i LIBUARY OF CONGRESS. &' 
 
 9 W 
 
 * 
 
 

EMJRAVEI] BY ,/OHAr SABrAIH- 
 
 , WREOT 
 
SERMONS AND ESSAYS 
 
 TENNENTS 
 
 AND THEIR CONTEMPORARIES, 
 
 COMPILED FOR THE BOARD. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 
 
 NO. 265 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
 irrr. 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 OF C QNG REM 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 
 Entered accordiug to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
 
 A. W. MITCHELL, M. D., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY 
 
 JESPER HARDING, 
 South Third Street, Philadelphia. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 I. — The Justice of God. — By the Kev. Gilbert Ten- 
 nent, . . . . . . . . 9 
 
 II. — The Divine Mercy. — By the Same, . . 34 
 
 III. — The Grace of God. — By the Same, . . 49 
 
 IV. — The Wisdom of God in Redemption. — By the 
 
 Same, 69 
 
 V. — Treatise on the Doctrine of Predestination. 
 
 By the Rev. Samuel Blair, .... 99 
 YI. — Observations on Regeneration. — By the Rev. 
 
 John Blair, 189 
 
 VII. — An Essay on the Means of Grace. — By the 
 
 Same, ... ... 207 
 
 VIII. — God's Sovereignty, no Objection to the 
 Sinner's Striving. — By William Tennent, 
 
 Jr., . .229 
 
 IX. — Regeneration opened. — By the Rev. John 
 
 Tennent, 256 
 
 X. — The Principle of Sin and Holiness. — By the 
 
 Rev. Robert Smith, D. D., . . . . 309 
 XI. — The Spiritual Conflict. — By the Same, . 330 
 XII. — The Madness of Mankind. — By the Rev. 
 
 Samuel Finley, D. D., . . . . 354 
 
 (iii) 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 This volume of discourses owes its present form to the 
 Rev. A. Alexander, by whom most of them were selected, 
 and it was intended as a supplement to the "Log College."* 
 
 The biographical notices are extracted from that work, 
 and are intended simply to introduce the authors to those 
 who have not read their full biographies. 
 
 It was the desire of the compiler to have given a 
 specimen of the writings of the Rev. William Tennent, 
 Sen., but he has not been able to obtain one, and probably 
 there is not one in existence ; as Dr. Alexander, in his 
 biography of him, says," Mr. Tennent, as far as we know, 
 never published any thing.' ' 
 
 S. D. A. 
 
 Freehold, N. J. 
 
 * Published by the Board of Publication. 
 
 1* (V) 
 
GILBERT TENNENT. 
 
 Gilbert Tennent was the eldest son of the Rev. William Ten- 
 nent, Sen., the founder of the Log College. From an original docu- 
 ment, a small memorandum book, kept by his father, we learn that 
 he was born in the County of Armagh, Ireland, on the 5th of Oct., 
 1703. He was therefore thirteen or fourteen years old when his 
 father immigrated to this country. He received his education 
 under his father's roof, before the founding of the Log College, 
 and when this school was opened, he assisted his father in teach- 
 ing. 
 
 His first religious impressions of any permanency, were ex- 
 perienced soon after his arrival in this country. And during the 
 several years in which he was under serious concern, besides his 
 other studies, he pursued a course of theological reading. But 
 having doubts as to his spiritual condition, he was fearful of 
 entering the holy ministry; and commenced the study of medicine, 
 which he prosecuted for the space of a year. But about this time, 
 it pleased God to reveal himself to him with so much clearness and 
 comfort, that all his doubts, and sorrows, and fears were dispelled ; 
 and the Sun of Righteousness arose upon him with healing under 
 his wings. And no sooner was he satisfied of his saving interest 
 in Christ, than he felt himself called to seek the ministry, which 
 bo had before been deterred from thinking of. After due prepara- 
 tion and study, he was licensed to preach the gospel, by the Pres- 
 bytery of Philadelphia, in May, 1726. After his licensure, he 
 preached for several Sabbaths in New Castle on the Delaware. 
 
 (7) 
 
8 GULB BET I KNN BNT. 
 
 Deolining ft call to this church, he soon after accepted one from the 
 Presbyterian Churob of New Brunswick, and in the autumn of 
 1726 was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. 
 
 m his first entrance on fche public work of the ministry, the 
 preaching of Gilbert Tennent was very popular and attractive, 
 with all classes of hearers, lie possessed uncommon advantages 
 as a preacher. In person, he was taller than the common stature, 
 and well proportioned in every respect. His aspect was grave and 
 i l>le, and his address prepossessing. His voice was clear and 
 commanding, and his manner in the pulpit was exceedingly earnest 
 and impressive. His reasoning powers, also, were strong, and his 
 Language often nervous, and indeed sublime. No one could hear 
 him, without being convinced that he was deeply in earnest. His 
 style was copious and sometimes elegant. Indeed, in the vigour of 
 his aire few preachers could equal him. 
 
 In the winter of 1740 and 1741, Mr. Tennent visited Boston with 
 Mr, Whitefield, where he spent three months, preaching almost 
 every day with extraordinary power and success. 
 
 In May, 1743, Mr. Tennent was called to a new church in Phil- 
 adelphia, formed from those who were converted under the preach- 
 ing of Mr. Whitefield. This call he accepted, and exercised his 
 ministry with great fidelity and diligence for twenty years. The 
 only interruption to his pastoral labours in Philadelphia was 
 occasioned by a mission to Great Britain, in conjunction with the 
 Rev. Samuel Davis of Virginia, for the College of New Jersey. 
 
 For about three years before his death, Mr. Tennent became very 
 infirm, so that he was unable to go through the duties which 
 devolved upon him as the pastor of a large city congregation. His 
 death occurred in the year 17G4. 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 
 
 BY THE REV. GILBERT TENNENT. 
 
 "He is the rock; his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment; 
 a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." — Deiit. 
 xxxii. 4. 
 
 Moses introduces his song in this chapter with the most 
 solemn and commanding magnificence, and yet with the 
 softest charms of language. He summons the attention 
 of the inanimate creation, partly to reprove the stupidity 
 of Israel, and partly to bear witness to the truth of what 
 he was about to deliver to them in the following song, 
 either for their instruction or warning, as well as to wit- 
 ness to the justice and equity of the divine proceedings 
 against that unhappy nation : " Give ear, heavens, and I 
 will speak, and hear, earth, the words of my mouth. " 
 
 In the second verse, the devout penman of this song 
 wishes that the instructions contained in it, may be re- 
 freshing to and effectual upon his beloved nation, as the 
 rain and dew upon the earth: " My doctrine shall drop 
 as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew." These 
 words may be considered as a prayer of Moses, as if he 
 had said, that it might do so ! Thus Bishop Patrick un- 
 
 (9) 
 
10 THE J USTICE OF GOD. 
 
 derstanda the words. In the next verse, he signifies his in- 
 tention to make known the glory of God, and therefore 
 excites diem to ascribe greatness to him; which inten* 
 tion he performs in the words of our text, wherein we have 
 a representation of the divine glory and greatness appa- 
 rent in the perfection of his works and equity of his gov- 
 ernment, in a variety of particulars, viz : 1. He is called 
 a Rock, to Bignify the stability of his nature, the firmness 
 of his counsels, the immutability of his promises, and the 
 almightiness of his power; in all which respects he is a se- 
 cure shelter and unshaken foundation for our resort and 
 confidence. 
 
 2. His work is perfect. " His work of creation was 
 so ; all that he made in its original constitution was very 
 good ; his works of redemption and providence shall be so, 
 when the mystery of God is finished." "God's works are 
 true and cannot be blamed," saith Ainsworth upon the 
 place : " God never recalls his counsels, but perfects them. 
 God's work is called perfect, because he fulfilled what he 
 promised to the fathers." 
 
 3. All las ivays are judgment; i. e., saith Henry, 
 " The ends of his ways are all righteous, and he is wise in 
 the choice of the means in order to those ends." By God's 
 ways, we arc to understand all God's providential admin- 
 istrations towards intelligent creatures, and by judgment, 
 prudence, and justice. Hos. xiv. 9. 
 
 4. He is a God of truth ; i. e., as Mr. Pool observes in 
 
 "Faithful in his promises; whose word we 
 may depend upon, for he cannot lie." 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 11 
 
 5. Without iniquity — he is perfectly free from all moral 
 blemish and defect. " He deceives none that confide 
 in him, and wrongs none that apply for justice, and is hard 
 upon none that cast themselves upon his mercy." 
 
 6. Just and. right is he. God is holy and equal in his 
 distributions ; as he is just in himself, so he is just in all 
 his dealings with mankind ; none can with reason accuse 
 him of insincerity, unrighteousness, or levity. 
 
 Now that attribute or perfection of God which is prin- 
 cipally represented in our text, by a beautiful variety of 
 expressions, is his justice ; this, therefore, is the subject 
 of our meditations. That God is just, the Scriptures prove 
 many ways, particularly, 1. Metaphorically and figura- 
 tively, w T hen he is therein called a consuming fire, an an- 
 gry lion, a man of war. Deut. iv. 24. Isa. xxxviii. 13. 
 
 2. Affectively, by attributing to him zeal, anger, jeal- 
 ousy, fury. Num. xi. 10. Exo. xx. 5 ; xxxii. 10. The 
 aforesaid affections suppose justice in creatures, and though 
 they be passions in them, they are in God but an act of 
 immutable justice. 
 
 3. Effectively, by showing that he renders to every one 
 according to his works. 1 Sam. xxvi. 23. 
 
 4. Negatively, by removing from him all injustice and 
 iniquity, all respect of persons ; and in a word, all the 
 causes and effects of injustice. " Doth God pervert judg- 
 ment, or doth the almighty pervert justice ?" Job viii. 3. 
 Dan. ix. 13. Rom. iii. 4. 
 
 5. Positively, by affirming and extolling his justice, by 
 calling him a revenger, holy, right. Jer. xii. 1. Ps. xi. 7. 
 
1 2 I H 1: J rsTiCE o F god. 
 
 /' • the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his counte- 
 doth behold the upright* To these we may add the 
 words of our text, than which nothing can be more full 
 and express : 4 * 1 [e is a rock, his work is perfect, for all his 
 ways are judgment ; a God of truth, and without iniquity, 
 just and right is he ;" and also that of the Psalmist, Ps. 
 exix. 137, "Righteous art thou, Lord, and upright are 
 thy judgments/ 1 And does not reason confirm the same 
 truth ? For, 1st, if God be not just, whence is there any 
 justice ? Either there w r ould be no justice at all, or if there 
 was any, it would not proceed from God; or if it did, 
 it must proceed from one who had none ; each of which 
 particulars is absurd. Besides, 2d, inasmuch as the Lord 
 is governor of the w T hole universe, he would degene- 
 rate into a tyrant if he was not just ; and, 3d, seeing Je- 
 hovah is judge of all the earth, how could he judge aright 
 without being just himself? Neither can it be otherwise 
 but that God should be just, seeing that he is absolutely 
 perfect. All confess justice to be an excellency, invol- 
 ving no imperfection in it, and therefore it cannot be 
 wanting to that being, who is absolutely and infinitely 
 perfect. 
 
 In discoursing upon this divine attribute of God's jus- 
 tire, I propose to consider its nature, kinds, properties, 
 displays, and in the fifth place, to answer some objections, 
 and then proceed to the improvement. And, 
 
 1. Justice in its genera] nature may be said to be an 
 
 ' with right aid rule. It is opposed to crook- 
 
 edness and obliquity, by which any thing declines from 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 13 
 
 its proper rule. Crookedness in morals is the same with 
 sin ; which the apostle John calls " a transgression of 
 the law." 1 John iii. 4. Or, as the original word anomia 
 may be rendered, a being without the law, or a wandering 
 from the law. Justice, therefore, does coincide with recti- 
 tude or uprightness : " Lo, this only I have found, that God 
 hath made man upright." Eccl. vii. 29. So that justice 
 includes two things in it especially, viz : right, and an 
 agreement with that right. 1st, I say, it includes right or 
 that which belongs to every one : " Render therefore unto 
 Csesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things 
 that are God's." Luke xx. 25. "Knowing the judgments 
 of God, that they that do such things are worthy of death." 
 Rom. i. 32. It is from this right that the very name 
 of justice is derived. And, 2nd, it includes an agreement 
 with this right, and in this the form of justice consists ; 
 and the contrary to this, viz : a disagreement from right, 
 constitutes the form of injustice. From this general de- 
 scription it is evident that justice admits of no degrees, 
 for the thing either agrees with the rule of right or not ; if 
 the former, it is just, if the latter, it is unjust. Undoubt- 
 edly the justice of God, as well as of creatures, consists in 
 an agreement with right, but with this difference, that the 
 creatures have their rule of right prescribed by another ; 
 whereas the divine nature is a rule of right to the Almighty. 
 But let me pass to the second, and speak of the kinds of 
 justice. And here it may be observed that justice may 
 be considered under a threefold view, viz : as relating to 
 God's will, word } and deeds. And, 1. Justice, as it relates 
 2 
 
U TnE JUSTICE OF OOD. 
 
 to the will of God, is thus described by Wendeline, viz: 
 11 That it is that whereby God is just in himself and 
 without himself gives to every one their own by a constant 
 will." "Justice in man," saith Mr. Leigh, "is a settled 
 will to do right in everything to every person." Thus 
 God hath a settled will to do right, — "shall not the judge of 
 all the earth do right ?" This constant will of God to 
 render to every one his own, coincides with the divine 
 essence, and may be called his essential justice, and is no 
 other but the essential rectitude of his nature. And that 
 justice of God which respects his w r ords and deeds, may 
 be called his declarative or relative justice, because it is a 
 manifestation of the former, and respects the transactions 
 of God with creatures. But 
 
 2. The justice of God, as it relates to his words, is called 
 truth, faithfulness, and constancy; because it agrees 
 with the rectitude of his nature to speak so and no other- 
 wise. Faithfulness may be called justice, because it is a 
 doing justice to his word. 
 
 3. The justice of God, as it respects his deeds, is two- 
 fold, viz: of dominion and jurisdiction. And, 1st, God's 
 justice of dominion, or, as some divines term it, his dispo- 
 sing justice, is that whereby Jehovah, as the sole Monarch 
 and supreme Lord of all, disposes and governs every 
 tiling in a just order; and in particular he disposes his 
 own actions according to the rule of equity, requiring and 
 prohibiting nothing but what is fit for intelligent creatures, 
 in right reason, to do and forbear. In a word, this justice 
 of dominion consists in governing reasonable creatures 
 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 15 
 
 agreeable to the original rectitude of their natures. 
 2nd, God's justice of jurisdiction consists in prescribing 
 to reasonable creatures their proper due, and in governing 
 them accordingly: and this the Almighty doth by three 
 things : 1. By prescribing laws, which are rules tending 
 to direct mankind in their duty to God and man, agreeable 
 to his own sanctity, attended with rewards and punish- 
 ments. " There is one lawgiver who is able to save and 
 to destroy." James iv. 12. 2. By establishing his 
 laws by proper sanctions of rewards and punishments 
 promised and threatened (Deut. xxx. 15); now the sanc- 
 tion consists in promises and threatenings. And, 3. By 
 fulfilling the sanction, and that both as to the reward and 
 punishment : the former is called remunerative, and the 
 latter vindictive. And, 1st, " The remunerative justice 
 of God is a most ready will to perform God's promises," 
 as Wendeline observes ; when God rewards the obedience 
 of his creatures with a free reward, proceeding from his 
 own pure and abounding goodness, not for any worth or 
 condignity in his people's works, as the Papists vainly 
 dream, but for the sake of his gracious promise, by which 
 he makes himself a debtor to them. "Who will render 
 to every man according to his deeds; to them who by 
 patient continuing in well doing, seek for glory, and hon- 
 our, and immortality, eternal life. But to them that 
 are contentious, and do not obey the truth, indignation 
 and wrath." Rom. ii. 6, 7, 8. "When we have done all 
 that is commanded, we must say that we are unprofitable 
 servants ; we have done that which was (but) our duty to 
 
H T II B .7 I' B I IC B F G OD. 
 
 do." Luke xvii. 10, "Or who hath first given to him, and 
 it BhaU be recompensed to him again? For of him, and 
 
 through him, and to him are all things.' 1 Horn, xi. 35, 36. 
 Although there ho no intrinsic worth in man's obedience 
 t«> merit the glory or reward promised, yet God having 
 promised it to the creature, and having a right and power 
 t<» confer it, it is just and right in him to perform his own 
 word. And certainly, he would wrong his truth if he did 
 not. When happiness, in Scripture, is represented as a 
 reward, it is only to encourage or excite to obedience, by 
 showing the inseparable connection between grace wrought 
 in us, and glory conferred upon us. It cannot intend any 
 merit in our works ; for if we ourselves be less than the 
 
 of God's mercies, then the best actions put forth by 
 us must be so; for, as Dr. Ridgely observes, "The action 
 cannot have more honour ascribed to it than the agent." 
 Being God's creatures, we have derived all from him, and 
 consequently can offer him no more than his own. And 
 being corrupt criminals, our services are defective, and so 
 cannot merit good at the hand of God ; nay, on the con- 
 trary, for our transgressions we merit his wrath. And 
 therefore in respect of us, the reward of happiness is wholly 
 gracious; but indeed in respect of Christ, who has fully 
 answered the demands of law for his people, by his 
 obedience and suffering, and thereby, according to the 
 
 i nit transaction between his Father and him, com- 
 pletely purchased for them everlasting life, it may be called 
 an act of divine justice. Hence it is said, "That ho 
 might he just, ami the justifier of him that believes in 
 Jesus. 91 Rom. ii. 26. But 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 17 
 
 2. The vindictive justice of God is the Almighty's "will 
 to execute the threatenings of his law upon transgressors, 
 by punishing or inflicting on them evils of suffering equal 
 to their crimes. This is called wrath, hatred, revenge, 
 and judgment. It is likewise termed God's "visiting 
 iniquity." Jer. v. 9. His "setting his face against a 
 person." Lev. xvii. 10. It is called the fire of God's 
 jealousy, and those that are exposed to it, are said to fall 
 into the hands of the living God. Some divines use the 
 terms of rewarding and revenging justice, instead of re- 
 munerative and vindictive. 
 
 But here I would have it observed, that there is a less 
 proper sense in which the word punishment is used in 
 Scripture. Thus, when God corrects his people with his 
 rod, this is often called punishment (Ps. lxxxix. 30, 33) ; 
 and hence they are said to bear the indignation of the 
 Lord, because they have sinned against him. Micah vii. 9. 
 These afflictions are called punishments, because occa- 
 sioned by sin and afflictive to sense ; but they are not in- 
 flicted by God as a judge, with any demand of satisfac- 
 tion, for that was made by Christ for those that believe in 
 him ; and surely, it is contrary to the nature of divine 
 justice to require a double satisfaction for the same crimes ! 
 No ! the afflictions of God's people spring from his fatherly 
 love to them, and are sent either to prevent or correct 
 sinful disorders. By these the Almighty humbles his 
 people, by showing them the desert of their impieties; 
 and by these he brings them nearer to himself, and deadens 
 them more to a vain world, and all its varnished but empty 
 2* 
 
I s T l! 1: J U STIC H F (iOD. 
 
 entertainments. Afflictions are the medicines which the 
 great Physician uses to cure his people's manifold dis- 
 orde 
 
 Bui that what has been said, concerning the nature of 
 divine justice, may be further explained and illustrated, 
 let these things following be considered: 1st. That 
 justice among men is two-fold, viz : either commutati 
 distributive. Commutative respects trade and bargains 
 among equals, and consists in observing the rules of 
 equity and right therein. Distributive is that which is 
 exercised by a superior towards his inferiors, and consists 
 in the conformity of their administrations to rule and law, 
 and, therefore, comprises these four things in it, viz : 1. A 
 law to which the acts of government should be conformed. 
 A law, says Maresius, " est faciendorum et fugiendorum 
 norma, sub ratione premii et poenae," i. e. " it is a rule 
 of things to be done and avoided, on consideration of a 
 reward or punishment.'' All justice, and especially dis- 
 tributive, has respect to a law ; this is the foundation on 
 which it is built, and the rule according to which it must 
 be squared and accommodated. 
 
 Now the law that is the ground and foundation of 
 justice among men, must have the following characters, 
 viz : 1st, it must be bottomed upon natural equity, upon 
 Lature, relation and reason of things, otherwise it will 
 be a crooked rule, and so unworthy of observation. No 
 human authority can alter the intrinsic goodness and bad- 
 of things ; and therefore bad laws (in a moral sense) 
 are but a recommending and enforcing iniquity by human 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 19 
 
 authority. And, 2d, the law must be enacted by competent 
 authority and power ; because legislation as well as the 
 execution thereof, are acts of government, which those 
 that exercise should have a right so to do, either originally 
 or by delegation, the contrary to which tends to open a 
 scene of confusion and blood. And hence it is well ob- 
 served by some, that however just any act of government 
 be in itself, yet it is unjust for those to meddle with it, that 
 have no right thereto : e. g. for a judge to condemn one 
 guilty of a capital crime to death, is just ; but for a private 
 person divested of authority to do it, is murder. And, 
 3d, the law must be promulgated, that it may be known, 
 "for where there is no law, there is no transgression. " 
 Rom. iv. 15. But the 
 
 Second particular, that civil justice, or justice among men 
 includes, is Conformity to the law in all administrations. 
 When a judge does this, in all his inquiries and examina- 
 tions respecting cases brought before him, he does his 
 duty, and otherwise he perverts the ways of judgment. 
 It is this kind of justice among men, that is an emblem or 
 shadow of the justice of God, and therefore I have so long 
 discoursed upon it. But to show the similitude, let me 
 add a few words more, and inquire, what is God's declara- 
 tive or relative justice, but his conformity to the law he 
 has given his creatures in his transactions with them ? 
 Here observe, 1st, That the law which God gave to man 
 to direct him in his service, is grounded on natural 
 equity, or the nature and reason of things ; which appears 
 by the harmony of its precepts among themselves, and 
 
26 THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 
 
 their direct tendency to promote the glory of God, and 
 make the creature happy in his service; the contraries 
 to which tend to dishonour God, debase our intelligent 
 nature, and destroy OUT happiness. The moral law is but 
 a transcript of his nature as it is imitable. And hence is 
 1 A ]>. wile's just commendatory encomium concerning it: 
 M Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, 
 and just and good." Rom. vii. 12. And, 2d, That God 
 had authority to enact laws, appears evidently from his 
 creating all. As his infinite and eternal excellency makes 
 him worthy of absolute sovereignty and dominion, so his 
 producing all by his almightiness gives him an irrefra- 
 gable right thereto. Human power is derived, delegated, 
 and limited, but his is original and absolute. And, 3d, 
 Almighty God having annexed the sanction of rewards 
 and punishments to the law he has given his creatures, 
 his truth stands engaged to execute the same upon suitable 
 objects; which is likewise necessary to answer the designs 
 of government. This execution, therefore, of the sanction 
 of the law, or conformity thereto, in the dealings of God 
 with his creatures, is his declarative justice, and with this 
 even all his acts of sovereignty do really harmonize, which 
 appears by considering, 
 
 8d- The properties of divine justice, which are these fol- 
 lowing, viz : 
 
 1. Divine justice is impartial; with him is no respect 
 of persons in judgment: " For we must all appear before 
 the judgment scat of Christ, that every one may receive 
 the things done in his body, according to that he hath dono, 
 
THE JUSTICE OP GOD. 21 
 
 whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v. 10. Justice will 
 not spare for the sake of the multitude, greatness, or near- 
 ness of the guilty. Did not Sodom and Gomorrah per- 
 ish by fire, and was not the whole antediluvian world 
 drowned with water ? And what vast multitudes of peo- 
 ple may we suppose did the aforesaid cities, together with 
 Zeboim and Admah, contain ? And how much more the 
 whole world before the flood ? And yet all were destroyed 
 by a sudden and terrible stroke of divine justice. And 
 when the angels, those spirits of excelling dignity, sinned, 
 did not divine justice cast them into an abyss of woe ? 
 And does it not still confine them in chains of darkness 
 to the judgment of the great day? When Adam, our 
 federal head, had transgressed the covenant, was he not 
 banished from that paradise of pleasure he before pos- 
 sessed, and kept out of it by a flaming sword ? Divine 
 justice scatters kings as snow in Salmon, and before its 
 adverse edge, their pompous armies flee apace. Ps. lxviii. 
 12, 14. And were not Moses and David, though so near 
 and dear to God, punished with awful severity ? Hence 
 is that solemn and soul-affecting saying of the prophet : 
 " Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, 
 children of Israel. You only have I known of all the 
 families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all 
 your iniquities." Amos iii. 1, 2. But divine justice is — 
 
 2. Universal, so that not one sin can escape severe 
 punishment, either in the sinner or surety : " Cursed is 
 every one that continueth not in all things that are writ- 
 ten in the book of the law to do them." Gal. iii. 10. 
 
H Tin: justice of god. 
 
 3. Divine justice is inexorable, no importunities can 
 alter its course. When onee a sinner's season of mercy 
 expires, Jehovah refuses to be entreated. " Though Noah, 
 Daniel, and Job Were in it, as I live, saitli the Lord God, 
 they shall deliver neither son nor daughter ; they shall hut 
 deliver their own souls by their righteousness. " Ez. xiv. 
 1 8, 20. This is twice repeated in that chapter, to show the 
 infallible certainty and unspeakable importance of the 
 truth delivered. The almighty cannot be corrupted or 
 bribed. But that which further confirms this awful truth, 
 Ifl the 
 
 4th proposition, viz : The displays of divine justice. And 
 here, to be as brief as I can, I shall only mention two in- 
 stances thereof. The first of which w T as the sufferings our 
 Lord endured when he stood in the sinner's room and place. 
 How unspeakable were the tortures he endured in his sa- 
 cred body, every part of which was put to exquisite pain ! 
 Deep furrows were made in his sacred back by cruel 
 scourges, and his beauteous face exposed to contemptuous 
 blows, yea, to shame and spitting, by the insulting herd; 
 his venerable temples were pierced by thorns, his side and 
 heart by a spear ; the whole weight of his body hung upon 
 a few sinewy and sensible parts in his crucifixion, and his 
 name WEB treated with the greatest ignominy and scorn. 
 Jint. us Mr. Flavel justly observes, " The soul of our Lord's 
 sufferings was his sufferings in his soul/' When lie who 
 know no sin was made sin for us, his soul was made an 
 offering for Bin, his soul became sorrowful even unto death. 
 How inconceivable must be the anguish which our Lord 
 
THE JUSTICE OP GOD. 23 
 
 endured in his soul, when in one instant of time, that 
 whole weight of distress and pain, which was due to divine 
 justice for all the sins of the elect world, were laid upon it, 
 and in the meantime deserted by the Father in respect of 
 his comfortable presence ! This pressed a bloody shower 
 from all the pores of our Lord's body in the garden of Geth- 
 semane. This extorted that heart-rending outcry on the 
 cross, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken rue?" No wonder the earth's 
 foundation trembled, and the dead awoke out of their long 
 and silent slumbers, and the sun itself, that glorious orb 
 of light and beauty, put on a funeral robe of darkness and 
 obscurity, to testify their surprise and sorrow on so awful 
 an occasion, and to complete the train of mourners. But 
 secondly, 
 
 The vindictive justice of God has a dreadful display in 
 the torments of the damned, who are punished with ever- 
 lasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and 
 from the glory of his power. As the damned are deprived 
 of all the honours and comforts of the heavenly paradise, 
 as they are burnt in a lake of fire, which is kindled by the 
 breath of God, as by a river of brimstone ; so their intol- 
 erable tortures, by God's inflamed jealousy, by their own 
 guilty consciences, by wicked men and devils, will know 
 no intermission and no end; "the smoke of their torment 
 ascendeth up for ever and ever." But I hasten to the 
 
 5th proposition, which was to answer some objections 
 offered against the justice of God. And 
 
 1st. It is objected by the Socinians, that, according to 
 
2\ T ll H .1 D B T I C E F G i>. 
 
 our doctrine, God punished the innocent in the room of 
 the guilty, namely, our Saviour in the place of sinners. 
 
 Ans. Though our Saviour was personally innocent, yet 
 he was, with his own consent, and by his Father's impu- 
 q, guilty. And, hence, he is said, to be "made sin 
 for us;" he willingly became the sinner's surety, and so 
 fcssumed their guilt, in order to satisfy for it, and save 
 them from ruin; and to a willing person, who had a right 
 to dispose of his own life, especially seeing so valuable an 
 end was answered by it, as the salvation of sinners, no 
 injury was done by his Father imputing him to death. 
 
 2d. It is objected that God sometimes punishes the sins 
 of the parents in their children. Ex. xx. 5. 
 
 Ans. God never punishes the sins of the parents in inno- 
 cent children. As to the sin of Adam, he being the federal 
 head, or covenant representative of his whole offspring, 
 they sinned in him. " But they, like Adam, (as the word 
 should be rendered,) have transgressed the covenant. ,, 
 Hos. vi. 7. " Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the 
 world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all 
 men, i'<>r that all have sinned" (i. e. in Adam). Rom. v. 
 12, And as to the sins of private parents, they are 
 not punished in children unless they be propense to them 
 or imitate them. 
 
 Bd. Tt is objected that God is a respecter of persons in 
 the affair of predestination, by dispensing unequal things 
 to those that were in an equal state, choosing one and 
 another, without any reason but his own plea- 
 sure. 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 25 
 
 Ans. To respect persons is when, in matters of judg- 
 ment, equal things according to law and right are due to 
 several persons, and yet we dispense unequal ; but this is 
 not the case with the Almighty. "Who hath given to 
 him," saith the Apostle, " and it shall be repaid ? for of him 
 are all things." Rom. xi. 36. As to God's grace, he 
 owes it to no creature as such. He is Lord of his own 
 treasures, and may do with his own what he pleases. Rom. 
 ix. 18, 21. And, therefore, such as favour the objection, 
 do but reply against God, as the Apostle there observes. 
 Predestination is but an immanent act of God, which pro- 
 duces nothing without himself, and, consequently, dispenses 
 neither good nor evil, though it be the pattern according 
 to which his providence dispenses all things in time. But 
 if we consider God's providence which dispenses salvation 
 and damnation, that does not confer unequal things upon 
 those that are equal; but it confers unequal things upon 
 those that are unequal, viz : believers and unbelievers ; 
 for Christ's sake, salvation to the former, and for sin's 
 sake, damnation to the latter. If a prince of a number of 
 rebels, who all, according to law, deserve death, purposes 
 and passes an act of pardon upon some to show his cle- 
 mency, and lets the law take place upon others to show 
 his justice, where is the wrong? And that is the case; 
 for God in his purposes looked upon men as fallen, and 
 meriting his displeasure ; he might have left the whole 
 race to perish for their sins with the devils, who after their 
 fall had never an offer of mercy. And because Jehovah 
 has chosen some, when he might have condemned all, 
 shall our eye be evil because God is good? 
 
I II B .1 i B I I CH OF HOD. 
 
 4th. It is objected, that God suffers the wicked to pros- 
 per, and the pious to be afflicted and oppressed. 
 
 Ans. This world 18 a time of probation, and not of 
 recompense. The scales will turn at the conclusion of 
 this short Bcene, this transient drama. Besides, the mis- 
 eries of God's people are necessary physic to cure their 
 maladies, to which end they are sanctified by the Spirit of 
 God. Rom. viii. 29, They are also at times sweetened 
 with the love of Christ, and shall soon expire, and then 
 an everlasting salvation shall commence ; whereas, on the 
 contrary, the abused prosperity of the wicked tends but to 
 secure and increase their destruction. But it is time to 
 proceed to the improvement. And 
 
 1st. This subject speaks terror to all ungodly and 
 Christless sinners of every kind. How deplorable is their 
 . "who must drink of the w T ine of the wrath of the 
 Almighty, which is poured out without mixture into the 
 cup of his indignation!'' 0! let the secure and impeni- 
 tent transgressor think on the following particulars: 
 
 1. That God, upon the account of his justice and judg- 
 ments, is called the "great and dreadful God." Dan. ix. 
 4. Likewise, "mighty and terrible. " Deut. vii. 22. 
 "With God," saith Job, "is terrible majesty." Job 
 xxx vii. 22. 2. That the wages of every sin is death, and 
 that you have been guilty of a prodigious multitude, 
 attended with awful aggravations: sins against light and 
 againsl law and gospel, mercy and judgments ; your 
 iniquities, for number, rival the stars, and for aggrava- 
 tion, are red as orimson. And, 3. That the justice of 
 
THE JUSTICE OP GOD. 27 
 
 God will not, can not pass by one of them, except ye re- 
 pent, but will surely proportion pains equal to all their 
 number and heinousness. For, as has been observed, it 
 is impartial, universal, inexorable. And now, seeing 
 every imagination of the thoughts of your hearts has 
 been, since your birth until now, only evil continually, and 
 all your words and actions evil ; for a corrupt tree cannot 
 bring forth good fruit, neither can he that is in the flesh 
 please God, how dreadful must that wrath be which is 
 proportioned to them all ! 
 
 Surely it is, 1st, Incomprehensible wrath ; the most 
 fearful imagination cannot fully represent it by its most 
 gloomy ideas. " Who knoweth the power of thine anger ? 
 even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." Ps. xc. 11. 
 2d. It is unavoidable wrath. If we take the morning 
 wings and flee to the uttermost ends of the earth, lo, there 
 God's all-seeing eye will discern us, and his righteous arm 
 arrest us. If we ascend to the top of Carmel, or descend 
 into the deeps of the ocean, or seek to conceal ourselves 
 with the curtain of obscurity, darkness and retirement, 
 even there our persons and purposes will be open to the 
 all-penetrating eye of God. " For the darkness is as the 
 light to him, and the night shines as the day." Sinners, ye 
 cannot escape by policy, for God is infinite in wisdom ; 
 nor by poiver, for he is infinite in strength, as Job observes, 
 " He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, who hath 
 hardened himself against God and prospered ? Job ix. 4. 
 Nor can ye escape by flight, for Jehovah is omnipresent. 
 3d. It is eternal wrath (Matt. xxv. 46.) ; it will continue 
 
t ii i: .1 i s 1 1 o !•: o f cod. 
 
 -1 endures ; never, never, never shall it know 
 n period. 0! this gives it a dreadful and heart-rending 
 it ! And, 4thj It is intolerable wrath. If the Re- 
 deemer, who vva> personally innocent and supported by 
 
 the Godhead, cried so dolorously under this wrath, how 
 can your hands he Strong, or your hearts endure, when a 
 jealous Qod deals with you, and pours out the vials of his 
 unmixed wrath upon you, who are lull of real and crimson 
 guilt, and shall have none to succour you ? And do you 
 think that that just God, w T ho spared not his own beloved 
 Son, when he but stood in sinners' place, but smote him 
 dead by the sword of his justice, and made all the waves of 
 his almighty vengeance beat upon him, and roll over him, 
 will spare you who are covered all over with real and 
 scarlet guilt ? No, friends, " be not deceived, God is not 
 mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also 
 reap." He that sows to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap 
 corruption. The intolerableness of the divine wrath, 
 anger and hatred, as well as its terribleness, is represented 
 in Scripture by a variety of bold and dreadful images of 
 thought. I shall mention a few of them, and in the name 
 of the great God charge the ungodly to think upon them : 
 " For a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn to the 
 t hell, and shall consume the earth w T ith her increase, 
 and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will 
 drop mischiefs upon them. I will spend my arrows upon 
 them/ 1 Deut. xxxii. 22, 23. "Which removeth the 
 mountains and they know it not; which overturneth them 
 in his anger; which shaketh the earth out of her place, 
 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 29 
 
 and the pillars thereof tremble ; which commandeth the 
 sun and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars. " Job ix. 
 5, 6, 7. " Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and 
 brimstone, and a horrible tempest ; this shall be the 
 portion of their cup.' , Ps. xi. 6. Elsewhere Jehovah 
 threatens to wound the hairy scalp of the wicked, and 
 tear them in pieces when there shall be none to deliver 
 them. Hos. v. 14. That he will be to them as a lion 
 and as a leopard, and meet them as a bear bereaved of 
 her whelps, devour them like a lion and rend the caul of 
 their hearts. Hos. xiii. 8. And with what magnificence 
 and grandeur of diction does the prophet Nahum speak 
 upon this solemn subject : " God is jealous, and the Lord 
 revengeth ; the Lord revengeth, and is furious. The Lord 
 will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth 
 wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and 
 great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked : the 
 Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the 
 clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and 
 maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers : Bashan lan- 
 guished, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languish- 
 ed. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, 
 and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, 
 and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his in- 
 dignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his 
 anger ? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks 
 are thrown down by him." Nahum i. 2 — 7. 
 
 Now as the consideration of God's justice and wrath 
 ministers terror to all the ungodly in general, so especially 
 
30 THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 
 
 ami particularly to these following, viz : 1. Epicures, who 
 induL sual security, and put the evil day far from 
 
 them. Surely such treasure up (0 themselves wrath against 
 the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judg- 
 menl of God. Surely the day of the Lord will be to them, 
 as the prophet expresseth it, " cruel with wrath and fierce 
 anger. 91 Isa. xiii. 9. And, 2d. All unjust persons who are 
 guilty of fraud in contracts, and dealings with men, or 
 cting of persons in judgment. "Woe to him that 
 buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by 
 wrong." Jer. xxii. 13. Ps. lxxxii. 2, 5. 3d. All hypo- 
 crites, such as are unjust to God and their own souls, who 
 cover their inward injustice with an outward show 7 of piety. 
 Such are an abomination to God, and may expect to be cut 
 asunder by the sword of divine justice. Matt. xxiv. 50, 51. 
 4th. All murmurers, who call in question the justice of God 
 in his judgments, and kick with the heel against the Most 
 High, under frowns of providence. For this, the whole 
 congregation of Israel fell in the wilderness, and never 
 saw Canaan, two excepted. Num. xiv. 27 — 30. Now 
 the use I w r ould advise poor graceless sinners, of every age 
 and order, to make of the justice of God, is to be excited 
 by it to fly to Christ for security and defence. "He is a 
 hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm. " 
 [sa. xxxii. 2. 1st. He was made sin for us, that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him. In Him God the 
 Father has declared his righteousness (Rom. iii. 25); and 
 Hiin he is willing to make righteousness to such as accept 
 of him. 1 Cor. i. 30. Well, seeing divine justice must 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 31 
 
 be satisfied for the wrong done by our offences, either by 
 us, or a surety in our place, or else we must perish 
 eternally : then, seeing we ourselves cannot satisfy, because 
 we are poor, imperfect and finite creatures, let us hasten 
 to Christ and receive him by faith, as the gospel offers him, 
 that so we may be justified by faith, and securely rest on 
 and rejoice in that Jesus, who has fulfilled the righteous- 
 ness of the law for his people. Rom. viii. 3. But, 2d. 
 This subject speaks comfort to all believers in every one 
 of their troubles ; for from this they may see that they 
 are afflicted less than their iniquities deserve, that a 
 Father's love is the spring of them, who chastens them 
 lest they should be condemned with the world. And 
 particularly we may draw comfort from this subject, under 
 calumnies and wrongs, when we think that we have a wit- 
 ness in heaven, a just Judge there, who will uphold us in a 
 good cause, and reward us according to our righteousness, 
 and make it sooner or later to " shine forth as the light, 
 and our judgment as the noonday." Ps. xxxvii. 6. Yea, 
 in troubles of conscience God's justice yields support, 
 when we consider that it was once satisfied by our Lord, 
 and that it is contrary to its nature to require a double 
 satisfaction. Hence is the Apostle's query, "Who is he 
 that condemneth? it is Christ that died." Rom. viii. 34. 
 
 But there are these following duties, which, from the 
 consideration of divine justice, we should be exhorted to 
 perform, viz : 1st. That we beware of depending upon our 
 own righteousness, upon the one hand, with the Pharisee 
 (Luke xviii. 11) ; and of the neglect of duty, on the other, 
 
H THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 
 
 with the sluggard whose hands refuse to labour: "for 
 without holiness no man shall see the Lord." lleb. xii. 
 14. 2d, Lei as walk with humble reverence and child- 
 like fear before the righteous God, as with a consuming 
 fire, avoiding every appearance of evil, and continually, 
 in all our religious services, eyeing Jesus the Mediator and 
 Intercessor, who alone is able to cover their defects, and 
 render them acceptable to his Father by his abundant 
 righteousness ; in whom alone we are complete, and safe 
 from every impending storm. For when in him, the 
 flaming sword of divine justice, which before kept us out 
 of paradise, guards and assists our entrance into it. And, 
 S<L Let us glorify God on account of his justice of every 
 kind, whether essential, declarative, judicatory, legislative, 
 remunerative, or vindictive ; for transcendent beauty shines 
 therein. Let us say with the Psalmist, " Justice and 
 judgment are the habitation of thy throne." Ps. lxxxix. 
 24. And with Paul, " the depth of the riches of the 
 
 »m and knowledge of God ! his judgments are un- 
 Bearchable, and his w r ays past finding out." Rom. xi. 33. 
 Such is the strictness of divine justice in all his proceed- 
 ings, that it is compared to mountains, and to the abyss. 
 "Thy righteousness is as the great mountains, thy judg- 
 
 - are a great deep." Ps. xxxvi. 6. And let us join 
 with the inhabitants of heaven in celebrating the justice of 
 (ill. "And after these things I heard a great voice 
 of much people, in heaven, saying, Hallelujah, salvation, 
 and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God, 
 for true and righteous are his judgments." Rev. xLx. 1, 2. 
 
THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 83 
 
 In fine, let us labour to imitate the justice and righteous- 
 ness of God, by seeking the righteousness of Christ to our 
 justification, in the manner before expressed ; also by 
 seeking the inherent righteousness, which it pleased God 
 at first to implant in our natures by creation (Ecc. vii. 29), 
 which we have lost by sin. I say, let us fervently and 
 frequently cry to God by humble supplications, in the 
 name of Christ, that he would be pleased to implant or 
 infuse into our souls, by regeneration, the habits or 
 principles of that righteousness ; and, having the same im- 
 planted, let us exercise them in our whole practice. 1. 
 Towards God, by rendering him his due, viz: ourselves, 
 and all that honour, love, trust, and service which he re- 
 quires in his word. And 2. Towards our neighbour, in 
 all matters of government, judgment, and commerce, 
 ruling without oppression, judging without respect of per- 
 sons, and dealing without fraud, falsehood, or imposition. 
 And 3. Towards ourselves, in a right improvement of the 
 seasons of mercy, thereby securing our salvation ; and 
 also in not suffering ourselves to be wronged in our temporal 
 interest. A great part of the image of God, and beauty 
 of religion, consists in justice : and as the blessing of God 
 rests upon such here, so they shall receive from the just 
 Judge of heaven and earth a crown of righteousness here- 
 after, which shall never fade away. That this may be the 
 happy lot of us all, may God grant, for Christ's sake ! 
 Amen. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 THE DIVINE MERCY. 
 
 BY THE REV. GILBERT TENNENT. 
 
 u And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the 
 Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering. — Exodus xxxiv. 6. 
 
 ***** In discoursing upon this divine attribute 
 of mercy, it will be necessary to speak upon its nature, 
 kind*, and properties. And 
 
 1st. Mercy, in respect of its nature, may be thus 
 described, viz: That it is the goodness of God extended 
 to tlie miserable. Here good and bad angels are excluded : 
 the good, because they are not miserable, and the bad, 
 because they arc wholly given up to justice. "But God 
 Bpared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to 
 hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be 
 reserved onto judgment." 2 Pet. ii. 4. Or the mercy of 
 God may be thus described, viz: That it is that property 
 of the Supreme Being whereby he is inclined to succour 
 reatures in misery, together with its kind effects upon 
 them. I [ere observe, 1st, that the special object of mercy 
 IS the creature in misery, and thus it is distinguished from 
 
 (84) 
 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY. 35 
 
 other attributes. Goodness considers its object as indi- 
 gent^ and so communicates needed benefits, but mercy 
 considers its object as miserable, because of sin ; and 
 therefore, though an innocent creature be the object of 
 divine goodness and bounty, it is only a fallen and sinning 
 creature that is the proper object of God's mercy. Grace 
 is mercy or goodness freely dispensed, and therefore it 
 considers its object, not only as miserable, but unworthy. 
 Whereas, long-suffering consists in the suspension of 
 merited vengeance, and the communication of unmerited 
 benefits. Thus you may see that all these attributes of 
 the Deity import the communication of some good to the 
 creature, and are only distinguished in relation to the 
 objects upon which they are exercised. Misery is the foil 
 of mercy, it can have no other object ; hence it is said, 
 that "his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." 
 Judg. x. 16. Undoubtedly the virtue of mercy was in God 
 from all eternity, but there was no room or occasion for its 
 displays, till the creature's fatal fall from God, and misery 
 consequent upon it, proved it an object to be exercised 
 upon. Man by sin robbed himself of his beauty and 
 happiness, and exposed himself to all the manifold miseries 
 of this and the next life ; all which are included in the 
 sentence of death annexed to the breach of the first cove- 
 nant. As man by sin had lost all right to happiness, and, 
 on the contrary, rendered himself liable to all the threats 
 of the divine law ; so by this he likewise became " al- 
 together unprofitable," (Rom. iii. 1, 2,) having lost all his 
 original power to glorify God by active obedience, and 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY, 
 
 thus he had no ground from himself to expect the divine 
 favour. 
 
 iM. Seeing the misery of fallen mankind is twofold, viz: 
 
 i, and punishment; consequently, the operations of 
 
 mercy consist in affording suitable succours under these 
 
 maladies. In respect of sin, the mercy of God succours in 
 
 the following instances: 
 
 1. In reconciling sinners to himself, by the blood of 
 his only begotten Son. 2 Cor. v. 18. For the purchase 
 of which reconciliation, the eternal Father gave his beloved 
 Son to shame, pain and death. John iii. 16. And for 
 the application thereof, he confers faith upon the elect, 
 whereby they are enabled to accept and rely upon the 
 blessed Jesus as Mediator and Reconciler. And 
 
 2. By renewing sinners by his Spirit, whereby the 
 tyranny and dominion of sin is broken, and the people of 
 God enabled to overcome sin, and triumph over it. "Let 
 not sin reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should obey 
 it in the lusts thereof/' Rom. vii. 12. "I thank God, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord.'' Rom. vii. 25. 
 
 In respect of punishment, divine mercy succours in the 
 following manner: 
 
 1. By bearing with the sinner for a time before judg- 
 ment is inflicted. "What if God, willing to show his 
 wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much 
 long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction V 
 Bom ix. 22. 
 
 2. By threatening punishments against the impenitent, 
 Let to reclaim them from their trespasses. God warns 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY, 37 
 
 before he wounds, and sends his servants to slay sinners 
 by his word, before he slays them by his sword. 
 
 3. By pointing to a remedy, whereby the impending 
 stroke of divine justice may be averted. " At what instant 
 I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a king- 
 dom to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; if 
 that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from 
 their evil, I will repent of the evil I thought to do unto 
 them." Jer. xviii. 7, 8. If sinners repent of the evil of 
 sin, God will avert the evil of judgment. 
 
 4. By inviting, and expostulating with, sinners to 
 accept of the remedy proposed. " Come now, and let us 
 reason together ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall 
 be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, 
 they shall be as wool." Isa. i. 18. " Thus saith the 
 Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me, that 
 they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity 
 and become vain ?" Jer. ii. 5. 
 
 5. By receiving into favour those that comply with the 
 remedy, how great soever their trespasses have been, by 
 forgiving their sins, sanctifying and sweetening their sor- 
 rows, and supporting them under them by his Spirit, love 
 and power. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who 
 healeth all thy diseases." Ps. ciii. 3. " And he said unto 
 me, My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Cor. xii. 9. 
 " Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, 
 who comforteth us in all our tribulation." 2 Cor. i. 3, 4. 
 And 
 
 4 
 
S^ THE DIVINE M B ROY. 
 
 6. When he begins to inflict deserved judgment, (in 
 general,) he doth it by degrees, first he sends lighter 
 calamities, and when those do not reclaim the sinner, he 
 sends heavier. In the day of God's rough wind, he stays 
 his east wind. First rods are tried, and if those do not 
 avail, scorpions may be expected. Jehovah does not all at 
 stir up kb all his wrath. " Ps. lxxviii. 88. But the 
 
 2d proposition was to speak of the kinds of mercy. 
 Now the mercy of God may be said to be two-fold, viz : 
 either common or special. Common mercy consists in con- 
 ferring without distinction upon the children of men, the 
 outward comforts and conveniences of life, and hence the 
 Almighty is said to cause his sun to rise upon the evil 
 and the good, and to send his rain upon the just and the 
 unjust. Matt. v. 45. But the special mercy of God 
 consists in conferring upon the elect, such things as do 
 accompany salvation, and that through Christ, in the 
 channel of the new covenant. "Blessed be the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with 
 all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places, in Christ. , - , Eph. 
 i. 3. But I proceed to the 
 
 8d proposition, which was to discourse upon the proper- 
 
 I of divine mercy. And 
 
 1. It is eternal. " The mercy of God is from ever- 
 Listing to everlasting. ,J Ts. ciii. 17. It is repeated 
 twenty-six times in one psalm, " that his mercy endureth 
 for ever." Ps. exxxvi. And this may justly enhance our 
 :n of it, and desire after it. Though God may hide 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY. 39 
 
 his face for a little moment, yet with everlasting kindness 
 will he return to his people. And 
 
 2. God's mercy is great., and hence God is said to be 
 "plenteous in mercy." Ps. lxxxvi. 5. "Rich in mercy." 
 Eph. ii. 4. And, in Psalm li. 1, we read of the multitude 
 of his "tender mercies." And in 2 Sam. xxiv. 14, his 
 mercies are expressly said to be "great." But methinks 
 the greatness of God's mercy appears especially by con- 
 sidering these two things, viz : What is the sinner's due, 
 according to strict justice, and the mitigation thereof which 
 he enjoys in this world ? Surely " the wages of sin is 
 death." Rom. vi. 23. Which includes all the miseries of 
 this present life, as well as the pains of hell hereafter. 
 Now, therefore, every mitigation of those miseries, every 
 comfort the sinner enjoys, is mercy ; it is what the sinner 
 has forfeited a right to ; it is what he deserves not. 
 
 3. The mercy of God is incomparable. " They say, if a 
 man put away his wife, and she go from him and become 
 another man's, shall he return unto her again ? But thou 
 hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return unto 
 me, saith the Lord." Jer. iii. 1. The merciful God ex- 
 ceeds his creatures both in giving and forgiving. And 
 
 1st. In giving. Our donations are often extorted from 
 us, but He gives of his own accord, without any incentive 
 but what is in his own bosom. Isa. lxv. 1. 
 
 We give but small gifts, but He gives the greatest, viz : 
 Himself, his Son, his Spirit, his kingdom. Job iii. 16. 
 
 We give to our friends, but Jehovah confers many dona- 
 tions on his enemies. Matt. v. 45. 
 
40 T ii H D T v I N I II 1: R Y . 
 
 Wo are soon weary of giving, but BO is not God; lie is 
 unwearied in his mercy (to the penitent); "he giveth liber- 
 ally and apbraideth not." James i. 5. And 
 
 . The merciful God exceeds his creatures in forgiving* 
 
 Men are revengeful to those that wrong them, but God 
 ifl "merciful and gracious, long suffering," as our text 
 ftSSert&i 1 low remarkable, to this purpose, are these words 
 of the prophet, "I will not execute the fierceness of mine 
 r, I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God 
 and not man !" IIos. xi. 9. 
 
 Men are difficultly drawn to forgive, and cannot forgive 
 often ; but God is ready to pardon (Neh. ix. 17); and does 
 multiply pardons. 
 
 Sometimes men forgive when it is not in their power to 
 revenge themselves, but sinners are always under God's 
 control and within the reach of his arm. 
 
 4. The mercy of God is sure and infallible. " Incline 
 your ear and come unto me, hear and your soul shall live ; 
 and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even 
 the sure mercies of David." Isa. lv. 3. And hence it is 
 that the gifts and callings of God are said to be without 
 
 •itance, and that the foundation of God stands sure. 
 The Lord knoweth who are his. God's special mercy to 
 his people is built upon the sure and invariable foundation 
 of his purposes and promises, as well as the satisfaction 
 and intercession of Christ. And 
 
 5. God's mercy is free. "In whom also we have ob- 
 l an inheritance, being predestinated, according to 
 
 the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the coun- 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY. 41 
 
 sel of his own will." Eph. i. 11. Albeit the virtue of mercy 
 belongs to God, in respect of his being, yet the dispensation 
 of it depends entirely upon God's good pleasure, and hence 
 the apostle Paul informs us, that " it is not of him that wifl- 
 eth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth 
 mercy," and that " he hath mercy upon whom he will have 
 mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth." Rom. ix. 16, 18. 
 Now, because when such things as are really or seemingly 
 contrary are put together, they illustrate each other ; it 
 may not be improper, before I proceed to the improvement 
 of this subject, to discourse upon the severity of God in 
 his judgments, which is seemingly opposed to his mercy. 
 Of this, mention is made in Rom. xi. 22, and in many other 
 places of scripture; and of this there are many examples 
 upon sacred record, such as the instance of the fallen 
 angels, our first parents, the old world, Pharaoh, the 
 Egyptians, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, Achan, Ananias and 
 Sapphira, and many others. From which we may gather 
 that God's judgments, which he exercises by his severity, 
 are no other than singular punishments, inflicted for 
 singular offences. The meritorious cause of them is some 
 aggravated iniquity, the nature of which is often pointed 
 out by the punishment inflicted, which is not common but 
 singular. Adonibezek, who had cut off the thumbs and 
 great toes of threescore and ten kings, was served so him- 
 self. Judges i. 6, 7. And hence Samuel saith con- 
 cerning Agag, that " as his sword made women childless, 
 so his mother should be childless among women." 1 Sam. 
 xv. 33. Hence the Lord elsewhere threatens that those 
 4* 
 
42 T ir B D T V I X B M 1 RCY, 
 
 who Bbed the blood of others, Should themselves have blood 
 to drink. Thus you see that the punishment does often 
 
 ible the Bin that procured it. Now the judgments of 
 God are of various kinds, viz: Spiritual or bodily, private 
 or public. Spiritual judgments are such as these, viz : A 
 famine of the word. Amos viii. 11, 12. Leanness and 
 backsliding. Rev. ii. 5. Errors in judgment. "And 
 for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that 
 they should believe a lie." 2 Thess. ii. 10, 11. Corporal 
 judgments are war, pestilence, famine, drought and the 
 like. Now the procuring causes of public and epidemical 
 judgments are such as the following, viz : Ingratitude 
 against God. Isa. i. 3. Contempt of his word. " Who 
 gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ? did not 
 the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? for they would 
 Hot walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his 
 law." Isa. xlii. 24. Another cause of judgments, is 
 slighting of the ministers of God. "But they mocked 
 the messengers of God, and despised his word, and mis- 
 osed his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against 
 his people, till there was no remedy. , ' 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16. 
 Besides, pride and idolatry are procuring causes of divine 
 judgments. "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, 
 and the haughtiness of men shall be brought down." Isa. 
 ii. 11. Jer. ii. 13, 14. Likewise the following evils against 
 our neighbour, arc causes of divine judgments, viz : Op- 
 
 ; on of the poor. "The Lord will enter into judg- 
 ment with the ancients of his people, and the princes 
 thereof; for ye have eaten up the vineyard, the spoil of the 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY. 43 
 
 poor is in your houses. " Isa. iii. 14. 2d. Wronging the 
 widow and fatherless. " They judge not the fatherless, 
 neither does the cause of the widow come before theul.' , 
 Isa. i. 23. 3d. Cheating the labourer of his hire. " Woe 
 unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and 
 his chambers by wrong, that useth his neighbour's service 
 without wages, and giveth him not for his work." Jer. xxii. 
 13. The prophet Hosea mentions a number of causes 
 together, in the fourth chapter of his book, verses 1, 2. 
 " Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the 
 Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, 
 because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of 
 God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, 
 and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out and 
 blood toucheth blood, therefore shall the land mourn." 
 To the aforesaid causes of divine judgments I may add 
 covetousness and hypocrisy. " Woe unto them that join 
 house to house — therefore my people are gone into captiv- 
 ity." Isa. v. 8, 13. " Assyrian, the rod of mine anger 
 — I will send him against a hypocritical nation." Isa. x. 6. 
 Here it may be observed, that judgments are not always 
 sent, except the aforesaid evils become general, and are 
 attended with impudence, after various warnings. Jer. v. 
 1. Isa. iii. 9. Ps. xcv. 10, 11. Now the judgments of 
 God are always just, and sometimes unsearchable and 
 wonderful ; for sometimes he not only sends them on the 
 ungodly, but upon his own people. Yea, as the apostle 
 Peter observes, " Judgment begins at the house of God." 
 The Lord threatened his people of old, that them only he 
 
4-1 T II B D I v 1 x B M i: B C v , 
 
 had known of all the Families of the earth, therefore he 
 would punish them for their iniquities. Hence David tells 
 u<. that his flesh trembled for fear of God, and that he was 
 afraid o\' Qod'fl judgments. 1 may add that the end of 
 - punishments is the glory of God's holiness, the con- 
 version and humiliation of some, and the hardening of 
 others. AVitness the prodigal, Pharaoh, and others. But 
 it is time to proceed to the improvement of this subject. 
 And 
 
 1st. We should be cautious of abusing God's mercy ; let 
 • ware that we suck not poison out of that sweet flower. 
 To take encouragement to go on in sin, because of God's 
 mercy, is the vilest instance of ingratitude, and justly 
 exposes to an aggravated condemnation ; abused mercy 
 turns into enraged fury and vengeance. "If he bless 
 himself, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk after 
 the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst ; 
 the Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord 
 and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the 
 curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him." 
 Deut. xxix. 19. 
 
 2d. The mercy of God offers encouragement and sup- 
 port to the people of God, in all their distresses, wdiether 
 outward or inward. Are they afflicted with outward straits ? 
 The merciful God, who is their Shepherd, will not suffer 
 them to want, but make their bread and water sure. He 
 that hears and feeds the ravens, will surely hear and help 
 children. Have they backslidden from God, and are 
 they labouring to be sorrowfully sensible thereof? Then 
 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY. 45 
 
 may they encourage themselves in this, that all God's ways 
 are mercy and truth, and that the mercy of Jehovah 
 endureth for ever. He will begin and end with mercy, 
 and such as are under the 'first convictions of sin may take 
 encouragement from the mercy of God, which is great 
 above the heavens, and most freely dispensed upon the 
 vilest creatures. Mercy considers not what one deserves, 
 but what he needs. God is more inclined to mercy than 
 wrath. Justice and judgment is his strange work, but 
 mercy is his delight. Micah vii. 18. "It is delightful 
 to the mother," saith Chrysostom, "to have her breasts 
 drawn ; 60 it is to God to have the breasts of his mercy 
 drawn." The Almighty is slow to anger, but ready to 
 forgive. Ps. lxxxvi. 5. Let us, therefore, entertain honour- 
 able thoughts of God's mercy, and trust in it for ever. Ps. 
 lii. 8. What greater encouragement can there be to believe, 
 than the mercy of God ? Mercy is one of the most orient 
 pearls of the crown of God ; he reckons it his glory to be 
 conferring pardons upon penitent transgressors ; and, there- 
 fore, he invites poor sinners to come and lay hold on his 
 mercy. " "Whosoever will, let him come and take of the 
 water of life freely." Rev. xxii. 17. Mercy woos sinners 
 in the most importunate, moving and condescending strains. 
 " Ho, every one that thirst eth, come ye to the waters, and 
 he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat : come, 
 buy wine and milk without money and without price." 
 I<a. lv. 1. And what joy does the Almighty express, when 
 sinners accept of the proposals of his mercy ! when the 
 prodigal son returned from his wanderings, how much did 
 
46 T II E D I V I N H M B B C Y . 
 
 it please die indulgent father, who made a feast to express 
 his joy on that occasion ! 
 
 We should be induced to inquire into the state of our 
 souls, in order to know whether we have an interest in the 
 Bpecial mercy of God or not. For it will be miserable and 
 mining to us in the issue, if we content ourselves with com- 
 mon mercies. Now we may be helped to determine this 
 important point, by an impartial comparing of ourselves 
 with the following particulars, viz : 
 
 1. Those who have an interest in the special mercy of 
 God, have been (if of adult age when converted) made 
 sensible of their misery without it, and their unworthiness 
 of it, with the prodigal and publican. 
 
 2. They have been stirred up to solicitous inquiries, 
 how they might obtain an interest therein. Acts ii. 37. 
 
 3. Such have, deliberately and without reserve, consented 
 to embrace Christ Jesus (the fountain of mercy) in all his 
 offices and relations, and resolved to bear his cross and 
 obey his laws. Job i. 12. 
 
 4. And, in consequence hereof, they find the general 
 bias of their affections going towards God, and an habitual 
 carefulness to do the things that are pleasing to him. Now, 
 those who, upon examination, find themselves destitute of 
 the aforesaid characters, should, in order to obtain mercy, 
 
 1. Think seriously of all the kindnesses of heaven towards 
 them, together with their innumerable sins against those 
 mercies, and the dangers to which they are thereby exposed. 
 
 2. Attend with diligence upon the preached word; for it 
 is by the foolishness of preaching that God saves those 
 
THE DIVINE MERCY. 47 
 
 that believe. 3. Bewail your sins against the mercies of 
 God; let the goodness of God lead you to repentance. 
 4. Try to reform your lives. " Let the wicked forsake his 
 way, and the ungodly man his thoughts, and let him turn 
 unto the Lord, for he will have mercy upon him, and to 
 our God, for he will abundantly pardon/' And, 5. Pray 
 earnestly and frequently to God for mercy, in the name of 
 Christ, with fear and hope. 
 
 And let me exhort those that have obtained the special 
 mercy of God to walk worthy of it. 1. Praise God for 
 his mercy in the Psalmist's language : " Bless the Lord, 
 my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name." 
 Ps. ciii. 1. Such as have been monuments of mercy, 
 should be trumpets of praise. 
 
 2. Love God. Mercy is a powerful excitant to this. 
 " I will love thee, Lord, my strength. ,, Ps. xviii. 1. 
 Surely that heart is harder than marble and adamant, 
 which mercy will not melt. " I would hate my own soul, 
 (saith Austin,) if I did not find it loving God." We should 
 love God for outward comforts, but much more for special 
 and enduring mercies. 
 
 3. Let us imitate the mercy of God, in showing mercy 
 to our fellow creatures. God is the Father of mercy, 
 show yourselves to be his children by being like him. It 
 was a just observation of Ambrose, " that the sum of re- 
 ligion is to be rich in works of mercy. ,, let the lamp 
 of our profession be filled with the oil of mercy ! And to 
 this our dear Lord exhorts us, "Be merciful, as your 
 Father also is merciful." Matt. vi. 30. But let the 
 
48 THE DIVINE MERCY. 
 
 despisers and abusers of mercy, who go on in a course of 
 anv of the evils before mentioned, which procure the judg- 
 ments of God, be entreated to repent, and reform speedily, 
 Otherwise ye may expect the dreadful effects of divine 
 severity in some or all of the instances thereof before 
 expressed. By your ungrateful return for mercies received, 
 "you treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, and 
 the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." 
 Though God be gracious and merciful, slow to wrath, yet 
 will he by no means clear the guilty. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 THE GRACE OF GOD. 
 
 BY THE REV. GILBERT TENNENT. 
 
 "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the 
 Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering. — Exodus xxxiv. 6. 
 
 The next divine attribute that comes now, according to 
 the order of our text, to be considered, is the grace of 
 God. " The Lord is merciful and gracious. " 
 
 There is nothing more frequently mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture, than the grace of God. I shall mention but a few 
 passages, for if I should take notice of all, I must trans- 
 cribe a great part of the Bible. " To the praise of the 
 glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the 
 beloved." Eph. i. 6. " He is gracious and full of com- 
 passion. " Ps. cxii. 14. " The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the love of God, be with you all." 2 Cor. xiii. 
 14. In speaking upon this subject, I purpose 
 
 I. To explain its nature. 
 
 II. Show its kinds. 
 
 III. Mention some considerations, serving to manifest 
 its sovereignty and glory. 
 
 5 " (49) 
 
50 T H H G B A C B V GOB. 
 
 IV. r what is really and seemingly opposed 
 
 thereto, and then proceed to some improvement. 
 
 I. I return to consider the first proposed, which was to 
 .ii the nature of the grace of God. Now, the word 
 Bignifies BOmething that is free, as was observed in 
 the preceding sermon, and it is taken two ways, either for 
 an attribute of God, which is in God, or for the gift of 
 God, which is from God. In the first sense, the grace of 
 God signifies his free and sovereign benevolence, by which 
 he peculiarly favours and doth good to his creatures, 
 whence God is called gracious, as in our text, i. e. endued 
 with grace; as from his goodness he is called good, and 
 from his justice, just. The gifts of God, which are the 
 effects of the grace that is in him, are metonymically called 
 grace, especially such of them as are peculiar and special, 
 ?. e. such as are conferred upon some, rather than 
 others. Hence, some divines observe, that the word grace 
 intends either, 1. The grace freely giving (Mat. xi. 26), 
 which they term (gratiam gratis dantem), or the free 
 favour of God; or the grace freely given, which they call 
 (gratiam gratis datam). And this imports any kind of 
 benefits which the Almighty confers upon his creatures, 
 whether good or bad, which makes them not in the least 
 the more acceptable to God ; or, 3. The grace which makes 
 ptable, which they term [gratiam graturn facientem) y 
 viz: all the saving gifts of God, faith, hope, charity, by 
 which we please him. 
 
 ,v, the grace of God maybe thus described, viz : that 
 a property of the Deity, whereby he is inclined to 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD, 51 
 
 dispense undeserved kindnesses upon his creatures freely, 
 and in a sovereign way. The dispensations of grace have 
 no dependence upon any dignity or merit of creatures, 
 upon whom benefits are conferred (Rom. xi. 6.) ; but the 
 whole reason thereof is the good pleasure of God's will, 
 (Matt. xi. 26,) which respects all creatures, even to the 
 noblest angels. Whatever any of these enjoy, they have 
 it of grace; for who, among all created beings, has first 
 given to God, " and it shall be recompensed to him again V* 
 Rom. xi. 35. In the meantime, these things are more 
 properly and peculiarly ascribed to grace, wdiich are 
 different from nature. Nature and grace should not be 
 confounded : such things as by the kind constitution of 
 God, belong to every creature, according to their different 
 kinds, are not usually called grace, because, though they be 
 undue, yet they belong to nature. But to make this more 
 plain, let us consider 
 
 II. The kinds of grace : and here it may be observed, 
 that grace is three-fold, viz : universal, common, and 
 saving. And 
 
 1. Universal grace is that, whereby Jehovah dispenses 
 natural things upon all his creatures. And hence he is 
 called the " Saviour of men." 1 Tim. iv. 10. And is said 
 to " preserve man and beast." Ps. xxxvi. 6. He causes 
 his sun to rise upon the fields of the evil and the good, 
 and sends his rain upon the just and unjust. He gives to 
 man life, health, strength, and all the supports he enjoys 
 therein, all which, being undeserved, may be called grace : 
 
T II I c B A 01 OF GOD. 
 
 bat aooording to the usage of scripture and antiquity, they 
 
 Beldom and leas properly boar that name. 
 
