• No. 43. 
 
 THE-.GREAT QUESTION ANSWERED. 
 
 1iY REV. ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 Then he called ibr~n light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and 
 fell down before Paid and Silas ; and'bfought them out, and said,. 
 Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? And they said, Believe on the 
 Loed Jesus Christ, and thou slndt be saved. Acts 16 : 29-31. . 
 
 That great numbers of people, even in this christianized 
 country, are ignorant of the way of salvation, is too evident 
 to be denied. It is manifestly no part of their concern, any 
 more than if the}' were in no danger of being lost, or such a 
 thing as salvation bad never been heard of. Nor is this true 
 only of weak and illiterate people ; men who in all other con - 
 cerns are wise, in these things have no knowledge or sense to 
 direct them. The evil therefore cannot be ascribed to simple 
 ignorance, which, as far as it goes, tends to excuse; but to 
 being willingly ignorant, saying unto God, " Depart from us — 
 we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.-" 
 
 God, however, has a witness in every man's conscience. 
 Every man, whatever he may pretend, feels himself to be a 
 sinner, and to need forgiveness. Ignorant and idolatrous as 
 the Philippian jailer had been all his life, yet, when death 
 stared him in the face, he trembled and cried for mercy. 
 And if it was thus with the heathen, much more is it likely to 
 be thus with those who have been educated under the light' 
 of revelation. The mo3t careless and thoughtless cannot 
 tand the approach of death. The courage of the most har- 
 sened infidel commonly fails him at that solemn period. 
 
Header, are you one of the many who scarcely ever think 
 of thes9 things ; and whose chief concern is, what you shall 
 eat, what you shall drink, and wherewithal you shall be cloth- 
 ed? Let the anxiety of a heathen reprove you. 
 
 If you were made only to eat and drink, and enjoy life, for a 
 few years, and then to sink into nothing, you might well throw 
 aside every care, except that which respects your present 
 gratification. But you are of an order of beings distinguished 
 trom all others in the creation. In your nature are united 
 mortality and immortality ; the dust of the ground, and the 
 breath of the Almighty. Life to you is but the introduction 
 to existence, a short voyage which will land you on the shores 
 of eternity. You are surrounded by a number of objects, and 
 f jel"aii interest in each. You build houses, plant orchards, 
 rear animals, and form to yourself a home ; but you are not 
 at home. Your feelings associate with these things, but they 
 are not fit associates for you, You may have a portion in all 
 t iat is doing in your family, and in your country, yea, and in 
 some sort, all that is done under the sun ; but this is not suf- 
 ficient for you. The time draweth nigh, when there will be 
 an end to all these things, and they will be as though they 
 had not been ; but you will still live. You will witness the 
 wreck of nature itself, and survive it; and stand before the 
 Son of man at his appearing and kingdom. Can you think 
 of these things, and be unconcerned ? 
 
 Or, though you be an immortal and accountable creature 
 — as your conscience tells you you are, whenever you consult 
 it, and sometimes when you would gladly shut your ears 
 against it — yet, if you hid not sinned against your Maker, there 
 would be no cause for alarm. A sinless creature has nothing O 
 to fear from a righteous God. The approach of an assize, 
 with all its solemn pomp, does not terrify the innocent ; neith- 
 er would judgment or eternity inspire the least degree of 
 dread, if you were guiltless. But you are a sinner, a corrupt 
 branch of a corrupt stock. Cod placed, as I may say, a gen- 
 erous confidence in our species, and required nothing in return 
 but love; but we have returned him evil for good. You, for 
 yourself, are conscious that ) r ou have done so, and that it is 
 in your very nature to do evil. 
 
