Did the

The second cause of our mistake about the impossibility of believing now, is the confounding of faith with its fruits and rewards; which naturally leads us to think, that we cannot believe, or that our faith is vain, till those rewards and fruits appear. But is not this being ingenious to make the worst of things? Had Abraham no faith in God's promise, till Isaac was born? Was Sarah a damnable unbeliever, till she felt the long-expected fruit of her womb stir there? Had the woman of Canaan no faith, till our Lord granted her request, and cried out, 'O woman, great is thy faith, let it be done unto thee even as thou wilt?' Was the Centurion an Infidel, till Christ' marvelled at his faith,' and declared he had not found such faith, no not in Israel?' Was Peter faithless, till his master said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah,' &c. ? weeping penitent begin to believe only when Christ said to her, Go in peace, thy faith hath saved thee?' And had the apostles no faith in the promise of the Father,' till their heads were actually crowned with celestial fire? Should we not distinguish between our sealing the truth of our dispensation with the seal of our faith, according to our present light and ability; and God's sealing the truth of our faith with the seal of his power, or actually rewarding us by the graut of some eminent and uncommon blessing?-To believe is OUR part; to make signs follow them that believe' is GOD's part; and because we cau no more do God's part than we can make a world, is it agreeable either to scripture or reason to conclude, that doing our part is equally difficult? Can you find one single instance in the scriptures of a soul willing to believe, and absolutely unable to do it? From these two scriptures,

Lord, increase our faith ;-Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief,' can you justly infer, that the praying disciples and the distressed father had no power to believe? Do not their words evidence just the contrary? That we cannot believe, any more than we can cat, without the help and power of God, is what we are all agreed upon; but does this in the least prove

that the help and power, by which we believe, is as far out of the reach of willing souls, as the help and power to make a world?

Such scriptures as these, Unto you it is given to believe--A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from above-No man can come unto me except the Father draw him-Every good gift [and of course that of faith] cometh from the Father of lights.'-Such scriptures, I say, secure indeed the honour of free grace, but do not destroy the power of free agency. To us, that freely believe in a holy, righteous God, it is given freely to believe in a gracious bleeding Saviour; because the sick alone have need of a physician; and none but those who believe in God, can see the need of an advocate with him. But ought we from hence to conclude, that our unbelieving neighbours are necessarily debarred from believing in God?' When our Lord said to the unbelieving Jews, that they could not believe in him, did he not speak of a moral impotency-an impotency of their own making? I ask it again, If they obstinately resisted the light of their inferior dispensation; if they were none of Christ's Jewish sheep, how could they be his Christian sheep? If an obstinate boy sets himself against learning the letters, how can he ever learn to read? If a stubborn Jew stiffly opposes the law of Moses, how can he submit to the law of Christ? Is it not strange that some good people should leap into reprobation, rather than admit so obvious a solution of this little difficulty?

From the above-mentioned texts we have then no more reason to infer, that God forces believers to believe, or that he believes for them, than to conclude that God constrains diligent tradesmen to get money, or gets it for them, because it is said, We are not sufficient to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God-who gives us all things richly to enjoy.-Remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.'

From the whole I conclude, that, so long as the accepted time,' and the day of salvation,' continue,

all sinners who have not yet finally hardened themselves, may day and night (through the help and power of the general light of Christ's saving grace,' mentioned John i. 9, and Tit. ii. 11,) receive some truth belonging to the everlasting gospel; though it should be only this: "There is a God, who will call us to an account for our sins, and who spares us to break them off by repentance." And their cordial believing of this truth, would make way for their receiving the higher truths, that stand between them and the top of the mysterious ladder of truth. I grant, it is impossible they should leap at once to the middle, much less to the highest round of the ladder: But if the foot of it is upon earth, in the very nature of things, the lowest step is within their reach, and by laying hold on it, they may go on from faith to faith,' till they stand firm even in the Christian faith; if distinguishing grace has elected them to hear the Christian gospel. The most sudden conversions imply this gradual transition. As in the very nature of things, when the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip' from the Eunuch, and transported him to Azotus, he made Philip's body rapidly measure all the distance between the wilderness of Gaza and Azotus: So, when he helped the Philippian jailor from the gates of hell to the gates of heaven in one night, he made him rapidly pass through the fear of God, the dread of his justice, and the pangs of penitential desires after salvation, before he entered into the joyous rest, that remains for those that heartily believe in Christ. Nor is this quick, though gradual, transition from midnight darkness to noon-day light, an unintelligible mystery; since we are witnesses of a similar event every revolving day. The vegetable and the animal world help us likewise to understand the nature of sudden conversions. Every philosopher knows, that a mushroom passes through almost as many stages of the vegetative life in six hours, as an oak does in two hundred years: And those animalculæ that frisk into life in the morning of a summer's day, propagate their species at noon, are old at four o'clock,