 "2. CommOD grace consists in tlie communication of 
 mora] good things upon men promiscuously, whether they 
 be good or had, elect or not elect; such as natural wisdom 
 and prudence, and all the train of moral virtues, in which 
 even some pagans have excelled. And to these we may 
 add, all outward religious privileges and means of grace; 
 together with those transient effects which are sometimes 
 produced by them upon the unregenerate, such as some 
 kind of illumination, and stirrings of religious affections. 
 In a word, all those common operations of the Holy Spirit 
 which are not followed by an habitual and saving change, 
 must be ascribed hereto. Of these mention is made in 
 Heb. vi. 4 — 6, and also in the parable of the sower: 
 "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same 
 is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth 
 it ; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while, 
 for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the 
 word, by and by he is offended. " Matt. xiii. 20, 21. But 
 
 3. Saving grace is that undue or undeserved love of 
 God, whereby he confers upon the elect only, saving 
 benefits, of his own mere good pleasure. Here observe 
 
 F/rst. That it is love, or the kind inclination or pro- 
 pension of God's will, to communicate good to his elect. 
 
 //<////. It is undue, undeserved love. The objects of 
 
 this love, considered as creatures, can merit no good at 
 
 and of God. Seeing they have received their all from 
 
 him, surely they cannot put the Almighty in their debt, 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 53 
 
 by giving him what is his own ; and considered as sinners, 
 who, by their voluntary transgression, have fallen short of 
 his glory, they deserve his high and dreadful displeasure. 
 
 Thirdly. It is distinguishing love, manifested to the 
 elect in a sovereign way, according to the good pleasure 
 of God's will. Eph. i. 9. That is given to one which is 
 denied to another, and only because it is God's pleasure ; 
 hence is that query of one of Christ's disciples, " Lord, 
 how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto 
 the world?" John xiv. 22. And does not our Lord him- 
 self thank his eternal Father for the displays of his 
 sovereignty in this respect ? " I thank thee, Father, 
 Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these 
 things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them 
 unto babes ; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy 
 sight." Matt. xi. 25, 26. It is but a few, a remnant of 
 the fallen race of mankind, upon whom God is pleased to 
 vouchsafe, and in whom he is pleased to glorify, his special 
 grace. Luke xiii. 24. Rom. ix. 2, 7. " Esaias crieth also 
 concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of 
 Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." 
 
 Fourthly. It is efficacious love, which confers saving 
 benefits ; hence it is called, " the grace of God, which 
 bringeth salvation." Tit. ii. 11. And the blessings it 
 vouchsafes, are termed " things that accompany salva- 
 tion." Heb. vi. 9. And hence the Psalmist prays, "Re- 
 member me, Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto 
 thy people. visit me with thy salvation ; that I may 
 see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the glad- 
 
54 T II ■ G B A 01 OF COD. 
 
 of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inherit- 
 ance." Pa ovL 4. And here it may be necessary to ob- 
 Berve particularly, that divine love confers freely upon the 
 elect, or concerts for them, the following important bene- 
 
 viz : 
 
 1. Election ; this is free and gracious, without faith or 
 
 ii. "Even so then, at this present time also, 
 there is a remnant according to the election of grace." 
 Horn. xi. 5. "Having predestinated us, unto the adop- 
 tion of children, by Jesus Christ, to himself, according to 
 the good pleasure of his will." Eph. i. 5. "If by grace, 
 then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more 
 grace, * * and work is no more work." Rom. xi. 6. To the 
 same effect the apostle elsewhere observes, that "it is not 
 of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God 
 that showeth mercy." Rom. ix. 16. It is inconsistent 
 with the independency and immutability of God, to sup- 
 pose that anything without him should alter or incline his 
 will. 
 
 2. Redemption is likewise of free grace. The contri- 
 ■ of this scheme of happiness, as well as the sending 
 
 of the blessed Son of God to effect it, by his obedience 
 and sufferings, were marvellous displays of the Father's 
 pure affection to a miserable world. " Herein is love, not 
 that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son 
 
 the propitiation for our sins." 1 John vi. 10. And 
 to what else than free grace can we ascribe God the 
 Father's acceptance of the suretiship of Christ in the sin- 
 
 room and place? Strict justice certainly demands 
 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 55 
 
 personal satisfaction ; and does not the love of Christ pass 
 knowledge, in that he who is over all, God blessed for ever, 
 came into a state of the worst abasement, voluntarily to 
 save worthless dust from perpetual ruin ? How sweetly 
 does the Apostle Paul speak to this effect : "For ye know 
 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was 
 rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his 
 poverty might be rich!" 2 Cor. viii. 9. Besides, it may 
 be here observed, that redemption by the satisfaction of 
 Christ is frequently, in Scripture, restrained to a certain 
 number, who are called the people of God, the sheep of 
 Christ, and such as were given him by his Father. Matt, 
 i. 21. John x. 15 ; xvii. 9. 
 
 Albeit the blood of the Son of God be of infinite value, 
 and, therefore, the satisfaction made by it may, in this 
 respect, be said to be universal ; yet, inasmuch as it was 
 neither the design of the Father, nor the Son, that it 
 should be spent for all, so as to be saved by it, it is, there- 
 fore, to be referred to singular grace. Moreover, 
 
 3. The application of redemption in all its branches, is 
 of free grace, as may appear by the following induction 
 of particulars, viz : 
 
 Effectual calling is said to be according to God's pur- 
 pose. Rom. viii. 29. 
 
 Faith is called the gift of God. "For by grace are ye 
 saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the 
 gift of God." Eph. ii. 8. 
 
 Conversion is not of flesh nor blood, nor of the will of 
 man, but of God. None of these graces which I have 
 
56 THE (IRACE OF COD. 
 
 mentioned, are the fruits of free will; "for we arc not 
 Biifficient to think any thing as of ourselves, but our 
 
 sufficiency ifl of God." - Cor. iii. 5. No, thoy are all the 
 fruits of the Spirit (Gal. v. 22), who produces them not 
 by moral suasion, like poor creatures, but by an almighty, 
 Creating power, taking away the stony heart, and giving a 
 heart of flesh. 1 Cor. iii. 5, 6. Ps. li. 10. Ezek. xxxvi. 
 86, 27. And 
 
 Justification) whereby an elect sinner is freed from the 
 guilt of sin and hath a right to eternal happiness, is of 
 free grace. "Being justified freely by his grace, through 
 the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom. iii. 24. It 
 is entirely without works. "Knowing that a man is not 
 justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus 
 Christ — for by the works of the law shall no flesh be 
 justified." Gal. ii. 16. 
 
 Our adoption, or right, to the important privileges of 
 children, and joint heirship with Christ, is also of pure 
 grace. " Having predestinated us unto the adoption of 
 children, by Jesus Christ, to himself, according to the good 
 -ure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, 
 wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Eph. 
 i. 6, G. 
 
 Our salvation^ in regard to the right thereto, is of grace. 
 And. Ixnce, eternal life is said to be "the gift of God 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi. 23. And, clsc- 
 where, we are said expressly to be "saved by grace," Eph. 
 ii. 8. In the meantime it should be remembered, that 
 I works are the way to the kingdom, though they 
 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 57 
 
 be not the cause of our reigning, as Barnard of old 
 observed, " Though our right to happiness is of grace, as 
 was before observed, yet the Almighty hath, by his 
 gracious constitution, so ordered the matter, that good 
 works are necessary to the possession of it." Matt. xxv. 
 21, 34, 35. I proceed 
 
 III. To mention some considerations serving to mani- 
 fest the sovereignty and glory of God's grace. And 1. 
 Methinks the glory of divine grace appears by considering 
 the author of it, who is a being infinitely and invariably 
 happy in himself, as well as essentially and eternally 
 glorious ; and so neither needs the services of creatures, 
 nor can be benefitted by them. Our goodness extends 
 not to him, neither is it any gain to the Almighty, that we 
 are righteous. To acknowledge God's glory, adds no more 
 to its lustre, than speaking well of the natural sun adds 
 to its beauty. 
 
 It may be here also observed, that Jehovah would have 
 had millions of angels to celebrate his praise and execute 
 his pleasure, although he had made his justice triumph in 
 the ruin of the whole human race, which, certainly, he 
 might have done. Or, he could have formed innumerable 
 creatures of a more noble order than any of the creation to 
 celebrate the glory of his attributes, if it had so pleased 
 his Majesty: for he is almighty in power, hath the residue 
 of the Spirit, and can raise up children even out of the 
 Btones to Abraham. But 
 
 2. Let us consider the object upon which this divine 
 grace is conferred, and we shall find 
 
X II l: GtKACfl OF GOD. 
 
 Firtt* That it is man, not angels. Our Saviour took 
 rim »>n him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abra- 
 ham ; beeaose be designed to save the one, and to reserve 
 those thai fell of the other, in chains under darkness, unto 
 the judgment of the great day. What is man but dust and 
 ashes '.' A worm that is crushed before the moth, altogether 
 unworthy of the kind notice of the great and glorious God. 
 Hon amaaing is the distinguishing grace of God in passing 
 by creatures of a higher order, and fixing his love upon 
 man ! 
 
 SI eondUf. It is sinners upon whom divine grace is con- 
 ferred. Man, by creation, was but dust, but by sin he is 
 become polluted dust, and so odious and loathsome, as well 
 as wretched and miserable. And this doleful state he 
 has wilfully brought himself into, and wilfully continues 
 in, against all the remonstrances of conscience, against 
 all the kind importunities of a condescending God and 
 Saviour. Man by sin has brought this twofold misery 
 upon himself: 1. That he deserves no good, and, 2. That 
 he deserves all evil. How can these deserve good at the 
 hand of God, whose persons and performances are covered 
 with deformity and pollution? Indeed, we deserve not 
 the least common mercy, how much less, then, can we 
 special benefits? "I am not worthy of the least 
 of .'ill the mercies, and of all the truth, thou hast showed 
 unto thy servant," Gen. xxxii. 10. Men in a state of 
 nature are unprofitable creatures, they are neither prepared 
 benefits, nor able to prepare themselves, seeing 
 they are dead in sins and trespasses. And by their inula- 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 59 
 
 plied impieties they deserve the divine displeasure, and 
 provoke him to inflict it. As they are children of wrath 
 by nature, so they weary the Almighty by continued 
 iniquities in practice. Eph. ii. 3. Isa. xliii. 24. And 
 
 Thirdly. The persons to whom divine grace is given, 
 are enemies to God, both in their minds and lives. " The 
 carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to 
 the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. viii. 7. 
 Now, enmity imports a high degree of fixed and implaca- 
 ble spite. dreadful state ! This inward enmity unre- 
 generate sinners bewray by their rebellion against God in 
 practice, and cruel confederacies with his declared enemies. 
 u And you that were sometime alienated, and enemies in 
 your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.' ' 
 Col. i. 21. 
 
 Fourthly. It is generally the poorer and meaner sort 
 of men, that are favoured with divine grace, while the 
 rich, honourable, and great are passed by. Many who 
 make a considerable figure in the world, by the keenness 
 of their natural and acquired endowments, and by the 
 splendour of their outward circumstances, are entirely 
 destitute of special grace, while others, who are poor 
 and despised, are favoured therewith. This subject 
 the apostle Paul discourses largely upon. "Not many 
 mighty, not many noble are called ; but God hath 
 chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the 
 wise, and the weak things of the world, to confound the 
 tilings that are mighty; and base things of the world, 
 and things which are despised, hath God chosen, and things 
 
M TIIK <l?w\CE OF OOP. 
 
 that arc not, to bring to nought tilings that arc.'' 1 Cor. 
 i. 26—8 
 
 7,///. Many of those to whom divine grace is 
 given were, before conversion, notorious sinners, sonic 
 blasphemers, persecutors ami injurious. These things the 
 
 itle Pan! ascribes to himself; he shut up many of the 
 saints in prison, consented to their death, punished them 
 in every synagogue, compelled them to blaspheme, and 
 being exceeding mad against them, he persecuted them to 
 strange cities. Acts xxvi. 10, 11. 1 Tim. i. 18, lf>. 
 Some, before conversion, have been idolators, as the 
 Ephesians. Some, fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, 
 abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, 
 drunkards, revilcrs, extortioners. Such were some of the 
 Corinthians, and yet they were washed, sanctified, justified. 
 1 Cor. vi. 0, 11. rich and glorious grace ! How 
 admirable is the grace of God, in the instance of Manas- 
 Beh's conversion! who, though a conjurer, a murderer, 
 and one who despised God, and bid defiance to heaven in 
 prosperity, yet when, in adversity, he humbled himself and 
 made supplication to Jehovah, was graciously heard and 
 accepted. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 9, 12, 13. I shall only add the 
 famous instance of Mary Magdalene, who was a notorious 
 r. This poor woman loved much, because much was 
 forgiven her; her heart was so melted witli a sense of divine 
 goodness, that she could wash our Lord's feet with her 
 h Luke vii. 
 ■ \. The glory of divine grace appears, not only from its 
 author and object, but also from the season in which it is 
 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. (U 
 
 vouchsafed. The Almighty bestows benefits upon his 
 people, at such seasons when they are most suitable. In 
 the mount of difficulty and distress the Lord is seen, yea, 
 he is a very present help in trouble. AYhen sinners have 
 wearied themselves in the greatness of their way, and 
 through a series of disappointments are brought to the last 
 extremity, the blessed God manifests his grace and mercy. 
 And thus when gracious persons are encircled with 
 manifold miseries outward and inward, and their sorrowful 
 hearts are ready to sink into despondency, with a long 
 continued, oppressive weight of woe, from which they can 
 hardly see any way of deliverance ; when they are desolate 
 and afflicted, their hearts almost overwhelmed, then Jehovah 
 sends deliverance ; " and they are as those that dreamed." 
 Ps. xxv. 16, 17. When the compassionate Jehovah returns 
 to his people, after their sinful wanderings from him, Oh ! 
 it makes them admire the pure and glorious riches of 
 divine grace. And truly the Lord teaches his people more 
 and more of this doctrine, namely, the freeness of his 
 grace, while they are in the world. 
 
 -4. The freeness of divine grace appears likewise from 
 the manner in which divine benefits are conferred; e. g., 
 we contribute nothing to the change wrought upon us by 
 conversion. The natural bias of our wills is against it, 
 and this reluctance and opposition remains, until it be 
 overcome by the almighty power of God, who is hence 
 said to make his people "a willing people in the day of 
 his power. " Ps. ciii. That alteration of dispositions 
 which is implied in conversion, is not desired by the 
 
 6 
 
Bl THE (J R A CE OF OD. 
 
 sinner before it ; though onregenerate sinners desire to bo 
 delivered from misery, yet they do not desire to be 
 
 delivered from sin. the cause of it. For that is as their 
 right eye, and right arm. Well then, seeing these 
 benefits whereby the soul is sanctified are undeserved, 1111- 
 desired, yea, opposed by the unconverted, surely then they 
 must be freely vouchsafed. 
 
 ~k The riches of divine grace appear from the nature 
 of the benefits conferred, which are attended with these two 
 following properties, viz: freedom from the greatest evils, 
 and a right to, and possession of, the greatest good. Sin- 
 ners, while in a state of unregeneracy, are immersed in, 
 and exposed to, the greatest evils, both moral and penal. 
 They are under the dominion of sin, and all over tainted 
 by it ; and by reason thereof, they are exposed to the 
 curse and wrath of God in this and the next world. They 
 are in a dungeon of darkness and distress, in a pit in 
 which there is no water ; bound and shackled with the heavy 
 corse of God, void of light and beauty, and covered with 
 the basest deformity. Now the benefits of divine grace 
 bring the sinner from this depth of woe, loose his 
 shackles, and release him out of prison. Hereby he is 
 freed from the guilt of sin, through the righteousness 
 of Christ imputed to him, and hereby he is freed from the 
 dominion of it, through the sanctifying influences of the 
 Holy Spirit; and as he is thus freed from the greatest 
 evils by divine grace, so he is thereby entitled to, and 
 -or of, the greatest good, both physical and 
 moral, being made a partaker of the divine love, and 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 63 
 
 beautified with the divine image, viz : holiness. By the 
 former, he is refreshed, and by the latter adorned. And 
 as he is under the unerring conduct and almighty protec- 
 tion of God here, so he is entitled to the perfect enjoyment 
 of God hereafter ; which is the greatest good, that it is 
 possible for a creature to receive. I proceed to the 
 
 IV. Proposition, which was to consider what is really 
 and seemingly opposed to the grace of God. Now, the 
 things that are opposed really are these two, viz : nature 
 and merit. And, 1. Nature. Hereby we are children 
 of wrath, "being dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. ii. 
 
 1, 3. By nature we have blind minds and stony hearts, 
 neither discern the things that be of God, nor are willing 
 to be subject thereto. "The natural man understands 
 not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know 
 them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. ii. 
 1-i. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not 
 subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 
 viii. 7. Nature, in its present fallen and corrupt state, 
 fights against the grace of God as long as it can ; and, 
 therefore, that citadel of man's heart must be taken by 
 storm, if the King of glory takes possession of it. And, 
 
 2. The papal doctrine of the merit of works, in the business 
 of justification, directly opposes the grace of God. For 
 grace is undue and undeserved love, as was shown before. 
 " We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the 
 deeds of the law. If it be of works, it is no more of 
 grace, otherwise work would be no more work, and grace 
 would be no more grace." Rom. iii. 28. But to proceed, 
 
8 l tii I G I a Q 1: or GOD. 
 
 3. The wrath of God is Beamingly opposed to grace. Now, 
 the wrath of God ifl no other than his vindictive justice, 
 or disposition to punish the guilty, which includes three 
 tliii!. 
 
 $t. A purpose of punishing the transgressor. "For 
 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all 
 iid unrighteousness of men, who hold the 
 truth in unrighteousness." Rom. i. 18. 
 
 Sk condly. It includes the denunciation of the aforesaid 
 purpose by threatenings. " God is angry with the wicked 
 every day ; if he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath 
 Lent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared 
 for him the instruments of death ; he ordaineth his arrows 
 against the persecutors/' Ps. vii. 11 — 13. 
 
 Thirdly. It includes the execution of the threatenings, 
 by all kinds of revenge and judgments. "Let no man 
 deceive you with vain words, for because of these things 
 cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobe- 
 dience" (Eph. v. 6.); that is, fruits and effects of wrath 
 in divine judgments. Sin wrongs the Almighty by 
 insulting his sovereignty and legislative authority, by 
 contradicting his unspotted holiness, and by slighting 
 the riches of his goodness. By sin God is wronged, and 
 robbed of that tribute of honour and service which is due 
 to him from all created beings, by the strongest claims of 
 right, viz: creation, preservation, provision; and some 
 inder the additional engagement of redeeming love. 
 
 -in. therefore, that stirs up the divine wrath; and 
 there be various aggravations of sin, therefore, 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 65 
 
 there are various degrees of wrath excited thereby 
 and proportioned thereto. And hence, the Scriptures, 
 speaking after the manner of men, make mention of God d 
 hot displeasure, fury and rage. Ps. vi. 1. "Therefore, 
 will I also deal in fury ; mine eye shall not spare, neither 
 will I have pity, and though they cry in mine ears with a 
 loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Ezek. viii. 18. 
 M Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath." Job xl. 11. These 
 expressions do not signify any tumult of passion in God, 
 for he is incapable of passion, being simple, immutable 
 and perfect. They serve, therefore, only to represent the 
 great contrariety of the nature of God to sin, as well as 
 the more dreadful effects of his wrath upon heinous trans- 
 gressors. But in the meantime, it may be observed, that 
 the wrath of God, in every instance of it, is terrible and 
 irresistible, because it proceeds from an infinite and al- 
 mighty God. And hence, it is compared to a "burning 
 fire," and to a whirlwind that sweeps all before it. Zeph. i. 
 And except repentance intervene, it will be continual and 
 eternal. 
 
 Although the doctrine of free grace has been abused 
 into licentiousness by some sordid spirits, which the 
 apostle Paul mentions with great abhorrence, " Shall we 
 continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid," 
 (Rom.vi. 1, 2,) yet its design and tendency is to promote 
 the contrary. And indeed nothing more powerfully incites 
 an ingenuous mind to holiness than the consideration of 
 God's free and distinguishing grace. And here it is to be 
 noted, that though Almighty God gives his grace freely, 
 6* 
 
T II ■ QKiai OF OD. 
 
 that so no creature should hanre occasion of boasting or 
 
 ing in his preeende, yet, ordinarily, he vouchsafes it 
 in the DSC of appointed means; that so there may be no 
 umbrage for negligence, but, on the contrary, all that 
 
 ement to duty, which can consist with the divine 
 sovereignty. These things arc excellently represented in 
 the thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel, from the twenty-sixth to 
 the thirty-seventh verse. Though the Almighty promises 
 to confer saving benefits, yet he tells them, that for all 
 these things he will be enquired of by them. But it is time 
 to offer a word of improvement. And 
 
 1. From what has been said we may learn, that all 
 those doctrines which ascribe any part of our salvation to 
 our endeavours, as meritorious causes thereof, are very 
 derogatory to the glory of God, and the design of his 
 gospel ; which is to magnify the exceeding riches of God's 
 grace. Eph. i. Such who seek after righteousness, as it 
 were, by the works of the law, are not like to attain it. 
 Justification is not to be attained by a dependence upon 
 our endeavours, we must come to God as beggars, and 
 ask an alms of free grace, otherwise we shall be re- 
 
 ■ d. 
 
 2. We should examine ourselves, whether we are par- 
 's of God's special grace, in the instances before men- 
 tioned, of effectual calling, faith, justification, conversion, 
 adoption ; have we by these things been brought, to a high 
 prizing of Christ above all others, to a child-like familiar- 
 ity witli (Jodj to ;m habitual, holy, humble, heavenly, and 
 loving temper of mind, and course of behaviour ? If so, let 
 
THE GRACE OF GOD. 67 
 
 us rejoice in Christ Jesus in all outward distresses, let us 
 ever admire the sovereign and distinguishing grace of God, 
 and give to God the glory of it in heart, speech and 
 practice. 
 
 But such of you as have not found the aforesaid 
 experiences, rejoice not for joy, as other people, for ye have 
 gone a whoring from God. Let your laughter be turned 
 into mourning, and your joy into heaviness. Cry frequent- 
 ly and earnestly to God for sovereign, saving grace, and 
 rest in no duties or ordinances short of it. 
 
 Is the grace of God free? Then the greatest trans- 
 gressors should not despair of God's mercy ; though your 
 iniquities rival the stars for multitude, and in their aggra- 
 vations are red as crimson and scarlet, yet free grace can 
 easily blot them out, as a thick cloud, and make them 
 white as snow. Therefore let sensible sinners be en- 
 couraged to come to, and believe in, the God of grace, for 
 where sin has abounded, there grace has much more 
 abounded. The greater your transgressions are, the 
 greater glory God will get to his grace in forgiving them. 
 The Psalmist was aware of this, and therefore pled with 
 God to pardon his iniquities, because they were exceeding 
 great. 
 
 And methinks the doctrine of free grace should power- 
 fully induce us to humility, seeing that it is God only who 
 has made us to differ from others, and that we have nothing 
 but what we have received. We are his debtors for all 
 we have in hand or hope. The nature of grace supposes 
 the object upon whom it is vouchsafed unworthy of it. A 
 
T II I GiRAOI OF GOD. 
 
 continued, humbling sense of this would as much conduce to 
 our benefit as ornament. 
 
 And, Boeing the good God is pleased to heap many 
 undeserved kindnesses freely upon us, -why should we not 
 imitate his -race by conferring benefits upon our fellow 
 creatures, without any regard to dignity, or hopes of a 
 reward from them? By tills we should glorify God, and 
 convince others that we are his children. 
 
 In fine, let me, in the name of the gracious God, my 
 Lord and Master, earnestly beseech poor sinners of every 
 order to hasten, as for their lives, to that fountain of 
 grace that is in Christ. Think not to put the Almighty 
 in your debt by your doings, for if grace be not free, it is 
 not grace. Sinners, abuse not the grace of God by delays 
 and other impieties, or expect his inflamed wrath to avenge 
 the ingratitude. "Let the wicked man forsake his way, 
 and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and turn unto God, 
 and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he 
 will abundantly pardon." 
 
 I add no more at present. May the almighty and 
 gracious God bless his word that has been offered in his 
 name to our special and enduring benefit ! Amen. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 THE WISDOM OF GOD IN REDEMPTION. 
 
 BY THE REV. GILBERT TENNENT. 
 
 "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and 
 unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both 
 Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." — 
 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. 
 
 The apostle observes in the preceding verses, with great 
 beauty and propriety, that, " in the wisdom of God, the 
 world by wisdom knew not Grod." The gentile sages, by the 
 mere dint of reason and philosophy, could not form 
 consistent notions of the Supreme Being, or how to 
 obtain his favour. A deluge of the most absurd polythe- 
 ism and gross profaneness overspread the greatest part of 
 the infidel tribes, before the light of the gospel shone 
 among them ; no object was so despicable, as not to be 
 thought worthy of divine honours ; no vice so detestable, 
 as not only to obtain in common conversation, but even 
 to be admitted into their religious rites, and most solemn 
 acts of worship ; yea, to give sanction to the most brutish 
 and crimson iniquities, they ascribed them to the gods 
 
 (GO) 
 
TO THE WISDOM OF GOD 
 
 they adored, as the learned Arnobius observes, with equal 
 ice and elegance* 
 
 It is true, the corruption was not so universal, but that 
 3 ils raised themselves above the common level ; 
 they bewailed, and contemned the stupidity and credulity 
 of the multitude, } r et their number was small, and the 
 efficacy of their singular sentiments even upon themselves 
 but little ; the effect of their discernment was but a state 
 of perpetual scepticism, a floating in doubtful uncertainty 
 between all opinions, discarding what was manifestly 
 wrong, but not fixing their minds in what was good and 
 right. Yea, in matters of moral good and evil, though 
 some of the rules they have left us are truly excellent, yet 
 in many important things they are very deficient ; there 
 is a deep silence in their writings of the nature and obli- 
 quity of several vices, such as pride, revenge, and self- 
 murder ; they are likewise silent about the right principle 
 of action, love to God; the right end of action, the glory 
 of God ; the right mode of action, humility and dependence 
 upon God, for light, strength and acceptance. 
 
 They were also at a loss respecting the gaining the 
 friendship of the Almighty when offended, the certainty 
 of a future state, and the strict account they must render 
 of all their actions, to the sovereign Lord and Judge of 
 the universe. Are not these things of inexpressible 
 importance, the very governing principles of a Christian's 
 conduct K This melancholy ignorance of the pagan mas- 
 38, the source of that uncertainty they 
 bewray in their discourses, and such inconsistency in their 
 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 71 
 
 lives, concerning which, one of the greatest and best 
 judges among them, viz : Tully, speaks thus, " Do you 
 think," says he, "that these things [meaning the precepts 
 of mjprality] had any influence upon those men, (except only 
 a very few,) that thought, and wrote, and disputed about 
 them ? no ; who is there of all the philosophers, whose mind 
 and manners were conformable to right reason? who ever 
 made his philosophy the law and rule of his life, and not 
 a mere boast and show of his wit and parts ? who ob- 
 served his own instructions, and lived in obedience to his 
 own precepts? On the contrary, many of them were 
 slaves to filthy lusts." 
 
 Nay, even the things which they themselves knew, they 
 had not authority enough to inculcate upon men's minds 
 with such impression as to influence and govern their con- 
 duct; the truths they proved by a train of speculative 
 reasonings were destitute of more sensible authority to 
 enforce them with energy in practice ; the precepts they 
 proposed wanted weight, and evidently appeared to be no 
 more than the precepts of men. This was, doubtless, the 
 reason that none of the philosophers were ever able to 
 work any remarkable change in the minds and lives of 
 their hearers ; nor does it appear in history that any of 
 the followers of Socrates were ever so convinced by his 
 instructions of the excellency of virtue, and the certainty 
 and value of its final reward, as to be willing to lay down 
 their lives for its sake, as innumerable disciples of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ have done, with the greatest gladness 
 and heroic fortitude. The truth is, the philosophers them- 
 
7- T II B W I S D O M V G D 
 
 Selves were sensible of the defect of their own rules in tin's 
 particular, and, therefore, confess that human nature was 
 Strangely corrupted, and that this corruption was a disease 
 cause they knew not, and for which they could not 
 find a sufficient remedy. So that the great duties of 
 religion and virtue were proposed by them as matters of 
 speculation, rather than rules of practice: not so much 
 urged upon men's hearts and lives, as proposed to their 
 admiration. 
 
 This was, apparently, the condition of mankind without 
 a revelation; to recover them out of which degeneracy, 
 into a state suitable to the original excellency of their 
 nature, a supernatural discovery of their duty was plainly 
 necessary ; for if, as has been observed, the generality of 
 the world were so ignorant and corrupt, so overrun with 
 idolatry and licentiousness ; if the best of the philosophers 
 were not exempt from the general infection, and free from 
 uncertainty respecting the doctrines they pretended to 
 advance; if the points wherein they were certain, they 
 were not able to prove clearly to vulgar understandings, 
 and those they were able to prove, they had not sufficient 
 authority to enforce; in a word, if there was so much 
 inconsistency in themselves as to give scandal to others, 
 and so much depravity in others as to make them despair 
 of reforming them, there was, then, plainly a want of some 
 revelation to supply these defects, and to discover in what 
 manner, and with what kind of external service, the blessed 
 God might be acceptably worshipped; a revelation to dis- 
 cover what expiation lie would be pleased to accept of for 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 73 
 
 sin, by which liis honour is affronted and his authority 
 opposed; a revelation to give intelligent beings an 
 assurance of the great motives of religion, the rewards and 
 punishments of a future state. In fine, some particular 
 revelation was necessary to make the whole system of 
 Christian doctrine clear and obvious to all capacities, to 
 add weight and authority to the plainest precepts, and to 
 furnish men with extraordinary assistance to enable them 
 to overcome the corruptions of their nature ; and, indeed, 
 without the assistance of such a revelation, the wisest of 
 men were always of opinion that the world could never be 
 reformed. " Ye may even give over," says Socrates, " all 
 hopes of amending men's manners for the future, unless 
 God be pleased to send some other person to instruct you; 
 for whatsoever is set right, says Plato, in the present ill 
 state of the world, can only be done by the interposition 
 of God." 
 
 This condescending and gracious interposure appears 
 evidently in the Christian system, the plan of salvation 
 by the Lord Jesus Christ, which, though it be despised by 
 the ignorant, inconsiderate and prejudiced, is, by those 
 that are awakened out of their security and divinely illu- 
 minated, experienced to be, indeed and in truth, a glorious 
 display of the power of God, and the wisdom of God ; the 
 latter of which, let us for a little space fix our attention 
 upon at present. 
 
 The blessed God, my brethren, foreseeing man's fall, 
 and the misery consequent upon it, determined his re- 
 covery in a way worthy of himself, and suited to the 
 
7 \ T II B w I El D M b F <J o d 
 
 circtu iA* the apostate creature, in which his 
 
 >m is eminently conspicuous. This will appear by con- 
 sidering the end that Gk)d proposed, and the means he 
 
 irted to compass it. All intelligent agents first pro- 
 an end, and then choose the means that tend to ob- 
 tain it; now the more perfect the understanding is, the 
 more noble is the end it designs, and the more apt the 
 means it prescribes to acquire it. The end proposed by 
 the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is most excellent, viz: 
 the glory of God, and the happiness of mankind, or their 
 restoration to his image and favour. 
 
 The glory of God, or the manifestation of his attributes, 
 by their exercise, to the moral world, was his supreme scope ; 
 as God is the best of beings, of consequence his glory 
 must be the best end, and therefore it is but reasonable he 
 should aim at it in all his works; and hence he is said to 
 have made all things for himself, and that of him, and 
 through him, and to him are all things : seeing he is the 
 Creator and Lord of all, it is but just and right that he 
 should be the end of all; nothing can be more natural 
 than that what was borrowed from him, should be directed 
 to him or his honour ; "the heavens" are, therefore, said 
 to " declare the glory of God, and the firmament to show 
 forth his handy-work:" on this account, the revelation of 
 the way to future happiness, by the dear, dear Lord Jesus 
 Christ, is called " the glorious gospel of the blessed God ;" 
 the clearest manifestation, the richest display 
 of th< ccellency of his adorable attributes) 
 
 which was ever riven to the children of men: and hence 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 75 
 
 Jehovah is said to " magnify his word (that is, the word 
 of his grace) above all his name." The apostle Paul, in 
 his epistle to the Corinthians, assures us, that the " minis- 
 tration of righteousness exceeds in glory ;" and that under 
 this dispensation, " we all with open face beholding, as in 
 a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the 
 Lord." In the gospel we behold the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and the harmonious manifestation of the divine attributes 
 in the scheme of salvation through him, not under the 
 dark veil of types, shadows and prophecies, as the Jewish 
 church, but with open face as in a glass, and are thereby 
 gradually transformed into his image, through the Holy 
 Spirit's concurring influence. 
 
 To the aforesaid manifestation of the divine attributes, 
 which the Almighty proposed as his supreme end, we must 
 add the praise and thanksgiving of reasonable creatures 
 on account thereof. When intelligent beings acknowledge 
 the displays of God's excellencies with adoring reverence 
 and ardent affection, they glorify him; "he that offereth 
 praise, glorifieth me," saith the Almighty by the Psalmist ; 
 and this, undoubtedly, the blessed God had likewise in view 
 as his supreme end. 
 
 But the subordinate end in redemption is the restoration 
 of man ; and this, indeed, is inseparably connected with 
 the former, as appears from the angels' anthem, "Glory 
 to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards 
 men." Sin had broken the sacred alliance between God 
 and man, and exposed man to the divine displeasure, an 
 
7') T II I W ISDOM OF (10D 
 
 inexpressible and Incomprehensible misery. Now, what is 
 more becoming the Father of mercies, the God of love, 
 
 than to compassionate and relieve the miserable — than to 
 from the depths of rnin many monuments, in which 
 his kindness and benignity might for ever triumph? To 
 compass these truly valuable ends, divine wisdom pro- 
 1 the aptest means possible, which appears in the fol- 
 lowing easy light. 
 
 The misery of apostate man consists in the depravation 
 of his whole nature by sin, and in his exposedncss to the 
 divine displeasure on account of it, which was a just and 
 natural consequent of his crimson apostasy ; and his happi- 
 eonsisted in his restoring him to his original purity 
 and fellowship with God, and to the full enjoyment of 
 him. But the way to effect this, in consistency with the 
 divine justice, law and government, was a depth which no 
 human understanding could fathom. That God whose 
 being is love, should show kindness to the angels, who never 
 swerved from his statutes, is easy to imagine ; for though 
 they cannot merit his favour, yet they never incurred his 
 displeasure by malconduct : and it must needs be natural 
 to Jehovah to love the image of his purity wdierever it 
 appc. 
 
 Nor is it hard to conceive that the Almighty would be 
 
 inclined to succour an innocent creature in misery; for in 
 
 this ease, there would be nothing to obstruct the free 
 
 effluxes of his unexhausted goodness; but how to save a 
 
 ture that is as guilty as miserable, by its own criminal 
 
 a difficulty too hard to be solved by the wisdom 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 77 
 
 of men or of angels. Heaven itself seemed to be divided 
 on this occasion ; mercy inclined to save, but justice inter- 
 posed for satisfaction. Mercy regarded man with respect 
 to his misery, and its pleas were such as these : Shall the 
 most excellent creature in the lower world perish, the fault 
 not being entirely his — perish for ever without any favour ? 
 Shall no compassion be shown to miserable mankind, who 
 in their original state were the beauty and crown of all the 
 numerous ranks of beings in this inferior system? Shall 
 the malignant enemy forever triumph in the fatal success 
 of his perfidy, and reduce the whole human race to the 
 most deplorable and remediless ruin ? On the other hand, 
 justice, the nature of which is to give to every one his due, 
 considered man as guilty of a most ungrateful, murderous 
 and pregnant iniquity, the wages of which, agreeable to 
 the dictates of reason and the law of God, is death : this 
 divine attribute remonstrates against showing favour to 
 the unhappy delinquents, and queries, " Shall not the 
 Judge of all the earth do right ?" All the other attributes 
 seemed to be attendants on justice. 
 
 The wisdom of God enforced its plea ; it being most 
 indecent, that sin, which demerits the execution, should 
 procure the abrogation, of the law, which would encourage 
 the commission of it without fear. The majesty of God 
 was likewise concerned ; for it was not becoming excellent 
 greatness and absolute sovereignty, to treat in this humble 
 manner with inferiors and delinquents, and to offer pardon 
 to presumptuous, ungrateful rebels, before they bow at his 
 footstool, and make supplication to their judge. 
 
7 - T II H if t 8 1) M OF GOD 
 
 The holiness of God confirms and corroborates in- 
 
 majesty, and urges justice to execute the 
 
 threatening annexed to the violation of the law; for 
 
 u Jehovah is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." As 
 
 purity is the essential object of his complacential will, 
 which lie loves immutably wherever it is, so, by the law of 
 contraries, sin is the eternal object of his hatred, and con- 
 sequently such as are (with their full consent) under its 
 habitual rule and government. Because of their connection 
 With it, he will not, saith Job, take the wicked by the hand, 
 or at all acquit them, as the prophet Nahum expresses it. 
 Purity and pollution, by reason of their contrary natures, 
 cannot mix or coalesce, but must maintain a perpetual jar 
 and discord, till one or other is destroyed. Further, 
 
 The truth of God, being plighted in the covenant of works, 
 stands engaged to see to the execution of the penalty 
 denounced in case of trespass ; and if it is not, the matter 
 so requiring, divine truth fails ; but that is impossible, and 
 the attribute joins issue in the contest with divine justice, 
 wisdom, majesty and purity, and requires the execution of 
 the threatened punishment upon the offender himself; or, if 
 extraordinarily dispensed with (in this respect), it must be 
 on such terms as the honour of God's truth may be pre- 
 sented inviolate. 
 
 This seeming conflict among the divine attributes, no 
 
 created understanding could adjust, and find out a way to 
 
 die infinite mercy with inflexible justice ; a way to 
 
 \- tli" demands of the one, and grant the requests of 
 
 the other. In this exigency divine wisdom interposed, and 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 79 
 
 in its unsearchable depths cherished an expedient, to save 
 man without any prejudice to the perfections of the Deity, 
 without any injury to his government over the moral world, 
 by constituting a mediator between the guilty creature and 
 himself, that, by transferring the punishment on the surety, 
 sin might be punished, and the sinner saved. Here 
 mercy and justice salute each other, and shine with equal 
 glory and lustre. The latter is fully satisfied, and the 
 former exceedingly magnified. These amiable attributes, 
 in this mediatorial plan, join in friendly harmony, to pro- 
 mote and secure the penitent and believing sinner's per- 
 petual happiness. Nor is it unbecoming the majesty of 
 God, to accept a returning sinner, when a mediator of in- 
 finite dignity intercedes for him. 
 
 The purity of God is not in the least degree disparaged 
 by his clemency to transgressors, seeing the blessed 
 Mediator is a principle and pattern of holiness to all that 
 believe in him, and the truth of God, engaged to issue the 
 threatenings of the broken law, is, by the sufferings of the 
 sinner's surety, preserved inviolate. So that all the divine 
 perfections concur herein, and express, to the eternal 
 astonishment and delight of men and angels, inexpressible 
 charms, beauty and magnificence. Here we may see the 
 glory of the blessed God shining in the face of the venerable 
 and dear Lord Jesus Christ. Who can fathom the un- 
 searchable depths of this amazing wisdom ? Who can un- 
 fold the boundless riches and treasures of this mysterious 
 prodigy and miracle of mercy — this inexpressible, trans- 
 cendent, incomprehensible and glorious grace and love ? 
 
80 T II E WISDOM OF GOD 
 
 Barely, no understanding, either human or angelical, is 
 equal to thifl province; it is only the same infinite mind 
 that concerted this illustrious scheme of salvation by a 
 Redeemer, that can comprehend it. 
 
 The angels, those great ministers that attend the throne 
 Stoop down with the deepest attention, the strong- 
 est desire, and noblest pleasure, to behold the rich and un- 
 searchable variety of manifold wisdom and glorious grace 
 that is herein contained. But though we cannot compre- 
 hend the depths of redeeming goodness, yet we may appre- 
 hend so much as to be thereby powerfully influenced to 
 admiration, love and obedience ; so much as to be thereby 
 excited to cry out in the apostle's language, " the depths 
 of the riches, both of the knowledge and w r isdom of God ! 
 bow unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past 
 finding out !" Surely, the "love of Christ passeth know- 
 ledge." But, more particularly, 
 
 The wisdom of God appears eminently in taking occasion 
 from the sin of our progenitor, to bring a greater tribute 
 of honour to God, and greater benefit to man, than if he 
 had never transgressed. Sin naturally tends to God's 
 dishonour and to the creature's ruin; but, contrary to its 
 natural tendency, it is overruled by a wise providence to 
 be the occasion of the greatest glory to God and good to 
 man ; so that " out of the eater comes forth meat, and out 
 of the strong, sweetness;" as a medicine is extracted out 
 of a poison by the alembic; or as the black ground in a 
 picture, though in itself it contaminates, yet when fixed, 
 with judgment, in its proper place as a shade, heightens 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 81 
 
 the lustre of the brightest colours, and adds to the beauty 
 of the whole piece. 
 
 Dear sirs, the glory of God is more illustriously 
 apparent, in the recovery of fallen man, than if he had 
 never sinned. Had Adam persevered inviolably in his duty 
 and allegiance to his great Creator and Sovereign, he could 
 only have been the subject of divine goodness, but not in 
 its highest and most endearing acts, which are to pity and 
 succour the guilty and miserable. Had he transgressed, 
 and redemption not have taken place, justice, it is true, 
 would have been honoured with a solemn sacrifice, a 
 solemn triumph; but mercy, that amiable, benign, and 
 indulgent attribute, would have been veiled with a total 
 eclipse. But now the wisdom of Jehovah in the redemp- 
 tion of man appears, by according these attributes, and 
 making them shine with rival charms. The honour of 
 Jehovah appears as much in preserving the authority of 
 his law, by punishing our surety in our room and place, as 
 by the exercise of his mercy in pardoning the trans- 
 gressor. 
 
 Nor is it less honourable, my brethren, to the divine 
 wisdom, to restore fallen man with infinite advantage : 
 though innocent man was holy, yet sad experience verifies, 
 that he was mutably so ; but holiness in the redeemed 
 shall be perpetual, eternal. Adam's stock was in his own 
 hand, and hence he became a bankrupt ; but ours is in the 
 hands of an almighty surety, who has undertaken for us, 
 and will be faithful to his trust. Justice itself being 
 satisfied becomes our friend, and ascertains our possession 
 
82 T II I W I B D M F 8 D 
 
 of paradise. I might add, that there are graces to be 
 
 I by us in our fallen state, for which there were no 
 tasions in innocence: such as compassion to 
 the miserable, forgiveness of injuries, and patience; all 
 which, being emblems of the divine perfections, must, of 
 eqnence, be ornamental to, and perfective of, our im- 
 mortal souls, in conforming them to the great pattern and 
 original of beauty and excellency. 
 
 Again, the wisdom of God appears in appointing such 
 a mediator as is suitably qualified to reconcile God to man, 
 and man to God ; a mediator, that is God and man in 
 one person, and therefore capable of the affections and 
 sentiments of both the parties to be reconciled. The 
 wisdom of the divine constitution in appointing a person 
 to mediate, who is possessed of the divine and human 
 natures, appears more particularly from the three offices 
 he exercises in that character, viz : Prophetical, Priestly, 
 and Kingly. 
 
 Considered as a Prophet, it was necessary that the me- 
 diator should be God, that he might deliver instructions 
 with more authority and efficacy; it is God alone that can 
 enlighten the mind, convince the conscience, teach, and 
 change the heart. And it was likewise necessary, 
 that he should be man, that he might converse with us, 
 and convey his instructions to us, in such a familiar way, 
 e could receive. Such is the weakness of our present 
 frame, that the majesty of God's appearance occasions a 
 ig panic, and, hence, when Israel had seen some 
 glimp I tod's glory and majesty, at the giving of the 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 83 
 
 law, they besought the Lord to speak no more to them, 
 in such a manner, lest they died. And no doubt guilt 
 increases our dread at the approach of God, and therefore 
 renders us unfit to attend with due calmness to his 
 immediate instructions. An instance of this we have 
 in the prophet, who, when he heard the seraphs shout, 
 " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the heavens and 
 earth are full of the majesty of his glory," lamented in 
 this mournful language, " Woe is me, I am undone, for 
 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." In- 
 finite purity, attended with awful majesty, so alarms our 
 fears, as to render us unfit for instruction ; but the Son of 
 God appearing in our nature to make atonement for trans- 
 gressors, the brightness of his divine majesty being veiled 
 with the mantle of his humanity is thereby allayed, and 
 so more accommodated to our present state of weakness. 
 Hereby we are encouraged to draw near to him, and to 
 hear with composure his gentle instructions, which drop as 
 the rain, and distil as the dew upon the tender herb. 
 
 Nor was the union of the divine and human natures in 
 the person of the Mediator less necessary, my brethren, 
 in respect of his Priestly office. He must be man, that 
 the sinning nature might suffer, and thereby acquire a 
 right to the satisfaction made ; for our title to the benefits 
 of Christ's sufferings depends upon our union to him, which 
 is not only spiritual by faith, but natural also ; for, as the 
 apostle observes, " He who sanctifies, and they who are 
 sanctified, are all one ;" i. <?., they have communion in the 
 same nature. Inasmuch as suffering, according to the 
 
Si T II I W 1 I D M OF G D 
 
 divine declaration, was necessary to atone for sin, of which 
 the Deity is incapable, it behoved our High Priest to be 
 man, that he might have a capacity for it; and that those 
 Bufferings might be of sufficient dignity and value, and the 
 human nature supported under them, it was as necessary 
 lie should be God. 
 
 Nor was it less needful that the Mediator should par- 
 take of both natures, in order to intercede for us as a 
 Priest ; that so he might have a sufficient interest in his 
 Father's affection to prevail in his suit for us, and, at the 
 same time, be possessed of tender affections towards us. 
 Being the Son of God, him the Father always hears, and 
 being the Son of man, he is touched with the feeling of our 
 infirmities ; we have, therefore, encouragement to come with 
 boldness to the throne of his grace to obtain mercy, and 
 find grace to help in time of need. 
 
 And is it not also requisite that the Mediator should be 
 
 God and man, in regard to his Kingly office? For unless 
 
 he be God, how can he apply the fruits of his death to us, 
 
 dispossess the strong man armed, and subdue us to the 
 
 obedience of faith? And if he had not been man, how 
 
 could he have led us into the way of universal holiness, by 
 
 the influence of his own example, which is, doubtless, an 
 
 excellent method to reform mankind? It is not only 
 
 isary to enact rules of virtue by a kingly authority, 
 
 bat likewise, by example, to make precepts practicable and 
 
 honourable. When brave generals, though of the noblest 
 
 'i to animate their armies to heroic achieve- 
 
 5, they voluntarily submit their persons to all the 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 85 
 
 humble offices and hardships of a state of war, courageously 
 lead their troops into the high places of the field of battle, 
 and expose their lives to the greatest perils. This our 
 Lord has done for us ; the Captain of our salvation, the 
 King of the church, and Lord of the universe, has been 
 made perfect through sufferings. 
 
 Another instance of divine wisdom in the redemption 
 of man, by the Lord Jesus Christ, is in making the remedy 
 to have some analogy and proportion to the cause of our 
 ruin ; i. £., as we fell in the first Adam, considered as our 
 representative, so we are raised by the second, considered 
 in the same character: "as by the disobedience of one, 
 many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, many 
 are made righteous." As guilt and death came by the 
 first, through imputation to all his natural offspring, that 
 are united to him naturally by existence, so righteousness 
 and life came by the second Adam, through imputation to 
 all his spiritual offspring, that are united to him spiritually 
 bv faith. 
 
 Moreover, my brethren, divine wisdom is conspicuous 
 in the manner whereby our redemption is accomplished, 
 viz : by the humiliation of the Son of God ; by this, 
 Jehovah, as it were, counterworks the sin of angels and men. 
 Pride is the malignity of every sin, for, by it, the sinner 
 sets up his will against God. Now that our dear Re- 
 deemer might cure the disease we labour under, in its 
 original source, by the nature of the remedy, he applied to 
 our arrogance, humility. Man, who is but a worm and 
 crushed before the moth, was vainly and wickedly guilty 
 8 
 
T TI I WISDOM OF G D 
 
 of high treason, in affecting to be like God; and thus he 
 fell from the state of happiness in which he was at first 
 created. And the eternal Son of God, who was in the form 
 of God, and counted it not robbery to be equal with God, 
 Btooped to assume the humble form of a servant, that by 
 ifferingfl he might restore fallen man to his primitive 
 purity and bliss; and by his example correct that arro- 
 gance, which was the fountain of his fatal apostasy, and 
 all its unhappy consequences. " The word was made 
 flesh, 91 to banish the distance between God and it. stu- 
 pendous abasement ! the condescension of divine majesty 
 herein is equal to the contrivance of divine wisdom. 
 Both are indeed incomprehensible, both inexpressible. So 
 dreadful was the malignity of our native arrogance, that 
 such unparalleled, astonishing abasement, even of God 
 himself, was necessary to its cure. By this, our Lord 
 destroyed the first work of our grand enemy. 
 
 Further, the wisdom of God (in connection with al- 
 mightiness) appears in appointing such contemptible, and, 
 to appearance, contrary means, to accomplish such great 
 and glorious effects. The way is as wonderful as the 
 work: that Christ, by dying on the cross, a reputed 
 malefactor, should be made our eternal righteousness ; that 
 by death, he should destroy him that had the power of 
 death and purchase our life; that, by descending into the 
 e, he should purchase our resurrection from it, and 
 immortal blessedness, — is truly amazing, and plainly shows 
 that the thoughts and ways of God arc far above ours, as 
 the heavens are above the earth. Strange that immortal 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 87 
 
 life should spring from death, honour from ignominy, 
 healing from stripes, blessedness from a curse ! This is so 
 contrary to the usual course of things, that to render it 
 credible, it was typified by many symbols, and foretold by 
 many prophets before it came to pass, that, when it came, 
 it might be esteemed an effect of God's eternal counsel, 
 almighty power, and unsearchable wisdom. Though 
 Christ crucified be to the Jews a stumbling-block, and 
 to the Greeks foolishness, yet to those that are called, he 
 is the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Surely 
 great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the 
 flesh ; whatever our modern exalters of carnal reason, and 
 monopolizers of wisdom, mutter to the contrary not- 
 withstanding. These men say they are Christians, and yet 
 with a show of wisdom, and pretext of friendship to Jesus 
 Christ, they presume to confront the express testimony of 
 his inspired apostles ; they labour with art and address to 
 rob his religion of its grand peculiars, and to substitute 
 polished paganism in its place, and would have us to 
 believe the jest, the juggle, that there is no material 
 difference between them. But God forbid ! we have not 
 so learned Christ; while they profess themselves to be 
 wise, they commence fools, they become vain in their 
 imaginations, and their foolish hearts are darkened; "for 
 in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God ; 
 it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save 
 those that believe ;" i. e., the great Sovereign and Lord 
 of all, who has a right to do with his own as he pleases, 
 has, of his mere motion, so ordered the matter, that by the 
 
T II I W I8D0 M Of (J O D 
 
 humble preaching of the cross of Christ, or, in other words, 
 tin* mediatorial plan of salvation, by the Bufferings and 
 death of the Son of God (which some stumble at, and 
 
 a inconsistent and foolish), those that believe shall 
 obtain eternal happiness. Such who reckon the grand 
 peculiars of the religion of Jesus foolish and absurd, 
 would act a more candid and consistent part, if they 
 renounced the name of Christianity altogether, (for what 
 signifies the name without the thing?) and openly declared 
 that they reject the Bible, as a sure and sufficient guide to 
 heaven, and betake themselves to their Dagons, viz: their 
 carnal reason, and graceless virtue, — to a dependence on the 
 former as their supreme and sufficient guide in the matters 
 of religion, and on the latter as their only Saviour. " My 
 soul, come not into their secret ; to their assembly, mine 
 honour, be not thou united." Let Jewish, Grecian, and 
 British infidels or pagans, (the most inexcusable of all the 
 
 who in the midst of light and day grope in Egyptian 
 darkness,) in the pride and stoutness of their hearts deride 
 and burlesque the mysterious and humble doctrines of 
 Christ crucified, as a nonsensical scheme; yet they never 
 will be able, by all their art, their eloquence, and sovereign 
 (m]i tempt, to drive those that have experienced a gracious 
 change (a divine birth) from the foundation of their hope. 
 Such have an inward witness, that " Christ crucified is 
 the wisdom of God, and the power of God;" and in every 
 successive period, till time concludes its drama, there will 
 be suchj who shall not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 
 but glory in his cross, as a badge of honour; for " the 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 89 
 
 foundation of God stands sure." Jehovah has graciously 
 promised, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 his church, and that no weapon formed against her shall 
 prosper. But to proceed : 
 
 The divine wisdom, my brethren, appears gloriously in 
 forming the plan of the gospel, in such a manner, as at 
 once to provide for the comfort of men's souls, and 
 promote the purity of their manners. And this, indeed, 
 is an inseparable character of divine doctrines, that they 
 equally tend to promote God's glory and our benefit. 
 Thus, as the way to blessedness by a mediator, effectually 
 secures God's honour, so it powerfully incites the sinner's 
 hope, love and joy, by representing the blessed God as 
 amiable, benign, and gracious, by providing a complete 
 satisfaction to injured justice, that thus a way might be 
 opened for a liberal, consistent and honourable effusion of 
 divine goodness, in all its innumerable instances, in all its 
 various and valuable effects, adapted to every changing 
 scene of life, adapted to every circumstance of the indi- 
 gent and distressed ; and sufficient to support, relieve, 
 yea, refresh and content them, in the midst of miseries 
 and woes ; and under a train and complication of the 
 greatest calamities, which this Bochim, this state of exile, 
 affords. These primitive and faithful servants of Christ, 
 the apostles, though they were by many reckoned deceivers, 
 yet they were true ; though they had nothing, yet they 
 possessed all things ; though they were sorrowful, yet they 
 were always rejoicing. The mediatorial plan shows us how 
 " God may be just, and yet the justifier of him that 
 8* 
 
00 THE WISDOM OF G D 
 
 believeth in Jesus." because of his propitiation. This opens 
 to our view the bnspeakable gift of the Son of God, and 
 
 assures as of the gift of all things with him, in case we 
 believe ; in particular, this fixes our final perseverance in 
 goodness, a crowning mercy, upon the impregnable basis 
 of the immutable purpose, the almighty power, and faith- 
 ful promise of God; upon the sacred suretyship, the com- 
 plete satisfaction, and perpetual intercession of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ; and therefore this gospel scheme of grace 
 and salvation opens an unfailing spring of joy, and lays 
 a firm foundation for our hope and trust ; this calms the 
 guilty, restless mind, and makes it " rejoice in the hope of 
 the glory of God, with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 
 And as the gospel of Christ provides for our solace, sc 
 it incites to universal purity. Do not the sufferings of the 
 of God for sin give us a dreadful representation of 
 its malignity and danger, seeing nothing less could make 
 a satisfaction for it, and, therefore, serve to deter us fron 
 it? We may judge of the danger of a disease by the 
 difficulty of its cure; nothing less could heal our morta 
 malady than the blood of God; and seeing Christ ha 
 expressed such amazing love to us, does not this tend t< 
 beget love in us to him, and to constrain us to a voluntary 
 sincere and uniform obedience, from that truly noble 
 principle? 
 
 ■., if the gospel of Christ be such as has been described, 
 With what ardour should we celebrate the divine praises 
 for t 1 ction, so worthy of God, so suited to the case 
 
 of fallen man? The apostasy of our first parents was sc 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 91 
 
 fatal to us, that nothing less than infinite wisdom could 
 find out a sufficient remedy. There is no discovery of 
 this in the works of creation. The heavens and the earth 
 do, indeed, prove the existence of a Supreme Being, by 
 pointing to some of his adorable attributes ; but cannot 
 represent the design of redemption, which has no connection 
 with the existence of creatures, but hangs altogether upon 
 the sovereign pleasure of God. The doctrine of the Trinity, 
 which is the foundation of the mediatorial plan of salva- 
 tion, cannot be known by the frame of the universe. 
 
 Nor can natural reason, by its utmost force, attain to 
 the knowledge of redeeming grace and love. It is true, 
 there are some remains of the law of nature in the heart 
 of man, some common notices (rudera, vestigia) of the 
 differences between moral good and evil, otherwise the 
 world would soon disband and turn into the wildest anarchy, 
 the rudest chaos, and become an Aceldama. Though misery 
 when felt, excites to look out for a remedy, yet, here 
 reason is at a loss, at a plunge, and quite non-plussed. 
 How could the Israelites imagine, that by looking to the 
 brazen serpent, those that were stung should be healed ? 
 And how can a poor creature discover, by the mere dint 
 of his own genius, or light within, the satisfaction of 
 divine justice by Jesus Christ? No, they cannot, and 
 hence it is called a "mystery, hid from ages and genera- 
 tions;" nay, though the human mind had never been cor- 
 rupted, it could not, by the force of its reasonings, find it 
 out ; for this the very angels could not discover, till it was 
 made known to them by the church. By the first coming 
 
89 I II i: W I 9 D M Q I (iOD 
 
 of Christ, and the conversion of many to him, the depths 
 of divine wisdom were unveiled. 
 
 9tle informs us, that the ease of the Gentiles was 
 
 mely dangerous : "their understandings were dark- 
 ened, being alienated from the life of God, through the 
 
 anoe that is in them, because of the blindness of their 
 hearts." The apostle Paul declares, that the Ephesians 
 were formerly darkness, i\ e. while pagans; and elsewhere 
 assures us that "the natural man does not understand the 
 tilings of the Spirit of God ;" that they are foolishness to 
 him, and he cannot know them, because they are spiritu- 
 ally discerned ; and this was not only the case with the 
 ruder sort, but of the more polite and learned ; for, as has 
 
 before observed, " the world by wisdom knew not God." 
 Natural reason cannot inform us whether God will pardon 
 any transgressors at all, or not, or upon wdiat terms. It is 
 true, the modern Deists do now trump up a plausible scheme 
 of natural religion, with design to overset revealed, but are 
 not so candid as to inform us that they borrowed their 
 
 ns from the Bible; without the assistance of w T hich, 
 notwithstanding their pride and pretence to penetration 
 | or superior acumen), they would speak as darkly, doubting- 
 1 v. and confusedly, as their more ingenious and ingenuous 
 forefathers, the pagan philosophers, long since. 
 
 What a horrid confusion of sentiments, what a rude, 
 
 wild, and dark chaos, overwhelmed the pagan world before 
 
 coming, in respect of the most important points 
 
 Ligion ! Varro declares, that there were, among them, 
 no less than three hundred different opinions about the 
 
IN REDEMPTION. \)3 
 
 chief good ; nor did they inculcate internal purity, and the 
 necessity of forgiving injuries ; and the best of them offered 
 but uncertain conjectures about the immortality of the 
 soul. A view of their miseries may justly heighten our 
 value for the mercies we enjoy. While many nations dwell 
 in darkness, and in the shadow of death, the day-spring 
 from on high has visited us, and the Sun of righteousness 
 arisen with healing under his wings upon us. This dis- 
 tinguishing, important, and unmerited benefit should fire 
 our souls with love and gratitude, and stir us up to the 
 most affectionate thanksgiving. It is the prerogative of 
 God to reveal the secrets of his kingdom to whom he 
 pleases ; how, then, can we reflect upon the divine good- 
 ness towards us, without the warmest emotion, the most 
 admiring, grateful sentiments ? Surely, by nature we are 
 as blind, corrupt, and perverse as any other nation ; what 
 are we, then, that God should be so gracious to us ? If 
 the publication of the law to the people of Israel was 
 justly reckoned their peculiar treasure, what, then, is the 
 revelation of the gospel by the Son of God, which alone 
 discovers our remedy, and of which there is no innate 
 notice in human nature, nor any given otherwise univer- 
 sally. 
 
 Can this principle be easily justified, that there is some- 
 thing in mankind, which, if attended to, is sufficient to 
 direct man to salvation without the Scriptures ? It is 
 no matter what this something be called, whether reason, 
 conscience, or the light within, seeing the substance inten- 
 ded is the same. Do not the Scriptures positively declare 
 
9 I I 11 I W 1 S I> M OF GOD 
 
 that tl no name given under heaven, by which sal- 
 
 vation ran be obtained) but the name of Jesus; that faith 
 - by hearing, and hearing by the word of God; that 
 we cannot hear without a preacher; that the heathen aro 
 darkness, without the covenants of promise, without God; 
 that they perish for lack of vision, and that all the unre- 
 generate before conviction arc blind, dead, possessed with 
 Satan: that the Light in some is darkness, and that all 
 men have not faith ? Now, how can the aforesaid principles 
 agree with those declarations ? 
 
 And do not millions of facts (which are stubborn things) 
 in the pagan world, in the present and past ages, and in 
 various nations, confirm the aforesaid testimony of Scrip- 
 ture, that the pagans, whatever pains they take in 
 their different ways of religion (unless they obtain some 
 information from the sacred Scriptures), remain ignorant 
 of the way of salvation by Christ ? If the pagans had this 
 knowledge, is it reasonable to think that they would be 
 brought to the profession of what they believe with great 
 difficulty, in places where this profession is not attended 
 with any danger? And yet this has often been the case, 
 and is so still ; and why have so many opposed, with great 
 vehemence, and without any sense of guilt, the profession 
 of Christianity, (with Saul before his conversion,) if it be 
 so universally known as is supposed? And why do none, 
 among such vast multitudes, and during so many ages, 
 >unt of this matter? 
 
 Further, is not one design of the sacred srriptures for 
 46 doctrine and instruction," "to make the man of God 
 
IN REDEMPTION. 95 
 
 perfect and thoroughly furnished to every good work ;" now 
 -what need is there of this, if there be sufficient light in 
 every man to direct him without it ? Is it not absurd to 
 say. we need more than what is sufficient, or that we need 
 more than we need ? Is not the Bible, therefore, needless 
 and superfluous, according to this principle ? And is this 
 principle safe, that, in its consequences, deprives us of our 
 Bible ? Pray is not the business of pastors after God's 
 heart, to feed the people with knowledge and understand- 
 ing ? And is it not the design of their office to turn sin- 
 ners from darkness to light ? But what need is there of 
 this institution at all, what need of any labours to instruct 
 mankind, if men have sufficient light without it in them- 
 selves ? Is not preaching at any time or place, on this 
 plan, an absurdity, a mere farce ? And why did the 
 apostles take so much pains in travelling and preaching ? 
 Why did they run such risks and endure such hardships ? 
 Was it to do a superfluous business, to teach people what 
 they knew already, or might know without their assistance ? 
 If so, was this prudent in them (seeing they carried on no 
 business of merchandize, or traffic in their travels to 
 enrich themselves), or a good argument that they had the 
 full exercise of their reason ? Pray did they suffer stripes, 
 imprisonment, or death, like wise men or fools, for doing 
 what was needless ? Judge ye. 
 
 Upon this hypothesis, is it probable that we shall be 
 duly sensible of the value of our religious privileges, 
 sincerely thankful for them, tenderly concerned for those 
 that want them, and use diligence to proselyte them to 
 Christianity, when we judge that they are unnecessary ? 
 
t li i w i e d o m o v n o d 
 
 Bui to proceed, is not the incomprehensible mystery of 
 
 sdom and grace, weU worthy of our serious 
 
 thoughts and study ; Beeing it excels all other sciences in 
 
 Sublimity of its object, the certainty of its principle, 
 
 the efficacy of its influence, and the value of its end? It 
 doctrine that affects the soul with the highest 
 
 admiration of the divine wisdom, love, and grace, and 
 I -peak in the Pealmi&t'e language, " How wonder- 
 ful arc thy thoughts to us-ward !" When the Almighty 
 hereby turns our captivity, we are as those that dream. 
 This opens before us the grandest theme, that w T as ever 
 exposed to mortal eye or ear ; a complication of wonders, 
 the chief of all the ways of God ; strange that He who 
 fills heaven and earth, should be confined in a virgin's womb 
 — that life should die and, being dead, revive — that mercy 
 should triumph, without infringing on the rights of justice ! 
 
 The principle of this mysterious doctrine is immutable, 
 like God, the author and object of it ; whereas, philoso- 
 phical sciences are frequently shifting ; almost every one, 
 through pride and excessive self-love, is disposed to despise 
 and pull down what another, with much labour, builds up. 
 
 And how precious and powerful is the influence of this 
 doctrine upon those that believingly receive it ! While 
 tle-v behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they are 
 transformed into the same image from glory to glory — 
 this is eternal life, to know God, and Jesus Christ whom 
 he has sent. ! let us cry earnestly to God, that Christ 
 crucified may be more and more the wisdom of God, and 
 G 'I to us! Amen, amen. Dear Lord 
 Amen. 
 
SAMUEL BLAIE. 
 
 TnE Rev. Samuel Blair was a native of Ireland, but came early 
 to this country, and received his education in the Log College, under 
 Mr. William Tennent, Sen. He must have been among the first 
 pupils of this institution. After finishing his classical and theolo- 
 gical studies, Mr. Blair put himself under the care of the New Castle 
 Presbytery, by which body he was in due time licensed to preach 
 the gospel. Soon after his licensure, he was settled in the Presby- 
 terian Congregation at Shrewsbury, in New Jersey, in 1734. He 
 laboured in this field for five or six years, when he received an 
 earnest call to settle in New Londonderry, otherwise called Faggs 
 Manor, in the State of Pennsylvania. Here he instituted a classical 
 school, similar in its purpose to that of Mr. Tennent, in Nesha- 
 niiny, in which some of the ablest ministers of the Presbyterian 
 Church received either the whole, or the more substantial parts of 
 their education. 
 
 There are no records extant, from which we can learn any par- 
 ticulars respecting the fruits of Mr. Blair's labours, at Shrewsbury. 
 Here he commenced his ministerial work; and, as he was a faithful, 
 able and zealous preacher of the truth as it is in Jesus, we entertain 
 no doubt that some of the good seed which he sowed, fell into good 
 ground, and brought forth fruit. 
 
 Under his ministry at New Londonderry, there occurred a very 
 remarkable revival of 'religion, of which he wrote a particular nar- 
 rative. 
 
 The congregation at Faggs Manor consisted almost entirely of 
 emigrants frum the north of Ireland; and had been formed a num- 
 
 (97) 
 
SAMUEL B L A I It . 
 
 jean, but had never enjoyed the ministry of a stated pastor. 
 btiement among them took place in November, 1739; although 
 
 II D01 installed as their pastor until the month of April, 1740. 
 Mr. Blairwafl one of the most learned and profound, as well as 
 pious, excellent, and venerable men of his day. His deep and elear 
 view- eta ;i theologian, are sufficiently evident from his treatise on 
 "Predestination," where this awful and mysterious doctrine is 
 treated with the hand of a master. As a preacher, Mr. Blair was 
 
 eminent. There was a solemnity in his very appearance, 
 which struck his hearers with awe, before he opened his mouth. 
 And his manner of preaching, while it was truly evangelical and 
 instructive, was exceedingly impressive — he spoke as in the view 
 of eternity, as in the immediate presence of God. 
 