 Or, though you be what is called a sinner, yet, if sin U&re 
 your misfortune, rather than your fault, you might fly for refuge 
 
3 
 
 to the equity of your Maker. But this is not the case. What- 
 ever may be said as to the maimer in which you became a 
 sinner, and however you may wish to excuse yourself on that 
 ground, your own conscience bearo witness, that what you 
 are you choose to be, and occasionally reproaches you for be- 
 ing so. You may speculate upon sin as a kind of hereditary 
 disease, which is merely a misfortune, not a fault ; but if so, 
 why do you feel guilt on account of it ? Why do you not also 
 acquit others of blame, where the evil is directed against you? 
 You do not think of excusing a fellow-creature, when he in- 
 jures you, upon any such grounds as you allege in excuse of 
 transgression against God. If he be rational, and his offence ■ 
 voluntary, you make no further inquiry ; but, without any 
 hesitation, pronounce him criminal. 
 
 Out of your own mouth, therefore, shall you be judged. 
 The inability that you feel to do good, is entirely owing to 
 your having no heart to it. It is of the' same nature- as that 
 of an unprincipled servant, who cannot seek his master's in- 
 terest, but is always defrauding him. You would not hold 
 such a servant blameless. Nor will God hold you so. You 
 are not destitute of those powers which render us accounta- 
 ble beings, but merely of a heart to make use of them for 
 God. You take pleasure in knowledge, but desire not the 
 knowledge of his ways; in conversation, but the mention of 
 serious religion strikes you dumb ; in activity, but in his ser- 
 vice you are as one that is dead. You are fond of news ; but 
 that which angels announced, and the Son of God came down 
 to publish, gives you no pleasure. All these things prove, 
 beyond a doubt, where the inability lies. 
 
 Or, if sin should be allowed to be your fault, yet, if it were 
 a small offence, an imperfection that might be overlooked, or 
 so slight a matter that you could atone for it by repentance, 
 or prayers, or tears, or any effort of your own, there might be 
 less reason for alarm. But neither is this the case. If sin 
 were so light a matter as it is commonly made, how is it that 
 a train of the most awful curses should be denounced against 
 the sinner? Is it possible, that a just and good God would 
 curse his creatures in basket and in store, in their houses and 
 in their fields, in their lying clown, and in their rising up, and 
 in all that they set their hands to, for a mere Iriiie, or an im- 
 perfection that might be overlooked ? 
 
If sin were a light thing, how is it that the Father of mer- 
 cies should have doomed all mankind to death, and to all the 
 miseries that prepare its way, on account of it? How is it 
 that wicked men die tinder "such fearful apprehensions? 
 Above all, how is it that it should require the eternal Son of 
 God to become incarnate, and to be made a sacrifice, to atone 
 f)V it? , 
 
 But if sin be thus offensive to God, then are you in a fear- 
 ful situation. If you had the whole world to offer tor your 
 ransom, it would be of no account. Were that which you of- 
 fered ever so pure, it could have no influence .whatever to- 
 wards atoning for your past guilt, any more than the tears of 
 a murderer can atone for blood: but this is not the case — 
 those very performances by which you hope to appease the 
 divine anger, are polluted with sin. 
 
 You are, whether you know it or not, a lost sinner, and that 
 in the strongest sense of the term. Men judge of sin only by 
 its open acts, but God looketh directly at the heart. Their 
 censures fall only on particular branches of immorality, 
 which strike immediately at the well-being of society; but 
 God views the root of the mischief, and takes into considera- 
 tion all its mischievous bearings. " Know thou, therefore, 
 and consider, that it is an evil thing and bitter that thou 
 hast done ; that thou hast departed from the living God, and 
 that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
 
 Finally: Though your sin be exceedingly offensive to your 
 Creator, and though you can make no atonement for it, 3 r et, 
 if you could resist Ms power, escape his hand, or endure his luratli, 
 your unconcern might admit of some kind 'of apology. Sure- 
 ly, 1 need not prove to you that you cannot resist his power 
 — what is your strength, when tried? You may, in the hour 
 of health and festivity, and when in company with others 
 like yourself, indulge your pride, and boast great things ; but 
 if God touch you with his afflicting hand, your strength and 
 your courage instantly forsake you. 
 
