cessarily intervene betwixt the person's obtaining an interest in the object of faith, and his having his personal interest in that object manifested unto him. Sometimes a persuasion of the truth of faith is granted to the believer, and obtained by him in, or immediately after, the acting of faith, so that he has this sensible assurance at the time he believes; but, be it ever so instantaneous, it arises from something of reflection upon our act of faith, and does not belong unto its nature. From this it is evident, that an appropriation of the object of faith may be affirmed to belong unto the nature of that grace; and yet, a persuasion of our interest in this object, which must have for its foundation a conviction of the truth of the appropriating act, may be denied to be in the essence of faith. Before a person can be persuaded, in the way of sensible assurance, that he has an interest in the object of faith, another point must be settled to his satisfaction, which is this, that he hath really believed with a true and saving faith; and hence appears the necessity of the Christian's considering the evidence of the truth of his faith, before he can be persuaded of his actual interest in salvation.

For the further illustration of this inference, the following distinctions may be made:-There is a difference betwixt a person's believing that he is Divinely warranted to come to the blood of sprinkling, and so acting faith upon it for the pardon of his sin; and his being persuaded that Christ has shed his blood for him in particular: the former, but not the latter, is in the nature of faith. There is a difference betwixt a person's believing that Christ's righteousness is brought near to him in the Gospel; that he is allowed to receive it, together with the soul's resting upon it for eternal life; and the person's being fully

assured that Christ, for the accomplishment of his personal salvation, wrought out this righteousness in his stead: the latter is a conclusion which belongs to the assurance of sense; the former to the assurance of faith. There is a difference betwixt a person's being persuaded that there is life and salvation in Christ for sinners, with a trusting in him for the enjoyment thereof; and the person's being fully persuaded that he shall have life and salvation by Christ: the former belongs to the assurance of faith; the latter is an inference drawn from sense and reflection. It indeed belongs to the assurance of faith, to believe that all shall have life and salvation who receive Christ, and that the person himself, if he is enabled to believe in Christ, shall have life and salvation by him; but he must be assured of the truth of his faith, before he can be comfortably persuaded that he shall have life and salvation by Christ.-There is a difference between a person's believing in Christ for the enjoyment of any blessing, and his being assured that this blessing is his in the actual possession: the former is what we do when we act faith; but we conclude the latter from reflecting upon our faith.There is likewise a great difference betwixt a person's saying that Christ is his, pardon is his, grace and glory are his, as they are revealed to him in the Gospel; and his saying that they are his in the actual title and enjoyment. The mere revelation and offer of them can give no man an actual interest in them; nor can he be comfortably assured of this interest, until he is in some measure satisfied about the truth of his faith. As we are indeed bound to believe that pardon, grace and glory, are revealed unto us in Christ by the Gospel, so a persuasion of this leads us to the actual exercise of faith in Christ

for the enjoyment of pardon, grace and glory; but it is only after we have found the evidences of a true faith in ourselves, that we can say, in the language of sensible assurance, pardon is ours, grace is ours, and glory is ours, in the real title and enjoyment. Thus an assurance of the truth of the object of faith is, and an assurance of our personal interest in the object of faith is not, of the nature and essence of that grace.

5. This part of the subject informs us also, how Christians may come to be assured of their interest in Christ. The way by which the Christian comes to be convinced of the truth of the object of faith, is not the matter of our present consideration; but, it is the way of his obtaining a persuasion of his actual interest in that object, after which we are now to in quire. This assurance may be reached by his consciousness of the acts of his faith,-by the consideration of the immediate effects of his faith,-by his sanctification, and by his enjoyment of spiritual comfort. Christians may know their interest in Christ, and salvation through him, by their consciousness of the acts of faith in their own souls. We may, by serious consideration and self-examination, come to know if we have put forth acts of faith for salvation upon the Lord Jesus. If we know what we do in other cases, surely, in this most important matter, we may reach some satisfaction as to what has been the exercise of our minds. Let us ask ourselves, if we have believed on the name of the Son of God? If we have been enabled, under a conviction of our sin and misery, from a sense of the ability and willingness of Christ to save us, and from a sight of the warrant we have to apply unto him, to fly by faith and trust in the mercy of God, through

the righteousness of Christ, for eternal life? If we are sensible of actings of this kind in our minds, we may be assured of our interest in the object of faith. We may demand of our own souls, where we have rested our eternal salvation. About this matter some are entirely careless, and have placed their hope of salvation on no object. Others depend for salvation, upon their own righteousness, either in whole or in part.

But the saints of God have intrusted their salvation in the hand of Him who is come to seek and to save them that are lost. This precious trust, this good thing they have committed unto him. If our minds are assured that we have done this, we have reason to conclude upon our interest in the object of faith. The consideration of the immediate effects of faith, will discover both the truth of that grace, and our personal interest in Christ by its instrumentality. By the immediate effects of faith, we mean these exercises of the mind which accompany and proceed from the acting of this grace; and they are such as the following:-Affecting views of the nature and guilt of sin, and the curse of the law, which is the desert of it; a discovery of the glory of the Divine perfections, which is manifested to us both by the law and by the Gospel, in the holiness, equity and justice of the law's precept, and in the awfulness, degree and duration of its penalty; as also in the wisdom, beauty and glory of the method of grace in Christ the Redeemer; a degree of rest, peace and satisfaction of mind in Christ; some discoveries of God, as he is our reconciled God and portion through the Lord Jesus; some hopes of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised to us, in Christ Jesus, before the world began; and some humble and sincere resolutions, in the strength of Divine grace,

to glorify God and Christ, in all our conversation in the world. If these have attended our acts of faith, they are considerable evidences of the truth of that grace in our souls, and so of our interest in the object of faith; but if that which we judge to be faith in us, produces, or is attended with, no such exercises of mind, we are strangers to saving faith. Not that these things distinctly pass through the mind on every occasion, when the Christian actually believes; but they have all been found in the exercise of the Christian's heart, when different actings of faith are joined together, and the effects thereof are inquired into. Such a complex and spiritual frame of mind, as may be viewed to include all these, and things of a similar nature, generally attends the exercise of this grace; from which frame, the truth of our faith, and of our interest in the object of faith, may be manifested. Christians may also come to the knowledge of this matter, from their sanctification. By the privilege of sanctification, we are to understand the Christian's dying unto sin, and living unto righteousness; his putting off the old man with his deeds, and his putting on the new man in all holiness; his denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously and godly in the world; and his forsaking the sinful courses of the world, and going in the way of understanding. If this is the real attainment and concern of Christians, it will certainly discover that they have obtained precious faith.Wherever persons are heartily engaged in the exercise of crucifying the flesh, with the affections and lusts, and endeavoring through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, which issues in his keeping himself from his iniquity, and his eschewing evil