craving for what is a 
 contradiction in terms — teachmg which is not 
 doctrinal. The cry is for literature, for illustra- 
 tion, for exhortation, for imagination, for elo- 
 quence, for any thing but truth. If faith ever 
 rises to manly vigour, it must be by enlarging 
 the mind's acquaintance with the whole extent 
 of saving truth. Believers who would be 
 
352 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 strong and healthy, must not be detained upon 
 the milk of babes, but must aspire to strong 
 meat, and go on unto perfection. For faith to 
 be strong and conquering, we must have variety 
 of food. The entire truths of religion must 
 enter into the regimen. Indeed, no one would 
 greatly err, who should begin with the elements 
 of doctrine, and go on to fill up the whole 
 scheme of theological truth. This is the way 
 to acquire bone, muscle, and sinew. The best 
 sign of spiritual health is a sound appetite for 
 solid truth. And this is the first mode of 
 strengthening faith, namely, in its extent, or the 
 knowledge of its objects. 
 
 (2.) The other is not less important, though 
 it respects the subject rather than the object of 
 faith. In regard to the former, the question is. 
 What do I believe? In regard to the latter, 
 the question is. How, or how strongly do I be- 
 lieve ? And surely we all need a great increase 
 in the intensity of our faith. Remark, that we 
 are now considering faith as a principle which 
 forms the character to strength and influence. 
 In this regard, every thing depends on its 
 height, its glow, its bursting force. Amount 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STROXG FAITH. 353 
 
 of knowledge is good, just as fuel is good ; but 
 when we speak of expansion and progress, wliat 
 we want is, fire — ^fii'e ! Faith must not be a 
 lethargic assent, but a concentrated burning 
 heat. It is this intensity of conviction and per- 
 suasion which has made the Pauls, the Luthers, 
 the Whitefields, of the Church ; or (as all can- 
 not be heroes) which has inflamed to generous 
 action those humbler believers, who have been 
 blessed to the salvation of many souls. It is 
 really wonderful to see how much greatness can 
 be conferred on a common man, by the warm- 
 ing, actuating power of faith. Out of weak- 
 ness he is made strong ; he waxes valiant in 
 fight. Thus the inert ball of iron receives ve- 
 locity and resistless force from the heat and ex- 
 pansion of the cannon's chamber. It ought to 
 encourage every believer who has a strong con- 
 viction. Let the truth which lies within his 
 breast be raised to a red heat, and its influence 
 becomes decisive. He may seem to himself to 
 be as nothing ; but God's truth in him is opera- 
 tive; the neighbourhood feels it. Where the 
 truths which animate him are sjrand truths — 
 where he holds them with a gi-asp that noth- 
 
354 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 ing can disengage or relax — where Ms soul is 
 steeped in tliem, day and night — where he de- 
 lights in them — communication follows sponta- 
 neously. Out of the abundance of the heart 
 the mouth speaketh — the manner speaketh — 
 the behaviour speaketh — the very visage speak- 
 eth. A man full of faith and of the Holy 
 Ghost sends forth influence at every pore. His 
 whole body is full of light, which he radiates 
 on every side. It is not stir, it is not factitious 
 effort, it is not learning, it is not eloquence ; it 
 is faith, it is holiness. Though Moses was slow 
 of speech, his countenance shone when he came 
 down from converse with God. Fill a soul up 
 to the brim with realizing and absorbing per- 
 suasion of capital truth, and it runs over. 
 There is a holy contagion in strong faith. To 
 increase our influence for God, it is not so ne- 
 cessary to prescribe rules, as to believe mightily, 
 with that faith which is the substance of things 
 hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. 
 Kindle this fire, and the flame of love shall 
 presently break forth in holy, irresistible ac- 
 tion. O my brethren, this is what we need, to 
 give our religion actuality, and to produce 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 355 
 
 results in tlie Cliurcli like those wliicli we wit- 
 ness in the world, among men who are deeply 
 in earnest, and borne onward by their ruling 
 passion. Give us men and women with whom 
 religion is the great and the one thing, and we 
 shall soon behold some effects to remind us of 
 the days of the Reformation, and the times of 
 early faith. Coals must be brought to our lips 
 and hearts by the hands of the seraphim. Fire 
 must descend from heaven to touch the dead 
 logs on our altar. There must be communi- 
 cation with heaven. The Holy Ghost must 
 awaken these ardours. Pentecostal cloven 
 tono:ues must hover over our assemblies. The 
 adversary will cry, " These men are fall of new 
 wine " ; but we shall confidently rejoin, " Christ, 
 having received of the Father the promise of 
 the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this, which ye 
 now see and hear." Are we convinced that our 
 lack of power in the Church arises from our 
 lack of faith ? Then let us concentrate our 
 souls on the great awakening truths of revela- 
 tion. Let us redouble our application to the 
 Word of God. Let us give ourselves to prayer 
 for the influences of the Holy Spirit. Happy 
 
356 THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 
 
 would this hour be, if I could impress on any 
 the truth, that a single soul, actuated by Divine 
 faith, becomes a centre of power. We under- 
 value individual influence. We ascribe too 
 little to what may be accomplished by eminent 
 piety in ourselves. In a community like ours, 
 no one believer can attain to unwonted fervour, 
 without conferring benefit on others. The con- 
 flagration which wraps the mountain forest or 
 the boundless prairie in sheets of flame, and 
 seems to set the heavens on fire, had its com- 
 mencement in one spot — perhaps in a single 
 spark. Eevival must begin somewhere. Let 
 each of us pray that it may begin in his own 
 soul. Disdain not the communications of God 
 sent down to your solitary closet. Hojdc for 
 great exaltation of faith from your private study 
 of inspired truth. Aim, my Christian brother, 
 at attaining high and commanding faith. Be 
 strong in faith, giving glory to God. It is, in a 
 certain sense, your whole work. Without it, 
 you can do nothing; with it, you can do all 
 things. It is the place to begin. It is the 
 spark to be kindled. The work is near home ; 
 nay, it is within you. The moment for effort 
 
THE EFFICACY OF STRONG FAITH. 357 
 
 lias arrived. Defer it not till the morrow. 
 God asks of you to determine what soii: of 
 Christian you will be. Upon instants like 
 these, sometimes depends the whole cuiTent of 
 life. Dream not of a progress in the Church, 
 without a progress in individuals. Fancy not 
 an elevation of others, but seek to be exalted 
 in faith yourself. If this thought be well 
 lodged in you, the exhortation will not have 
 been in vain. O^en every window of the soul 
 to the rays of heavenly light. Accej)t it, and 
 be mighty ; for all things are possible to him 
 that believeth. 
 
XIV. 
 
 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 Ephesiaxs i. 6. — " To the praise of the glory of his grace, 
 wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved." 
 
 " If the foundations be destroyed, what can 
 tlie rigliteous do ? " Ps. xi. 3. Of all Cliristian 
 character, experience, and action, the founda- 
 tions are laid in Divine truth. This truth is 
 capable of being stated in clear, intelligible 
 propositions, which, when brought together in 
 logical connection, and embraced under a sin- 
 gle view, constitute systems of doctrine. Such 
 arrangement of things knoAvn are not inven- 
 tions of the learned, but demands of a neces- 
 sity, existing in all human minds, precisely in 
 the proportion of their respective clearness, 
 
 16 
 
362 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 strengtli, and patient investigation. Trutlis of 
 religion, inspired trutlis — tliat is, Scriptural 
 trutlis, are not exempt from this law. The 
 enunciation of these truths, in their simpler, 
 more rational, or more scientific form, is doc- 
 trine. To inveigh against doctrine, therefore, 
 in religious teaching, if not a contradiction in 
 terms, is at least to withdraw religious truth 
 from the analogy of all other knowledge. And 
 to say, as has been said, that " doctrine is the 
 skin of truth, stripped off, dried, and set up 
 empty," is to prate ignorantly for the sake of 
 momentary effect, if not to be treacherous to 
 the high majesty of truth itself. Doctrine is 
 the form of sacred truth, adapted to inculcation 
 and transmission. Doctrinal preaching is sup- 
 posed by some to be controversial or polemical. 
 If any so err, they need the schoolmaster more 
 than the preacher. Doctrine is above all need- 
 ed at a period of general awakening. A man 
 convinced of his sins, asks how a sinner can be 
 pardoned, in consistency with God's justice: 
 the answer to his question is doctrine. He 
 asks what that work of Christ is, on account 
 of which he may be admitted to- favour : the 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 363 
 
 answer to liis question, wlietlier true or false, is 
 doctrine. He furtlier asks, by what means the 
 benefits of redemption may be made his own : 
 the answer to this is doctrine. Awakened 
 souls desii^e the sincere milk of the word, that 
 they may grow thereby. The Apostle Paul, 
 beyond all New Testament writers, affords milk 
 for babes, and strong meat for men. He is the 
 doctrinal apostle. This epistle is intensely doc- 
 trinal ; and our text contains a precious clus- 
 ter of doctrine, w^hich we may profitably take 
 apart, while we consider these propositions : — 
 1. The Son of God is the Beloved. 2. The 
 savino; love bestowed on believers, is on ac- 
 count of the Chief Beloved. 3. This Divine 
 acceptation of the believing sinner is an act of 
 sovereign grace. 4. The grand result of this 
 gracious acceptance is a revenue of praise and 
 glory to God. Let us inwardly implore the 
 presence of the Comforter, while we meditate 
 on these contents of the text. 
 
 I. The So:n" of God is the Chief Beloved. 
 How significant, how delightful a title ! Sure- 
 ly this can be none other than the Lord Jesus 
 
364 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 Clirist, of whom God tlie Father in prophecy- 
 speaks thus : " Mine elect, in whom my soul 
 clelighteth " (Is. xlii.) ; and concerning whom, 
 both at his baptism and his transfiguration, the 
 utterance was from the cleft heavens : " This is 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 
 He is by pre-eminence the beloved of the 
 Father. In the eternity which preceded crea- 
 tion, quite as truly as now, God was love, 
 thousrh there was no creature on whom that 
 love could terminate. Yet it was not an inac- 
 tive affection. The declaration was true, before 
 all worlds, which Jesus himself made in time : 
 ^' The Father loveth the Son." Here was ob- 
 ject enough. The love of an infinite Being 
 demanded an infinite loveliness on which to ^x 
 itself, and this it found in the Divine beauties 
 of the eternal Son, in the bosom of the Father. 
 Ineffable are the everlasting glories, ineffable 
 the perennial flow of mutual complacency and 
 delight. The attributes of the adorable Father 
 are at the same time attributes of the Son. As 
 God is and must of necessity be his own sole 
 and ultimate end, so this reciprocal recognition 
 and love of the Divine persons holds before the 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 365 
 
 infinite Mind its self-sufficiency of majesty, rec- 
 titude, and bliss, in a glorious reflection. But 
 to all eternity, tlie Son, as the Revealer, Mani- 
 fester, and Word, the Mirror of Godhead, is 
 the object of the Supreme love. 
 