 And will you go on to provoke Omnipotence? Canst thou 
 esu'tph his hand ? Whither wilt thou rlee"? If, attentive to 
 thy safety, the rocks could fall on thee, or the mountains 
 cover thee, yet would they not be able to hide thee from the 
 face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath 
 of the Lamb. God hath beset thee behind and before, and 
 
laid his hand upon thee. Whither wilt thou go from his 
 spirit? Whither wilt thou flee from his presence ? If thou 
 ascend to heaven, he is there. Or if thou make thy bed in 
 hell, behold, he is there ! 
 
 The only question that remains is, whether thou canst en- 
 dure his displeasure. And this must surely be a forlorn hope! 
 Can thine heart endure, and thine hands be strong, in the day 
 that he shall deal with thee ? Think of the wrath to come. If 
 it were founded in caprice or injustice, supported ' by con- 
 scious innocence, you might possibly bear it; but, should you 
 perish, you will be destitute of this resource. Conscience will 
 eternally say Amen to the justice of your sufferings. If you 
 had mere justice done you, unmixed with mercy, your suffer- 
 ings would be more tolerable than they will be; but if you 
 perish, you must have your portion with Bethsaida and Cho- 
 razin. Goodness gives an edge to justice. The displeasure 
 of a kind and merciful being — and such is the wrath of the 
 Lamb — is insupportable. 
 
 If, after having heard these truths, and lived in a country 
 where they are fully declared, you do not feel interested by 
 them, you have reason to fear that God has given you up to 
 hardness of heart, and that the language of the prophet is 
 fulfilled in you : " Go unto this people, and say, Hearing, ye 
 sLall Lear, and not understand ; and seeing, ye shall see, and 
 not perceive : for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and 
 their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes Lave they closed, 
 lest tLey sLould see with tLeir eyes, and Lear witL tLeir ears, 
 and understand with their heart, and should be converted, 
 and I should heal them." Remember that, in Old-Testament 
 times, when God blessed his people Israel with singular tem- 
 poral blessings, he punished their transgressions mostly with 
 temporal judgments ; but now that we are favored with sin- 
 gular spiritual privileges, the neglect of them is commonly 
 punished with spiritual judgments. 
 
 But whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear, I 
 will declare unto you the only way or salvation. That 
 which was addressed to the Philippian jailer, is addressed to 
 you. " God has so loved the world, as to give his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever telieveth in Jiim, should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life." He hath given him hot only to 
 teach uh the good and the right way, but to be made a aacii- 
 
6 
 
 fice for sin, and as such to be himself the way. He suffered 
 from the hands of wicked men ; but this wasnot all ; it pleased 
 the Lord to bruise him. ; He hath put him to grief, and made 
 his soul an offering for sin. He commanded his sword to 
 awake against him, that through his death he might turn his 
 hand in mercy towards perishing sinners. He hath set him 
 forth to be a propitiation to declare his righteousness, that he 
 might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. 
 
 This is the only sacrifice which is well-pleasing to God. All 
 that went before, were of no account but as they pointed to 
 it ; .and all the prayers and praises of sinful creatures are no 
 otherwise acceptable than as presented through it. It is not 
 for you to go about to appease the divine displeasure, or to 
 recommend yourself to the Saviour by any efforts of your own; 
 but despairing of help from every other quarter, to receive 
 the atonement which Christ hath made. To this you are in- 
 vited, and that in the most pressing terms. He that made 
 Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him, hath on this ground 
 committed to his servants the ministr}'- of reconciliation ; and 
 they, as ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech 
 vou by them, pray vou in Christ's stead, " Be ye reconciled 
 to God." 
 
 The blessings of pardon, peace, and eternal life, are com- 
 pared to a feast, or marriage-supper, which the King of hea- 
 ven and earth hath made for his Son ; and he hath com- 
 manded his servants to go forth, as to the highways and 
 hedges, and to invite without distinction ; yea, to compel them 
 to come in. Nor is this all : you are exhorted and command- 
 ed to believe in Christ, on pain of damnation. All your other 
 sins expose you merely to the curse of the law ; but the sin 
 of unbelief, if persisted in, will expose you, like the barren fig- 
 tree, to the curse of the Saviour, from which there is no re- 
 demption. 
 