 He contracted the disease of which he died, by exposure in 
 attending upon a meeting of the Trustees of the College of New 
 Jersey. His last words, a minute or two before his departure, were, 
 " The Bridegroom is come, and we shall now have all things." And 
 thus, under a gleam of heaven, he breathed out his last. Though 
 his life was protracted beyond the age attained by Davies and 
 Brainerd, yet he may be said to have died young; for, from the in- 
 scription on his tomb, it appears that he was only thirty -nine years 
 and twenty one days old, when he was taken away. 
 
TREATISE 
 
 ON THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 
 
 BY THE REV. SAMUEL BLAIR. 
 
 In order to speak clearly and to advantage upon any 
 subject, and especially, if it be much controverted in the 
 "world, it is, in the first place, necessary that it be exactly 
 defined and bounded by its proper limits ; that it be repre- 
 sented properly, as it is maintained by those who contend 
 for it, that so both parties may have the same fixed, deter- 
 minate idea of what they reason about, and speak both 
 still to the self same thing. Endless are the confusions 
 and contentions that are introduced into the world, either 
 for the want of this care in defining and rightly under- 
 standing the subject in debate, or for want of honesty in 
 an opponent, when he will not keep close to the very thing, 
 though he doth understand what it is. It is the readiest 
 way to bring out controversy to a right issue, rightly to 
 state and represent the case, and then to keep close to it, 
 as so stated, and not suffer another thing, under the same 
 name, to be shuffled in in its place, through the course of 
 the argument. In this way, such objections, as suppose 
 the case to be different from what it is, are easily answered 
 
 (99) 
 
100 TR B LTIS1 ON Tlf E 
 
 by reducing the objector to tlio prefixed limits, and so 
 showing Ins argument to be nothing to the purpose in 
 
 hand. And I think there is nowhere more need of this 
 care and attention, than about the doctrine of God's Decrees 
 or Predestination, which is the subject of this small treatise. 
 I know nor any doctrine more furiously opposed, without 
 being rightly understood, or by being disingenuously and 
 Uncandidly misrepresented. I shall, therefore, first of all, 
 state the doctrine truly, and then defend and confirm it. 
 
 I. As to the true state of the doctrine, it may be taken 
 up in these two or three propositions : 
 
 1. That as God, from everlasting, was pleased in his 
 own free sovereignty to decree and to determine to create 
 this world, and to make man in it, a reasonable creature, 
 in his own image, holy and upright, every way fitted and 
 impowered for that duty which was due from such a rational 
 creature to the great God Creator, with full ability to pre- 
 serve and continue in that happy state of integrity ; and 
 to enter into a covenant of life with him, wherein all the 
 human race were to be concerned and engaged ; and, Adam, 
 their first father, constituted their public head and repre- 
 sentative ; so that, as he kept or broke the covenant, they 
 to enjoy or lose the promised blessings of it; and as 
 infallibly foreknew the fall and transgression of 
 Adam, as what he had decreed to permit, and so the de- 
 pravity and ruin of his posterity consequent thereupon, 
 according to the covenant, with all the actual sins which 
 every individual should ever be guilty of; so he was like- 
 Q mere grace and free favour, to de- 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 101 
 
 cree and determine to recover and save a number, only 
 known to himself, of that fallen, wretched race, through 
 the mediation of his own Son's redeeming them, by 
 answering the precept and penalty of the broken law for 
 them ; and through the sanctification of his eternal Spirit 
 making them fit for, and capable of, glorifying and enjoy- 
 ing him for ever. 
 
 '2. That God's determining and appointing to save any 
 of fallen mankind, or any in particular more than others, 
 was not upon the foresight of any difference which he fore- 
 saw they would make among themselves, by the better 
 improvement of any common helps and advantages, as the 
 reason of it ; but it was purely of his own sovereign, free, 
 wise pleasure, and distinguishing grace. 
 
 3. The rest of fallen mankind, not thus chosen and or- 
 dained to eternal life, he was pleased of his sovereign, 
 wise and righteous pleasure, as a just king and lawgiver, 
 to determine to leave in their fallen state, and punish them 
 according to all the sin and disobedience which they should 
 be guilty of, and chargeable with. 
 
 This is, briefly, a just view of the case I am upon ; 
 which, I hope, with the divine direction and conduct, to 
 maintain against all the arguments commonly opposed to 
 the doctrine. I cannot, indeed, expect that this repre- 
 sentation of it will render it generally acceptable and 
 agreeable to those who have been long prejudiced against 
 it ; but that is not the question, whether we would incline 
 or desire to have it so ; but, whether it be truly and really 
 so, whether we would desire to have it so, or not. Many 
 
102 t B 1: \ 1 19| on t li | 
 
 of the laws and oommandg of God are very oontrary to tlio 
 will and inclination of depraved sinners; but they are n<>t 
 the loss truly the -commands of God for that. In the defence 
 of this doctrine, I would first show, that it is a reasonable, 
 
 and next, that it is a scriptural doctrine ; and speak to the 
 arguments which may be urged both for and against it, 
 from both these topics, of reason and revelation. 
 
 II. Those who oppose the doctrine of absolute decrees, 
 generally bring in a heavy indictment against it, as big 
 with the most glaring absurdities, inconsistencies, and 
 contradictions to the very light of reason ; and these, 
 such as involve in them the grossest impiety, and most 
 horrid blasphemy against the Divine Majesty: as, that it 
 is directly contrary to, and necessarily infers the exact 
 reverse of most of, the glorious perfections and attributes 
 which reason as well as scripture teaches us to ascribe to 
 the great God ; that it makes him unjust, and tyrannically 
 cruel ; some say, I dread to express it, worse than the very 
 devil ; that it makes him the author of sin, chargeable 
 with most, if not all the guilt of it ; that it makes him a 
 most gross, hypocritical dissembler, &c. But, sure, it is 
 not the proper Calvinistic doctrine upon that head, that 
 • men bring in all these awful and shocking charges 
 against.; but some horrid composition of their own brain, 
 which they will palm upon the Calvinists, whether they 
 will or no : or else, they just resolve to bring a popular 
 odium upon the doctrine, by such vile, bold, and (hiring 
 methods ; to impose upon such as are not well capable to 
 n clearly or closely upon such a sublime subject, that 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 103 
 
 they may abhor the very thoughts of it. I readily own, 
 that whatsoever notion infers any the least imperfection 
 in God, is unreasonable, and worse than false. But let 
 the account I have given of this doctrine, be but duly and 
 unbiassedly considered ; and then tell me, if there is any 
 thing so dishonourable to God, or unreasonable in it ; if 
 there is, in which of the three propositions, or articles, is 
 it ? Is it in the first, when it is said, that God decreed to 
 permit Adam's fall ? But you must own that he did per- 
 mit it : that is, that he did not prevent it, if you own that 
 Adam did fall ; and consequently, you must own that God 
 decreed to permit or suffer him to fall ; for it is highly 
 absurd to say, that he did permit it without determining 
 to permit it ; that is the same thing as to say that he took 
 no notice of it at all, till it was done ; that it never once 
 came under the view of his all-comprehending, all-discern- 
 ing mind, how Adam would behave himself in such 
 circumstances as he was in, when he did transgress, if left 
 merely to his own use of his original powers ; but this is 
 to deny God's infinite and boundless perfection. Well then, 
 if he had this view and knowledge of what Adam would 
 do in such a case, if thus left to himself, that is, that he 
 would sin ; he determined either to hinder or suffer it, to 
 prevent or permit it. It is manifest that he did not 
 determine to prevent it, for if so, it would not have been ; 
 and his not determining or decreeing to prevent it, when 
 he infallibly knew it would be if he did not, was decreeing 
 to permit it. And then, upon this decree to permit the 
 fall, proceeded God's certain foreknowledge of it, as future. 
 
104 T R H A T I S I ON THE 
 
 . tliis permissive decree and foreknowledge of 
 
 man's trai n and apostasy, plainly appear from 
 
 I 's having foreordained a Redeemer before the founda- 
 tion of the world, as according to 1 Pet. i. 18 — 20. And 
 n<>w, Boeing these things are plainly so, viz : that God did 
 thus determine to permit the fall of man, which, in his 
 perfect and boundless knowledge, he saw would be, if he 
 did not hinder it by his immediate, super-added influence; 
 and consequently foresaw it, as a thing that would surely 
 be ; so plain, that he must have a strange art of managing 
 his reason, who will carefully follow these few steps I have 
 here taken, and not be constrained to yield his assent ; 
 then, surely, one would think there was more reverence 
 and honour due to the great and glorious majesty of God, 
 than for any poor worms of the dust to bring in their bold 
 charges against him here, and say, that for these things he 
 is the author of sin : either in that he created man at all, 
 or in that he did not prevent his sin, when he could have 
 done it. Who art thou, man, that repliest against God ? 
 Surely, it becomes us to entertain more honourable, exalt- 
 ing thoughts of God, than to give the least way to such a 
 vile suggestion ; even supposing our poor mole-eyes should 
 not be able to discern, to our satisfaction, how it could be 
 Otherwise. We may, on the one hand, be clearly assured 
 of God's permissive decree, and certain foreknowledge of 
 man's sin ; and, on the other hand, as well assured, that 
 he is essentially and infinitely holy; and though we 
 should not be able to reconcile these together, yet he can ; 
 and that ought to silence and satisfy us. It docs not well 
 
DOCTRINE OP PREDESTINATION. 105 
 
 befit us to put ourselves on a par with him ; and think that 
 he can know nothing but what we must know^ too. But 
 yet, I see no need of leaving the case at this issue neither ; 
 for how unreasonable and ridiculous is this ground of the 
 charge ! God did not propose and determine to prevent 
 Adam's sinning, when it was easy to his power to have 
 prevented it ; well, and what then ? Did not the Lord 
 give him sufficient power to have prevented it himself? 
 And was not this enough to free the kind Creator from all 
 blame in the case? Cannot God make a creature perfect, 
 and complete in its order and rank, endowed with full 
 ability and power to preserve its glory unstained, and put 
 it in a state of probation and trial, without a criminal 
 charge ? Must he be called to answer at the creature's 
 bar, for his own miscarriage, and voluntary rebellion, in 
 such a case ? Indeed, if we maintained that God did not 
 give Adam sufficient power to preserve his fidelity, and 
 withstand the temptation ; or that God, by his immediate 
 energy, overpowered him to a compliance ; then, I confess, 
 there would be no standing before the argument. But, as 
 we assert no such thing, nor anything that will afford such 
 a consequence, how unfair and inexcusable is it, to give 
 out as if we did ! which is the method of too many, either 
 ignorantly or wilfully. And let me observe, that the 
 Arminians, yea, men of all sorts of religions in the world, 
 are no less obliged to answer this difficulty, than the 
 Calvinists ; for they must all acknowledge that there is 
 sin in the world, and that God has permitted it, otherwise 
 it could not be ; yea, you must acknowledge yourselves to 
 
lOfi TR B a t i s 1: OH IS I 
 
 have been guilty of sins, and such as you might have 
 avoided. Bui dare you lift up your face to God, and say 
 
 to him, w ' 1 have done many evils, even such as I had 
 r to refrain; but they are thy sins, and not mine, 
 because thou didst not keep me from them?" Would not 
 your own reason confound you with shame, at the thoughts 
 of such a malapert, senseless speech to God? As little 
 n is there, whatever less, for charging the righteous 
 God in the case of Adam's transgression. 
 
 Or, is it matter of just prejudice against this doctrine, 
 that mankind are said to have been considered, in the di- 
 vine decree, as universally fallen in Adam, in consequence 
 of his breach and violation of the covenant of God, wherein 
 he was appointed the covenant-head and representative of 
 his posterity? But, sure, yourselves must acknowledge 
 that all mankind did fall in Adam's transgression, if you 
 profess to believe the holy Scriptures. So long as the 
 fifth chapter of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans stands in 
 the Bible, it will be impossible, with any face of modesty, 
 to deny it ; where we are told, that " by one man sin entered 
 into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed 
 upon all men, for that all have sinned ;" and, that " by the 
 offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemna- 
 tion." When you say that all mankind are recovered again 
 out of the condemnation and ruin which the sin of Adam 
 brought upon them, by Jesus Christ, is it not an acknowl- 
 edgment that they were at once fallen, and ruined by it? 
 And inasmuch as yourselves acknowledge it was so, you 
 must acknowledge it was reasonable and no way incon- 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 107 
 
 sistent with the perfections of God that it should be so ; 
 or else you say, point blank, that God was, at least once, 
 unrighteous. And now, seeing mankind were fallen in 
 Adam, which God's glorious perfections will not suffer us 
 to think was any way unreasonable or unjust in him, it 
 necessarily follows, that it would have been no way unrea- 
 sonable or unjust in God, if he had so pleased, to have 
 left them all in that fallen state, without restoring any. 
 Seeing there was once a plain forfeiture of all rights and 
 privileges, according to law and justice, it was at the free 
 pleasure of the great Lawgiver to bestow them again upon 
 any or not ; unless you will say that our recovery by 
 Christ was not of free and mere grace, but what God was 
 bound to order and bring about, or else oppose his own 
 nature, and be unjust ; and so, that herein he did what we 
 have no reason to thank him for : which to say, is not 
 only a gross inconsistency in itself, but such an impiety 
 against God, that few, I believe, would be so bold as to 
 venture upon it. It is ridiculous to talk of our being re- 
 deemed by God out of a miserable state, w r hich it was un- 
 just for him either to suffer us to come into, or yet to leave 
 us in. There is no need of a mediator and redeemer in 
 such a case. Then, indeed, Christ is dead in vain ! Thus 
 far we have made our way clear. Well then, I say again, 
 if it would have been no way unbecoming God, if he had 
 so pleased, to have determined to leave all mankind in 
 that fallen state; no man will say, who duly considers 
 what he says, that it would have been any way unbecoming 
 him, had he so pleased, looking upon them in this fallen, 
 
103 1 B I A T T S E ON THE 
 
 guilty, a]- tte, to hate made this distinction among 
 
 tin-in, in his eternal purpose, which I am defending. And 
 s<> the proper doctrine of predestination, in the right notion 
 of it, must be owned to be entirely reasonable; and the 
 Tery method, for what we know, that God (unless he has 
 told us to the contrary) was pleased to take. 
 
 But, to make all this yet clearer, I would give this far- 
 ther brief account of the reasonableness of mankind's par- 
 taking in the sad fruits of Adam's transgression. I would 
 account for it, from his being set up as their public head 
 and representative in the first covenant. If this constitu- 
 tion and appointment of God was reasonable, then all that 
 was natively consequent upon it, according to the tenor 
 of it, must be so too. To make it appear that this consti- 
 tution was every way just and reasonable, let it be con- 
 sidered, that it was in its own nature adapted and directly 
 calculated to the great good and advantage of mankind, 
 securing to them a confirmed state of innocence and ever- 
 lasting happiness, upon their first father's continuing 
 obedient, so long as God saw fit to leave him in a state of 
 probation and trial ; so that none of them would have been 
 any more in the danger of a probationary state for them- 
 selves. Adam was sufficiently impowered to manage this 
 -rent trust, endowed with full ability to keep the covenant ; 
 with as full as any of his offspring would have had, 
 had they been to pass a time of trial for themselves; and 
 Motives to care and watchfulness were as strong as 
 theirs could have been, having his own eternal interest as 
 I in the ease as theirs; so that their whole 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 109 
 
 stock, all their everlasting concerns, were every whit as 
 safe in his hands, as they would have been in their own. 
 And, seeing their case was, this way, as safe as if it had 
 been in their own management, and there was a rational 
 prospect of a glorious, unspeakable advantage by it, though 
 there was an awful evil on the other hand, in case of diso- 
 bedience ; yet, since the rational hope on the one hand, 
 was far greater than the danger on the other, it was surely 
 a reasonable, wise and good plan, and which, I am satis- 
 fied, we would all have admired and praised the glorious 
 God for, had our representative fulfilled his part of the 
 covenant, and we now been enjoying the happy conse- 
 quences of it. If so, then, how unreasonable and wicked 
 must it be now to quarrel with the scheme and its glorious 
 Author on the account of it, because it has eventually 
 proved, through our trustee's default, to our disadvantage ? 
 If it would have been just and altogether right had he 
 obeyed, does his sin and disobedience make it wrong and 
 unjust? One thing more may be observed here, to free 
 the subject of all misapprehension, viz: that it is not 
 imagined that the same degree of punishment is justly 
 due to Adam's posterity, merely on account of his trans- 
 gression, which was due to himself for it. Thus far only 
 is certain in this matter, that beside our being exposed by 
 it to the various miseries of this life, and death itself, we 
 lost all right and title to the life and happiness which God 
 promised in the covenant, and the glorious moral image 
 of God in our souls, viz : our original righteousness ; so 
 that, instead of being now naturally holy and upright, we 
 10 
 
ITO TREATISE ON THE 
 
 ire naturally depraved and sinful ; which is the awful 
 foundation and spring of our numberless actual trans- 
 ions, whereby we deserve an awfully aggravated con- 
 demnation. 1 say, persons, for tlicir actual sins, though they 
 low from their original corruption as the spring and foun- 
 tain of them, deserve an awfully aggravated condemnation, 
 or unspeakably greater than the law denounces only on the 
 ant of Adam's transgression ; inasmuch as that man or 
 woman cannot be found, of whom it could justly be said, 
 that they had never been farther guilty of actual sin, than 
 what was absolutely unavoidable from the original deprav- 
 ity of their nature. These things may suffice to evince the 
 reasonableness of the doctrine of all mankind's being fallen 
 in Adam ; and of their being considered as such, in the 
 decree and purpose of God concerning their eternal states ; 
 which, as has been already show T n, proves the reasonable- 
 of the doctrine of predestination ; forasmuch as God 
 might justly have determined, either to save none, or to 
 save all, or to save only a part, as he pleased. 
 
 But farther, if any should yet be unwilling to yield the 
 reasonableness of mankind's being so disinherited of all 
 their spiritual and eternal privileges; and their being 
 liable to such a state of misery, by Adam's sin and 
 disobedience ; whatever temporal calamities they might 
 in justice and reason be exposed to by it; I would prove 
 the reasonableness of the doctrine I am chiefly insisting 
 upon, from principles which they must unavoidably grant, 
 if they are not lost to all the common sense of mankind. 
 You must own, that all mankind, except infants, have 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. Ill 
 
 actually sinned, whether you own it to be the effect of 
 Adam's sinning or not. "All have sinned, and come 
 short of the glory of God." That it is so, in fact, is too 
 notorious to be denied. Yea, you must own that mankind 
 are naturally inclined to sin, and have a strong bias and 
 propension that way. These things you must confess, 
 account for them how you will; and I am apt to think, the 
 scripture account, resolving the universal depravity and 
 sinful propensions of the human nature, into the trans- 
 gression of our first parent, as the cause, will answer full 
 as well as any you can give. It will be as satisfactory as 
 either Plato's pre-existent state in the stars, or the 
 eternal evil principle of the Manichees; or yet the 
 imitation and example of Pelagius. However, that man- 
 kind are so universally guilty of sin, let it come how it 
 will, is but too manifest. Moreover, you must grant that 
 they justly deserve punishment for their sin, from the 
 sovereign Lawgiver of the rational world ; to say otherwise, 
 is to say that sin is not sin ; sin must be as good as obedience 
 and duty, if the sinner deserves no worse for it ; which is an 
 absurdity a little too big to swallow, that takes away all dis- 
 tinction between moral good and evil, and destroys all the 
 notions of justice in the world. You must also grant, that 
 God, from all eternity, certainly foresaw all the sins of all 
 men, unless you have a God like yourself, who knows now, 
 what he did not know before, by information from others. 
 Now lay these things together, and then see, if it does not 
 follow, by an unavoidable, logical necessity, that God might 
 justly have decreed, and purposed from everlasting, to pun- 
 
11 '2 T R B A I l 6 B X T B B 
 
 isli the sinful, disobedient children of men, and not to save 
 any of them out (){' their guilty state. For if God from ever- 
 lastin. w that the J would deserve to be thus cast 
 
 off and punished, then lie might justly determine to deal 
 so by them ; unless you will say, it was unjust for him to 
 
 mine to do what was just to do. And is the justness 
 of his determining to punish a part of them only, according 
 to the rules of governing justice, less conceivable, while 
 he determines to save the rest in a way agreeable to the 
 glory of his majesty and government, through the media- 
 tion and redemption of his eternal Son? Thus you may 
 see, the denying of original sin does not overthrow the 
 doctrine of predestination ; all that is gained by it, is a 
 certainty that all such as die in their infancy, were elected 
 to eternal life ; but then, they were not chosen in Christ, 
 a Redeemer, nor are they brought to happiness through 
 his redemption ; which is a notion that docs not chime 
 very well with the scriptures, which everywhere represent 
 the atonement of Christ, as the only way of eternal 
 happiness, to any of the human progeny ; which, I think, 
 is a farther evident proof of original sin. And thus, I 
 think, I have sufficiently cleared the first proposition. 
 2. In the next place, is there anything so horrid in the 
 
 i 1 article, viz : that God's decree and purpose, to save 
 any of the fallen, apostate race, was not founded upon his 
 
 ight of their good works, and diligent endeavours, as 
 the cause of it ; hut was purely owing to his own sovereign 
 pleasure and grace? This is ;i sentiment so far from being 
 unreasonable, that 1 think the contrary is plainly so, 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 113 
 
 absolutely considered, viz : that the imperfect, corrupted, 
 and altogether selfish endeavours of rebellious, guilty 
 creatures, should be of such high price with God, as 
 necessarily to determine him to save them ; so that he 
 would be unjust, if he did not thereupon design and 
 effectuate their salvation. Is this a notion, either so 
 very reasonable in itself, or honourable to God ? And yet 
 this is the principle that must be maintained, if the 
 doctrine I am defending, be charged with being in itself 
 unreasonable. To manifest a little the unreasonableness 
 of such a notion, I would ask, if an entire and perfect 
 obedience to the law of God, without the least defect, 
 would be any more than our duty to him, as he is such a 
 glorious Being, and we his creatures ? If it would not, and 
 no man in his right wits will say otherwise, then how can 
 the very imperfect, the every way corrupt, and contempti- 
 ble obedience, that is performed by guilty sinners, make 
 it so necessary for God to pardon their past disobedience, 
 as that he would be unreasonable and unjust, if he did not ? 
 According to this principle, pardon would not properly be 
 pardon ; it would not be an act of mere grace, and of rich 
 mercy, but of just debt. But who is there, that has the 
 front to demand it, as such, for all the good works that 
 ever he did ? I believe you would find hard work of it to 
 bring the notion into practice, and very formally tell the 
 great God, that " though you had sinned against him, and 
 contemned his authority ; yet you had done so well since, 
 that you would not now be beholden to him for pardon, 
 you claimed it as your due, on the score of his essential 
 10* 
 
114 TR B I T I S I ON THE 
 
 equity, which, he would be unjust, if he refused." It is, 
 over, a notion tli.it entirely supersedes and takes 
 away all necessity of Christ's atonement and satisfaction. 
 What need of each l propitiation and ransom, if anything 
 that guilty sinners could do, could render it unjust in God, 
 net to save them? And now, seeing these things are 
 plainly so. it as plainly and necessarily follows, that it was 
 IIO way unreasonable, nor unbecoming any of the divine 
 perfections, for God to make his own sovereign, absolute 
 good-will and pleasure, the rule of his determinations, of 
 dispensing his saving mercies to any fallen, guilty sinners ; 
 and not their works or endeavours. Yea, I will add, it 
 is highly presumable from reason itself, and seems to be 
 ery dictates, that this was actually the way of God's 
 proceeding in the case ; as what was most suitable to his 
 independent sovereignty, for the maintaining, and illustra- 
 tion of his exalted glory; and to abase the pride of all 
 flesh, that none should glory in his presence ; but, as it is 
 written, a he that glorieth, should glory in the Lord alone :" 
 that his redeemed and saved people should forever ascribe 
 the whole glory and praise to his sovereign, free, distin- 
 guishing grace. This method, in the case, was proceeding 
 fike a Gtod; as becomes the Supreme Jehovah; exalts 
 both his own glory, and the happiness of saved sinners, to 
 the highest ; while they are ever sensible, that as he might 
 justly have saved none, so they have nothing to ascribe 
 to themselves in the matter, why he saved them more than 
 amy others. Hence their hearts beat high with the 
 rest, sweetest resentments of love and wonder, with 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 115 
 
 the highest ascriptions of glory and praise, to him that 
 sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. 
 So that, I believe, this doctrine suits best with the 
 lan^ua^e of heaven, however it be relished on earth. If 
 we consider the hateful, horrid, and criminal nature of sin, 
 what can there be in any sinner to engage to him the love 
 and favour of a God of infinite holiness and incomprehen- 
 sible majesty ; in whose sight the heavens are not clean ; 
 who " charges his angels with folly?" Now, though all 
 these considerations make it plainly appear, that it is every 
 way reasonable, yea, most becoming the adorable majesty 
 of God, that the reason of his appointing any fallen 
 sinners, in particular, more than others, to eternal life, 
 should be wholly resolved into his sovereign pleasure ; that 
 it should be entirely founded in himself, and not at all in 
 them ; yet I am apprehensive that here lies the main 
 ground of the quarrel, for though sin had made man 
 extremely poor, it has not made him humble, but much to 
 the contrary. The unbroken pride and haughtiness of sin- 
 ners' hearts will not allow it to be right or equitable at 
 all, that it should be altogether at the free, sovereign 
 pleasure of God, whether to save them or not. Unless they 
 have it in their own hands, they will quarrel with God 
 himself, although they deserve not so much as the least 
 ground for hope that ever he will save them. It would 
 surely better become such hell-deserving rebels as we, to 
 be so humbly sensible of our vile iniquities, as to acknow- 
 ledge God's sovereign right to dispose of us as he sees 
 fit ; that if he should abandon us to misery for ever, it 
 
118 T 11 B A T I B S ON THE 
 
 would be but just and right, notwithstanding all that ever 
 
 uld do; and if he saves us, it will be an instance of 
 the most glorious, free, sovereign grace and mercy, which 
 he might righteously have denied. But these things may 
 Suffice, here, to show that this part of the doctrine also 
 
 stand- free of all unreasonable absurdity, and unbecoming 
 reflect ions on God. And if you would have the whole 
 evidence again in a narrow compass, you may take it thus : 
 God, the great Creator and Upholder of all things, is the 
 rightful Lawgiver and moral Governor of the reasonable 
 world. Considering the infinite, boundless glory and per- 
 fections of his nature, and his right in and over us, as 
 his creatures, our obligations of love and duty to him are 
 inconceivably great and infinite : hence sin and diso- 
 bedience against such infinite majesty and obligations, is 
 infinitely evil, deserving the sinner's everlasting rejection 
 from God, with a superadded positive punishment. All 
 mankind, through the sin and disobedience of their first 
 parent, are become destitute of original righteousness, and 
 all right to the life and happiness promised in the first 
 covenant ; and all such as are preserved to years in the 
 world, have sinned actually in their own persons, and that 
 far beyond what was absolutely unavoidable from their 
 original depravity; whence they in justice deserve a far 
 ter punishment. God had as clear and certain a 
 knowledge of all this apostasy and sin of mankind, from 
 all eternity, as after it actually came to pass; so that in 
 Us decrees e<>ncerning them, he considered them as in such 
 a fallen, guilty state, deserving the execution of his 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 117 
 
 vindictive justice ; and altogether insufficient to do any- 
 thing that might in the least satisfy its demands, for the 
 averting of the stroke. And so, from the whole, it clearly 
 appears, that God had as absolute, just, and great a 
 sovereignty over them, to appoint any part of them for 
 life or death, according to his own pleasure, as the " potter 
 has over his clay, of the same lump, to make one vessel to 
 honour, and another to dishonour. " 
 
 And now, after all these things, what can reasonably be 
 said against the third and last of the propositions, which 
 is, that God determined to leave a part of these guilty 
 sinners, (viz : those whom he did not choose to salvation,) 
 in their fallen, guilty state, and to execute justice upon 
 them for their sins? To say that this is unjust, &c, is to 
 say that justice is injustice, &c. All that I shall farther 
 observe here upon it, is, how injurious and unfair treat- 
 ment it is, to give out, as too many who oppose the doc- 
 trine do, as though we maintained that God doomed men 
 to everlasting perdition, without any respect to, or con- 
 sideration had of, their sin ! We say, that the reason why 
 God chose some and rejected others, that is, these rather 
 than those, was not because of the greater goodness of the 
 one part, and greater sinfulness of the other, for all were 
 "day from the same lump," without any difference of this 
 kind among them, amounting to such value, but " because 
 it so seemed good in his sight." We assert, that none 
 are doomed to everlasting perdition, but for their sin ; but 
 then, it is not the reason of the difference that is made 
 between them and those that are chosen to everlasting 
 life. 
 
118 TREATISE ON TIIE 
 
 Now, though what lias bees already hitherto said, in 
 explaining and vindicating the doctrine of predestination, 
 might Sufficiently furnish a careful, understanding reader 
 with satisfactory answers to the objections that are usually 
 
 supposed to be deduced from reason against it ; yet, for 
 the more full satisfaction of all, I shall a little consider 
 them particularly. 
 
 One objection, that makes a mighty noise in the world, 
 is, that it makes God the author of sin; but it is as easy 
 for me to deny this, as for the objector to assert it; and 
 asserting is all he can do, if he obliges himself to urge it 
 against the doctrine, only as I have represented and ex- 
 plained it in the preceding pages. Let such objectors 
 show us what part of it is justly liable to such a charge, 
 and how it contains or infers any such blasphemy. Does 
 it make God the author of sin, to say, that he decreed to 
 Buffer Adam to sin, when, in the meantime, we assert that 
 he gave him sufficient power not to sin ; and only suffered 
 him, without any compulsion, to abuse his liberty ? How 
 ridiculous and senseless is such a charge for this ! Such 
 tors seem to think, or else to be willing to have it 
 thought, that we maintain, that God either did not afford 
 Adam sufficient ability to preserve, or that by his superior 
 power he forced him to sin ; but let their slander die with 
 them. Yet, I think, I have met with an author that pre- 
 tends to prove this vile absurdity, consequent upon the 
 permission. This, indeed, would be a rare 
 could lie make it do, to free the whole world of the 
 blame of sin all at once; for if (J od cannot so much as 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 119 
 
 permit sin, without being the author of it himself, then I 
 think we are pretty clear, and all the devils too. He proves 
 it by a simile : suppose a man to be standing on the top 
 of a very high wall, holding a child over it by the arm ; 
 well, he does not press it down or force it to fall, but only 
 lets it go, and suffers it to fall (if it will, I suppose) ; 
 and then the demand is, whether the man was not the 
 author of that child's fall and death? I think it is no great 
 difficulty to answer the question. I believe none would 
 pretend to vindicate such a gross murder ; but then, I 
 would demand if the cases were any way like one another ? 
 If this simile is supposed to be parallel to the case it is 
 brought to illustrate, then our opinion must be, that God 
 at first so upheld Adam by the hand of his power, as that 
 it was impossible for him to sin ; and then withdrew his 
 hand from him, so as that it was impossible for him not to 
 sin ; whereas we assert the direct contrary of both. Before 
 the simile can be made in any tolerable degree similar to 
 the case, many other things must be supposed in it ; par- 
 ticularly, that the child is endowed with such a power as 
 that it is as easy for it to stand in the air as to fall to the 
 ground ; that the man has a rightful sovereignty and au- 
 thority over it, to put it in such a situation, and make it 
 its indispensable duty to stand where he has put it ; that 
 it has a clear knowledge of its duty, and warning of its 
 danger, and the like. These suppositions, I believe, will 
 pretty much alter the case. 
 
 Another objection brought against the doctrine is, that 
 it makes God chargeable with the most unjust cruelty and 
 
128 T R B A T [81 ON T II B 
 
 sovereign tyranny; but T have already sufficiently vindw 
 
 cated it from this awful charge ; unless it be unjust cruelly 
 to decree justice, which is a contradiction in express terms. 
 Was it not just in God to make man free, as well as per- 
 fectly holy and Upright — to appoint Adam the covenant 
 head and representative of his offspring, as it has been 
 explained — to permit him to act according to his original 
 freedom and liberty — to permit all men to sin as they do, 
 and to punish some of them, whom he pleases, for all 
 the sin they are guilty of? If these things are all right- 
 eous and just enough, was it unjust in God to fore-appoint 
 and determine them? Would those, who oppose the doc- 
 trine of predestination, but fairly represent it, and speak 
 to it still as it is, they would surely be ashamed to offer 
 such a charge as this against it : and of this themselves 
 seem to be sensible; and, therefore, they commonly so 
 manage the objection, as grossly to misrepresent the doc- 
 trine, as though it contained in it that God, in his eternal 
 purpose, doomed a number of mankind to destruction with- 
 out any consideration at all had of their sin, whereby they 
 would justly deserve it; or that he purposed, by his irre- 
 sistible power, to compel them to sin, that so he might 
 damn them with some colour of justice ; whereas we dis- 
 claim both the one and the other with the utmost abhor- 
 rence. 
 
 Again, it is objected that this doctrine makes God par- 
 tial and a respecter of persons, which is justly reputed a 
 ill character in men, and, therefore, cannot, in the 
 , belong to God. This argument seems to be much 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 121 
 
 depended on among the more ignorant ; but those who 
 make so much of it, ought to consider what that respecting 
 of persons is, which is so criminal in men. It is their 
 making such a difference between persons, in their temper 
 and conduct towards them, as is contrary to right and 
 equity, on account of some accidental things or circum- 
 stances, wherein they may differ from one another : such 
 as, nation, worldly dignity, relation, gifts, bribes, or the 
 like ; and I really own, that partiality and respect of per- 
 sons, in this sense, is very far from God. " He accepts 
 not the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than 
 the poor." Job xxxiv. 19. He is not only far from doing 
 injustice to any, but he makes no account at all of the little 
 differences among them, of nation, w T orldly state and con- 
 dition, or the like, as a reason of any of his dealings 
 towards them ; and it is in this sense that respecting of 
 persons is always taken in the Scripture, wherever it is 
 condemned in men, or denied concerning God. And, 
 sure, the doctrine I am defending is so far from inferring 
 any such respect of persons in God, that it is, at the first 
 view, directly contrary to it. Yet, farther, I would ob- 
 serve, there may be among men a favouring of one more 
 than another, which you may call respecting of persons, or 
 if you will, partiality, or by what name you please ; but it 
 carries no ill idea in it. Such, for instance, as our Lord 
 speaks of (Matt, xx.), where the lord of the vineyard gave 
 to some of his labourers an undeserved bounty, while he 
 gave to others only what justice necessarily required. And 
 this is brought in by our Lord Jesus himself, for this very 
 11 
 
122 T B 1 A II 81 ON T II I 
 
 oast (see ver. 16.)j to vindicate God's making such a 
 difference among guilty sinners, against Buch as make this 
 objection ; and God's defence here is unanswerable against 
 
 all the murmuringS of such as he has not chosen to salva- 
 tion. Friend, I do thee no wrong, whatsoever good 
 1 do to others; is it not lawful for me to do what I 
 will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am 
 good! 
 
 It is farther objected, that, according to this doctrine, 
 it is God's fault, and not theirs, that any perish ; inasmuch 
 as it was over impossible for them to be saved, seeing they 
 were under an irreversible appointment to destruction, 
 before ever they had a being. But what has been said 
 already, will easily answer all the difficulty that may seem 
 to be in this argument, viz : that God appointed them to 
 be punished only for their sins, whereby they in justice 
 deserve it. And, surely, their sinning is not any fault in 
 God; nor yet his appointing them to deserved punishment 
 for it; but seeing all their punishment will be only 
 according to the demerit of their sin, their whole destruc- 
 tion will properly be of themselves, and their own fault. 
 But if any should yet foolishly think, that the mere neces- 
 sity or infallible certainty of the event would render sinners 
 of all the blame of their destruction, because it was 
 always certain, that so it would be in the end, let them 
 ay other scheme they please, and see whether they 
 can rid themselves of the difficulty ; for whatsoever at any 
 always infallibly certain to be, whether you 
 allow a decree concerning it or not; so that you must 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 123 
 
 either deny that it is so much as possible for any creature 
 to perish justly at all, or you must own that the bare cer- 
 tainty of the event, that they will perish, does not free 
 them from being the proper blamable causes of their own 
 perdition ; and its being certain by a divine appointment, 
 makes them no more clear of the blame, because the 
 decree only is, to punish them for, and according to, the 
 demerit of their sins ; which sins, it lays no forcible con- 
 straint or compulsion upon them, to be guilty of. 
 
 Again, it is said, "that if this doctrine be true, then it 
 follows, that God creates men to damn them. ,, This seems 
 to be a ready-hand argument, almost in every one's 
 mouth that denies the doctrine. 
 
 Before we speak to any words or propositions, we ought 
 to understand what is meant by them. Now all the 
 meaning I can conceive in this sentence, [God creates men 
 to damn them,] consistent with the propriety of speech, is, 
 that their damnation is God's end in creating them ; the 
 final cause and reason of his bringing them into being. 
 And this imports in it that God loves and delights in the 
 punishment and misery of creatures, merely as such, and 
 for its own sake ; which is a thing most blasphemous to 
 suppose of him. To suppose, that the misery of any 
 creature, strictly and abstractly in itself, without any 
 other consideration, is agreeable and pleasing to God ; yea, 
 so agreeable, that he makes them for this very end that he 
 may have the pleasure of punishing them ; is, indeed, to 
 represent him like the very worst of beings. But then I 
 would ask, Does God's decreeing to punish men for their 
 
124 T i i: A II SB ON Til B 
 
 sin, as they deserve, for maintaining the dignity of his 
 government, and the showing forth of his infinite holiness, 
 justice, and rightful authority; does this, I say, bear in 
 it any BUch thing, as that he delights barely in the 
 misery of creatures, so as t<> create them for the sake of 
 it ? How irrational is such a consequence ! But if any will 
 vrt insist on it as a just consequence, I desire them to 
 consider a little how they will free their own seheme of it; 
 which is every whit as liable to the charge. Unless they 
 have stupid ignorance and blasphemous presumption 
 enough to deny God's infinite understanding and fore- 
 knowledge of all things, it is just as reasonable to bring 
 this objection against the Arminians, as the Calvinists ; 
 and say, God creates men to damn them, if he knows 
 beforehand that he will damn them ; if he foreknew that 
 they would die impenitent, in unbelief; and thereupon 
 has decreed their damnation before he has created them. 
 The truth of the matter is this, God decreed to create all 
 men for the manifestation of his own glory, which is his 
 end in all his w r orks ; and looking upon mankind in their 
 apostasy and sin, he decreed to leave a particular part of 
 them in that state, and to punish them according to their 
 sin, for the manifestation of the glory of his sovereignty, 
 holiness, and justice, and the right and infinite obligations 
 of his authority, as a lawgiver over his reasonable creatures. 
 This view of the case gives no ground for the charge 
 contained in the objection. Though God foresees that 
 mankind will sin against him, cannot he, notwithstanding, 
 be them, and determine to punish them, or any part 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 125 
 
 of them, as their sin deserves, for the illustration of his 
 glory aforesaid, without being chargeable with creating 
 them just that he might damn them ? To say so, is the 
 same thing as to say, that the sin and default of the 
 creature must bind up God's hands from doing that which 
 is in itself every way reasonable and right ; and, in short, 
 to say that right is wrong. 
 
 But I presume I have been long enough on the first 
 method proposed for defending and confirming this doc- 
 trine ; and that, from what has been said, it sufficiently 
 appears, at least, that it is a doctrine free from all unrea- 
 sonable absurdity in itself, and no way dishonourable to 
 God ; so that reason has nothing to say, why it may not 
 be so. And if, in the next place, we find that God's infal- 
 lible word of truth declares that it is so, this ought to put 
 a final conclusion to the debate, and fully determine the 
 controversy. If there is nothing in the doctrine absurd, 
 or contrary to reason, why it may not be so ; then, when 
 a passage of Scripture is brought to prove that it is so, we 
 must not be put off any more with this answer, that " what- 
 ever the Scripture means, it cannot mean predestination." 
 A great asserter of the Arminian doctrine, I think, as good 
 as owns the reasonableness of the Calvinist doctrine. I 
 mean Bishop Burnet, when he says, "It is one of the 
 points wherein all agree, that God might have condemned 
 every man to have perished for his own sins." * If God might 
 
 * Expos, xxxix. Art., page 167, Fol. This great man manages the 
 debate with the greatest candour and temper of any I have met with of 
 the Arminian side ; and yet even he is far from dealing so fairly as he ought, 
 11* 
 
126 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 have condemned all men to perdition for their sins, then, 
 surely, much more a part of them only. But farther, 
 !i not only readily allows, that Gocfmight have formed 
 his eternal purposes and decrees, concerning fallen man, 
 rding to this doctrine; hut, if duly attended to, with- 
 out selfish prejudice, it seems, as has been already hinted, 
 powerfully to persuade us that so the case really is, as 
 being most becoming God's independent sovereignty ; and 
 most expressive of the absolute freeness, and glorious riches 
 of his grace to those that are saved ; whereby the whole 
 glory of it is secured to himself, and no ground afforded to 
 the hell-deserving sinner for anything contrary to those 
 humble acknowledgements of his own wretchedness, that 
 well become him ; whereas the contrary doctrine leaves 
 room to the sinner to trust to something in himself, and 
 ascribe something to himself, in the matter of his salvation. 
 It sets too high a value upon the despicable, religious 
 endeavours of corrupted sinners, when it maintains, that 
 God is thereby induced to receive the sinner to favour, 
 notwithstanding all his rebellions ; and by thus repre- 
 senting the God, whom by disobedience we have contemned 
 and dishonoured, as so readily and surely reconciled to us 
 on such terms, it depreciates his injured honours, and 
 
 especially when he represents the maintainers of absolute predestination, 
 as maintaining that the decree lays a compulsory force on the creature 
 to sin. On this misrepresentation much of his arguing for the Arminians 
 proceeds. lie lays hold on the Supr&l&ps&riao Scheme for it, and, with- 
 dence, pretends that the Sublapsarian scheme ultimately 
 1 terminates in the same, as so represented. 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 127 
 
 takes off from the infinite malignity and due horror of 
 sin. If sin against God is looked upon as a thing that is 
 so easily compensated, and the breach occasioned by it, so 
 readily made up on such low conditions : what mean, un- 
 worthy conceptions are we likely to entertain of God's in- 
 finite perfections and adorable attributes, when the contempt 
 of them by sin is reckoned such a small matter ? But, 
 
 2. I proceed, with more express evidence and certainty, 
 to prove and confirm the doctrine from the divine oracles, 
 and infallible scriptures of truth. And here I shall first 
 prove, that God has appointed and chosen some of fallen 
 mankind to eternal life and salvation ; and that merely of 
 his own sovereign grace and good pleasure, and not upon 
 the foresight of any goodness of theirs, whereby they 
 would distinguish themselves from others, as the reason of 
 it. Next, I shall prove that the rest of mankind, not 
 thus chosen to life, God has appointed to leave in their 
 sins, and to punish them for them, according to their 
 deserts : and then I shall answer such objections as are 
 supposed to be in the scriptures against this doctrine, and 
 give the true meaning of such scripture passages consistent 
 with it. 
 
 The first place of scripture I shall adduce for the proof 
 of absolute election, is Acts xiii. 48, where, after an 
 account of the opposition made to the apostles Paul and 
 Barnabas, at Antioch, and the strong endeavours used by 
 some, to prejudice the people against the doctrine which 
 they preached, it is said, that " as many as were ordained 
 to eternal life believed." The plain sense of these words 
 
128 TREATISE ON TUE 
 
 is, that notwithstanding all the moans used in that place, 
 to hinder the people from believing the apostles' doctrine, 
 yet a considerable number did believe; because God had 
 ordained them to eternal life, and so gave them faith to 
 believe, in spite of all the arts of men used with them to 
 the contrary; and therefore it was impossible for the 
 enemies of Christianity to keep them in unbelief. And 
 this is perfectly agreeable to the sense of our blessed Lord, 
 when he says, that " false Christs and false prophets 
 should arise, showing such signs and wonders, that if it were 
 possible, they would deceive the very elect;" (Matt. xxiv. 
 24 ;) clearly implying, that God had elected some to 
 everlasting salvation, and the necessary means of it ; whom 
 it is therefore utterly impossible for false teachers, with all 
 their powers, finally to deceive and keep from believing in 
 the true Redeemer. If any should say, that the reason 
 why these were ordained to eternal life, and had grace 
 given them to believe, was, because they were more 
 righteously disposed, and better than the rest ; this is not 
 only contrary to the scope of the place, and the mode 
 of expressing the matter in the text, but we find in the 
 next verse but one, that there were some of the most 
 religious that believed not ; we are told that these opposers 
 stirred up the devout (that is, the religious) and honourable 
 women, as well as the chief men of the city, to persecute 
 the apostles ; but they could not have the same influence 
 upon those whom God had ordained to eternal life; it was 
 wible for them to deceive the elect. 
 Another very clear, and most express passage to our 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 129 
 
 purpose, is in Rom. xi. 5 — 7. "Even so then, at this 
 present time also, there is a remnant, according to the 
 election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of 
 vt>rkfi ; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of 
 works, then it is no more grace. What then ? Israel 
 hath not obtained that which he seeketh for ; but the 
 election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded." Here 
 the apostle observes, that as in the time of the greatest 
 defection of the people of Israel, in Elijah's days, God 
 had reserved to himself a remnant of seven thousand ; 
 even so, at that present time, when the greater body of the 
 Jewish nation had rejected Christ, there was also a 
 remnant, according to the election of grace, that did 
 believe. This believing remnant of the Jewish nation, 
 were those who were elected and chosen out of it, to faith 
 and salvation : and this election, whereby they were 
 thus chosen, was an election of grace. Well, you will say, 
 perhaps, you own all this, that God had elected a remnant 
 of the Jews to faith in Christ, and salvation by him ; but 
 then the reason of God's electing them was their good 
 works ; whereby he foresaw they would render themselves 
 more worthy of his choice than the rest. But don't you 
 see, that the apostle expressly bars against such an 
 imagination, when he says, " It is an election of grace ; 
 and that if it be of grace, then it is no more of works ; or 
 else grace is not grace ?" He tells you, that the election 
 of works, which you contend for, is not the election of 
 grace, which he asserts : if it be of works, it is no more 
 grace. An election of works and grace both, is a down- 
 
1">0 TUKATISE ON THE 
 
 right inconsistency, if we allow St. Paul to be the judge. 
 u [srael has not obtained that which he seckcth for." 
 There Were many of Israel who were left to unbelief, that 
 were Becking for righteousness and life as much as the 
 
 Others, that WWe, notwithstanding, sanctified by faith. 
 Though they were thus equal among themselves, yet there 
 Iras an election among them that obtained it, "when the 
 were blinded," that is, left to their own blindness. I 
 cannot see how the doctrine of absolute election can well 
 be asserted in more strong, plain, and express terms, than 
 the apostle uses for it in these verses. It cannot be said, 
 that all he means by the " election of this remnant," was 
 only God's purpose of affording them the privilege of the 
 gospel, and outward means of grace ; for all the rest had 
 the advantages afforded them, as well as they, according 
 to the words of our Lord, " Many were called, but few 
 (t. e. a remnant of them only) were chosen;" (Matt. xx. 
 16 ;) which manifestly shows, that they were elected to the 
 saving benefit of those means, in consequence of which, 
 they actually did obtain it: wdien the rest, who had the 
 same advantage of these outward means, and were seeking 
 for justification and life as well as they, did not obtain it; 
 but were left in their blindness and unbelief. To conclude 
 this argument, the apostle here asserts an election of 
 some, out of others, to eternal life; and asserts it to be 
 an election of grace, in such a full sense, as that it cannot 
 be of works in any sense. So that you may see here a 
 flat contradiction between the inspired apostle and the 
 Armiiiians. They say, " Election is on the account of 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 131 
 
 works foreseen ;" he says, " It is not of works, but wholly 
 of grace." They say, " It may be of works and grace 
 both;" he says, "It cannot, without destroying the 
 nature of both." 
 
 For another proof, you may look as far back as Rom. 
 viii. 28 — 30 : — "All things work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them who are the called according to his 
 purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predesti- 
 nate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Moreover, 
 whom he did predestinate, them he also called ; and whom 
 he called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified, 
 them he also glorified." Those whom the apostle terms 
 "the called, according to God's purpose," he tells us, ver. 
 28, are those "that love God;" and, ver. 30, they are 
 those who are justified, and, in the end, will be as surely 
 glorified. So that by calling here, the apostle means being 
 called effectually to faith and holiness by the Spirit of 
 God, or saving conversion ; and he tells us, that those who 
 are thus effectually called and converted by God in time, 
 are so called by him in pursuance of his preceding purpose 
 and decree concerning them ; for they are called according 
 to his purpose. He predestinated, or fore-appointed them 
 to be conformed to the image of his Son, to be made like 
 Christ in holiness ; and as this purpose and fore-appoint- 
 ment of God made their sanctification and justification in- 
 fallibly certain, so it equally secures their final glorification. 
 For whom he did predestinate, them he called, justified, 
 and glorified. And those who are predestinated, and fore- 
 appointed of God to holiness and happiness, are said to be 
 
189 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 those whom he foreknew. By God's foreknowing them, 
 we are not to understand his having a bare speculative 
 foreknowledge of them, and of what they would be before 
 their effectual calling; for in this sense he foreknew all 
 others as well as them; but his having had a special love 
 to them, and gracious design to do them good, beyond the 
 of mankind; or it signifies his foreknowing thera as 
 his own, as those whom he had chosen and distinguished 
 for himself, in his eternal purpose, according to what is 
 said, " The Lord knoweth them that are his.'' 2 Tim. ii. 
 19, Thus you see, this place is a clear proof of an election 
 and predestination to grace and salvation ; and that repre- 
 sented so sovereign and entirely of God, as not to be 
 founded on any qualification in the creature ; insuring both 
 the sinner's true conversion to holiness, and his final per- 
 severance to the heavenly glory : and all this according 
 to God's purpose, and not their own management or 
 behaviour. 
 
 The ninth chapter of this epistle is very plain and express 
 on this argument. In the beginning of it, the apostle 
 speaks with reference to the unbelief of the general part 
 of the Jewish nation: their rejection of the true Messiah; 
 declaring his great grief on that account. And then, in 
 the sixth verse, he comes to speak to a difficulty which 
 seemed to occur, concerning God's leaving the main 
 body of the Jews to unbelief, and so casting them off from 
 any longer his people, taken from his word of prom- 
 i Abraham, and often afterwards, that "he would be 
 a God to him, and his seed after him for ever." It would 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 133 
 
 seem, at that time, when God had cast off that people, all 
 to a very small remnant, and removed his church to the 
 Gentiles, as if he had broken his word, and his promise 
 had not been fulfilled, or taken effect. To this the apostle 
 answers, that that was no argument that the word of God 
 had taken no effect; and he clears it up by showing that 
 the word of promise peculiarly respected those of Abra- 
 ham's offspring who belonged to the election of grace ; 
 saying, " they are not all Israel which are of Israel ;" that is, 
 the}' are not all that Israel which God had principally in 
 his eye in the promise, wdio belong to Israel by natural 
 relation, or external visible union. The peculiar Israel, or 
 children of promise, were those whom the Lord had elected 
 and chosen among them to everlasting life ; and to these 
 the promise was always made good, whether they were 
 more or fewer. The promise, indeed, being a plain intima- 
 tion that a large number belonging to the election of grace 
 should be of Abraham's progeny, was the foundation of a 
 visible church among them, and gave them all a right to 
 the visible privileges of it, till they made a forfeiture them- 
 selves. But the promise, in the full import of it, by way 
 of engagement on God, related only to those whom he had 
 chosen among them. That this is the apostle's meaning 
 here, appears plainly from all that follows. For the illus- 
 tration and confirmation of this case, he shows that God 
 put a great limitation upon that seed of Abraham to which 
 he particularly designed the promise in his words to Abra- 
 ham himself, saying, " In Isaac shall thy seed be called. " 
 Hereby the Lord signified to him, that there was a greater 
 12 
 
134 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 number of the election to be of his posterity in Isaac's line 
 than in the line of Ishmael, or of any of his other sons 
 that he should ever have, as he had several by a second 
 marriage ; and, therefore, God would take a more special 
 care of Isaac's offspring. And, indeed, no other account 
 can be given of his distinguishing concerns about them 
 more than the rest of Abraham's posterity ; or for his 
 affording greater advantages to one nation than another at 
 this day, but because of a much greater number of his 
 elect ones being among them, because he knows whom he 
 has chosen. And* then the apostle comes to give another 
 instance of the same kind, viz : the distinction which God 
 made between the two branches of Isaac's offspring in the 
 tenth and following verses, " And not only this, but when 
 Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father 
 Isaac ; for the children being not yet born, neither having 
 done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according 
 to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth, 
 it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger." 
 Here the apostle shows, that though God had said, that 
 the seed of Abraham, which he chiefly intended in the 
 promise of being their God, was to be in Isaac's line, yet 
 he intended one part of Isaac's seed more than the other ; 
 which he intimated to Rebecca before her twin-children 
 were born, when he said, " The elder shall serve the 
 younger." And thus he observes, there was a distinguish- 
 ing purpose and decree of God concerning them, (before 
 they had done any good or evil,) according to election ; 
 which purpose of election is not of works, " but of him that 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 135 
 
 calleth," according to his own sovereign pleasure. The 
 apostle's meaning is plainly this, that God's choosing 
 Jacob, and a great number of his posterity, more than 
 Esau or his posterity, was not on account of any good 
 works to be performed by any of them, more than by the 
 others, as the reason of it ; any more than it was on ac- 
 count of good works already done, before they were born, 
 when neither of them had done neither good or evil ; so, 
 though the apostle's words very likely refer to the respec- 
 tive posterities of those two brothers, as well as to their own 
 persons, yet they respect their spiritual interest more than 
 their temporal, and signify that God had many more of his 
 elect in the posterity of Jacob than of Esau, at least, while 
 they continued two visibly distinct bodies ; and, therefore, 
 he took more care of Jacob's posterity, taking them into, 
 and keeping them in, a visible church relation to himself, 
 while he suffered the posterity of Esau to degenerate into 
 heathenism and pagan idolatry ; so calling them off from 
 so much as any visible relation to him, as his church. And 
 this directly answers the apostle's purpose, which is, to 
 show that God had a peculiar elect seed among the seed 
 of Abraham and of Isaac, which he principally designed, 
 and referred to, in the promise ; and, therefore, it was no 
 argument that the word of God had failed, or taken no 
 effect, though great bodies of their natural seed w^ere 
 neglected, and separated from his church ; and it was as 
 reasonable to suppose the same thing of Jacob's seed. 
 This election, he asserts, was not of works, but purely 
 of him that calluth, as he pleases. And so, ver. 14, and 
 
186 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 seq., lie goes on to answer the grand objection which he 
 saw would readily be laid against the doctrine, viz : that 
 it makes God unjust, cruel, partial, and all what not. 
 " What shall we say then?" says he ; "Is there unright- 
 eousness with God ? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, 
 I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will 
 have compassion on whom I will have compassion." He 
 observes, that God had sufficiently answered the objec- 
 tion himself in these words to Moses, Exodus xxxiii. 19, 
 which clearly signify that all had sinned, and justly 
 deserved the execution of his wrath ; and so were become 
 objects of mere mercy, which he might bestow or with- 
 hold, according to his own sovereign pleasure, without 
 any unrighteousness. And, indeed, this is the answer 
 that will stand for ever ; and wherewith God will one day 
 silence all the quarrelings of haughty creatures. And 
 in these words he declares, that as he justly might, so he 
 really has reserved this royal sovereignty to himself, of 
 bestowing mercy to guilty creatures, just as himself 
 pleases ; that he will have mercy and compassion on 
 whom he will. From whence the apostle clearly infers, 
 ver. 16, " So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him 
 that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy ;" i. e. the 
 election of any sinners is not at all of themselves, as being 
 better inclined and behaved than others, but altogether of 
 God, who bestows mercy as he pleases ; " who will have 
 mercy on whom he will have mercy ; and will have com- 
 passion on whom he will have compassion." But I pre- 
 sume I need prosecute the argument no farther from this 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 137 
 
 chapter ; it is fully clear already, beyond all reasonable 
 contradiction, that it maintains the very doctrine I have 
 undertaken to prove. 
 
 And it is no less clearly maintained in the first chapter 
 to the Ephesians : " According as he hath chosen us in 
 him (viz : Christ) before the foundation of the world, that 
 we should be holy, and without blame before him, in love. 
 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by 
 Jesus Christ, to himself, according to the good pleasure of 
 his will." Vers. 4, 5. The election which the apostle here 
 speaks of, was more than a choosing of them to external 
 church privileges, even an election to eternal salvation ; 
 for he says, " God had predestinated them to the adoption 
 of children by Jesus Christ to himself. " " And, (as he 
 says, Rom. viii. 17,) if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, 
 and joint heirs with Christ. " Moreover, he describes 
 them as those that were in a state of saving grace, (ver. 3,) 
 saying, " God hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings, in 
 heavenly places, in Christ Jesus." And then immediately 
 adds, " according as he hath chosen us in him, before the 
 foundation of the world, that we should be holy." Their 
 "being blessed with ail spiritual blessings in Christ," was 
 according to God's foregoing choice of them ; it was the 
 fruit of a gracious and eternal purpose to that end ; and 
 they were chosen, not because they would be holy, but that 
 they should be holy ; their goodness was not the cause, 
 but the effect of their election. And, (ver. 5,) they were 
 predestinated, or fore-appointed, to be the children of God, 
 not according to their good works, or dispositions, but 
 12* 
 
138 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 according to the good pleasure of his will ; not to their 
 own praise, but to the praise of the glory of his grace ; as 
 it follows (ver. 6). And very expressly, to the same 
 purpose, he says, (ver. 11,) "In whom also we have 
 obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to 
 the purpose of him who worketh all things after the coun- 
 sel of his own will." We are not predestinated to the 
 heavenly inheritance, says he, according to the purpose 
 of one who proceeds according to the will and behaviour 
 of others ; but " according to the purpose of him who does 
 all things after the counsel of his own will." 
 
 Another place of scripture, very expressly asserting an 
 absolute election, you may see in 2 Tim. i. 9. " God hath 
 saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according 
 to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, 
 which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
 began.' ' The plain meaning of these words, if they can 
 be made plainer, is, as if the apostle had said, " God hath 
 saved us, and effectually called us, out of a state of sin to 
 holiness ; and this is not to be ascribed to any works or 
 endeavours of ours, as the reason of it, but to his own 
 sovereign purpose and grace, or free favour ; which grace 
 was made sure to us in Christ, by the Father's engagement 
 to him in the eternal covenant of redemption before the 
 world began." This is a natural and easy paraphrase upon 
 the words, though indeed they do not need any ; I am 
 very sure, if they were found anywhere else but in the 
 Bible, every one would readily acknowledge they contained 
 the Calvinistic doctrine of election. See also 2 Thess. ii. 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 139 
 
 13, 14, 1 Pet. 1, 2, John xv. 16, with many other places 
 of scripture, which it is needless to mention. 
 
 But besides these direct and immediate testimonies of 
 scripture to the doctrine, it may be farther clearly proved 
 from such scripture passages as declare the absoluteness 
 and sovereignty of God's proceeding in the effectual 
 calling and conversion of sinners to himself. If God, in 
 the regeneration and conversion of sinners, proceeds in an 
 absolute sovereign way, calling whom he will, without 
 regarding their previous motion and behaviour, as the 
 reason of his proceeding, on which it is suspended ; then 
 his choosing of them must be absolute, and sovereign too ; 
 for actual renovation in time is just the fruit and execution 
 of the eternal purpose ; and therefore the one must 
 exactly answer to the other. Many are the places of 
 scripture which plainly teach us that God's renewing and 
 converting of any sinners is wholly owing to his sovereign, 
 distinguishing favour and mercy, and not to any dis- 
 tinguishing goodness of their own. I shall just only 
 select a few. What can be more express to this purpose 
 than these words ? " For we ourselves also were some- 
 times foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts 
 and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and 
 hating one another. But after that the kindness and love 
 of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works 
 ■ of righteousness which we have done, but according to his 
 mercy, he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost." Tit. iii. 3 — 5. In the same 
 manner, the apostle speaks in the second chapter to the 
 
140 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 Ephesians : " And you hath he quickened, who were dead 
 in trespasses and sins ; wherein, in time past, ye walked 
 according to the course of this world, according to the 
 prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh 
 in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all 
 had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, 
 fulfilling the decrees of the flesh and the mind ; and were 
 by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, 
 who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
 even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 
 with Christ, by grace ye are saved." Oh, sirs, thousands 
 that are now in heaven, would have been in hell, had 
 God waited for their good works, or preparing themselves 
 for his grace, before he had laid hold of them by converting 
 power. And what great excellency is there in all the good 
 works, falsely so called, of an unregenerate sinner, when 
 he has done them, to engage God to save him ? How 
 clearly is the free, absolute sovereignty of God in the 
 effectual calling, declared (1 Cor. i. 26 — 30). " For ye see 
 your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after 
 the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 
 But God hath chosen the foolish things of this world, to 
 confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things 
 of the world, to confound the things which are mighty ; 
 and base things of the world, and things which are 
 despised, hath God chosen ; yea, and things which are not, 
 to bring to nought things that are ; that no flesh should 
 glory in his presence." Here you see, God calls just whom 
 lie will, among the guilty children of men. Some of the 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 141 
 
 high and mighty of the world ; but more generally he has 
 ordered it that those whom he designs to call, shall be poor 
 and mean in all worldly respects ; and the general rea- 
 son is, to dash clown all human pride, that no flesh should 
 glory in his presence ; but that he that glorieth, should glory 
 only in the Lord, ver. 31. And it is remarkable how the 
 apostle alters the term ; after he had begun with " calling," 
 he puts in " choosing" in the place of it ; because temporal 
 vocation exactly corresponds to eternal election, as the cer- 
 tain consequence and evidence of it; and the one is as 
 free and absolute as the other, so that it was equal which 
 of the terms he used. Numbers of Scripture instances prove 
 this truth. What good works of obedience to Christ had 
 Paul done ? Or what good dispositions had he towards 
 Him, before He reached him by his powerful grace, to induce 
 the Lord to choose and call him ? Were not great num- 
 bers of his nation, as good as he, left to perish in unbelief? 
 What were the good works and dispositions of Abraham, 
 more than others, when God called him, as he was serving 
 other gods on the other side of the flood, with the rest of 
 his father's house? (Josh. xxiv. 2) of whom the Lord says, 
 (Isa. li. 2,) "I called him alone, and blessed him." This 
 argument is so clear and certain in all its parts, that I 
 think it would be quite superfluous to bestow any more 
 pains upon it. 
 
 Again, the doctrine of absolute election appears from 
 the only way of fallen sinners' salvation, as it is laid down 
 and declared in the gospel, viz : the way of believing only 
 and entirely in the merit and righteousness of the Lord 
 
142 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 Jesus for actual reconciliation with God. The argument 
 here may be thus formed : that doctrine which leaves no 
 room for guilty sinners to rest and depend on anything but 
 the merit and atonement of Jesus Christ only, for the 
 reconciled favour of God, and their acceptance with him ; 
 the contrary of which does give room to sinners to rest, 
 and depend also, on something else for reconciliation and 
 acceptance with God, must be true, and its contrary false, 
 according to the Scriptures. But the doctrine of absolute 
 election leaves no room for guilty sinners to rest and de- 
 pend on anything for the reconciled favour of God, and 
 their acceptance with him, but the merit and atonement 
 of Jesus Christ only ; and the contrary doctrine does give 
 them room to rest, and depend also, on something else for 
 it, viz : something in them, or done by them ; therefore, 
 the doctrine of absolute election is true, and the contrary 
 doctrine false, according to the Scriptures. 
 
 The Scripture clearly teaches us to look only to the 
 merit and atonement of Christ's obedience and sufferings 
 for actual justification before God, and reconciliation with 
 him ; and it is as clear, that the doctrine of sinners being 
 chosen in Christ, and fore-appointed to justification and 
 eternal life through him, of God's mere, sovereign, free 
 grace, agrees well with this ; it cuts all the sinews of self- 
 dependence, and leaves the sinner no other foundation 
 to cast himself upon, but the sovereign mercy of God, 
 through a redeeming Saviour. And I think it is as clear 
 again, on the other hand, that the opposite doctrine of a 
 conditional election, founded either upon the actual existence 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 143 
 
 of some good in, or done by the sinner, or upon the fore- 
 sight of it to be in him, or done by him, lays a foundation 
 for self-dependence, and so tends to keep undone sinners 
 from closing with Christ in the way of the gospel. This 
 delusive opinion makes poor creatures swell very big with 
 a conceit of themselves, and what they do. When they 
 imagine their qualifications and doings are of such price 
 with God, it makes them halve the procurement of their 
 salvation between Christ's righteousness and their own, 
 which he will never bear. It makes them patch their 
 filthy rags and menstruous cloaths to his complete, un- 
 spotted robe, for a joint recommendation of them to God's 
 acceptance. Indeed, I cannot see a material difference 
 between Arminian Protestants and the Papists, about the 
 doctrine of justification. And I find two great bishops, 
 one of each sort, of my mind. Says Bishop Burnet, in his 
 Exposition (more properly, perversion) of the thirty-nine 
 articles of the Church of England, page 126, " This matter 
 was so stated by many of the writers of the Church of 
 Rome, after the Reformation, that, as to the main of it, 
 we have no just exception to it." The bishop of Meaux, 
 in his Exposition of the doctrine of the Catholic Church, 
 page 93, after he has been explaining their sense and jus- 
 tification, and merit of good works, says, "And, indeed, 
 we must acknowledge, that the learned of their party 
 (meaning the Reformed) do not contend so much of late 
 about this subject, as they did formerly ; and there are but 
 few who do not ; there ought not to have been a breach 
 on this point. But if this important difficulty about justi- 
 
144 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 fication, upon which their first authors laid all their stress, 
 be not looked upon now as essential by the wisest persons 
 among them, we leave them to think what they ought to 
 judge of their separation ; and what hopes there would be 
 of a union, if they would but overcome their prejudice, and 
 quit the spirit of contention. " Thus we see Protestants 
 and Papists cordially shaking hands, and agreeing again 
 in one of the most material matters of difference. And all 
 the contest remaining is, which side has made the approach 
 to the other. The one says, "You have come to us;" the 
 other says, "No; but you have come to us." And this, 
 I believe, will be judged but a small matter for brethren 
 to fall out about. However, I think I might venture, in a 
 court of equity, to undertake to obtain sentence, upon this 
 plea, in favour of the Romish gentleman. 
 