 When finite spiiits emerged out of nothing, 
 and came upon the stage of existence, theii' 
 wondering eyes were tm^ned upon this same 
 luminary. " When he bringeth in the first- 
 begotten into the world, he saith, And let all 
 the angels of God worship him." Heb. i. 6. Of 
 this w^orship, the chief ingredients are admii'a- 
 tion and love. In the outgoings of infinite be- 
 nevolence, seeking to communicate itself by the 
 work of creation, that marvellous series and 
 system of events took place which we consider 
 the plan of redemption. It was devised in 
 antemundane counsel and decree. It formed 
 the subject of Divine covenanting. It received 
 its anticipative heralding in patriarchal signs, 
 and Mosaic emblems, and prophetic visions. 
 It burst from idea and preparative, into actual- 
 ity and reality of life, when the Word was 
 made flesh and dwelt among us. From first to 
 last, however, it is He, the Elect, the Mediator, 
 
366 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 the Eedeemer, tlie j)redestined Saviour, wlio 
 stands fortli before all worlds as embodying and 
 re]3resenting by illustrious manifestation tlie 
 infinite love of Jehovah, and the harmony of 
 all his attributes. In so acting, the Son of God 
 is in the highest conceivable sense the Beloved 
 of God, performing his utmost will, honouring 
 and glorifying his justice, and giving accom- 
 plishment to his mercy and his grace. "We 
 hazard nothing when we say, that the Son is 
 never so adorably lovely, and (through him) 
 that the Father is never so sublimely honoured, 
 in the sight of holy intelligences, in all worlds, 
 as when he becomes incarnate, and obeys and 
 dies in the stead of sinners. " Lo, I come, in 
 the volume of the book it is written of me, to 
 do thy will, O God." Infinite is he in loveli- 
 ness, when first he stoops to human flesh, and 
 to be born of a virgin ; when he lies a babe in 
 Bethlehem, and is borne to Egypt; when in 
 sweet boyhood he ascends to the temple ; when 
 he spends an unblemished youth among the 
 hills and vales of Galilee ; when he walks over 
 the length and breadth of the land, teaching 
 and healing ; when he suffers the contradiction 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 36? 
 
 of sinners against himself; wlien lie sinks in 
 tlie garden — rises, to be betrayed by a kiss — is 
 drafyofed from tribunal to tribunal, mocked and 
 buffeted — bears liis cross — is crucified between 
 two robbers — and sustains the anguisli of de- 
 sertion and imputed guilt. Lovely is our Im- 
 manuel, in life and death ; in burial and resui^- 
 rection ; in the Chiu*ch and in heaven ; lovely 
 to God and angels; lovely to his saints, and 
 that fore verm ore. Let us, my brethren, mark 
 well what constitutes the chief attraction of 
 his perfect attributes. It is his voluntary 
 giving of himself for sinners ; his profound, 
 yea, infinite condescension of yearning love, in 
 assuming guilt, and becoming " sin " for sinners ; 
 his self-sacrifice in dying under wrath, and en- 
 during the imputation of our desert. In the 
 estimation of an immutably holy and immeas- 
 lu^ably loving God, there is no beauty like the 
 beauty of holiness, which is also the beauty of 
 love. And when God looks upon his glory in 
 the face of Jesus, he sees that which more fills 
 the bliss of Godhead, than the spectacle of a 
 universe rising out of chaos, or the harmonies 
 of numberless worlds persisting in uninterrupt- 
 
368 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 ed due consent. The Lord Jesus Christ is 
 therefore by pre-eminence the Beloved. 
 But more awaits us in these words ; for, 
 
 II. The saving love bestowed on beltevees, 
 IS ON ACCOUNT OF THE Chief Beloveb : " wherein 
 he hath made us accepted in the Beloved." If 
 the sons are received with favour, it is because 
 of the Elder Brother. God loves them, because 
 he loved him first. In themselves they are 
 fallen, condemned, vile, and abominable. Not 
 one of the mighty host possesses one trait upon 
 which a holy God can look with complacency. 
 But they are viewed in him. From eternity, 
 in the awful, unuttered counsels, they were so 
 viewed. At the Gospel promise in Eden, they 
 were so viewed. Amidst the vicarious agonies 
 of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, and Golgotha, they 
 were so viewed ; and all the expiatory transac- 
 tions of the Head were regarded as offered by 
 the members. In the moment of their receiv- 
 ing the Divine effectual call, which opens their 
 blind eyes, educes faith, and unites them to 
 Christ, they are so viewed. Else, considered in 
 themselves, they must perish, and flee as chaff 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 369 
 
 before the whirlwind ; but thus they are pure 
 from guilt. Infinite justice sees them in him. 
 The sword smites the Beloved, and they go 
 free. Vindicating wrath sees nothing but the 
 Beloved ; and so foul, malignant wi^etches, who 
 were posting in their blood and pollution to 
 hell-flames, escape the doom. They are hidden 
 from the storm in the beloved arms ; they rest 
 on the beloved bosom ; they shine like sculp- 
 tured gems on the beloved shoulders and breast. 
 They are covered, as the contents of the ark 
 were covered, by the golden mercy-seat ; cleansed, 
 as the penitent who received crimson drops from 
 the priestly hyssop-branch ; admitted to com- 
 munion, as the son of Aaron was admitted to 
 the holy of holies. Believing, they are in 
 Chi^ist ; and being in him, they are beloved for 
 his sake. Every human being is in one or 
 other of these relations ; and he who is in the 
 Beloved, is accepted : that is, he is admitted to 
 favour, justification, and pardon. The instant 
 a sinner believes — though he may have been 
 the chief of sinners a moment before — he is 
 united to the Saviour ; he is in Jesus ; he is ac- 
 cepted in the Beloved. This is no inchoate or 
 
 16* 
 
370 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 lialf-finislied justification. All God's anger is 
 turned away. The suflieiency of Clirist covers 
 all. Millions of sins, each aggravated and in- 
 tensified by accumulated tui^pitudes, are as easily 
 blotted away and sunken in the deep, as a single 
 infant fault. It is not they, it is the Substitute, 
 at whom God is looking. 'No progress in justi- 
 fication can be conceived of Each soul, at 
 each moment, is either acquitted or condemned ; 
 either rejected as an alien, or accepted in the 
 Beloved. Though there are degrees in the 
 manifestation of this acceptance — ^for exam- 
 ple, to the believer's own consciousness; to 
 the recognition of brethren; or, at the last 
 day, to the assembled universe — yet the justi- 
 fication is complete at the moment of be- 
 lieving. The believer needs no further jus- 
 tification. In Christ — he can no more come 
 into condemnation than Christ himself In 
 Christ, he has Christ's righteousness as his own, 
 by a heavenly imputation. Whosoever in all 
 this assembly has believed in the Lord Jesus, 
 has by that act become interested in the finished 
 work of the Kedeemer. His standing in the 
 view of law is totally altered. He was con- 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 371 
 
 demned, and rapidly on the way to being eter- 
 nally abandoned of God ; now he is accepted 
 in the Beloved. 
 
 III. Akd this Divine acceptation of the 
 
 BELIEVING SINNER IS AN ACT OF SOVEREIGN GRACE. 
 
 Paul refers all to " his grace, wherein he hath 
 made us accepted in the Beloved." " His grace," 
 means the infinite and eternal grace of the Most 
 High. And "grace" means undeserved good- 
 ness, mere favour, spontaneous kindness, un- 
 merited compassion, absolute gratuity. No man 
 gets any glimpse of the plan of salvation, so 
 long as he thinks it proceeds upon any demand 
 of doing or suffering on the returning sinner's 
 part. All the meritorious doing and suffering 
 are on the part of Christ. Faith itself, the 
 only revealed bond of union ; faith, by which 
 alone any are in Christ, is the gift of God, be- 
 stowed when and where he pleases ; faith itself, 
 moreover, is no part of the righteousness, and 
 only receives it, as the beggar's hand receives 
 the alms. And therefore, as the work is all of 
 God, and the merit all of Christ, the acceptance 
 enjoyed by the believer is entirely of grace. 
 
372 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 There is in it no shred or filament of human 
 doing or deserving. The sight of this is indis- 
 pensable to true faith ; and for want of this, 
 manj are kept away forever. ^ They continually 
 demand of us, what more we would have them 
 to do ; forgetting, or never knowing, that the 
 Surety has done all. JS'ote well the terms, 
 " Hath made us accepted." The word is active ; 
 it is not we, but God, who effects the accept- 
 ance. And when he effects it, he does so in 
 pursuance of his own sovereign, uncaused, and 
 eternal purpose ; and so freely, fully, absolutely, 
 or gratuitously. If anxious sinners of this 
 house are ever justified and accepted, it will 
 be without righteousness of their own ; by an- 
 other's righteousness, altogether out of them- 
 selves ; and this they will simply receive at the 
 soverei2:n hand of God. 
 
 Words could hardly be plainer, de lioc, than 
 those of the Apostle Paul to the Komans (ch. iii. 
 V. 24): "Being justified freely by his grace"; 
 that " he might be just, and the justifier of him 
 that believeth." " A man is justified by faith, 
 without works of law." "Therefore it is of 
 faith, that it might be by grace" (iv. 16). 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 373 
 
 " Where sin abounded, grace did miicli more 
 abound " ; " tliat as sin hatli reigned unto death, 
 even so might grace reign through righteous- 
 ness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our 
 Lord" (v. 21). 
 
 It is this graciousness of his acceptance, 
 which suddenly strikes and sometimes over- 
 whelms the sinner at the time of his espousals. 
 He had been hoping, indeed, to be saved by 
 grace, in some inadequate ajDprehension of the 
 phrase. He looked for a moment in which 
 Divine strength should be kindly given him, 
 in order to the doing of some great thing. In 
 expectancy of this, he had been straining every 
 muscle and sinew into the posture of effort and 
 labour. At length grace came in a way he had 
 not thought of — in the way of acquiescence — 
 in the way of repose — in the way of ceasing 
 from his own works — in the way of falling 
 into Christ's open arms. 
 
 And see how the gratuitousness of salva- 
 tion is highly magnified by its being refen^ed 
 to so simple an instrument as mere faith ; but 
 still more, as every true convert must remem- 
 ber, by its being communicated at the very 
 
374 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 instant wlien the striiggler gave over strug- 
 gling, and the sturdy worker ceased to work. 
 Then he begins to comprehend this phrase, 
 " the gift of God." Damnation is of merit ; 
 salvation is of gift. "The wages of sin is 
 death, but the gift of God is eternal life, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." God is clear- 
 ly and delightfully seen to be every thing, as 
 he lifts up the faint, tearful, blushing, bleeding 
 culprit from the earth, where he feels his true 
 position to be, and, as he whispers in the aston- 
 ished ear words of amnesty, forgiveness, adop- 
 tion, fellowship, and heaven, he is in Christ; 
 and that by the sovereign gift of the Lawgiver 
 and King. The prodigal is seen, and met, and 
 kissed, and wept over, and clad, and decked, 
 and feasted. The creature that lay a perishing 
 outcast in the open field of degradation and 
 contempt, has found a time of love, and is cov- 
 ered by the skirt of Godhead. The sunshine 
 of the Father's smile, breaking through the 
 parting cloud of penal indignation, in a ray of 
 Divine effulgence, strikes first upon the Be- 
 loved, hanging on the tree, and then is reflected 
 to the prostrate sinner who believes. " The 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 375 
 
 kindness and love of God our Saviour" has 
 now appeared ; " not by works of righteous- 
 ness wkick we have done, but according to his 
 mercy." 
 
 And this gratuitousness of the reconcilia- 
 tion excludes not only acts, and words, and 
 conformities to law, but quite as much all feel- 
 ings, moods, purposes, exertions, endeavours, 
 nay, even repentings and believings. All are 
 made utterly worthless, and superseded, by the 
 free grace of God, whereby he hath made us 
 accepted in the Beloved. 
 
