us," in the performance. "For it is God, who of his good pleasure worketh in us both to will and to do." Phil. ii. 12. Not I says the Apostle, after mentioning his good works, but the grace of God in me, 1 Cor. xv. 10, compared with James i. 17.

6. We perpetually say at church: Glory be to the Father, as Creator; and to the Son, as Redeemer; and to the Holy Ghost, as Sanctifier. Christ is then to have all the glory of our redemption: But if our good works come in for any share in the purchase of heaven, we must come in also for some share of the glory of our [redemption.] Thus Christ will no longer be the only Redeemer: we shall be co-redeemers with him, and consequently we shall have a share in the doxology; which is a blasphemous supposition.

7. Our Lord himself decides the question in those remarkable words, "When you have done all that is commanded you;" and where is the man that [according to the law of innocence] has done [without interruption] I shall not say all, but the one half of it? say "We are unprofitable servants. Now it is plain, that unprofitable servants do not merit in whole or in part, to sit down at their master's table, and be admitted as children to a share of his estate. Therefore, if God gives heaven to believers, it is entirely owing to his free mercy, [according to the law of faith] through the merits of Jesus Christ, and not at all through the merits of our own works.

S. I shall close these observations by St. Paul's unanswerable argument. "If righteousness comes by the law," if salvation comes by [the covenant of works," then Christ died in vain." Gal. ii. 21. Whence it follows that if it comes in part by the works of the law [of innocence,] part of Christ's sufferings were vain; a supposition which ends in the same blasphemy [against the Mediator.]

9. That man might deserve any thing of God, upon the footing of proper worthiness, or merit of equivalence, God should stand in need of something, which it is in man's power to bestow: but this is absolutely impossible; for God being self-sufficient in his infinite fulness, is far above any want; and mau being a dependent creature, every moment supported by his Maker and Preserver, has nothing, and can do nothing, to which God has not a far greater right than man himself. This is what the Apostle asserts where he says, "Who has given him first, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?"-But much more in this remarkable passage; "Who maketh thee to differ from another?" If thou sayest, The number of my talents and the proper use I have made of them: I ask again, who gave thee those talents? And who superadded grace, wisdom, and an opportunity to improve them?-Here we must all give glory to God, and say with St. James, " Every good gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights."

Upon this consideration the Apostle proceeds to check the Christian Pharisee thus ; "What hast thou, that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thon glory as if thou hadst not received it"-Whence it follows, that though St. Paul himself glories in, and boasts of his disinterestedness, yet he did not glory in that virtue as if he had not received it: No: he gave the original glory of it to Him, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things. The glory of bestowing original gifts upon us belongs then to God alone; and the original glory of the humility with which we receive, and of the faithfulness, with which we use those gifts, belongs also to him alone; although, in the very nature of things, we have such a derived share of that glory, as gives room to the reasonableness of divine rewards. For why should one be rewarded more than another; yea, why should one be rewarded rather than punished, if derived faithfulness does not make him more rewardable?

As the preceding arguments (against the proper merit of works) will,

I hope, abundantly satisfy all those who have not entirely cast away the Christian revelation, I pass to the old objection. "If good works cannot [merit us heaven,] or save us, why should we trouble ourselves about them?"

I answer, 1. We are to do good works, to shew our obedience to our heavenly Father. As a child obeys his parents, not to purchase their estate, but because he is their child [and does not choose to be disinherited;] so believers obey God not to get heaven for their wages; but because he is their Father, [and they would not provoke him to disinherit them *.]

2. We are to abound in all good works, to be justified before men [now, and before the Judge of all the earth in the great day ;] and to shew that our iaith is saving. St. James strongly insists upon this, chap. ii. 18. "Shew me thy faith without thy works, says he, and I will shew thee my faith by my works:" That is, Thou sayest, thou hast faith, [because thou wast once justified by faith;] but thou dost not the works of a believer: thou canst follow vanity, and conform to this evil world : thou canst swear or break the sabbath; lie, cheat, or get drunk; rail at thy neighbour, or live in uncleanness in a word, thou canst do one or another of the devil's works. Thy works therefore give thee the lie, and shew that thy faith is [now like] the devil's faith; for if "faith without works is dead," how doubly dead must faith with bad works bet! But "I will shew thee my faith by my works," adds the Apostle, i. e. By constantly abstaining from all evil works, and steadily walking in all sorts of good works, I will make thee confess, that I am really in Christ a new creature and that my faith is living and genuine.

3. Our Saviour told his disciples, that they were to do good works, not to purchase heaven, but that others might be stirred up to serve God. You then, that have found the way of salvation by Christ," let your light so shine before men," that even they, who speak evil of the doctrine of faith," seeing your good works may glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matt. v. 16.