 The last argument I shall offer, for confirmation of this 
 doctrine, shall be taken from the declared scope and de- 
 sign of God in the gospel, which is, as it is highly reason- 
 able, to secure the whole glory of sinners' salvation to him- 
 self, and for ever hide pride from man. He assures us, 
 he has so concerted the scheme and laid the plan, that the 
 saved sinner shall not have the least ground to boast, or 
 glory ; which evidently proves, that election is not condi- 
 tional, founded on sinners' good works or dispositions ; but 
 absolute, founded on God's good pleasure. For upon the 
 conditional scheme, the justified, converted person has it 
 to ascribe to himself, that he, more than another, is in 
 such a happy state. The reason cannot be God's dis- 
 tinguishing love and grace to him, beyond others, but his 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 145 
 
 own distinguishing goodness ; for the others are supposed 
 to have had as much love and kindness from God as he. 
 Whence, then, came the difference that is between them? 
 Not from God, for he made no difference ; but from him- 
 self. And does not this give some ground for boasting in 
 the case — to arrogate some glory and praise to himself? 
 But the true gospel-way of salvation will not, in the least, 
 admit of any such thing. It is cross to God's declared 
 view and design in it. "For by grace ye are saved, 
 through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of 
 God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. ii. 
 8, 9. The way which God has laid for sinners' salvation, 
 is such, that it precludes and bars against all boasting in 
 those that are saved ; and, therefore, it is not of works, 
 but through faith, which is a soul-humbling, self-emptying 
 grace, and a gift of God's royal bounty, which he bestows 
 at pleasure. Rom. iii. 27. After the apostle has clearly 
 laid down the true gospel way of guilty sinners' justification 
 and salvation, through the alone righteousness of Christ, 
 imputed in a way of believing, he asks, " Where is boast- 
 ing then?" and answers, "It is excluded; not by the law 
 of works, but by the law of faith." All boasting is entirely 
 excluded by that method which God has established ; and 
 hence, we may, with abundant evidence, conclude that 
 that doctrine which affords any room for glorying and 
 boasting is not of God, being directly contrary to the plan 
 and design of the gospel. 
 
 Having now, I think, with great clearness, from God's 
 
 word of truth, proved the doctrine of absolute, unconditional 
 13 
 
146 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 election, I proceed, in the next place, to prove, that those 
 of guilty mankind, whom God did not thus choose to ever- 
 lasting life and salvation through Christ, he determined 
 to leave in their guilty state, and inflict upon them their 
 deserved punishment. And upon this branch of predesti- 
 nation I need be but short, because it is abundantly proven 
 already by the proof of the former ; for the one is a necessary 
 consequence of the other. If God determined to deal with 
 guilty mankind in such a sovereign way as has been 
 proved, making his own righteous, sovereign pleasure, the 
 only rule of procedure towards them, then it necessarily 
 follows, that such as he did not ordain to life, he did ordain 
 to deserved death. To suppose an absolute and certain 
 election of a part of guilty sinners to be redeemed and 
 saved, and yet, that the rest are not reprobated or rejected, 
 are very inconsistent notions ; for, seeing all mankind were 
 looked upon and considered by God, in his decrees, as 
 under a righteous sentence of condemnation to punishment 
 for their sin, then, sure, such as he did not determine to 
 deliver out of that condemnation and ruin, were left in it, 
 to suffer the law. To say, " that they were all elected con- 
 ditionally, though the others were absolutely/ ' is as contrary 
 to those scriptures which have been adduced, as to deny an 
 absolute election altogether ; for they assert election to be 
 universally absolute, contrary to such a distinction of a 
 two-fold election. It is a notion, especially contrary to 
 those passages which declare the absoluteness of effectual 
 calling in all those that are so called ; and those passages 
 which declare, that all that are saved, are saved in such a 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 147 
 
 way as excludes all self-glorying and self-depending. But 
 I proceed to offer a few other proofs from the scripture, 
 for the confirmation of this head. And, first, I argue 
 thus : those who are not given in charge by the Father to 
 Jesus Christ, to be redeemed and saved by him, were 
 left in their sins, and ordained to suffer the law for them 
 themselves. 
 
 But those who were not certainly elected to salvation, 
 were not given in charge by the Father to Jesus Christ, to 
 be redeemed and saved by him : therefore, they were left 
 in their sins, and ordained to suffer the law for them them- 
 selves. That those, who were not certainly elected to 
 salvation, were not given in charge by the Father to Jesus 
 Christ, to be redeemed and saved by him, is plain from 
 this, that all those who were given in charge to Jesus 
 Christ, to be redeemed and saved by him, shall certainly 
 be saved by him; and were certainly and infallibly 
 ordained to be so. This is clearly proved from the words 
 of Christ : " For I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
 own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is 
 the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he 
 hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it 
 up again at the last day." John vi. 38, 39. These words, 
 I think, plainly say, that all such as are not in the end 
 actually saved by Jesus Christ, if he be faithful to his 
 trust, were not committed to his charge, to be redeemed 
 by him, and consequently they were left under the con- 
 demnatory sentence of the law. 
 
 Another proof, that those whom God has not absolutely 
 
148 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 elected to salvation, he has left to perish, and abandoned 
 from his saving care, you have in Rom. xi. 7, where, after 
 the apostle has said, that the remnant of Israel, which God 
 had reserved to himself, according to the election of grace, 
 had obtained righteousness and life ; he adds, " and the rest 
 were blinded." Very full and express to the same purpose 
 are those words, " Christ is a stone of stumbling, and a 
 rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, 
 being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed/ ' 
 2 Pet. ii. 8. God appointed to leave them to blindness, 
 stumbling, and disobedience ; which things are always con- 
 sequent upon God's leaving any to themselves. 
 
 This doctrine of sinners' rejection or reprobation in the 
 eternal purpose of God, is indeed, I acknowledge, a very 
 awful and solemn one ; especially to those who do not find 
 in them the comfortable evidences of election ; and might 
 reasonably excite in them a deep concern about the great 
 concerns of their souls, and stir them up to take no 
 peaceful rest, till they find in themselves the hopeful tokens 
 of God's electing love, in a supernatural work of renewing, 
 sanctifying grace in their souls. But then let us take care, 
 that we do not charge God foolishly and wickedly in the 
 case, as if he were cruel and unrighteous. What, if God 
 was willing to show his wrath, and to make his power 
 known, upon the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and 
 worthy of death, who can justly find fault with him? 
 What, if he had reprobated all apostate mankind, as well 
 as all apostate angels, who could say, he had done wrong ? 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 149 
 
 Every mouth must have been stopped, all the world being 
 guilty before him. 
 
 But I come to speak to the objections, commonly urged 
 from the scriptures against the foregoing doctrine, in both 
 its branches. And here I shall first take notice of the 
 method which those on the other side of the question, 
 put a main confidence in, for the overthrowing of this doc- 
 trine, by going about to prove a universal redemption ; 
 that Christ died equally for all, and every individual of 
 mankind ; for one as much as another. This, they think, 
 they can very easily prove from such places of scripture, 
 as speak of his dying " for all men ; for all the world ; for 
 the whole world ; for every man ;" and the like. But 
 these universal expressions of scripture will not amount to 
 sufficient proof of what they bring them for, for all so 
 plain as they think they are for them. If such universal 
 terms of scripture must of necessity be understood in such 
 a large extent as they might seem to carry in them, we 
 shall then as easily prove many other things from scrip- 
 ture which no man of common sense will beleive to be 
 intended in it. For instance, as readily and plainly as 
 they will prove that Christ laid down his life for every 
 individual person of Adam's race ; as plainly, I say will I 
 prove that every individual person of Adam's race will 
 have praise from God at the day of Judgment ; from 1 
 Cor. iv. 5, where the apostle says, " Then shall every man 
 have praise of God." As plainly and fully will I prove, 
 that after John the Baptist's preaching every individual of 
 
 mankind pressed into the kingdom of God; from Luke 
 13* 
 
150 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 xvi. 16, u Since that time the kingdom of God is preached, 
 and every man presseth into it." And by the same rule 
 you may have it proved that every human creature spoke 
 of the faith of the Christians at Rome. " Tour faith is 
 spoken of throughout the whole world" Rom. i. 8. These 
 few examples, instead of great numbers which might be 
 produced, are sufficient to show that such universal terms 
 in scripture must be often understood under very great 
 restrictions ; and quite in another sense than our opponents 
 will allow, when they are used concerning the death of 
 Christ. Some of those places of scripture, where such 
 universal terms are used, concerning Christ's death, and 
 the effect of it, only signify the virtue and efficacy of it, 
 to those who partake of the benefits of it. Some others 
 signify that his death was designed promiscuously for some 
 of all nations, and all ranks and conditions of men, as not 
 confined to any one particular nation, or degree of mankind. 
 Others again only mean, that Christ is the only Saviour, 
 that none are saved but through his death. In the first 
 sense, we are to understand Rom. v. 18. The design of 
 that whole chapter is to show that Christ's death and 
 satisfaction is of sufficient virtue for the justifying and 
 saving of the most guilty sinners. For this purpose the 
 apostle observes the efficacy of Adam's sin, and breaking 
 the law, to the condemning of those to whom it was 
 charged and imputed, declaring that much more is Christ's 
 fulfilling the law effectual to the complete justification of 
 those to whom it is imputed, notwithstanding their former 
 condemnation. And so, when he says, that " as by the 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 151 
 
 offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemna- 
 tion : even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift 
 came upon all men to justification of life," his meaning 
 is, that as the offence and disobedience of Adam prevailed 
 to the condemning of those to whom it reached, and was 
 imputed, even so the righteousness of Christ was suffi- 
 ciently effectual to the full justification of those to whom 
 it was imputed, from the guilt of that offence, and all 
 others, so as to entitle them again to eternal life. So that 
 the apostle's design is not at all to run a parallel between 
 Adam's offence and Christ's righteousness, in the extent 
 of their influence and effects ; but to compare the one with 
 the other, as to the efficacy of their influence ; in respect 
 of which he observes that Christ's righteousness is much 
 superior, as it justifies to life, even after Adam's sin has 
 condemned to death. And thus the phrase, " all men," in 
 both parts of the verse, is to be understood with this limi- 
 tation, viz : all men on whom it came. In the first part 
 of the verse, judgment came upon all men, on whom it 
 came, to condemnation ; L e., so as to condemn them. In 
 the latter part, the free gift came upon all men, on whom 
 it came, to justification of life ; i. e., so as to justify them 
 to life. I presume, if every man had been in the text, 
 instead of all men, the Universalists would have thought it 
 every whit as strong for their purpose as they do now. 
 And you may see how that this phrase must be understood 
 the same way, Mark viii. 25, * where it is said of the man 
 
 * I accomodate myself here to those who understand only the English 
 translation. The term in the original is in the plural number, all men 
 
152 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 that had been blind, to whom Jesus Christ gave sight, that 
 he saw every man clearly ; which cannot be understood of 
 the extent of his sight, that he saw every man that 
 was in the world; but of the strength and efficacy 
 of his sight, that he saw every man, whom he did 
 see, clearly. It is indeed true, that by the offence 
 of Adam, judgment came upon every individual of his pos- 
 terity, except the human nature of Jesus Christ, to con- 
 demnation ; and this verse is a clear and certain proof of 
 it. But then, I conceive it is not the universality of the 
 term here that proves it ; it is as fully proved from the 
 next verse as from this, where it is only said, that by his 
 disobedience many were made sinners ; because the impu- 
 tation of his sin at all, is evidence enough that it is impu- 
 ted to all and every one that descends from him in the 
 ordinary way of generation ; seeing his relation was the 
 same to all, as the natural and common parent of the hu- 
 man race. But, farther, there is this plain reason, evin- 
 cing that the universal term here must be understood in 
 this limited sense, viz : because if it be understood in the 
 large, extensive sense in which the Arminians will have 
 it, it will prove a great deal too much for them, not a uni- 
 versal, conditional, redemption which they contend for, 
 but a universal, absolute redemption and salvation. It 
 will then prove that every individual of the human race 
 is actually justified to eternal life, by the righteousness of 
 Christ ; and we are sure, that whom he justified, them he 
 
 as well as in Rom. v. 18. But it is as equal to the sense, which of the 
 ways it is rendered. 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 153 
 
 also glorified, (Rom. viii. 80.) Thus you see the true 
 sense of this text, and manifest design of the whole con- 
 text, destroy all foundation of an argument for universal 
 redemption. 
 
 The proper import and design of those words, (1 John ii' 
 2,) " He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, 
 but also for the sins of the whole world," is, that the death 
 of Christ was a propitiation, or atonement, not only for 
 people among the Jews, or for those who were then believers 
 in those parts of the world, but also for some, be they more 
 or less, in all parts and ages of the world ; for he was to 
 be God's salvation unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 When the apostle says, (1 Tim. ii. 6,) that " Christ gave 
 himself a ransom for all/' it appears from the context, 
 that he means persons of all ranks and degrees ; for he 
 brings it in as an argument to enforce his exhortation to 
 pray for kings, and all that are in authority. The same 
 universal term he manifestly intends in the same sense, in 
 the first verse, when he says, "I exhort, therefore, that 
 first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving 
 of thanks, be made for all men. ,, He cannot mean, sure, 
 that they should pray for the millions of men that were 
 dead, and gone to their own place before that time. 
 Neither can he intend, that they should pray for such as 
 the apostle John excludes from an interest in our prayers, 
 (1 John v. 16) : " There is a sin unto death : I do not say, 
 that a man shall pray for it ;" that is, for such as are 
 guilty of it. But he explains his meaning to be for men 
 of all stations and degrees, the high as well as the low, 
 
154 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 adding, "for kings, and all that are in authority." When 
 the apostle says, (Heb. ii. 9,) that "Christ tasted death 
 for every man," the meaning is, for every man that is 
 saved ; to signify, that none are saved but through Christ's 
 death, that his death is the only purchase of salvation for 
 any man. In the same limited manner we must understand 
 the same term, (Col. i. 28,) "We preach Christ, warning 
 every man, and teaching every man," that is, warning and 
 teaching every man to whom we have an opportunity to 
 preach. So, (1 Cor. iv. 5,) "When the Lord comes to 
 judgment, every man shall have praise of God;" that is, 
 every man that is saved, or has been truly godly. Another 
 place of scripture, which is brought in to serve the cause 
 of universal redemption, is, (2 Pet. ii. 1,) where the apostle 
 speaks of some who should privily bring in damnable 
 heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and 
 bring upon themselves swift destruction. But the apostle 
 only speaks of the Lord's having bought them, as what 
 might have been hoped concerning them as well as others. 
 The gospel revelation of a Saviour that died to redeem 
 sinners, affords ground to all to whom it comes, to hope 
 that his death might have been designed for them as well 
 as others, (though it was not intended for all and every 
 one alike,) seeing it does not point out the persons, in par- 
 ticular, for whom he did not intend the benefits of his 
 death. And so, concerning these persons here, the apostle 
 mentions it as a high aggravation of their crime, that they 
 should deny that Redeemer, of whom they had no reason 
 to conclude to the contrary but that he had bought and 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 155 
 
 redeemed them, when they had the same ground of hope 
 this way that any others had, before they had the special 
 evidences of it in renewing grace. 
 
 Thus I have considered some of the most material passa- 
 ges of Scripture which are advanced in favour of universal 
 redemption ; and I think any considerate person might 
 see, from what has been said, that they come far short of 
 answering the design they are advanced for; and any 
 other passages of the like strain are to be understood the 
 same way. I have already mentioned a place of Scripture, 
 (John vi. 39,) which proves that all those who were given 
 to Christ to redeem, he will surely save, and finally glorify, 
 unless it may be said he was unfaithful to his charge ; for 
 it was " the will of him that sent him, that he should lose 
 none of them, but raise them up again at the last day," 
 and so put the finishing stroke to their full glorification ; 
 which confirms a particular redemption, in opposition to a 
 universal. In the tenth chapter of John our Lord speaks 
 of a peculiar people, which he had both among the Jews 
 and Gentiles, whom he calls his sheep ; for whom, he says, 
 he laid down his life. And, (John xvii,) he speaks of those 
 whom the Father had given him, as distinct from the rest 
 of mankind. For these, he says, he prays, and not for 
 the world, ver. 9; and, ver. 19, he says, "For their sakes 
 I sanctify myself;" that is, it is for their sakes that I set 
 myself apart to the office and charge of a Redeemer, and 
 devote myself to be a sacrifice. 
 
 I shall only farther point out, as briefly as may be, some 
 absurdities attending the doctrine of universal redemption, 
 
156 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 and so dismiss it. If God sent his Son to die for sinners, 
 with an equal view and design to save them all by it, intend- 
 ing as much the salvation of one as another, without any 
 difference, then it will follow, that those who are saved are 
 no more beholden or obliged to God than those who perish ; 
 and it was not from him that they were saved any more 
 than others, but from themselves ; and so he shall not have 
 the glory of it ; nay, he is rather beholden to them, for 
 letting him have his end. Again, it will follow, that God, 
 in a great measure, comes short of obtaining his end and 
 design, and that in the greatest affair that ever he under- 
 took, so far as we are acquainted ; an end which he was 
 so intent upon, that he spared not his own Son, but 
 delivered him up to the death, that he might obtain it. 
 The end which he was intently set upon, was the salvation 
 of all the human race; and yet he is greatly disappointed 
 of it, for great numbers for ever perish. Now, how can 
 any man reasonably persuade himself, that God really pro- 
 posed to himself, and intended such an end, and yet did 
 not make it sure, and ascertain the attainment of it ? Was 
 it not easy to his power to do it ? Has he not the hearts 
 of all men in his hands ? Would it have done them any 
 injustice to have persuaded them by almighty power, and 
 made them willing to be happy? But seeing he has not 
 done so, it is plain that the salvation of all was not the 
 end and design he had in view in sending his Son into the 
 world to die. Would he have left a design he had so 
 much at heart, upon the precarious bottom (to say the best 
 of it that they can say) of the free-will of corrupted crea- 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 157 
 
 fores, that were no way well affected toward him, but 
 awfully disaffected? Nay, farther, it will follow, that it 
 might have so happened as that he would have entirely 
 lost his end altogether ; for all so seriously as he intended 
 it, and was set upon it, yet it seems he did not make it 
 certain; no, not as to the salvation of any one soul, but 
 left it altogether to themselves. One would think by this, 
 that he was not very intent upon it, for all the great pre- 
 tences of some, by this doctrine, to magnify his love and 
 good-will to men. And it may be considered which doc- 
 trine magnifies the love of God most — that which renders 
 the salvation of a considerable number infallibly certain, 
 or that which leaves it altogether uncertain as to any, 
 leaving it entirely to the good pleasure of their depraved 
 wills ? I believe it will be found that more will be saved 
 in that way, than would have been in this ; for, I think, 
 upon this score, none at all would be saved. However, it 
 is plain that great multitudes do finally oppose and contra- 
 dict this supposed intention of God ; and what hinders but 
 all the rest might do so too, according to the universal 
 scheme ; and not so much as one be saved after all ? for 
 all are alike opposite to the way of salvation by nature. 
 But you will say, perhaps, there was no danger of such a 
 disappointment and frustration of God's end as this, for 
 he foreknew who would comply with the gospel, and be saved, 
 and so knew that he would not altogether fail of his design. 
 But this is so far from clearing the doctrine, that it intro- 
 duces a new absurdity ; for how can it be conceived that God 
 could really intend and design the death of Christ, and the 
 14 
 
158 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 benefit of it, for those who he infallibly knew would never 
 be partakers of it ? Is it not an absurdity, may not I say 
 impossibility, in the very nature of the thing ? To what 
 purpose was the death of Christ designed for them, or for 
 what advantage ? Not to save them, for that the Lord 
 knew would never be. And every designing of an end 
 includes in it some degree of expectation, which could not 
 be in this case. Was it to purchase sufficient grace for 
 them, that so they might be saved if they would ? Well, 
 but the Lord knew that they would not make the saving 
 use of it ; and why then was it intentionally purchased for 
 them ? Sure, you will not say it was to make their guilt 
 and punishment the greater. Let the admirers of univer- 
 sal redemption consider a little, how they will digest and 
 solve these things. But to proceed, 
 
 The opposers of the doctrine of absolute decrees argue 
 farther against it, from some places of scripture, which 
 they suppose declare a general will and desire in God of 
 the conversion and salvation of all sinners, and how much 
 he would be pleased with it ; which they suppose is con- 
 trary to his having purposed not to give to some the grace 
 necessary and sufficient for their conversion, but to leave 
 them to perish in their sins. I shall a little consider the 
 principal passages which they advance to this purpose, and 
 shew that they intend nothing contrary to this doctrine. 
 One of them is (1 Tim. ii. 4,) " God will have all men to 
 be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.' ' 
 If all men, here be understood for every individual man in 
 the world, then God's willing them to be saved, cannot 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 159 
 
 mean his having willed and purposed that they shall be 
 saved ; for then they all would be saved, because he can 
 easily fulfill all his purposes, and surely will do so. " For 
 his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure.' ' 
 Isa. xlvi. 10. " The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, 
 and the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Psa. 
 xxxiii. 11. But if the words be taken in this unlimited 
 sense, the meaning of the place must only be, that the 
 salvation of all men, in the way of faith and holiness, 
 would be a thing very agreeable to the approving and pre- 
 ceptive will of God, as he delights in holiness, and 
 the happiness which is connected with it ; and that sin, for 
 which it is that any perish, is disagreeable and hateful to 
 his holy nature ; and yet, all this is no way inconsistent 
 with his determining to punish sinners for their sin. But 
 I think it is plain, from the context, that by all men here, 
 we are to understand, men of all characters and degrees ; 
 for the words are brought in as an argument to encourage 
 christians to pray for kings, and for all that are in 
 authority. And in the same sense, the term all men is in- 
 tended in the first verse, as I have made appear before. 
 
 Another place is (2 Pet. iii. 9), " The Lord is not slack 
 concerning his promise ; but is long suffering to us-ward, 
 not willing that any should perish, but that all should come 
 to repentance." I think it is pretty manifest, that the per- 
 sons the apostle speaks of here, are the elect of God ; the 
 persons to whom he writes these epistles, are considered 
 under that character. In his first epistle, (chap. i. 2,) he 
 calls them " elect, according to the foreknowledge of God 
 
160 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit unto 
 obedience, and to the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus 
 Christ." And in the first verse of this chapter we are 
 informed that he writes this second epistle to the same, or 
 same sort of persons ; and of the same he speaks in the 
 verse under our present consideration, joining himself, as 
 being also an elect person with them ; saying, " The Lord 
 is long suffering to us-ward ;" i. e., towards us, the election 
 of his grace, not willing that any, viz : of us, should per- 
 ish, but that we all should come to repentance, and be 
 called in. The apostle's design, in the words, is to show 
 the reason of God's delaying to put an end to the present 
 state of this world, and bring on the general judgment ; 
 in answer to the scoffers, that he says should be in the last 
 days, saying, " Where is the promise of his coming ? For 
 since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they 
 were from the beginning of the creation." Ver. 3, 4. In 
 answer, I say, to these atheistical scoffs, he observes that 
 God had done as great, unlikely, and unexpected things 
 already, as the shutting up the scene of this world in such 
 a solemn manner, though they wilfully neglected to take 
 notice of them. He had not only, by the word of his 
 power, created the heavens and the earth out of nothing 
 at first, but a long time after had destroyed the earth and 
 its ungodly inhabitants by a flood of water ; and so it was 
 no incredible, nor unlikely thing, that he should, at last, 
 burn it with fire at the day of judgment and perdition of 
 ungodly men ; and notwithstanding it had stood so long, 
 in much the same state, after the people of God had spoke 
 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 161 
 
 of this, as what would surely be, lie observes that a long 
 space of time with us is but little with God ; and then 
 says, a the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, (as 
 some men count slackness,) but is long suffering to us-ward, 
 &c. ;" that is, the Lord's deferring the end of the world and 
 last judgment so long, is not through forgetfulness or care- 
 less neglect of his promise to that purpose ; but the true 
 reason of it is, that all his elect may be brought in, not 
 being willing that any of them should perish, but that all 
 should come to repentance, be converted and saved ; and 
 therefore he will not come to judgment at a time when 
 there are any of them on the earth unconverted, nor until 
 the last of the whole number is fitted for glory. 
 
 There is another scripture that is always brought in upon 
 this head of argument, (Ezek. xxxiii. 11,) where the Lord 
 declares, with the solemnity of an oath, " As I live, saith 
 the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 
 but that the wicked turn from his way, and live/' When 
 the Lord says he has no pleasure in the death of the 
 wicked, the plain sense of the words is, that the death 
 and misery of sinners is not a pleasure to him in itself, or 
 for its own sake, merely as it is a misery to the creature. 
 But this does not say, but that their death and punishment 
 may be agreeable and pleasing to him under other con- 
 siderations ; as it is an execution of justice, and manifesta- 
 tion of his own glory. If it were not so, would he inflict 
 punishment upon any of them ? Would he displease and 
 make himself uneasy ? And when he says that it is a 
 
 pleasure to him, that the wicked turn from his way, and 
 14* 
 
162 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 live, the meaning is, that righteousness and holiness in 
 his creatures, and the happiness consequent upon it, is the 
 object of his approbation and liking, a thing in itself 
 agreeable and pleasing to his holy nature. But this, sure, 
 is no proof that he equally and alike designed the sancti- 
 fication and salvation of all sinners. If it proved any- 
 thing this way, it would prove that he designed it certainly 
 for them all, if his power could effect it. 
 
 The words of our Lord, (Matt, xxiii. 37,) are often 
 brought in upon this head, where he says of Jerusalem, 
 " How often would I have gathered thy children, even as 
 a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
 would not!" If we understand the Lord Jesus to speak 
 here of his willingness to have gathered them, with 
 reference to his divine nature, as God, the words only 
 prove, that sinners' compliance with the gospel, and turn- 
 ing to holiness, is a thing in itself agreeable and pleasing 
 to God's holy nature : holiness being the object of his love 
 and complacence ; that his dealings with that people, in 
 the course of his ministry among them, tended in their 
 own nature to bring them thus to duty ; and that their 
 unbelief and impenitency was owing to the perverseness 
 and corruption of their own wills, as the cause of it. But 
 if we suppose him to speak of his willingness merely as 
 man, in his human nature, then I see no inconvenience in 
 allowing that it might signify an intense and passionate 
 desire in him of their conversion and happiness. But, 
 surely, no such passions, or uneasy long desires, and 
 especially for things which will never be effected, are to be 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 163 
 
 ascribed to the divine nature. For my part, I cannot 
 apprehend what sort of a will and desire for the conversion 
 and salvation of all men, it is, which those who deny 
 absolute predestination, suppose to be in God, any way 
 consistent with his perfections. They suppose it includes 
 much more than that the holiness and happiness of his 
 creatures is a thing in itself lovely and agreeable to him ; 
 that it is his preceptive and approving will that they should 
 be holy, and consequently happy : which is very consistent 
 with the doctrine they oppose, from this topic of a general 
 will ; and they cannot allow it to include so much as a real 
 purpose that all shall be sanctified and saved ; because 
 then all would be so, which is contrary to fact, or 
 else God's purpose would be frustrated, and he would 
 come short of what he certainly intended would come 
 to pass, which is highly absurd. But they seem to 
 fancy a sort of an uneasy wishing and longing desire 
 in God for that which, notwithstanding, will never be; 
 and if this be not to make God such a one as ourselves, I 
 know not what is. Does it not argue God to be subject to 
 the weaknesses of creatures ? And not only so, but that 
 he suffers himself to be made uneasy, and to be crossed in 
 his desires by that which he could easily prevent, which is 
 what no wise man would allow in himself; and, therefore, 
 though God may sometimes condescend to speak to sinners 
 in such language as they use to one another, when they 
 would express the greatness and ardency of their desire 
 for anything, yet we are not hence to imagine that there 
 are any such human passions and creature-weaknesses in 
 
164 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 him. The design of such modes of speaking in God, is 
 only to signify how desirable and excellent a thing it is in 
 itself, for creatures to love, to obey and honour him, and 
 how much it is both their interest and duty to do so. And 
 the reason why this is expressed in such a manner as im- 
 ports weak passions in men when they speak so, is because 
 it is the most suitable way of dealing with such creatures 
 as we are, best adapted to our capacity and condition ; it 
 is a method that has the most suitable tendency in itself 
 to work upon and prevail with rational creatures, express- 
 ing best to their capacity the excellency and necessity of 
 holiness, and the horrid, hateful nature of sin ; for, though 
 it is the supernatural power of God's Spirit that prevails 
 with any sinners to be holy, yet, as a wise agent, he makes 
 use of the most suitable and best adapted means for that 
 purpose, dealing with men in a way suited to their rational 
 nature and human capacities. Thus it is we are to under- 
 stand the various expostulations and entreaties of God in 
 the scriptures. 
 
 As another topic of argument against the doctrine of 
 God's decrees, the opposers of it seem to think that all 
 men have sufficient power to do that which is required as 
 necessary to salvation, and with which salvation is cer- 
 tainly connected; or, at least, that they have sufficient 
 power to ensure to themselves such supernatural power as 
 is necessary for that purpose ; and this is what is commonly 
 called universal, sufficient grace. For the support of this 
 opinion they refer to such passages of scripture, in which 
 God commands all men where the gospel comes, to be holy 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 165 
 
 as lie is holy, to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, to 
 make themselves new hearts, &c. Hence they argue that 
 all have power some way to do these things, because, they 
 say, it would be unjust for God to require more of men 
 than they can perform. To this I answer, that these men 
 seem entirely to overlook, in this way of reasoning, the 
 ruin brought upon the human offspring by the fall and 
 apostasy of Adam, the covenant-head and representative 
 of all mankind. He, indeed, until he sinned, was furnished 
 with sufficient ability to do whatsoever God did or ever 
 should require of him; at least, had he not sinned, his 
 ability would always have been increased equally with his 
 obligations ; there was a full proportion between his power 
 and the law he was under. And so it would have been 
 with all his posterity, had he fulfilled the conditions of the 
 covenant; but as, by his transgression, they lost all right 
 and title to that happiness, and life of communion with 
 God, which was secured to them in the covenant, upon his 
 obedience, so they lost God's moral image, and the power 
 of holy obedience; and it was at God's free, sovereign 
 pleasure to confer happiness again, and the grace necessary 
 to it, as he pleased. And as God then was under no obli- 
 gation to afford strength answerable to the law, so neither 
 was he obliged to bring down the requirements of his law 
 to the level and capacity of the fallen, ruined creature. 
 Though man, by his own default, has lost his power of obe- 
 dience, that is no argument that God must lose his right 
 and claim ; the creature's sin and wretchedness thereby, 
 cannot dissolve his obligations of duty to God ; God's law 
 
166 TREATISE OTST THE 
 
 must still remain the same, as a perfect and eternal rule 
 of righteousness, let creatures change and alter as they will. 
 If it be asked, for what end the law of God is set before 
 us, and his commandments laid upon us in his word, if we 
 have not ability to fulfil ? I answer, for various ends ; to 
 teach us what is our duty to God ; what we ought to be 
 aiming at, and endeavouring after ; to show us our sins and 
 transgressions, " for by the law is the knowledge of sin," 
 (Rom. iii. 20,) as the crookedness of a line is discovered by 
 laying it to a straight one ; to teach us our utter inability 
 to fulfil the law, and obtain life for our obedience ; for 
 which purpose our Saviour referred one to the keeping of 
 the commandments, (Matt. xix. 17,) whom he found big 
 with the conceit that he could do much ; that so we may see 
 our necessity of getting righteousness and strength from 
 Christ, a mediator ; and thus the law is given as a school- 
 master to bring us to Christ. It is a means whereby the 
 Lord brings in his elect to the Redeemer by faith ; and it 
 is given as a rule of life to the renewed children of God, 
 to direct them how they are to honour and glorify him. 
 
 If it be objected to the above account of sinners' 
 inability to do what is now required of them under the dis- 
 pensation of the new covenant, that Adam had not the 
 power of believing in a Redeemer, or repenting and 
 renewing his heart, as having no need of it, and the 
 exercise of it being inconsistent with his state of innocence ; 
 and therefore we cannot be said to have lost it in him, 
 seeing it was not given him while he stood in the character 
 of our representative — to this it may be easily replied, 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 1G7 
 
 that though he had not his power for such acts and pur- 
 poses as these, in his innocent state ; yet, had we, in our 
 guilty state, that power restored which he had, we would 
 be able to believe in the Redeemer, to repent, &c. The 
 impossibility of his putting forth such acts, was not from 
 the want of inherent power, but the inconsistency of them 
 with his condition. It was inconsistent w T ith his state of 
 innocence, to have any occasion for administering physic, 
 to recover his health ; yet this is no argument that he had 
 not sufficient ability for it. 
 
 I would just farther refer it to the consideration of those 
 who offer this argument against God's decrees, and yet, in 
 the meantime, acknowledge that no man in this life can 
 fulfil the law of God perfectly, how they are consistent 
 with themselves : for herein themselves acknowledge that 
 God requires more of men than they can now perform, 
 since the fall ; and, sure, they will not own it is so, and 
 say it is unjust too. 
 
 For further proof of this universal power, or grace, they 
 urge the invitations of the gospel to believe in Christ, and 
 its promises to such as do believe. Such as (Isa. xiv. 
 22), " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the 
 earth:" and (Rev. iii. 20), "Behold, I stand at the door, 
 and knock ; if any man hear my voice and open the door, 
 I will come in to him," &c. Such invitations, they think, 
 infer that there is a power in man to comply with them, 
 otherwise they would be vain and needless. But this is a 
 vain argument. For, though sinners are without strength, 
 through the darkness of their minds, and obstinacy of 
 
168 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 their wills ; yet such invitations are needful, to show them 
 their duty, and the only way in which they can ever be 
 happy; and to afford them a ground and warrant for 
 believing in Jesus Christ, and resting their souls upon him 
 for salvation. By these invitations, and promises to 
 believing, the Holy Spirit encourages and persuades con- 
 vinced souls to close with Christ, as their Saviour, and 
 cast themselves upon his mediation and atonement, with 
 humble, joyful confidence. The Spirit of God, by his 
 power, brings a sinner to believe in Christ, in a way 
 agreeable to his nature, as a reasonable creature ; and so 
 make use of the offers and promises of the gospel, as the 
 soul's warrant for laying claim to Christ, as his Saviour, 
 and believing in him for his salvation. Likewise, these 
 invitations and promises are of great use for the comfort 
 of true believers, showing there is a sure connection 
 between believing and salvation. When Moses tells the 
 people of Israel (Deut. xxx. 19), "that he had set life 
 and death before them, blessing and cursing, and bids them 
 choose life ;" the words may be easily understood in the 
 same sense with the fore-mentioned passages, to signify 
 that there is a certain and inseparable connection between 
 true holiness and eternal life, though this holiness is the 
 effect of a supernatural divine power, exerted only in whom 
 the Lord pleases : and the Lord proposes this holiness, 
 which is connected with happiness, to sinners' choice, to 
 import the reasonableness and necessity of their choosing 
 it ; and that he may deal with them in a way agreeable to 
 the nature of reasonable beings. But yet, I think it is 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 169 
 
 plain from the context, that the life and death there 
 spoken of was temporal prosperity and adversity ; which 
 life was promised to that people, upon their strict adherence 
 to the outward prescriptions of the law that was given 
 them : and it will be readily owned that they might thus 
 choose and perform obedience without special renewing 
 grace : and, in this sense, righteousness and life are to be 
 frequently understood in the Old Testament. 
 
 It is farther argued, for this universal grace, from the 
 parable of the talents (Matt, xxv.) But we are not to 
 understand by these talents, universal, sufficient grace, 
 whereby all men are enabled to convert themselves, if they 
 will, and savingly to renew and change their wills ; but 
 other gifts and bounties of divine Providence, such as 
 natural endowments of mind, good education, health, 
 worldly goods, outward gospel privileges, and the like, 
 which God distributes to mankind in various measures, as 
 he pleases. Those who made such improvement of their 
 talents, signify the truly godly, who are effectually renewed 
 by God's power, according to his purpose. The person 
 that made no improvement, signifies unconverted sinners 
 who do not sincerely love and honour God. The account 
 taken of these servants at their Lord's return, and his 
 different retributions to them, according to their past con- 
 duct, are designed to teach us that the Lord Jesus will 
 surely come at last to judgment, that we must all appear 
 before his judgment-seat, to give an account of the deeds 
 done in this life, and that our past behaviour here, both in 
 heart and outward practice, will be the rule according to 
 15 
 
170 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 which the sentence of judgment will pass upon us. 
 Though the reward of happiness to the godly will not 
 be given them for their godliness, as the cause of it ; yet 
 it will be given to them only, who have been thus qualified 
 and fore-prepared by the Lord for it ; and that in different 
 degrees, according to their different degrees of care, zeal, 
 and diligence in the ways of God, after their conversion. 
 On the other hand, all the ungodly shall be condemned to 
 punishment according to the demerit of their works ; and 
 to different degrees of punishment, according to their 
 deserts. And thus, the works, the dispositions, and con- 
 duct of men in this life, will be the rule according to which 
 the final awards will be made at the last day to all man- 
 kind, though not the meritorious or procuring cause of 
 them to all, but only to the wicked. These things I take 
 to be the very scope and design of the parable ; and so 
 the universal men have no service at all to their cause 
 from it. It is mere trifling to ask, as some do, if the ser- 
 vant that was punished, had made as good use of his 
 talent, as the rest did of theirs, would he not have been as 
 well accepted ? That is, whether finally impenitent sinners 
 would not have been accepted by Jesus Christ, as well as 
 true believers, and sincerely godly persons, had they been 
 true believers, and sincerely godly as well as they ? lam 
 free enough to answer in the affirmative. Had they been 
 such, it would have been a certain evidence that they had 
 been elected to holiness and salvation, as well as the 
 others ; for true justifying and sanctifying faith is not of 
 ourselves, it is the gift of God, given according to his pur- 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 171 
 
 pose and grace, which was made sure to all believers in 
 Christ Jesus, before the world began. But then the question 
 does not at all touch the matter in debate, viz : whether un- 
 renewed sinners have had a sufficient inward grace given 
 them to be true believers and godly persons, as those who 
 are really such. Considering that sinners' impotency con- 
 sists chiefly in their enmity, their inability, in the opposi- 
 tion of their wills to God's will, I think it is plain that no 
 grace is sufficient, but that which is actually effectual. 
 Their wills are not just in equilibrio, in an even balance 
 between holiness and sin, as much inclined to the one side 
 as the other, so as that they might bring their wills to a 
 compliance with, and complacence in, the ways of God, by 
 their own reason ; or by the help of some divine assistances, 
 which they might also reject : but their wills are strongly 
 set against the new covenant way of salvation, and the 
 holy law of God, in its spiritual nature and extent ; and 
 therefore, "no man can come unto Christ, except the 
 Father draw him." John vi. 44. 
 
 Again, they argue in another method from the general 
 calls, invitations, and offers of the gospel, reasoning after this 
 manner. It would, say they, be the highest instance of 
 dissembling and deceit for God to call sinners to repent 
 and turn from their evil ways, with such appearance of 
 real sincerity and earnestness, if he had before infallibly 
 decreed that a great many of them should not repent and 
 turn (not to communicate the grace of conversion and 
 repentance to many, it should be). And what greater in- 
 sincerity and illusion, say they, can well be imagined than 
 
172 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 for God to make such a general, unlimited offer of Christ, 
 and salvation through him, as (Rev. xxii. 17), " Whoso- 
 ever will, let him take the water of life freely ;" when he 
 has already purposed not to give salvation to many ? How 
 can such an open declaration agree with such a secret pur- 
 pose ? Would there not be a direct opposition between his 
 outward expressions and inward sentiments, which is 
 downright falsifying and hypocrisy ? 
 
 But all this plausible reasoning, on which some of the 
 greatest patrons of the Arminian scheme bestow a great 
 deal of eloquence, is grounded upon a mistaken apprehen- 
 sion of the nature and true import of these calls and gos- 
 pel offers. God's calls to sinners to repent and turn to 
 him, to believe in Christ, &c, are only so many significa- 
 tions of what is sinners' duty, and what is agreeable to 
 God's holy nature, pleasing and approvable in his sight. 
 The calls do not signify what is God's purpose concerning 
 men, but what is their duty to him, and that he loves holi- 
 ness in his creatures, that the righteous Lord loves right- 
 eousness. And so, in all such calls and commands, there 
 is an entire agreement between God's words and his will 
 signified by them ; for he does, indeed, will these things, 
 as the matter of sinners' duty, and loves them as agreeable 
 to his own holy law. This just view of the many calls of 
 God in the scripture to sinners, for their repentance and 
 conversion to holiness, destroys all the force of the argu- 
 ment taken from them, as though they were inconsistent 
 with God's secret will and purpose to leave many in their 
 sins without converting grace, for they import nothing in 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 173 
 
 their true design contrary to it. And when God conde- 
 scends to use arguments and expostulations with sinners 
 about what he requires, it is that he may deal with them 
 as reasonable beings, and convert his elect in a way agree- 
 able to their rational nature. 
 
 As to the offers of Christ made to all where the gospel 
 comes, and promises of salvation, through him, to all such 
 as truly believe in him. It is most certain, that God does 
 will and purpose to save all such as truly accept of his Son 
 Jesus Christ, and believe in him, as he is proposed and set 
 forth in the gospel revelation of him, for he declares that 
 all such shall be saved. But then, we are to consider this 
 faith in Christ as the gift of God, according to Eph. ii. 8, 
 and a grace of his powerful operation or working, (Col. ii. 
 12, Eph. i. 19, 2 Thess. i. 11,) bestowed only upon, and 
 wrought only in those whom he has chosen, and, there- 
 fore, called the faith of God's elect, (Tit. i. 1.) And 
 thus, the promises of the gospel run exactly parallel with 
 the election of grace, and do not import anything contrary 
 to it. Indeed, to say that God does not really design to 
 save all who shall believe in Christ, notwithstanding he 
 has declared that he will, were to impute the grossest 
 falsehood and deceit to him ; but there is no such thing in 
 the doctrine which the argument is brought against. It 
 is true, the offer of Christ as a Saviour is made to all, to 
 be accepted and believed in, for their salvation in particular, 
 wherever the news of the gospel-salvation is sent. But 
 then, this offer does not signify or import that God designed 
 him and the saving benefits of his death equally for all, 
 15* 
 
174 TKEATISE ON THE 
 
 but that, inasmuch as all have equal need of him, and God 
 has not revealed or any way pointed out who they are 
 whom he has not chosen to salvation through him, so as 
 they might be known either to themselves or others, it is 
 the great duty of all to accept of him with all their hearts, 
 according to the declarations concerning him in the gospel, 
 freely and willingly to comply with the way of salvation 
 through his atonement, casting a fiducial dependence upon 
 him, and him only, for their eternal life ; for which faith 
 the infallible promise of salvation to all such as so receive 
 him, is sufficient warrant and encouragement. And it was 
 necessary that the offer should be thus universal, when it 
 was not revealed who, in particular, was elected to salva- 
 tion through him, that so the elect might be brought to 
 believe in him, upon a rational ground and foundation ; for 
 they could not know that they were chosen to life through 
 him, more than any others, before their believing, and, 
 therefore, could not have had a ground for faith to go upon, 
 were it not for the promise to whosoever believes, and the 
 declarations that it is every one's duty cordially to comply, 
 and be pleased with that way of salvation, through an 
 atoning Mediator ; and, upon the encouragement of this 
 promise, to cast a reliance, and the whole dependence of 
 their souls for salvation upon him. In this manner it is 
 that the offers of Christ in the gospel are general and uni- 
 versal, not importing that he died alike for all, or that he 
 was equally designed for all, in the purpose of God ; but 
 that, seeing none have any reason certainly to conclude 
 against themselves that they were rejected in the divine 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 175 
 
 purpose ; and, seeing acceptance and eternal life, through 
 Christ, is promised to all that believe, it is the duty of all, 
 with their whole hearts, to embrace him as he is proposed, 
 and believe in him; and yet none will so believe in him 
 but the chosen of God, who are called according to his pur- 
 pose. And thus, as God is entirely consistent with him- 
 self in the case, so are the ministers of the gospel consistent 
 with themselves in maintaining God's absolute decrees, and 
 yet making such general offers of Christ, as a Saviour, to 
 all that hear them, calling upon them to accept of *and 
 believe in him, using arguments with them for that purpose, 
 and promising life and salvation, in his name, to all that 
 truly comply with the gospel and believe in him. And 
 though they do not know the elect of God among their 
 hearers, he does and will apply this gospel to their hearts, 
 so as to bring them to believe in Christ, and become truly 
 godly. These considerations, if duly weighed and attended 
 to, I think may be abundantly satisfactory in this case. 
 
 There is another argument, commonly insisted on by 
 those on the other side of the question, taken from God's 
 appointment of a gospel ministry, ordinances of worship, 
 and means of grace in his church, as if they were 
 altogether vain and useless, on supposition of such eternal 
 decrees. According to the Calvinist doctrine of predesti- 
 nation, say they, "It is quite needless for ministers to 
 preach, and as needless for people to hear, or to perform 
 any religious duty whatsoever ; and the reason is, because 
 they cannot alter the purpose of God concerning them, 
 whatever it be, do they well or ill ; they will fare as well, 
 
176 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 let them live as they list, as if they did ever so well ; and 
 so they had even as good take their swing : nay, it had 
 been much better for all the reprobate, that they had 
 never had the privileges of the gospel ; because, according 
 to the scripture, the condemnation and misery of those 
 that perish, will be much aggravated by it." 
 
 This is an awful charge, indeed ; and if it be just, the 
 doctrine is certainly most unsufferable, which takes off all 
 restraints from the most profligate course of life, farther 
 than what proceed from our temporal interest in this world ; 
 and arguments from private temporal interest do often 
 sway more to the most inhuman crimes than moral honesty. 
 But I hope to make it appear that the objection is most 
 false and groundless. And to this purpose let these few 
 things be considered : 
 
 First, Supposing there were no arguments for a pious, 
 godly life, to be had from our own eternal interest ; yet 
 there are reasons of another nature, of sufficient weight 
 and force in themselves, to induce us to it, and engage us 
 to endeavour after it. Is not 'the great God, who is 
 infinitely good and glorious, worthy of the greatest esteem, 
 profoundest subjection, and highest adoration of all the 
 rational creation ? And has he not an inviolable right and 
 claim to these things from us, as our Creator and Pre- 
 server ? And is not conformity to God, and to obey and 
 honour him, the greatest honour and glory of a created 
 being ? These arguments, I know, have little weight with 
 apostate creatures whose understandings are darkened, and 
 all their other faculties wholly corrupted ; but that is not 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 177 
 
 for want of sufficient weight in their own nature : nothing 
 can ever dissolve God's title to the homage and obedience 
 of his creatures. 
 
 Secondly, I would have two or three particulars considered 
 and weighed together : First, that the elect are elected 
 to salvation, "through the sanctification of the Spirit j" 
 " whom he did predestinate, them he also called." And this 
 effectual calling, and sanctifying grace, wrought in the 
 heart by the Holy Spirit, is the certain fruit and evidence 
 of eternal election ; whereby those who are the partakers 
 of this grace, may, and frequently do, come to a comfort- 
 able satisfaction, as to their election of God. 
 
 Again, you are to observe, that the elect themselves, 
 before their conversion and effectual calling, have no 
 notices or evidences at all of their being elected, more than 
 others ; which must needs be a very uneasy and distres- 
 sing condition, when the Spirit of God touches the 
 conscience. And then, in the next place, let it be con- 
 sidered, that God has appointed the preaching of the gos- 
 pel, and other religious exercises, such as reading the 
 holy scriptures, and other good books, prayer, &c, to be 
 the means whereby he ordinarily converts and sanctifies 
 his elect, and affords them the comfortable tokens of his 
 electing love. He has appointed these ordinances and 
 means as the ordinary channels wherein to communicate 
 his special grace to those whom he has chosen. Now if 
 these things be duly adverted to, I think, it will be clear, 
 that there is use, and great use too, for the preaching of 
 the gospel, and other exercises of religion, in a consistency 
 
178 TREATISE OK THE 
 
 with God's absolute decrees : and that there are sufficient 
 reasons to engage persons to a very careful observance of 
 them, and of all the commands of God ; for the ordinances 
 of God are the means which he sees fit, in his wisdom, to 
 make use of for the conversion and sanctification of his 
 elect, which work of grace is the only evidence of our 
 belonging to God, as his elect people : and therefore one 
 can hardly think that any but such as are stupidly un- 
 concerned about their soul's everlasting states, could reason 
 in earnest in the strain of the objection I am now upon. 
 Surely, one that is any way duly thoughtful about a 
 matter of such vast moment as his eternal well-being, 
 would readily think with himself to this purpose ; " Oh ! 
 what would I not give to have some comfortable, dis- 
 tinguishing evidences of being chosen of God, and ap- 
 pointed to life ; well, his ways and ordinances are the 
 means he uses for this purpose ; the channels in which he 
 is wont to communicate his special grace to those he 
 designs to save. I must wait upon and look to him in that 
 way of hope, and keep at the pool where he uses to come 
 and heal diseased souls ; it may be he will some time meet 
 with me, in his own way, which he has appointed for 
 visiting his chosen, and fulfil in me all the good pleasure 
 of his goodness, and the work of faith with power, and 
 cause me to rejoice in his love. These ways of religion 
 are not only the ways in which alone there is reasonable 
 ground of hope to meet with such blessings, but they are 
 the commands and institutions of God, recommended with 
 his awful authority; and therefore, to disregard and 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 179 
 
 neglect them, will be to disobey and contemn God still 
 more, and also will expose me to a more awful punishment." 
 Consider now, if this be not a just and right way of 
 reasoning in the case : nay, I am convinced that the Cal- 
 vinist doctrine, rightly understood, and really believed, 
 will make people much more careful, serious, and diligent 
 observers of the ways of God, than the contrary doctrine 
 will ; for it tends much more to bring them to a solemn, 
 solicitous concern of heart about their eternal state, and 
 consequently to make them more earnest in all the most 
 hopeful, probable ways of meeting with satisfaction about it. 
 
 Thirdly, Though it be true, that such as are rejected 
 in the purpose of God will never be converted in the use 
 of all the means of grace, yet, seeing they do not know 
 the secret purpose of God concerning them, but have the 
 same reason to entertain hopes that they may be chosen 
 to life that any other unconverted persons have, it would 
 be a high and provoking contempt of God for them to 
 neglect the ordinances which he has appointed as means 
 for the communicating special grace and sweet consolation 
 to his elect, and which he, therefore, by his sovereign au- 
 thority, requires all who have the opportunity, to attend 
 upon ; and they shall find it, if guilty of it, brought into 
 the account against them at the great day, when every man 
 shall be judged according to his works, and they shall 
 receive, proportionally, the greater punishment. 
 
 Fourthly, As to the elect converted, their hearts are so 
 renewed, as to love God above all, and to make obedience 
 to his will their hearty choice. Believing in Jesus Christ, 
 
180 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 his love is shed abroad in their hearts, and sweetly con- 
 strains them to serve and honour him to whom they are 
 under such endearing engagements. The consideration of 
 God's having elected them to eternal glory, when he might 
 justly have rejected them as well as others; the hope and 
 prospect of that eternal glory with him, and the considera- 
 tion of his having sent his Son to answer the law for them, 
 and suffer in their room, that they might be delivered from 
 deserved misery and made happy in the enjoyment of him- 
 self for ever ; their apprehensions of his glory and excel- 
 lency in himself, and his right in and over them as his 
 creatures ; all these things are powerful arguments with 
 them to love and praise God ; it is their desire and delight 
 to glorify and honour him. Moreover, the Lord Jesus 
 takes them for his peculiar charge ; it is a part of his office 
 as mediator, to bring them safe to glory through all 
 dangers ; accordingly, his Holy Spirit dwells in them as a 
 sanctifier and comforter ; thus they are engaged to God 
 in the way of holiness by the most inviolable cords and 
 loving bands; so that the doctrine of absolute election is 
 far from destroying holiness of life ; it is a strong excite- 
 ment to it, in all the renewed children of God, who love 
 him when they are enabled to see the hopeful evidences of 
 their own election. And, therefore, such as say (as some, 
 no less wickedly than foolishly, do) that, " if they were 
 persuaded of the truth of the doctrine of predestination, 
 they would never be at any pains or care to serve God 
 more," had just as good say plainly, they have no love to 
 God, and that they are entire strangers to the nature of 
 true goodness. 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 181 
 
 Fifthly, Consider the method of reasoning in the objec- 
 tion is such as you would not allow to be just in other cases 
 of the like nature. Can you think it would have been 
 just reasoning in kind Hezekiah to say, that becaue the 
 Lord had ordained he should live fifteen years longer, 
 (2 Kings xx. 6,) he had no more need of either food or 
 physic? The prophet Isaiah was of another mind, when 
 he ordered a lump of figs to be laid to the boil, (ver. 7.) 
 
 This shows us that God brings about his purposes in the 
 use of suitable means, and that it is therefore necessary for 
 us to observe them. Was ever anything more absolutely and 
 positively fixed in the purpose of God than the time and 
 manner of Christ's death? (John vii. 30, and viii. 59, 
 Luke iv. 29, 80, John xi. 53, 54.) Was Paul so incon- 
 sistent with himself when, though God had told him that 
 both he and all that were in the ship with him should be 
 saved through all the hazards of the voyage, yet, when the 
 shipmen were about to go off in a boat and leave the rest 
 in the distress, he said to them, " Except these abide in 
 the ship, ye cannot be saved?" Acts xxvii. In a like 
 manner, it may be as truly and reasonably said, that except 
 the elect be converted and sanctified, they cannot be saved 
 from hell, because of the certain connection God has made 
 between the means and the end. And none have any reason 
 to expect converting grace while they profanely neglect 
 the means of grace. 
 
 As to the latter clause of the objection, that the non- 
 elect who have had the opportunity of the gospel will be 
 more miserable than if they had not, I answer, it is very 
 16 
 
182 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 likely it will be so with the most of them. But then, I 
 think if they improved the gospel as they might do, though 
 they would not be converted and saved by it, yet they 
 would not be the more, but, perhaps, the less miserable 
 for it. If it be inquired, for what end the gospel is sent 
 to such as God has not proposed to save, I answer, it is 
 chiefly for the elect's sake that are among them, that 
 thereby they may be brought in to Christ, and prepared 
 for the heavenly glory. 
 
 I shall now conclude the answer to the whole objection, 
 with a general remark or two. Seeing the doctrine in 
 itself does not take away our obligations to a religious life, 
 but affords sufficient motives and arguments for it, then it 
 is no argument against the truth of the doctrine, though 
 some ungodly men should abuse it to liberty to sin. Other 
 doctrines of the gospel are liable to the same abuse as well 
 as this. Thus, Paul observes, that some might be 
 ready to infer from the gospel doctrine of justification, as 
 he laid it down, that they might continue in sin that grace 
 might abound (Rom. vi. 1) ; that some would be ready to 
 object against him, that he made Christ the minister of 
 sin, i. e.j one that gave liberty and encouragement to sin 
 (Gal. ii. 17); and that some did actually affirm that he 
 said, " Let us do evil that good may come," (Rom. iii. 8.) 
 Again, the Lord Jesus who came to destroy the works of 
 the devil, and purchase to himself a peculiar people, zealous 
 of good works, will have his end, though some men of cor- 
 rupt minds should abuse his truth, to the awful aggravation 
 of their guilt in the day of his appearing. And I think 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 183 
 
 we have little encouragement to go to the Arminian 
 scheme for the advancement of true practical religion, if 
 we consider what advancement this way it has produced 
 since it came in fashion. 
 
 What is farther brought as an objection by some, I 
 think, is hardly worth taking notice of, viz : that some will 
 be apt to take occasion, from the doctrine of predestina- 
 tion, to live in a slothful negligence and security, from a 
 presumption that they are elected, and so cannot miss of 
 salvation : and others will be apt to fall into despair, from 
 a fearful apprehension that they are not elected. As I 
 hinted already, we are to distinguish between the abuse 
 unreasonably made of a doctrine, and its natural tendency 
 in itself. And what is there in this doctrine that leads to 
 either of these wide extremes ? How can it lead any to a 
 groundless presumption and slothful negligence, when, 
 according to it, none have reason to persuade themselves 
 they are elected, until they are renewed and sanctified. 
 And then they cannot be careless about the honour and 
 obedience due to God ? " How shall they that are dead to 
 sin, live any longer therein?" Rom. vi. 2. All the gos- 
 pel arguments to a life of holiness, and this, of their 
 election, among the rest, do then effectually engage their 
 hearts to it. Indeed, if they knew their election before 
 their conversion, before they believed in Christ and loved 
 God, no doubt they would abuse it to sloth and licentious- 
 ness, till God changed their hearts : but they have no sure 
 evidence of their election till they are brought to a better 
 disposition. And how can it bring any to desperation, 
 
184 TREATISE ON THE 
 
 when they cannot know that they are not elected ? For 
 persons to conclude positively that they are appointed to 
 destruction, is to conclude without reason, and a pretend- 
 ing to know the unrevealed secrets of God's breast. 
 
 Some think the words of the Lord Jesus, (Luke xix. 
 42,) are contrary to this doctrine ; where he says of Jeru- 
 salem, " If thou hadst known, in this thy day, the things 
 that belong to thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine 
 eyes." Which words, they suppose, import that the inhabi- 
 tants of that city had, before that time, had such inward 
 assistance from God, as put it in their power to convert 
 themselves; but which were then for ever withdrawn 
 from them, for their abuse of them, so that their case 
 was then beyond all hope. And in this same sense 
 they suppose that all men have a day of grace, in 
 some part of their life ; or, as they rather choose to term 
 it, a day of visitation. But this opinion is without any 
 foundation in the text. How can the words signify that 
 their day there spoken of, was a time in which they had 
 sufficient inward grace, when they clearly imply that they 
 did not so much as know the things that belonged to their 
 peace in that day ? The true import of our Lord's words 
 is, that they had had, in that day of his public ministry 
 among them, sufficient outward means of conviction that 
 he was the true Messiah ; sufficient to prevail with them, 
 as rational creatures, to acknowledge and own him as such ; 
 notwithstanding of which they rejected and persecuted him 
 and would in a little time put him to death ; for which 
 they should before long be punished with utter ruin, both 
 
DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 185 
 
 of their city and nation, as it follows in the next words. 
 And so the words also signify, that there was less 
 probability and reasonable hope of their being converted 
 to God, after all such means had been so long quite lost 
 upon them, than there was before, according to God's 
 ordinary way of working. 
 
 And now I have gone through all the contrary argu- 
 ments and objections of any consequence that I know of, 
 and, upon the whole, must desire the careful reader seriously 
 to look back and consider if the doctrine of absolute pre- 
 destination, as it has been stated and represented, be not 
 entirely agreeable to reason, clearly founded on scripture, 
 and perfectly consistent with every part of it, and, conse- 
 quently, a most certain truth of God. Let us not be wil- 
 fully resolved against admitting reasonable evidence, but 
 quit ourselves like men, and use our understanding, with 
 humble application to God, on whom all creatures are 
 dependent, for a right judgment and a sound mind. Do 
 not say you will not believe it, just because you do not like 
 it. That is both the shame and crime of a reasonable 
 being, and the greatest folly in the world ; for if it be a 
 truth, it will be so, whether you like it and believe it or 
 not. And let us also consider what is the proper use and 
 native tendency of the doctrine. And so, let us humbly 
 lie low, as guilty criminals, before the foot-stool of God's 
 sovereignty, acknowledging his right to dispose of us, for 
 life or death, as he pleases. Let us not be stupidly easy 
 in our minds, without the experience of supernatural, sanc- 
 tifying grace in our hearts, the only evidence of our 
 16* 
 
186 DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION. 
 
 election and means of solid comfort, " without which no 
 man shall see the Lord." Let us seek and long for it in 
 all the ways of God's commands and ordinances, where it 
 is most likely to be found, and not treasure up greater 
 loads of wrath to ourselves against the day of wrath, by 
 disobedience to the great Lawgiver's authority. Let such 
 of us as God has given the tokens of his special love unto, 
 in our sanctification, give the glory and praise to him 
 alone, and still endeavour to live answerable to the obli- 
 gations of such wonderful, distinguishing love and grace. 
 Let us give up all confidence in our own ability, and depen- 
 dence on our own righteousness and good doings to entitle 
 us to happiness, casting ourselves only on the mediation 
 and atonement of the Son of God as he is revealed and 
 proposed in the gospel, seeking for that living faith in 
 him that brings joy and peace to the soul, that works by 
 love and the freest obedience. Such as these are the 
 things which this doctrine naturally leads to ; and so it 
 agrees to the great design of God in the new covenant, 
 the illustration of the greatest glory of his free grace in 
 the salvation of guilty sinners ; whereas, the contrary 
 scheme defaces and sinks it down. But God will have 
 the glory, and it is fit he should : the whole glory, from 
 first to last, he has secured to himself. As he laid the 
 foundation of sinners' salvation in pure, free, and rich 
 grace, so, at the last day, he will bring forth the head- 
 stone thereof with shouting, crying Grace, Grace unto it, 
 (Zech. iv. 7.) 
 
JOHN BLAIK. 
 
 The Rev. John Blair was a younger brother of the Rev. Samuel 
 Blair. He was an alumnus of the Log College, and as a theolo- 
 gian, was not inferior to any man in the Presbyterian church, in his 
 day. He was first settled in Pennsylvania, at Big Spring, (now 
 Newville,) in the Cumberland valley, in the vicinity of Carlisle ; 
 but by reason of the hostile incursions of the Indians, his people 
 were obliged to leave their rude habitations on the frontier, and to 
 retreat into the more densely populated part of the colony. Mr. 
 Blair, it would seem, never returned to the place whence he had 
 been driven by the invasion of the savages, but upon the decease of 
 bis brother Samuel, he received and accepted a call to be his 
 successor at Fagg's Manor, and that not only as pastor of the church, 
 but also as teacher of the school which his brother had instituted 
 in that place. In this important station he continued for nine 
 years, and though not equal to his brother as an impressive 
 preacher, as a scholar and as a theologian he was not inferior. 
 
 After the death of Dr. Finley, Mr. Blair was elected professor of 
 theology, in the College of New Jersey, which appointment he ac- 
 cepted, and was at the same time elected vice-president, and until 
 the arrival of Dr. Witherspoon, performed all the duties of president. 
 The funds of the college not being adequate to support a professor 
 of theology, distinct from the president ; and it being known that 
 Dr. Witherspoon was an orthodox and eminent theologian, who 
 could consistently with his other duties teach theology, Mr. Blair 
 judged it would be expedient for him to resign. Upon this, he re- 
 
 (187) 
 
188 JOHN BLAIR. 
 
 ceived a call to settle as pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in 
 Wallkill, Orange Co., New York. Here he continued to labour in 
 the duties of the ministry, until he was called away from the field 
 by death, which occurred Dec. 8, 1771, when he was not more than 
 fifty-one or fifty two years of age. 
 
 " John Blair was a j udicious and persuasive preacher, and through 
 his exertions, sinners were converted and the children of God 
 edified. Fully convinced of the truth of the doctrine of grace, he 
 addressed immortal souls with that warmth and power, which left 
 a witness in every bosom. Though he sometimes wrote his sermons 
 in full, yet his common mode of preaching, was by short notes, 
 comprising the general outlines. His labours were too abundant 
 to admit of more, and no more was necessary to a mind so richly 
 stored with the great truths of religion. For his large family he 
 amassed no fortune, but he left them what was infinitely better, a 
 religious education, a holy example, and prayers which have been 
 remarkably answered His disposition was uncommonly patient, 
 placid, benevolent, disinterested and cheerful. He was too mild to 
 indulge bitterness or severity, and he thought that the truth 
 required little else but to be fairly stated and properly understood. 
 Those who could not relish the savour of his piety, loved him as an 
 amiable, and revered him as a great man. Though no bigot, he 
 firmly believed that the Presbyterian form of government is most 
 scriptural, and the most favourable to religion and happiness. 
 
 '* In his last sickness, he imparted his advice to the congregation, 
 and represented to his family the necessity of an interest in Christ. 
 A few nights before he died, he said, 'Directly, I am going to glory I 
 My Master calls me, I must be gone/ " 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 BY THE KEV. JOHN BLAIR. 
 
 As no truth is more interesting and important, so none 
 has been more frequently and fully treated in a practical 
 view, by pious writers, than the doctrine of regeneration. 
 Many have, in this way, very excellently and largely 
 described the happy change, which, by virtue of the 
 supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, takes place in the 
 whole man. I have therefore no design at present to enter 
 upon a full consideration of the subject, but shall only 
 beg leave to make a few very brief observations ; some of 
 which have not been so particularly considered in prac- 
 tical treatises, but yet perhaps, may be of some use to 
 assist in the right apprehension of, and tend to prevent 
 mistakes about a doctrine, which lies so much at the found- 
 ation of all true religion. 
 
 Observation 1. Regeneration is the communication of 
 a principle of spiritual life to the soul of a sinner, 
 naturally dead in trespasses and sins, by the agency of 
 the Holy Spirit. 
 
 I call it a principle, not only because it is a beginning 
 of spiritual life, but especially, because it denotes a settled 
 
 (189) 
 
190 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 determination of the mind, to right activity towards 
 spiritual objects, under a moral consideration of them, 
 whence results every right exercise of heart about divine 
 things. It is the determination of the soul to a holy 
 activity about God and divine things, or to such a kind of 
 action, not from the impulsion of an external force, but 
 an internal active principle, and therefore is justly called 
 life — life of the most excellent kind. It is the life of 
 life. * 
 
 But as our apostasy from God has fixed in us, by nature, 
 a very contrary determination, to a course of sinful action, 
 therefore, while that continues (which will be till some 
 power subdues it), there can be no tendency in the soul to 
 an holy temper. The power of the soul to any activity 
 lies formally in the will. Hence its w T hole power, by 
 nature, is to sin, and to reject God. For "the carnal 
 mind is enmity against God." Rom. viii. 7. Consequently 
 some other power must be exerted in order to break this 
 evil determination, and reduce the rebellious creature to a 
 
 * There is some distinction between a natural and a moral principle of 
 action; the former lies in the very essence of the being to which it 
 belongs, or is a determination to some particular kind of action resulting 
 from its frame or constitution. Thus, self-activity, or natural life, which 
 is essential to the soul, is a principle of action in general. A determina- 
 tion to particular kinds of natural action, such as we call instinct in 
 brutes, or reason in man, arises immediately from the existence of natural 
 faculties, or something in the frame or constitution of creatures respec- 
 tively. But a moral principle is a determination to some particular kind 
 of action, arising from some settled judgment or sentiment, in which the 
 will acquiesces. Thus a principle of holy action is the fixed impression 
 of some spiritual truth or truths upon the heart. 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 191 
 
 right temper. And that must be a power that has 
 dominion over the will. This new determination, there- 
 fore, is from the almighty agency of the Holy Spirit ; it is 
 he that communicates this new principle of life. Ac- 
 cordingly, it is everywhere ascribed to him in scripture. 
 (Johniii. 3—5, John vi. 63, Tit. iii. 5). 
 
 Observation 2. This principle of spiritual life and the 
 manner of its communication are not immediately in them- 
 selves perceptible. 
 
