save yourselves, and were left to obey the command by your own strength and exertions.

How are you to be saved then? St. Paul says "by grace through faith," that is, God will save you of his free mercy, if you believe in the salvation which he has revealed. He knew that we could not save ourselves, therefore he sent his Son into the world, to undertake the work for us; and that work he accomplished so effectually, that if we truly believe in him "to the end," we are quite certain of salvation.

may split.

But then, here is a rock upon which you Do you rightly know what is meant by "believing in the Son of God?" Do you understand the nature of the Christian faith? is it faith to be able to repeat the creed? is it faith to say to Christ, "Lord, Lord ?" is it faith to have been baptized? is it faith to call yourselves Christians? is coming to church faith? is receiving the Lord's Supper faith? is it faith to be of a decent character in the world? is it faith to hope to go to Heaven? is it faith to be a zealous and obstinate advocate of a particular doctrine, or of a particular sect? is it faith to be learned in the Bible, and in the mysteries of religion? All these things may be true of persons who are yet void and ignorant of the Christian faith. What is faith then? it is, my brethren, that firm

belief of the Gospel, which leads a man to be a sincere disciple of it; it is that principle, which makes him love God, and keep his commandments; which compels him to study his word, to seek his approbation, to labour after the attainment of his promises; faith makes him, who possesses it, pure in heart, and holy in conduct; it makes him humble, patient, charitable, forgiving, ehaste, temperate, active in promoting the glory of God, and the happiness of mankind; in one word, faith is that which renders a man a sincere Christian; and what sort of person is a sincere Christian? I can satisfy you very briefly, he is one, who "loves God with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his strength, and his neighbour as himself," and he who has a faith which leads to this, is the person to whom salvation is freely offered, in Christ our Saviour.

If you ask whether this is the only kind of faith, I answer, it is the only Christian faith, it is the only scriptural faith, it is the only faith, to which the promises of the Gospel are attached. I do not deny that it is possible to believe the revelations of God, without practical obedience to his laws; for I know that even the devils, who cannot obey, have this sort of belief; and I know that many a trembling sinner, who does not obey, is tormented by the conviction, that he

is living in opposition to the truth. But I say that "faith without works is dead, being alone," I say that a living, a saving, a justifying faith, must and always does manifest itself in all the virtues of a holy life; I say that a faith, which does not produce its genuine fruits of sincere piety towards God, and of active charity towards man, is worse than unprofitable and worthless; that it is a reproach, and an additional cause of condemnation to him who possesses it.

Do you think this is limiting the free and unbought grace of God, and tying it down to difficult conditions? My brethren, it is God himself, who has stated the conditions, upon which He will bestow his favors. St. Paul wrote under this guidance and inspiration; and what has he said? not merely "ye are saved by grace;" not merely ye will, through the mercy of God, obtain eternal life; but "ye are saved by grace through faith;" ye will partake of the free gift of God, if you are qualified to receive it by faith; and true faith, you will find every where described in the Scriptures, to be not a mere indolent quality of the mind, but a practical and active principle, whose operation is exhibited in the whole life and conduct of a Christian!

You may have heard persons object to the

term "conditions of salvation," as if it implied that man is in some respect, his own saviour; but I think I can shew you, that the objection arises from a misconception of the subject. Suppose any one of you were to be under sentence of death for a legal offence; nothing that you could afterwards do, could by any means, lessen that crime or entitle you to forgiveness; but the king, by his own authority, could grant a pardon if he pleased. Suppose at the intercession of another person, whose exemplary loyalty and obedience he wished to reward, he were to do so, it would be a pure act of mercy in him, in him, and you could never say that you had deserved it. But perhaps the king may still choose to say, "I shall recal my pardon, if you do not live in obedience to the laws hereafter; still the gift would be equally unmerited on your part, though bestowed on those terms; you had no claim on his mercy at first, it was not bestowed upon you for your own deservings, and although bestowed for the sake of the good subject, who interceded for you, you might forfeit it by misconduct afterwards; this then is the nature of what is called "a condition of salvation." We are all sinners, unworthy of the favour of God; for Christ's sake we receive a free pardon; but that pardon will be withdrawn if we do not "through faith"

obey the laws of the Gospel. The illustration, which I have put, is warranted by Scripture; our blessed Saviour used one of the very same kind, for the purpose, as it appears to me, of teaching the very same doctrine. "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants," one was brought, who owed him ten thousand talents; he had no means of paying, sentence was therefore passed upon him; he, his wife and children, and all that he had, were to be sold, to discharge the debt; but at the servant's entreaties, the king was "moved with compassion," and freely forgave the debt; but it was only a conditional forgiveness; for when the king found that the man to whom he had been so merciful, had cast one of his fellow servants into prison, for a debt of an hundred pence, he revoked the pardon which he had before granted, and “delivered him over to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him." Observe our Saviour's application of this comparison, "so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye, from your hearts forgive not every man his brother their trespasses," which is as much as to say, "for my sake sins are forgiven; but there is something required of you; you must be forgiving to each other, or else the pardon which is obtained for

your