 And how gloriously is this free favour and 
 loving-kindness of our God magnified, when we 
 view it as covering over and blotting out all the 
 black and multitudinous sins of a lifetime ; sins 
 too numerous even to be reckoned by classes ; 
 sins whose depth of horrible enormity can be 
 sounded only by the plummet of Omnipotence ; 
 sins which were destroying the soul forever ; — 
 all, all, all forgiven, on the ground of one offer- 
 ing, and that one offering devised, provided, 
 executed, and applied, by the mere purpose and 
 good- will of Him who was grieved and insult- 
 ed. Well might the soul cry: "And is this 
 
376 ^^ THE BELOVED. 
 
 tlie manner of men, O Lord God ! " No ! "but 
 it is tlie manner of God in Clirist ; " in whom," 
 says the next verse, " we have redemption 
 through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, ac- 
 cording to the riches of his grace." 
 
 IV. The grand eesult of this geacious ac- 
 ceptance IS A REVENUE OF PRAISE AND GLORY TO 
 
 God. The entire method was introduced for 
 this very end, the glory of grace. This was the 
 ultimate object in God's plan, before the world 
 began. The best authority for this is the dec- 
 laration of God in the context : " Having pre- 
 destinated us unto the adoption of children by 
 Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good 
 pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory 
 of his grace." Here is the consummation ; it 
 was in prospect from the eternal heights, when 
 Divine wisdom framed the covenant of grace. 
 As God alone is eternal and independent, God 
 alone can be his own ultimate end, in creation, 
 providence, and redemption. It is the highest 
 conceivable object, to which we must subordi- 
 nate even the ransom of the "nations of them 
 that are saved." To " glorify God," stands high- 
 
IN THE BELOVED. S11 
 
 er than to " enjoy him forever." This honour 
 to the Infinite Supreme is effected by his grace, 
 more than by all displays of his other excellen- 
 cies. Hence we say, and feel, and sing, that 
 our God is more manifested by the admiring 
 homage and love of creatures, by his accepting 
 sinners in his Son, than by all the wisdom and 
 power displayed in the universe of matter and 
 mind. Nowhere does so much of God shine 
 out as in the face of Jesus Christ, dying and 
 drawing sinners to himself Hence we would 
 not trim down the phrase before us to mean 
 merely glorious grace, but take it in its fulness, 
 the glory of his grace. Glory always carries 
 with it the notion of light, effulgence, outshin- 
 ing ; some idea of resplendent manifestation ; 
 as in the pillar of fire, at the door of the taber- 
 nacle, and especially above the ark of the cove- 
 nant. So, perhaps, at the transfiguration, and 
 the vision of Jesus to Stephen, to Saul, to John 
 in the Apocalypse. Glory of grace is the lumi- 
 nous display, before all intelligences, and espe- 
 cially before his o\\tl Omniscience, of that in 
 Jehovah which is revealed by the free redemp- 
 tion of sinners. The "glory of his grace," is 
 
378 ^^ THE BELOVED. 
 
 the sunlike lustre and celestial beauty with 
 whicli the Lord God Almighty shines forth 
 from between the cherubim, when he shows 
 himself to be at once a "just God and a Sa 
 viour." The " praise of the glory of his grace/ 
 is the acclamation which rises, and shall rise, 
 not only from ten thousand times ten thousand 
 and thousands of thousands from among men 
 but from the voice of many angels round about 
 the throne, when they cry, " Blessing, and hon- 
 our, and glory, and power, be unto him that 
 sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for 
 ever and ever." It is the eternal echo of God's 
 voice from all holy beings in the universe. It 
 is the loving, admiring, adoring tribute of a 
 world of sinless or redeemed spirits, evoked by 
 the " manifold wisdom of God." All through 
 this radiant chapter, the mind of Paul is full 
 of this redundant ascription ; and (v. 12) he 
 says to early Christians, " that we should be 
 to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in 
 Christ." Time does not suffice to hold such 
 praises within its brim; they run over into 
 eternity ; " that in the ages to come he might 
 show the exceeding riches of his grace in his 
 
THE BELOVED. 379 
 
 kindness toward ns tlirougli Chiist Jesus " 
 (ii. Y). Blessed be God, there are ages to 
 come ! for here we cannot praise enough. Were 
 all the sono;s of all the saved on earth, when at 
 the utmost rapture of each, gathered in one, 
 and laid on one altar, the flame, though stretch 
 ing heavenw^ard, w^ould be mingled with over 
 clouding smoke. Hence the Church below is 
 fain to make invocation to the Church above 
 and to cry, " Praise ye the Lord from the heav 
 ens : praise him in the heights. Praise ye him 
 all his angels : praise ye him, all his hosts ! ' 
 The chorus still is, with unwearying repetition 
 " His mercy endureth forever." " He that offer- 
 eth praise, glorifieth me," saith the Lord of 
 hosts. Praise, therefore, for the wonder of redemp 
 tion, from all pure spirits and ransomed voices 
 through the eternal day, "will magnificently set 
 forth the glory of Divine grace. For their God 
 chose us (v. 4) in him before the foundation of 
 the world; for this he predestinated us unto 
 the adoption of sons. Thanks forevermore be 
 unto his holy name, our rescue is not at the ex- 
 pense of his glory, nor to the tarnishing of one 
 jewel in his diadem of attributes. True, the 
 
380 IN THE BELOVED. 
 
 briglitest in heaven or earth did seem to suffer 
 eclipse, and skies were darkened, and earth 
 staggered in sympathy, when the cry was heard, 
 " Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and 
 against the man who is my fellow, saith the 
 Lord of hosts." But the sun shone forth again ; 
 the Lord broke from the sepulchre ; the heav- 
 ens received him with hallelujahs, and created 
 intellect learned to contemplate with tenfold 
 honour the glory of the Lord. 
 
 Such is a single glimpse of the Divine tri- 
 umph through grace. We have first referred it 
 to its centre in the Beloved. On his account, 
 we have next seen saving love bestowed on be- 
 lievers. Then we viewed in this acce23tance of 
 the sinner an act of sovereign grace. And last 
 of all, we have followed out the whole to a 
 tribute of adoration and praise rendered to the 
 Most High. 
 
 From a discussion like this, which concerns 
 the cardinal doctrine of Christianity, the infer- 
 ences and uses may be manifold. Among those 
 which rise unprompted in the hearer's mind, 
 will be assuredly thankfulness to Him who 
 hath made thee, and thee, and thee, O believing 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 381 
 
 brethren, accepted in the Beloved. But I choose 
 rather to narrow our conclusion to a single point, 
 while I plead with the unreconciled, yet not 
 careless sinner, to believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Set fully before your mind, O sinner, 
 the great truth which this passage has afforded, 
 and yield to the irresistible argument in favour 
 of your turning to God here and now. If God 
 is so glorified when a sinner is accepted in his 
 Son, then the way of all others in which you 
 may most glorify God, is to believe. The riches 
 of his grace is revealed for the very purjDose 
 of being honoured and accepted. Why, then, 
 should you hesitate as to whether the way is 
 open or not ? It is God's own way, and there 
 is no other. Is not the Beloved worthy ? Seek 
 you one who shall be lovelier or more merito- 
 rious ? If not, come — and he is yours ! Nor 
 need you think of preparatory amendments. 
 Your believing in Christ is the very act which 
 does homage to that glorious grace which God 
 delighteth to honour. Sinners perversely hang 
 back, as if there were merit in doubting, and as 
 if there were some hazard in doing that which 
 of all possible acts most honours the chief 
 
382 IN THE BELOYED. 
 
 metliod of infinite wisdom and love. Do not 
 insanely remain in guilt, under a self-righteous 
 appreliension that God cannot justly pardon so 
 vile a sinner, or one so little prepared by heart- 
 breaking exercises. To justify you in submit- 
 ting to the righteousness of God, more honours 
 God than all your obedience ; because it accepts 
 the righteousness of Christ. God's very law, 
 his infinite justice, satisfied by the Beloved Son, 
 is glorified when you are accepted in him ; that 
 is, when you believe. Not to believe, is to un- 
 dervalue this method, and to derogate from the 
 merit of this Surety. Could you behold the 
 Redeemer as he is, you would be unable to 
 doubt. Not to believe, is therefore a sin, and, 
 if persisted in, a damning sin. " He that be- 
 lieveth not, shall be damned." Not to believe, 
 is to withhold that much glory from infinite 
 grace, and so to perish in your pride. It is not 
 an enlightened conscience — it is not reverence 
 for justice — it is not a disposition of inward 
 obedience — it is not a fear of offending — which 
 keeps you away from Christ ; because nothing 
 in you could so recognize and glorify infinite 
 justice, as for you to be accepted in the Be- 
 
IN THE BELOVED. 383 
 
 loved. Grace waits for a new trophy, O sinner ; 
 yea, Jesus waits for thee. The more you own 
 the splendours of law ; the more you lament 
 that you have rebelled ; the more you long to 
 be made holy ; the more will you see the fitness 
 of receiving Christ as your Saviour. It really 
 looks as if reluctant, incredulous sinners some- 
 times thouo-ht thei'e would be a sort of moral 
 delinquency, if they should surrender them- 
 selves to be saved by Chi^ist ; as if justice 
 would be compromised, if they should give 
 over striving to do some great work. "Whereas, 
 the truth is, the highest tribute to law and jus- 
 tice, is when the soul, by an act of faith, acqui- 
 esces in the atoning work, which gives glory to 
 Divine grace. Come, then, O burdened sinner, 
 and be saved in the way which most places the 
 crown on the head of God the Saviour. Be- 
 lieve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus submit 
 to the joint sway of Justice and Mercy. Once 
 accepted in the Beloved, you shall be the in- 
 strument of fresh praises to him who loved 
 you, and gave himself for you. 
 
XY. 
 
 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 17 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 Luke xviii. 27. — "The things which are impossible with 
 men, are possible with God." 
 
 These words follow our Lord's memorable 
 saying of the camel and the needle's eye. Va- 
 rious attempts have been made to escape the 
 harshness of the declaration. Men have read 
 " cable " for " camel," as if it were easier for a 
 cable to thread the narrow orifice ; and some 
 have talked of a little gate, named the " needle's 
 eye." But the impossibility remains an impos- 
 sibility, after all. Such was the intention of 
 our great Teacher; and such was the under- 
 standing of the apostles, who did not say, 
 " How hard for a rich man to be saved," but, 
 " Who, then, can be saved ? " in other words, 
 it is impossible. And to this their conclusion, 
 
388 CONVERSION AX OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 the words before us were addressed. " You 
 say it is impossible for auy to be saved; re- 
 member, that the things which are impossible 
 with men, are possible with God." The plain 
 meaning is, that but for Divine efficiency inter- 
 posed, the worldly, man is under an impossibil- 
 ity of being saved ; nay, that independently of 
 supernatural power, the same is true of every 
 unconverted man. Though the hindrance is 
 of that peculiar sort which belongs to things 
 moral, and so is different from material obsta- 
 cles or difficulties, it is absolute, and none but 
 God can take the impossibility out of the way. 
 And the proposition of the text, under which 
 this falls as a case, is general, and imports, that 
 God is able to do that which is impossible to 
 man, and this more particularly in the way of 
 saving the soul. 
 