 As Adam did not perceive when God breathed into his 
 nostrils the breath of natural life, but perceived its existence 
 and nature from its activity and effects, so the existence and 
 nature of spiritual life are known only by the experience 
 the Christian has of its exercise and efficacy. In this 
 view our Lord observes, " The wind bloweth where it listeth, 
 and thou hearest 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. There are, indeed, 
 those who greatly abuse this passage, thence flattering 
 themselves that they may be the subjects of regeneration, 
 without perceiving any great change in their hearts and 
 lives. But this is not only foreign to the sense of the place, 
 but contradictory to it, for the wind is very sensibly per- 
 ceived. The design of our Lord seems to be to remove 
 the surprise of Nicodemus at the mysteriousness of the 
 doctrine, by showing him it is a supernatural work per- 
 formed by the Holy Spirit, as a gracious Sovereign, to 
 which the sinner himself is so far from contributing any- 
 thing, that he is not so much as sensible of the article of 
 
192 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 communication, nor perceives the manner of the Holy 
 Spirit's operation; q. d. there are mysteries in nature 
 which you cannot account for. You cannot immediately 
 perceive the origin of the wind, nor account for its ceasing 
 when once in motion, or perceive the reason why it con- 
 tinually, and often very suddenly, changes its direction. 
 You hear the sound and feel the effects, but it is only by 
 observations on these sensations, either made by yourself, 
 or suggested by others, that you can infer any conclusions 
 about its nature or causes. Why then should you be sur- 
 prised to find mysteries in the manner of divine operations, 
 when performing works of grace ? In this new birth, a 
 man can only perceive the exercises of divine life in his 
 heart, and by scriptural observations on these, infer what 
 sort of life he lives, or form conclusions about its nature 
 and principle. For any one, therefore, to pretend to tell 
 what the principle of divine life is, antecedent to all 
 exercises of life in the heart, and undertake from thence to 
 demonstrate and explain those exercises, is a vain attempt. 
 When he distinguishes this life from all its exercises, and 
 goes about to tell us what it is antecedent to them all, he 
 must talk in the dark about a certain something, of which 
 he has no idea. To give it a name, to call it, for instance, 
 a new temper or taste, is not to tell us what it is. Let any 
 man explain what he means by a new or holy temper, with- 
 out including some exercises of life in heart, if he can. 
 
 Observation 3. Regeneration and conversion, strictly 
 taken, are not distinct things ; but these different denomi- 
 nations express the same thing under different views. I 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 193 
 
 say conversion strictly taken ; for largely taken, it includes 
 the first exercises of the several graces of the Holy Spirit 
 which are but the various modifications of the same principle 
 of spiritual life, such as a justifying faith, hope, joy, zeal, 
 sorrow for sin, &c. From which, regeneration (though the 
 term is often also used in the same latitude, yet) is so dis- 
 tinct in a strict sense, as to be altogether antecedent, not 
 only in the order of nature, but of time too. But strictly 
 taken, conversion is the actual submission or turning of a 
 soul to God in the most simple motion of it. This may be, 
 perhaps, in the soul's submitting itself into the hands 
 of divine sovereignty, as most fitly having a right to do 
 with him as he pleases, or in a supreme regard to God as 
 a most glorious Being and rightful Lord. Now this, when 
 considered as the effect of the Holy Spirit's agency, 
 enabling or causing the soul to turn to God, is called 
 regeneration ; but when considered as an activity essential 
 to spiritual life, and formally as the soul's act, is called 
 conversion ; but these are only different views and respects 
 of the same thing. For regeneration undoubtedly denotes 
 a moral effect produced by the Spirit of God. But this 
 effect which he produced, is the soul's turning to God. 
 Surely, nothing short of this can be called the new birth. 
 Regeneration is the implantation of holiness in the heart. 
 Now, certainly, there can be no real holiness without turn- 
 ing to God ; the soul that has not turned to God is still, 
 without controversy, unregenerate. Hence it follows 
 Observtion 4. That this principle wrought in the soul 
 
 in regeneration is not something antecedent to every act 
 17 
 
194 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 v 
 
 and exercise of holiness, but includes in it, or is a first 
 act or exercise of holiness, of the same nature with all the 
 exercises of holiness that follow after through the course 
 of life. 
 
 To cause life, is to cause action ; for activity is essential 
 to the idea of life. When the Holy Spirit regenerates a 
 sinner, he communicates an active principle, otherwise it 
 were not life. But to talk of an active prnciple existing 
 in the soul absolutely without action, would be a contra- 
 diction; now this action must be cleaving to God. Hence 
 arises, 
 
 Observation 5. Viz : that this principle of spiritual life 
 consists in, or includes some new view of the mind, and 
 determination or approbation of the will. This must be 
 the case, because it is a moral principle ; otherwise it would 
 not be the principle of a course of moral action. When 
 therefore a principle of spiritual life is implanted, a moral 
 effect is produced ; but that effect which includes no acts 
 of the understanding and will, but is absolutely antecedent 
 to them, must be a mere physical, and not a moral effect, 
 and then to regenerate would be to create in a physical, 
 not a moral sense. 
 
 I think the sacred scriptures set the matter in the same 
 light with the above observations. Sometimes this happy 
 change is expressed by the term " light" " Ye were 
 sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." 
 Eph. v. 8. Sometimes it is represented under the notion 
 of being made willing. " Thy people shall be willing in 
 the day of thy power." Ps. ex. 3. Either of these ex- 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 195 
 
 pressions includes the other Thus when the regenerate 
 are called light, the matter is not confined to the under- 
 standing only, but includes the approbation of the will, 
 and to be willing, certainly includes the view of the 
 understanding ; for there can be no act of the will without 
 it ; sometimes both are set in view together, as : " To open 
 their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and 
 from the power of Satan to God." Acts xxvi. 18. Certain- 
 ly to open the eyes and turn from darkness to light is to 
 enlighten the understanding ; and to turn to God is the act 
 of the will. To the same purpose is, "For God hath 
 shined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge 
 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 
 iv. 6. To see the glory of God must include both the 
 view of the understanding, and the approbation of the 
 will. It is no objection to this, to say, these scriptures 
 speak of this change largely taken. For admitting that, 
 yet it is not by way of contradistinction from, or exclusive 
 of, the first instance ; but the first existence of life comes 
 under the same predicament. Thus they, who were some- 
 times darkness, are not said to be enlightened only, but to 
 be light. God, in the new creation, shines into the heart, 
 in a manner analogous to his shining in the natural world, 
 when he created light in it. It is very easy to say, that in 
 regeneration, a holy temper is produced whence this know- 
 ledge and volition arises ; but perhaps it would not be so 
 easy to tell, in that connection, what we are to understand 
 by that temper. Surely we are not to conceive of a moral, 
 in the same manner as of a natural temper. In the latter, 
 
196 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 we take into the consideration such a certain, yet various 
 construction of the human frame, as is apt to produce such 
 and such passions, and feelings of nature. Now if we 
 have any idea of the former, any thing like this, we must 
 then consider it only as a new faculty created in the soul, 
 which has nothing moral in it, any more than the under- 
 Standing or will considered as natural faculties. But if 
 we conceive of it as a moral determination of the soul 
 towards God, then we must consider it as including some 
 apprehension of God in the understanding, and an act of 
 the will embracing him, which brings the matter to what 
 I have said. Thus, we are, as it were, insensibly led to 
 some apprehension of what this divine principle is, or 
 wherein it consists, though we cannot comprehend the 
 manner of the Holy Spirit's operation in producing it, or 
 explain how it exists. It is an experimental, practical 
 knowledge of God, or it is a new view of the infinite per- 
 fections of God, with the approbation of them in the will 
 as most excellent ; or, which is indeed the same thing under 
 its proper denomination, it is a supreme love to God. 
 Supreme love to God is the very essence of true religion ; 
 hence it is called "the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 
 10. Our Lord mentions love to God and our neighbour, 
 as the sum and substance of the whole law. Matt. xxii. 
 37 — 40. No action can be called true obedience, if it do not 
 flow from love to God, and every exercise of true grace 
 may be reduced to this as its principle. 
 
 Observation 6. The Holy Spirit makes use of the 
 word of God as a means in the work of regeneration, which 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 197 
 
 he renders irresistibly efficacious for that purpose. I am 
 far from thinking with the Arminians, that the only 
 influence of the Holy Spirit in this matter lies in what they 
 call moral suasion ; that is, as I understand it, the Holy 
 Spirit having set before us the arguments and motives of 
 the gospel in the word, both by his providence and an 
 influence upon the mind, excites its attention to these things, 
 and assists the natural faculties in weighing those argu- 
 ments and motives, and thus strives to persuade the sinner 
 to a compliance with gospel overtures, but still leaves it 
 with himself to yield to or reject those arguments by a 
 sovereign act of his own will. According to this, it is only 
 an objective light that is set before the mind, as contained 
 in the word; a representation of objects, as yet at a dis- 
 tance, of which the mind has no knowledge, but by the report 
 and description of the word; and, perhaps, the most, if 
 not all the light, which is usually called common illumina- 
 tion, may be obtained this way. 
 
 Nor can I agree with some, even eminent Calvinistic 
 divines, that there is only a gradual difference between 
 common and saving illumination. I believe there is a spe- 
 cific difference ; there is in regeneration a subjective light 
 created in the soul, which, though it is the knowledge of 
 a glorious object presented to the mind, yet may fitly be 
 called subjective in respect of the manner of its communi- 
 cation, as contradistinguished from, though not opposed 
 to, the mere objective light of the word before described. 
 It is an immediate intuitive sense or knowledge of the 
 moral perfections and character of God, not gained by way 
 17* 
 
198 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 of conclusion from premises, or by argumentation, but 
 arising from the approach of God to the soul by the way 
 of gracious presence. He thus takes possession of the heart, 
 and fills it with a sense of himself by his presence in a 
 peculiar manner. And this is a way of knowing, very 
 different from that received merely by description and 
 report of the word, and, therefore, a different kind of know- 
 ledge, viz : by way of spiritual sense and experience. 
 Though we cannot perceive or experience the manner of the 
 divine presence or access to the soul, yet the fact is abun- 
 dantly witnessed by the experience of God's people. Not- 
 withstanding they have an habitual spiritual knowledge of 
 God and divine truth, yet, at one season, they are distressed 
 with darkness, and cannot get any proper views of God ; 
 at another, they shall be full of light, and astonished with 
 the view of divine glory : now, what is the reason of this 
 last difference ? Surely, not from any difference in the 
 objective light of the word, or their capacity to meditate 
 upon it. But the reason of it is, the absence of God in 
 the one case, and his glorious presence in the other ; 
 therefore, their first such knowledge of God was from such 
 an approach to the soul, or divine presence in it. And 
 for the reality of the experience of God's people, I refer 
 to the account the sacred scriptures give us sometimes of 
 their bitter complaints of God's hiding himself, and pant- 
 ing for him as the hart for the water-brooks ; at other 
 times, at their rejoicing in his beauty and glory, with which 
 they are, as it were, transported ; and I think these words 
 of Job, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 199 
 
 but now mine eye seeth thee," (Job xiii. 5,) fully justify this 
 distinction of objective and subjective knowledge. For admit 
 that the design of the word is to represent the very lively 
 views he had of the divine excellency, so that, comparatively 
 speaking, all his former, even experimental views were but 
 like report ; yet by a parity of reason, there is a vast 
 difference between experience in the lowest degree and 
 report ; and he goes upon this principle, that report, or by 
 the hearing of the ear, is a very languid and imperfect 
 way of knowing, compared with sight and intimate acquain- 
 tance. These are very different kinds of knowledge ; as 
 different as the knowledge a man has of a country from an 
 historical account and map of it, or the report of travellers, 
 and that he has from travelling through, and seeing it him- 
 self. Thus then, by this presence of God in the soul, it 
 has a knowledge of him, which it could not possibly have 
 without it, by the most animated descriptions and repre- 
 sentations of the word. It was thus, even innocent Adam 
 knew the moral character and excellency of God, not only 
 by objective evidence from without, but also by subjective 
 evidence from his experience of the divine presence. 
 
 But all this does not exclude moral influence by way of 
 argument, the argument contained in the word ; but 
 rather accounts for their irresistible efficacy. Though 
 mere moral suasion will not do the business, yet it is not 
 excluded; it is a moral effect that is to be produced; 
 therefore, it is natural enough to expect that the power 
 producing it should be exerted in a moral way; and, con- 
 sequently, a moral mean with great propriety be admitted. 
 
200 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 That this matter may be better apprehended, I beg 
 leave to observe, that the blessed God must be exhibited 
 to the mind as an object of contemplation, in order to any 
 act of the will towards him. The will approves him as 
 most fit and worthy to be chosen, which must be founded 
 upon the contemplation of him in the mind. Length of 
 time is not, indeed, necessary for this purpose. The 
 operations of the mind are very quick. Were we to sup- 
 pose an adult, who had no opportunity of the word, to be 
 regenerated, no doubt a reflection upon his own intuitive 
 perceptions would exhibit the blessed God to the mind, as 
 an object of contemplation. For it is absurd to suppose 
 a new heart to exist in an adult person without any ideas 
 of God and divine things in the understanding ; for that 
 is to suppose a person regenerated, and yet altogether 
 ignorant of God; to turn to God without any knowledge 
 of him, which I think is a contradiction, and the same 
 thing as to say a man is changed without any alteration. 
 The thief on the cross seems to be an instance to the con- 
 trary ; though he lived in the land of Judea, and had 
 opportunity of the word of God, it is not probable a man 
 of his abandoned character sought any considerable 
 acquaintance with it ; yet his speech to his fellow-criminal, 
 and his address to Jesus Christ, showed very considerable 
 discoveries of God, and the character of his Saviour. 
 
 But let it be considered, that with respect to sinners 
 who live under the means of grace, and enjoy the word of 
 God, though, by reason of their estrangement from God, 
 they have no proper views of divine truths, yet their 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 201 
 
 understandings are possessed of some general speculative 
 knowledge of them. Yea, convinced sinners have more ; 
 they have such an experimental knowledge of the law con- 
 vincing them of sin, as is effectual to arouse them out of 
 their fatal security, and confute their false notions, and 
 awaken them to a very solemn attention to the word of 
 God. Now in regeneration, the intuitive views impressed 
 on the mind by the divine presence, are exactly the same 
 with the descriptions and delineations of the divine char- 
 acter in the word. The mind therefore, instead of reflect- 
 ing immediately upon its own perceptions, looks forward 
 to the word. Now the man's eyes are opened, and he un- 
 derstands the scripture in a manner he never could before. 
 There he sees this glorious object represented as in a glass; 
 from thence the reflection is so strong and lively as irresis- 
 tibly, though in a moral way, to determine the will ; for 
 surely it is very apprehensible that the views of the mind 
 may be so experimental, strong and full of evidence, that 
 it is impossible for a rational being to withold the approba- 
 tion and consent of the will ; and thus this divine temper 
 is formed in the heart. In this point of light, I think 
 the apostle sets the matter, " But we all with open face, 
 beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even 
 as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. iii. 18. Though 
 these words comprehend the gradual perfecting the image 
 of God, in the progress of the work of grace ; yet, cer- 
 tainly, the first step of the process is in the same way 
 with all the subsequent, in the whole series. Nor does 
 
202 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 the use of the glass at all derogate from the efficacy of the 
 Spirit, in causing and conducting this whole matter. And 
 indeed there is as really an immediate agency of the Spirit 
 upon the soul, in every progressive perfecting of the image 
 of God, and every instance of the quickening grace in 
 believers, (when yet the concurring instrumentality of the 
 word, notwithstanding, is acknowledged,) as there is in 
 the first begetting of the divine life. 
 
 Here I would take notice, how very different this view 
 of divine illumination is from the wild conceits of enthu- 
 siasts. Their pretended extraordinary discoveries and 
 inspirations consist in unaccountable impulses without the 
 word, the warm flights of imagination, and agitation of 
 their passions ; in all this they either have no reference to 
 the word of God, but rather set light by it in comparison 
 of their own great light; or else in pretending to the 
 word, put inconsistent, ridiculous constructions upon it. 
 But these intuitive views of God, I mentioned as primarily 
 arising from his presence in the soul, are but the impres- 
 sion of such truths as the word of God describes ; they 
 lead to the scriptures, and give a rational, consistent view 
 of them ; this light is tried and judged by the word of God. 
 " To the law and to the testimony ; if they speak not accor- 
 ding to this word, it is because there is no light in them." 
 Isa. viii. 20. 
 
 I cannot but think the instrumentality of the word in 
 regeneration, in the view I have given of it, is once and 
 again asserted in the sacred scriptures; thus, "being born 
 again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 203 
 
 •word of God which liveth and abideth for ever." 1 Pet. i. 
 23. The word, here rendered "born again," is the same 
 which is used John iii. 3, of which new birth the word is 
 declared to be an instrument or mean. In the same view, 
 the same apostle tells the Christians to whom he wrote, 
 that "by great and precious promises, they were made 
 partakers of the divine nature;" (2 Pet. i. 4;) and to be 
 made partakers of the divine nature is to be regenerated. 
 Another passage is, " Of his own will begat he us with (or 
 by) the word of truth." James i. 18. The word here used 
 cannot with any propriety, I think, be understood of any 
 thing else than the first infusion or begetting of spiritual 
 life. When this is said to be done with or by the word, it 
 must intend that it is used as an instrument or mean : in 
 this view this blessed change is expressed by "putting God's 
 law in the inward parts, and writing it in the heart." Jer. 
 xxxi. 33. 
 
 Doubtless the Holy Spirit could as easily accomplish 
 this great work without using any means ; yet, as it appears 
 very plain he has chosen to do otherwise, we may not only 
 suppose, but readily see, great propriety in his making use of 
 the word in this matter. This change is to be tried and 
 judged of by the word; therefore, must answer to the 
 descriptions and characters there given, as the impression 
 on the wax answers to the characters of the seal. The views 
 of God in the mind must be such as exactly agree to the 
 descriptions and representations of him in the word. It 
 was, consequently, very fit that these characters of the 
 word should be impressed upon the soul, as a medium of 
 determining the will in regeneration. 
 
204 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 When the Holy Spirit takes the sinner in hand, in order 
 to bring him home to God, the first step he ordinarily takes 
 is to convince him of sin, confute his false notions, and 
 slay his legal hopes ; in this he makes use of the law as 
 a mean, as all acknowledge. Yet in order to this effectual 
 access of the law to the conscience, there is as really an 
 immediate exertion of power and influence upon the soul, 
 as there is also in regeneration ; and though this conviction 
 does not make the sinner more worthy of the grace of 
 God, yet the great design of it is to prepare the way for 
 the opening of divine truths upon the mind, with the 
 brighter evidence, in its passing this saving change ; which 
 reflects the image of this glory upon the beholding soul, 
 and determines the will. (2 Cor. iii. 18, Ps. ex. 8.) 
 
 Observation 7. From this new view of the mind, and 
 determination of the will, or supreme regard to God, 
 result the various exercises of heart, which are called the 
 graces of the Holy Spirit, and distinguished by particular 
 names, as their proper principle. 
 
 From this view of the divine character in the enlightened 
 mind, naturally arises a discovery of the necessity of 
 Christ's satisfaction to divine justice, and the fitness and 
 glory of that way of reconciliation with God ; hence 
 faith in Christ. The plan of mercy still more illustrates 
 the glory of the divine character, for it shines in the face 
 of Jesus Christ ; by these views of faith, spiritual affec- 
 tions are excited, sorrow for, and hatred against sin raised ; 
 hence an habitual watchfulness against sin and opposition 
 to it, and delight in the service of God ; and all this infers 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 205 
 
 a great and permanent change in the whole course of life 
 and action ; but practical writers have abundantly ex- 
 plained and described these things, to whom I refer my 
 readers, and shall insist no further upon them here. 
 
 I therefore conclude with this general remark, viz : that 
 it is of vastly more importance and concernment of us, to 
 inquire into the reality of a gracious change, as discovered 
 by the alteration, and holy exercises which the regenerate 
 experience, than spend our time and zeal in disputing 
 about the principle of spiritual life, wherein it consists, or 
 what it is, antecedent to all exercises thereof. "While we 
 are warmly interested in deciding the speculative dispute, 
 we are apt to forget the practical consideration of the im- 
 portant subject, and the application of it to ourselves ; and 
 those who attend to us, are led to treat the matter in the 
 same manner ; by this means, the interests of vital piety 
 languish. While we justly lament the low state of 
 experimental religion, to devote ourselves to these specula- 
 tive refinements will not be found the way to revive it. 
 Experience will always show, that to keep up a practical 
 view of divine truths, and the solemn application of them 
 in serious, pungent addresses to the conscience, is the best 
 calculated for that purpose. Besides, if we lay down, by 
 way of hypothesis, a certain something, of which we can 
 have no idea, (as of a principle of life, antecedent to all 
 exercises of life, we cannot ; nor can we infer any conclu- 
 sions about its nature from any exercises of the heart, if 
 it include neither idea nor volition, but is something 
 
 absolutely antecedent to both,) then we shall be in danger 
 18 
 
206 OBSERVATIONS ON REGENERATION. 
 
 of a superstructure as unintelligible as the basis upon 
 which we build. Thus some have wildly dreamed, that 
 the principle of spiritual life may exist in the soul without 
 any act or exercise of life, as a taste, which lies dormant 
 until a proper object be applied to it ; and if it may exist 
 one moment, why not two? And if two, why not a 
 minute ? And so on, till they bring the supposition to 
 hours, days, months, and years ; and so a regenerate per- 
 son may still continue an unbeliever, and of consequence, 
 in an unjustified state. And I see not why it would not 
 be as easy to continue the supposition till death, and to 
 send him to hell, with his dormant principle along with 
 him. Thus the cause of vital religion is greatly disserved. 
 But if we attend to the plain, practical views the scrip- 
 tures give us of this matter, consider the exercises of divine 
 life which discover the happy change produced in regenera- 
 tion, and trace these to their first principle, which, from 
 the nature of these exercises, we conclude to be something 
 of the same nature with them — to be a first act of the 
 series of acts or exercises that follow after, which the Holy 
 Spirit causes the soul to exert, (i. e., causes it to live,) we 
 are in no danger of any fatal mistake. In this way, the 
 heart will be more likely to feel itself interested ; and thus 
 people become more solemn and exercised in examining 
 and judging the state of their own souls. And that this 
 may be more extensively the case among professors, may 
 God of his infinite mercy grant for Christ's sake ! Amen. 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 ON THE MEANS OF GKACE. 
 
 BY THE EEV. JOHN BLAIR. 
 
 I. The great God stands in no need of means in order to 
 accomplish his purposes. He could, if he pleased, cause 
 all events he sees meet to effect, to come to pass in the 
 same way he caused the world at first to exist, viz : by the 
 word of his power or sovereign act of his will ; yet it does 
 not at all derogate from his efficiency, but rather serves to 
 illustrate his power, to use means, and appoint a connection 
 between them and the end in view, both in the natural and 
 moral world: yet such a connection as always depends 
 upon the divine pleasure. Means are effectual or ineffec- 
 tual, as he affords or withholds his concurrence — particu- 
 larly, in the administration of his moral government, he 
 deals with the subjects thereof in a way suited to their 
 rational natures, and uses means of a moral nature in 
 carrying on the interests of religion in our degenerate 
 world. To this purpose, he has given his holy word, 
 appointed a gospel ministry and ordinances of worship, 
 such as the sacraments of the New Testament, praise and 
 prayer. 
 
 (207) 
 
208 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 II. These, divines commonly call means, not of instruc- 
 tion only, but of grace ; the reason is, because it is in the 
 use of these means, the Holy Spirit ordinarily communi- 
 cates or bestows grace on sinners, and builds up his chil- 
 dren in holiness, until he brings them safe home to glory. 
 Now, whatever can be considered as a mean in reference 
 to an end, must have some tendency to, and, in its own 
 way, have influence upon, or concur in attaining it; for 
 that which has no such tendency or influence, has no 
 manner of connection with the existence or accomplishment 
 of the end, and, consequently, is no means of it at all. If, 
 therefore, these ordinances are means of grace, they must 
 have a tendency to, and, in the hand of the Holy Spirit, 
 concurrence in, the regeneration and conversion of sinners, 
 and thence forward, in carrying on the work of grace in 
 them. As all ordinances of worship are but various 
 manners of administrating the word of God, it is especially 
 to be considered as a mean for these purposes. 
 
 III. That we may see with what propriety these are 
 called means of grace, let us attend to what we find 
 ascribed to, or predicated of, the word in the Bible ; which 
 only can be said of it considered as an instrument or means, 
 and not as an efficient cause, which it cannot be. The 
 conviction of sinners is ascribed to it, " By the law is the 
 knowledge of sin. ,, Rom. iii. 20. Peter's hearers, upon 
 hearing his discourse, wherein he proved from the scrip- 
 tures of the Old Testament, that Jesus whom they had 
 crucified was the true Messiah, " were pricked in their 
 hearts." Acts ii. 37. By this, God distinguishes his word 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 209 
 
 delivered by the true prophets, from that delivered by the 
 false, viz : this, that his " word is like a fire, and like a 
 hammer, that breaketh the rock in pieces/' Jer. xxiii. 29. 
 " The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper 
 than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing 
 asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, 
 and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the 
 heart/' Heb. iv. 12. It kills the legal pride of sinners, 
 " I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live 
 unto God." Gal. ii. 19. I have already taken notice in 
 my observations on regeneration, that Christians are said 
 to be " born again," " begotten," and " made partakers of 
 the divine nature,"(l Pet. i. 23, James i. 18, 2 Pet. i. 4,) 
 by the word of God ; to which I would add Ps. xix. 7, 
 8, where the word under the terms " Law," " Testimony," 
 "Commandments," is said "to convert the soul," "make 
 wise the simple," and "enlighten the eyes;" all which 
 terms plainly express the saving change wrought in re- 
 generation. This change is an inscription of the divine 
 law upon the heart. Jer. xxxi. 33. All these expressions 
 signify much more than merely instructing the speculative 
 understanding. They must import the concurrence of the 
 word as a mean or instrument in the hand of the Holy 
 Spirit, both in the preparatory work of conviction, and 
 also in effecting the saving change in regeneration. It is 
 unnecessary to recite the many passages which represent 
 the word and ordinances as means of quickening, support- 
 ing, comforting, sanctifying, perfecting and strengthening 
 of God's people. I would only observe, that the efficacy 
 
 18* 
 
210 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 of the word for these purposes, depends upon the presence 
 and immediate agency of the Holy Spirit in the heart ; 
 which as really takes place in these instances, as in the 
 regeneration of a sinner, and the latter as easily admits 
 the use of means as the former. 
 
 IV. The efficacy of the means of grace lies not in any 
 intrinsic virtue in themselves, nor depends upon the power 
 or will of those who attend upon them ; for the effect to be 
 produced is supernatural, to which sinners are by nature 
 entirely averse, and destitute of a true discernment of the 
 excellency of the truths and weight of the arguments pro- 
 posed in the word ; but they are rendered effectual to the 
 attainment of the end by the blessing of the Holy Spirit 
 upon them, and his energy in them; they are means in 
 the Spirit's hand, rather than the creature's. And sinners 
 are to attend upon them in that view, that they may be in 
 the way in which the Spirit meets with such and works 
 upon them, like the poor impotent people who lay at the 
 pool, waiting for the descent of the angel to trouble the 
 waters. John iii. 4. With respect to creature agents, 
 the application or use of means depends upon them ; but 
 the causality itself, or energy of means in order to the 
 end, is not in their power, nor depends upon their will. 
 Hence, they often fail of success in the use of the best 
 adapted means ; but when this divine agent condescends 
 to use means, he causes their efficacy, and makes them effec- 
 tual when, and with respect to whom, he pleases. I say, 
 condescends to use means ; for the very circumstance I 
 have mentioned shows he needs them not; he could do 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 211 
 
 immediately whatsoever he pleases : when, therefore, he is 
 pleased to make use of means, it is in order to the more 
 easy discovery of himself to his creatures. Hence it fol- 
 lows, that the great God is not the less an efficient for his 
 using means, nor the less displays his power in accom- 
 plishing the end by them. 
 
 V. Yet, notwithstanding, there is an aptness and 
 tendency in the means in order to the end in view, other- 
 wise they would not be properly means. Those things 
 which have no aptness or tendency to the attainment of 
 the end can have no sort of influence upon it ; the existence 
 of the end has no kind of connection with them, and, con- 
 sequently, they are no means at all of its existence. Now, 
 the aptness or tendency of the word of God to reduce sin- 
 ners to the obedience of Christ lies in, 1st. The clearness 
 of representation, whereby divine truths are set before the 
 mind. Divine truths are clothed in the most plain and 
 intelligible language their sublime nature will allow of; 
 they are descriptively expressed, so as not only to declare 
 their nature, but also to describe their true influence, and 
 the impressions they should make upon the heart. They 
 are also illustrated by the most familiar similitudes. 2d. 
 In the interesting manner in which these sacred truths 
 are urged, or the weight of the arguments with which they 
 are pressed home. 3d. In the awful authority and great; 
 majesty with which they are delivered, whence they bind 
 and affect the conscience; they are set before us with a 
 "thus saith the Lord or Jehovah," our rightful Sovereign, 
 with whom is terrible majesty, "and your God," who has 
 
212 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 a covenant claim upon his professing people. Hence, then, 
 when the Holy Spirit takes the word in his hand, and 
 makes application of it to the heart, it is most apt and fit 
 as a mean to instruct the mind and inform the conscience, 
 and thus to convince and awaken the sinner ; to lay re- 
 straints upon men, and repress, or in some measure restrain, 
 even the natural enmity of the awakened sinner: and 
 when the Holy Spirit effectually opens the sinner's eyes, 
 and makes him understand divine truths as they are repre- 
 sented in the word, they have a most apt tendency, by 
 way of argument, to persuade and determine the will, and 
 to promote the life and exercise of all the graces of the 
 Holy Spirit in true Christians.* 
 
 I have said that when the word is so effectually applied 
 to the conscience as to convince the sinner, it is a means 
 of repressing or restraining his natural enmity. As this 
 will probably in a particular manner be called in question, 
 I beg leave to offer a few thoughts further upon it. I do 
 not at all suppose the sinner's enmity is in this case sub- 
 dued ; for then he would be regenerated, which is contrary 
 to the supposition. The wickedness of men may be, yea, in 
 many instances is, restrained, when its governing power is 
 not all broken. Hence, those who were clean escaped 
 from them who live in error, and escaped the pollutions of 
 the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, may be allured through the lusts of the flesh, 
 
 * I would here refer the reader to what I have said in the sixth Obser- 
 vation on Regeneration, concerning the instrumentality of the word 
 therein. 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 213 
 
 and much wantonness, and be again entangled ; yea, it too 
 often proves to be the case, that, " according to the true pro- 
 verb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the 
 sow that is washed, to her wallowing in the mire." 2 Pet. 
 ii. 18 — 22. The acting of the sinner's enmity is, indeed, 
 more direct against God and spiritual objects, thus brought 
 near and set in view before him by conviction, and this, 
 no doubt, is a great aggravation of those exercises of en- 
 mity ; yet it will by no means follow that enmity, as an 
 evil principle in the heart, is more prevalent, or has, in 
 this case, acquired a greater degree of power. The power 
 of this, as well as every other evil habit, lies in the sway 
 and dominion it has in the heart. Enmity reigns in the 
 heart ever while it is destitute of true love to God; but 
 yet the more peaceably it possesses the heart, and the 
 more fully it has its consent, the more powerful it is. 
 While the sinner is in a state of security, though he does 
 not feel so explicit opposition to God in his heart, as being 
 more out of view ; yet it is the same principle of enmity 
 that carries him on in casting God's law behind his back, 
 in neglecting the divine service, and giving a loose rein 
 to his corruptions, while he despises, and perhaps derides, 
 strict religion. His enmity lords it over him without con- 
 trol, and hardens his heart against reproof and conviction. 
 It is unmolested in its sway, and carries the sinner 
 headlong whichever way it directs ; and he justifies him- 
 self in all this, and refuses to take blame to himself; but 
 the awakened sinner, while conviction is borne home upon 
 the conscience, confesses the just authority over him, that 
 
214 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 he has most unjustly trampled upon it, and violated his 
 law. Though he has no holy acquiescence in, or choice of, 
 the divine government, yet he has a rational conviction 
 that it is rightful, and that he deserves punishment for con- 
 tradicting it ; that he feels his heart averse, greatly alarms 
 him, and convinces him of the existence of enmity in his 
 heart. Instead of spurning at his convictions, trampling 
 them under foot, and casting them off, which would be the 
 case if enmity acquired strength in proportion to his con- 
 victions, he cherishes them, and is afraid of falling back 
 into security again. Though he feels risings of heart, 
 yea, some sinners make some attempts to shake off their 
 convictions, with whom they are too powerful, and are in- 
 creased till they break their stout spirits, as they give up 
 their struggles to stifle them, and become afraid lest they 
 should leave them again to fall into a hardened state ; yet 
 this is so far from proving the increase of enmity as to 
 strength or prevalence, that, in reality, it proves the 
 restraint of it by the authority of God's law in the con- 
 science, and convincing influences of the Holy Spirit. 
 Upon a discovery of the exceeding depravity and wicked- 
 ness of his heart, the sinner, upon some principle, wishes 
 his heart was changed. True, he does not choose holiness 
 or turning to God in itself considered, for that he does 
 not, is one main thing that fills his conscience with so much 
 guilt ; yet he earnestly desires there was such a heart in 
 him, as did see the beauty of holiness, and truly choose it. 
 He desires this, indeed, upon no higher principle, than a 
 regard to his own happiness. This, where there is no 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 215 
 
 higher, is not a holy principle, nor is this sort of desire of 
 grace such as denotes true grace in the heart ; yet it is not, 
 in itself, a wicked principle. That this respect to his own 
 happiness does not regard holiness as an ingredient in it, 
 and is not subordinate to, and under the influence of, a 
 higher and more noble principle, is his crime ; but that it 
 is in him, and has influence upon him, is not. Surely, the 
 sinner's enmity is not as prevalent and unrestrained, when 
 he is thus anxiously solicitous to obtain heart-changing 
 grace, even on this principle, as when he utterly dis- 
 regarded the matter, and justified himself in refusing to 
 return. 
 
 When it is said, that the awakened sinner still continues 
 to reject Christ, and hate God with all his heart, the 
 meaning must either be, that, under all his convictions, the 
 sinner exerts himself to the utmost with all his might in 
 opposition to them ; that he the more pours contempt on 
 the gospel, and stoutly resolves to reject Jesus Christ, that 
 he casts about to find out how he may bear himself up in 
 a determined opposition to the gospel overtures of salva- 
 tion, and the more he is convinced, the more maliciously 
 does he oppose, and impudently justify himself in refusing, 
 Christ and his redemption, like the Scribes and Pharisees 
 of old, which would argue the increase of enmity with a 
 witness ; and then, the proposition is not true, yea, 
 notoriously contrary to fact. Or else the meaning must 
 only be, that notwithstanding all his convictions, and in- 
 crease of light, his enmity is not at all subdued, but if 
 present restraints were removed, it would return to its old 
 
216 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 stubborn stoutness in the way of sin ; and all the faculties 
 and powers of the soul are still under the reigning power 
 of that hateful principle ; and then I have no controversy 
 with any man about it. But this is no way inconsistent 
 with what I have said, unless we say, that to lay restraint 
 upon the lusts and corruptions of men, is inconsistent with 
 their dominion in the heart ; or else, that they have as 
 great a degree of power under restraints, as when most un- 
 restrained ; neither of which will any man in the due use 
 of his reason assert, for that would destroy all ideas of 
 different degrees of wickedness. The sinner's convictions 
 awaken his attention to those glorious objects, God, and 
 his Son Jesus Christ, and the way of salvation through 
 him ; and thereby the actings of his natural enmity are 
 more direct and explicit, which doubtless more aggravates 
 them as particular acts, and exposes the malignity of that 
 hateful principle. Yet that very discovery, and the sin- 
 ner's condemning himself for it, and cries to God for 
 deliverance from it, show that it has not as quiet posses- 
 sion of the heart, and as prevalent energy in it as former- 
 ly. Now it is from the principles, good or bad, which 
 have the governing prevalence in the heart, that persons 
 have their character, especially in the eye of the heart- 
 searching God ; if, then, under solemn convictions by the 
 authority of God's law, and the convincing influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, the sinner's natural enmity be restrained, 
 it will follow, that the awakened sinner's character is not, 
 on the whole, rendered more vile and odious in the sight 
 of God, than it was iii the days of his security and con- 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 217 
 
 tented course of sin against him. * Can it be imagined, 
 that the sinner's enmity has as strong an energy in him, 
 when brought to break off from his course of external sins, 
 as when he pursued them with greediness ? When he 
 earnestly attends to the duties of religion, as when he 
 neglected them with scorn and contempt, or trifled with 
 them in a listless formality ? And when he eagerly seeks 
 the company of God's people, asking their advice, as when 
 he hated to be near them, could not bear their conversa- 
 tion, but took delight in the company of the profane and 
 ungodly ? But to return. 
 
 That the means of grace have a tendency to the convic- 
 tion and conversion of sinners, as well as the edification 
 of God's people, appears by the expostulations God uses 
 with them in his word, as utterly inexcusable and perverse 
 in continuing impenitents after all the pains he has taken 
 upon them, and means used with them. In the fifth 
 chapter of Isaiah from the beginning, the Lord represents 
 the abundant provision he had made for their fruitfulness, 
 in point of means and advantages which he had afforded 
 
 * It will by no means follow, that awakened sinners are, in a degree, 
 accepted of God, on account of their being less sinful than they were in 
 the days of their security ; for the divine law still condemns them as 
 falling short, infinitely short of its demands; and their less sinfulness 
 makes no atonement for the smallest past transgression. It only follows 
 that, in their present case, they merit a less degree of disapprobation and 
 punishment; i. e., they are less offensive; and this we must admit, 
 or else deny different degrees of wickedness; or assert that the low- 
 est degree of wickedness is as offensive, and disapproved in as high a 
 degree, as the greatest. 
 19 
 
218 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 them. " What could have been done to my vineyard that 
 I have not done in it ? Wherefore when I looked that it 
 should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes V 
 Isa. v. 4. " But this thing commanded I them, saying, 
 Obey my voice and I will be your God, and ye shall be my 
 people : and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded 
 you, that it may be well unto you ; but they hearkened 
 not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and 
 imaginations of their evil heart, and went backward and 
 not forward. Since the day that your fathers came forth 
 of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent you 
 all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and 
 sending them. Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor in- 
 clined their ear, but hardened their neck ; they did worse 
 than their fathers. Therefore, thou shalt speak all these 
 words unto them, but they will not hearken unto thee; 
 thou shalt also call unto them, but they will not answer 
 thee ; but thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that 
 obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth 
 correction. Truth is perished and cut off from their mouth. 
 Cut off thine hair, Jerusalem, and cast it away, and 
 take up a lamentation on high places, for the Lord hath 
 rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath." Jer. 
 vii. 23 — 29. Here we see their disobedience to, and abuse 
 of, the means he had used with them, was the reason why 
 they were so peculiarly the people of God's wrath, and of 
 the sad issue of their case. If it be said, the instruction 
 they got from the word is sufficient to render impenitent 
 sinners inexcusable, I answer, either this light and instruc- 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 219 
 
 tion has a tendency to their conversion, (and if this be 
 admitted, the matter is fairly given up,) or it has no such 
 tendency at all ; and then how does it at all render them 
 inexcusable in continuing impenitent and unconverted ? 
 
 The conversion of sinners to God is the great scope of 
 the means of grace ; this the word of God calls for at their 
 hands, commands and presses it with the greatest importu- 
 nity. It is needless to recite authorities for this to such 
 as are acquainted with their Bible, since we might quote a 
 greater part of that sacred book to this purpose. There- 
 fore it is, that the gospel ministry is called the ministry 
 of reconciliation, and it is the business of gospel ministers 
 to pray sinners in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God. 
 Yet 
 
 VI. There is no certain or infallible connection between 
 the most diligent and earnest attendance on the means of 
 grace that unregenerate sinners are capable of, and their 
 obtaining the saving grace of God. This issue of the 
 matter is entirely from the sovereign mercy of God. If 
 we suppose a certain necessary connection in this case, it 
 must arise either from the nature of the thing, viz : some 
 constitution or law of nature, or from some promise and 
 positive appointment of God to that purpose ; but in the 
 case before us, there is no such connection in either way. 
 Not the former ; for the means of grace are positive insti- 
 tutions, and don't fall under the laws of nature; nor do 
 they operate by way of influence upon God to move him 
 to show mercy, but are means whereby the blessed God 
 deals with sinners, and works effectually on whom he 
 
220 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 pleases; their efficacy depends upon his blessing and 
 energy. In this view he has appointed means, and requires 
 fallen man to attend upon them. Guilty sinners lie at 
 mercy upon which they have no claim, but it lies in the 
 breast of God as a Sovereign, of his own grace, to show 
 mercy or not as he pleases; and, therefore, according to 
 his sovereign pleasure, he renders the means of grace 
 effectual or not ; and as to the latter part of connection, 
 viz : by promise or positive appointment, there is not the 
 smallest evidence of it in the word of God ; if there be, 
 let any one show it who thinks he can. I must confess 
 I have not met with one such promise in all the book of 
 God. As to such passages as Luke xi. 9 and Matt. vii. 7, 
 " Ask and it shall be given you ; seek and ye shall find ; 
 knock and it shall be opened unto you," there the conduct 
 of God as Father towards his children is plainly spoken of; 
 and, therefore, asking, seeking, and knocking in faith, 
 asking, &c, in a gracious manner is intended ; and they are 
 the children of God who are spoken of. , So the moral 
 efficacy of the means of grace terminated on God to move 
 him to give grace, (the very mention of which shows the 
 absurdity of the supposition,) or the sinner's use of them 
 were at all the ground or reason of his showing mercy ; 
 then, indeed, the very appointment of means would imply 
 a promise of success, or something equal to it, in the 
 required use of them ; but this is so far from being the 
 case, that, on the contrary, the tendency of the means to the 
 end lies in their moral influence upon the consciences and 
 hearts of sinners. Yet whatever aptness to such an influ- 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 221 
 
 ence there is in the means of grace, such is the blindness, 
 deadness, enmity and prejudice of poor sinners, that until 
 the Holy Spirit accompany them with his presence and 
 energy, no such influence will effectually take place in 
 their hearts. Now, he works in or by these means as a 
 Sovereign ; hence, he strives with many only in such a 
 way as that he suffers them still to resist, until in just re- 
 sentment he forsakes them. But with respect to the ves- 
 sels of mercy, he prosecutes his gracious design, until by 
 the "rod of his strength" (the word of his grace), he irresis- 
 tibly conquers, "and rules in the midst of his enemies." 
 Psa. ex. 2. 
 
 Therefore sinners are to use the means of grace as 
 creatures lying at mercy, seeking pure grace, which 
 depends on the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit ; but 
 they can found no claim to grace on their most diligent use 
 of said means. It is enough to engage sinners to the use 
 of means, that God has appointed them as such, has re- 
 quired their attendance upon them ; there is an aptness in 
 the means themselves and a proper tendency, and it is by 
 these means the Holy Spirit works ; in this way he meets 
 with perishing creatures in mercy, and they cannot expect 
 the grace of God in the neglect of his institutions. While 
 there is a "may be the Lord will be gracious," (Amos v. 
 15,) or, " who knoweth if the Lord will return, and repent, 
 and leave a blessing behind him ?" (Joel ii. 14,) sinners will 
 be utterly inexcusable in neglecting them, and justly 
 charged with choosing their own destruction. 
 
 VII. From what has been said it will follow, as a con- 
 19* 
 
222 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 elusion on the whole, that all sinners, when the gospel 
 comes, are under the most indispensable obligations to 
 attend the means of grace. The design of their institu- 
 tion, as mediums of the Spirit's dealing with their souls 
 about their eternal interests, lays them under bonds of 
 gratitude. For why, shall the offended majesty of heaven 
 thus seek after rebellious sinners ? Would it not then be 
 the basest ingratitude to treat him with neglect ? The 
 gracious authority of God binds their consciences ; he re- 
 quires their attendance upon his ordinances ; their very 
 institution implies such a requisition, and it will be a diso- 
 bedience, highly criminal, to neglect them. 
 
 We also hence see what grounds of encouragement sin- 
 ners have, for their attendance on the means of grace ; 
 they have not the assurance of a promise that they shall 
 be successful ; the great God has come under no such en- 
 gagement; they have no ground of present peace and 
 security from their most diligent and earnest use of them. 
 Such apprehensions would lead to, and support, a self- 
 righteous spirit, and be an abuse of the means of grace. 
 They have great reason of deepest anxiety lest they fail 
 of the grace of God, and provoke the Holy Spirit to for- 
 sake them. Yet they have sufficient motives from the 
 aforesaid design of their institution ; their moral aptness 
 and tendency, whereby they are adapted to our rational 
 natures and the Spirit's operations, and suited to affect the 
 hearts of men in a moral way. It is the stated way of the 
 Spirit's dealing with the souls of men ; by his word and 
 ordinances he strives with sinners, and by the same means 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 223 
 
 he accomplishes his special work of grace; and in this 
 way there is the only probability of meeting with mercy. 
 In the continued neglect of God's ordinances there is cer- 
 tain destruction, but in waiting on God in this way there 
 is a peradventure the Lord may have mercy. The Holy 
 Spirit has rendered the means of grace effectual to multi- 
 tudes, and how knows each sinner but, of his rich grace, 
 he may effectually reach him ? 
 
 Hence, also, we may see that ministers of the gospel not 
 only may, with safety and propriety, but are bound, in 
 duty, to urge unregenerate sinners, as well as others, to a 
 diligent use and improvement of the means of grace, and 
 in that way to seek unto God for regenerating grace. If the 
 preceding view of the matter be kept up, such exhortations 
 can have no tendency to settle people in a legal dependence 
 on the means, nor promote security nor carnal confidence. 
 Yea, it is highly incumbent on the ministers of Christ to 
 give particular directions to poor sinners in order to their 
 improvement of the means, in such a manner as has the 
 most likely tendency, and wherewith it is most probable 
 the Holy Spirit may concur for their conversion to God. 
 Certainly, a mere external attendance upon the adminis- 
 tration of ordinances, while the heart is secure and care- 
 less, is not likely to answer any good end. Undoubtedly, 
 such have need to be directed so to attend to the word of 
 God as to compare themselves therewith, to examine them- 
 selves, and enter into a serious consideration of their own 
 state and character, and lay to heart the danger they are 
 in. Awakened sinners are inclined to seek shelter in the 
 
224 AN ESSAY ON 
 
 duties of religion, and to expect healing and relief to their 
 consciences from their earnest use of means. These need 
 to be warned of that dangerous rock, and be directed to 
 such a view of God's law as may more deeply convince 
 them of their utter depravity, and slay them dead to the 
 law. Gal. ii. 19. Their attention to the overtures of the 
 gospel should be urged. Our safe path lies between two 
 dangerous extremes, viz : of those who only try to convince 
 men of their unregenerate state, call upon them to embrace 
 Jesus Christ, and then leave them under all their perplex- 
 ing exercises and distresses, without any counsel or direc- 
 tion ; and thus their various temptations, discouragements, 
 and despondencies are overlooked, and no assistance is 
 administered when they most need it. It is a matter of 
 great consequence into what hands poor, convinced sinners 
 fall; an unskilful treatment of them is vastly injurious. 
 The other extreme is of those who direct sinners to duties 
 and attendance on the means of grace in such a legal man- 
 ner as to encourage their dependence upon them; such 
 lead poor creatures to think they can do something to 
 recommend themselves to God ; their utter insufficiency in 
 themselves is never fairly opened up. On the contrary, 
 they are told if they will do their part, God will do his ; and 
 thus they are made to believe there is a certain connection 
 between their own best endeavours and the saving grace 
 of God; that if they do what they can, God will do the 
 rest. Thus the nature and design of the means is misrep- 
 resented. They are considered as means which sinners 
 use with God in order to prevail with him, rather than 
 
THE MEANS OF GRACE. 225 
 
 means whereby he deals with them, in order to call them 
 back again to himself, and renders them irresistibly effica- 
 cious for that purpose when he pleases. The first of these 
 extremes tends to make sinners neglect all attempts to 
 perform the duties of religion, or if they give their presence 
 at ordinances, yet make no essay to strive with their own 
 hearts, as being altogether in vain, without any tendency 
 to promote their good, and not required of them in their 
 present circumstances. While this doctrine is believed, 
 Satan is not much afraid of damage to his interest from 
 all their convictions of being in an unregenerate state; 
 for the consequence is, they quench the Spirit. If con- 
 victions startle them, they, upon this principle, make no 
 attempt to cherish their convictions, easily fall asleep 
 again, and lie still in careless indolence. By the latter 
 extreme, the striving of sinners is turned into a wrong 
 channel, and they are directed to the use of means upon 
 principles entirely wrong. The directions they get, send 
 them to the law for life, and settle them upon a righteous- 
 ness of their own. Both the extremes are injurious to 
 the interests of religion, and destructive to the souls of 
 men. Both are to be avoided ; the ministers of the gos- 
 pel are to endeavour the conviction and awakening of 
 sinners, and when there are any awakenings they are to 
 attend and cherish them, and by prudent, seasonable and 
 evangelical counsel to direct their way, and point out the 
 method of salvation to them. They have sufficient en- 
 couragement to such a conduct upon this principle, that 
 however dead, miserable and helpless sinners are, yet it 
 
226 ON THE MEANS OF GRACE. 
 
 is by such views and impressions as evangelical counsels 
 and directions tend to, that the Holy Spirit carries on 
 his work in the souls of men ; and therefore, when he 
 concurs, they shall be rendered effectual. May the God 
 of all grace teach his servants how to negotiate the treaty 
 of peace and reconciliation, and make them abundantly 
 wise to win souls to Jesus Christ ! Amen. 
 
WILLIAM TENNENT, Jr. 
 
 The Kev. William Tennent, Jr., was the second son of William 
 Tennent, Sen., and was born on the 5th day of Jan., 1705, in the 
 County of Armagh, in Ireland, and was just turned of thirteen years 
 when he came to this country. Being a youth of zeal and industry, 
 he made great proficiency in the languages, particularly in the 
 Latin. Being early impressed with a deep sense of divine things, 
 he soon determined to follow the example of his father and elder 
 brother, by devoting himself to the service of God in the ministry 
 of the gospel. Having completed his classical course, he commenced 
 the study of theology with his brother Gilbert, in New Brunswick, 
 and after going through a regular course, was preparing for his 
 examination by the Presbytery as a candidate for the gospel minis- 
 try. By intense application, his health was affected and he appeared 
 to be going into a decline. It was at this point in his history, that 
 he fell into that remarkable death-like trance, which is fully recorded 
 in his life in the " Log College." On recovery from this trance, he 
 was found to be totally ignorant of every transaction of his life pre- 
 vious to his sickness. He could not read a single word, neither did 
 he seem to have any idea of what it meant. As soon as he became 
 capable of attention, he was taught to read and write, as children 
 are usually taught ; and afterwards began to learn the Latin lan- 
 guage under the tuition of his brother. One day, as he was reciting 
 a lesson, he suddenly started, clapped his hand to his head, as if 
 something had hurt him, and made a pause. His brother asked him 
 what was the matter ; he said that he felt a sudden shock in his head, 
 
 (227) 
 
228 WILLIAM TENNENT, JR. 
 
 and it now seemed to him as if he had read that book before. By 
 degrees his recollection was restored, and he could speak the Latin 
 as fluently as before his sickness. His memory so completely 
 revived, that he gained a perfect knowledge of the past transactions 
 of his life, as if no difficulty had previously occurred. As soon as 
 circumstances would permit, Mr. Tennent was licensed and began 
 to preach the everlasting gospel with great zeal and success. In 
 Oct., 1733, Mr. Tennent was regularly ordained the pastor of the 
 Freehold Church, as successor to his brother John, where he con- 
 tinued through the whole of a pretty long life, one of the best proofs 
 of ministerial fidelity. 
 
 Mr. Tennent was rather more than six feet high, of a spare, thin 
 visage, and of an erect carriage. He had bright, piercing eyes, a 
 long sharp nose, and a long face. His general countenance was 
 grave and solemn, but at all times cheerful and pleasant with his 
 friends. It may be said of him, with peculiar propriety, that, he 
 appeared, in an extraordinary manner, to live above the world and 
 all its allurements. He seemed habitually to have such clear views 
 of spiritual and heavenly things, as afforded him much of the fore- 
 taste and enjoyment of them. His faith was, really and experimen- 
 tally, " the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things 
 unseen." Literally his daily walk was with God, and he lived " as 
 seeing him who is invisible." The divine presence with him was 
 frequently manifested in his public ministrations and in his private 
 conduct. 
 
 About the latter end of Feb., 1777, Mr. Tennent was suddenly 
 seized with a fever, attended by violent symptoms. During his 
 whole sickness he continued perfectly resigned to the divine will, 
 until death was swallowed up in victory, on the 8th of March, 1777. 
 He was buried in his own church at Freehold. 
 
GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY, 
 
 NO OBJECTION TO THE SINNER'S STRIVING. 
 
 A SERMON BY THE REV. WILLIAM TENNENT, JR. , PREACHED TO THE MEMBERS 
 OF THE ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK, JAN. 20, 1765. 
 
 "Strive to enter in at the strait gate." — Luke xiii. 24. 
 
 Such doctrines as Christ taught, his disciples need not 
 fear to teach ; such admonitions as the infallible Saviour 
 of the world hath given, we are warranted to give, and 
 need not fear their consequence. When, therefore, we 
 behold sinners, in gay and numerous multitudes, gliding 
 carelessly down the broad way that leadeth to destruction, 
 while a solitary few struggle in the narrow path of virtue, 
 what though some arise and cavil ? What though some en- 
 deavour to bewilder the pious mind with difficulties ? We 
 may safely warn them, as did our Divine Master; we 
 need not fear his displeasure, as some pretend, if we 
 persuade them to stop their career, to strive and struggle, 
 that they may enter the strait gate. But that you may 
 ascertain the meaning of our great Lord in the text, I beg 
 leave to direct vour attention to two things. 
 
 20 ( 229 ) 
 
230 god's sovereignty. 
 
 1. By the strait gate is undoubtedly intended, the 
 terms of Christianity, or the conditions upon which our 
 salvation is suspended. 
 
 To be assured of this, we need only reflect upon the 
 figure made use of in the text ; this is more largely and 
 particularly inserted in Matt. vii. ' 13. Both of the 
 evangelists, without doubt, refer to the same expression of 
 our Saviour ; both give the same idea, but one more fully 
 than the other, as in many other instances besides the 
 present ; by consulting both, we shall therefore get the 
 true and full idea which Christ designed to convey. 
 Matthew only says, "enter the strait gate." Luke says, 
 "strive to enter." Matthew gives the meaning, but Luke 
 more fully ; that Luke gives the very words of our Lord, 
 in this part of the sentence, we may reasonably suppose. 
 For first, if he does not, he certainly conveys an idea 
 more than was ever intended by Christ. A struggle 
 towards entering is certainly more than simply entering. 
 It appears, in the second place, perfectly agreeable to the 
 latter part of the figure, where the narrowness of the gate 
 implies the necessity of striving to enter it. Matthew 
 mentions one reason for the direction, viz : " for strait is 
 the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life ;" with 
 this addition by way of alarm, " and few there be who 
 find it." Luke does not mention this, but another 
 as alarming ; " that many shall seek to enter and shall not 
 be able." By taking both together, you find our Lord's 
 direction at large, which is this: " Strive — struggle — be in 
 great earnest to enter the strait gate; for wide is the 
 
god's sovereignty. 231 
 
 gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and 
 many go in thereat ; but strait is the gate, and narrow 
 is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are who find 
 it ; and let this your strife be without delay ; for many, 
 when it is too late, shall seek to enter in and shall not 
 be able. 
 
 Whence, it is easy to perceive, that man, since the fall, is 
 represented as by nature travelling in pursuit of happiness, 
 but in a mistaken path ; travelling in a way which, though 
 broad, descending and easy, yet leads unerring to the 
 abode of death. Our Divine Master represents himself as 
 one, who, filled with compassion, at the sight of this 
 numerous throng, gaily moving on to ruin, hath in his gos- 
 pel opened a narrow gate for their reception, which, with 
 most disinterested pity, he persuades them to strive to 
 enter. The way you are in, says he, is confessedly broad, 
 and you are kept in countenance by the multitude ; but, I 
 warn you, eternal death hath his dwelling there. This way 
 is narrow and difficult ; but life and happiness dwell here. 
 Strive and struggle then to enter. 
 
 By the strait gate, is therefore intended the terms of 
 Christianity, or the conditions of the gospel. And what 
 are these, but repentance and faith ? By the narrow way, 
 the continuance in these terms, or the progress of the 
 Christian. These are termed strait and narrow, because 
 of the natural corruption and evil propensities of the soul, 
 which make the duties of Christianity difficult and morti- 
 fying. To enter the strait gate, then, means neither more 
 nor less, than to begin to be a Christian : to submit to the 
 
232 god's sovereignty. 
 
 terms of the gospel, or to enter a state of grace. Remark 
 this, my brethren, for it will be the foundation of our 
 discourse. 
 
 2. But to whom is this direction given ? A second par- 
 ticular, which you will please to attend to. Is it to the 
 saints ? To those who are already in a state of favour 
 with God, and are already treading the rugged paths of 
 virtue ? No, it would be an absurdity, that those who have 
 already entered, should be persuaded to enter. They are 
 not desired to continue, but to begin ; it is to sinners that 
 the words are addressed ; it is to those who are in the 
 broad way of sin, which corrupt nature makes easy, and 
 throngs with a multitude. 
 
 And what direction doth he give them ? What advice 
 flows from his divine, infallible lips ? What direction, of 
 consequence, is fit and proper to be given to all such poor 
 wanderers by nature ? What direction are his ministers 
 herefrom warranted to give to the numbers whom they 
 behold treading the same downward road ? Why, " Strive 
 to enter the strait gate." Let me remark, my brethren, 
 there is more emphasis in the original word, translated 
 "strive," than can be crowded into one English term: 
 agonizesthe, let your strife be most intense and earnest ; 
 not only strive but struggle, as one who would force through 
 a narrow pass. It signifies a struggling with a mere 
 agony ; I would render it agonize, and bow every power 
 of the soul in the earnest attempt as one who would save 
 an immortal soul 
 
 What difference — what immense difference is there 
 
god's sovereignty. 233 
 
 between this advice, and the opinion of certain modern 
 reformers of doctrine, who insist that sinners ought not to 
 be put upon striving for the salvation of their souls ; that 
 they ought not to be directed to seek for faith, or an 
 entrance into this strait gate, into these mortifying con- 
 ditions of the gospel ; and who brand all attempts to enter 
 upon the narrow way of Jesus, with the foulest names ! 
 
 Our Lord commands, and, therefore, there must be cer- 
 tain strivings, not only lawful, but the absolute duty of 
 the unconverted, that they may enter the strait gate. 
 
 But because this notion is supposed by some to be incon- 
 sistent with God's sovereign disposal of grace, let me take 
 up a little of your time, 
 
 I. In reconciling the notion of the sinner's striving, 
 with that of the unmoved bestowment of grace. And in the 
 
 II place, Let me answer the objections offered to the 
 doctrine. 
 
 I. In order to the first, let me lay down a few plain 
 propositions or considerations, which being attended to, 
 the difficulties vanish, and the truths appear reconciled of 
 themselves. 
 
 1. God, in the bestowment of his grace or sanctifying 
 the soul, treats man not as he would a stone, in the new 
 modelling its form, but as a reasonable being ; by his 
 divine power making use of motives and means in changing 
 his disposition. 
 
 Such rational means and motives as are in themselves 
 fitted to influence the mind, infinite power makes use of as 
 the instruments in converting the mind. To what other 
 20* 
 
234 god's sovereignty. 
 
 end are all the rational and persuasive calls to sinners in 
 the gospel, if they are not to be the means in the hand of 
 God for their conversion ? To what end are such glorious 
 prospects set before them to awaken their hopes ? Why 
 such awful terror to alarm their fears — such powerful mo- 
 tives to their gratitude — such afflictive providences — such 
 instances of mercy and goodness which (the apostle 
 expressly asserts) lead to repentance? Are these only 
 sent to vex and disquiet them, without any tendency to 
 bring them to God ? Why do we preach and you hear ? 
 Why do we persuade and you listen? Is the whole in- 
 tent, the only design of this, to condemn and make miser- 
 able ? God forbid that we should harbour such a thought ! 
 To suppose that God would lay and execute such a plan, 
 the whole design of which is to condemn and render more 
 wretched, is a thought highly injurious to the great foun- 
 tain of happiness. 
 
 Now, although we can conceive of God's implanting a 
 principle of holiness into the soul by his immediate power, 
 without the interposition of any instruments, yet we have 
 no reason to think that this is his ordinary method. Though 
 by a single fiat the whole creation might have come into 
 its present existence and order, yet he chose to do it in 
 days, and by distinct commands ; he saw fit that his Spirit, 
 or his winds, should move on the face of the water, although 
 he might have caused the whole human race to he in a 
 moment, by a single command ; yet he sees proper to make 
 use of instruments in its production. As in the world of 
 nature, so in the world of grace, he uses his word and ordi- 
 
god's sovereignty. 235 
 
 nances ; they are the instruments in the hands of infinite 
 power to produce the change ; but they are only instru- 
 ments which, without that power, would never effect it, 
 more than the naked, inactive tools would frame a house, 
 without the workman's strength and wisdom. Hence, God 
 is said to " beget us by his word." 
 
 But here it is replied, What is this to our striving ? Is 
 there no distinction between the means which God uses 
 with us, and those which we use with ourselves ? 
 
 2. We answer by our second proposition, which is, that 
 as our souls are rational, and to be changed by the inter- 
 position of certain motives and arguments in the hand, and 
 set home by the power, of God ; so it is necessary, that we, 
 somehow or other, attend to these motives and arguments. 
 If this is not the case, the pagans in Africa are in as fair 
 a way to be converted by the gospel, as we who have it in 
 our hands. If there is not a necessity that we diligently 
 attend to it, there can be no benefit in having it. If we 
 never hear, if we never attend to these motives and argu- 
 ments, how can they be the instruments of our conversion ? 
 If we never hear, if we never read, if we never meditate 
 on the word of God at all, how can that word be the means 
 of begetting us again ? In this sense, undoubtedly, faith 
 is said to come by hearing, and hearing by the word of 
 God. Now says the apostle, " How shall they hear unless 
 there is a preacher, and how shall he preach, unless he be 
 sent ?" Upon the apostle's plan, there must be a preacher 
 — he must preach — we must hear, attend and consider, or 
 else we cannot have faith. Here you see, we must be 
 
236 god's sovereignty. 
 
 active in the matter. Now, as this is the ordinary way 
 in which it hath pleased God to communicate faith, is not 
 he very absurd, who dreams of getting faith, without such 
 attendance and reflection, and all those other things which 
 are consequent upon, and necessarily connected with it ? 
 And is not this reason enough for us to persuade mankind 
 to go and hear the word preached, to attend with all their 
 might, to strive by reflection to see and feel its force, and 
 so on as to other duties ? This kind of striving, you see, 
 is absolutely necessary to faith and holiness, in the 
 ordinary course of God's dealing with sinners. And we 
 can see no reason, why this notion should be objected to, 
 because there seems to be something done in the matter, 
 which God hath not immediately clone : for if it may be 
 his sovereign pleasure, to make use of the instrumentality 
 of others towards my conversion, I see not why he may 
 not also make use of the instrumentality of my own 
 thoughts and reflections, to bring about that desirable end. 
 And if we may call the dealings of God with us, by the 
 instrumentality of others, the means of grace, I can see 
 no reason, why we may not also term his dealing with us, 
 by our own instrumentality, the means of grace likewise. 
 
 Now, my brethren, though some loudly exclaim against 
 our calling these means, the way in which God usually con- 
 fers his grace, because Christ hath, by way of eminence, 
 stiled himself the way, that is, the foundation or procuring 
 cause of salvation; yet there is an evident distinction 
 between the way, or manner in which, and the procuring 
 cause of which ; and inasmuch as we always use it in the 
 
god's sovereignty. 237 
 
 former sense, when we speak on this subject, I can see no 
 reason to change the term, a term so expressive, until our 
 great reformer of Christianity shall furnish us with a 
 better. 
 
 To conclude this section, although the salvation of a sin- 
 ner, from first to last, may, in a sound and theological 
 sense, be termed a miracle, and is begun and accomplished 
 "according to the working of God's mighty power, which 
 he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead;" 
 (Eph. i. 19 ;) yet, as it has pleased God to subject his works 
 in nature to the instrumentality of second causes, and the 
 ways of his providence and grace, in their ordinary dis- 
 pensation, to the rational use of means, we are not to ex- 
 pect our salvation, or even the common blessings of this 
 life, without using the means appointed to obtain them. 
 There is a wide difference between what God can do, and 
 sometimes does in an extraordinary way, and what we, as 
 reasonable creatures, ought to do. And we leave it to our 
 hearers to judge, whether, according to the instituted 
 method of divine grace, revealed in the holy scriptures, 
 and confirmed by the experience of the saints, it is not as 
 reasonable to hope, that God will overset nature, and ex- 
 tinguish the sun by a miracle, for our salvation, as to ex- 
 pect it without striving ; and in all seasons, whether 
 ordinary or extraordinary, which have happened in the 
 Church of God, the first evidence we have of a sinner's re- 
 turn is, after diligent use of appointed means, and 
 previous earnest striving. St. Paul's conversion was very 
 sudden, and as miraculous as any we read of; yet the first 
 
238 god's sovereignty. 
 
 notice we have of it, is, " behold he prayeth." Acts ix. 11. 
 The conversion of the three thousand, on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, was in the way of an anxious concern for salvation ; 
 and we read, that from the days of John the Baptist, the 
 kingdom of heaven suffered violence, and the violent took 
 it by force. Matt. xi. 12. And we have no reason to sup- 
 pose, that salvation can be obtained upon easier terms at 
 this day. 
 
 Objection. But if his striving is so necessary, may he 
 not make a merit of it, and thus the bestowment of grace 
 not appear wholly free? See here the principal objection 
 to this scheme, which gives occasion to our third propo- 
 sition. 
 
 3. There is a wide difference between the way or man- 
 ner in which God chooses to bestow his grace, and the 
 procuring, meritorious cause for which. You may exem- 
 plify this in the case even of the saints. How are saints 
 appointed to get more grace ? Are they to be idle, and 
 carelessly wait to see whether a sovereign God will bestow 
 it? No; they are to cry for it, and act like babes; 
 according to Paul, they are eagerly to " desire the sincere 
 milk of the word that they may grow thereby." Now, 
 their eager desires, their praying and crying, were it pro- 
 longed to eternity, cannot be esteemed an equivalent for 
 one smile of their God. Their desires and prayers are 
 not the procuring cause, or the merit for which God bestows 
 more grace : they do not move him to do it by way of 
 desert; and yet he hath appointed this as the way in 
 which, for Christ's sake, they may expect it. These ordi- 
 
god's sovereignty. 239 
 
 nances are the means he makes use of in conveying it; 
 Christ, and Christ alone, is the meritorious and procuring 
 cause. Thus you see, there is an undeniable distinction 
 between the way in which God, as a Sovereign, chooses to 
 confer, and the procuring cause for which. And if the 
 saint who obtains fresh supplies of grace in this way, hath 
 no cause, and will never find cause to boast of his having 
 deserved, or moved God to it by his prayers, much less 
 will the poor sinner, whose attendance upon the means of 
 grace is so much more imperfect. "Boasting is therefore 
 wholly excluded." 
 