4. We are to do good works out of gratitude and love to our dear Redeemer, who having [conditionally] purchased heaven for us with his precious blood, asks the small return of our love and obedience." If you love me," says he, " keep my commandments," John xiv. 15. [This motive is noble, and continues powerful so long as we keep our first love. But alas! it has little force with regard to the myriads, that rather fear than love God and it has lost its force in all those, who "have denied the faith, or made shipwreck of it, or cast off their first faith," and consequently their first love. The multitude of these, in all ages, has been innumerable. I fear, we might say of justified believers, what our Lord did of the cleansed lepers: "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?" Alas! like the apostates mentioned by St. Paul, they are turned aside after the

*This argument is weak without the additions. Our Lord informs us that when the Father in the gospel says to his fair-spoken child, Son, Go, work to-day in my vineyard," he answers, "I go Sir, and goes not; And God himself says, "I have nourished and brought up CHILDREN, but they have rebelled against me." Wo to the parents, who have such children, and have no power to cut off an entail!

If this single clause of my old sermon stands, so will the Minutes and the Checks. But the whole argument is a mere jest, if a man that wallows in adultery, murder, or incest, may have as true justifying faith, as David had when he killed Goliah.

flesh, after the world, after fables, after Antinomian dotages, after vain jangling, after Satan himself. 1 Tim. v. 15.]

5. We are to be careful to maintain good works, [not only that we may not lose our confidence in God, 1 John iii. 19, &c. but also] that we may nourish and increase our faith or spiritual life; [or to use the language of St. James, that faith may work with our works, and that by works, our faith may be made perfect.] As a man [in health, who is threatened by no danger,] does not walk that his walking may procure him life [or save his life from destruction:] but that he may preserve his health, and [add to] his activity: So a believer, does not walk in good works to get [an initial life o. grace, or a primary title to an] eternal life of glory] but to keep up and increase the vigour of his faith, by which he has already a title to, and the earnest of] eternal life. For as the best health without exercise is soon destroyed, so the strongest faith without works will soon droop and die. Hence it is that St. Paul exhorts us to hold faith and good conscience, which some having put away, by refusing to walk in good works, concerning faith have made shipwreck.

6. We are not to do good works to obtain heaven by them [as if they were the primary, and properly meritorious cause of our salvation.] This proud anti-Christian motive would poison the best doings of the greatest saints, if saints could thus trample upon the blood of their Saviour: Such a wild conceit being only the Pharisee's cleaner way to hell. But we are to do them, because they shall be rewarded in heaven. To understand this we must remember, that, according to the gospel and our liturgy, God opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers; [because true believers are always true workers; true faith always working by love to God's commandments. Next to Christ then, to speak the language of some injudicious divines,] faith alone, when it works by love, takes us to heaven: [Or rather to avoid an apparent contradiction, faith and its works are the way to heaven :] But as there are stars of different magnitude in the material heaven, so also in the spiritual. Some who, like St. Paul, have evidently shined by "the work of faith, the patience of hope, and the labour of love," shall shine like the brightest stars, [or the sun :] and

others, who, like the dying thief and infants, have had [little or] no time to shew their faith [or holiness] by their works, shall enjoy a less degree of glorious bliss: But all shall ascribe the whole of their salvation only to the mercy of God, the merits of Christ, and the efficacy of his blood and spirit, according to St. John's vision, "I beheld, and lo, a great multitude of all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, with palms in their hands, clothed with robes, that they had washed, and made white in the blood of the Lamb:" and [while our Lord said to them by his gracious looks, according to the doctrine of secondary, instru mental causes," Walk with me in white, for you are worTHY, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you, for I was hungry and ye gave me meat, &c.] they cried [according to the doctrine of primary and properly meritorious causes,] not "Salvation to our endeavours and good works;" but "Salvation to OUR God, who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."

*Formerly I did not consider that as Noah walked into the ark, and Lot out of Sodom, to save their lives; so sinners are called to turn from their iniquity, and do that which is lawful and right to save their souls alive. Nor did I observe, that saints are commanded to walk in good works, lest the destroyer overtake them, and they become sons of perdition. However in Babel, such capital oversights did me "much credit."

* [Thus by the rules of celestial courtesy, to which our Lord vouchsafes to submit in glory; while the saints justly draw a veil over their works of faith, to extol only their Saviour's merits; HE kindly passes over his own blood and righteousness, to make mention only of their works and obedience. They, setting their seal to the first gospel axiom, shout with great truth, "Salvation to God and the Lamb!" And HE, setting his scal to the second gospel-axiom, replies with great condescension; "Salvation to them that are worthy!" " Eternal salvation to all that obey me.” Rev. iii. Heb. v. 9.]