 I. The power of man is very much limited. 
 The things which are " impossible with men," 
 are innumerable. All human power is derived, 
 and is afforded in small proportions, and with 
 reference to a very narrow circle of effects. 
 Especially is this power scanty and utterly in- 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 389 
 
 sufficient in regard to tlie spiritual world. That 
 strength, which resided in the first Adam, has 
 been diminished since the fall ; and in conse- 
 quence there is nothing in which a reflective 
 man more feels his impotency, than in changing 
 moral resolutions, dispositions, or character, in 
 others, or in himself. Here the things which 
 are impossible with men meet us at every turn. 
 In the instance before us, it is perfectly plain to 
 any unbiased mind, that the power in question 
 is the power to save a soul ; that is, to convert 
 it ; that is, to remove the insuperable moral 
 obstacle out of the way. That obstacle is the 
 love of wealth. Here is a most amiable and 
 exemplary young ruler, who is grieved at the 
 necessity, and casts many a longing look be- 
 hind, but who nevertheless refuses to follow 
 Christ, and goes away ; all for a reason which 
 is given — " for he was very rich." That settled 
 the question. He trusted in riches; he gave 
 his heart and love to riches. This constituted 
 the impossibility. This led to Christ's terrible 
 utterance, which ought to ring in the ears of 
 the rich, as long as there remains a wealthy sin- 
 ner upon earth. Now the problem is, how to 
 
390 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 break tliis influence — to neutralize tliis attrac- 
 tion — to turn tliis perverse and idolatrous lieart ; 
 for till tliis is done, salvation is impossible. 
 And our Saviour teaches, if there is any thing 
 intelligible in language, that no human power 
 is competent to work this revolution. In the 
 matter of converting a soul to God, all power 
 of man is reduced to zero. This is true of abil- 
 ity to convert a fellow-creature, and of the sin- 
 ner's ability to convert himself 
 
 1. There is no power in man to convert his 
 fellow. Those are best aware of this, who have 
 made the most frequent and strenuous efforts to 
 remove the leopard's spots, or change the hue 
 of the Ethiopian. "We may argue, we may ad- 
 duce motives, we may persuade, we may coerce 
 or bribe to external performance ; but convert 
 we cannot. 
 
 2. There is no power in man to convert 
 himself The text, if it has any meaning, has 
 this. I know very well how much this differs 
 from the philosophy of our age, and the dictates 
 of proud human nature. It is not the doctrine 
 of Pelagius merely, but of the natural heart, 
 that a man is able to convert himself at any 
 
CONYERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 391 
 
 moment. The doctrine of tlie text, and of all 
 tlie Ir^criptures, is tliat he has no such ability. 
 You may denominate this inability moral, and 
 it certainly concerns moral subjects, and so dif- 
 fers from the inability to create or annihilate a 
 world ; but by such epithet you do not bring 
 the effect sought any more within reach. No 
 man feels himself any nearer to the object, after 
 hearing such a distinction. You say it is a cul- 
 pable inability ; and we agree with you : but 
 this does not lessen it. Joseph's brethren hated 
 him, and could not speak peaceably unto him ; 
 the greater their hatred, the more their guilt — 
 but, at the same time also, the more their in- 
 ability. Theorists on the side of human power 
 sometimes plead for a human ability which 
 nevertheless leaves the sinner utterly indisposed 
 to holy acts. An ability which does not make 
 one able, is fit only for derision. If, overleap- 
 ing distinctions, you argue for a complete or 
 plenary ability to change the heart, you are 
 clearly at issue with the Word of God, which 
 declares it to be impossible. It is impossible 
 for the camel to pass the needle's eye ; it is im- 
 possible for the imregenerate sinner to regen- 
 
392 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 erate himself; it is impossible witli men. After 
 a little reflection ujDon wliat passes within us, it 
 becomes apparent, that the human soul has no 
 power to change its own nature. Change of 
 nature, or even of dispositions, is not a direct 
 object of human power. Willing does not 
 reach it. We may ply the will, with all effort, 
 against the affections or the radical principles ; 
 but there is no fulcrum. By mere volition, we 
 cannot change hatred to love, or love to hatred. 
 The feelings direct the will, rather than the will 
 the feelings. But we make a violent supposi- 
 tion, when we allow even for a moment that 
 the sinner wills in the right direction. The 
 very thing he needs, is something which shall 
 make him will aright. Every man wills accord- 
 ing to his disposition and nature. The good 
 tree brings forth good fruit, and the evil tree 
 evil fruit. Make the tree good, and the fruit 
 will be good. But the depraved soul has no 
 power of transporting itself, as it were, against 
 the force of gravity, up beyond the atmosphere 
 of sinning. Such is the humbling truth enun- 
 ciated by Scripture, and confirmed by the expe- 
 rience of every soundly converted man. 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 393 
 
 IL Tliat, however, whicli is impossible witli 
 men, is possible with God. And especially it 
 is possible for him to change the heart, to save 
 the soul, and to rescue even the slave and wor- 
 shipper of Mammon. But it is like causing the 
 camel to march through the eye of a needle. 
 The fair construction of the passage leads us to 
 look upon the salvation of the sinner as a work 
 calling for omnipotence. So in a parallel place : 
 " With God all things are possible." 
 
 It is good for us to be often in contempla- 
 tion of God as almighty. He ever accomplishes 
 all that he wills. What are denominated natu- 
 ral impossibilities, are not objects of power, and 
 commonly involve absurdity or self-contradic- 
 tion in their very statement. Moral impossi- 
 bilities, or such things as would involve God's 
 denying himself, are equally excluded from the 
 scope of omnipotence. But there remains an 
 infinite range for the sweep of this Divine per- 
 fection. The work is immediate. He wills, 
 and it is done. We readily open our minds to 
 the belief of this power, as terminating on the 
 material universe; but it is equally operative 
 in the vaster world of mind. He that could 
 
394 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 create the soul, can re-create it. And we do 
 not find any class of Divine operations more 
 frequently mentioned in Scripture tlian those 
 by which he moulds and changes the spiritual 
 nature, producing new directions of human 
 thought and feeling, and new determinations of 
 human will ; all in perfect accordance with that 
 constitution of moral freedom which he has 
 himself ordained. 
 
 Here Pelagian error, among its Protean 
 forms, springs up in a shape suited to the pre- 
 possessions of our age. We are taught that 
 God himself cannot act causatively upon the 
 will ; that it is of the very nature of will to 
 act without a cause, in a self-determining man- 
 ner. To render this more plausible, a specious 
 distinction is devised, between things natural, 
 proceeding according to the sequence of cause 
 and efi*ect, and powers supernatural, namely, 
 moral or free, with which cause and effect have 
 nothing to do. Hence every man is a god unto 
 himself, in all that he wills ; and not even the 
 Almighty can cause him to will or do, by any 
 influence other than presentation of motives. 
 God himself cannot operate as a cause upon the 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. ^95 
 
 soul of a sinner. To work upon an ungodly 
 will, is not among tlie objects of power. Pela- 
 gius taught tlie same in a cruder form. 
 
 Suppose we should allow the vaunted dis- 
 tinction ; suppose we should remove all that 
 concerns volition, all that is moral, from the 
 cycle and system of cause and effect ; we should 
 only be allowing Pelagius to beg the question in 
 debate ; that question being, whether God can 
 operate directly upon the soul, to produce holy 
 acts, or infuse a holy principle. If, with these 
 eiTorists, we say. No, we fly in the face of Scrip- 
 ture, and yield all that is worth retaining in 
 the system of grace. For what is grace, but 
 a Divine communication to the soul of man, 
 effecting that good which is beyond the power 
 of unaided nature. Just put the proud as- 
 sumption into plain language : God himself 
 cannot cause holy sentiments in any creatm-e. 
 For the moment (say they) you introduce the 
 relation of cause, you expel the notion of free- 
 dom ; thus inventing a condition of freedom, 
 which philosophy does not accept, and which 
 would make religion impossible. As if He 
 who made the soul, and made it free, could not 
 
396 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 SO act upon it, as to render certain its holiness, 
 and yet leave its freedom untouched ! To will, 
 is in its very nature free. But God worketh in 
 us both to will and do of his good pleasure. 
 Therefore, it is possible for God to act causa- 
 tively upon the will, without destroying its 
 freedom. 
 
 They talk of moral suasion (as if, forsooth, 
 there was any other sort) ; they vouchsafe to 
 own that God can persuade; he converts the 
 soul by arguing, and is the greatest persuader 
 because he is the best reasoner. But as to any 
 proper efficiency upon the souls of sinners to 
 turn them unto God — No ! away with it ; it 
 violates liberty ; it brings natural laws into the 
 domain of the supernatural ; in a word, it is 
 impossible with God. With such a belief, one 
 must read the whole Bible backwards, and 
 make conversion by God a fable. What an im- 
 pertinence does the reply of Jesus become ! 
 They were considering the case of a sinner, 
 whose conversion, on any human principles, is 
 out of the question. Jesus replies : It is pos- 
 sible with God. How so ? how possible with 
 God, if it, is not in God to put forth a single 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 397 
 
 influence wliicli sliall act upon the will of that 
 sinner — that will being really the mountain 
 obstacle in the way ? If every thing depends 
 on the self determination of the sinner, with 
 w^hich God cannot interfere without destroying 
 liberty, obligation, and morals, then ought we 
 to invert the text, and read, " That which is im- 
 possible with God, is possible with man." 
 
 Solemnly pondered, this one verse, without 
 any other, were enough to establish the doc- 
 trine of God's power over the soul. For what 
 is it which it declares God able to do ? You 
 answer at once. To secure the sinner's salva- 
 tion ; that is, to convert his soul ; that is, to 
 change his purposes. And be it observed, 
 whether this be done mediately or immediately, 
 by one act on the willing subject, or by a series 
 of acts terminating in volition, liberty must be 
 equally endangered, in the view of those who 
 dread any such Divine action as infallibly ter- 
 minates in a given and predetermined choice. 
 When the text teaches that it is possible for 
 God to convert the most hopeless sinner, it de- 
 clares that conversion is an object of power. 
 God does not say in his counsels, " I ^\dll 
 
398 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 throw in liglit, I will offer motives, I will out- 
 bid tlie world, I will make an experiment of 
 suasion upon that wealthy foe, not, however, 
 meddling with the sacredness of his inviolable 
 will." No — but " I will convert that Pharisee. 
 I will envelope that soul in a cloud of over- 
 powering glory. I will act upon the very seat 
 and source of all choices. I will renew that 
 persecutor's nature, and bring him to my feet." 
 Now I put it to every unprejudiced and simple 
 mind, whether this is not the very impression 
 which is derived from the reading of the Scrip- 
 tures for a course of years ? Do we not find 
 them everyi\^here referring regeneration and 
 conversion to the power of God — a power oper- 
 ating immediately on the human will ; and is 
 not the opposite doctrine constructed inferen- 
 tially, from foregone conclusions in philosophy ? 
 The truth is, philosophers themselves have not 
 been at one on this point ; a large proportion 
 of them, and those not the least acute, having 
 maintained the perfect consistency between Di- 
 vine concurrence and human liberty. We argue 
 purely ad ignorantiam^ when we object, that if 
 God operates as a cause upon the will, he im- 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 399 
 
 pairs or destroys moral freedom. This is not a 
 trutli of intuition, to be assumed without proof; 
 nor can it be demonstrated. From the very 
 nature of the case, it cannot be an object of 
 consciousness, whether we are actuated by a 
 higher power or not. We are indeed conscious 
 that we act fi^eely, and this is a truth which we 
 cheerfully avow. But we possess no such cer- 
 tainty on the other side, as should justify the 
 contempt which some cast on the Scripture 
 teaching of God's proper and gracious influence 
 on the soul. To say that, in turning unto God, 
 we act without spiritual influence, is to say 
 more than w^e know, or can know, without reve- 
 lation ; and all the teaching of revelation is so 
 clearly the other way, that the greatest ingenu- 
 ity is in request to explain away this clear lan- 
 guage. The convert knows, by consciousness, 
 that he acts, that he acts from motives, that he 
 never acted more freely in his life. But he 
 cannot know from consciousness that God acts. 
 Of this, God must testify, which he does, when 
 he assures us by his servant, that it is God who 
 worketh in us both to will and to do of his owti 
 good pleasure. It is therefore possible with God ! 
 
400 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OE POWER. 
 