 Say not in thine heart, " All these things 1 have believed 
 from my youth up." You may indeed have been taught them, 
 and have received them as a tradition from your fathers; but 
 such faith is dead, and consequently inoperative. It is the 
 same as that of the Jews towards Moses, which our Saviour 
 would not admit to be faith. " If ye believed Mosee, ye 
 would believe me, for he wrote of me." It is no better than 
 
the faith of devils, and in some respects has less influence: 
 for they believe and tremble, whereas you believe and are at 
 ease. 
 
 But it may be you will say, " I have examined Christianity 
 for myself, and am fully persuaded it is true." Yet it has no 
 effect upon you any more than if you disbelieved it, unless h 
 he to restrain you within the limits of exterior decorum, 
 Your Jaith, therefore, must still he dead, being alone. Believ- 
 ing in Christ is not the exercise of a mind at-ease, casting up 
 the evidences for and against, and then coldly assenting, ns 
 in a question of science, to that side which seems to have the 
 greatest weight of proof. To one whose mind is subdued to 
 the obedience of faith, there is indeed no want of evidence; 
 but it is not so much from external proofs, as from its own 
 intrinsic glory and suitableness to his case as a perishing 
 sinner, that he feels himself impelled to receive it. 
 
 The Gospel is too interesting, and has too much influence 
 on our past and future conduct, to be an object of unfeeling 
 speculation. It is "a hope set before us," which none but 
 those who are "ready to perish" will ever embrace. To be- 
 lieve it, is to renounce our own wisdom, our own righteous- 
 ness, and our own will, and to fall into the arms of mere grace, 
 through the atoning blood of the cross. If the good news of 
 salvation be not in this manner believed, it signifies but little 
 what speculative notions we may entertain concerning it; for 
 where there is no renunciation' of self, there is no dependence 
 upon Christ for justification ; and where there is no such 
 dependence, there is no revealed interest in that important 
 blessing; but the curses and threatenings of Cod stand in all 
 their force aeainstus. 
 
FART II. 
 
 Had the question proposed by the jailor been addressed to 
 the. first genius upon earth, unacquainted with the Gospel, it 
 could not have been answered. Had it been put to all the 
 great philosophers of antiquity, one by one, and to all the 
 learned doctors among the Jews, none of them could have 
 resolved it to any good purpose. Nor, amidst all the boasted 
 light of modern times, can a single unbeliever be found who 
 could know what to do with it. Yet it is a question which 
 arises in every man's mind, at one period or other of his life ; 
 and a question which must be resolved, or we are lost forever. 
 
 Reader, this important question may have already occupied 
 your mind. An alarming sermon, a death in your family, a 
 hint from a faithful* friend, or it may be, an impressive dream, 
 has awakened your attention. You cannot take pleasure, as 
 formerly, in worldly company and pursuits; yet you have no 
 pleasure in religion. You have left off many vices, and have 
 complied with many religious duties, but can find no rest for 
 your soul. The remembrance of the past is bitter; the pros- 
 pect of the future may be more so. The thought of God 
 troubles you. You have even wished that you had never been 
 born, or that you could new shrink back into non-existence, 
 or that you were any thing rather than a man. But you are 
 aware that all these wishes are vain> You do exist; your 
 nature is stamped with immortality ; you must go forward 
 and die, and stand before this holy Lord God! 
 
 If these, or such like exercises, occupy your mind, the ques- 
 tman ot the Philipian jailer is yours ; and to you let me address 
 a few directions, included or implied in the answer. 
 