 If we consider matters strictly, we shall find that our 
 diligence to eternity is not a sufficient payment for a mor- 
 sel of bread. The smallest mercy of God cannot be repaid 
 by an eternity of our little services, much less can the un- 
 speakable blessing of a new heart, a blessing that extends 
 its happy influence through perpetual ages ! I say, much 
 less can this be purchased by a poor worm's listening, or 
 praying, or crying. What ! hath it ever entered the heart 
 of a rational man to suppose that a few sighs, a few tears, 
 a few moments' attendance to the proposals of the gospel, 
 is the price to purchase a forfeited, happy eternity ? God, 
 therefore, being under no obligation to our merit, even after 
 we have done all, need not bestow his grace. And this 
 scheme represents him as sovereign in his gifts as sover- 
 eignty itself, or as the opposers of our doctrine can wish. 
 You can conceive of nothing more sovereign and free, than 
 that which is bestowed without any foundation of merit in 
 the subject, but against merit. It is necessary that we 
 
240 god's sovereignty. 
 
 should attend in that way, but the necessity of our so 
 attending doth not argue any desert in it, or that God 
 is brought under any obligation; it only argues that 
 God is sovereign in choosing the way of his bestowment, 
 and even when we attend in that way, he is sovereign in 
 bestowing, or not bestowing, as he pleases. We, therefore, 
 cannot see any cause our opponents have to cry out against 
 the doctrine, as tending to lead sinners to expect justifica- 
 tion in part by their striving, and to leave only part of 
 their justification to Christ. In this argument we have 
 nothing to do with justification ; and so much as to bring 
 it in, by way of objection, is a gross impertinency, and 
 only calculated to blind the unwary. Justification can 
 only be founded on merit, and in this affair we plead for 
 no merit at all ; we insist there is none. 
 
 It is true, the sinner who is thus active, is less guilty 
 than he who lives in rebellious contempt. But a bare 
 absence of guilt, my being not so wicked, for instance, as 
 Beelzebub, is no reason God should bestow peculiar favours 
 on me ; it is no positive merit, but only a reason why I 
 should not be punished equally to another. 
 
 But, say our opposers, " Suppose the man who hath thus 
 attended and sought for mercy, to meet with his miserable 
 friend in eternity, who had neglected thus to seek, and 
 died in his sins, would he not have a right to accost him 
 thus, ' thou miserable wretch ! why didst thou not 
 strive as I did, and have obtained mercy V " hinting, that 
 his seeking had in some degree deserved the favour. We 
 answer, through rich grace, the saints have a prospect of 
 
god's sovereignty. 241 
 
 better judgments, than to be liable to the absurd mistake. 
 The triumphant happy spirit would necessarily see, that 
 although he had attended in the way which his Sovereign 
 had made necessary to his salvation ; yet his so attending 
 (although it rendered him, as far as it went, less guilty) 
 had no procuring merit in it ; and far from ascribing the 
 praise to himself, his Redeemer, who procured the blessing, 
 would be all his song. 
 
 Only reason with yourselves, and you will find that the 
 glorified saint, who sits upon a throne of more exalted emi- 
 nence in the world above, will have just as much reason 
 to exult over his inferior friend, as the saint will have over 
 the sinner. For God is as sovereign, in the bestowment 
 of superior degrees of grace, in the use of means, upon 
 saints, as he is in giving grace to sinners at all. Our op- 
 ponents cannot deny this, consistent with their own senti- 
 ments. And do you think that the most exalted spirit 
 above will have an opportunity to boast over the inferior ? 
 You need not allege, that God hath bound himself by pro- 
 mise to his people, and therefore there is a difference; 
 they may strive and obtain more grace. God never acts, 
 God never promises under the gospel, but upon the footing 
 of equity and merit. If he hath promised, it is not upon 
 the footing of desert in them, but only in Christ, and 
 that in their attendance upon the means of his institution. 
 The saint cannot deserve the mercy by his doings, more 
 than the sinner. The favour conferred on him is there- 
 fore as free grace, as that on the sinner; and if the 
 sovereignty and freedom of grace is an argument against 
 21 
 
242 god's sovereignty. 
 
 endeavouring to obtain it, it was as much against the 
 saint's endeavours, as against those of the sinner. 
 
 Thus we see, a proper attention to the plain distinction 
 between the way in which, and the meritorious cause for 
 which, entirely removes all the difficulty about boasting. 
 
 But you will say, " There is a wide difference ; the saint 
 can do actions that are spiritually good ; the sinner can 
 not, for he is represented as spiritually dead." We 
 answer, this doth not at all alter the case, as to the 
 the sovereignty of God's bestowment, unless it be supposed 
 that the spirituality of these actions does really merit such a 
 bestowment ; but this our opponents cannot allow, upon 
 their own principles. And if their spiritual actions do not 
 justify, or merit, they are as much the subjects of pure 
 mercy, as the sinner. This brings us to our fourth pro- 
 position. 
 
 4. Though the unconverted can do nothing that is spirit- 
 ually good, yet they can do what is materially good ; nor 
 is this distinction vain. The matter and the form of duty 
 are most obviously distinct. Praying is the matter of a duty 
 — with faith is the form of it. Hearing is the matter of a 
 duty — with love is the form ; doing alms is the matter ; 
 from a principle of divine charity is the form. Where these 
 good dispositions are wanting, the form of the duty is bad, 
 though the performer is, nevertheless, not so guilty as he who 
 neglects matter and form both. Now the sinner can pray, 
 he can hear, he can do alms, he can do things materially 
 good, though not formally so. The performance of these du- 
 ties, as a natural man can perform them, is the way in which 
 
god's sovereignty. 243 
 
 God usually confers his grace, for Christ's sake, although 
 they do not merit it ; and such performance leaves him 
 less guilty, than if he did not perform them at all. The 
 one is only an improper compliance, the other an open, 
 affronting denial. If this is not a truth, then you can 
 make no difference, as to guilt, between the most profli- 
 gate, and him who is only outwardly moral. It is as ab- 
 surd, therefore, as it is shocking, that some oppose the 
 use of any means by men in their natural estate, under 
 the notion that they only render themselves more guilty 
 than they would be without them. It is not only contrary 
 to reason, and sides with the cursed suggestions of the 
 wicked heart, but opens a door to all licentiousness. 
 
 Objection. "But will God ever reward duties sinfully 
 performed?" It is not a reward that we look for in the 
 present case ; it is not a reward that we would have sinners 
 expect. They are only to attend upon God in the way in 
 which he ordinarily takes notice of sinners, hoping that 
 sovereign pity will deign to light on them, and confessing 
 that they may with justice be abandoned after all. 
 
 5. Our fifth and last proposition is founded on the rest, 
 viz : the man who carefully attends upon the means of 
 grace, and seeks for the renewing influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, hath all the encouragement which fallen, sinful 
 creatures should dare to ask ; but those who live in the 
 avowed neglect of the gospel have no encouragement at all. 
 
 As for the former, he is encouraged from the gospel 
 scheme. He knows that Christ has died to make it possi- 
 ble for such to come to God. He knows that he hath 
 
244 god's sovereignty. 
 
 purchased the Holy Spirit for that very purpose ; he knows 
 that faith cometh by hearing, and that God ordinarily be- 
 stows his grace by the instrumentality of these means. 
 And is not this a sufficient encouragement to make them 
 attend upon them? 
 
 As to those who live in the avowed neglect of the gos- 
 pel, they have no encouragement to hope for grace at all. 
 
 When they look at the general course of his proceeding, 
 they cannot hope from that. As to the motives and means 
 in the gospel, they withdraw themselves from them. And 
 to hope that God will convert them in an extraordinary 
 and miraculous way, is as absurd as to hope that he will 
 change the course of nature. What if he hath done it 
 in a few instances ? So he hath caused the sun to stand 
 still, but is it to be expected that he will always do so, and 
 especially, that he will make thee a signal instance, when 
 thou, presuming on that, dost make it a foundation to 
 abuse him ? 
 
 But of all, methinks there can be no idea more detestable 
 to our rational nature, than that propagated by some, viz : 
 that the most presumptuous, heaven-daring sinner, is in as 
 fair a way to meet with God's favour, as he who is seeking 
 for grace as a natural man may seek. Nay, say some, he 
 is in a fairer way, for publicans and harlots should enter 
 the kingdom of heaven, sooner than the self-righteous 
 Pharisees. 
 
 Those publicans and harlots, who came to our Lord, and 
 sought for his favour, it is true, were in a more likely way 
 to obtain it, than those self-conceited men, the whited 
 
god's sovereignty. 245 
 
 sepulchres, who denied him, and despised the only Saviour 
 of mankind. But to suppose that publicans and har- 
 lots, in general, have a fairer prospect than the moral 
 seeker, not only contradicts all our notions of God's 
 working on the heart, by the means and motives of the 
 gospel, which cannot be in the case of him who never 
 attends to them ; but it casts a most horrible reflection 
 upon the very nature of God, as if he were inclined most 
 to mercy, where the most abominable guilt is, and therefore 
 the more accursed our crimes, the nearer to heaven. Oh, 
 infernal blasphemy ! Upon this plan — go on, ye profane ! 
 Laugh at heaven, despise the terrors of God, blaspheme 
 the awful name, excel hell itself, and cause the damned to 
 shudder at superior crimes ! The more execrable, the 
 more to be exalted ! And ye infidels, ye atheists of every 
 name, ye who most disbelieve and most contemn the gos- 
 pel, ye have the fairest prospects of salvation by it ! 
 
 It is in vain that you attempt to excuse the blasphemous 
 insinuation, by saying that it gives more glory to the grace 
 of God. Is it giving more glory to his grace to say, that 
 it is readier to alight on a greater transgressor than on a 
 small one ? that the more guilty, the more fit objects for 
 his mercy ? Does this give a lovely idea of the best of 
 beings ? We do not deny that he can, and does make some 
 examples of his grace among the most profligate, to show 
 the happy extent of his gospel : to show that Christ is able 
 to save even them. But to argue from hence, that it is 
 more agreeable to his nature, than to let his mercy fall 
 upon smaller transgressors, is blasphemous and false ; and 
 21* 
 
246 god's sovereignty. 
 
 even to say that he makes as many instances of grace, 
 among the former as among the latter, is also false. The 
 least vicious have no claim to his favour by that, as it is 
 no virtue or real merit in me, that I am not so bad as 
 the devil. Yet to say that the vicious are not farther 
 off from God, and of consequence that their salvation 
 is not more improbable, implies blasphemy. And if the 
 gospel, my beloved brethren, gives you any such notion 
 of God ; if it renders the salvation of the greatest sinner 
 only as probable as that of the least, oh, be terrified ! the 
 gospel encourages the presumptuous sinner, and you ought 
 not to receive it. Reject, then, that impious book, that 
 gives so false an idea of infinite perfection, and serves to 
 poison the already poisoned souls of mankind. But rather 
 blast the wretched pen, which would palm on inspiration, 
 doctrines of which this is the plain consequence ; and thus, 
 under the guise of friendship, betray the cause like Judas ! 
 
 But to sum up the whole. If God ordinarily bestows 
 his grace in the use and by the instrumentality of certain 
 means, and thereby hath rendered our attendance upon 
 those means necessary ; if our attendance upon those means 
 infers no obligation upon God by way of merit, but leaves 
 him still sovereign in his bestowment ; if he who strives 
 hath sufficient encouragement, and he who does not hath 
 none ; what shall we conclude ? What, but that it is rea- 
 sonable and warrantable to urge home the advice of my 
 text upon sinners V Strive to enter the strait gate. 
 
 II. A few objections remain to be answered. 
 
 1. " The essence of true religion," say some, " seems to 
 
god's sovereignty. 247 
 
 consist in an entire willingness to return to God through 
 Christ. Now, it appears absurd to suppose that a man 
 can make himself willing ; for it is to be supposed that we 
 are willing already when we strive." 
 
 We answer, common experience may contradict this, for 
 who knows not, that often our rational judgment and our 
 practical judgment contradict each other ? " What I 
 would, that do I not, and what I would not, that do I," 
 could an apostle say. In my depraved state, I often find 
 myself unwilling to do what my reason dictates. And when 
 I am convinced that the ways of holiness are best in them- 
 selves, and lead to life; when my conscience approves 
 them, and yet I find my heart reluctant, may I not sit down 
 and calmly strive to reason myself into willingness ? Are 
 not the people of God often obliged to do this w T hen they 
 find reluctance within? Why, then, may not the sinner 
 use this means, and many others? And how know you 
 that God will not render them effectual to that end ? So 
 that you see we may be unwilling and yet strive. 
 
 2. Objection. " The apostle gave no such direction to 
 the trembling jailer, who asked w x hat he should do to be 
 saved. We find his reply is only, ' Believe.' " 
 
 The apostle answered according to the question, which 
 proceeded from pagan ignorance of the terms of salvation. 
 And such also should be our answer, when a blind heathen 
 is solicitous what is required of him, as a suspending term 
 of salvation. But if we are asked what is the most pro- 
 bable way to have this faith implanted, the question is 
 different, and we must answer as in our text. 
 
248 god's sovereignty. 
 
 3. " But is not this setting up a new law of works ?" 
 Yes, if we made our doings the procuring cause for which, 
 or the means of our justification. But when we exclude 
 them from having the least share in it, and only admit 
 them as the most probable way to get faith, we are not 
 afraid of this imputation. 
 
 4. But it is objected, in the fourth place, that " sinners 
 are already so prone to depend upon these attempts, to 
 recommend them to God, that it is dangerous to direct 
 them." And if they are prone to turn good into evil, 
 shall we not therefore insist upon their duty ? All that 
 can follow from this argument is, that we should be 
 extremely careful to show them, that no dependence is to 
 be placed upon anything but Christ for justification. 
 
 5. " Who then maketh us to differ ? If the first step 
 towards this is our own, may we not claim a share in the 
 event?" No more than the lifeless, impotent tool of the 
 carver can claim a share in the excellency of a fine per- 
 formance in carving. If the preacher can claim no share 
 in the conversion of that soul, which, without the energy 
 of the Divine Spirit, had remained in the chains of sin, 
 sure the hearer must be silent. Suppose I laboured under 
 a dangerous disease, and by the order of my physician, it 
 became necessary that I should wait upon him in a 
 certain place ; suppose me in effect cured by his prescrip- 
 tions, should not I be laughed at, if I assumed to myself 
 any praise of the cure, because I had complied with that 
 order ? Hearer, apply it. 
 
 6. As to those objections brought against us by a cer- 
 
god's sovereignty. 249 
 
 tain sophistical and splenetic pen, (with which popularity 
 seems to be the greatest crime,) drawn from the popularity 
 of this doctrine, they are insufficient and false. 
 
 Insufficient, inasmuch as although we confess that many 
 of the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel are disgusting 
 to the carnal mind, yet we cannot thence infer, that every 
 doctrine which is not so is not a Christian doctrine. For 
 many of the doctrines of Christianity are so self evident 
 and really pleasing to the rational mind, that they do not 
 disgust even the wicked ; and the case hath been known 
 when even a pagan emperor desired of an august assembly 
 that the man Jesus should be enrolled among their gods, 
 on account of some of his doctrines. But the objection to 
 our plan is 
 
 2. False. It is far from pleasing the carnal taste. The 
 carnal mind ever hates the divine sovereignty, and we 
 represent the deity, first, sovereign in designing to bestow 
 grace at all ; secondly, sovereign in his conditions ; third- 
 ly, sovereign in his choice of the way or manner in which 
 sinners must attend ; and at last he is sovereign in bestow- 
 ing or not bestowing at all, even after we strive to obtain it. 
 And this idea of the divine sovereignty is, at least, as morti- 
 fying to the carnal mind, as that opinion of our opponents, 
 who represent the most base of mankind as near to heaven 
 as the moral seeker after divine grace. Let none of us, 
 therefore, my brethren, give into that specious trap, and 
 suppose, that, because the promulgator of such pernicious 
 doctrines meets with deserved contempt, they, therefore, 
 must be genuine Christianity. 
 
250 god's sovereignty. 
 
 Our discourse concludes with a few remarks upon the 
 pernicious tendency of the doctrine we oppose, and with 
 a short application to such as our text is addressed to in 
 particular. 
 
 1. The doctrine we oppose, in the first place, tends to 
 give an unlovely idea of the nature of God, as being equally 
 inclined to have mercy upon the most abhorred, as upon 
 the least so. And here, be not afraid that it can be 
 replied, that we represent the sovereign majesty as actuated 
 by a view of real merit in the least vicious, which is not in 
 him which is more so. We have already observed, and it 
 is evident to common sense, that the not being so wicked 
 is no positive claim to peculiar favours. An absence of 
 guilt can only procure an absence of punishment, but not 
 positive blessings. 
 
 2. The contrary doctrine represents all the means 
 which are used with sinners, under the gospel, as useless ; 
 and thus all those calls, those motives, those tender argu- 
 ments addressed to sinners — arguments in which all the 
 bowels of heaven seem to sound — are to be esteemed as 
 useless lumber. For unless they are to be attended to, of 
 what use are they ? If they are necessary and useful, 
 must it not be the duty of sinners to attend to them ? And 
 if so, what is the guilt of those who would prevail with 
 sinners to contemn their duty, and to omit, alas ! what 
 they are too much inclined to omit already. 
 
 3. But, what is most shocking, they who would dis- 
 courage the strivings of the unconverted, only join with 
 the reluctant wicked heart, and join with the enemy of 
 
god's sovereignty. 251 
 
 God and man, to encourage a continuance in sin. It is 
 well known that the carnal heart is only to be worked upon 
 by motives of profit and fear, that are present. If, there- 
 fore, their present prospects, as to the favour of God, are 
 wholly the same, whether they serve their abandoned lusts 
 to the utmost or not ; whether they seek for divine mercy 
 in the abstinence from gross sins, or wholly give them- 
 selves up to wickedness ; then what single motive have we 
 to restrain them ? It is vain to tell them that they will be 
 more miserable hereafter — hereafter never affects them as 
 the present. They are void of that faith, which is the 
 evidence of things not seen ; and unless they have the 
 prospect of some present advantage, they will not abstain. 
 "We can but be damned," say they ; " then let us fill up 
 our measure, since it is as probable that in this way we 
 shall meet with favour as in any other.' ' This is the con- 
 clusion the wicked are apt to draw, in spite of all our en- 
 deavours to the contrary ; this is the excuse they plead, 
 and methinks there is little need to confirm it. We dare 
 appeal to every wicked heart here present, and it must 
 confess, that it frequently brings our opponents' doctrine 
 as a plea for its licentiousness ; and we now call to wit- 
 ness the effects, the sad and horrible effects, which have 
 followed wherever the fatal doctrine hath been preached. 
 Only let it be proclaimed from this desk, that the most 
 vicious are in as likely a way to obtain divine grace, as he 
 who is seeking it in a moral life, and you will directly hear 
 it in the mouth of every impious debauchee, as a justifying 
 argument. The secure sinner makes it a reason for his 
 
252 god's sovereignty, 
 
 carelessness, and contempt of every ordinance. The 
 duties of the family and the closet are neglected; and 
 those who have been baptized, lead the life of pagans. 
 Well did you collect your household churches, ye faithful 
 servants of the Most High ! Well did you warn your sons 
 and daughters to turn a deaf ear to the preacher, and to 
 avoid the fatal rock. * 
 
 my beloved brethren ! it is painful to see the con- 
 sequences which have followed, and which must follow, in 
 places where the infernal scheme hath been broached. 
 Let me conclude by earnestly entreating the secure and 
 careless, that they will not suifer themselves to be deceived, 
 either by the suggestions of a wicked heart, by the enemy 
 of God and man, or even by this — what shall I name it ? 
 — infernal machination. Ye who are in the broad road to 
 destruction, who are unwilling to struggle in the narrow 
 paths of virtue and life, oh, reflect, where do those gay 
 and sprightly ways conduct you ? Doth not eternal death 
 hold his domain before you? Why, for a few moments' 
 guilty pleasure, would you abandon yourself to eternal 
 pains ? The gay mob, it is true, is with you ; but why 
 should that encourage you ? Oh, learn to look upon them 
 only as oxen, who, though trimmed with garlands, and 
 playing down an easy passage, are devoted to slaughter. 
 
 The Saviour of mankind hath opened a safe retreat from 
 death. The Saviour of mankind, out of disinterested com- 
 
 * We have understood, that some worthy persons have found themselves 
 obliged, upon hearing such doctrines, to call their families together and 
 warn them against it. 
 
god's sovereignty. 253 
 
 passion, invites you to "strive to enter the strait gate." 
 Your souls, your eternity join in the important demand; 
 and all that should influence a rational being urges home 
 the proposal. In this, it is true, you will be opposed by 
 the world, with all its scorn and malice, the flesh with all 
 its corrupt inclinations, and by the devil with every art his 
 long practised cunning can invent ; and, therefore, stri- 
 ving, struggling, nay, agonizing will be necessary. That 
 careless, indolent life will never do. But remember, a 
 whole immortality— the love of Jehovah himself is the 
 prize. 
 
 And let it not discourage you, that God, and God alone, 
 must be the great efficient. Were it to be performed by 
 a man, or even by an angel, you would have some room 
 for discouragement; but infinite benevolence, the eternal 
 fountain of goodness and grace, is He to whom your suit is 
 directed. 
 
 Let me, therefore, conclude with the apostle's exhorta- 
 tion to this purpose, " Work out your salvation with fear 
 and trembling." For why ? " Knowing that it is God who 
 worketh in us to will and to do," and that it is of his own 
 " good pleasure." Amen. 
 
 22 
 
JOHN TENNENT. 
 
 The Rev. John Tennent, the third son of the Rev. William Ten- 
 nent, Sen., was born in the County of Armagh, in Ireland, the 12th 
 of Nov., 1707. The whole of his education he obtained under the 
 paternal roof and in the Log College. 
 
 We have a most interesting narrative of his conversion, from the 
 pen of his brother Gilbert, showing the fearful nature of his convic- 
 tions of sin, danger, and misery ; from which, after an agony almost 
 uninterrupted for four days and nights, he was signally relieved 
 and filled with joy and praise. 
 
 When he had finished his preparatory studies in the Log College, 
 he presented himself to the Presbytery of Philadelphia ; and after 
 passing with credit the usual trials, he was licensed to preach the 
 gospel. Soon after his licensure, he visited the congregation of 
 Freehold, in the County of Monmouth, New Jersey, which was now 
 without a pastor. Being a young man of uncommon modesty and 
 humility, he was very reluctant to go, and even after he had con- 
 sented to visit them, he regretted the engagement very much ; for 
 it seemed to him that they were a people whom God had given up 
 for the abuse of the gospel. But though he went under this cloud 
 of discouragement, his first labours among this people were remark- 
 ably blessed. On his first visit, he preached four or five Sabbaths, 
 and found among the people a serious disposition to attend 
 to the concerns of their souls, and to search the scriptures, to 
 see whether the things they heard from the pulpit were so. And 
 he was assisted to preach with so much freedom, that he told his 
 ( 254 ) - 
 
JOHN TENNENT. 255 
 
 brother William, that he was fully persuaded that Christ Jesus had 
 a large harvest to bring home there ; and though they were a poor 
 broken people, yet, if they called him, he would go to them though 
 he should be under the necessity of begging his bread. On the 15th 
 of April, 1730, they assembled and gave him a unanimous call, 
 which he accepted, and was ordained Nov. 19th, of the same year. 
 
 His labours in this congregation, according to his brother Gilbert, 
 were attended with three notable qualities : prudence, diligence, and 
 success. Though the time was short which he was permitted to re- 
 main among them, yet his labours were abundant. His race was swift 
 and vehement, and his heart was so fixed on the work of God, that 
 he could not be persuaded to desist from his public labours, even 
 when his body was emaciated and debilitated by a consumptive dis- 
 ease ; and when, in the judgment of physicians, it was prejudicial 
 to his broken constitution. As his death drew near, his love for his 
 people and concern for their welfare increased, and he would often 
 express himself in such language as the following : " I am grieved for 
 my people, for I fear they will be left to wander as sheep without a 
 shepherd, or get one that will pull down what I have poorly endea- 
 voured to build up." His brother who watched with him in his 
 sickness, has frequently overheard him in the deep silence of the 
 night wrestling with God by prayer, with sobs and tears, for his peo- 
 ple. 
 
 His last words were like those of some of the old martyrs. A few 
 minutes before he expired, holding his brother William by the hand, 
 he broke out into the following rapturous expressions : "Farewell, 
 my brethren, farewell, father and mother ; farewell, world with all 
 thy vain delights. Welcome, God and Father — welcome, sweet 
 Lord Jesus — welcome, death — welcome, eternity. Amen." Then 
 with a loud voice he said, " Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus." And so 
 he fell asleep in Christ. His death occurred on the 23d of April, 
 1732, in the twenty-fifth year of his age. 
 
KEGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 A SERMON BY THE REV. JOHN TENNENT. 
 
 " Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Ex- 
 cept a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John, 
 iii. 3. 
 
 These words are part of a remarkable dialogue between 
 Christ and Nicodemus, in which Nicodemus's fear, igno- 
 rance, and willingness to be taught are principally bewrayed. 
 He was one of the Pharisees, as we are informed from the 
 first verse of this chapter, who in general were stated 
 enemies against Christ and his gospel. These Pharisees 
 were proud separatists, who, upon the opinion of their own 
 righteousness, despised all others. 
 
 As to his station, he was a ruler, as the word archon 
 signifies. This man, being in a high and eminent station, 
 through fear of incurring the anger or displeasure of the 
 Jewish Sanhedrim by openly professing Christ, came to 
 him by night, verse 2. Thus we see what clogs, hindran- 
 ces, and impediments, honour, grandeur, and greatness are 
 in the way of the profession and practice of truth and 
 holiness ; yet it is evident from the words of Nicodemus 
 in the second verse, notwithstanding his fears to acknow- 
 (256) 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 257 
 
 ledge openly the truth of Christ's mission from the Father, 
 that he had a well grounded persuasion of it from the 
 miracles the blessed Jesus had wrought. " Rabbi, we 
 know that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man 
 can do those miracles that thou doest, except God be with 
 him." But certainly, it is of vast consequence and impor- 
 tance, that the gross ignorance and strange stupidity of 
 this learned man, a teacher in Israel, concerning the vital 
 part of piety, are so perspicuously detected in our text and 
 context. "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily." — 
 In the words are three things remarkable, I. A proposition. 
 II. An asseveration. III. The implicit occasion of them 
 both. 
 
 I. The proposition in these words, " Except a man be 
 born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." In it 
 there are two things, 1. The subject, a man. 2. The 
 predicate, or that which is spoken concerning the subject, 
 "be born again." 
 
 1. As to the subject, a man. This indefinite expression 
 (the matter so requiring as the present case is) is equipollent, 
 or equivalent to a universal. It is as much as if he had 
 said, every one, of whatsoever order, or character, or age, 
 or nation, great or small, rich or poor, noble or ignoble, 
 learned or unlearned, young or old, Jew or Gentile, bond 
 or free, male or female, must be born again, or they can- 
 not see the kingdom of God. Gal. vi. 15. Heb. xii. 14. 
 1 Pet. i. 23. 2 John i. 13. John iii. T. 1 John ii. 29. 
 iii. 9. v. 4. 
 
 2. The predicate, which being complex, treats of two 
 
 22* 
 
258 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 things, viz : 1. Of happiness under that term the " king- 
 dom of God." 2. The qualification universally necessary 
 to obtain it, which is "being born again;" ean me tis 
 gennethe anothen. The Greek word anothen is generally 
 rendered superne, from above, but the tenor of our con- 
 text, especially Nicodemus's answer to Christ, " How can 
 a man enter the second time ?" (ver. 4.) sufficiently proves 
 that it signifies as much here as deuteron, or again, ouk 
 dunatai idein ten basileian tou Theou ; " he cannot see the 
 kingdom of God." By seeing here, I understand possessing, 
 according to that phrase of the Romans, Hereditatem cer- 
 nere. A proof of this we have in our Lord's sermon on 
 the Mount, (Matt. v. 8,) " Blessed are the pure in heart : 
 for they shall see God," i. e., they shall see him to their 
 comfort, see him so as to enjoy him, see him as a Friend 
 and Father, and possess him as a satisfying portion. 
 " Cannot — " an unregenerate man is under a threefold impo- 
 tency in regard of the enjoyment of God's kingdom. 
 
 1. Natural. He must take this kingdom by main force, 
 out of the hands of a just and infinite God, if he gets it 
 at all, while he remains in this state. Now what power 
 has a guilty worm to do this, whose foundation is in the 
 dust, and who is crushed before the moth? Job iv. 19. 
 
 2. Moral. He is a subject utterly unqualified for the 
 pure pleasures that kingdom aifords, being universally 
 corrupt, and subject to the government of sin and sense. 
 
 3. Judicial. He is disseized of, and separated from, this 
 inheritance, by the sentence of Christ, the judge of quick 
 and dead ; which no power in heaven or earth can reverse ; 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 259 
 
 for he that liveth and was dead, carries the keys of hell 
 and death at his girdle. Rev. i. 18. 
 
 An unregenerate person, as such, neither can, nor shall 
 see the kingdom of heaven, so as to inherit it, if there be 
 power enough in God and Christ to keep him out ; for 
 this Christ gives his word in pawn, which he will surely 
 accomplish. Now there is a three-fold kingdom made 
 mention of in the holy scriptures. 
 
 1. A kingdom of God's providence, established upon 
 the basis of God's uncontrollable power, and unsearchable 
 wisdom. 1 Chron. xxix. 11. Jacob's God has the reins of 
 government on his shoulders, he wields the eternal sceptre, 
 and sits at the sacred helm. 
 
 2. The kingdom of God's grace in the church ; built 
 upon Christ, the golden foundation, the chief corner stone ; 
 this kingdom is given to the Branch by God the Father, as 
 the inspired evangelist testifies. Luke i. 32. 
 
 3. A kingdom of glory and blessedness : " Come ye 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you." Matt. xxv. 34. This last mentioned I take to be the 
 kingdom designed by Jesus in the text, viz : that triumphant 
 choir in which the saints and angels sing eternal hallelujahs 
 to the everlasting King. Heaven is called a kingdom, 
 because in it God rules his sons and subjects. God's king- 
 dom is where he reigns : now he reigns in righteousness. 
 
 < " Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever ! a sceptre of 
 righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." Heb. i. 8. 
 II. The asseveration, Verily, verily. This asseveration 
 is a conspicuous confirmation of the truth of the proposi- 
 
260 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 tion, tending clearly to manifest tlie great momentousness 
 and importance of it. There are two things in the 
 asseveration which serve to establish inviolably the veracity 
 or truth of the proposition, viz : 1. The repetition of the 
 particle " amen." 2. The dignity of the speaker. The word 
 " amen," rendered " verily" in the text, is twofold, either 
 prefixed or affixed ; when it is prefixed, or put before a pro- 
 position, it is the note of a certain and earnest affirmation, 
 as in the words of our text, Verily, verily. When it is affixed? 
 or subsequent to a proposition, it notes two things : either 1. 
 The assent of the mind, will, affections, as at the con- 
 clusion of the creed and the Lord's prayer. Or 2. An 
 asseveration, or certain affirmation, as the word amen, at 
 the end of the Lord's prayer, signifies not only our assent 
 to, but assurance of, the reality and certainty of the things 
 therein contained. Now the repetition of this particle in 
 our text, like the redoubling of Pharaoh's dream, (Gen. 
 xli. 32,) shows us at once the undeniable certainty and 
 great weight of the thing spoken of. 
 
 2. The dignity of the speaker : who is it that speaks 
 thus ? The blessed and holy Jesus, as our text informs 
 us; which name some derive from iemi, a word that 
 signifies to send, because the Lord Jesus is the bright 
 angel, the faithful messenger of the everlasting covenant, 
 Mai. iii. 1. Heb. iii. 2. Others, from iao, a word 
 that signifies to heal, because the Lord Jesus was the true 
 physician. Matt. ix. 12, Mark ii. 17. Basil and Cyril 
 among the ancients are of this opinion. 
 
 But the angel explains the true derivation of it. " And 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 261 
 
 thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people 
 from their sins. ,, Matt. i. 21. And that not only typically, 
 as Moses and Joshua, and others, but really and truly. 
 Nor 2. only temporally, as those before mentioned, just 
 from bodily miseries, but from spiritual and eternal, from sin 
 and death. Heb. ii. 14. 1 Cor. xv. 55 — 57. 1 John iii. 8. 3. 
 Neither did he only free his people from misery, as Moses 
 did Israel out of Egypt ; no, but as his type Joshua led 
 Israel into Canaan, so does the blessed Jesus, the anti-type, 
 introduce his people into a state of endless, uninterrupted, 
 and unspeakably ravishing delight, in the imperial para- 
 dise, of which the earthly Canaan was but a dark figure. 
 Now, I say the dignity of the person speaking in our text, 
 gives great weight and confirmation to the truth spoken. 
 Will he, who is truth itself, lie ? Will he, who is the great 
 prophet of his people, co-equal and co-eternal with his 
 Father, the brightness of his glory, the express image of 
 his person, (Heb. xiii. 4, 8,) deceive us ? I say unto you : 
 I, who am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : the 
 King of kings, and Lord of lords, and Prince of the kings 
 of the earth. 
 
 As to the third particular, the ground or occasion of the 
 words of our text, implied in that phrase, " Jesus answered :" 
 it is difficult to find out what were the words Nicodemus 
 spake, to which Jesus gave answer ; there is a diversity of 
 opinions about it. Some think that Christ's words are a 
 direct answer to those words of Nicodemus mentioned in 
 the second verse, as if Christ had said, Thou lookest upon 
 me as a prophet only, thou canst do no otherwise unless 
 
262 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 thou wert regenerated. Others think, and that more proba- 
 bly, that from the good opinion Nicodemus had of Christ, 
 he asked the way to salvation, and that our text is an 
 answer to that question. 
 
 From the words thus briefly explained, there arise these 
 two doctrinal observations, the one implied, and the other 
 expressed. 
 
 Observation I. That man from his very birth is 
 depraved. 
 
 Observation II. That regeneration is absolutely neces- 
 sary in order to obtain eternal salvation. 
 
 As to the first of these which is this, That man from his 
 very birth is depraved. 
 
 The method I design to follow in prosecuting this doc- 
 trine is 
 
 1. To prove the truth of it. 
 
 2. Explain the nature of it. 
 
 3. To improve it. And 
 
 1. I am to consider the truth of the doctrine. This is 
 plain from the text, for if the first birth was not vitiated, 
 what need would there be of a second ? The royal prophet 
 Isaiah upbraids Israel with this, " And was called a trans- 
 gressor from the womb." Isa. xlviii. 8. The psalmist 
 gives testimony to the same truth, (Psa. li. 5,) "I was 
 shapen in sin," not only corrupted with sin as soon as born, 
 but before, even in our formation. Job confirms this in 
 the fourteenth chapter of his book, verse 4, "Who can 
 bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." Yea, 
 the blessed Jesus makes this the ground of the necessity 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 263 
 
 of a change in the seventh verse of our context, " That 
 which is born of the flesh is flesh :" as if Christ should say, 
 You need not wonder, Nicodemus, at my inculcation of the 
 necessity of this inward change or new birth ; because men 
 are corrupted from their first birth. This original deprav- 
 ity is conveyed to all the sons of Adam by generation, 
 unless prevented by a miracle, as in Christ. The sickness 
 and death of infants are a plain and unanswerable proof 
 of this ; "For the wages of sin is death." Rom. vi. 23. 
 Also the baptismal laver shows this hereditary contagion 
 and infection. But 
 
 2. I am to explain the nature of this depravity, which 
 consists chiefly in these three things, viz : 
 
 1. In a privation of good. 
 
 2. In an antipathy to God. 
 
 3. In a propensity to evil. 
 
 1. Then, in every unregenerate soul there is a privation 
 of all good. There is no spark or signature of that pris- 
 tine, beautiful image engraven at first on the soul by God ; 
 no relics of man's primitive righteousness, neither in habit 
 or in act, in inclination or motion, that is spiritually good ; 
 " In my flesh," L e., in my nature considered as corrupted, 
 "there dwells no good thing." Rom. vii. 18. The soul 
 is deprived of its ancient ornaments and furniture ; it is 
 left poor without spiritual riches, blind without saving 
 knowledge, naked without spiritual raiment. Rev. iii. 17. 
 And 
 
 2. There is an antipathy to God, his ways, his people, 
 his image. " The carnal mind is enmity to God." Rom. 
 
264 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 viii. 7. This is evident from the speech and practice of 
 wicked people, their embittered jeers, and satirical invec- 
 tives against God's people. A Cain hated an Abel, and 
 an Ishmael an Isaac, and an Esau a Jacob, and that 
 because of their goodness. 1 John iii. 12. Now, this 
 hellish spite is to be found in all natural, unregenerate 
 people, till removed by the supernatural change, of which 
 I design to speak afterwards. I now proceed to the 
 
 3d Particular contained in this depravity, which is the 
 propensity that is in all unconverted people to every evil. 
 " Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child.' ' Prov. xxii. 
 15. Indeed, there is not an equal propensity in all, to 
 every sin ; no, for some by reason of their natural tempera- 
 ment, manner of education, or custom, are inclined to one 
 sin more than some others ; yet all men by nature are 
 virtually disposed to every sin ; for we are prone to evil, 
 as the sparks fly upward. Job v. 7. Every sin is formed 
 in our nature ; they want only time, opportunity, tempta- 
 tion, and the removal of restraining grace, to bring them 
 forth into action. 
 
 Use. Hence we are informed 1, of man's miserable and 
 deplorable state by nature, which affords us sufficient 
 matter for the deepest humiliation, and most doleful lamen- 
 tation. It is on this account that we are rendered obnoxious 
 to the vindictive justice of a terrible and holy God. Eph. 
 ii. 3. This is it, that makes our lives so corrupted, and all 
 our religious services so defective and depraved. 
 
 2. This informs us of the absolute necessity of a uni- 
 versal change, of heart as well as practice, in order to ob- 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 265 
 
 tain fellowship and communion with a holy sin-hating God 
 here, (1 John i. 6,) or the more full enjoyment of him in the 
 life to come. How can there be a sweet communion, and 
 full enjoyment, without love ? And how can there be love 
 without likeness ? And pray what likeness or resemblance 
 is there between an infinitely pure God, and an unconverted 
 sinner, who is a very mass of pollution and defilement ? 
 How can that God who is glorious in holiness, fix his com- 
 placential love upon that which is the object of his eternal 
 abhorrence ? And how can an unrenewed sinner, who is 
 filled with enmity against God, (Rom. viii. 7,) fix his 
 highest love upon one he hates with an implacable hatred? 
 All which considered, complexly shows us the absolute ne- 
 cessity of a universal change ; which naturally leads me to 
 the second observation, which is, 
 
 That regeneration is absolutely necessary in order to 
 obtain eternal salvation. 
 
 This is evident from the words of our text, Except a 
 man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
 Also from Gal. vi. 15 ; " For in Christ Jesus neither 
 circumcision nor uncircumcision avails any thing, but a 
 new creature. Therefore if any man be in Christ Jesus, 
 he is a new creature ; old things are passed away, and all 
 things are become new." " Without holiness, no man shall 
 see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14. "And there shall in no 
 wise enter into it, any thing that defileth, neither what- 
 soever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which 
 are written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev. xxi. 27. 
 23 
 
266 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 In prosecuting this doctrine, I shall endeavour to observe 
 the following method. 
 
 I. Show negatively what regeneration is not. 
 
 II. Positively show what it is 
 
 III. Propose those reasons that urge the necessity of it. 
 
 IV. Improve it. 
 
 As to the first proposed, which was to show what rege- 
 neration is not. And, 
 
 1. It is not what Nicodemus grossly conceived, a re-entry 
 into the womb of our mother. It is surprising that a man 
 of so polite literature as we have reason to believe Nico- 
 demus was : a master, a teacher in Israel ; acquainted with 
 the law and word of God, where doubtless he had read 
 frequently such passages as those, (Ezek. xxxvi. 26,) 
 should have such gross conceptions of this work of God ; 
 but hereby are these sayings of God verified, (1 Cor. i. 21, 
 & ii. 14,) " For in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom 
 knew not God ; but 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 spirit- 
 ually discerned/ ' Such is the inherent hereditary contagion 
 of our apostatized nature, that were we born a thousand 
 times in a natural way, it would not remedy that malady. 
 This the blessed and holy Jesus plainly and clearly con- 
 firms in the sixth verse of our context, That which is born 
 of the flesh, is flesh, L £., it is corrupted and contaminated. 
 
 Hence it appears to be a prodigy of incomparable folly 
 for any to boast of, and glory in, the grandeur of their 
 descent and lineage, seeing that whatsoever is born of the 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 267 
 
 flesh is flesh, and without outward cultivation, and inward 
 renovation, must be the subjects of indelible misery. 
 Neither 
 
 2. Is regeneration a change of the essence, or being of the 
 soul {lisec semper eadem physice manet): the soul is not 
 made new as to its being or substance {aut quoad esse 
 physician,) other ways a new soul must be infused, which 
 we read not of ; but as to its qualities (aut quoad esse 
 morale), new qualities or principles of action are infused 
 into the soul by God, by which it is inclined and swayed 
 after another manner, and to another scope, than formerly. 
 Some do talk strangely of this affair, that the substance 
 of the soul is changed. It is true, the scripture calls this 
 gracious change a participation of the divine nature. 2 
 Pet. i. 4. But this is only to show 1. the reality and 
 fixedness of this work of grace, that it is no notion or fancy, 
 but a solid reality ; 2. the resemblance it bears to the 
 divine perfections. Such persons are renewed after God's 
 image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness ; they have 
 a divine temper and disposition of soul ; the principal bias 
 of their hearts is towards God and his service. But 
 though they are thus born after God, and of God, yet they 
 are not thereby made God. That which is by way of sub- 
 stance or essence in him, is only by way of accident in us. 
 Neither 
 
 3. Doth it consist in an outward profession of Christ 
 or his ways. The foolish virgins had large lamps, but no 
 oil. Matt. xxv. A man may be reformed from Paganism 
 or Popery to the profession of true Christianity, and yet 
 be a stranger to this work of God. Nor 
 
268 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 4. In the enjoyment of outward privileges, such as bap- 
 tism, the Lord's Supper, and others of the like nature. 
 The Jews of old depended upon these outward privileges 
 and prerogatives. Jer. vii. 4. Rom. x. 3. And so do many 
 of the gospelized world now; but the divinely inspired 
 Jeremiah pungently inculcates the invalidity of outward 
 ordinances, without the thing signified by them, to obtain 
 bliss and glory ; therefore, he puts the circumcised Jews, 
 who were uncircumcised in heart, in a parallel case with 
 Edom, Ammon, and Moab, heathenish nations. Jer. ix. 25. 
 Yea, Christ himself had a controversy with the Jews upon 
 the same account ; he endeavoured to destroy their fond 
 hopes of heaven, grounded upon their outward privileges, 
 and for his plain dealing he received abusive treatment. 
 John viii. The apostle Paul very plainly showeth the in- 
 sufficiency of these things without an inward renovation. 
 Gal. vi. 15. Neither 
 
 5. Doth it consist in an external conformity to the law 
 of God : for this is something inward, the workmanship of 
 God in the heart. A man may pray, read, hear outwardly, 
 keep the Sabbath, be faithful to his word, and just in his 
 dealings, and yet be a stranger to this work of God in the 
 soul : for such were some of the Pharisees of old. Phil. iii. 
 6. Mark x. 20. And yet our ascended Lord and Saviour 
 positively avers, that unless our righteousness exceed the 
 righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, we shall in no 
 wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt. v. 20. Nor 
 
 6. In a restraint of the old man. God restrains many 
 whom he never renews. So he did Abimelech, a heathen. 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 269 
 
 Gen. xx. 6. One that is not renewed may avoid gross 
 sins, through fear, shame, or the absence of opportunities 
 and temptations, or through the influence of nature's light, 
 the precepts of morality, the doctrines of the gospel, and 
 the civil laws of the land. The apostle Peter speaks of 
 some that had escaped the pollutions of the world through 
 the knowledge of the Lord Christ, and yet were again 
 entangled in them. 2 Pet. ii. 20 — 22. Restraining grace 
 keeps only from the outward acts of sin, through slavish 
 fear, or some selfish motives ; but saving grace subdues sin 
 at the root, and raises an irreconcilable hatred in the 
 soul against it. 2 Cor. vii. 11. Nor 
 
 7. In common gifts or motions of the Holy Spirit, which 
 are without distinction conferred on both the elect and repro- 
 bate. It is not a gift of prayer, tongues, utterance, or a 
 faculty of unfolding scripture difficulties. Judas had all 
 or most of these, yet was he not born again, but a son of 
 perdition. John xvii. 12. "It is not with men as with 
 trees," as one observes, "for every bud, blossom, or leaf, 
 argues some life in the tree ; but every ability to preach 
 or to pray, does not prove this supernatural life in us." 
 Neither does it consist in the common motions of the Holy 
 Spirit, such as some sight of sin, some grief for it, and 
 wishes after amendment. Personal afflictions, a prospect 
 of eternity in sickness, or other such alarming occurrences 
 may cause such like workings. Herod delighted to hear 
 John the Baptist. Mark vi. 20. Felix trembled when 
 he heard Paul preach. Acts xxiv. 25. And Agrippa was 
 almost persuaded ; en oligo y which compared with Paul's 
 23* 
 
270 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 answer, ver. 29, Acts xxvi. 28, may be justly rendered 
 " all to a little." And even wicked Balaam could wish 
 for a happy death, though he did not so well relish a holy 
 life. "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let 
 my last end be like his." Num. xxiii. 10. 2 Pet. ii. 15. 
 Nor 
 
 8. Does regeneration consist in a partial change of the 
 soul, or of some of its faculties only ; but it is a total change 
 of the soul in all its powers. There may be strange 
 changes in some of the faculties, and yet no true conver- 
 sion to God; as particularly, 1. There may be great 
 light and knowledge of divine truths, with an assent to, 
 and persuasion of, their veracity, in the mind. "And 
 though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all 
 mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though I have all faith, 
 so that I could remove mountains, and have no charity 
 (or love, for so the word agape signifies), I am nothing. " 
 1 Cor. xiii. 2. Also, "For it is impossible for those who 
 were once enlightened," Heb. vi. 4. Rom. ii. 17, 18. Here 
 we see the understanding, the directive power, may be so 
 illuminated by the Spirit of God, as to perceive divine 
 truths with a more clear and affecting view than before, 
 without a saving change. Also the will, which is a 
 cardinal faculty of man's soul, may be much bowed, 
 and almost persuaded in some of the unregenerate. 
 Acts xxvi. 28. Again, the conscience, another power, 
 or as some say, a reflex act of the mind, may be 
 much awakened by the terror of God upon the account 
 of sin. Gen. iv. 13, 14. Acts xxiv. 25. Also the 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 271 
 
 passions may be in some measure changed in the unrege- 
 nerate : they may have great sorrow for sin. 1 Kings xxi. 
 27. Matt, xxvii. 4, 5 ; joy and delight from divine objects ; 
 Heb. vi. 4 ; Matt. xiii. 20 ; and in attendance upon 
 divine ordinances ; John v. 35. Isa. lviii. 2 ; desires after 
 Christ ; Mai. iii. 2. John vi. 34 ; after grace ; Matt. xxv. 
 8 ; after heaven. ; Num. xxiii. 10 ; some hatred against 
 sin ; Rom. ii. 22. 2 Kings x. 26 — 28 ; some purposes to 
 forsake it ; Num. xxii. 17, 18 ; some love to God ; Jer. 
 ii. 2. Deut. ix. 6, 24 ; compared with Christ ; Matt. x. 37 ; 
 to the people of God in general ; this, the parable of the 
 wise and foolish virgins proves ; Matt, xxv ; for it is pro- 
 bable that the foolish would not have associated and dwelt 
 with the wise so as they did, unless they had loved them ; 
 Gal. iv. 7 ; to faithful, soul-searching ministers in par- 
 ticular; Mark vi. 20; some fear of God; James ii. 19; 
 Jonah i. 10, 16 ; some zeal for God ; 2 Kings x. 6. Phil. 
 3, 6. Rom. x. 2 ; some faith in God ; Acts viii. 13. Job 
 ii. 23, 24 ; some dependence and reliance upon God ; 
 Mic. iii. 11. 2 Chron. xiii. 5 — 13 & 18, compared with 
 Deut. ix. 6, 24 & 1 Kings xv. 3 ; some confident persua- 
 sion of their interest in his special favour and friendship ; 
 Matt. xxv. 7, 11. Job viii. 33. 2 Chron. xiii. 10. Num. 
 xxii. 18. All these things I have mentioned under this 
 head, people may have, and yet want regenerating grace, 
 and so be damned at last. But I proceed to consider the 
 2d thing proposed, which was to show positively what 
 regeneration is. And 
 
 I. More generally, it may be said to be a restoration of 
 
272 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 God's defaced image in man, to some degree of its primi- 
 tive beauty and lustre. Our first parents were made after 
 God's image, in knowledge, righteousness and true holi- 
 ness, with dominion over the creatures. Ecc. vii. 29. Gen. 
 i. 27. Psa. viii. 5. This image of God consisted in a uni- 
 versal rectitude of the whole soul, with all its faculties, 
 powers and affections ; the understanding being the guide 
 and governor of the soul's faculties, had clear perceptions 
 of the mind and will of God; the will was subject to the 
 understanding's directions, having an inherent inclination 
 to will that which the mind by its native light showed to 
 be good. The whole train of passions freely followed the 
 guidance of these superior powers, without the least reluc- 
 tance. Thus there was a universal harmony at first among 
 all the soul's faculties established by the God of order, but 
 sin has introduced a confusion and chaos among these 
 faculties, it has darkened the understanding, rendered the 
 will obstinate, and misplaced the affections upon diametri- 
 cally opposite objects, hardened the heart, stupefied the 
 conscience. Now the blind will, which was before a sub- 
 ject, usurps the empire, and hurries the other powers to a 
 compliance with its inordinate dictates. Now regeneration 
 is a renewing that gracious image of God in us, which we 
 have lost ; for by it, the blind understanding is in some 
 measure enlightened ; Acts xxvi. 18 ; the stony heart 
 mollified ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; the disordered affections rec- 
 tified and fixed upon the most suitable and noble objects, 
 God himself as their chief good and last end. 
 But more particularly, 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 273 
 
 A law work generally precedes this change ; hence the 
 law is said to be a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ ; Gal. 
 iii. 24 ; which I apprehend is wrought in the following 
 manner. 
 
 1. There is a discovery of sin, which the Lord effects by 
 the law and by the Spirit. "I had not known sin, but by the 
 law." Rom. vii. 7. Before this, Christless sinners are secure, 
 like Peter sleeping in his chains. Acts xii. 6. The Spirit 
 of God concurs with the law. This is one of his first works 
 with unconverted sinners ; as is evident from Job xvi. 8. 
 Before he convinces them of righteousness, he convinces 
 them of sin ; their eyes are opened. Acts xxvi. 18. Now 
 they see sin in its loathsome nature, deplorable circum- 
 stances, and dreadful consequences ; they begin to see the 
 holiness of God, the spiritual latitude of his law, and their 
 own corrupt nature ; then are they apt to cry out, Who 
 can stand before this great and dreadful God ? Now, 
 though this discovery of sin begins at a particular evil, a3 
 with the Jews, (Acts ii. 37,) yet it proceeds to more ; as 
 Ezekiel was led to divers parts of the temple to see greater 
 and greater abominations. Ezek. viii. 6 — 13. 
 
 2. There is an application of the merit of sin. God 
 convinces the sinner that all the threatenings belong to 
 him ; yea, he particularly applies them to himself, as Na- 
 than his parabolical discourse to David, (2 Sam. xii. 7,) I 
 am the man that these curses are directed against. He 
 hears his condemnation sounded by the trumpet of the 
 word ; he sees and feels that he is in the utmost distress, 
 environed with dangers, and can at present see no way of 
 
274 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 escape opened. Luke xv. 17. He is in the case of the 
 afflicted, pursued Israelites at the Red Sea. Ex. xiv. 14, 
 15. This is that spirit of bondage to fear, which ordinarily 
 precedes the spirit of adoption. Rom. viii. 15. 
 
 3. Compunction, or sharp anguish for sin. The sight 
 of sin and wrath wounds the soul, as though it were stabbed 
 with a sword. Acts ii. 37. They have such acute pains 
 as if a sharp spear lanced their hearts. It is elsewhere 
 called the "rending of the heart." Joel ii. 14. When 
 we are greatly grieved in soul for sin, so that it even cuts 
 us to the heart to think how we have dishonoured God, 
 and disparaged ourselves by it ; when we conceive an aver- 
 sion to sin, and earnestly desire and endeavour to get 
 clear of the principles of it, and never to return to the 
 practice of it, then we rend our hearts for it, and then will 
 God rend the heavens, and come down to us with mercy. 
 Also, this compunction I am treating of is called breaking 
 up of the fallow ground. " Break up your fallow ground, 
 and sow not among thorns;" (Jer. iv. 3,) which represents 
 both the necessity and difficulty of it. "An unconvinced 
 heart," says one, "is like fallow ground, untilled, un- 
 fenced, unfruitful of any thing besides thorns, which is the 
 natural produce of the soil ; which we are bound to get 
 ploughed up by the word of God, (Heb. iv. 12,) otherwise 
 they will choke our attempts, and blast our hopes." Hos. 
 x. 11. It is also compared to a taking away the fore-skin of 
 the heart. " Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take 
 away the fore-skins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and in- 
 habitants of Jerusalem : lest my fury come forth like fire, and 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 275 
 
 burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your 
 doings ;" (Jer. iv. 4;) i. e., saith Mr. Poole, "take away 
 that brawniness and obstinacy that is upon your hearts, 
 having to do with God that hath respect unto the heart, 
 (Deut. x. 16. Ezek. xliv. 9. Acts vii. 51,) lest you pro- 
 ceed so far in your obstinacy, that I will not be appeased.' ' 
 Jer. xxi. 12. Amos v. 6. 
 
 4. Enquiry. When the apostle Peter's preaching, ac- 
 companied with divine energy, had wounded the Jews, this 
 was the necessary effect of it, "What shall we do ?" Acts 
 ii. 37. 
 
 Thus I thought it necessary, to prevent mistakes, to 
 speak first of that which is previous and preparatory to 
 this change. Now I come to speak somewhat briefly of 
 the change itself in the several faculties of man's soul. 
 And 
 
 1. The understanding is renewed in its several powers 
 or acts ; a light from on high shines into it, whereby its 
 natural darkness is in some measure dissipated, so that it 
 hath new apprehensions of things. As natural light was 
 one of the first things produced in the old creation, " And 
 God said, Let there be light, and there was light ;" (Gen. i. 
 3 ;) so spiritual light is one of the first in the new. 2 Cor. iv. 
 6. Formerly, the face of Christ was veiled from the soul, as 
 the face of Moses from the Israelites ; but now he sees some- 
 thing of his peerless beauty, and transcendent excellency. 
 Christ is to him as the apple tree among the trees of the 
 woods, as the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley. 
 Cant. ii. 1 — 3. His very name is as fragrant ointment poured 
 
276 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 forth, and aromatic spices. Cant. i. 3. All other enjoy- 
 ments are as dross in comparison of him, in the enlightened 
 sinner's esteem. Phil. iii. 8. Now he sees the loathsome 
 and abominable nature of sin. Rom. vii. 13. Now he sees, 
 and experience tells him, that there is no true solace, con- 
 tentment, or satisfaction to be had in any sublunary trifles ; 
 he sees that such earthly enjoyments are empty of solid 
 good, transient, unsatisfying, and bewitching ; contrary to 
 his former apprehension. Isa. lv. 2. 1 Cor. vii. 31. Psa. 
 vi. 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. They can find no more nourishment 
 in them for their hungering souls, than a starving man 
 would do in gravel-stones, wind, husks, ashes. Prov. xx. 17. 
 Hos. xii. 1. Luke xv. 16. Isa. xliv. 20. That heart-holi- 
 ness, and circumspection of life, which he was apt formerly 
 to ridicule and deride, as needless preciseness, affected and 
 foolish singularity, (Cant. v. 9. 1 Pet. rv\ 4,) he sees not 
 only necessary, but desirable and lovely. Cant. vi. 1. 
 Zech. viii. 23. Mai. iii. 16, 17. Now he sees clearly that 
 that good heart, those good words, good deeds, good mean- 
 ings, for which he thought God would spare and reward 
 him, deserve nothing less than the revengeful strokes of 
 God's direful justice. Isa. lxiv. 6. Phil. iii. 7. 
 
 2. He has a new assent, his understanding being 
 enlightened to perceive the precious truths of Christ ; he 
 assents to them with a kind of plerophory, in a lively, sen- 
 sible manner. Luke i. 1. His assent is not grounded upon 
 opinion, conjecture, or historical credit, as formerly; and 
 therefore, is not light and superficial, but firm and real. 
 The natural atheism of his heart is in some measure cured, 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 277 
 
 so that he does not so staggeringly assent to divine truths 
 as before. 
 
 3. His judgment is changed. Formerly it was an ab- 
 surd paradox to him, if he had all the honours, profits, 
 and pleasures his heart could desire, that he should not be 
 happy then ; but now he judges by experience, that these 
 things can no more satisfy an enlightened soul, than an 
 adamant stone, or a puff of wind, would satisfy a hungry 
 person. Formerly he used to think that the new birth was 
 but a fancy, a whim, a fiction, introduced by some hypocon- 
 driac, silly, precise people, that imposed upon themselves 
 and others, with dreams and notions, the effects of 
 melancholy blood, a sickly constitution, or a disordered 
 brain ; but now he sees and feels an absolute necessity of 
 it, and that he must be damned unless he obtains it, ac- 
 cording to the solemn, redoubled asseveration of the Lord 
 Christ, in our text. In short, he used to judge of things 
 by their appearance, but now he judges of them according 
 to what they are in reality. 
 
 4. His estimate of things is changed. He was wont to 
 think highly of the world and the things of it, however 
 contrarily he might speak, these had the throne of his 
 heart ; but now he prefers even the reproach of Christ 
 before them. Heb. xi. 26. Thus his estimate is changed 
 in respect of honours, pleasures, companions, gifts, parts, 
 privileges, performances, which would take up more time 
 than can be well spared at present to explain and illustrate. 
 I proceed therefore to another particular. 
 
 5. His purposes are changed, he has vastly different 
 
 24 
 
278 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 designs from those he was wont to entertain and indulge 
 before his new birth. While he was in a state of security, 
 his principal scope was to get the world, if possible ; to 
 this end, he would be frequently, almost continually, 
 framing the most artful and suitable schemes, and if these 
 did not answer as he would have them, then perhaps his 
 sleep would be broken, and his thoughts disturbed, and he 
 put upon a rack of impatient pain. In short, his purposes 
 were for sin and self, but now they are for God and his 
 soul, now he strives as much daily to get his heart and 
 affections deadened to the world, as he did before to secure 
 and advance his interest in it. Now his anxious mind is 
 often contriving, what measures he should take to glorify 
 the blessed God, to subdue abominable sin, and advance 
 the despised interest of his dear Lord Jesus. 
 
 6. His reasonings are changed. He was wont in his 
 state of sin and security, to argue for sin and the world, 
 against Christ and holiness ; from the mercy and goodness 
 of God, to liberty (so called, but it is really the basest 
 bondage), in sinning against him, but now it is the greatest 
 motive to holiness, and circumspection. 
 
 7. The will is changed. It has got a new bias and 
 centre of its actings ; in his unconverted state, himself or 
 the world was the centre, in reality (notwithstanding his 
 fair and false flams and flourishes of empty talk to the 
 contrary), to which he moved, for which he acted with a 
 furious natural proneness. Psa. iv. 6. 2 Tim. iii. 2. But 
 now God in Christ is the centre to which all his actions, 
 whether natural, civil, or sacred, do bend and terminate. 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 279 
 
 He aims at God's glory in all his actions universally, and 
 singly, the inclinations of his will bend towards God freely 
 from an inward and powerful principle of life. 1 Cor. x. 
 31. Grace is in him as a well of water springing up to 
 eternal life. John iv. 14. His will has an unconstrained 
 motion. Some, under the views of a vast eternity, or 
 some afflictive dispensation, have weak motions of heart 
 towards God. Psa. lxxviii. 34. But when the prospect of 
 danger is removed, the motions cease, (Psa. lxxviii. 57,) 
 like the motion of a clock when the spring is removed ; but 
 the motions of a believer's heart are constant, even when 
 outward enforcements are taken away, (Psa. cxix. 112,) 
 because they flow from an inward and vital cause. 
 
 Furthermore, his will has new enjoyments. In his state 
 of unregeneracy, his life was only a vexatious wandering 
 from vanity to vanity ; all the contentment he had, was in 
 some worldly accommodations, or outward performances, 
 Psa. xlvi. Amos. vi. 1, 3 — 6. Rom. x. 3. But now they are 
 as husks to him, he cannot be satisfied without the chil- 
 dren's bread. Psa. cxix. 37. & cvi. 4. It was an observable 
 saying of Augustine, " Tufecisti cor nostrum, et irrequie- 
 tum est donee ad te revertatur" i. e., " Thou hast made 
 our heart, and it is restless till it returns to thee." The 
 sinner in his security would be contented with the husk 
 and shell of duties, but now nothing will satisfy him but 
 the presence of Jesus in them ; a sight of the king's face, 
 a sense of his special love. But the cardinal acts of the 
 will are assent and dissent, these are the very hinges upon 
 which it exerts its receptive and exclusive faculties, suitable 
 
280 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 to its love or dislike to the object proposed. John i. 12 & 
 v. 40. When Christ is offered to the soul appended to the 
 pole of the gospel, on his own terms of self denial, and 
 taking up the cross, the new-born person is willing to want 
 all, that he may have Him, to lose all, that he may gain Him. 
 8. The affections of the soul are changed, such as desire, 
 delight, fear, hatred, joy, and love. New-born persons 
 have frequent and vehement desires after communion with, 
 and conformity to, God in Christ here, and the full enjoy- 
 ment of him hereafter, arising from a sight of his beauty 
 and excellency. "As the hart panteth after the water 
 brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, God. My soul 
 thirsteth for God, for the living God ; when shall I come 
 and appear before God¥" Psa. xlii. 1, 2. "My flesh 
 longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water 
 is ; to see thy power and thy glory — because thy loving 
 kindness is better than life — my soul followeth hard after 
 thee." Psa. lxiii. 1 — 3, 8. " How amiable are thy taber- 
 nacles, Lord of hosts ! My soul longeth, yea, even 
 fainteth for the courts of the Lord : my heart and my flesh 
 crieth out for the living God." Psa. lxxxiv. 1, 2. "Let 
 him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth : for thy love is 
 better than wine. ,, Cant. i. 2. "Whom have I in heaven 
 but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire 
 besides thee." Psa. lxxiii. 25. "0 that my ways were 
 directed to keep thy statutes ! I have longed for thy sal- 
 vation, Lord, and thy law is my delight." Psa. cxix. 
 5, 174. " He which testifieth these things saith, Surely 
 I come quickly. Amen, even so, come Lord Jesus." Rev. 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 281 
 
 xxii. 20. And as their desires are after Christ, so their 
 delight is in him. " The king hath brought me into his 
 chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will 
 remember thy love more than wine." Cant. i. 4. "A 
 bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me ; he shall lie 
 all night betwixt my breasts." Cant. i. 13. "As the 
 apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved 
 among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great 
 delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Cant. ii. 3. 
 "His mouth is most sweet; (i. e., the communications of 
 his love by his word are most delightful,) yea, he is alto- 
 gether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 
 daughters of Jerusalem." Cant. v. 16. And as they 
 delight in him, so they fear to offend him, and that even 
 in the least things. 1 Thess. v. 22. They are apt to cry 
 out when they are tempted, as Joseph, " How shall I do 
 this great wickedness and sin against God?" Gen. xxxix. 
 9. They see the baseness and feel the bitterness of sin, 
 and, therefore, fear it. Lam. iii. Having in remembrance 
 the wormwood and the gall, they feel a sense of the divine 
 goodness, and, therefore, fear sinning against it. "After- 
 ward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord 
 their God, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the 
 latter days." Hos. iii. 5. Rom. ii. 4. And as they fear 
 sin, so they hate it universally and irreconcilably, (Psa. 
 cxix. 104,) and cannot at any time fall in love with it as 
 formerly. 1 John iii. 3 — 10. Again, the objects of their 
 love are changed. God's people, his laws, his image, his 
 ordinances are the objects to which their affections freely 
 24* 
 
282 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 flow. Now, the new born person loves sincerely and fer- 
 vently those whom he once despised, and pities those whom 
 he once loved and admired, and disdains their society, their 
 scoffs and threatenings, as well as their destructive gains, 
 and perishing, insipid pleasures. Psa. xv. 4 & cxix. 115. 2 
 Kings iii. 14. Psa. ii. 1, 4 & lii. 6, 7. Isa. xxxiii. 15. Psa. 
 cxli. 4. Heb. xi. 24. Now he sees that the people of God 
 are the most excellent persons on earth, as much preferable 
 to others as jewels, the stones of a crown, refined gold, a 
 royal diadem, are to common pebbles, dross, and rubbish. 
 Mai. iii. 17. Zech. ix. 16. Lam. iv. 2. Isa. lxii. 3. Psa. 
 xvi. 3. As much excelling others, as wheat does chaff (Matt, 
 xiii. 30. Psa. i. 4) ; light, darkness (Matt. v. 14. Eph. v. 8) ; 
 cedars and myrtle trees, the tares and thorns. Psa. xcii. 12. 
 Isa. Iv. 13. Matt. xiii. 38. Cant. ii. 2. As much as the 
 most potent kings, the basest slaves. Rev. i. 6. Acts viii. 
 23. Isa. lxi. 1. As much as lambs and doves are preferable 
 in their qualities to goats, swine, dogs, and foxes (Hos. iv. 
 14. Matt. x. 16 & xxv. 33 & vii. 6. 2 Pet. ii. 22. Luke 
 xiii. 32) ; and vipers. Matt. iii. 7. Therefore, the new born 
 person resorts to God's people, covets their company, 
 (which he before shunned,) that with them he may seek 
 Jesus. Acts iv. 23. Cant. i. 7 & vi. 1. When the blinded 
 jailor came to have his eyes opened, he soon washed the 
 wounds he had made before by many and cruel stripes. 
 Acts xvi. 23, 33. Their love is fixed on God in Jesus, as 
 their highest good and last end, as their complete, satisfy- 
 ing and everlasting portion ; (Lam. iii. 24. Psa. xvi. 5. 
 & lxxiii. 26); which shows it in lively, warm, vigorous 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 283 
 
 actings, so that the whole soul feels sometimes the sweet 
 pains, and refreshful qualms of a love-sickness after 
 Christ. Cant. v. 8. All the waters of affliction cannot 
 quench this love, but make it burn more brightly, as oil 
 cast into the fire. " Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a 
 seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death. ,, Cant, 
 viii. 6. Their sorrow is also changed as to its objects ; 
 they were wont, in their carnal and secure state, to mourn 
 principally about worldly losses and disappointments, (Psa. 
 iv. 6. 2 Cor. vii. 10,) that either they could not amass and 
 obtain, or retain such a quantity of worldly pelf, as their 
 greedy desires longed for; or their trouble principally 
 centred upon the loss of their relations or friends, or their 
 credit and worldly comfort. Gen. xxvii. 38. 1 Sam. xv. 
 30. But now they mourn chiefly over their sins against 
 God, (Psa. li. 4,) that they are so many, so heinous, that 
 they have continued in sin so long; (Rom. vi. 21); that 
 they are so inwardly and universally corrupted by it; 
 (Rom. vii. 2-4) ; and they do not only grieve that they 
 themselves have sinned against such a good God, but that 
 others, also, do grievously reproach the Almighty, and 
 affront his majesty, by contemning his authority, profaning 
 his sacred name, violating his sabbath, slighting his word 
 and ordinances, opposing his truths, and abusing his people. 
 Ezek. ix. 4. 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8. Psa. cxix. 136. Lam. iv. 2. 
 They also mourn an absent God ! The withdrawing of his 
 comfortable presence from them distresses their spirits. 
 Psa. xlii. 5. Cant. iii. 1 — 3. & v. 6, 8. The numerous 
 crowds of wicked people, the smallness of the number of 
 
284 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 those that are truly godly, and the little success of the 
 gospel of Christ, affords matter of great sorrow to new 
 born persons. Matt. vii. 13 & xx. 16 & xxii. 14. Na- 
 hum vii. 1, 2. Psa. iii. 1. Isa. liii. 1. 
 