 Age after age this doctrine has been a tar- 
 get for assailants, while it has been precious in 
 the esteem of evangelical believers. The con- 
 troversy first took a definite shape in the days 
 when Augustine, Jerome, and Prosper, in Afri- 
 ca, Palestine, and Gaul, raised the standard 
 against Pelagius and his followers. The writ- 
 ings of Augustine in particular have been the 
 arsenal of theologians in this warfare ; and for 
 many years they succeeded in keeping the de- 
 cisions of the so-called Catholic Church on the 
 right side. But the mystery of iniquity was 
 continually though secretly working against 
 grace. Various schools of error within the 
 Church, but especially the Franciscans, and 
 above all the Jesuits, laboured for a scheme so 
 favourable to human nature, until, at length, 
 the determinations against the Jansenists and 
 Port Eoyal showed the body of Popish doctors 
 to have become radically corrupt— as they have 
 gone on to be more and more every day. All 
 that was pure, holy, venerable, and seraphic, in 
 the prejudiced but lovely recluses of Port Eoyal, 
 was founded on these doctrines of Augustine, 
 of Paul, and of grace. All their persecutions, 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 401 
 
 resulting in tlie ruin, even to utter razing, of 
 the Port Royal des Champs^ were because tliese 
 lioly persons would not condemn Antipelagian 
 doctrines. Tlie corps of extraordinary \\Titers, 
 male and female, who as a body have never 
 been surpassed, wielded their polished swords 
 in defence of these truths. And Pascal, w^ho 
 unites the wit of Moliere, the logic of Leibnitz, 
 and the eloquence of Bossuet, begins his im- 
 mortal Provincial Letters with a piece of irre- 
 sistible satire on the Jesuit opposers of grace. 
 So likewise we find it the palladium of the 
 Keformation. It had been taught by Wiclif 
 and Huss, when Luther took up the champion- 
 ship, in his controversy with Erasmus. In this 
 matter there w^as no division among the Re- 
 formers. Down to our own day, jDure evangeli- 
 cal piety has been uniformly found associated 
 with high views of Divine spiritual power and 
 direct efficiency, in the conversion of the sinner. 
 While, on the other hand, wherever we observe 
 a breaking of the Protestant and Puritan line, 
 a retreat from Reformation ground and the con- 
 fessions of the Reformed churches, and a desert- 
 ing of the ranks of liberalism and Socinian 
 
402 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 heresy, we find a coiTesponding and propor- 
 tional disposition to fritter away tlie meaning 
 of Scripture declarations concerning man's help- 
 lessness and the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 And these two antagonist systems will not end 
 their great campaign, till Truth shall sound her 
 trumpet in ultimate victory. 
 
 If, then, my brethren, there is any creed 
 which can be called Catholic, as having com- 
 manded the suffrages of the best Christians, in 
 all generations of the Church, it is, that conver- 
 sion by any human agent is impossible ; that 
 God converts the sinner ; that the Divine act in 
 regeneration and conversion is an act of power ; 
 that such agency does not overbear or obliterate 
 human freedom ; and that the power of God, in 
 this field of grace, is infinite. 
 
 1. We must all admit, that there is much in 
 this to humble and alarm the impenitent sin- 
 ner ; which may account for some of the oppo- 
 sition which the doctrine has encountered. ISTo 
 man likes to hear that he is poor, and miserable, 
 and blind, and naked. To be a pensioner, is 
 humiliating, if not galling. Human greatness, 
 by pufiing up the depraved dispositions, indis- 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 403 
 
 poses men to submit to God's method of saving 
 sinners. 
 
 The doctrine of the text and context shows 
 no complaisance to ungodly wealth. It an- 
 nounces the infinite peril of setting the heart on 
 earthly good. The great danger is, that every 
 hearer will be thinkins: of some one wealthier 
 than himself. We have no reason to think that 
 the young ruler was a millionaire ; or that 
 Jesus proposed the never-to-be-forgotten needle's 
 eye, to those only who were what we should 
 denote by hundreds of thousands. The an^ow 
 of conviction flies clear over your head, w^hile 
 you w^hisper. Who is this rich man ? It is yon- 
 der eminent banker, or successful merchant, or 
 happy heir ; it is not I ! And a second says, 
 It is not I ! And others add the echo. It is not 
 I ! Yes, it is you, and you, and you ! Turn 
 not the head ; look no further. It is you who 
 have already been kept away from Christ, by 
 the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of 
 riches. The group is vanished. Jesus and that 
 kneeling, sorrowing, departing young ruler, have 
 long since passed in body from this earth. But 
 in reality, each of you passes before Jesus — each 
 
404 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OE POWER. 
 
 of you hears his proposal — eacli of you lias re- 
 jected it. Your condition is fearful. Each of 
 you is in the hands of an offended God, Ibut 
 for whose sovereign power, your salvation were 
 impossible. 
 
 2. Believers ascribe their conversion to the 
 power of God. It was impossible with men. 
 Grace wrought it ; and by the same mighty 
 power which raised Jesus from the dead. Does 
 it seem mysterious that Omnipotence should 
 move the human Avill at regeneration ? Scrip- 
 ture does not relieve the mystery. " The wind 
 
 bloweth born of the Spirit." Those 
 
 who are so renewed, are " born, not of the will 
 of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of 
 God " ; which Paul confirms, saying : " So then 
 it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that 
 runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." All 
 the saints in heaven agree in ascribing the ori- 
 ginal motion to God, and not to themselves; 
 and in owning, that if he had not first sought 
 them, they never would have sought him. The 
 very dispositions towards being saved are from 
 his free love : " By grace are ye saved, through 
 faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 405 
 
 of God." The difficulty of selecting passages 
 is great, from their large number. Better than 
 single proof- texts is the whole tenour of the 
 New Testament, which ascribes the new nature 
 and all holy thoughts, feelings, and choices, to 
 the power of God. It is hardly possible for 
 any man, whatever be his theory, to fall down 
 upon his knees, and refer to his own conversion, 
 without employing expressions which bear that 
 the efficiency was of God, and that Divine grace 
 operated u|)on the creature as a proper cause. 
 This is implied in all our thanksgivings and 
 all our confessions., This is that heavenly and 
 effectual calling, of which such strength of ex- 
 pression is used by the apostles, and which is 
 everywhere referred to God's sovereign pleas- 
 ure. Nor is there any temper of soul more con- 
 genial to true piety, than that in which the 
 believer says, " We are the clay, and thou our 
 Potter." 
 
 . 3. The doctrine which we have been study- 
 ing gives the greatest possible encouragement 
 to prayer for the unconverted. Prayers of this 
 kind have of late besieged heaven — agoing up 
 in squadrons and mighty armies. All in vain, 
 
406 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 if God exercises no power antecedent to the 
 sinner's consent. Brethren, we have those who 
 are dear to us as life, and for whom we inter- 
 cede ; perhaps they are beside us now ; perhaps 
 they are where no power but that of the Al- 
 mighty can reach them. But it matters not 
 whether God reaches them or not, if he is at 
 the mercy of their stubborn hearts, and if his 
 omnipotence cannot sway their will. If Jeho- 
 vah can put forth no causation, in regard to 
 human choices, then he cannot secure the holi- 
 ness of those for whom we plead. It is not 
 God, but they, who hold the arbitrament. To 
 pray to them might be reasonable, but not to 
 pray to God. For what can God do, unless they 
 consent to do first ? Let the impiety be with 
 such as have broached and trumpeted the un- 
 scriptural tenet ! No, beloved brethren, it is 
 our comfort, and the lifting up of our head in 
 prayer to God that he is able to influence the 
 unregenerate soul with direct rays of convert- 
 ing power. The things which are impossible 
 with men, are possible with God. He can 
 breathe on the swollen tide of unholy volitions 
 chafing in its rocky channel, and instantane- 
 
CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 407 
 
 ously turn back tlie free yet mighty river, so 
 tliat its reflux shall be as sweetly heavenward 
 as its flow was turbulently towards the lake of 
 fire. Unless we mock the heavens, then, when 
 we ask God to convert the rebel, we mean more 
 than that he should do so, if the rebel agree to 
 convert himself And our hope of the eventual 
 illumination of the world, the future persever- 
 ance of holy angels, and the everlasting fidel- 
 ity of ransomed saints, resides wholly in the 
 power of God, exerted to keep them from fall- 
 ing. This earth of ours, ever since it was 
 blessed with the Gospel, has seen little, com- 
 paratively, of the omnipotence of grace. She 
 has not seen knowledge of God inundating her 
 populations " as the waters cover the sea." She 
 has not seen nations born at once. She has not 
 seen Israel restored, idolatry abolished, and all 
 men knowing the Lord. But she shall see this, 
 and more. She shall see it in answer to prayer. 
 She shall see it as the consequence of God's irre- 
 sistible and gracious influence upon each indi- 
 vidual soul. It is the glory of the Holy Ghost 
 thus to work on the corrupt mass of humanity. 
 These are the supernatural influences, without 
 
408 CONVERSION AN OBJECT OF POWER. 
 
 wliicli religion degenerates into a poor, deistical 
 rationalism. Here we ^x ourselves ; on this we 
 hang, for ourselves and for others ; for the be- 
 p-inninsfs of our new life, and for its consumma- 
 tion ; for regeneration, for sanctification, and for 
 glory. " O the depth of the riches, Loth of the 
 wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearch- 
 able are his judgments, and his ways past find- 
 ing out. For of him, and through him, and to 
 him, are all things : to whom be glory forever. 
 Amen." Eom. xi. 33, 36. 
 
XVI. 
 
 THE 3IYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 18 
 
\ 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Ephesians iii. 8-11. — "Unto me, who am less than the least 
 of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the 
 Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all 
 men see, what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the 
 beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all 
 things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the princi- 
 palities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the 
 church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal 
 purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 If books were to be valued by tlieir size or 
 cost, tlie book from wliicli my text is taken, and 
 wliicb occupies about six pages of this volume, 
 would not take a very liigli rank ; but if meas- 
 ured by its intrinsic glories, tlie epistle to tke 
 Ephesians should be more prized than rubies, 
 or than diamonds. And the inspired apostle 
 intimates his sense of the greatness of his mes- 
 
412 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 sage, when lie says, that when the Ephesian 
 Christians read it, they might understand his 
 knowledge in the mystery of Christ (iii. 4). 
 The people of this polished and idolatrous city, 
 were not without mysteries of their own, even 
 before their conversion ; for when the Gospel 
 was preached among them by Paul, many that 
 believed came and confessed their deeds, and 
 many also of them which used curious arts, 
 magical incantations, brought their books to- 
 gether and burned them publicly, to the value 
 of some thousands of money. 
 
 Their exchange was a happy one ; and none 
 will doubt that the word of God's mouth in 
 this epistle was (as in David's case) better to 
 them than thousands of gold and silver. 
 
 The apostle, now imprisoned at Rome, writes 
 to them to remind them of the dispensation or 
 commission which was assigned to him as a 
 preacher to the Gentiles, and celebrates the glo- 
 ries of that revelation, which, having been with- 
 held from all nations, was now made known to 
 them. 
 
 The text may be thus explained : It is my 
 unspeakable privilege and honour, though in 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 413 
 
 myself, and in consideration of my past life, not 
 wortliy to be called a saint, and less tlian the 
 least of such, it is my privilege, by the unde- 
 served goodness and sovereign choice of God, 
 to be the instrument in giving the Gosj)el to 
 heathen nations, and thus of opening to them 
 the riches of Christ, in his nature, his love, his 
 mediatorial work, and his heavenly gifts — a 
 treasure inexhaustible, unsearchable, incompre- 
 hensible. And this commission I have, in order 
 to declare to all men, of every tribe and people, 
 the long hidden but now revealed plan of grace. 
 Hidden, I say, inasmuch as from eternal ages 
 it has lain concealed in the Divine purpose of 
 God, who created the universe by Christ, and 
 who created it for this very purpose, that now 
 in the fulness of time, by the redemption of 
 Christ, and the universal offer, and the call of 
 all nations, the Church of his redeemed ones 
 might be the organ for displaying his immense, 
 unfathomable wisdom and gloiy, not only to 
 men, but to angels, to all superior intelligences 
 — an event foreseen and predetermined in the 
 covenant with Christ, before the worlds were 
 made. 
 