 If by this question you mean, What can j^ou do to appease 
 the wrath of God, or recommend yourself as a fit object of his 
 mercy? What eanyou do as a good deed, or the beginning 
 of a course of good deeds, in reward of which he may bestow 
 upon you an interest in the Saviour ? I answer, Nothing. An 
 interest in Christ, and eternal life, are indeed given as a re- 
 ward; but not of any thing we have done, or can do, even 
 with divine, assistance; it is the reward of the obedience of 
 Christ unto death. To us it is of mere grace, and as such must 
 be received. Though faith is in itself a holy exercise of the 
 
mind, yet, as that by which 'we are justified, it is directly 
 opposed to doing. " To him that worketh is the reward not 
 reckoned of grace, but of debt ; but to him that worketh not, 
 but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faifch is 
 counted for righteousness.'" He that worketh, seeks to obtain 
 life and the favor of God, in some way or other, as a reward; 
 but he that believeth, receives it as a free gift to the unworthy. 
 And let me apprizeyou, that this is the state of mind you must 
 be brought to, or you must perish forever. So far as you 
 think of doing anything, call it what you may, with a hope of 
 being pardoned and justified for its sake, so far you reject 
 the only way of salvation, and have reason to expect your 
 portion with unbelievers, 
 
 Let me deal freely with you. Yours is a most serious situ- 
 ation. The Gospel-rest is before you; and if you enter not in, 
 it will be because of unbelief. You know the answer given 
 to the jailer; and this is the only answer that can with 
 safety be given to you. Consider, and beware, as you 
 regard your eternal salvation, that you take up your 
 rest in nothing short of it. But, in the first place, let me 
 declare unto you the Gospel of God, which you are directed 
 to believe. If this meet your case; if, rightly understood, it 
 approve itself not only to your conscience, but your whole 
 soul ; if it accord with your desires, as it undoubtedly does 
 with your necessities, all is well, and well forever. I shall not 
 trouble you with the opinions of men as to what the Gospel 
 is, nor even with my own, but direct you to the account given 
 of it by its Author. The New Testament informs us what it 
 is, in such plain and pointed language, that he who runs may 
 read : " God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish but 
 have everlasting life." " Moreover, brethren, I declare unto 
 you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have 
 received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if 
 ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have 
 believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, 
 that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins 
 according to the Scriptures ; and that he was buried, and that 
 he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." 
 "This is a faithful saying," — a truth of such importance ae 
 to have become a kind of Christian proverb — " and worthv of 
 
10 
 
 all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sin- 
 ners, of whom I am chief." "We preach Christ crucified.'' "1 
 determined not to know ant thing among you, save Jesus 
 Christ and him crucified." "This is the record, that God hath 
 given to us eternal, life, and this life is in his Son." 
 
 It is not meant,b.y these brief descriptions of the Gospel, that 
 there is no other truth necessary to be believed, but that the 
 doctrine of the cross, properly embraced, includes all others, 
 or draws after it the belief of them. 
 
 The import of this Gospel is, that God is in the right, and 
 we are in the wrong; that we have transgressed against him 
 without cause, and are justly exposed to everlasting punish- 
 ment; that mercy, originating purely in himself, required, for 
 .the due honor of his government, to be exercised through the 
 atonement of his beloved Son; that with this sacrifice God is 
 well pleased, and can, consistently with all his perfections, 
 pardon and accept of any sinner, whatever he hath done, who 
 believeth in him. 
 
 What say you to this? The truth of it hath been confirmed 
 by the most unquestionable proofs. It first began to be spo- 
 ken by the Lord himself, and it has been confirmed unto us 
 by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness with 
 signs and wonders, and divers miracles. The witness of the 
 three in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, is 
 borne to this; namely, that "God hath given tons eternal life, 
 and this life is in his Son :" and to this also is directed the 
 witness of the three on earth, the Spirit, and the Water and 
 the Blood. Can you subscribe to this great truth, in all its 
 bearings, and rest the salvation of your soul upon it; or do 
 you doubt whether you be so guilty, so helpless, or in so dan- 
 gerous a state as this doctrine supposes? Is it as one of the 
 ' chief of sinners that you view yourself; or does it grate upon 
 your feelings to receive forgiveness in that humble character ? 
 In suing for mercy, are you content to stand on the same low 
 ground as if you were a convict actually going to be executed; 
 or does your heart secretly pine after salvation less humilia- 
 ting, in which some account might be made of that difference 
 of character by which you may have been distinguished from 
 the vilest of men, and in which you might be in some degree 
 a co-operator with God? Does that which pleaseB God, please 
 von : or does vour mind revolt at it ? It meets all y T our want*. 
 