 9. The conscience is changed. As before it was not 
 able to perform its offices, or functions, viz : to apply, con- 
 vince, or tremble at the word, but now, when the soul feels 
 the regenerating influences of the Holy Spirit, what a 
 tender sense fills the renewed conscience ! For what small 
 things will it smite, rebuke and check the sinner ! How 
 strongly will it bind to duty, and bar against sin ! The 
 consciences of the most of ungodly people are large, secure, 
 and mostly silent ; if it be not when they commit gross and 
 notorious crimes. Tit. i. 15. But the consciences of rege- 
 nerate persons, being purged from dead works, (Heb. ix. 
 14,) do wake and rebuke sharply for small offences, (1 
 Sam. xxiv. 5,) and put the sinner into distress and anguish. 
 Gen. xliii. 21. Now it is the continued labour of the new 
 born person to get and keep a good conscience. 2 Cor. i. 
 12. Acts xxiv. 16. 
 
 10. The memory ; now it is more apt to embrace and 
 retain divine things than formerly. Cant. i. 4. Psa. ciii. 
 18 & cxix. 11. The regenerate person endeavours to lay 
 up the sayings of Jesus in the cabinet of his memory. 
 Matt. xxvi. 75. I confess that regenerating grace does 
 not change the natural imperfections of the human consti- 
 tution, only the moral. If a person has naturally a weak 
 memory, it cannot be reasonably expected that grace will 
 strengthen the natural faculty, for its design is not to heal 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 285 
 
 the body but the soul, it only turns the vein of the thoughts 
 and affections on divine subjects, and helps to perceive 
 better, fundamental truths, (1 John ii. 20, 27,) and makes 
 a person the more desirous to retain them, but it does not 
 enlarge or strengthen the faculty itself ordinarily ; a per- 
 son may be a strong Christian, have an affectionate heart, 
 and a holy humble practice, and yet have but a weak 
 memory ; but, in the meantime, it is surely the practice of 
 new-born persons to pore much upon divine things. Psa. 
 i. 2 & civ. 34 & cxix. 97, 99. Therefore when they forget 
 precious truths they have heard explained, (their affections 
 being fixed upon them,) they are grieved. But 
 
 11. Their conversation is changed. They were wont to 
 be like moles grovelling in the earth, now their mind and 
 conversation are in heaven ; Phil. iii. 20. Heb. xiii. 
 14 ; they are ashamed and blush at their former conver- 
 sation. Rom. vi. 21. They have changed their former 
 masters, sin, Satan, and the world, and broken their de- 
 testable league with them and death. Rom. vi. 14, 16 — 23. 
 Isa. xxviii. 15, 18. " And they that are Christ's have cru- 
 cified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." Gal. v. 24. 
 The new born person maintains a continual conflict with 
 sin. Gal. v. 17. Rom. vii. 23. Now he does not only en- 
 deavour to restrain the outward act, but to crucify the root 
 of his inward corruption. Psa. Ii. Not only to cut off some 
 branches, but all; even that sin which has the strongest 
 seat in his constitution. Psa. xviii. 23. He endeavours to 
 repress the first motions of sin, and to flee the appearance 
 of evil, being diffident of his own strength, and afraid to 
 offend his God. 1 Thess. v. 22. 
 
286 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 But I proceed to the third thing proposed. 
 III. To offer reasons urging the necessity of regenera- 
 tion. And 
 
 1. The universal corruption of our nature shows the in- 
 dispensable necessity of renewing grace, as in the sixth 
 verse of our context. " For without holiness no man shall 
 see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14. Rom. viii. 13. Is it reason- 
 able to suppose that such a holy God as Jehovah is, who 
 cannot look on sin but with abhorrence, should receive such 
 polluted wretches as unconverted sinners are, into his com- 
 placential embraces ? 
 
 2. Because while unconverted the law condemns us; 
 Gal. iii. 10. Rom. iii. 19 ; which sentence cannot be 
 removed any other ways but by faith in Christ (Mark xvi. 
 16. John iii. 18), which no unconverted person has ; for 
 if he had, it would change his heart and practice. Gal. v. 
 6. 2 Thess. i. 11. James ii. 14. He may, indeed, have a 
 historical or temporary faith, but that will not do for sal- 
 vation. James ii. 19, 20. 
 
 3. Because of the stability and firmness of God's word. 
 He who cannot lie hath spoken it, and heaven and earth 
 may, and shall pass away, but not one tittle that God hath 
 spoken, shall pass away unaccomplished. Matt. xxiv. 35. 
 Therefore regeneration is necessary to salvation. 
 
 4. The consideration of the nature of the happiness of 
 heaven, with the respect that regeneration hath to it, 
 plainly manifests the necessity of it. Surely the nature 
 of future happiness is pure and spiritual, consisting in the 
 vision and fruition of a holy God, who is a Spirit, (1 Cor, 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 287 
 
 xiii. 12,) and in the society and social worship of saints 
 and angels, and such pleasures and employments as the 
 beauty of the objects and other circumstances of the place, 
 may be supposed to imply. Now what suitableness is there 
 between a carnal, unrenewed mind, and the spiritual and 
 pure pleasures of heaven ? Does not pleasure spring from 
 the suitableness between the object and the faculty ? What 
 pleasure then can be expected by the unregenerate in hea- 
 ven itself, if they were carried there in their present con- 
 dition (though they may be sure, in the meantime, that 
 while such, they will never have the trial. Rev. xxi. 27 & 
 xxii. 15) ? There is such a discord between their present 
 dispositions and the temper, and entertainments, and em- 
 ployments of heaven, for these are holy and spiritual, but 
 they are carnal and sensual. This Dr. Scott expresses 
 beautifully, " For alas (if we consider the matter rightly), 
 how could souls of their relish and complexion find a proper 
 employment for themselves in the regions of bliss ? There 
 are no wanton amours among those heavenly lovers ; no 
 rivers of wine, among their rivers of pleasure, to gratify 
 their boundless sensuality ; no parasite to flatter their lofty 
 pride ; no miseries to feed their meagre envy ; no mischiefs 
 to tickle their devilish revenge ; but all the felicities with 
 which that state abounds (viz : praise, love, contemplation), 
 are such that they would loath and nauseate them, as too 
 pure and refined for their depraved appetites; and not 
 improbably (if they had their own option), desire to fly to 
 hell for shelter, to spirits of their own depravity, rather 
 than stay to be tormented in a heaven so incongruous to 
 
288 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 their nature." So that if these men would be happy, they 
 must either find out a new heaven, or get new hearts. 
 
 Bishop Beveridge expresses himself thus upon this head : 
 " Supposing it should please God to take us all up imme- 
 diately into the highest heavens, and there place us around 
 our blessed Saviour ; all such as are real saints among us, 
 as love God above all things, and have prepared their 
 minds for spiritual enjoyments, how glad would they be to 
 see their Redeemer, shining in all his glory ! How sud- 
 denly would they strike up with the choir of heaven, in 
 singing the praises of Him that brought them thither ! 
 What infinite pleasure would they take in the place, em- 
 ployment, company, and every thing they see there ! But 
 as for others who are still in their sins, and mind only 
 earthly things, how sad and disconsolate would they be ! 
 They would wonder to see the saints so pleasant and joy- 
 ful ; for, as for their parts, they would see nothing there 
 to take delight in ; in the midst of light they would be 
 still in darkness, and in sorrow in the midst of joys, they 
 would not hear the heavenly music, or if they did, it would 
 sound harsh, and be all discords to them ; they could not 
 taste these spiritual dainties, or if they did, they could not 
 relish or find any sweetness in them ; they could not see 
 the face of God, or if they did, they would not be pleased, 
 but terrified and confounded at it ; and all this for the want 
 of a true principle of grace and holiness, without which a 
 blind man may as well delight in pictures, the deaf man 
 in music, or a brute beast in metaphysics, as men of such 
 tempers either in heaven, or God himself." 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 289 
 
 Again, regeneration hath such a relation to our salva- 
 tion, that it is indeed a part and beginning of it. G-ratia 
 est aurora glorise^ grace is the very dawn of glory, differ- 
 ing only in degree and duration from the happiness of 
 heaven. " The truth is," saith Stanhope, " God in his 
 wisdom hath so ordered the matter, so admirably con- 
 trived our nature and our duty, that virtue and happiness, 
 grace and glory, are one and the same thing, differing only 
 in the circumstances and several prospects we view them 
 under. The good man begins his heaven upon earth, and 
 finishes there what is imperfect here ; for the more he 
 masters his sensual appetites, and gets above the world, 
 the more he is spiritualized, and made meet to be a parta- 
 ker with the saints in light." 
 
 Pray consider seriously that precious, but awful place 
 of holy scripture, Gal. vi. 15. It is observable here, that 
 the apostle was speaking of some who desired to make a 
 fair show in the flesh, and, therefore, urged the necessity 
 of circumcision, whom the apostle informed and assured 
 that in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircum- 
 cision availed anything, i. e., to salvation, but the new 
 creature. Circumcision was certainly an ordinance of 
 God's own appointment, a seal of the covenant between 
 God and his people, (Rom. iv. 11,) a badge of distinction 
 between them and the infidel nations, (Rom. iii. 2,) a sign 
 of their original pravity, and of the necessity of inward 
 sanctity. Jer. iv. 4. Col. ii. 13. Yet the apostle informs 
 those who thought they were bound to observe it, that 
 without an internal change, these supposed privileges 
 25 
 
290 KEGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 would avail nothing, and by a parity of reason, (as Dr. 
 Edwards justly observes,) " he must be interpreted to speak 
 to us, that our sacramental washing in baptism, our spirit- 
 ual gifts and endowments, our profound knowledge and 
 learning, our observation of the ordinances of Christ, and 
 our outward acts of religious worship, will all avail us 
 nothing, unless we have a new principle implanted in us, 
 such as influences our lives and produces evangelical obe- 
 dience." But I proceed to the 
 
 IVth thing proposed, which was to improve the doctrine. 
 And 
 
 Use 1. It informs us that the way to be made a mem- 
 ber of the invisible church is by regeneration ; " For there 
 shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither 
 whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie : but 
 they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev. 
 xxi. 27. 
 
 2. It informs us of the love of God in revealing that 
 way to us (Hos. viii. 12) ; which should strike our admira- 
 tion and awake our gratitude. 
 
 3. It informs us of the love of Christ in purchasing, after 
 such a painful manner, that life for his people, to which this 
 way leads. " For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became 
 
 ,poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 2 Cor. 
 viii. 9. " Who hath abolished death and hath brought life 
 and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Tim. i. 
 10. That having your affections dead to, and weaned from, 
 all enjoyments here, "your life may be hid with Christ in 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 291 
 
 God ; that when he who is your life appears, you may ap- 
 pear with him." Col. iii. 4. 
 
 4. It informs us of the emptiness and insufficiency of 
 all outward and legal performances to obtain an actual 
 interest in the purchased happiness, without good princi- 
 ples of action, such as a new heart, and transcendent love 
 to the divine majesty. " For a good tree bringeth not 
 forth corrupt fruit : neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth 
 good fruit." Luke vi. 43. Therefore, according to the 
 words of Jesus, " If you would have the fruit good, you 
 must make the tree good." Matt. xii. 33. For God is a 
 Spirit, and, therefore, will not accept of, or be pleased with, 
 any worship but that which is agreeable to his nature. 
 John iv. 24. 
 
 Use 2. Of examination. Now that you may know your 
 present state and condition, I shall propose some characters 
 of regeneration. 
 
 Now, the first property of regeneration is divine life. 
 As natural life is the natural product of generation, so is 
 a spiritual life, of regeneration. Gal. ii. 20. 2 Cor. iv. 10. 
 Now, this divine life has these following properties, by 
 which it may be known, analogous or agreeable to the 
 properties of a natural life. 
 
 1. Food. Without this a natural life would soon expire. 
 Psa. civ. 29. Thus it is with the spiritual, " As new 
 born babes desire the sincere milk of the word." 1 Pet. ii. 
 2. Some render the original words (logicon gala) rational 
 milk, such as is fit for the nourishment, not of the body, 
 but of the mind. A true convert desires the sincere milk, 
 
292 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 the pure word of God, not blended or diluted with adultera- 
 ting, depraving, and debasing mixtures. It is the natural 
 property of every kind of life to desire food suited to its 
 nature, without which it cannot subsist. Now, as the natu- 
 ral man chiefly longs after the enjoyments of this world, 
 (Psa. iv. 6,) so does the new born person after heavenly 
 enjoyments. Col. iii. 1. 
 
 2. Sense. As a natural life feels what opposeth it, 
 grapples with its enemy, and if stronger, proves victorious, 
 so it is eminently in the divine life, which having such 
 supernatural assistances, proves too hard for its opponents. 
 Gal. v. IT. 1 John v. 4, 18 & iii. 9. 
 
 3. Growth. It is natural for children to grow fast, if 
 some uncommon accident does not prevent it, and that not 
 in the head only, for indeed such are distempered with the 
 rickets, but in all other parts proportionally ; so do babes 
 in Christ grow fast, if not distempered (2 Thess. i. 3), and 
 that not only in knowledge, but in faith, love, holiness. 2 
 Pet. iii. 18. " When I was a child I spake as a child, I 
 thought as a child, when I became a man, I put away child- 
 ish things." 1 Cor. xiii. 11. So it is with a growing 
 Christian, he puts away childish things ; and this among 
 the rest, viz : entertaining a fond imagination, that he 
 shall be always dandled on his Father's knee, or in his 
 Lord's lap, or always embraced in his Husband's arms : 
 when he was but a babe in Jesus, he was apt to conclude 
 his Father had quite abandoned him, if he lost sight of his 
 face but for a little ; if he wanted the sweet sense of his 
 love he was peevish and dejected ; but now he knows 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 293 
 
 better, that he is not to live by sense but by faith. Gal. 
 ii. 20. Though he retains still an earnest desire after com- 
 munion with God, yet it is more discreet, believing and 
 submissive ; and when they cannot perceive any growth 
 in themselves after some time, they grieve and mourn. A 
 child of God not only weeps at its birth but afterwards. 
 Mr. Burkett has a very good observation upon this : " that 
 as natural children come crying into the world, so no 
 spiritual child is still-born," or born dumb. Acts ix. 11. 
 We may justly reckon those graceless and unrenewed per- 
 sons, who do not earnestly long and labour after growth, 
 or mourn not for their little proficiency. Heb. vi. 1. Phil, 
 iii. 14. They that are contented with stinted measures of 
 supposed grace, in reality have no saving grace at all. 1 
 Cor. xv. 8. Eph. iii. 18. 
 
 4. Motion. This is an inseparable property of a natural 
 life. Acts xvii. 28. When we see any thing stand stock 
 still for a considerable time without the least motion, we 
 know it is dead ; e. </., when we observe a statue void of 
 motion, with its eyes fixed for some space of time, 
 we are soon convinced, for all its fair face, that it has 
 no life ; so when we behold professors of Christianity 
 having but an empty form, without the powerful and pro- 
 gressive practice of piety, (2 Tim. iii. 5,) may not we 
 judge them, and should not they judge themselves to be 
 (notwithstanding of their fair pretences) dead idols in a 
 spiritual sense, void of the life of Jesus ? 
 
 5. A generative faculty, when grown to maturity : so 
 those that have a divine life labour to communicate it to 
 
 25* 
 
294 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 others. John iv. 28, 29. Luke xxii. 32. Here we may apply 
 justly that of the poet : Nascitur indigne, per quern non 
 nascitur alter. " He is unworthy of life himself, who is not 
 the cause of it to another/ ' 
 
 6. Likeness. The father begets a son in his own like- 
 ness ; so did the first Adam, (Gen. v. 3,) and so does the 
 second. John iii. 6. The image of the first is of the earth 
 earthy. 1 Cor. xv. 47 — 49. " For that which is born of the 
 flesh is flesh ;" (John iii. 6 ;) i. e., exceedingly corrupt and 
 sinful ; not only fleshly but flesh ; abstracts denote great 
 degrees of what is spoken. Eph. v. 8. Man, by a sinful 
 indulgence of his appetite, (Gen. iii. 6,) prostituted the 
 dominion of his soul to the tyranny of sense ; so that now 
 before conversion he is quite sunk in sensuality ; instead 
 of deserving the honourable character of a living soul as 
 formerly, (Gen. ii. 7,) he now incurs that just, but sarcasti- 
 cal one of flesh ! His reason and all his noble powers are 
 so degraded, unhinged and corrupted ; he acts with such 
 indifferency about eternal, and with such vigour about tem- 
 poral things, as if he had no soul, but was wholly flesh : a 
 mere master-beast. But the image of the second Adam is 
 heavenly and spiritual. 1 Cor. xv. 47 — 49. " For that which 
 is born of the Spirit is spirit ;" (John iii. 6 ;) i. <?., his soul has 
 recovered its just, though lost, empire over the senses and 
 brutish appetites, and is now guided and governed by the in- 
 fluence and direction of the Holy Spirit. Rom. viii. 1, 4. As 
 the natural parent communicates of his nature to the child, 
 so those that are born of God are said to partake of the divine 
 nature; (2 Pet. i. 4 ;) i. e. } they have a certain resemblance 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 295 
 
 of the moral, communicable perfections of the Deity, wrought 
 in them : " They are holy as he is holy." 1 Pet. i. 15, 16. 
 " Merciful as their Father is merciful." Luke vi. 3G. 
 " Perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect ;" (Matt. v. 
 48 ;) i. e. 9 they endeavour earnestly after perfection of 
 degrees as well as of parts. Phil. iii. 18, 14. Eph. v. 1, 2. 
 So long as men are contrary to God in their generally pre- 
 vailing dispositions, and course of action, we may tell them 
 as our Lord the perverse Jews : " Ye are of your father the 
 devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." John viii. 44. 
 7. Love. A child hath a love to his father and brethren, 
 which the law of nature teaches, and the likeness that is 
 between them confirms. He is a very monster in nature 
 that is void of this affection ! Thus the new-born Chris- 
 tian hath 
 
 1. A predominant love to God in Christ. Psa. lxxv. 25. 
 Matt. x. 37. 
 
 2. A permanent love. John xv. 9, 10. 
 
 3. A panting, longing love. Psa. lxxxiv. 1, 2. 
 
 4. An operative and efficacious love. 2 Cor. v. 14. John 
 xiv. 21. Rom. vi. 4, 5. And so he has a real, effectual, 
 universal, and well grounded affection to the children of 
 God, as his brethren in Christ. His affection does not con- 
 sist in windy words (1 John iii. 17, 18) ; neither is his love 
 limited to a party of his own denomination, temper, or 
 sentiments. No, no ! that is too narrow a circle for truly 
 Christian love, (such a confined affection is but a natural, 
 selfish, party zeal, which does not deserve the name of love,) 
 which extends itself to all that carry the image of the holy 
 
296 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 God, and speak in the language of Canaan, of whatever 
 nation they be, or denomination they bear ; and as he loves 
 all Christians for what of God he sees in them, so conse- 
 quently his affection is carried forth with a greater degree 
 of ardour towards such as excel others in holiness, humility, 
 and circumspection ; and that not with a fearful but com- 
 placential respect. Psa. xvi. 3. 1 John iv. 8. The 
 
 8th Character is that change of the practice which I 
 described in the doctrinal part of this discourse ; which I 
 think is rather an effect of the new birth than a part of 
 it. It is observable that, in every generation, there is a 
 great change in the old creation, to which this work of God 
 is for many and weighty reasons compared. Eph. ii. 10. 
 There was an admirable alteration, when the present most 
 beautiful and regular system of things was produced by the 
 agency of the infinite Spirit of God (who moved upon the 
 face of the waters), out of the former disorder, dark mass, 
 and confused chaos. So is there not an admirable change, 
 when a profane, ignorant, sottish creature is turned into a 
 sober, holy, heavenly Christian? "Give me," says Lac- 
 tantius, " a man as profane and abusive, as lewd and las- 
 civious, as can be imagined, and with a few instructions 
 of God, I will make him as meek and innocent as a lamb. 
 Could ever any of the philosophers do this ?" Lib. 2. In 
 short, such a change deserves our admiration more than 
 if a clod of earth were turned into a star of heaven. This 
 is no less a change than from darkness to light, from death 
 to life. Eph. v. 8. 
 
 And now, brethren, I pray you, for Christ's sake, 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 297 
 
 examine yourselves, whether you have had the experience 
 of these things ; it is easy to be mistaken in this matter, 
 and a mistake is dangerous. Jer. xvii. 9. Prov. xiv. 12. 
 I shall propose a few questions to your consciences, from 
 what I have been treating of, and I beg you would answer 
 them impartially as in the presence of God. And 
 
 Quest. 1. Has sin been discovered, and applied to your 
 consciences with power, both in respect of its vile nature, 
 and dreadful effects, by the law of God, and the Spirit of 
 God, as I before described ? 
 
 Q. 2. Have you been made to see your lost and 
 deplorable state by nature, so as to be exceedingly dis- 
 tressed, and put to a soul-afflicting plunge and loss, about 
 obtaining deliverance out of it, and shut up to Christ as 
 the only door of hope ? Acts ii. 37 & xiv. 27. John x. 7. 
 
 Q. 3. Hast thou, sinner, been made to inquire after, 
 and seek for relief, with anguish of soul ? Acts ix. 
 
 Q. 4. Has the Lord Jesus been discovered by his word 
 and Spirit to your inquiring, burdened, anxious soul, in 
 his mediatorial excellency and sufficiency ? Matt. xi. 21. 
 Gal. i. 16. 
 
 Q. 5. And have you, with deliberation and resolution, 
 unreservedly closed with the offered Redeemer, upon the 
 terms of discipleship he has specified, viz : of taking up 
 his cross, denying yourselves and following him ? John i. 
 12. Luke ix. 23 & xiv. 26. That is, have you been, and 
 are you willing, and heartily resolved, to quit freely and 
 cheerfully your dearest natural and civil interests, your 
 friends, relations, estates, lives, liberties, respectively, if 
 
298 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 called to it, for the defence of truth, and readily embrace 
 shame, solitude, poverty and death ? Are you willing also 
 to abandon your own righteousness, all your religious per- 
 formances in point of dependence, and absolutely, imme- 
 diately, and freely, forsake all your darling lusts, and em- 
 brace strict holiness ? What sayest thou, sinner ? How 
 is it with thee in these respects, willing or not ? What ! 
 does that man say, It is hard — I cannot now ? Wretched 
 soul ! As the Lord lives, thou art a dead man. 
 
 Q. 6. Are old things passed away ? 2 Cor. v. 17. As 
 particularly, 
 
 1. Is thy old blindness removed? 1 Pet. i. 4. 
 
 2. Thy old security disturbed ? Luke xi. 21. 
 
 3. Thy old hope sapped at the foundation ? Rom. vii. 9. 
 
 4. Thy old enmity against God's people subdued ? Cant. 
 vi. 1. 
 
 5. Thy old, carnal, worldly thoughts, affections and 
 practice altered, or are they still as they were ? Why then, 
 I may say to thee, as the apostle Peter to Simon Magus, 
 " Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy 
 heart is not right in the sight of God. I perceive thou art 
 in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." Acts. 
 viii. 21, 23. 
 
 Q. 7. Are all things made new? 2 Cor. v. 17. As 
 particularly, 
 
 1. Hast thou that new light in the understanding ? Acts 
 xxvi. 18. 
 
 2. That pliableness in the will ? Psa. ex. 3. Acts ix. 6. 
 
 3. That proneness in the affections Godward and heaven- 
 ward, which I before described ? Col. iii. 2. 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 299 
 
 4. That tenderness of conscience ? 
 
 5. That tenaciousness of memory respecting divine 
 things? Psa. cxix. 98. 
 
 6. That reformation in practice, which was before de- 
 scribed ? 
 
 Q. 8. Have you had that life of God, that likeness to 
 God, that love for God and his people, which was before 
 spoken of? 
 
 Q. 9. Is your obedience evangelical, universal, con- 
 tinual ? 
 
 But I proceed to 
 
 Use 3. which is of conviction and terror to those that 
 are not born again ; but who are they, and what may 
 afford them necessary terror ? 
 
 1. More generally, you are they who cannot, with a 
 good conscience, say yea in answer to the nine questions I 
 proposed before. But, more particularly, 
 
 1. May persons make a strict profession of piety, and 
 be admitted to, and enjoy religious privileges, and so pass 
 for Christians, and yet be unconverted ? How far, then, 
 are you from this blessed change, who even scorn to pro- 
 fess Christ and piety, who disdain and disclaim the very 
 name saint, as a term of reproach, a badge of dishonour, 
 and grin and show your teeth (silly souls !) when the very 
 word is but mentioned in your hearing ? Remember, for 
 this you shall gnash your teeth in hell, except ye repent. 
 I suppose you think to be saved without the new birth, in 
 a way of your own contrivance, (0 blind moles !) ay, but 
 then, the devil, your dear father, and your brethren, the 
 
800 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 sons of Belial, the whole crew of profane, unclean rebels 
 and venomous vermin the burdened earth now bears, or 
 hell contains, must be saved along with you, and a pretty 
 company you would make all together, would you not ? A 
 fine heaven, indeed ! How can you expect that Christ will 
 own you hereafter, when you will not own him here ? 
 
 2. May people be convinced of sin, and of their lost and 
 deplorable condition because of sin, so as to be in great 
 distress about it, without being new born ? Alas, then ! 
 What will become of you who are yet secure and asleep 
 in sin ? 
 
 3. May persons be restrained from gross impieties and 
 yet be in a state of death, estranged from this divine birth ? 
 Oh ! what will then become of you who give a loose to 
 profaneness, swearing, sabbath-breaking, drunkenness, 
 uncleanness, fraud, and the derision of what is good ? 
 Are not burnings, burnings from God, burnings hotter than 
 Sodom's flame, likely to be your portion ? 
 
 4. May persons attain the form of piety, and be exter- 
 nally regular in the performance of all religious duties, 
 and yet not be new born ? Then, wretched sinners ! how 
 far are you from this divine birth, who profane God's 
 name, slight his word and ordinances by neglecting to at- 
 tend upon the one, and to seek preparation for the other, 
 who, as fearlessly as profanely, violate his holy sabbaths, 
 and neglect many positive duties of religion ? Read that 
 passage of God's word, and blush and tremble. Matt. v. 
 20. 
 
 5. May people have great gifts and good motions, and 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 301 
 
 want this new birth I have been treating upon ? Then 
 what will become of you, ignorant souls, especially such 
 of you as are willingly ignorant ? how far are you from a 
 sound conversion to God, which begins in light and know- 
 ledge! 1 Cor. iv. 6. And how far will you be at last 
 from obtaining that inheritance conversion qualifies persons 
 for? Isa. xxvii. 11. 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. 
 
 6. May persons have a partial alteration upon some or 
 all the powers of their souls, and be almost persuaded to 
 be real Christians, and yet be void of the new birth ? What 
 will become of you, hardened wretches, every of whose 
 faculties is perhaps altered for the worse, whose necks are 
 as an iron sinew, and whose brow is brass ? Pharisees, 
 heathens and devils outdo you in what is good. The Phar- 
 isees in most or in all the outward duties of religion. Phil, 
 iii. The heathens in their morality (perhaps), e. g.j the 
 Turks or some of them, have had a greater concern about 
 their souls than thou hast. Remember trembling Felix, 
 and be ashamed of thy horrible stupidity ! Tea, the very 
 devils tremble, and yet thou art senseless ! man ! Is 
 thy breast adamant, or thy bowels iron, that thou thus 
 slightest the terrors of the Almighty, which set themselves 
 in battle array against thee ? Canst thou imagine that thou 
 art new born, or shalt be saved in this condition ? No, no : 
 be not deceived, the devil himself would find as easy an 
 admis-sion into heaven as thou in thy present condition, as 
 our text demonstrates. 
 
 7. May persons have a zeal for religion as Jehu and others, 
 and yet be unconverted ? Oh then ! What will become of 
 
 26 
 
302 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 you, lifeless, listless, careless Gallios in religious affairs, 
 who do not care a straw whether religion prospers or not ? 
 If you can but get worldly prosperity, if you can but with 
 Gehazi get the changes of raiment, with Judas carry the 
 bag, or with cursed Achan get the wedges of gold, you 
 care not, perhaps, though for it you should betray Christ's 
 cause, and bring judgments upon others. But will not such 
 lukewarm, selfish wretches be spued out of Christ's mouth ? 
 Rev. iii. 16. How far are ye, poor souls, from this divine 
 birth? 
 
 8. May unconverted persons come so far as to love God's 
 people, associate with them, and delight in hearing of 
 God's word, and attending upon his ordinances ? How far 
 then are those from regeneration, or the way to it, who do 
 not come half so far as hypocrites in this ? Instead of 
 associating with God's people, they carefully avoid their 
 company, deride them, and spitefully abuse them, and most 
 contemptuously neglect opportunities of hearing God's 
 word, instead of delighting in it, and that, forsooth, because 
 the preacher will not be false to God and souls, and preach 
 smooth things according to their fancy. Will not Herod, that 
 heard John the Baptist gladly, rise up in judgment at last, 
 and condemn the haughty and contemptuous wretches of 
 this generation? 
 
 9. May persons be brought to mourn for sin with bitter- 
 ness and anguish, and yet be strangers to the new birth, 
 as Ahab and Judas ? How far, then, are those monsters 
 in nature from conversion, who, instead of mourning for 
 their impieties, boast of them, and so glory in their shame ? 
 
REGENEKATION OPENED. 303 
 
 But what are the miseries of those and all other kinds of 
 unconverted sinners ? 
 
 Ans. 1. Ye are blind men. Acts xxvi. 18. Ye see not 
 the beauty of holiness, of Christ and heaven, otherwise ye 
 would not live as ye do. John iv. 10. 
 
 2. Poor men, however you swell and strut in worldly 
 wealth and grandeur. Rev. iii. 17. 
 
 3. Mad men, Psalm xiv. 1, compared with x. 1. Luke 
 xv. 17. You act like distracted men in preferring sin to 
 holiness, perishing, sensual gratifications to the pure, sin- 
 less, and everlasting delights that are at God's right hand. 
 Do you not act like fools in preferring your lusts to God and 
 Christ — your worldly gain, which lasts but for a moment, to 
 an immortal crown of life ? And does not your folly and 
 madness eminently appear in your daring to affront such a 
 sovereign, infinite Majesty, whom you can neither over- 
 come, deceive nor avoid, whose loving-kindness is better than 
 life, but whose anger is worse than death, and you will find 
 it so in a little time, when you shall wish for death as a 
 sanctuary from it, but shall not obtain your desire ? 
 
 4. Dead men, wholly void of divine life. Eph. ii. 1. 
 
 5. Darkened men, or men under the power of darkness. 
 Eph. v. 8. Col. i. 13. By which metaphor the Scriptures 
 express all kinds of misery. Psa. xxiii. 4. Matt. xxii. 13. 
 Isa. 1. 10. 
 
 6. Possessed men, under the power and government, 
 and in the possession, of the devil, his slaves, his vassals. 
 Luke xi. 21. 1 John iii. 8, 10. 2 Tim. ii. 26. 
 
 7. You are cursed men, cursed by the God that made 
 
304 REGENERATION OPENED. 
 
 you, which none can revoke but himself, and who has 
 declared he will not unless ye repent. Gal. iii. 10. Luke 
 xiii. 3. 
 
 8. You are condemned men. John iii. 18. 
 
 9. Guilty men. Mark iv. 12. And remember, God has 
 said he will "by no means clear the guilty." Num. xiv. 
 18. 
 
 10. You are bereaved men, secluded from, and bereaved 
 of, all the notices and sweet intimations of God's peculiar 
 favour and friendship, in this world or the next. You are 
 without God in the world, and what can be worse than 
 this ? Eph. ii. 12. And as you are justly deprived of his 
 love, so you are continually exposed to his wrath. John iii. 
 36. You are the very children of the devil by imitation 
 and possession, the seed of the serpent. Gen. iii. 13. 1 
 John iii. 9, 10. John viii. 44. 
 
 11. Miserable men ; you are not only void of true light, 
 life, comfort in this world, but of any interest in the in- 
 heritance of God's chosen in the next, as our text asserts, 
 and are entitled to a very contrary portion. Eph. ii. 3. 
 
 12. Murdering men, cruel murderers, self-murderers, 
 soul-murderers. Ezek. xviii. 31, 32 & xxxiii. 11. 
 
 13. Inexcusable men ; your eternal damnation is but the 
 natural and necessary fruits of your own wickedness and 
 obstinacy, in rejecting, against your own souls, God's re- 
 peated warnings and invitations ; and therefore it is but 
 justice, and that not owing to any rigorous severity of 
 God, but entirely to your own cruelty and barbarity, 
 against yourselves, that you should perish. Hos. xiii. 9. 
 
REGENERATION OPENED. 305 
 
 Acts xiii. 46. And this you will be forced to own at last 
 to God's honour, and your own shame. Matt. xxii. 11, 12. 
 For you have slighted the remedy provided with infinite 
 cost for sin ; this will make your sin inexcusable, your 
 damnation unavoidable, and yourselves unworthy of pity, 
 because your misery is a voluntary misery, but the fruits 
 of your own choice. Psa. xcv. 8, 11. Matt. xxii. 3, 5 & 
 xxviii. 37. Prov. xxix. 1. What unspeakable pain will 
 your reflections upon these things cause in your consciences 
 to eternity ! Mark ix. 44. Isa. lxvi. 24. Oh ! think of 
 these things and apply them to heart before it is too late, 
 and never rest until you get converting grace. 
 
 26' 
 
KOBERT SMITH, D. D. 
 
 The Rev. Robert Smith was born in Ireland, and was descended 
 from a Scottish family which had taken refuge in that country, and 
 had settled in Londonderry. About the year 1730, his parents emi- 
 grated to North America, and brought their son Robert, then a 
 child, with them. His ancestors, both by his father's and mother's 
 side, were substantial farmers, and had for several generations been 
 distinguished for a vein of good sense, and for prudent deportment, 
 and, what is better still, for fervent piety. 
 
 The residence of Dr. Smith's parents was on the head waters of 
 the Brandywine, about forty miles from the city of Philadelphia, 
 where he was brought up in the pursuit of agriculture. At the age 
 of fifteen or sixteen, he became a subject of divine grace, under the 
 preaching of Mr. Whitefield, who spent some time in his father's 
 neighbourhood on his first visit to America. As soon as young Mr. 
 Smith had experienced the power of religion in his own soul, he felt 
 a strong desire to become a preacher, that he might make known 
 the precious truths of the gospel to his fellow men. In this desire, 
 his pious parents readily concurred, and with their permission, he 
 placed himself under the tuition of the Rev. Samuel Blair, at his 
 Bchool in Faggs Manor. Here, for several years, he pursued his 
 classical, and then his theological studies. 
 (306) 
 
ROBERT SMITH, D. D. 307 
 
 In the year 1750, he was licensed to preach the gospel, and was 
 married to a younger sister of his venerated preceptor. In the year 
 1751, the next after his licensure, he was ordained and installed 
 pastor of the Presbyterian church in Pequea, in the county of Lan- 
 caster, Pa., in which situation he continued to labour faithfully to 
 the time of his death. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New 
 Castle, within the jurisdiction of which his church lay. 
 
 In the year 1784, Mr. Smith received from the College of New 
 Jersey the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and seldom has 
 that degree been more judiciously conferred ; for Mr. Smith was a 
 sound and well-informed theologian, of which he gave evidence in 
 several productions of his pen. He also excelled as a preacher. 
 His discourses were instructive, evangelical, and deeply impressive. 
 
 Shortly after his settlement at Pequea, Mr. Smith established a 
 school, with a special view to the gospel ministry, where the Latin, 
 Greek, and Hebrew languages were taught. In this school, Mr. 
 Smith was assisted by respectable and able teachers ; and a large 
 number of young men were here prepared for entering the ministry, 
 before any college existed within the limits of the Presbyterian 
 church; and after the erection of the College of New Jersey at 
 Princeton, young men were fitted to enter that institution, of which 
 Dr. Smith was one of the early and zealous friends. 
 
 Beloved and esteemed by all who knew him, he was held in high 
 estimation through a large extent of country, and was looked up to 
 as a father by the churches in Pennsylvania and the neighbouring 
 states. In the year 1790, he was chosen the moderator of the 
 General Assembly ; and in 1791, was again a member, and preached 
 before that body at its opening, with uncommon ardour and eleva- 
 tion of mind. 
 
 The last public act of his life, was that of attending a meeting 
 of the trustees of the College of New Jersey, at the distance of a 
 hundred miles from home. At this time his bodily health was much 
 reduced, and the effect of this fatiguing journey was to exhaust and 
 debilitate him exceedingly. When he had nearly reached his home, 
 
308 ROBERT SMITH, D. D. 
 
 he found it necessary to call at the house of a friend to obtain a 
 little rest and refreshment. He met the family with his wonted be- 
 nignity and affection, and requested the opportunity of retiring for 
 a short time to a private chamber ; and there in a few minutes, 
 without a struggle or a groan, "he calmly and sweetly breathed out 
 his soul ;" and the same smile, with which he entered this friend's 
 house, seemed to be imprinted on his countenance after death. He 
 died in the 63d year of his age. 
 
THE PRINCIPLE OF SIN AND HOLINESS. 
 
 BY THE REV. ROBERT SMITH, D. D. 
 
 " But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my 
 mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my 
 members." — Rom. vii. 23. 
 
 The gracious heart is a seat of conflict, the greatest, 
 and most important ! a conflict between the flesh and the 
 spirit. Nor does the highest degree of grace raise its 
 subject above the necessity of engaging in this debate. A 
 pregnant instance of this we find in the eminently holy 
 apostle Paul, w^ho, after all his advancement in the spiritual 
 life, " sees a law in his members warring against the law 
 of his mind." 
 
 In this engagement, we may, first, observe the com- 
 batants, viz : " the law of the members, and the law of 
 the mind;' , i. e., grace, and indwelling sin,* which 
 
 * That the apostle does not speak in this passage of the operations of 
 the soul before its conversion, as some suppose, and that, therefore, the 
 opponents in this debate are sin and holiness, and not conscience and 
 reason only contending with depraved appetites and passions, will plainly 
 appear by consulting the context, where he speaks in the strongest 
 
 (309) 
 
310 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 mutually engage each other, and warmly contend for vic- 
 tory. These have displayed their banners under their re- 
 spective sovereigns : Jesus, the Prince of peace, and Satan, 
 the prince of darkness. The generals of the field are, 
 "the beloved lust/' which most easily besets us, on the 
 side of sin ; and on the side of grace, faith, to which, 
 among all the graces, the preeminence is given in the 
 spiritual warfare. And while those opposite principles 
 resist each other, as contending parties of different aims 
 and interests, they respectively operate upon the heart, 
 like laws of different tendencies.* 
 
 Secondly, we may take notice of what is sometimes the 
 sad event with respect to the better side, which is overcome 
 so far, that the believer is brought " into captivity to the 
 law of sin. ,, The law of sin is the same as the law of the 
 members, mentioned in the former clause. To be brought 
 into captivity to it, is to be brought under its power. Now, 
 doleful as this event is, there is something in it, which 
 pleads the spiritual soldier's loyalty to his Sovereign ; he 
 does not capitulate, or come to terms of agreement with 
 sin ; but is overcome, and taken as a reluctant and mourn- 
 
 terms of his hatred to sin, and delight in the law of God ; characters 
 which can never be predicated of the unregenerate, whose hearts are 
 unyielding enmity against God. 
 
 * We have here, as is usual in scripture, an assemblage of metaphors, 
 viz: war, and law, to illustrate the same subject. For such is the sub- 
 limity of divine truths, and the imperfection of the things of nature, 
 that no allusion drawn from them, can fully illustrate any one point ; 
 therefore a number of these are frequently used, that one may help to 
 supply the deficiency of the other. 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 311 
 
 ful captive. The engagement often appears dubious, now on 
 one side, now another, seeming to overcome, as Israel and 
 Amalek of old. When Moses let down his hands, Ama- 
 lek prevailed: Israel prevailed when he held them up. 
 So sin prevails, when Christ withholds the aids of his Spirit ; 
 when he grants them, grace prevails. Yet, in general, 
 grace has the ascendency, and shall finally obtain a glorious 
 victory. 
 
 A mistake about this warfare proves fatal to many car- 
 nal professors, who fondly imagine that they are pious, 
 mistaking the reproaches of a natural conscience for the 
 spiritual conflict : a conflict, of which they never had any 
 experience, and, infatuated with this delusion, they rest 
 secure in a graceless state. On the other hand, their fears 
 that all their debates with sin are only some stings of con- 
 science, and, consequently, that they are yet children of 
 wrath, frequently obstruct both the duty and comfort of 
 the saints. Therefore, that I may afford conviction to the 
 one, and relief to the other, I shall attempt in the follow- 
 ing pages to explain : 
 
 I. The nature of grace, and show the reasons why it is 
 called a law of the mind. 
 
 II. The nature of indwelling sin, and the reasons why 
 it is called the law of the members. 
 
 III. The nature of the conflict between these opposite 
 principles, and give some marks by which it may be dis- 
 tinguished from the uneasiness arising in the breasts of 
 unbelievers. 
 
 I. I am to explain the nature of grace, and show the 
 reasons why it is called a law of the mind. 
 
312 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 Now, grace is a principle of spiritual life infused into 
 the soul by the Holy Ghost. This divine principle receives 
 various denominations in the word of God, as "being born 
 again," " regeneration," " a new heart," " a new creature," 
 "God's workmanship created anew:" all which phrases, 
 with many others, plainly evince, that grace is a new, a 
 spiritual, a holy nature; nay, it is called a "divine nature," 
 (2 Pet. i. 4,) because it is the impress of God's moral glo- 
 ries upon the soul. I shall not enter into the dispute, 
 whether this principle precisely consists in divine light let 
 into the mind, or in a holy affection. I think it is most 
 safe and proper to describe it as consisting of both. For 
 grace is a restoration of what we lost by the fall, viz : of 
 the divine image, consisting in knowledge, righteousness, 
 and holiness. Eph. iv. 24. Col. iii. 10. Righteousness 
 is seated in the will, holiness in the affections. The affec- 
 tions are sundry vigorous operations of the will, attended 
 with sensible commotions of the animal spirits. It follows, 
 then, that holiness in the affections is the vigorous operation 
 of righteousness in the will. But the will has a respect to 
 objects as eligible, and the ground of its choice is the appre- 
 hended goodness of its objects, by which an affection for 
 them is excited. Love to their objects is, for the same 
 reason, necessarily supposed in the affections. This is 
 evident in all the religious affections. Sorrow for sin is 
 affliction of the mind for wrongs done to a beloved object. 
 The soul's expectation of a future good, undoubtedly, sup- 
 poseth her love to the object of her hope. Desire is the 
 aspiration of love, and joy in its triumph. On the whole, 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 313 
 
 it appears, that an affection for divine objects is the very- 
 essence of righteousness and holiness ; and that this affec- 
 tion, and knowledge, the other part of the divine image, 
 are the very constituents of a gracious principle, or the new 
 nature. On this account grace is called, "the law of God 
 written upon the heart," (Jer. xxxi. 33,) a phrase of equal 
 import with the law of the mind, and plainly implies a 
 sanctifying knowledge of the objects exhibited in the law, 
 and a hearty regard for them impressed upon the heart by 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 1. Then a leading ingredient of true grace consists in a 
 view of the transcendent beauty of divine objects. The 
 principal object viewed is the glory of God's moral perfec- 
 tions displayed in the salvation of lost sinners. Thi3 
 necessarily supposeth a view of Christ's willingness and 
 ability to save ; for it is in his face alone, that we can ob- 
 tain "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God," 
 (2 Cor. iv. 6,) a view of the extent, the spirituality, and 
 purity of God's law, which is a transcript of his glory, and 
 the means by w T hich we are convinced of the need of 
 Christ — a view of the fulness and amazing glory of the 
 new covenant plan of life, in its nature, privileges, and 
 precious promises — and, in short, it supposeth a just view 
 of the various foundation-doctrines of the gospel, particu- 
 larly of the necessity and beauty of holiness in its several 
 branches. Of these things, true believers obtain views 
 different in their nature and effects from the view r s of any 
 graceless persons. The graceless, as rational creatures, 
 may discern the meaning of words and propositions, the 
 27 
 
314 THE PRINCIPLE OP 
 
 connection of sentences, and the propriety of conclusions 
 drawn from rational premises. But there is a spiritual 
 and holy beauty in divine objects which, being morally 
 blind and vitiated, they cannot discern nor relish ; there- 
 fore, they have no just idea of the objects at all. Sin has 
 spread a veil of darkness over their hearts, exceeding the 
 midnight shades, and adding fresh gloom to hell itself. 
 They understand gospel doctrines no otherwise than a 
 logician understands a system of logic, viz: by the mere 
 strength of natural powers. With devils, they may con- 
 fess that Jesus is the Son of God ; they may, with them, 
 believe there is one God; nay, they may believe and 
 tremble, without the least true discovery of, or the least 
 affection for, his holy, transcendent beauties. Some may 
 brand this doctrine with the odious name of enthusiasm ; 
 but I shall rest safely under the censure while divine testi- 
 mony assures me, " that 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 spiritu- 
 ally discerned." 1 Cor. ii. 14. They are spiritually dis- 
 cerned, but he has not a spiritual eye to discern them. 
 
 Graceless sinners quite mistake the nature of divine ob- 
 jects. At one time, they conceive of God as all mercy ; 
 at another, as all justice ; and again, will not conceive of 
 him either as merciful or as just ; but only think of him, as 
 an idle, unconcerned spectator of the universe, " saying in 
 their hearts, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do 
 evil." Zeph. i. 12. Before I proceed farther, I beg 
 your patience, while I suggest an argument or two in proof 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 315 
 
 of this point. 1st. It appears from their dependence upon 
 themselves for salvation, of which they are all guilty, 
 whatever may be their profession to the contrary, or to 
 whatsoever degree of knowledge they may have attained. 
 But what false ideas must this suppose of the rectitude of 
 Jehovah, the perfection of his law, and the awful maligni- 
 ty of sin ! and what unbelief, as well as ignorance of the 
 whole gospel scheme of life through Jesus Christ ! 2d. 
 Seeing the nature of the human soul is such, that it imme- 
 diately makes choice of that which appears most excellent, 
 and best for it in its present circumstances, their giving 
 their preference to sin and the world, is a plain evidence 
 that they do not understand nor relish the superior glory 
 of divine things. How splendid soever their profession 
 of religion may be, they do not believe what they profess, 
 but are infidels in heart. They may, indeed, yield their 
 assent to this truth, that religion is the best choice, and 
 may resolve to be religious hereafter, but for the present 
 they see more beauty in creatures, and taste more sweet- 
 ness in creature enjoyments, than in holiness ; nor would 
 they ever resolve to be religious in any future period, nor 
 ever desire any other than a Mahometan paradise, did 
 they not fear the wrath of God. 
 
 Corrupt affections spread a veil over their hearts, and 
 provoke Jehovah, in just resentment, to conceal his glory 
 in a cloud of vengeance. Therefore, though they may 
 sometimes be struck with awful apprehensions of his awful 
 majesty, yet they do not discover the amiable glory and 
 beauty of his perfections, till it pleases God to make them 
 
316 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 shine upon their hearts in the face of Jesus Christ, by 
 whose atonement the human offence was removed, and a 
 way opened, in which he could, consistent with his glory, 
 grant saving manifestations of himself to a lost and sinning 
 world. But when the Holy Ghost rends the veil from 
 their hearts, he discovers to them the transcendent beauties 
 of Jehovah with such irresistible efficacy, and brightness 
 of spiritual evidence, as transforms them into the same 
 likeness ; " for with open face beholding as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, they are changed ihto the same image, 
 from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 
 2 Cor. iii. 16 — 18. By that very influence which reveals 
 the glory of God to them, the Holy Spirit forms in their 
 hearts a supreme regard for his glory, which brings me to 
 observe, 
 
 2. That a principle of grace necessarily includes a supreme 
 affection for God. This affection is the very essence of 
 holiness. For to view objects in their own nature, and to 
 acquiesce in, and esteem them in proportion to their worth, 
 is, doubtless, most fit and becoming. Now as God knows 
 no equal, he cannot but view and acquiesce in his own 
 glory as supreme ; consequently, he cannot but have an 
 infinite complacency, in a supreme affection for his glory, 
 and an infinite displacency in the least disaffection thereto, 
 in the reasonable creatures. This is his holiness, or 
 the rectitude of his nature, and is the foundation and 
 pattern of all moral excellency. But grace being the 
 impression of God's moral image upon the soul, by which 
 it bears a conformity to his holiness, there is necessarily 
 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 317 
 
 contained in its very essence a transcendent love for his 
 glory. 
 
 It is the nature of sin to draw our affections off from 
 God, and fix them upon the creatures ; and it is the nature 
 of grace to place them again upon God ; " for they who 
 are after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh ; but they 
 who are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." Rom. 
 viii. 5. The saints esteem God as an object worthy of all 
 their affections, and earnestly desire the enjoyment of him 
 as the greatest good. They see a transcendent beauty in 
 all his glories, and love him for them all — for his justice 
 and holiness, as well as for his goodness. And because 
 they love God, they love his image, in whomsoever they 
 behold it, and every mean in which he affords them true 
 communion with himself. The saints they esteem as " the 
 excellent of the earth," and choose them as companions 
 in their way to heaven. Psa. xiv. 2. They delight in the 
 law of God as the transcript of his glory ; and in the gos- 
 pel, as the brightest glass by which his beauties are 
 reflected. In one word, they take delight in the most 
 spiritual sermons, books, and conversation, and in all the 
 ordinances and duties of religion, because these are the 
 means through which he displays his glory, and affords 
 them the sweetest sensations of his love. 
 
 By this time, you may easily perceive, that the grand 
 constituents of the new man are faith and love in their 
 simple nature, i. £., existing as principles of grace in the 
 soul. In believers' views of divine objects, is implied such 
 clear objective certainty, as obtains the firmest assent of 
 27* 
 
318 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 their minds to their reality and importance. This is faith 
 in the understanding, in which sense faith is called, " the 
 knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and under- 
 standing," (Col. i. 2,) " and the full assurance of the under- 
 standing/ ' Col. ii. 2. And in this sense the gospel is said 
 to have come to the Thessalonians " in much assurance." * 
 1 Thess. i. 5. Love being the sum of the divine law 
 written upon the heart of our first parents, was an 
 original affection of nature. This heaven-born beauty, 
 which was lost by sin, is the glorious image drawn by the 
 Holy Spirit, when he writes the law upon our hearts. 
 Love is therefore the sum of religion. It was the reigning 
 affection in innocence. It is the reigning affection in 
 grace. And it will reign triumphant in glory, when the 
 other graces shall for ever cease. The other graces, which 
 only become necessary by our apostasy, and not from our 
 original make, are evidences of love, and flow from it as 
 their source.f From what has been said, we see with what 
 
 * Faith, in this view of it, is a necessary prerequisite to faith as seated 
 in the will, which is the soul's choice of the object as good, the truth of 
 which is apprehended by the understanding. Or, in other words, the 
 soul's view of the truth and excellency of an object, necessarily precedes 
 her embracing that object as good. But it is her choice of the object, 
 which is the justifying act of faith ; for this is that act, by which we ac- 
 cept of, and are united to, Christ. Nor is saving faith distinguished from 
 the faith of hypocrites, only by the soul's embracing Christ, but also by 
 her assent to his suitableness to save ; for, as I have already observed, 
 graceless persons never obtain a just view of divine objects ; therefore, 
 they never make choice of them. 
 
 f Love, being a principle of grace, is a necessary ingredient of all the 
 graces, (which are specifically distinguished from each other, by their 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 319 
 
 propriety divines have called faith and love radical graces, 
 and graciQus principles. For, in their simple nature, they 
 are holy principles, from whence all the graces grow up, 
 as so many fruitful branches of holiness ; they are the 
 foundation of all those spiritual exercises of heart and 
 practice, which are the native acts and evidences of a 
 spiritual life.* If we are " God's workmanship created 
 anew, it is to good works." Eph. ii. 10. God " takes 
 away the stony heart out of our flesh, and gives us an 
 heart of flesh, that we may walk in his statutes to do 
 them ,, (Ezek. xxxix. 26, 27); viz: in that spiritual and 
 holy manner, which is congruous to his holiness and the 
 spirituality of his nature. 
 
 acts and motives,) and only differs from the acts of love, considered as a 
 distinct grace, as a fountain differs from the streams which issue from it. 
 * God has implanted in nature, a principle of action suited to the 
 various operations which arise from it. And can we suppose he will be 
 less liberal in dispensing his special favours ? Or that we can perform 
 truly holy actions without a spiritual principle ? As well may we expect 
 streams without a fountain, or living actions from a dead carcase. 
 " Being dead in trespasses and sins," we cannot exert the acts of a 
 spiritual life, till animated from above with a living principle. While we 
 continue in a state of nature, the ends, the motives, and the principles 
 of our actions being merely selfish, they are morally evil, though the 
 nature of them be good ; therefore are they, in a spiritual sense, dead 
 works. Yet we are not to suppose, that believers without the immediate 
 concurrence of the Holy Spirit, can exert the acts of a spiritual life, by 
 virtue of a principle of holiness disposing them thereto. For as it is by 
 almighty power upholding the frame of nature, and keeping all its springs 
 in tune, that we are enabled to perform natural actions ; so it is only by 
 the Holy Spirit's maintaining and exciting the principle of grace 
 implanted in us, that we can perform spiritual actions. Therefore says 
 Christ to his disciples, " Without me, ye can do nothing." 
 
320 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 Our way is now prepared to show why grace is called 
 "a law of the mind." Like a law, it has a prevailing in- 
 fluence over all the powers and operations, aims and pur- 
 suits of the mind. Laws are made for the government of 
 their subjects, and for that purpose, afford light to direct, 
 and motives to influence their conduct. But grace is a 
 principle of light and love in the minds of believers; 
 " light which shines brighter and brighter to the perfect 
 day/' Prov. iv. 18. The more they view divine objects, 
 the more beauties they discover in them, and consequently, 
 the more ardent is the flame of their love towards them. 
 Love is a very powerful passion, which, by its sweetness, 
 strongly impels the mind to desire, and endeavour to obtain, 
 the enjoyment of its object; especially when its object is 
 viewed as most amiable. Believers have, therefore, the most 
 prevailing motives, both from within and without, to excite 
 them to every pious exercise of heart and life. The in- 
 comparable beauty of divine objects, and the inexpressible 
 sweetness of love to them, inflame their soul with strong 
 desires to obtain the fullest enjoyment of them. Time 
 would fail to mention the powerful motives to repentance 
 and universal obedience, to every grace and every duty, 
 arising from the personal, uncreated glories of Jehovah ; 
 from creating, preserving and redeeming goodness ; from 
 the fulness and excellent frame of the new covenant; from 
 the endless glories and happiness of heaven ; and from the 
 necessity, reasonableness, sweetness and importance of 
 religion in its various branches. But none are stronger 
 or sweeter than those drawn from the cross of Christ. 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 321 
 
 The invincible charms of his love, the riches of his par- 
 doning mercy, and the amazing stoops of his condescension 
 therein displayed, sweetly open the springs of all the 
 affections, and irresistibly captivate the whole soul. 
 
 Conscious of the comforts arising from spiritual views 
 and affections, believers languish when they lose their 
 frame, and with the solicitous spouse, importunately seek 
 their Lord, until he is pleased to restore to them a sense 
 of his love. And the more they drink of this fountain, 
 the stronger they thirst. Their enjoyments only excite 
 their desires. It is a natural and invincible property of 
 the human mind, to desire not only a repetition, but higher 
 degrees of those enjoyments, in which it finds a transcen- 
 dent satisfaction. When the Lord condescended "to 
 speak to Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh to his 
 friend," the pleasure of this sweet interview excites him to 
 put up this ardent prayer, "I beseech thee, show me thy 
 glory." Ex. xxx. 11, 18. So insatiable was his desire, 
 that, had his request been granted in its full extent, it 
 would have proved fatal to his mortal frame ; therefore 
 the Lord says to him, "Thou canst not see my face ; for 
 there shall no man see me and live." Ex. xxxiii. 20. A 
 love to the end, reconciles them to the means of obtaining 
 the end. Because they delight in communion with God, 
 they delight in all his ordinances and commands, the 
 means of communion with him. They desire to " remain 
 in the house of the Lord, to behold his beauty, and be 
 satisfied with marrow and fatness." Psa. xxvii. 4. lxiii. 
 1, 5. " Delighting in the law of God after the inward man," 
 
322 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 they perform the duties required in it, not of constraint, 
 but with a ready mind, for their obedience is the willing 
 offering of love. Rom. vii. 22. John xiv. 15. The most 
 difficult as well as the most easy duties are their choice. 
 And as holy objects have command of their hearts, they 
 perform duty with fervency, when the edge of their affec- 
 tions is not blunted with temptation and sin. In one word, 
 grace overcomes temptation, resists sin, excites believers 
 to war a good warfare, and run with patience the race that 
 is set before them, until they obtain the glorious prize at 
 the end of their race. Thus does it powerfully prevail in 
 the heart like a law. And, Oh ! happy, inexpressibly happy 
 for believers, were this the only principle which has influ- 
 ence upon their actions. But alas ! another principle, the 
 direct reverse of this, often disturbs their peace, and brings 
 them into captivity to the law of sin. But this leads us, 
 in the 
 
 II. place, to explain the nature of indwelling sin, and 
 show why it is called a law of the members. Though 
 believers are sanctified in every part, they are perfectly 
 sanctified in none; a sinful principle remains in them 
 which, like a law, operates in their members, and wars 
 against the law of their minds. This principle is original 
 corruption, and it is represented by the members of the 
 body. 
 
 1. Because as the body is but one entire frame consist- 
 ing of many members, so original sin is one mass of im- 
 purity, which defiles the whole man, and, therefore, con- 
 sists of many branches. It is darkness in the understand- 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 323 
 
 ing, aversion to divine things in the will, filthiness in all 
 the affections, baseness and irregularity in all the sensual 
 appetites. 
 
 2. The principal reason why it is thus represented is, 
 because it exerts itself chiefly in and by the members of 
 the natural body. Sin altering the temperament of our 
 bodies, has introduced into the animal frame such a strength 
 and irregularity of sensual appetites, as powerfully attach 
 our souls to sensible objects. By virtue of the law of 
 union between our souls and bodies, they have a mutual 
 influence upon each other : carnal appetites are corrected 
 or excited by the views of the mind; the mind is subjected 
 to carnal appetites. Sensitive propensities exciting fancy 
 to sport with sensible flesh, pleasing objects, and these, in 
 their turn, striking the fancy through the avenues of the 
 senses, kindle an impure flame in the affections, and 
 strongly attract them to forbidden objects, or fix them ex- 
 cessively on lawful ones. But so far as our affections for 
 creatures exceed due bounds, so far they are taken off 
 from God, and set in opposition to his glory. 
 
 From the carnal tendencies of the heart arise the most 
 filthy scenes of drunkenness, uncleanness, gluttony, thefts, 
 robberies, unlawful and excessive gambling, and frolicking 
 of every kind. Besides these lusts that have their seat 
 more immediately in the flesh, vices of the mind (such as 
 pride, malice, envy, hatred, wrath) are called carnal lusts, 
 and lusts of the flesh ; not only because they are part of 
 carnal men's characters, but also because they are excited 
 and strengthened by the propensities of the flesh. All the 
 
324 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 wild irregularities of fancy and passion are influenced by 
 the irregularities which sin has introduced into the animal 
 frame. Occasions to sin lie much in our flesh and blood. 
 The enjoyments of sensible things, being agreeable to the 
 flesh, are the object of carnal desires. The riches, the 
 luxuries, the pomp, and the various gayeties of this life, 
 are the gods of ungodly sinners, and temptations to the 
 saints themselves. Fine clothes, fine houses, glittering 
 equipages, and high sounding titles, strike the mind with 
 their fancied beauty. Relishing dishes and flowing bowls 
 please voluptuous palates. The adulterer's heart is caught 
 by delusive charms. Large treasures and large estates are 
 snares for the covetous. By Bathsheba's beauty, David's 
 lust is inflamed, and Achan's covetous desire, by a wedge 
 of gold. The glory of his kingdom swells the pride of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's heart ; and an unbounded thirst for un- 
 rivalled military honours, prompts Joab to jealousy and 
 murder. 
 
 By this time it may easily appear, that indwelling sin is 
 called a law of the members, because of the powerful in- 
 fluence it has upon the whole man. It clouds the under- 
 standing, bewitches the fancy, debauches the affections, 
 sets the will in opposition to God, and turns all the mem- 
 bers of the body into instruments of unrighteousness. 
 The unregenerate are wholly under its power. They are 
 carried away with " the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the 
 eye and the pride of life." Being " after the flesh, they 
 only mind the things of the flesh," i, e., for these only 
 they have a relish. Now every person's taste has a 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 325 
 
 governing influence upon his actions ; nor will anything 
 appear beautiful to the mind, for which it has no relish. 
 But carnal men not only have no relish for the glory of 
 God, but an unreconcilable enmity against it, as being con- 
 trary to their sensual inclinations ; therefore they can see 
 no beauty, nor taste any sweetness, in moral excellency. 
 Their pursuits, aims, and desires, are altogether carnal. 
 "What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal 
 shall we be clothed V are their leading queries ; as if they 
 were born only to pamper the flesh, and feed themselves 
 up as oxen for the slaughter. Nor is there any species of 
 wickedness into which they would not run with greater 
 eagerness, than ever the horse rushed into the battle, were 
 it not for the restraints laid upon them by Providence, 
 conscience, education, and fear of divine wrath. 
 
 But grace obtaining the predominancy in the hearts of 
 believers, they are happily delivered from the " dominion 
 of sin." Rom. vi. 14. They have new thoughts, new 
 hopes, new inclinations and designs ; and the chief objects 
 of their pursuits are spiritual. Yet are they afflicted with 
 some of the carnal lusts which were born with them. 
 Some of the former root of bitterness remaining in them, 
 sprouts up, and, when divine influences are withdrawn, 
 and they are off their guard, it will prevail. They are not 
 all spirit. Faith's views are not yet perfect, nor their 
 affections perfectly refined : though grace has subdued and 
 regulated their appetites and passions, yet, while they live 
 in a world of sense, sensible objects will sometimes en- 
 tangle their affections and lead them into mournful cap- 
 
 28 
 
326 
 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF 
 
 tivity. This is one chief source of their falls and sorrows. 
 Satan, apprehensive that the most likely way to prevail 
 against our first parents, even when their minds were under 
 no sinful bias, was by objects pleasing to their senses, 
 presented to them the beauty and goodness of the forbidden 
 fruit, by which means they were seduced to break the 
 divine command. The same game he attempted to play 
 with our Saviour, when he painted before him " all the 
 kingdoms of the world with the glory of them," and 
 promised him all these, "if he would fall down and 
 worship him." Matt. iv. 8, 9. No wonder then, if, in this 
 manner, he solicits, and sometimes beguiles the sons of 
 grace into sinful compliances, in whom there is corruption 
 to catch at his temptations, as powder to catch at the 
 spark. 
 
 Some of the saints find a much greater difficulty in 
 mortifying the deeds of the body, than others, and are 
 much more easily overcome by them. This flows, no doubt, 
 from the much greater strength of their passions, and ir- 
 regularity of their fluids. From the very contexture of 
 their frame, some of them are more passionate, or proud, 
 or peevish, or malicious, or wanton, than others of their 
 fellow saints ; while others, again, are sunk in despon- 
 dency, and almost perpetually deluged with distressing 
 sorrows. It was said of a great man of God, he had 
 " grace enough for ten men, but had not half enough for 
 himself, because his natural constitution was so violent and 
 passionate." Peter was rash and hot-headed. Thomas 
 seems to have been sour and unbelieving. But John, 
 highly favoured in nature as well as grace, lived in love. 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 327 
 
 But though the saints are sometimes overcome by the 
 temptations of Satan joining with the corruption of their 
 hearts, yet grace shall usually prevail, and finally triumph 
 in victory. Of this, our Lord assures them, when he 
 promises, that " the water which he shall give them, shall 
 be in them a well of water, springing up to everlasting 
 life," (John iv. 14,) u e., the influences of the Holy Ghost, 
 which first infused grace into their hearts, shall continue 
 therein as a vital fountain, ever sending forth the salutary 
 streams of holiness, till spiritual life shall be perfected in 
 eternal life and glory. By the continued union of the 
 Holy Spirit with their spirits, the principle of grace is 
 preserved, strengthened, and excited to its various exercises, 
 " till they come to the measure of the stature of perfect 
 men in Christ Jesus." Eph. iv. 13. Yet while they are 
 in the body, " the flesh will lust against the Spirit, and 
 the Spirit against the flesh, and these being contrary, the 
 one to the other," (Gal. v. 17,) you may see in them, " as it 
 were the company of two armies." Cant. vi. 13. 
 
 From what has been said, we learn, that the believer is 
 indeed a mystery, the greatest in our lower world. He is 
 both a sinner and a saint ; he has in him both the old 
 nature and the new — a love to God, and enmity against 
 him. He is black, yet comely ; carnal, yet spiritual ; earth- 
 ly, yet has set his affections upon things above. He is a 
 mixture of the most opposite qualities, represented by the 
 most opposite things in nature — the poison of the serpent 
 and innocence of the dove ; the sublimity of the eagle, 
 and meanness of the crawling worm ! Nay, he is a mix- 
 
328 THE PRINCIPLE OP 
 
 ture of heaven, earth and hell ! In sin, he resembles 
 devils ; angels, in holiness ; and in his animal nature, he 
 is akin to the beasts that perish ! 
 
 Again, if occasions to sin lie much in your flesh, it 
 ought to be much of your care, with the apostle Paul, "to 
 keep your bodies under, and bring them into subjection.'' 
 1 Cor. ix. 27. You must guard all the avenues of sense. 
 I "made a covenant with mine eyes," said Job, "that I 
 should not look upon a maid." Avoid as much as possible 
 every means of provoking sensual lusts and appetites. If 
 you place your happiness in the gratification of these, 
 what are you better than the brutes ? These are the only 
 pleasures they know, or are capable of knowing. But you 
 are capable of pleasures more refined — pleasures arising 
 from intellectual views, and the enjoyment of eternal, in- 
 visible glories. If you do not fix your affections on those 
 glories, you forfeit the rational character, and degrade 
 yourselves to the level of mere animals. Endeavour to 
 obtain clear views of the superior glories of spiritual 
 objects, the beauty and sweetness of which will deaden 
 your affections to the things of time and sense. With Sol- 
 omon, learn this lesson, that every thing below the sun is 
 vanity. 
 
