divine and eternal things, which lay the foundation for true faith, and always accompany the exercise of faith, do, at the same time, lay the foundation for this divine temper. And besides, this divine temper is what every true believer feels to be the fittest and happiest thing in the world, and, as such, longs for it, and goes to God to have it increased and strengthened; and, being unworthy to go in his own name *, he goes in Christ's name: so that the obtaining more and more of this divine temper is one main end of his exercising faith in Christ. And whatsoever he asks the Father in Christ's name, he receives. God is readier to give his Holy Spirit to such an one, than parents are to give bread to their children, (John xvi. 23. Mat. vii. 11.) and therefore every true believer does obtain the end of his faith; and not only has, but grows in this divine temper, and is governed by it, and brings forth fruit according to it: and thus shows his faith by his works, according to St. James' doctrine. James ii. And herein true faith stands distinguished from all counterfeits. Never had a hypocrite a spiritual sense of that ineffable beauty of the divine nature, which lies at the foundation of all the experiences of the true saint, and from whence all true holiness originally springs. The formalist may, from legal fears and merce

* Unworthy to go in his own name. As thus, if, in prayer, I offer up this petition, “Lord, enable me to love thee with all my heart!” it implies, (1.) That I do not love God with all my heart, notwithstanding the infinite obligations I am under to do so; for which defect I am infinitely to blame, and deserve an infinite punishment; to be instantly driven from God's presence for ever, and spurned to hell as a creature fit only for destruction. (2.) It implies that all the external manifestations which God has made of himself to me in his works and word, and all the external means he has used with me, are not able to win my heart wholly to God; so great is my sottishness and alienation from the Deity, and love to the world and sin. And now, surely, such a vile wretch cannot have, a thought of any mercy from God, on the account of any goodness in me; yea, rather I am too bad to be pitied, unless there be some sufficient salvo to the divine honour. How, therefore, can God give me the greatest of gifts, even the sanctifying influences of his Holy Spirit, but through the great Mediator, consistently with his honour as moral Governor of the world. Now, therefore, being thus unworthy to go to God in my own name, I go in Christ's name; as knowing that, through him, God can exercise his infinite, self-moving goodness to the vilest of creatures, consistently with his honour; although law and justice call for their immediate destruction, considered as in themselves,

nary hopes, be so strict and conscientious in his ways, as fo think himself a choice good man: and the enthusiast, from a firm persuasion of the pardon of his sins, and the love of Christ, may be so full of joy and love, zeal and devotion, as to think himself a most eminent saint: but there is nothing of the nature of true holiness in either; for it is self, and nothing but self, that is the principal, centre, and end of all their religion. They do not believe in Christ, that through him they may return home to God, and be consecrated to him for ever, and obtain grace to do all his will. They do not know God, or care for him, but are wholly taken up about their own interest. That Moravian maxim, “That salvation consists in the forgiveness of sins," exhibits the true picture of the heart of the best hypocrite in the world; while that in 2 Cor. iii. 18. is peculiar to the godly. 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.

11. And lastly. In true believers there is a principle of faith, which abides and grows, and perseveres to the end. That spiritual sense of God, of themselves, of Christ, and of the gospel-way of salvation through him, which lays the foundation for the first act of faith, becomes habitual. They have a spiritual understanding to discern spiritual things. (1 Cor. ii. 12.) They were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord; and hence they are called children of the light and of the day. Eph. v. 8. 1 Thes. v. 5. Spiritual light does not come upon believers like flashes of lightning at midnight; now and then a flash, and then as dark as ever again; but their light is habitual, like day-light. And from the first dawning of divine light at the hour of conversion, that daybreak of heaven, their light shines more and more, year after year, to the perfect day. Prov. iv. 18. The flying clouds in the day time, although they may hide the clear shining of the sun for a while, yet they do not make it dark as in the night; yea, the thickest clouds are not able to do it. Believers are never destitute of a spiritual sense of God and Christ, and divine things, as other men are. They are children of the light and of the day; and not of the night and of darkness. The spirit of God does not come upon them by