11 
 
 hut none of your prejudices, and proud thoughts, or vicious 
 propensities; all these must come down, and he made to 
 sacrifice to it. Can you subscribe to it on these terms ? 
 
 I am well aware, that the great concern of persons in your 
 situation, is to obtain peace of mind; and any thing which 
 promises to afford this, attracts your attention. If this Gos- 
 pel be believed with all your heart, it will give you peace. 
 This is the good and the old way ; walk in it and you shall 
 find rest for your soul ^ but it is not everything which prom- 
 ises peace, that will ultimately afford it. It is at our peril to 
 offer you other consolation, and at yours to receive it. * 
 
 Consider, and beware, I say again, as you regard your eter- 
 nal salvation, that you take up your rest in nothing short of 
 Christ! Particularly, 
 
 1. Beiuare of brooding over your guilt in a way of unbelieving 
 despondence ; and so of standing aloof from the hope of mercy . Say 
 not, " My sins have been too great, too numerous, or too ag- 
 gravated to be forgiven." "The blood of Jesus Christ his 
 Son cleanseth from all sin," Believest thou this? You are 
 not straitened in him, but in your own bowels. God's thoughts 
 are not as your thoughts, nor his ways as your ways: as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth, so are his thoughts higher 
 than your thoughts, and his ways than your ways. On the 
 sinner that returneth to our God he bestoweth abundant par- 
 don. It is not, '"if thou canst do any thing, help me ;" but, 
 "If thou canst believe — all things are possible to him that 
 believeth." Of what dost thou doubt? Of his all-sufficiency? 
 He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by 
 him. Of his willingness? Ought not his gracious invitations 
 to satisfy thee on this head? Can you imagine that he would 
 proclaim, saying, "Whosoever thirsteth, let him come unto 
 me and drink," and yet be l'eluctant to gratify the desires of 
 those that come ip him ? Objections, on the ground of the great- 
 ness of guilt and unworthiness, may seem to wear the 
 face of modesty and humility; but, after all, it becomes 
 you to consider whether they be any other than the workings 
 of a self-righteous spirit. If you could find in your heart 
 to accept of mercy as one of the chief of sinners, all your ob- 
 jections would vanish in a moment. 
 
 One sees, in your very tears of despondency, a pining 
 after acceptance with God by something in yourself. Were 
 
12 « 
 
 they put into words, they would amount to something 
 like this: "If I had but somewhat to recommend me to 
 the Saviour, I could go to him with assurance; or, if I had 
 been less wicked, I might hope for acceptance." And what 
 is this but making good the complaint of our Saviour? " Ye 
 will not come unto me, that ye may have life!" Such long- 
 ings after something to recommend you to the Saviour, are 
 no other than "going about to establish your own righteous- 
 ness;" and while this is the case, there i#"great danger of your 
 being given up to imagine that you find the worthiness in 
 yourself which your soul desireth. 
 
 2. Beiuare of dwelling, in a xoay of self-complacency, on those 
 reformations which may have been produced by the power af convic- 
 tion. This is another of those workings of unbelief, by which 
 many have come short of believing, and so of entering into 
 rest. There is no doubt but your convictions have driven you 
 from the commission of^grosser vices, and probably have fright- 
 ened you into a compliance with various religious duties : but 
 these are only the loppings off of thebranches of sin; the root 
 remains unmortified. It is not the breaking off of your sins 
 that will turn to any account, unless they be broken off by 
 righteousness ; and this will not be the case but by believing in 
 Christ. The power of corruption may have only retired into 
 its strong holds, from whence, if you embrace not the Gospel- 
 way of salvation, it will soon come forth with increased ener- 
 gy, and sweep away all your fancied reformations. Nay, it 
 is very possible, that while the lusts of the flesh have seemed to 
 recede, those of the mind, particularly spiritual pride, may 
 have already increased in strength. If, indeed, you dwell on 
 your reformations, and draw comfort from them, it is an un- 
 doubted proof that it is so ; and then, instead of being reformed, 
 or nearer the kingdom of heaven than you were before, your 
 character is more offensive to God than ever. Publicans and 
 harlots are more likely to enter into it than you. 
 