 Especially let those of affluent circumstances learn it ; 
 for in treasuring up riches, you treasure up fuel to feed the 
 flame of lust. This is a powerful argument to excite the 
 poor to be contented with their condition, and bless God 
 for what they enjoy. If he withholds this world's goods 
 from you, he only withholds the snares that prove the de- 
 struction of multitudes. 
 
SIN AND HOLINESS. 329 
 
 Because the allurements of sense are enemies to religion, 
 God, in infinite wisdom and goodness, has so ordered mat- 
 ters concerning his people, that those who are rich in faith, 
 are generally poor in this world. Riches, in themselves, 
 are the blessings of providence, and God will give to a 
 number of his people such a portion of them, as he sees 
 needful to enable them to support the external interests 
 of his kingdom. Yet, if we may credit infinite veracity, 
 they are great temptations to a degenerate world. " How 
 hardly," says Christ, "shall they that have riches enter 
 into the kingdom of God ! It is easier for a camel to go 
 through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter 
 into the kingdom of God." Mark x. 23, 25. The splen- 
 dour of a crown, the glitter of external pomp, and the 
 soothing enchantments of an affluent fortune, are delusive 
 baits to sensual hearts. 
 
 28* 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 BY THE REV. ROBERT SMITH, D. D. 
 
 "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my 
 mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my 
 members.' ' — Rom. vii. 23. 
 
 Having, in the preceding discourse treated of the prin- 
 ciple of sin and holiness, I proceed, in the 
 
 III. riace, to explain the conflict between these in the 
 hearts of believers, and give some marks by which it may 
 be distinguished from the uneasiness arising in the breasts 
 of unbelievers. 
 
 1. The cause of the strife, is the irreconcilable con- 
 trariety of those jarring principles, the one to the other. 
 The essence of holiness, as has been manifested in the pre- 
 ceding sermon, consists in love to God. Sin is unyielding 
 enmity against him. But love and hatred being very 
 powerful, and directly opposite in their operation, a warm 
 debate necessarily arises between them, and will subsist 
 so long as there are any remains of sin to oppose the 
 operations of grace. The question therefore to be resolved, 
 
 (330) 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 for the assistance of solicitous enquirers abont their 
 spiritual state, are not whether they have no love to sin, 
 and no hatred to holiness ; but whether there is in their 
 hearts a real principle of holiness, resisting the operations 
 
 -in; and what is the ground of this opposition? 
 /.formed to God in affections and views, the 
 reason of their regard to hoik. rntly, of 
 
 their opposition to sin, must be the same with his. viz : the 
 intrinsic beautv of the one. and deformitv of the other. 
 Thev see a beautv. and tasl retness, in holiness, in- 
 
 rivably surpassing the beauty and sweetness of all 
 earthly enjoyments. By this, they are enabled to glorify 
 enjoy the comfort of communion with 
 him, and the perfection of this they wait and long for as 
 the very perfection of happiness. Doubtless, souls of a 
 mould so heavenly cannot but resent the hostile invasions, 
 when sin, as a bold usurper, assumes the throne. They 
 hate it, because it is hateful to God. and rises in oppos::: n 
 to his glory. u Against thee, thee only have I sinned," 
 says David, ;i and done this evil in thy sight !" Psa. li. 4. 
 "What ! Had not David sinned against his own soul ! Against 
 Bathsheba ? Against Uriah ? Against his whole kingdom ? 
 
 Inst all these, no doubt ; but this single thought, the 
 dishonour his sin had done to God. overwhelms his in 
 sions of all its othe i erik B ml Paul speaks the language 
 of every Christian, when he laments his wretchedness 
 
 n of sin. and earnestly wrestles for deliverance from 
 it, as a vile, an oppressive, body of death. Rom. vii. 84. 
 But unbelievers' debate with nly from con- 
 
332 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 science and reason declaiming against the indulgence of 
 vicious inclinations, as subjecting them to the wrath of 
 God. They do not oppose it from any dislike to it, or any 
 love to holiness. Give them their carnal pleasures, and 
 they desire no other heaven. They hate the holiness of 
 God, and did they not fear his justice, they would not 
 attempt the obedience of his commands in one single in- 
 stance, nor refrain from any vice to which their degenerate 
 natures are inclined. There are persons, indeed, who, 
 without either virtue or grace, may not have a propensity 
 to some particular vices: they may, from their natural 
 constitution, be averse to drunkenness, and yet be wretched, 
 covetous worldlings. One sin may also contend with 
 another. Prodigality opposes avarice, and avarice prodi- 
 gality. Yet this is only a debate between the flesh and 
 the flesh. But grace is ever uniform, all the graces being 
 united in perfect harmony, and materially aiding to each 
 other. 
 
 2. This conflict, as to its nature, resembles both a for- 
 eign and domestic war. Carnal reasoning in the under- 
 standing, and spiritual desires in the will, mutually oppose 
 each other, as do also faith in the understanding, and 
 carnal desires in the will. Carnal reason pleads for the 
 indulgence of the flesh ; spiritual desires resist the flesh, 
 and give the preference to holiness. Sensual inclinations 
 reject the cross of Christ as too heavy; faith endures, "as 
 seeing him who is invisible." Nor does the debate sub- 
 sist only between the different powers of the soul, but is 
 also in the very same powers ; by which means each of 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 383 
 
 them seems to be set in opposition to itself. In the same 
 understanding faith and carnal reason contend with each 
 other, and the desires of the flesh and spirit in the same 
 will. It is sweet to carnal desires to fulfil the lusts of the 
 flesh ; spiritual desires prefer communion with Christ, as 
 much sweeter. Carnal reason says, To trim with the times 
 may be useful to ourselves and the Church of Christ; 
 faith bids us strictly follow the path of duty, and commit 
 events to God, " whose counsel shall stand fast, and he will 
 do all his pleasure.' ' But as there is no spiritual light in 
 the minds of graceless sinners to resist the dictates of car- 
 nal reason, nor holiness in their affections to resist the 
 lustings of the flesh, their contest with sin is wholly of the 
 foreign kind. They are altogether unacquainted with the 
 vigorous efforts of faith and love, and their victories over 
 carnal reasoning and affections. 
 
 3. True believers have " respect to all God's command- 
 ments, and hate every false way," and, therefore, maintain 
 a war with every sin. Sensible of the deceitfulness and 
 desperate wickedness of their hearts, they fight not only 
 with outward evils, but with their inbred corruptions, and 
 with secret as well as open sins ; with sins of lesser aggra- 
 vations, as well as those of greater; with sins which 
 promise worldly honour, interest and safety, as well as 
 those which threaten the contrary. Secrecy, respect, 
 interest, importunity, and almost every temptation con- 
 spired to persuade Joseph to comply with the solicitations 
 of his wanton mistress; but the respect he paid to the 
 honour and approbation of an all-seeing God had greater 
 
334 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 influence upon his conduct, than any selfish motives what- 
 soever. " How (says he) shall I do this great wickedness 
 and sin against God?" Gen. xxxix. 9. Deeply affected 
 with the depravity of their natures, they enter into the 
 secret recesses of their hearts, and bewail those iniquities 
 of which God and their own souls are conscious. David 
 most heartily confesses, and prays to be cleansed from, 
 his original corruption, as the filthy source of all his actual 
 transgressions. " I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin 
 did my mother conceive me. Create in me a clean heart, 
 God, and renew a right spirit within me." Psa. 1. 5, 
 10. 
 
 But in nothing is the honesty of their hearts more fully 
 evinced, than in their keeping themselves from the iniquity, 
 which is by nature and habit their most beloved lust. Psa. 
 xviii. With this they are willing to part, though naturally 
 dear and pleasant to them, as a " right hand or a right eye." 
 Against this divine grace has fixed their firmest resolutions. 
 This is the cause of their greatest sorrows, and to obtain 
 victory over this, affords them the greatest pleasure. But 
 when the unconverted make any resistance at all against 
 sin, it is generally against those sins which expose them to 
 shame and punishment in this world; against atrocious 
 crimes, which are most apt to affect conscience : or against 
 some particular crimes, to the commission of which they have 
 not a strong temptation in the flesh ; or of which, through 
 custom and education, they may have contracted a kind of 
 abhorrence. These they may part with to pacify con- 
 science, and retain their beloved lusts with greater ease. 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 335 
 
 But they are very little, if at all, attentive to the 
 wickedness of their hearts, except when seized with 
 affliction, or a pang of conscience, and even then, their 
 sensations are soon lost, and all their resolutions soon for- 
 gotten. They pray for the destruction of sin, while they 
 desire to indulge it; and, Felix-like, defer any proper 
 vigorous attempts to obtain their request, till a more con- 
 venient season ; or as Augustine, who in the days of his 
 vanity, prayed to be made chaste, his heart in the mean- 
 time repeating, "Not too soon, Lord, not too soon." Oh 
 that the youth in this assembly, would treasure up this 
 sentence in their hearts ! 
 
 4. We proceed to take notice of the manner in which 
 spiritual soldiers carry on a war with sin. Possessed with 
 an irreconcilable hatred to the camp of the enemy, they 
 resolve to give no quarter, and admit of no correspondence 
 with them, nor any cessation of arms. Therefore do they 
 engage warmly, with a fixed determination not to yield. 
 They strive for victory, and take the kingdom of heaven 
 by holy violence; others make a feint of fighting, but 
 they exert all their strength and policy. Nothing short 
 of complete victory will afford them satisfaction. Jealous 
 of the fair promises and alluring baits of sin and the world, 
 they are fully resolved to reject all their deceitful entice- 
 ments. In an unguarded moment, indeed, they may be 
 surprised by a violent onset ; or, by stratagem, may be 
 taken captive for a season. Yet will not their hearts ever 
 be reconciled to the camp and interest of the enemy. 
 They cannot usually take pleasure in meditating upon sin, 
 
336 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 nor commit it with the same complacence and peace of 
 mind as graceless sinners do. Conscious of its baseness, 
 and the comforts of which it deprives them, their pleasure 
 is lessened in the very act. And when dragged into cap- 
 tivity by it, languishing after their former sweet spiritual 
 liberties, they cannot enjoy themselves, nor be contented, 
 until they return to the camp of Christ. Therefore 
 exerting themselves to the utmost to shake off the bonds 
 of their captivity, they rally again, and renew the 
 attack with greater vigour than before. By the searchless 
 wisdom and goodness of God, their foils are improved to 
 the destruction of their sins, and become a means of their 
 standing more sure. For by these being taught the 
 strength and policy of their enemies, their own weakness, 
 and their daily need of divine aid, they are excited to 
 greater watchfulness, take the field with firmer resolution 
 than ever, and cease not, until they obtain an eternal 
 triumph. 
 
 But as there is not that antipathy between sin and 
 natural reason, as there is between sin and holiness, grace- 
 less folks soon drop the arms they seemed to have taken 
 up against sin. It is too powerful for the strongest and 
 best refined reason. To whatsoever degrees of improve- 
 ment the natural man may attain, he has still a hearty 
 affection for sin ; therefore, a truce with it is very pleasing 
 to him. Ready to hearken to the cravings of the flesh, 
 and receive for truth the false colouring which Satan and 
 a depraved fancy put upon the dalliance of his heart with 
 sin, temptations to the commission of it easily obtain his 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 337 
 
 consent. His debate with it is like that of the wind with 
 the tide, which may presently tack about, and go in the 
 same direction with the tide. The hypocrite will not always 
 call upon God. His goodness is like the morning cloud 
 and early dew, it goeth away. Hos. vii. 4. He will either 
 plague the church with false zeal, or degenerate into dry 
 formality, or, abandoning religion entirely, he will fall into 
 the most pernicious errors in principle, in practice, or in 
 both. The unclean spirit returning with seven other 
 spirits more wicked than himself, they enter into him, and 
 his last state is worse than the first. Matt. xii. 43 — 45. 
 Such persons in every age have given the greatest wound 
 to religion. 
 
 5. Spiritual warriors make use of the whole armour of 
 God. Truth or sincerity of heart and conversation is the 
 guide of their lives. For a breast-plate, they put on the 
 exercise of universal righteousness and holiness. Their 
 feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, 
 I. e., all their conduct and pursuits are influenced by gospel 
 principles and motives. For an helmet they take the hope 
 of salvation, which bears up their spirits amidst every 
 danger, and fortifies them against every furious attack. 
 Above all, they take the shield of faith, wherewith they are 
 enabled to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 
 Through faith they receive of Christ's fulness, and grace 
 for grace — grace to resist and overcome every temptation, 
 and every sin : so clear, so sweet, and so glorious are its 
 views, that they kindle in their hearts the warmest affec- 
 tion for its objects, while they disengage them from the 
 29 
 
338 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 pursuit of carnal pleasures. By this, they see that spirit- 
 ual objects infinitely transcend the value of every thing 
 below the sun. By this, they take a distant prospect of 
 heaven, and converse with invisible glories far beyond the 
 reach of sense. And by this, their eye is steadily fixed on 
 the crown of life promised to those who overcome. This, 
 therefore, is the very spring of all the strength, courage, 
 and vigour necessary for the spiritual warfare. 
 
 In the hand of faith they carry the sword of the Spirit, 
 ■which is the word of God. This is a piece of armour, 
 which never fails them — armour with which, after the 
 example of the Captain of their salvation, they overcome 
 the tempter. Soon as they present to the devil the sword 
 of the Spirit, like a coward he flies off. Are they, in a 
 gloomy hour, tempted to think their sins are so heinous, 
 they cannot be pardoned ? The word of God informs them, 
 that, "where sin abounded, grace much more abounds." 
 Does Satan take the advantage of their spiritual pride, to 
 excite them to trust their own strength and goodness ? 
 This informs them, that "all their own righteousnesses 
 are as filthy rags," and that " Christ alone is the Lord, their 
 righteousness and strength." In a long night of desertion, 
 they are supported with the promise, that "the vision will 
 speak, though it seem to tarry." And as an encourage- 
 ment to prayer, the Holy Ghost is promised to be in them, 
 as "a Spirit of grace and supplication." Nor are they 
 called to perform any duty, resist any temptation, endure 
 any suffering, nor is there any circumstance they can be 
 in whatsoever, but there is still something in God's word 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 339 
 
 suited to that very case. It is therefore a noble mean to 
 assist them in the spiritual warfare. And as often as they 
 forget their sword, or fail in the proper use of it, so often 
 their adversary obtains an advantage of them. 
 
 Finally, sensible of their own utter insufficiency for their 
 duty, they constantly wait at the throne of grace, in all 
 sorts of earnest addresses to God, for skill to use their 
 armour, and strength to vanquish all their enemies. Jacob- 
 like, they wrestle with God, until they obtain a blessing, 
 the Holy Ghost helping their infirmities, and enabling 
 them to make known their requests, with groans which 
 cannot be uttered. But carnal persons use carnal wea- 
 pons, or spiritual weapons in a carnal manner. They 
 consult carnal reason more than the word of God ; and 
 instead of a dependence upon Christ, they trust their own 
 goodness, strength, and wisdom ; careless about holiness of 
 heart, they rest in their outward reformations, and duties, 
 or in some common, superficial impressions made by the 
 Holy Spirit upon their minds. As the Jews followed 
 Christ for the loaves, they sometimes make a show of 
 following him only from worldly views. They profess 
 religion to obtain character and interest among men, or 
 gain the favour of particular persons, upon wdiom they 
 have a dependence. But let the hopes of their gain be 
 over, and their care about religion is over. Slavish fears 
 of hell, and mercenary hopes of heaven, are their highest 
 inducements to perform any duty, or resist any sin. The 
 sweetness and intrinsic excellence of the exercise have no 
 influence at all upon them. 
 
340 the spiritual conflict. 
 
 The Improvement. 
 
 I. What has been said saps the foundation of the hypo- 
 crite's hope, and may afford assistance in solving a case of 
 conscience, which often perplexes doubting Christians. 
 They are puzzled to reconcile the prevalence of sin, 
 which they sometimes feel in their own hearts, with their 
 interest in the divine promise that it " shall not have 
 dominion over them. ,, Rom. vi. 14. But it is the allowed 
 and usual sway of sin, against which the promise affords 
 them security. Now it may, at times, bring them into 
 captivity, though it does not generally rule in them, nor 
 will they live in friendship with it by any means. When 
 the Holy Spirit withdraws, in just resentment for their un- 
 tenderness, they may apprehend that they feel in their 
 hearts the workings of blasphemous thoughts, unbelief, 
 self-righteousness, and various carnal propensities, almost 
 in their full strength. They may also be so far left of 
 God, as to fall into very heinous crimes. At such seasons 
 conscience may be exceedingly benumbed; and though 
 they do not entirely cast off a regard to religion, yet 
 their desires after Christ are very languid ; and when they 
 attempt to seek him like the spouse upon her bed, they do 
 it in a careless, trifling manner. Yet they cannot be easy 
 while at a distance from him. They are sold under sin, 
 and this is their burden. Rom. vii. 14, 24. All the 
 while they live in it, they do that which they allow not ; 
 that which they hate. Rom. vii. 15. Their spark of 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 341 
 
 spiritual life, however smothered, is not wholly extinguished. 
 Though they sleep, their hearts wake, and they know the 
 voice of their Beloved when he knocks for entrance. Cant. 
 v. 2. His endearing voice, speaking to them in reproofs, 
 directions, invitations, and promises, revives their decay- 
 ing graces, and excites them to seek Christ with careful- 
 ness and importunity until they find him, and are enabled 
 to say, u My Beloved is mine and I am his." Cant. v. & vi. 
 8. And when enlarged by divine grace, they are most 
 watchful against every sin, especially against a relapse 
 into their former backslidings. They are daily subject to 
 invincible human infirmities ; nor shall they ever in this 
 life obtain a perfect freedom from the body of death ; yet 
 they are scarcely, if at all, guilty of repeating the same 
 gross offences. We hear of Noah's drunkenness but once, 
 and but once of David's adultery. They may, indeed, 
 repeat the same offence, before they are restored by actual 
 repentance : as Peter thrice denied his Lord ; but we read 
 of his denying him no more after he went out, and wept 
 bitterly. 
 
 But to be repeatedly guilty of the same crimes ; to live 
 in the constant practice of sin ; to roll it as a sweet mor- 
 sel under your tongue, or to allow it the peaceable posses- 
 sion of your hearts, is inconsistent with a state of grace. 
 " Whosoever is born of God, cannot sin (in this sense) ; 
 for his seed remaineth in him." 1 John iii. 9. And 
 though you may sometimes attempt to resist its operations, 
 yet has it the full consent of your souls, if arguments 
 drawn from shame and punishment have greater influence 
 29* 
 
342 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 to restrain you from it, than those drawn from the love of 
 Christ, the beauties of holiness, and the intrinsic vileness 
 of sin itself. 
 
 2. This subject points out your duty, who have enlisted 
 in the spiritual warfare. Be diligent, faithful, and coura- 
 geous in fighting "the good fight of faith." In order to 
 this, it will be of great advantage to be well acquainted 
 with the motions, the strength, the stratagems of your 
 enemies. You wrestle not only with flesh and blood, but 
 with principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickednesses. 
 Eph. vi. 12. All the embattled troops of hell conspire 
 with the world and your own wicked hearts to plot your 
 ruin. Sometimes the devil succeeds in his hellish designs 
 by crafty wiles, and sometimes by violent assaults. It is 
 one of his crafty wiles to paint sin as duty, and duty as sin. 
 Under the notion of greater purity, he persuades people 
 to refrain from ordinances purely administered. When 
 offended with fellow professors, he slily insinuates that 
 resentment is a Christian duty. But whatsoever varnish 
 he puts upon it, a desire of revenge is generally at the 
 bottom, rather than the glory of God, the interest of the 
 church, or the good of an offending brother. Sometimes 
 he persuades them, that they may please their imaginations 
 without much danger, by indulging them in painting a 
 fanciful scene, whereby their affections are ensnared before 
 they are aware, and they are inclined to the commission of 
 some base iniquity, contrary to their first design or expecta- 
 tion. Now he fills them with great disquietude, by painting 
 their difficulties in the strongest colours; now, leading 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 343 
 
 them into the fools' paradise, he so tickles their minds 
 with scenes of vanity, that they forget the evil day till it 
 comes upon them with double distress. One while he 
 would seem to turn advocate for heaven, persuading them 
 their sins are so heinous that they cannot be forgiven con- 
 sistent with the divine honour ; at another time, conceal- 
 ing the turpitude of sin, and fixing their minds intensely 
 on their good affections and good deeds, he excites in them 
 spiritual pride and self-confidence. When he cannot 
 seduce them by crafty wiles, he attempts to overcome them 
 by storm, before they have time to fortify themselves 
 against his violent assaults. Taking the advantage of a 
 critical juncture to raise their fears, he suddenly hurries 
 them into sin in order to screen themselves, or escape an 
 apprehended danger, as in the case of Peter, when he 
 denied his Lord with oaths and cursing. He plays upon 
 them with all his fiery darts, such as blasphemous injec- 
 tions, temptations to part with Christ, or question the re- 
 ality of religion ; fiery darts, indeed, and most painful, 
 the poison whereof seems to drink up their exhausted 
 spirits. By such means as these, Satan will try to gain 
 ground upon you ; to prevent which, you ought to learn the 
 nature of his temptations, and the means by which they 
 may be repelled. Learn your weak side, and guard it 
 well, for on this quarter the attacks of the enemy are most 
 likely to succeed. Be constantly careful to mortify all 
 the deeds of the body, especially your constitutional sin. 
 In this, nature affords the tempter a double advantage 
 against you ; this has the command of other lusts. Take 
 
344 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 the leader, then, and the whole band will be easily routed. 
 In order to assist you in finding it out, I shall give you 
 some of its leading characters. It is that sin, which you 
 have most frequently wished were no sin ; that on account 
 of which you have been enabled to endure the greatest 
 difficulties ; that for which conscience is most apt to accuse 
 you, and for which invention is most ready to find out ex- 
 cuses; it is that sin which disturbs you most in your 
 secret retirements, crowds first upon your thoughts in the 
 morning, employs them most in the silent watches of the 
 night, and most easily carries away your heart at any 
 time. 
 
 Watch against and resist the very first motions of sin. 
 Lay restraint upon the first sallies of corrupt affections 
 and wandering thoughts. Whenever you find imagination 
 begin to be pleased with tempting baits, to devise excuses 
 for the indulgence of the flesh, or for the neglect or care- 
 less performance of duty, then you may be assured you 
 are falling into temptation, and that it is high time for you 
 to be upon your guard. Immediately check the dalliance 
 of your hearts with forbidden objects, and hold not the 
 least correspondence with the enemy. Want of care, in 
 tnis point, was the source of the numerous train of miseries, 
 into which the whole human race are plunged. 
 
 Take unto you the whole armour of God. Be skilful, 
 be constant, be active in the use of every part of the 
 spiritual armour. It is a shame for a soldier to loiter, or 
 suffer his arms to lie by him rusty. If you quit your 
 arms, or turn your backs, you will, doubtless, fall a prey 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 345 
 
 to your enemies. Armour is provided for every part 
 except your back, to teach you that you must maintain 
 the war with courage, and persevering constancy. There 
 is no discharge in this warfare, while you are in your ene- 
 mies' country, or any of them infest your borders ; but 
 thousands of them every moment besiege your hearts. 
 The Christian life is a life of progress, in order to which 
 the continued exercise of grace is necessary, especially of 
 faith, which is the life of every grace. The various 
 ordinances are conduits for the communication of divine 
 influences to mortify your corruptions and quicken your 
 graces. These are appointed as means to lead your minds 
 away from the world, and fix them upon spiritual objects, 
 the beauty of which kindles in the heart a growing affec- 
 tion for them ; but a growing affection for spiritual 
 objects is the life and increase of holiness, and the 
 increase of holiness is the destruction of sin, your mortal 
 enemy. If, then, you neglect to stir up the gift of grace 
 God has bestowed upon you, by neglecting the means ap- 
 pointed for that purpose, you will decay in spiritual 
 strength, and your enemies will prevail against you. 
 
 Finally, follow the directions and example of your Lead- 
 er, and keep close by his standard. A brave general is 
 the life of war. But in Christ you have the most glorious 
 example to influence all your conduct, and aid for the per- 
 formance of all your duty — an example of diligence, watch- 
 fulness, zeal, courage, wisdom, and faithfulness in fulfilling 
 all righteousness and resisting every temptation. Continual- 
 ly imitate this worthy pattern, and look to the Captain of 
 
346 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 your salvation for all the succours you need. He has every 
 supply to give, and you have an oath and promise that "as 
 your day is so shall your strength be." Keep close by the 
 camp of Christ, for if you carelessly wander from it, you 
 will fall into the hands of your enemies. Follow " the 
 footsteps of the flock." Spiritual example and spiritual 
 conversation are noble means of promoting the spiritual 
 life. It is an unspeakable advantage to have brave 
 assistants in the field of battle ; their heroism inspires 
 their fellows to noble actions. But those who are with our 
 Lord " are called, and faithful, and chosen ;" whose faith 
 follow, and imitate them as far as they imitate Christ. 
 Tread in the steps of those worthy heroes, who have trod 
 the paths of virtue and grace before you, and having dis- 
 tinguished themselves by their noble achievements, now 
 gloriously triumph before the throne. 
 
 Did you need motives to excite you to duties so ne- 
 cessary and so noble, I might observe to you the glory of 
 the cause which you have espoused. You have enlisted to 
 fight the battles of the King of glory. The royalties of 
 heaven have been invaded, and you are called to resist the 
 bold invader. Consider also the dignity of your character — 
 a brave soldier has been a glorious character in every age ; 
 but what is the glory of the Alexanders, the Scipios, and 
 all the renowned heroes of antiquity, to the glory of the 
 spiritual soldier — a soldier under the Lord of hosts ! To 
 subdue one corruption is greater glory than to conquer a 
 kingdom — a world ! Yes, greater glory than to conquer 
 ten thousand worlds ! How great the glory, then, to 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 847 
 
 obtain victory over your innumerable lusts, the countless 
 temptations of an ensnaring world, and the prince of dark- 
 ness himself, with all his furious, infernal forces ! Besides, 
 you £0 not a warfare at your own charge. Your armour 
 is provided, and everything you need for the warfare. 
 Take a view of what it is for which you fight — not for a 
 spot of earth — not for a temporal throne or kingdom — not 
 for a crown of yellow dust — No ! but for an everlasting 
 kingdom ! for a crown of glory which fadeth not away ! 
 Nor is it for another you fight, but for yourselves. Every 
 spiritual soldier shall reign for ever as a king. " To him 
 that overcometh," saith Christ, "will I grant to sit with 
 me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set 
 down with my Father in his throne." Rev. iii. 23. And 
 the more valiant you are for the Lord of hosts, your crown 
 will shine with the more distinguished brightness. Oh, 
 the dignity of the martyrs' crown ! the glory of their 
 reward, who have gone to heaven through a sea of blood ! 
 The eternal weight of glory you have in prospect as 
 a reward of victory, is sufficient to awaken all your 
 strength, to rouse all your resolution, and inflame all the 
 ardour of your breasts. Nor do you proceed upon uncer- 
 tainties ; the Captain of your salvation has secured to you 
 the victory. Upon the cross he triumphed over all his 
 enemies, and yours. In dying he conquered death, and 
 him that has the power of death ; and now he is exalted to 
 his eternal throne, he holds the keys of hell and death. 
 Courage, then, Christians ! courage — You shall be more 
 than conquerors through him that loved you, and washed 
 
348 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 you in his own blood ! To arms ! to arms ! A few strokes 
 more, and you win the crown for ever ! 
 
 8. I shall finish this discourse with an address to grace- 
 less sinners — to you who still continue in Satan's interests ! 
 Each of you I address under this character, who live in 
 the practice of any known sin of heart or life ; who live 
 in the neglect of any known duty to God or man ; who take 
 pleasure in the service of Satan, and in the conversation 
 of those who join with him in his conspiracy against 
 heaven ; who never felt the arrows of conviction stick 
 fast in your hearts, nor ever have dropped the weapons of 
 your rebellion ; who have never by faith enlisted with 
 Christ, nor ever engaged in the spiritual warfare. You 
 are enemies to Christ, and join in confederacy with his 
 bitterest enemies. Christ has set up a standard in our 
 guilty world, and by the offers of the gospel invites your 
 flight to it. Satan has also set up a standard in opposition 
 to Christ, and by the various corruptions of your nature, 
 the allurements of the world, and his sly insinuations, he 
 binds you to his interest. His promises are fair but false. 
 He makes large promises of much comfort in the world 
 and in the indulgence of your filthy lusts. He persuades 
 you that there is no great danger, nor any necessity for so 
 much earnestness about religion as ministers urge you to : 
 there is enough time to repent, God is merciful, and will 
 not be severe to mark small offences against you. True, God 
 is merciful, blessed be his name ! but he is just as well as 
 merciful ; and never, never will he exercise mercy to 
 the prejudice of his justice ! If you continue in your sins, 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 349 
 
 you shall perish. If you expect to be happy, you must 
 renounce all your lusts, and all the vanities of this 
 deluding world. You must enlist in the spiritual war- 
 fare, put on the armour of Christ and wear his livery. 
 You must have common friends, common enemies, and 
 common interests with him. And can all this be done by 
 a few lazy wishes, and ineffectual resolutions ? No ! to 
 obtain true religion, is not so easy to corrupt nature as 
 some imagine. Indolent souls have no claim to it. " The 
 kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take 
 it by force.' ' You must deny yourselves, take up your 
 cross and follow Christ, if you expect to enter into heaven. 
 You must strive, you must wrestle, you must fight, for the 
 crown. Rouse, then, sinner ! rouse from your fatal 
 security ! an hour's delay may cost you an eternity of 
 sufferings ! 
 
 Your present warfare is most base, dangerous, and un- 
 reasonable. You commit hostilities against the " Lord of 
 lords and King of kings ;" his royalties you have invaded, 
 his authority contemned, trampled upon his laws, and cut 
 off your allegiance to him. You have revolted from his 
 government, turned enemies to his crown ; and, were it 
 possible, would not only dethrone Jehovah, but destroy his 
 being: for " the fool hath said in his heart, There is no 
 God." Oh, your horrid ingratitude against the parent of 
 your being — the God of all your mercies ! By his power 
 you live, and every moment of your life you receive count- 
 less favours from the unwasted treasures of his goodness ; 
 and yet you join against him with cursed demons who, for 
 30 
 
350 THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 
 
 their base revolt, were damned to the bottomless pit. And 
 this is all the wages you shall receive, if you persevere in 
 your present warfare. 
 
 Your conduct is not only wicked, but weak, and the 
 consequences of it will be terrible to your souls if persisted 
 in. You rebel against Him, who in one moment can dash 
 you in pieces as a potter's sherd. The pillars of heaven 
 totter, and the everlasting hills bow before him ! If he 
 look on the mountains, they smoke, and the most obdurate 
 devils in hell tremble at his presence ! How, then, shall 
 worms of the dust bear up under the weight of his wrath ? 
 Why should you attempt the unequal war ? Are you a 
 match for Jehovah ? Can you thunder with a voice like 
 his ? Can you bear the lightning of his glittering spear ? 
 He has levelled all the artillery of heaven against you ! 
 prepared his instruments of death ! fixed his arrows upon 
 the string ! whet his sword — his sword edged with all the 
 flaming vengeance of God ! Harness yourselves for the 
 battle, ye rebels! Clothe you with all your hellish 
 armour, your hardness of heart, your presumption, your 
 atheism and infidelity, your horrid oaths and imprecations, 
 and try if they will be any defence in the day of his anger, 
 in the day when he shall come forth to avenge the injuries 
 of insulted majesty ! Oh, what language, what idea can 
 paint the displeasure of incensed Deity ! Indignation and 
 wrath, tribulation and anguish is its mildest voice ! But 
 to all this punishment you are exposed, my poor, thought- 
 less, deluded fellow mortals ! If you turn not from the 
 evil of your ways, the tempest of his fury shall beat upon 
 your naked souls, in one eternal, unremitted storm. 
 
THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 351 
 
 Drop, then, guilty sinners ! drop the weapons of your 
 rebellion ! submit to the Lord Jesus Christ ! Touch his 
 peaceful sceptre, lest he break you in pieces with his iron 
 rod ! The flag of mercy held out in the gospel invites you 
 over to the camp of Christ ; the glory of the cause in which 
 you are called to engage invites you ; and all the rewards 
 of victory invite you — rewards the most glorious and most 
 certain. If you enlist in the spiritual warfare, you shall 
 overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of 
 his testimony. You shall triumphantly enter the new 
 Jerusalem with palms of everlasting victory. 
 
SAMUEL FINLEY, D. D. 
 
 Dr. Finlev was born in the County of Armagh, in Ireland, in 
 the year 1715, and was one of seven sons, who were all esteemed 
 pious. 
 
 The parents of Dr. Finley were of Scotch descent, and were dis- 
 tinguished for their piety. Finding their son to be of a quick 
 capacity, and fond of learning, they resolved to give him the best 
 education which their circumstances would admit ; and after he had 
 obtained the rudiments of an English education, he was sent abroad 
 some distance from home, to prosecute his studies. In this school, 
 he distinguished himself by his assiduity and his proficiency in 
 learning. 
 
 When he was in his nineteenth year, he emigrated to America. 
 He arrived in Philadelphia, on the 28th of September, in the year 
 1734. He appears to have become a subject of divine grace, at a 
 very early age. Upon his coming to America, he steadily pursued 
 his studies with a view to the holy ministry. And as he arrived in 
 Philadelphia at the very time when Mr. Tennent's school was 
 flourishing at Neshaminy, and as there was then no other institution 
 in the Presbyterian Church where young men were trained for the 
 ministry, there is the strongest probability that he was a student at 
 the Log College. This probability is strengthened by the fact that 
 he put himself under the care of the New Brunswick Presbytery, 
 most of the members of which were educated in this school. His 
 licensure took place on the 5fch of August, in the year 1740. Having 
 (352 ) 
 
SAMUEL FINLEYj D. D. 353 
 
 received authority to preach, he itinerated extensively ; and, as his 
 pulpit talents were of a high order of excellence, he was eminently 
 useful. 
 
 His labours were greatly blessed in "West Jersey ; — in Deerfield, 
 Greenwich, and Cape May. He preached also for six months, with 
 great acceptance, in the congregation to which Gilbert Tennent was 
 afterwards called, in Philadelphia. His ordination took place on 
 the 13th of October, in the year 1742. He was probably ordained 
 as an evangelist, and continued to visit the places destitute of the 
 stated means of grace, for several years ; and all accounts agree in 
 ascribing much success to his itinerant labours. It is probably 
 during this period, while preaching in a congregation in New 
 Haven, on account of the rigid laws of the land, he was seized as a 
 vagrant, and carried beyond the limits of the colony. He does not 
 appear to have been permanently settled as a pastor, until June, 
 1744, when he accepted a call from Nottingham, Maryland. In this 
 place he remained for seventeen years. It was here, also, he 
 established an academy, with the view, chiefly, of preparing young 
 men for the ministry. 
 
 Dr. Finley was elected president of the College of New Jersey 
 in the year 1761, and immediately entered upon the duties of his 
 office, and the trustees were not disappointed in their expectations 
 of his wisdom and efficiency. As he was permitted to remain five 
 years in office, he had the opportunity of carrying into effect plans 
 for the improvement of the institution, so that its reputation was 
 greatly extended. 
 
 The disease of which he died was brought on by too great assi- 
 duity in his studies, and too constant occupation in the public 
 duties of his office. He did not die at home, but in the city of 
 Philadelphia, whither he had gone to consult physicians respecting 
 his disease. His death occurred on the 16th day of July, 1766, in 
 the fifty-first year of his age. 
 
 His death-bed experience was most remarkable, which can be 
 seen in his biography in the ft Log College." 
 
 30* 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 A SERMON BY THE REV. SAMUEL FINLEY, PREACHED IN THE "NEW 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH," PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 9TH, 1754. 
 
 " And madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go 
 to the dead." — Eccl. ix. 3. 
 
 Whoever seriously views and wisely considers the man- 
 ners of mankind, and brings them to the test of right rea- 
 son, will be forced to receive the same melancholy idea of 
 them represented in this text. The words are Solomon's, 
 who was not only an indefatigable student of nature, but 
 an accurate observer of divine providence, of the conduct 
 of men, and the several consequences of actions, divine 
 and human. He here tells us the result of his researches 
 respecting these. As to providence, that though God has 
 a special regard to the holy and good, yet in external 
 things he makes no difference, but "all things come alike 
 to all." As to mankind, that they take occasion from 
 these promiscuous dispensations to commit wickedness 
 without reserve. "Their heart is full of evil;" for they 
 observe, that " such as work wickedness are set up ; and 
 they who tempt God are even delivered." Mai. iii. 15. 
 (354) 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 355 
 
 This has sometimes been puzzling to the pious, but has 
 struck the ungodly with madness. Hence it comes, that 
 "madness is in their heart while they live." 
 
 Madness is a state of irregularity and discomposure. 
 The person affected with it is not fixed in his purpose ; is 
 not influenced in his conduct by the most engaging motives ; 
 pays no regard to the dictates of right reason ; nor is care- 
 ful about what is decorous, disadvantageous, or dangerous. 
 Now, we are assured by unerring truth, that this is the 
 state of the "sons of men." It is true, they make high 
 pretences to wisdom, and have a show of it ; but " the wis- 
 dom of this world is foolishness with God." 1 Cor. iii. 19. 
 If madness were concealed in the heart, we could not dis- 
 cover it ; but " out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh" (Matt. xii. 34) ; and so by mens' words and 
 actions we come to know what is in their hearts. Hence, 
 a course of life contrary to right reason, and just rules of 
 conduct, will evidence heart-madness. 
 
 In treating this subject, I am naturally led to show 
 wherein the madness of human hearts discovers itself. 
 This cannot be done but by mentioning particular instances 
 of human conduct. And as I apprehend that the method 
 of such a narration is in a great measure arbitrary, I shall 
 not attempt a nice arrangement of the general heads in 
 natural order, but propose them as they occur. 
 
 I. Precipitant conclusions concerning persons, things, 
 or opinions, formed without evidence, and often in defiance 
 of demonstration to the contrary, discover a degree of 
 madness. The crowd of mankind determine the most im- 
 
356 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 portant points, without weighing the reasons on both sides 
 of the question. In their own imagination they quickly 
 penetrate matters, which to the more judicious are abstruse 
 and intricate. If they embrace truth, it is by accident. 
 They contend for religion not because they see its proper 
 evidence, but because they have been accustomed to it. 
 And thus they may be orthodox and regular Christians, 
 from no better principles than those from which the Turks 
 are Mohammedans. Nay, they form their judgment of 
 religion, the highest concern of all, with more indifference 
 than of the small affairs of this life. From hence arise the 
 many sottish opinions, wild reveries, and destructive here- 
 sies, that pass for pure religion with their respective vota- 
 ries, divide the christianized world into so many opposite 
 parties, are contended for with a peremptoriness that 
 knows not to yield to argument, and promoted frequently 
 with a bitter, sometimes with a bloody zeal. What intelli- 
 gent Christian is there, who, without a mixture of pity 
 and contempt, can observe the professors of wisdom become 
 fools (Rom. i. 22); hear the dictates of eternal wisdom 
 pronounced folly, with a supercilious air, and fanciful chi- 
 meras substituted in its room ? It would seem as though 
 the faculty of reasoning was, to many, given in vain; 
 while one asserts the uselessness of it in religion, another, 
 its sufficiency in our lapsed state. This denies the neces- 
 sity of any divine revelation ; that asserts, every circum- 
 stance must be immediately revealed. One thinks saving 
 grace consists in moral honesty ; another places it in the 
 observance of invented forms. One is a libertine, who 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 357 
 
 fancies he serves God while he gratifies his lusts ; another 
 is superstitious, and thinks to please him by monkish 
 austerities. One is content with a dead faith, which 
 neither " purifies the heart," nor " works by love ;" another 
 is persuaded he shall be saved by his good works, though 
 imperfect, without faith in the righteousness of Christ. 
 This lays the whole stress on orthodox principles ; that 
 thinks it indifferent what we believe. Some doubt not 
 their safety, because they are of such a particular religious 
 denomination ; others are of opinion that all denominations 
 stand alike fair for salvation. Here is a bigot, who esteems 
 every circumstance in religion to be essential, and what- 
 ever he believes to be right and true must be a term of 
 communion ; there is a latitudinarian whose religion has 
 little or nothing in it that is important, or worthy to be 
 earnestly contended for. Here unafiecting speculation is 
 triumphant ; there ignorance is the mother of devotion. 
 Here religion is dressed in gaudy attire, with Jewish, 
 worldly pomp, insomuch that its first institution is hardly 
 at all discernible ; there the pure, external ordinances of 
 God himself are rejected with scorn, from a swollen conceit 
 of spirituality. Now all these contradictory parties will 
 be equally stiff and positive in their notions ; yet are all 
 equally extravagant and monstrous, all opposite to divine 
 revelation and the reason of things. And are all these, 
 my soul ! are all these the rational sons of men ? Are 
 all these sure they are wise ? Can truth, divine truth, be 
 a system — a system did I say ? — a heap of dotages ? Can rea- 
 son, strict reason, approve contradictions ? or rather, must 
 
358 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 we not assuredly conclude, " that madness is in their heart 
 while they live?' ' 
 
 Nor shall we find more wisdom in their judgment of 
 men, than of things. They conclude of characters in the 
 lump ; can hardly see anything amiable and good, when 
 some things displease ; nor are blemishes apt to be dis- 
 gustful, when some good qualities shine. Superficial 
 defects hide substantial excellencies from the vulgar eye ; 
 whilst the absence of all valuable accomplishments is 
 easily supplied by mere sound, and empty show. Wisdom 
 and virtue, meanly clothed, are despised ; whilst ignorance 
 and vice, dressed in purple, are honoured. An easy air, 
 and genteel address, often recommend nonsense, and make 
 flattery appear sincere ; but an uncouth mode will cause 
 the same persons to disrelish undissembled regard, and 
 solid discretion. Even learned critics do sometimes defend 
 the very absurdities of a favourite author, and censure 
 what is truly sublime in another. Whole communities, 
 nay, whole nations lie under the censure which belongs only 
 to a part, and perhaps a small part of them. Thus man- 
 kind judge as though reason taught them to make the con- 
 clusion universal, when the premises are only particular. 
 
 II. Men judge not more precipitantly, than speak and 
 act inconsiderately. How frequently may we see proper 
 and improper confused — no respect had to time, or place, 
 or persons ; nor a thought of the obvious and unavoidable 
 consequences ! How many live as if there was no need of 
 caution, no possible danger of missing the right, nor any 
 extreme to be feared — as if nothing could follow from 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 359 
 
 any course of conduct, and a necessary cause would not 
 produce its genuine effect — as if prudence and circum- 
 spection were names, and no power of deliberation had 
 ever been given ! They live at random, and seem to con- 
 sider right and wrong with absolute indifference. In the 
 religious life some are offensive, others stumble and fall, 
 and some take offence when none is given. In the civil 
 life, many ruin themselves in their worldly affairs, and 
 others too, by indiscretion. Some live above their ability, 
 engage in matters too high for them, and fall by those 
 means by which they thought to rise. The imprudent 
 pursuit of grandeur brings others into contempt, whilst 
 they industriously seek to obtain a character which they 
 cannot support; and climb to a pinnacle, where their 
 brains are turned and they cannot stand. Many in a 
 devout qualm engage in a course of strict religion, without 
 a rational sense of its importance, or " counting the cost." 
 Luke xiv. 28. They think not what offences and stumbling 
 blocks are in the way — what artifices of Satan — what 
 allurements of the flesh, and what terrors of the world are 
 combined to turn them aside — how " strait the gate," how 
 " narrow the path," (Matt. vii. 14,) how arduous the as- 
 cent, and how deceitful and impotent their souls — what 
 self-denial, what humbleness of mind, what watchfulness 
 and care, and what courage and determined resolution, are 
 requisite for the purpose. They assure themselves that 
 they will stand firm against all assaults, though they were 
 at no pains to dig deep, and found themselves on a rock. 
 Hence, when the rain descends, when the floods come, and 
 
860 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 the winds blow and beat upon them, they fall, (Matt. vii. 
 26, 27,) and are carried headlong down the stream. Hence 
 their goodness is as a morning cloud, and vanishes like the 
 early dew. Hos. vi. 4. They either become profane, or 
 are taken in the snare of some delusive opinion or heresy. 
 " They turn away their ears from the truth, and are turned 
 unto fables," (2 Tim. iv. 4,) and thus ends their religion. 
 
 III. Many appear to have false views of what is ad- 
 vantageous or hurtful, and draw false inferences from 
 actions and events. In how strange a light do they 
 look on strict piety, who disdain it as mean, or avoid 
 it as unpleasant ; and how come the paths of sin to ap- 
 pear honourable and blissful ? Religious persons and 
 spiritual conversation are by many shunned, as though 
 they were dangerous, while the loose and profane are 
 chosen for companions, as though they were most safe. 
 They are not afraid to violate the laws of God, yet they 
 dread his threatened vengeance. Hell is their terror, sin 
 their sport and entertainment. They tremble at the effect, 
 yet delight in its proper cause. But how absurd is it, 
 mentally to separate misery from sin, when they can never 
 be separated in fact ? The eternal reason of things has 
 made their connection inviolable. What false apprehen- 
 sion have many of their own cases ! The aged and infirm 
 think of years to come, and hence defer their intended 
 preparations for death. The drunkard never knows his 
 capacity, but thinks he may safely venture to take the 
 other glass ; nor does the covetous miser ever judge truly 
 of his necessity, and therefore lives poor in the midst 
 of plenty. 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 361 
 
 Every occurrence is perverted. The goodness of God, 
 which would seem sufficient to melt hard hearts, and form 
 them according to his will, becomes a mean of hardening 
 them against him. If he gives to some abundance of 
 worldly wealth, they use it as though it were a license 
 given them to indulge wantonness, excess of riot, luxury, 
 and all those sensual pleasures, which to others are 
 forbidden. If honour and power are conferred on them, 
 they act as though they were advanced above a scrupulous 
 regard to the divine commands. They seem to say, " Who 
 is the Lord that we should obey him? ,, Ex. v. 2. 
 Because the wicked prosper, they conclude that it is quite 
 safe to follow their ways : " and because sentence against 
 an evil work is not speedily executed' ' (Eccl. viii. 11), they 
 are bold in impiety, presuming on perpetual impunity. 
 They see men despise piety, and even sit in the scorner's 
 chair, yet no visible evil befalls them; hence some are 
 tempted to think divine threats are but bug-bears, and 
 religion but a fancy. On the contrary, pious people are 
 distressed, often severely reproached and run down, and 
 no visible regard manifested for all their care to please 
 God. Upon this, others readily determine, that "it is vain 
 to serve him !" Mai. iii. 14. Some, who made a plausible 
 profession of strict religion, fall away, and prove them- 
 selves, by their after conduct, to have been but hypocrites ; 
 therefore, others carefully avoid any appearance of piety, 
 that they may avoid hypocrisy. They expect to be ac- 
 counted honest and upright, when they are openly wicked 
 and glory in their shame. 
 31 
 
362 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 IV. There are numbers who do not so much as attempt 
 to form their judgment or regulate their practice, by 
 reason. They follow the vogue without scruple. They 
 seek no other test of truth, than that it is said by the 
 great or the many ; nor any other proof of the propriety 
 and goodness of their behaviour, but that it is modish. Cus- 
 tom is to them instead of reason, and influences them much 
 more powerfully, than the authority of God himself. Let 
 their conduct be irrational, let it be wicked too, provided 
 only it be fashionable. Has it a multitude to patronize it ? 
 Then it is no matter though it cannot stand the test of 
 scripture ; no, nor of common sense. The crowd, like a 
 torrent, carries them along, and they lose themselves in 
 it. Their weak minds are confused with the tumult, and 
 made giddy with the glare of giddy pomp. Sedate 
 thought and calm reason, by means of numberless airy 
 vanities, lose their weight, and are resolved into fume and 
 vapour. In this plight, it is no wonder that they esteem 
 those contemptibly weak who choose rather to expose 
 themselves to the censure of the world, than to offend God. 
 They judge of religion itself by the fashion. By that 
 they determine which of the divine commands it is proper 
 to obey ; and which of them, for the sake of decency, is 
 to be laid aside. If religious discourse is reckoned im- 
 polite, a serious expression will shock a gay company, and 
 a few would go near to disperse them. Though it is the 
 will of God that sin should be reproved, and the sinner 
 made ashamed, yet we would offend against modern 
 politeness, should we discover even a calm disapprobation 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 363 
 
 of what is wickedly spoken or acted in company. They 
 who would be quite acceptable to this world, must at least 
 seem to approve what God condemns, that so none may 
 ever be made uneasy by their presence. They must "say 
 to every one that despises the Lord, and that walks after 
 the imagination of his heart, Ye shall have peace, and no 
 evil shall come upon you." Jer. xxiii. 17. "But, surely, 
 the friendship of the world is enmity to God." James iv. 
 4. But let us proceed further, and take a view of men 
 who mistake not their duty ; w T ho acknowledge the things 
 u that are excellent, being instructed out of the law," and 
 we cannot but conclude that they exceed in madness: 
 for 
 
 V. Multitudes continually counteract their judgment and 
 conscience when rightly informed. They own the soul to 
 be more excellent than the body, yet are most anxious to 
 provide for the latter. They spare not cost and pains to 
 cure a bodily distemper, while the immortal spirit, all dis- 
 ordered, is quite neglected. Remedies are carefully sought 
 for a head-ache, but none for a hard heart. A fever is 
 deplored, irregular and distorted passions are indulged. 
 The body is gorgeously clothed and delicately fed, while 
 the soul is naked, without righteousness, and no bread of 
 life sought after for its nourishment. It is of more value 
 than the "whole world," yet is bartered away for a very 
 small part of it, for vanity, for songs, for trifles. That 
 heaven is infinitely preferable to this earth, eternal glory 
 to temporal felicity, is not disputed ; yet sinners choose to 
 live here always. They are conscious to themselves, that 
 
364 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 they would desire no other kind of blessedness than this 
 world affords, could they but still enjoy it, and enjoy it 
 fully, and, hence, grasp the present regardless of the future. 
 They acknowledge that they should make it the very busi- 
 ness of their life to please God, and that his favour is more 
 valuable than the favour of all mankind ; yet they gratify 
 their appetites and humours, when they know they displease 
 him in so doing ; and if they stand fair in the opinion of 
 men, are quite careless about his approbation. They com- 
 mend virtue, but practise vice ; and while they own that 
 wickedness is the way to hell, walk boldly on in it at all 
 adventures. They confess that reason should guide, and 
 the passions should be governed by its dictates ; yet when 
 their passions become clamorous, the voice of reason is 
 drowned, and its loudest remonstrances no more heard. 
 The covetous man is drawn into absurdities by the love of 
 money, the voluptuous hurries on in pursuit of ruining 
 pleasures, and thirst of praise carries the ambitious head- 
 long. 
 
 They make no suitable improvement of their own expe- 
 riences, nor correct past follies by after observation. The 
 world and its evil customs are infectious ; they have been 
 often caught in the same snare, yet never learn to be 
 guarded and circumspect. The review of past scenes of 
 guilty pleasures gives griping remorse, the present do 
 not satisfy, yet many trials convince them not that the 
 future will surely disappoint them. After drinking to 
 excess, the heart is thirsty ; and hunger succeeds the most 
 plenteous repast. "In the midst of laughter the heart is 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 365 
 
 sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness." Prov. 
 xiv. 13. For oftentimes reason is debauched, the conscience 
 seared, the passions inflamed, the constitution broken, the 
 estate ruined, and the person despised. Guilt is contracted, 
 time wasted, and the spirits flag by means of an immoder- 
 ate elevation. Sensual joys clog and surfeit, but do not 
 content : they gratify the brute, but starve the man, and 
 frequently ruin the Christian. Yet we see multitudes of 
 mortals eagerly fluttering to grasp joys which, like airy 
 phantoms, still elude their embraces, and are hardly the 
 shadows of realities ! Disappointed, they nevertheless still 
 pursue, still go the tiresome road, and tread the same beaten 
 path in vain ! In fine, after numberless experiments, they 
 neither learn the emptiness of earthly things, nor the 
 deceitfulness of their own hearts. 
 
 VI. It is well known that madness hurries persons, who 
 are affected with it, into most desperate courses : and this 
 is the case of mankind. " They know the judgment of 
 God, that they who commit such things are worthy of 
 death" (Rom. ii. 4) ; yet they do those, and delight in them. 
 They sin against plainest precepts, guarded with most awful 
 threatenings. In the very sight of Sinai's burning mount, 
 amidst the thunders of offended Jehovah, hardy rebels 
 durst form a god of gold. Sinners are still the same. 
 They sin against shocking terrors, felt by themselves ; and 
 disregard alluring offers of pardon, and charming promises 
 of eternal salvation. They sin, while they are receiving 
 tender mercies, never considering, " that the goodness of 
 God should lead them to repentance" (Rom. ii. 4), and 
 31* 
 
366 THE MADNESS 'OF MANKIND, 
 
 while they suffer the infliction of severe judgments. Ex- 
 amples of despair, the fearful ends of wretched offenders, 
 deter them not ; nor are they persuaded to be religious by 
 the death-bed joys of pure and living piety. Let their 
 dearest friends, and the most learned and godly ministers, 
 convince and beseech them, yet will they not yield them- 
 selves to God. Solomon, with all his wisdom, the royal 
 authority, joined with the sublimest strains of the " sweet 
 singer of. Israel," the persuasive oratory of Apollos, with 
 Peter's burning zeal, could not turn sinners from their 
 course. Let miracles be wrought, the mountains removed, 
 the dead raised, the deaf made to hear, and the blind to 
 see ; even these things will not have the force of argument 
 with them. " Uncover destruction, make hell naked" 
 before them, with open eyes they rush into those flames. 
 Let angels come from heaven, and fiends from the in- 
 fernals ; let eternal raptures, and endless horrors, be pre- 
 sented lively to their view, and they will hardly so much 
 as make a pause. Tell them, nay, show them, how sottish 
 and foolish their way is, yet they will not be ashamed. 
 Conscience speaks, but it is not heard ; commands, but is 
 not obeyed. What shall I say more ? They " rush on God 
 himself, on the thick bosses of his buckler "(Job xv. 26) — 
 they provoke incensed Omnipotence to unequal engage- 
 ment ; defy his power, despise his truth, and like leviathans, 
 " laugh at the shaking of his spear." Job xii. 29. They 
 cannot successfully contend, nor is it possible to escape, 
 yet they will not submit — will be broken rather than bow, 
 and "dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel,"(Psa. xi. 9,) 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 867 
 
 rather than comply with the confessedly righteous will of 
 God. They are told that eternal damnation cannot be 
 avoided, nor eternal glory obtained, but only by the merits 
 of Jesus Christ ; yet many, (could it have been thought ?) 
 many make light even of a Saviour ! despise the Redee- 
 mer ! most horrid, most desperate thought ! His exquisite 
 agonies, his exceeding sorrowful soul, his bloody sweat, the 
 soldiers' scourges, the crown of thorns, the cruel mockings, 
 the painful and accursed death he endured for sin, instead of 
 affecting them with reverence and love to his person, are 
 the matter of their scorn ; or, at best, received with cold 
 indifference. " my soul, come not thou into their 
 secret ; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou 
 united." Gen. xlix. 6. "Be astonished, ye heavens," at 
 the madness, the daring impiety, of guilty mortals ! " be 
 horribly afraid, be ye very desolate." Jer. ii. 12. 
 
 VII. Madness discovers itself in absurd and unreason- 
 able hopes. Earthly-minded and sensual persons hope to 
 content their lustful appetites by gratifying them to the 
 full ; whereas it is plain, that all vicious passions, like the 
 dropsy, increase by indulgence. Endeavours to satisfy 
 them, and by that means to get rid of their importunate 
 cravings, is the same as heaping fuel on fire in order to 
 extinguish it, which yet only serves to heighten and per- 
 petuate the flame. There is no mean that has a proper 
 tendency to quell irregular desires, but only self-denial. 
 Some hope to obtain heaven without holiness ; " to be 
 glorious in the eyes of the Lord," though quite unlike him; 
 to dwell for ever in his presence, though " enemies in their 
 
368 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 minds by wicked works ;" and to enjoy spiritual blessedness, 
 while they carnalize their affections, and more and more 
 indispose themselves to relish it. Thus they separate 
 what God has joined together, while they expect the end 
 without the appointed means. They hope to be pardoned 
 without a heart-purifying faith, and accepted of God 
 without the imputed righteousness of Christ — to be em- 
 braced by that mercy which they grossly abuse, and spared 
 by that patience which they continue to provoke. Nay, 
 they propose, what is obviously impossible, to live with the 
 wicked, the worldly, and debauched, and yet to die with 
 the holy and self-denied ; to be followers of the meek and 
 humble Jesus, and yet indulge wrath and ambition ; and 
 to be happy without friendly intercourse with the Father 
 of their spirits, and fountain of bliss ; and hence, live con- 
 tented, without " having fellowship with the Father and his 
 Son Jesus Christ." 1 John i. 3. Though all fallible and 
 prone to deceive, they nevertheless depend more firmly on 
 each other's word, than on the promise and oath of God, 
 "who cannot lie." Tit. i. 2. They hope to get victory 
 over sin by slothful wishes, without striving earnestly 
 against it, and to become somehow good, without ever 
 "exercising themselves unto godliness." 1 Tim. iv. 7. 
 Oh, what shocking disappointments they meet with ! The 
 higher they rise, the more dreadful their fall. They will 
 be "cut down like a tree," (Job xix. 10,) and end in 
 certain despair. 
 
 VIII. Madness appears in the precarious fickleness of 
 human hearts. Mankind are blown hither and thither, 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 369 
 
 like withered leaves in autumn, or like chaff, the sport of 
 winds. They are not only contradictory to each other, but 
 the same individual is discordant with himself. One thing 
 is approved in the morning, the contrary in the evening. 
 Now love is predominant, but the next pulse beats dis- 
 affection to the same object. This hour the sinner, dis- 
 turbed in mind, rejects a favourite lust with abhorrence; 
 the next, he calls and embraces it. He now resolves to be 
 religious in earnest, but presently defers it till to-morrow ; 
 and when the morrow is come, he has forgotten the whole. 
 
 Now the judgment is clear, and things appear in comely 
 order ; now it is covered with clouds, and what was order 
 becomes confusion. Now the heart is calm, easy and 
 pliant ; now a tempest ruffles the bosom, and obstinacy 
 that cannot bend takes place. Now mercy and kindness 
 sweeten the temper, which is presently soured by revenge 
 and moroseness. Now he steers a steady course this way, 
 but turns to a different point with the next veering gale. 
 Excellent sentiments are quickly blotted, and the last im- 
 pressions razed out by the next succeeding. A determin- 
 ate and fixed resolve but mocks the observer, and seems 
 more like the effect of chance, than of judgment and 
 deliberation. 
 
 How ludicrous are the quick changes of customs and 
 fashions! yet each of them approved, and each of them 
 censured in its turn by the very same persons ! Now it 
 pleases ; now it gives disgust ; and now it pleases again. 
 The gay and fashionable, and they who live in affluent 
 circumstances, are busied too, and even perplexed in the 
 
370 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 variety of vanity, and wearied in the giddy chase — and 
 though many of them are, in some lesser points, more pol- 
 ished than others, yet they afford us a prospect not more 
 rational, nor less wild, than those they despise. Worldly 
 prosperity, perverted from its use by human depravity, 
 makes their passions impetuous, their impatience violent, 
 and their judgment weak. This being the character, 
 though not of all, yet of the greater part who glory in high 
 life, what can follow from it but a wild inconstancy ? 
 my soul! how evanid are human thoughts and human 
 things ! how delusive the scenes of mortal pleasure ! and 
 how little reason is there to depend on the power, or wis- 
 dom, or fidelity of the fallen human race ! " Trust not in 
 princes themselves, nor in the son of man, in whom there 
 is no help," (Psa. cxlvi. 3,) but rather "cease from man, 
 whose breath is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be 
 accounted of?" Isa. iL 22. These characters are no fic- 
 tions, nor exaggerations of the truth, but are all taken 
 from the life. And though the half is not told, yet in 
 what a shocking point of light do even these rough and 
 imperfect sketches set mankind ! 
 
 But what aggravates this madness to the highest degree 
 is, that a after all they go to the dead." Solemn consid- 
 eration ! The gay and jovial, the rich, the great, the poor 
 and mean, the sorrowful and afflicted — all depart hence, 
 and are seen no more among the living ! See whole ages 
 swept away by the " besom of destruction !" noisy and 
 bustling millions silent in the dust ! and all their mortal 
 honours, their sensual joys, and earthly cares, are for ever 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 371 
 
 departed with them ! What authority or empire have 
 Alexander the Great, Cyrus, or Caesar now ? Where are 
 their favourites, their friends, their flatterers, and their sub- 
 jects ? Who fears their frowns, trembles at their threats, 
 or courts their favour in the house of silence ? And what 
 do their triumphs and spoils avail them now ? Implacable 
 enemies are hushed into everlasting peace. Are these the 
 men that "made the earth tremble, that shook kingdoms ?" 
 Isa. xiv. 16. They are become weak as the meanest ; 
 their pomp is brought down to the grave ; the worm is 
 spread under them, and the worms cover them. Isa. xiv. 
 10, 11. Thus mankind in every age bustle and die. Like 
 bubbles they are blown up, and glitter and break ; like 
 flowers they spring, bloom, and are cut down, and like 
 " shadows they pass away," and " continue not." Job xiv. 
 2. But whither do they pass ? Where shall our curious 
 or rather solicitous thoughts follow them ? Is death the 
 end of their existence ? No ; " after that comes the judg- 
 ment." They are summoned to appear before the august, 
 the impartial, and sovereign Judge ; they stand at his bar, 
 and hear an irrevocable doom. What doom ! Can we 
 bear to contemplate the state of those, who madly pro- 
 voked their Judge, and perished impenitent ? Does not 
 the heart recoil, the imagination startle, at the direful 
 thought of a horrible gloom — regions of eternal despair — 
 the steam of sulphur mixed with unquenchable fire — the 
 torturing gripes, the relentless lashings of a guilty con- 
 science, that gnawing, never-dying vulture — the insuffer- 
 able impression of almighty wrath, and the hideous shrieks 
 
372 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 of damned souls? And are the bare thoughts of these 
 things shocking ? what, then, will it be to endure them ? 
 And can we judge those to be sober, and in their right 
 minds, who are in continual danger of plunging into these 
 miseries, and yet are secure and careless about any en- 
 deavour to escape from the wrath to come ? What an 
 amazing scene do the sons and daughters of pleasure ex- 
 hibit to us ! They are daily exposed to a thousand deaths ; 
 are easily broken by numberless unforeseen accidents ; and 
 if they die impenitent, they are for ever undone : yet are 
 no more alarmed than if they were immortal. All thought- 
 less, all volatile, hating serious things, and lectures of 
 death, which, therefore, surprises them, finds them unpro- 
 vided, hurries them away, and pushes them reluctant down 
 the dreadful precipice — from time into eternity. the 
 hardy adventure ! to take a leap in the dark into an end- 
 less, unalterable state ! Merry company, balls, assemblies, 
 and plays, amuse them so, that they forget they are mor- 
 tal, till they die, and see not their danger till they are be- 
 yond relief. They live in jest, " and after that they go 
 to the dead" in earnest. What degree of folly is it to 
 catch a feather, and let go a crown ! to gain a toy, and 
 lose a kingdom ! for a morsel, to barter a birth-right ! and 
 for a moment's pleasure, to part with everlasting joys, and 
 suffer eternal woes ! Are these your men of sense, who 
 look indignant on those who are so weak as to be deeply 
 concerned about such important affairs ? " Vain man, for- 
 sooth, would be wise, though he is born like a wild ass's 
 colt." Job xi. 12. It is an inexpressible absurdity, that 
 
THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 373 
 
 temporal things, whether riches, honour, or pleasure, should 
 engross the intensest thoughts of beings bound for eternity. 
 And it is an eternal solecism in religion, to be engaged 
 about the concerns of it in a cold and indifferent manner. 
 " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the vio- 
 lent take it by force." Matt. xi. 12. 
 
 After considering all these things, will it seem an abuse 
 of mankind, if I compare this world to a great bedlam, 
 filled with persons strangely and variously distracted? 
 Some are so desperate as to refuse all salutary medicines ; 
 and the habit so inveterate, as to non-plus the physician's 
 skill, and make him almost despair of their cure. Some 
 appear hopeful for awhile, but relapse, and their case is 
 more dangerous than before. And some are actually re- 
 covered in a less, some in a greater degree ; but not so 
 much as one perfectly well. My text will warrant the com- 
 parison; and I may not flatter mankind by soothing 
 expressions, when their case requires plain dealing ; nor be 
 so polite as not to learn of God how to speak, when I 
 deliver his message. 
 
 From the whole we are taught 
 
 1. How little reason any one has to be puffed up with 
 popular applause, or dispirited when he does not obtain it. 
 For, consider, who are the judges ? Are they all persons 
 of sound mind, whose conclusions are according to truth ? 
 Far from it. It is true, all fancy themselves mighty good 
 judges of merit ; but I speak charitably, when I say, 
 perhaps one in a hundred can distinguish. That soul, 
 therefore, is lighter than vanity that is tossed hither and 
 32 
 
374 THE MADNESS OF MANKIND. 
 
 thither, according to the ebbing and flowing tides of incon- 
 stant affections. The favourable opinion of mankind is 
 chiefly to be valued as it gives an opportunity to serve 
 their best interests more successfully. 
 
 2. How much reason there is in that divine exhortation, 
 "Be not conformed to this world." Rom. xii. 2. Do not 
 act upon its principles, nor accommodate yourselves to its 
 evil customs and modes. For this world is at variance 
 with God, and " no man can serve two masters." Matt, 
 vi. 24. It is here modish to make light of religion, and 
 treat it, if treated at all, with an air of the most absolute 
 indifference and unconcern. Nay, with many it is polite, 
 to sneer at solemn devotion, and make a mock of sin. He 
 appears big, who dares trample on sacred and inviolable 
 authority, and laugh at divine threatenings ; and wise, who 
 can ridicule the mysteries of the gospel. He who is a com- 
 panion of such fools shall be destroyed. Prov. xiii. 20. 
 
 Lastly. Let the follies of others be a motive to engage 
 your more earnest pursuit of saving wisdom. " Seek her 
 as silver, search for her as for hidden treasure." Prov. ii. 
 4. " Happy is the man that finds her, for she is more 
 precious than silver, than fine gold and rubies — her ways 
 are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 
 Prov. iii. 13 — 15 and 17. If any of you lack this spiritual 
 wisdom, ask it of God, who gives liberally and upbraids 
 not ; and let it ever be a small matter with you, to be 
 judged weak and foolish, by a mad world, provided always 
 that you are wise to salvation. 
 
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