414 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 The passage, my brethren, contains the sum 
 and substance of the Gospel, and cannot be ex- 
 hausted in a single sermon ; yet such is the co- 
 herence of the parts, that they could not be torn 
 asunder without violence. Our view of its riches 
 must therefore be connected, though exceedingly 
 cursory. 
 
 I. ThEEE is a MYSTEEY of SALVATI01S-. It is 
 
 called the mystery of godliness, and the mystery 
 of Christ, and the wisdom of God in a mystery. 
 And here we must be careful to lay aside our 
 modern and English acceptation of the term, 
 and understand it in its ancient and Greek and 
 Gospel sense. A mystery is not an enigma or 
 riddle. It is not necessarily something which 
 surpasses all human comprehension, though it 
 may be such. It is not essentially inscrutable, 
 though it may be unknown as yet. The Greek 
 mysteries were secret transactions and displays 
 in their idolatrous lodges, remote, indeed, from 
 the inspection of the vulgar eye, but thrown 
 open to such as were initiated. A mystery, 
 then, is a hidden thing revealed. A religious 
 mystery is " some sacred thing hidden or secret, 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 415 
 
 wliicb. is naturally unknown to human reason, 
 and is only known by tke revelation of God." * 
 We shall err, therefore, if w^e consider a mys- 
 tery as that which can never be known, " To 
 you," says our Saviour, "it is given to know 
 the mysteries of the kingdom." So our apostle 
 speaks of understanding all mysteries. And 
 even concerning the wisdom of God in a mys- 
 tery, even the hidden wisdom, which none of 
 the princes of this world knew, the aj)ostle 
 says, we speak or declare this wisdom. The 
 apostles are stewards, that is, disj^ensers or 
 revealers of the mystery. The result is, that 
 that of which the writer here treats is a glori- 
 ous discovery, rather than a concealment. As 
 such, let us dwell upon it for a moment. 
 
 That which is here called the mystery, is 
 the chief subject of this whole passage — a truth 
 revealed by God to his apostles and prophets, 
 " having made known to us the mystery of his 
 will, according to his good pleasure "which he 
 had purposed in himself, that in the dispensa- 
 tion of the fulness of times he might gather to- 
 gether in one all things in Christ." The origi- 
 
 * Suicer. 
 
416 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 nal is more empliatic ; tlie mystery is that God 
 purposes to compact, sum up, aggregate, and 
 organize all things in Christ as in their vital 
 Head. The mystery is the redemption of the 
 Church. A mystery (says he, Eom. xvi.) wrapt 
 in silence through the eternal ages — such is the 
 impoii; of the Greek — ^but now revealed by the 
 prophetic writings. He well calls it, there- 
 fore, the mystery of the Gospel, or revelation 
 of long hidden glad tidings. " Even the mys- 
 tery " (he says to the Colossi ans) " which hath 
 been hid from ages, and from generations, but 
 now is made manifest to his saints : to whom 
 God reveals the riches of the glory of this mys- 
 tery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory : 
 whom we preach " (Col. i. 26). 
 
 The grand truth, therefore, which the apos- 
 tle glories in declaring, is that God can be just, 
 and yet merciful, and that this salvation is to 
 be preached to every creature under heaven. 
 Jesus himself announced the mystery, when 
 with a word he broke down the partition wall 
 between Israel and the nations, and said, Go 
 ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel. 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 417 
 
 II. This mystePwY was hidden in God. The 
 words are, '^ hidden from the ages in God." 
 Not hidden from God, for known unto God are 
 all his works from the foundation of the world, 
 but confined to God ; reposing in the unfathom- 
 able depths of infinite silence in the Divine 
 mind. Not as though there were a period in 
 which Jehovah was without a plan, for it was 
 according to the eternal purpose, or "purpose 
 of ages," which he purposed. 
 
 It is the signal error of many, that they 
 treat salvation as an accident. I repeat it, they 
 treat salvation as an accident — an expedient 
 brought in to remedy evils which turn up in 
 the stream of chance. According to them, the 
 fall of man and its consequences presented 
 themselves as a new case to be provided for, 
 and the plan of salvation is the provision. The 
 Bible takes higher ground, ascribing sovereign- 
 ty to God, and suspending his purposes on noth- 
 ing in the creature. The propitiation of the in- 
 carnate Son of God is not a mere refuge from 
 inevitable necessity, but a glorious mystery fore- 
 seen long before the fall, before the world, before 
 creation, and declared in due time as beyond all 
 
418 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 conceivable modes the briglitest display of the 
 Godhead. 
 
 God could have prevented or avoided the 
 death of his only-begotten Son ; he could have 
 prevented the incarnation ; he could have pre- 
 vented the fall of man; he could have pre- 
 vented his creation ; nay, he could have pre- 
 vented all creation, even of a single existence. 
 He must have low thoughts of the Most High 
 who can deny it. Jehovah might have spent 
 eternity in Divine unwitnessed silence; in the 
 plenitude of unapproached light ; the heaven 
 of his own immutable perfections, and the har- 
 monious bliss of the Triune majesty. There 
 was no necessity or fate to force him from his 
 perfections, or to extort a world from his form- 
 ing hand. And even when he chose to roll the 
 planets in their courses, and to call the universe 
 out of nothing, it was not a necessary emana- 
 tion. God is not necessarily Creator. Nor is 
 he under any necessity of exhausting his wis- 
 dom on any given world, or producing a system 
 which shall be the best possible. Jehovah 
 mio^ht have filled all thino-s with himself in an 
 eternity of Divine solitude. 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 419 
 
 That lie liatli otherwise chosen, is of his own 
 good pleasure, and for his own glory. " Thou 
 hast created all things, and for thy glory they 
 are and were created." He has been pleased to 
 come forth from his pavilion ; and no one ray 
 of this effulgence is without a purpose ; no one 
 work is accidental. Neither the death of Christ, 
 nor that which led to it, has taken the Omnis- 
 cient by surprise. The mystery, if hidden from 
 ages and generations, was hid in God ; the re- 
 sult was no more than he had purposed in Christ 
 Jesus before the world was. Every stej) was 
 foreseen, and directed to its end, namely, the 
 Divine glory. 
 
 Once grant, indeed, a manifestation of this 
 glory to creatures, and means to that end be- 
 come in a subordinate sense necessary. The 
 end itself, however, is first in the Divine pros- 
 pect, and next to this the display of his attri- 
 butes in the work of Christ. Yet no creature 
 existed to participate in the heavenly counsels. 
 The purpose was in GJirist Jesus. It was 
 known to the co-eternal Son. The covenant 
 of grace between the Father and the Son, 
 whereby many were to be brought unto glo- 
 
420 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 ly, was established, indeed, but profoundly 
 hidden. 
 
 III. The world was made to eeveal this 
 MYSTERY. " The mystery which hath been hid 
 in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, 
 in order that now (that is, by the events at 
 present in progress) might be made known the 
 wisdom of God." Such is the force of the orig- 
 inal, according to the natural connection of the 
 words, and in the judgment of many eminent 
 interpreters. But even if it is not ; if I err in 
 grouping the clauses, my position is still a Scrip- 
 tural one. I say it is an undeniable truth, that 
 the universe was created by Christ, and that it 
 was created for him. In the epistle to the Co- 
 lossians, which is remarkably like this, we read 
 that " by him were all things created that are 
 in heaven and that are in earth, visible and in- 
 visible ... all things were created by him and 
 for him " (Col. i. 16). " All things," says John, 
 " were made by him." " There is one Lord 
 Jesus," says Paul, " by whom are all things " 
 (1 Cor. viii. 6) ; and again, " Heir of all things, 
 by whom also he made the worlds " (Heb. i. 2). 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 421 
 
 Consider tlie connection. Wliy is this clause 
 interposed ? Why tell us that this mystery was 
 hid in God, who created all things by Jesus 
 Christ ? The words surely have a meaning, and 
 a meaning which implies, at the very least, that 
 this mystery is connected with creation. My 
 brethren, Christ is himself the mystery — great 
 is the mystery of godliness : God was manifest 
 in the flesh (1 Tim. iii. 16). The world was 
 made that he might be so manifested, and that 
 in him misrht be manifest God's varied wisdom. 
 
 When it is said that God " created all things 
 by Jesus Christ," and when it is added (with 
 only a comma, according to the best critics), to 
 the intent that now mii^ht be made known God's 
 wisdom, it is really hard to doubt that the 
 apostle meant to teach that even in the founda- 
 tion of the world, this mystery was in view. 
 Exactly in correspondence with this, we are 
 taught in the first chapter (v. 8, if.) that 
 God caused grace to abound toward us, in 
 all wisdom and prudence, revealing the mys- 
 tery of his good pleasure, which he purposed 
 in him, that in the dispensation of the fulness 
 of times he might gather together in one, or 
 
422 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 sum up in Christ, all things. Truly the worlds 
 were made by him and for him ! 
 
 Creation itself is but a mode of the mani- 
 festation of God. 'No other satisfactory final 
 cause can be assigned. It was God who shone 
 forth with the light, " when the morning stars 
 sang together, and all the sons of God shouted 
 for joy" (Job xxxviii. T). No one will deny 
 this ; the very admission of creation carries 
 this along with it. But many who admit that 
 creation displays God's glory, are not so ready 
 to see that salvation does so much more. For 
 the sake of such it may be briefly suggested, 
 that there are glories of the Godhead which no 
 creation could show forth, and which appear 
 only in the cross. All the Divine attributes do 
 indeed blend and harmonize in the redemption 
 of man, but grace and mercy shine pre-eminent, 
 and shine there only. Here it is, in the display 
 of grace, or mercy manifested to sinners, that 
 sin, that hideous evil, is overruled for good ; for 
 if man had not sinned, grace had not reigned 
 through righteousness unto eternal life. 
 
 Long before the incarnation, while the ages 
 were rolling on towards this fulness of times, 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 423 
 
 the earth was becoming fitted more and more 
 for this transaction. It was the theatre for the 
 Son of God. And from the first promise in the 
 garden, till the vail of the temple was rent in 
 twain, all human events were tending towards 
 this one point. The whole Jewish ritual was 
 but like the gorgeous clouds of red and purple 
 which betoken the rising of the sun. The 
 manifestation was gradual, more by clouds than 
 by substance, yet all pointed hither. The blood 
 of \dctims, the tabernacle, the temple, the She- 
 kinah over the ark, the propitiatory into which 
 the cherubim bowed, as desiring to look — all 
 was but a tem]3orary pageant, whereby this 
 world was becoming more and more the theatre 
 of this mystery. And no event in the history 
 of this globe is more momentous, than that he 
 who made it should have died upon it. 
 