* [Therefore, notwithstanding the perpetual assaults of proud Pharisees and Antinomians, the two gospel-axioms stand unshaken upon the two fundamental, inseparable doctrines of faith and works, of proper merit in Christ, and derived worthiness in his members. Penitent believers freely receive all from the God of grace and mercy, through Christ; and humble workers freely return all to the God of holiness and glory through the same adorable Mediator. Thus God has all the honour of freely bestowing upon us a crown of righteousness, in a way of judicious mercy and distributive justice; while we, through grace, have all the honour of freely receiving it in a way of penitential faith and obedient gratitude. To him therefore, one eterual Jehovah, in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be ascribed all the merit, honour, praise, and dominion, worthy of a God, for ever and ever.]

APPENDIX.

SHARP-SIGHTED readers will see by this sermon, that nothing is more difficult than rightly to divide the word of God. The ways of truth aud error lie close together, though they never coincide. When some preachers say, that "The road to heaven passes very near the mouth of hell," they do not mean, that the road to heaven, and the road to hell are one and the same. If I assert, that the way of truth runs parallel to the ditch of error, I by no means intend to confound them. Let error therefore come, in some things, ever so near truth, yet it can no more be the truth, than a filthy ditch, that runs parallel to a good road, can be the road.

It is often a thing little in appearance, that turns the scale of truth; nevertheless, the difference between a scale turned or not turned, is as real as the difference between right and wrong. I make this observation: 1,, To shew that although my opponents come very near me in some things, and I go very near them in others, yet the difference between us is as essential, as the difference between truth and error; and 2. To remind them and myself, that we ought so much the more to exercise Christian forbearance towards each other, as we find it difficult, whenever we do not stand upon our guard, to do justice to every part of the truth, without seeming to dissent even from ourselves. However, our short sightedness and twilight knowledge do not alter the nature of things. The truth of the anti-pharisaic and anti-Crispian gospel is as immutable as its eternal author; and whether I have marked out its boundaries with a tolerable degree of justness or not, I must say as the heathen poet :

Est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines,

Quos ultra citra que nequit consistere rectum *.

* Truth is confined within her firm bounds: Nay, there is a middle line, equally distant from all extremes; on that line she stands, and to miss, her, you need only step over it to the right hand or to the left.

SCRIPTURAL ESSAY

ON

THE REWARDABLENESS OF WORKS,

ACCORDING

TO THE COVENANT OF GRACE,

CONTAINING

I.-A VARIETY OF SCRIPTUres, which shew, that HEAVEN ITSELF IS THE GRACIOUS REWARD OF THE WORKS OF FAITH, AND THAT BELIEVERS MAY LOSE THAT REWARD BY BAD WORKS.

II. AN ANSWER TO THE MOST PLAUSIBLE OBJECTIONS AGAINST THIS DOCTRINE.

III. SOME REFLECTIONS UPON THE UNREASONABLENESS OF THOSE, WHO SCORN TO WORK WITH AN EYE TO THE REWARD, THAT god offerS TO EXCITE US TO OBEDIENCE.

FIRST PART.

HAVING particularly guarded in the preceding discourse the doctrine of SALVATION by the covenant of grace, and having endeavoured to secure the foundation of the gospel against the unwearied attacks of Pharisees; I shall now particularly guard the WORKS of the covenant of grace, and by that means secure the superstructure against the perpetual assaults of Antinomians; a part of my work this, which is so much the more important, as the use of a strong foundation is only to bear up an useful structure.

None but fools act without motive. To deprive a wise man of every motive to act, is to keep him in total inaction; and to rob him of any grand motive, is to weaken his willingness to act, or his fervour in acting. The love of God is undoubtedly the most generous motive to obedience : In thousands of weak believers, love is not yet well kindled; it is rather smoking flax, than a blazing fire; in thousands of Laodicean professors it is scarce lukewarm; and in all apostates it is waxed cold. Therefore, in the present sickly state of the church militant, it is as absurd in preachers, to urge no motive of good works but love; as it would be in physicians to insist, that a good stomach must be the only motive, from which their patients ought to take either food or physic.

Our Lord, far from countenancing our refinements in this respect, perpetually secures the practice of good works by promising heaven to all that persevere in doing them; while he deters us from sin, by threatening destruction to all that persist in committing it; working thus alternately upon our hopes and fears, those powerful springs of action.

The force of this double incentive to practical religion, I greatly weakened, when, being carried away by the stream of Solifidianism, I rashly said in my old sermon, that "good works shall be rewarded in heaven and eternal life, although not with eternal life and heaven." An Antinomian error this, which I publicly renounce, and against which I enter the following protest.