 Besides, if your reformations were ever so virtuous — which 
 they are not, in his sight by whom actions are weighed — yet, 
 while you are an unbeliever, they cannot be accepted. You 
 yourself must firet be accepted in the Beloved, ere any thing 
 that you offer can be received. "It does not consist with the 
 honor of the majesty of the King of heaven and earth, (o ac- 
 cept of any thing from a condemned malefactor, condemned 
 
13 
 
 by the justice of his own holy law, till that condemnation be 
 removed. " 
 
 3. Beware of deriving comfort from the distress of mind which 
 you may have undergone, or from any feelings within you. Some 
 religious people will tell you, that these workings of mind are 
 a sign that God has mercy in reserve for you; and that, if you 
 go on in the way you are in, waiting as at the pool, all 
 will he well in the end ; but such language requires great 
 qualification. It is not your being distressed in mind that 
 will prove anything in your favor, but the issue of it. Saul 
 was distressed as well as David; and Judas, as well as Peter. 
 When the murderers of our Lord were pricked in their hearts, 
 Peter did not comfort them by representing this their unhap- 
 piness as a hopeful sign of conversion ; but exhorted them to 
 repent, and be baptized every one of them in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, for the -remission of sins. 
 
 And thus it was with Paul and Silas, wflen the jailer was 
 impressed with fear and di-may :• they gave him no encour- 
 agement from thence, but preached Jesus Christ as the only 
 source of hope. If one who had slain a man in Israel, had 
 stopped short of the city of refuge, and endeavored to draw- 
 comfort from the alarm which he had felt, lest the avenger of 
 blood should overtake him, would he have been safe? There 
 is no security to you or to any man, but in fleeing immediately 
 to the Gospel-refuge, and laying hold of the hope set before 
 you. If you take comfort from your distress, you are in im- 
 miment danger of stopping short of Christ, and so of perishing 
 for ever. Many no doubt, have done so ; and that which they 
 have accounted waiting at the pool for the moving of the 
 waters, lias proved no other than settling upon a false founda- 
 tion'. Indeed, it must needs be so ; for as there is no medium, 
 in one that has heard the gospel, between faith and unbelief, 
 he that does not believe in Jesus for salvation, if he have any 
 hope of it, must derive that hope from something in himself. 
 
 4. Beware of considering faith itself the meritorious ground of 
 acceptance with God. It is true, that believing is an act ot 
 yours, and an act of obedience to God. . Far be it from me 
 that I should convey an idea of anything short of a cordial 
 reception of the Gospel being accompanied with salvation: a re- 
 ception that involves a renunciation of self-righteousness, and 
 a submission to the righteousness of God. But if you consider 
 
14 
 
 it as a species of sincere obedience, which God haa consented 
 to accept, instead of a perfect one ; and if you hope to be jus- 
 tified in reward of it, you are still, "going about to establish 
 your own righteousness" under an evangelical name. This 
 is the commandment of Gfod, that ye believe on the name of 
 his Son. Faith is an act of obedience to God, yet it is not as 
 such that it justifies us, but as receiving Christ, and bringing 
 us into a living union with him, for whose sake alone we are 
 accepted and saved. 
 