fits, as it did upon Balaam; but dwells in them. (Rom. viii. 9.) And they grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. iii. 18. If at any time they should have no more sense of divine things than the unregenerate, they would be as much without grace; they would not differ from the stony-ground hearers, who fell away. And now their divine light being thus habitual, growing and persevering, hence their faith is so too. Through the course of their lives it is their way to grow more and more sensible of their sinfulness; the sinfulness of sin; their un worthiness, ill-desert, poverty, and absolute need of free grace and of Jesus Christ, And they also see more and more into the gospel-way of salvation; the glory and safety of it; its suitableness to exalt God, magnity the law, discountenance sin, humble the sinner, and glorify grace; and more and more come off from all self-dependence, to an entire reliance upon Jesus Christ, and the free grace of God through him; seeking to be found not in themselves, but in Christ; not as having on their own righteousness, but his. Phil. iii. 7, 8, 9. They more fully approve of the law of nature, and of the original constitution. with Adam, as being holy, just, and good: they more fully get into a way of looking upon themselves as God does; as being naturally, and in themselves, fallen, sinful, guilty, justly condemned, helpless, and undone: they see more and more of their infinite obligation to perfect holiness, and of the reasonableness of eternal damnation being threatened for the least sin, and of the insufficiency of all their best doings to make any satisfaction for sin the grace of God, as revealed in the gospel, appears more rich, and free, and wonderful they feel more and more of their need of Christ, his worth and merits, mediation and intercession; and of their utter unfitness to approach the Majesty of heaven any other way but by him they feel themselves more full of wants, and further off from any worthiness to receive, and yet more and more into the temper of humble beggars, and into a way of coming to God more entirely in Christ's name. At first conversion such a temper begins; and this temper grows like the mustardseed, and spreads like the leaven, and is like a well of living water, which is never dry, but is springing up into everlasting life. 56

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Mat. xiii. 31. 33. John iv. 14. And thus the true believer abides in Christ as a living branch does in the vine. John xv. And lives the life he lives in the flesh, by faith on the Son of God. Gal. ii. 20. Being kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. 1 Pet. i. 5.

And this is the thing, (I may observe by the way,) which makes grace in the heart more plainly discernible, and its difference from all counterfeits more clearly manifest; and which, therefore, clears up to believers the spiritual state of their souls, answers all doubts, removes all difficulties, and brings them to be settled and satisfied as to their good state. Many spend their lives in searching whether their law-work was right; whether their first act of faith was right, &c. But there is nothing like growing in grace, to put it out of doubt that we have grace, and to keep our evidences clear. And indeed this is the only way. 2 Pet. i. 5—10.

And thus we see, in general, wherein a genuine compliance with the gospel does consist, and particularly what is the nature of a saving faith. And, from what has been said, we may be able to distinguish true faith from every counterfeit; particularly, from what has been said, we may easily see the falseness of these two sorts of faith, whereby thousands are deceived and ruined:

1. The legal hypocrite's faith, who, being entirely devoid of the divine life, and of those spiritual views of God, of himself, of Christ, and of the way of salvation, which the true believer has, is only animated by self-love, the fear of hell, and the hope of heaven, to attend upon the external duties of religion, and to try to love God and be sincere, in hopes of acceptance in the sight of God, if he endeavours to do as well as he can. He thinks God has promised to accept such, and that it would not be just for God to require more of him than he can do. He does not see how bad he is; he hates to think of lying at the mere mercy of God, and cannot endure the doctrine of divine sovereignty; he is quite insensible of his need of free grace and of Jesus Christ. However, he says, he trusts wholly in the merits of Christ for eternal life, and does not pretend to merit any thing by all his doings: and thus being quieted with the hopes of heaven, he goes on in

the rounds of duty, a stranger to real communion with God, and to all the exercises of the divine life. He does duties enough just to keep his conscience quiet, and has faith enough just to keep him from seeing that he rests entirely upon his own righteousness: and, by these means, his duties and his faith serve only to keep him secure in sin, and insensible of his perishing need of Jesus Christ and of converting grace. Let me expostulate the case a little with such a one. And, First, Can a man sincerely comply with the gospel, when, at the same time, he does not cordially approve of the law, as holy, just and good, seeing the gospel, in its whole constitution, is evidently founded upon that supposition? You do not like the law; you think it is unjust. The law requires you to love God with all your heart, (Matt. xxii. 37.) and threatens damnation for the least sin. (Gal. iii. 10.) But you say it is not just for God to require more than you can do, and then damn you for not doing but now the gospel does not mean to make void this law, but to establish it. Rom iii. 31. It would be impossible, therefore, if you did but rightly understand the case, that you should like the gospel any better than you do the law. And, Secondly, Do you think that God will pardon you, when, at the same time, you will not acknowledge the law to be holy, just, and good, by which you stand condemned? What, pardon you, when you justify yourself, and condemn his law! What, pardon you, when you will not own you need a pardon! Yea, when you stand to it, it would not be fair to punish you! Yea, when you are ready to fly in the very face of the law and of the law-giver, and to cry out injustice, injustice! No, no, proud, stubborn, guilty wretch, you must come down first, and lie in the dust before the Lord, and approve the law in the very bottom of your heart, and own the sentence just by which you stand condemned. Luke xviii. 13. Rom. iii. 19. You must come down and own the law to be good, or else God must come down and own the law to be bad. Or, if God insists upon it that the law is holy, just, and good, and you still insist upon it that it is not, it is impossible that God should pardon you, or that there should be any reconciliation. God must of necessity hate you, because you hate his law; and you will for ever hate God for making such a law. And,