 IV. The ekd of this i^iystery is the glory 
 OF God in redemption. " To the intent that 
 now might be known by the Church the mani- 
 fold wisdom of God." Wisdom is, in the lan- 
 guage of heaven, an exalted term, infinitely sur- 
 passing cold knowledge. Like holiness, it may 
 
424 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 be regarded as one aspect of the unclouded 
 effulgence of all tlie attributes, wlien viewed as 
 compassing infinite ends by marvellous instru- 
 mentality ; an instrumentality displaying in its 
 working every trait of tlie Godhead. Jehovah is 
 the only wise God. He has chosen that redemp- 
 tion should be the choice specimen of his wisdom. 
 It is " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God." 
 If we may, even for a moment, conjecture 
 the reason why wisdom holds so prominent a 
 place, it may be suggested, that tlie union of 
 justice and mercy in one transaction was a 
 problem which all heaven could not solve, and, 
 when solved, filled all heaven with w^onder. 
 The love of Christ is a love which passeth 
 knowledge. More particularly the depths of 
 Divine wisdom were laid open to the Gentiles. 
 " The Greeks seek after wisdom," but their 
 philosophy was a groping in the dark. The 
 Gospel revealed to them not merely God, but 
 God the Saviour, God manifest in the flesh. 
 There was a combination of wonders and of 
 glories, like the cross-lights from the play of 
 gems in the breastplate of the high priest ; but 
 the result of all was light and perfection. 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 425 
 
 V. The Church is the organ for mais-ifest- 
 ING THIS GLORY. " That HOW might be known 
 by tlie Churcli tlie manifold wisdom of God." 
 The Church, my brethren, of which such things 
 are spoken, can scarcely be a mere external 
 organization of professors, however pure their 
 creed or seemly their ritual ; still less a hier- 
 archy glorying chiefly in matters of succession 
 and modes of government : but the whole num- 
 ber of God's chosen, who have been, are, or 
 shall be gathered into one under Christ as a 
 Head, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be 
 saints. Of this body Christ is the husband, 
 and the Head ; nay, he condescends to regard 
 it as no less necessary to the completeness of 
 his mediatorial character, than the human body 
 to its head ; for it is " the fulness of him that 
 fiUeth all in all." Of old, the glory of the Lord 
 dwelt in the temple ; thence from the cherubim 
 he was wont to shine forth : that temple is de- 
 stroyed, but there is another, a living structure, 
 "built on the foundation of the apostles and 
 prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner- 
 stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed 
 together, groweth unto a holy temple in the 
 
426 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Lord ; in whom ye also are builded together for 
 a habitation of God through the Sj)irit " (Eph. 
 ii. 22). 
 
 In the ancient temple, the shrine of shrines 
 contained the ark with the mercy-seat. Such also 
 is the place occupied in the Church of Christ by 
 the propitiatory work of Christ, as that which 
 consecrates the whole structure, and over which 
 the glory of Jehovah is chiefly visible. 
 
 VI. The exhibitioi^ of God's wisdom ex- 
 tends TO ALL INTELLIGENT BEINGS. For UOt Only 
 
 was Paul commissioned to j)reach " to make all 
 men see what was the dispensation of the mys- 
 tery, but by the Church the wisdom of God 
 was to be made known unto the principalities 
 and powers in heavenly places"; or, in plain 
 terms, to the heavenly intelligences (Eom. viii. 
 38). In other places these same terms are put 
 in connection with " angels" (i. 21) ; in a pre- 
 ceding paragraph, Christ is said to have been 
 set " in heavenly places, far above all principal- 
 ity, and power, and might, and dominion " ; and 
 still further is declared to be the Creator of 
 such (Col. i. 16). 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 427 
 
 Without entering into minute distinctions 
 between tlie condition of angels and of re- 
 deemed souls, who are declared to be like tliem, 
 let it suffice us to know, that both agree in be- 
 holding the glory that shines in redemption. 
 
 The glorious spirits are not indifferent to 
 our salvation. 
 
 1. Li time. Though high above us, they are 
 deeply engaged in our welfare. The sons of God 
 sang together when the earth was made ; and 
 when God bringeth in his only-begotten into the 
 world, he saith, Let all the angels of God wor- 
 ship him. They celebrated the birth of the Ke- 
 deemer, and ministered to him in his temptation. 
 In his agony in the garden, " there appeared 
 an angel unto him from heaven strengthening 
 him." And if these blessed spirits veiled their 
 faces dm^ing the hour of darkness, how speedily 
 did they fly to announce his rising from the 
 sejDulchre, and to accompany his return to heav- 
 en. Great is the mystery of godliness : God 
 was manifest in the flesh, seen of angels. 
 
 Not less remarkable is their interest in the 
 Church. The angels even of Christ's little ones 
 do always behold the face of our Father in 
 
428 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 heaven (Matt, xviii. 10). The ministers and 
 apostles were a spectacle to angels as well as 
 men (1 Cor. iv. 9), and in theii* presence the 
 apostle charges Timothy, " I charge thee before 
 God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect 
 angels" (1 Tim. v. 21). An obscure passage in 
 the epistle to the Corinthians seems to point them 
 out as present in church assemblies (1 Cor. xi. 
 10) ; and we who are saved are said to come not 
 only to the heavenly Jerusalem, but to " an innu- 
 merable company of angels " (Heb. xii.). It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that the development 
 of these mysteries should reach even unto 
 them. 
 
 It is not without meaning that the cherubic 
 emblems, in the holiest of all, and amidst the 
 very glories of Divinity, hang over the golden 
 propitiatory, as if they would pry into the mys- 
 tery : " which things the angels desire to look 
 into" (1 Pet. i. 12). "We know that there is 
 joy in the presence of the angels of God over 
 one sinner that repenteth, and we further know, 
 that when a poor beggar died, he was carried 
 by angels into Abraham's bosom. 
 
 2. In eternity, the angels and glorified spirits 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 429 
 
 more fully beliold the glory of God in the face 
 of Jesus Christ. The propitiatory work of 
 Christ is not a mere preliminary transaction, 
 preparing the way, and then vanishing out of 
 sight : it is derogatory to the work of Christ so 
 to consider it. It is the very scope of the epis- 
 tle to the Hebrews to exalt the Gospel reality 
 above the legal shadows, by shomng that the 
 former is eternal. Some are for merging all the 
 priestly work of Christ in that which is kingly ; 
 but he does not cease to be either. Thou art a 
 priest forever — forever — after the order of Mel- 
 chizedek, who was both at once. It is as our 
 Great High Priest that he hath "passed into 
 the heavens," "where he ever liveth to make 
 intercession for us." Because he continueth 
 ever, he " hath (says the apostle) an unchange- 
 able priesthood" (vii. 24); he is "consecrated 
 forevermore" (vii. 28). 
 
 True, that sacred body can be pierced no 
 more, but the death of the victim was but part 
 of the priest's office. Heaven is full of sacri- 
 ficial recollections. Christ dies no more forever, 
 yet forever he " appears in the presence of God 
 for us," his hands filled with j^riestly oblations. 
 
430 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 and his bosom covered with the sculptured 
 names of his tribes. 
 
 Even when, in a ceii;ain sense, it is said by 
 the Apostle John that he saw no temple in the 
 heavenly city, the reason given contains a sacri- 
 ficial name, " for the Lord God Almighty and 
 the Lamb are the temple thereof" (xxi. 22). 
 By this name our Lord chooses to be known, 
 and by this symbol to manifest himself even in 
 the New Jerusalem. " In the midst of the 
 throne . . . stood a Lamb, as it had been slain " 
 (v. 6). Even the Judge does not lay aside the 
 propitiatory name ; for sinners tremble before 
 the wrath of the Lamb (vi. 17). Nay, he is 
 described as " the Lamb slain from the founda- 
 tion of the world" (xiii. 8). What can we 
 understand by this recurrence of the sacrificial 
 language and emblems in the heavenly state, 
 but that even there God is pleased to manifest 
 his glory to all intelligences in and through the 
 plan of redemption ? 
 
 In like manner, the ark of the covenant sur- 
 vives the final catastrophe, and appears in heav- 
 en. " The temple of God was opened in heaven, 
 and there was seen in his temple the ark of his 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 431 
 
 testament " (xi. 19). " When the Lamb stands 
 on Mount Zion, he is siuTounded by a hundred 
 and forty-four thousand, having his Father's 
 name written in their foreheads, singing with a 
 voice of praise, as the voice of many waters, 
 and as the voice of a great thunder " (xiv. 1). 
 It is the work of redemption which they praise. 
 The new song is given in another place (v. 9) : 
 " Thou art worthy to take the book, and to 
 open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and 
 hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of 
 every kindred, and tongue, and peoj^le, and na- 
 tion." Here is the very mystery of our text; 
 and not only so, but what follows introduces 
 the higher intelligences as beholding God's 
 manifold wisdom in the same work, for it is 
 added : " And I beheld, and I heard the voice 
 of many angels round about the throne . . . and 
 the number of them was ten thousand times ten 
 thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying 
 with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb that 
 was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wis- 
 dom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and 
 blessing." 
 
 Here, beyond all question, we have the an- 
 
432 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 gelic hosts discerning God's glory in the plan 
 of redemption. 
 
 VII. It is but the summing up of what has 
 been said, to declare that the gloey of eedemp- 
 
 TION IS ETEENAL. 
 
 The assumption of the human nature by 
 the Son of God was not for a season merely. 
 That " holy thing," born of Mary, was " called 
 the Son of God " (Luke i. 35), and that body 
 will never cease to be united in one person with 
 the adorable Word. Glorious as shall be that 
 second epiphany of the Lord Jesus (2 Thess. i. 
 8), when he shall be revealed from heaven with 
 his mighty angels, to be glorified in his saints 
 and to be admired in them that believe, it shall 
 be but the first step of a triumphal progress ; 
 for our Savioui', who is " Jehovah of hosts," 
 shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, 
 and before his ancients gloriously " (Isa. xxiv. 
 23). When there shall be no more sun ; when 
 the shadows on this terrestrial dial shall no 
 longer mark successive centuries; when the 
 angel, standing on the ocean and the land, and 
 lifting up his hand to heaven, shall swear by 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 433 
 
 Him that livetli forever and ever^ that time 
 shall be no longer (Ap. x. 6), the wisdom of 
 God shall still be studied by the principalities 
 and powers in heavenly places. 
 
 Of other planets and systems we know little. 
 Analogy would suggest that they are inhabited, 
 and the Scripture seems to teach that they 
 would be made in vain if they were not ; for 
 we read (Isa. xlv. 18) of God's making the 
 earth — " he hath established it, he created it 
 not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited." 
 But leaving this where we find it, in obscurity, 
 one thing is certain, whatever worlds there 
 are, and whatever inhabitants, our Kedeemer is 
 above all, and admired of all ; that at the name 
 of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in 
 heaven, and things in earth, and things under 
 the earth" (Phil. ii. 10). And it is in his 
 character of Mediator that he reigns — a priestly 
 King, over a kingdom of priests. Well he re- 
 members Calvary, nor lets his saints forget ! 
 The crown he wears is over subjects purchased 
 with blood. " The nations of them that are 
 saved," are led by the " Lamb which is in the 
 midst of the throne," having washed their robes, 
 
 19 
 
434 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 and made tliem wLite in liis very blood (Eev. 
 vii. 14). JSTo longer, indeed, is he crowned with 
 thorns, yet his diadem seems still crimsoned 
 with expiatory drops ! He chooses still to be 
 called Jesus— still to appear as the Saviour. 
 
 Let us beware, then, how we regard this 
 mystery of redemption as a transitory arrange- 
 ment, a tragical exhibition, which at some shift- 
 ing of the scene shall give place to higher glo- 
 ries. All higher glories, and they are infinite, 
 are but the development of this ; the unfolding 
 of the plant into " the bright consummate flower." 
 The Shekinah, or visible radiance, was once pent 
 within curtains, and stationary above the ark ; 
 but what do we read ?—" the earth shall be 
 filled with the glory of the Lord " (Num. xiv. 
 21) ; " the glory of the Lord shall endure for- 
 ever " (Ps. civ. 31) ; the cloud of light which 
 once filled the tabernacle (Ex. xl. 34) and the 
 temple (1 Kings viii. 11) shall rise and expand 
 over all worlds. 
 