 Finally: Beware of taking comfort from any impulse, &r 
 unfounded persuasion that your sins are forgiven, and that you are 
 a favorite of God. Many are deceived in thi3 way, andimistake 
 such a persuasion for -faith itself. When a sinner is driven 
 from all his former holds, it is not unusual for him, instead 
 of falling at the feet of Christ as utterly lost, to catch at any 
 new conceit, however unscriptural and absurb, if it will but 
 afford him relief. If, in such a state of mind, he receives 
 an impression, 1 perhaps in the words of Scripture, .that God 
 has forgiven and accepted him, or dreams that he is in heav- 
 en, or reads a book, or hears a sermon favorable to such a 
 method of obtaining relief, he eagerly imbibes it, and becomes 
 intoxicated with the delicious draught. The joy of hope being 
 so new and unexpected a thing, and succeeding to great 
 darkness and distress, produces a wonderful change in his 
 mind. Now he thinks he has discovered the light of life, and 
 feels as one that has lost his burden. Now he has found out 
 the true religion ; and all that he read or heard before, not 
 affording him relief, is false doctrine, or legal preaching. 
 Being treated also as one of the dear children of God br- 
 others of the same description, he is attached to his flatterers, 
 and despised those as graceless 'who would rob him of his 
 comforts, by warning him against "the lie which is in his 
 right hand." 
 
 I do not mean to say that all consolation which comes sud- 
 denly to the mind, or by the impression of a passage of Scrip- 
 ture, any more thau by reading, or hearing, is delusive. It/is 
 not the manner in which we obtain relief, that is of'aiiy account, 
 \mt what it is that comforts us. If it be the doctrine of the cross, 
 or any revealed truth pertaining to it, this is Gospel consolation; 
 but if it be a supposed revelation from heaven of something 
 
15 
 
 which is not taught in the Scriptures, that is a species of com- 
 fort on which no dependence can be placed. A believer ma y 
 be so far misled, as to be carried away with it ; but, if a man 
 have nothing better, he is still an unbeliever. 
 
 If ever you obtain that rest for your soul which will bear 
 the light, it must be, not from anything within you, but by 
 looking out of yourself to Christ, as revealed in the Gospel. 
 You may afterwards know that you have passed from death 
 unto life, by the love you bear to- the brethren, and by many 
 other Scriptural evidences : and from the time of your em- 
 bracing the Gospel-remedy, you may be conscious of it, and 
 so enjoy the hope of the promised salvation; but your first 
 relief, if it be genuine, will be drawn directly from Christ, or 
 from finding that in. the doctrine of salvation through his 
 death, which suits your wants and wishes as a perishing 
 sinner. 
 
 Having thus warned yon against certain by-paths, I shall 
 conclude with a few additional directions concerning^the good 
 and the right way. «■ 
 
 To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, is to receive him as he 
 is revealed in the Gospel. Christ is God's first gilt, with, or 
 for the sake of whom, he bestows all others; and believing in 
 him corresponds with it. If God first give Christ, and with him 
 all things freely, we must first receive Christ, and with him all 
 things freely. Hence it is said, " He that hath not the Son of 
 God, hatli not life.'/ We must receive him as that for which 
 he was given, which was to be a sacrifice,or propitiation for sin, 
 that God might be just in justifying poor ungodly sinners who 
 believe in; him. We must trust in him as the sole ground. of 
 hope, and plead for pardon only in his name. Receiving 
 Christ as by a marriage-covenant, we become one with him, 
 and so are interested in all that he hath done and suffered on 
 earth, and in all that he is now doing at the right hand ot 
 God, # 
 
 But though believing in Christ has a special respect to him 
 as the way of acceptance with God, yet, when you receive him 
 as your atoning Priest,you will also receive him as your King. 
 When you "come" to him, as guilty and heavy-laden, for 
 rest, you will at. the same time "take his yoke upon you," 
 
16 
 
 and "learn- his meek and lowly spirit.-" Though we are jus ti- 
 Jied by faith alone, yet it is not by. a faith which is alone, but 
 contains the seeds of universal obedience. In one view, 
 namely, as receiving the Saviour, and uniting us to him, it 
 justifietk^ in another view, namely, as including the princi- 
 ples of a holy life, it sanctifieth. 
 
 In thig way, reader, you will 'find rest for your soul. In your 
 journey to the heavenly world, you will have much to do, 
 much to oppose, and it may be, much to suffer ; but by a life 
 of faith on him in whom you first believed, you will find 
 strength equal to your day. Duties will be pleasant, temp- 
 tations will be overcome, -and the sufferings of this present life 
 will work a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.