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a holy life, we shall not see God—that is, my brethren, provided, that after we believe, or profess to do so, God spares us in this world for the very development of that belief. suppose that the Gospel were this moment brought home to conviction by the Spirit of God to one sinner now before me, who was hitherto unacquainted with "the truth as it is in Jesus;" and that it pleased that Almighty Being, who worketh all things after the sovereign pleasure of his own will, to call him to eternity before he left this house of prayer; think you, my brethren, that he would not be accepted (without even having done a good work) by Him who is faithful to his promise, that he "will in no wise cast out any that come unto him :" for be assured that principle of faith which was then implanted, would have manifested itself in the subsequent years of a righteous life, had Jehovah permitted such an exhibition of his genuine belief.

3. Good works are most important as acts of obedience-for to this end did the blessed Jesus come; "and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." (Heb. v. 9.)

4. They are requisite, as we before endeavoured to establish, as evidence to ourselves of the truth of our faith. And therefore does the

Apostle exhort us to "give diligence to make our calling and election sure ;" and he adds, "for if ye do these things ye shall never fall.” Here is the same glorious truth brought before us in all the strength of its practical utility. Is it the Apostle's intention to impress upon "them that have obtained precious faith, through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," that their works are necessary to render what they have already received, more certain? No, my friends, but he enforces holiness upon them as the criterion to their own hearts of the certainty of their election in Christ; for if they do these things they shall never fall-because they shall manifest themselves to have a vital interest in him who will uphold them; for He sustains the government of his church upon his shoulders, while the names of his faithful saints are engraven upon his heart. Good works are, therefore, necessary to our internal peace and comfort. "The wicked are like the troubled sea"-but, exclaims the Psalmist, in that manual of devotion, the 119th Psalm-" Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them :" while we know that love is identified with action by Him who declareth, "if ye love me, ye will keep my commandments." But lastly, our works will constitute the witnesses

by whose testimony we shall stand or fall at that awful day, when "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Not that their works can purchase exemption from a condemnation so tremendous, but they will manifest the sinner to have that saving interest in Jesus which secures to him the blessing of the redeemed, "There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.'

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We may illustrate our meaning by a simple illustration. Suppose one of the individuals now before me was arrested by the officers of the law, and arraigned before the justice of his country upon a charge of some crime alleged against him, which, if established, would be sufficient to justify his condemation unto death. I ask you, will it acquit him before the court, and in the eyes of the jury, when called upon for his defence, solemnly to protest his innocence to declare, that he is perfectly guiltless of what he is charged with-that he is a person of integrity of principle, and has always borne an irreproachable character? You know, my brethren, that this would not acquit him—and justly so-for it is but reasonable to presume, that if he has invariably sus

tained the character of unblemished purity, which he professes, he will be able to summon witnesses of weight and respectability from the neighbourhood in which he dwelt, and the society in which he moved, who will testify to the truth of his assertions-and whose collective testimony will overbalance the evidence brought against him; and doing so, he is accordingly pronounced innocent. Now, I inquire, what is it that saves him? Is it not his integrity his innocence of the crime? and what more do his witnesses, than faithfully come forward, and give evidence of that integrity? It is just so, my friends, with faith and good works. It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that saves or justifies the sinner, and good works are the witnesses called upon to declare him possessed of the faith which he professes. And, as there necessarily must be witnesses to the honest life and conversation of him, who has been thus living so, must there, of necessity, be good works as the evidences of a true and genuine faith at the day of judgment—not that they will be requisite for the satisfaction of the omniscient Judge, "who searcheth the reins and the heart;" but, that in the sight of a congregated universe, "he might be justified in his sayings, and clear when he is judged." This view of the sub

ject will at once illustrate those passages of Scripture which declare men shall be judged according to their works. In the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, we read, that "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or evil;" while the Apostle informs us in the Apocalypse, that "he saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged, every man according to their works." These and similar passages, are not unfrequently adduced in support of a doctrine opposed to justification by faith only; but, I trust, the explanation I have given, commends itself to your judgments, while I feel assured, they only tend to confirm and establish its truth. It is indeed a consideration peculiarly awful, that every one now before me, will be judged according to their works. There is a declaration in this blessed Volume, that I would, were inscribed with a diamond pen upon every heart-it is the solemn declaration of Jesus himself, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge

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