 I readily admit that all this would be over- 
 strained, if the end of God in providence and 
 grace were the mere happiness of saved souls. 
 Such, however, is his end, only in order to some- 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 435 
 
 thing liiglier : even " to the praise of the glory 
 of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted 
 in the Beloved " (i. 6). The bliss of saints does 
 indeed show forth his glory, but the holiness 
 and perfection of all elect angels and men are 
 but a mirror for the reflection of Jehovah, the 
 chief reflection being from the face of Jesus 
 Christ. Without such a miiTor, God could not 
 be seen. He dwelleth " in the light which no 
 man can approach unto : whom no man hath 
 seen, or can see" (1 Tim. vi. 16). "Not that 
 any man hath seen the Father, save he which is 
 of God, he hath seen the Father " (John vi. 46). 
 " The only-begotten Son, he hath revealed him." 
 Jehovah is the Mystery of mysteries, but the 
 Word hath revealed him — the Word, so called, 
 as the great, the only Revealer, who enlightens 
 every one who is enlightened. He that hath 
 seen Jesus, hath seen the Father. 
 
 If this revelation took place in some degree 
 during Christ's humiliation, how much more 
 when he shall come again the second time, 
 mthout sin, unto salvation. Even then, the 
 indwelling glory of Jehovah will be in Christ. 
 He will be God to us even in heaven. Even in 
 
436 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 heaven the fulness of the Godhead shall dwell 
 in him bodily. Grace shall reign through his 
 righteousness unto eternal life. 'Not merely as 
 a victor or a king shall he then shine, but as 
 one who has triumphed by blood. " I saw 
 heaven opened," says the rapt evangelist and 
 prophet and beloved disciple John (Eev. xix.), 
 " the faithful and true ; ... and in righteous- 
 ness doth he judge and make war; his eyes 
 were as a flame of fire, and on his head were 
 many crowns ; and he was clothed with a ves- 
 ture dipped in blood ; and his name is called 
 the Word of God." It is as if that glorious 
 body were still scaiTed, that neither saints nor 
 angels should forget to all eternity the baptism 
 whei^ewith he was baptized. 
 
 My brethren, I find no Scripture warrant for 
 believing that even in eternity w^e shall be able 
 to gaze upon the absolute God, or behold him 
 except in the face of Jesus Christ. It hath 
 "pleased the Father that in Him should all 
 fulness dwell ; and having made peace by the 
 blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things 
 unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be 
 things in earth, or things in heaven " (Col i. 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 437 
 
 19). For as Divine glory is effulgent in tlie 
 Head, so its milder beams will radiate from tlie 
 members, tlie saints — the fulness of him that 
 filleth all in all : and as a thousand gems reflect 
 one and the same-ray of light, in manifold vari- 
 eties of brilliant colors, so ten thousand' times 
 ten thousand saints, each in his special peculiar 
 way, shall mirror forth the varied glories of 
 grace ; " that unto principalities and powers in 
 heavenly places might be known hy the Church 
 the manifold wisdom of God." The bride of 
 Christ shall then indeed be " a glorious Church, 
 not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," 
 (v. 27) ; and the voice of the Bridegroom shall 
 proclaim anew, " Thou art all fair, my love ; 
 there is no spot in thee ! " (Cant. iv. 6.) 
 
 O mysterious and soul-ravishing exaltation 
 of the Church ! that God, by our salvation, by 
 calling and "redeeming ii8^ wretches, womis, all 
 but devils, even when we were dead in sins, 
 when \\^ sought him not, nay, when even to 
 the last we resisted him, that by us he should 
 show forth his eternal praise ; and this agree- 
 ably to a j)lan before all ages — "^ that he might 
 make known the riches of his glory on the ves- 
 
438 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 sels of mercy, wliicli he liad afore prepared 
 unto glory ; even ns, whom lie hatli called, not 
 of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles" 
 (Kom. ix. 23). 
 
 Wonder no more at the ralue of the soul, 
 or that there is joy in heaven over one sinner 
 that repenteth. Wonder rather at the abject 
 folly of dead souls in their impenitency ; that, 
 caiTying such a jewel within them, they think 
 little more of salvation than do the brutes that 
 perish. And O, my unconverted hearers, look 
 within, and more prize that immortal part, 
 which, if saved, shall be a gem in Christ's 
 crown to all eternity. 
 
 Finally — 
 
 VIII. It is an unspeakable peivilege for a 
 
 SIl^FUL MAN TO BE IISTTEUSTED WITH THE PUBLICA- 
 TION OF THIS MYSTEEY. " Uuto me, who am less 
 than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that 
 I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ." Such was Paul's view 
 of the ministerial office. His soul sank under 
 it : Who is sufficient for these things ? Here 
 was the spring of his apostolic zeal — the riches 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 439 
 
 of the Gospel in contrast with his own poverty. 
 As he turns from gazing at the page of his 
 commission, on which a single name fills all 
 with its radiance, the name of Jesus — to look 
 at what he was, what he is, he is amazed and 
 overwhelmed that such a one as he should have 
 this honour. He looks at the treasure of which 
 he is a steward — the Ricliea of Christy well so 
 called ; riches of his nature, of his grace, of his 
 atonement, of that love which passeth knowl- 
 edge ; riches of its consequences, in the wealthy 
 bliss of millions of ovei^flowing vessels of mercy. 
 Unsearchable riches! incalculable in number, 
 in height, in depth. A river of life flowing 
 from the throne of God and of the Lamb, un- 
 searchable in its sovereign source, immeasurable 
 and unfathomable in its ocean flow. 
 
 Eecurring to his Jewish and Pharisaic no- 
 tions, he remembers when God's grace was a 
 fountain sealed — a mere laver in the temple 
 courts; but it has burst over the brim, and, 
 like the waters of Ezekiel's vision (ch. xlvii.), 
 flows in a mighty stream, deeper and wider, to 
 fill the earth. He has the key to many an an- 
 cient oracle, and beholds the spread of the Gospel 
 
440 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 over tlie world. Great is the mystery of godli- 
 ness — God was manifest in the flesh — preached 
 unto the Gentiles— believed on in the world. 
 
 O how does prophecy break forth into sing- 
 ing at the prospect ! The humbled herald 
 bows low at receiving a commission to summon 
 the Gentiles. He is now the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles. He sees the temple exalted, and all 
 nations flowing unto it (Is. ii. 2). There the 
 branch of Jesse is erected as the ensign of the 
 people, to which the people seek. The once 
 hidden glory of the Lord is revealed, and all 
 flesh shall see it together (Is. xlix. 6). " As I 
 live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe 
 thee with them all as with an ornament, and 
 bind them on thee as a bride doeth (v. 18). 
 On every side are gathering converts. Does 
 he look toward the land ? The forces of the 
 Gentiles are coming to Zion, the multitude of 
 camels, the di'omedaries of Midian and Ephah, 
 they of Sheba, bringing gold and incense, the 
 caravans of Asia and the flocks of sacrifice. 
 Does he look toward the sea ? He descries not 
 merely the distant single sail, but the fleets of 
 converted nations, and he says, " who are these 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 441 
 
 that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their 
 windows, whitening the ocean with their can- 
 vas ? The ships of Tarshish are bringing the 
 sons of Zion from far, their silver and their gold 
 with them, unto the name of Jehovah " (Mai. 
 i, 11). For from the rising of the sun even unto 
 the going down of the same, his name shall be 
 great among the Gentiles. 
 
 " Praise is in all her gates ; upon her walls 
 Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there 
 Kneels -with the native of the furthest West, 
 And Ethiopia spreads abroad the hand 
 And worships. Her report has travelled forth 
 Into all lands. From every clime they come, 
 To see thy beauty and to share thy joy ! " 
 
 COWPEE. 
 
 Here, then, is the unsearchable riches be- 
 stowed on the Gentiles. Here is the glory of 
 the Church, and by the Church is reflected 
 God's manifold wisdom. And I (we seem to 
 hear the apostle cry), I am a chosen vessel 
 to convey this blessing ! I, who was a self- 
 righteous Pharisee, who sat by to see the blood 
 of Stephen shed, I who " beyond measure per- 
 secuted the Church and wasted it " ; pursuing 
 
 18* 
 
442 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 disciples " unto the death " ; breathing out 
 threatening and slaughter, and being exceeding 
 mad against them, made havoc of the flock and 
 caused them to blaspheme. I who am the 
 least of the apostles, not meet to be called an 
 apostle, nay less than the least of all saints, have 
 this commission ! To me is this grace given ! 
 
 Can you wonder, my brethren, at the subse- 
 quent self devotion of Paul, that he henceforth 
 could know nothing else, that he S23eeded over 
 sea and land to fulfil his calling ? No. It is 
 the vital spirit of every ancient, of every mod- 
 ern missionary. What were chains to such a 
 man ? " I am ready, not to be bound only, but 
 to die for the name of the Lord Jesus." What 
 was jeopardy of life ? "I count not my life 
 dear unto myself, so that I might finish my 
 course with joy, and the ministry which I have 
 received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gos- 
 pel of the grace of God " (Acts xx, 24). It was 
 not a transient fervour. It stood the test. The 
 marks or signs of an apostle were on him (Acts 
 xxi.). He was in labours abundant, in stripes 
 above measure, in prisons frequent, in deaths 
 oft, in perils by land and sea, from violence and 
 
THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 443 
 
 treachery, in weariness and painfulness, and 
 watcliings and hunger and cold and nakedness 
 and shipwreck. Yet none of these things moved 
 him. How could they ? Two thoughts ex- 
 pelled all others, and reigned in his soul — his 
 own baseness and the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ, his own sin and the glory of the Gospel. 
 Every Gentile convert was a jewel in his crown. 
 Again and again he asseverates that he men- 
 tions them without ceasing in his prayers. 
 Though himself a prisoner, he exclaims, " What 
 is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing ? Are 
 not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ at his coming ? " (1 Thess. ii.) 
 
 Contemplate here the true temper of the 
 missionary. To such a one, life will seem a 
 rapid current, for it will be filled with the haste 
 of fervid action. Oceans will become mere 
 straits to such a zeal. The place, the cii'cum- 
 stances of labour, will be mere dust on the bal- 
 ance. So that the Gospel be preached, it will 
 matter little in what language or amidst what 
 dangers. The preacher thus fired will hence be 
 able to fly from the impulsive thought of his 
 own unworthiness and the glory of tlie Gospel. 
 
444 THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Here, my brethren, here is the altar from 
 whose coals to kindle missionary zeal. If we 
 have the honour of Christ, and his glory in sav- 
 ing men, we shall not limit our desires to the 
 relieving of their bodies, or the illumination of 
 their minds. We shall behold in them the 
 purchase of Christ's blood, and shall rush into 
 the battle that we may win souls. To reach 
 them we need not traverse continents, nor cross 
 oceans. They are around us, amidst the blaze 
 of these glories, in the noontide of the Gospel. 
 But how are they affected by it ! Just as the 
 corpses in yonder graveyard by the sun of 
 heaven. Yet we are bound to hold forth Christ 
 to them. And doubtless God will open some 
 blind eyes to behold the light of his glory in 
 the face of Jesus Christ. Be it ours to know 
 no other watchword, to publish no other Gos- 
 pel, to seek no other science, to die in no other 
 faith ! 
 
 Happy if, with my latest breath, 
 I may but gasp his name. 
 Preach him to all, and cry in death, 
 Behold, behold the Lamb 1 
 

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