and dead at six, measure the length of animal life as really as Methuselah did in his millennium.

SECTION II.

Saving Truth is the object of Saving Faith: What Truth is, and what great things are spoken of it. Our salvation turns upon it.

IT appears by the preceding section, that saving TRUTH is the ground and object of saving FAITH ; but "What is TRUTH?"This is the awful question, that Pilate once asked of Him, who was best able to answer it. But alas! Pilate was in such haste through the lying fear of man, that he did not stay for an answer. May I venture to give one.-TRUTH is spiritual substance; and a LIE, spiritual shadow. TRUTH is spiritual light; and a Lie, spiritual darkness. Truth is the root of all virtue, and a Lie is the root of all vice. Truth is the celestial tincture, that makes spirits good; and a Lie, the infernal tincture that makes them evil. A Lie is nearly related to the devil, as infection to one that has the plague, or opacity to the earth; and Truth is as nearly related to God, as fragrancy to burning incense, and light to the unclouded sun.

According to this definition of Truth and Error, may we not give plain and scriptural answers to some of the deepest questions in the world? What is God? The reverse of the prince of darkness,' and of the father of lies' He is the Father of lights,' and the God of Truth' He is Light, and in him is no darkness at all.' -What is Christ? He is the brightness of his Father's glory; a light; a great light to them that dwell in the ́ shadow of death.' He is 'the Truth; the true Witness; the Truth itself; Emmanuel, God with us, full of grace and Truth.'-What is the Holy Ghost? The Spirit of Truth' Yea, says St. John, the Spirit is Truth,' and leads into all Truth.'-What is Satan? The Spirit

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of error,' that abode not in the Truth; in whom there is no Truth,' and who'deceives the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth.'

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Again, What is the gospel? "The word of Truth, the word of God, the word of faith, the word of the king. dom, the word of life, and the word of salvation.'What are gospel-ministers? Men that bear witness to the Truth;' that rightly divide the word of Truth ;' that are fellow-helpers to the Truth;' that ́ speak forth the words of Truth;' and are valiant for the Truth upon the earth.'-What is the preaching of the gospel? The manifestation of the Truth.'-What is it to believe the gospel? It is to receive the knowledge of the Truth;' to 'receive the love of the Truth;' and to obey the Truth.'-What is it to mistake the gospel? It is toerr from the Truth;' to turn after fables;' and to give heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.' What is the church? The pillar and ground of Truth, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. What is the first fruit of sincere repentance? "The acknowledging of the Truth.'-What are believers? Persons that are chosen to salvation through the [unnecessitated] belief of the Truth ;' that are of the Truth; that know the Truth;' that have the Truth in their inward parts;' that have a good report of the Truth; in whom dwells the Truth; who bare been taught the Truth as it is in Jesus; in whom is the Truth of Christ; who have purified their souls by obeying the Truth;' and walk in the Truth.'-What are unstable souls? People' ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth,' with whom the Truth of the gospel does not continue,' and who are wilfully bewitched, that they should not obey the Truth.'-What are obstinate unbelievers ? 'Men of corrupt minds, destitute of the Truth; unreasonable men,' that resist the Truth;' that glory and lie against the Truth;' that' walk in darkness, and do not the Truth.'-What are apostates ? Men that sin wilfully after they have received the knowledge of the Truth,' and instead of repenting, 6 count the blood of