Chrift's blood in purifying our confciences from dead works, to serve the living God, the conftraining force of his dying love, when favingly discovered, believed, and felt, on our will and affections, to love him who first loved us-muft be carefully pointed forth, explained, and inculcated. (6.) Our begun and continued receiving of Chrift's perfon, righteousness, and fulness by faith, ought to be distinctly and earnestly represented as the constant and only immediate mean of all gospel holinefs, repentance, love, and new obedience. Hence it is faid to proceed from a pure confcience and faith unfeigned, and is called a walking by faith,-a living by faith of the Son of God,-faith working by love,-obedience of faith; and, according to the pitch of our affüred persuasion of God's giving promifes, and of our believing vigour in cleaving to, and receiving from the given Saviour, will the degrees of every other grace and duty be. (7.) No mark of grace ought to be given but fich as can be traced up to a believing of the record which God hath given of his Son, as the repofitory anddifpenfer of eternal life for us finful men, and to our fpiritual union and fellowship with him by faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is fin. (8.) In urging believers to the study of holiness in heart and life, great care cught to be taken that no-motives be used which are inconfiftent with their state of marriage-union with Chrift, and their perfect and irrevocable juftification through his blood, and infallible 'confervation in him. How abfurd and wicked to thunder forth any liablenefs to damnation against those who have paffed from deathto life, and cannot come into condemnation,-against thofe whofe life is hid with Chrift in God, and because Chrift lives they must live alfo,-against those with whom God hath fworn that he will never be wroth, nor fuffer the covenant of peace to be removed! How abfurd and wicked to talk to the divinely established and ́immutably fecured heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, as if they had their title to eternal life, or their claim to the actual poffeffion of it, to earn by their own good works! But the preacher muft draw his motives from the offices, relations, works, and fulness of Christ, -from the redeeming love and endearing example of Chrift and his Father, from the authority of God, as their God and Father, and from the indwelling influence of his Spirit in their hearts, from their own dangers or difadvantages, as ftated by the covenant of grace. (9.) The evangelical preacher must clearly reprefent, that whatever reward, here or hereafter, is annexed by promife to believers, holinefs of heart or life is freely bestowed upon them, not properly for their work, but because their perfon is united to Chrift, as the Lord their righteoufnefs, in whom their holiness and comfort connectedly come to them as equally free mercies and privileges. He must no lefs clearly reprefent, that whatever affliction believers meet with, it is a destructive punifhment to their fin, but a kind chaftifement, a precious bleffing to their perfon and nature, purchafed by the righteousness of Chrift their furety, and bestowed by God in him as their wife and loving Father. Withing you a large fhare of the wifdom from above, in order to underftand thefe gofpel myfteries, I am Yours, &c. THE THE following Tract toas printed in the Author's lifetime, but very little known; it is inferted in this Collection at the request of a number of Subscribers. FREE THOUGHTS UPON THE LATE REGULATION OF THE POST; By which there is an Arrival to, and Departure of the MAIL from Edinburgh on the Christian Sabbath : being the fubftance of a LETTER from a Gentleman in the Country to his friend in Edinburgh. Exod. xx. 8, 9, 10.-Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it boly. Six days fhalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the feventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: In it thou shalt not DO ANY WORK, thou, nor thy fon, nor thy daughter, thy man-fervant, nor thy maid-fervant, nor thy catile, nor thy ftranger that is within thy gates... MY DEAR FRIEND,', You hint to me the advantage to trade produced by the present regulation of the poft. Permit me, in my turn, in the most serious and fcriptural form, to represent to you my views of it. Allow me, with compaffion, to attempt faving you with fear, pulling you out of the fire; to cry aloud as one not afhamed of Chrift's ways and words in this finful and adulterous generation, that he may not be ashamed of me when he comes in his glory to judge the world, Jude 22, 23. Mark viii. 38. Luke ix, 26. Paffing the inhuman cruelty to the horfes em ployed, contrary to Prov. xii. 10. "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast ;" and the exposure of the lives of either drivers, guard, or perfons which they meet by the way, I fhall confider it only in its connection with the Lord's day, or Chriftian Sabbath. Taking what happens in Edinburgh as a sample of what happens in other places where there is an arrival and departure of the poft upon that day, what a buftle of worldly labour takes place at the poft-office, in delivering, receiving, or forting the letters! What a fimilar bustle follows among bankers, merchants, lawyers, and others, in receiving, paying for, reading, confidering, and anfwering them! All calculated to hinder them from the divinely instituted worship of God, or at least to unfit their minds for the right performance of it! In the view of thefe things I cannot but look on it as-contrary to the laws of both church and state-contrary to the law of God;-contrary to the most conclusive and constraining reasons affigned by God;-contrary to your own moft folemn vows and calculated not only to promote the hurt and ruin of the nation, but also to promote the eternal damnation of multitudes. 1. It is plainly contrary to the laws of both church and ftate in this country. Many acts after the reformation, between 1638 and 1650, and fince the Revolution, have been made by the general affemblies of our church for preventing the profanation, and promoting the strict fanctification of the Sabbath. Many have been made by our parliaments for the fame purpofe; as act 35th, parl. 5. of James III. act $3d, parl. 6. of James 1V. which enacts, that no fairs be held on holydays. Act 70th, parl parl. 6. James VI. which enacts, that no markets or fairs be on Sabbath, and no handy-labour ufed on it, under pain of ten fhillings; nor any games, play, paffing to taverns or alehoufes, felling of meat or drink, or wilful abfence from the kirk, in the time of fermons or prayers, under pain of twenty fhillings; and that offenders, unable or unwilling to pay, be put in the joggs or flocks. Act 59th, parl. 13. James VI. which enacts, that perfons who fell, or offer to fale, any goods on the Sabbath, and shall be three times convicted thereof, fhall have all their goods confifcated, and their perfons lie at the king's mercy. Act 18th, parl. 1. feff. 1. and act 22d, parl, 2. feff. 3. of Charles II. which prohibits all fishing of falmon, going of falt-pans, mills or kilns, hiring of fhearers, carrying of loads, keeping of markets, or dealing in merchandise on that day, and all other profanation of the Sabbath, under pain of twenty pounds for fome, and ten for others of thefe crimes; and enacts, that perfons who cannot pay, suffer in their bodies. These, and the like acts, I find ratified by feveral acts of parliament under king William. Can you pretend that the bustle about worldly business, occafioned by the new regulation of the poft in Edinburgh, is more innocent, or lefs calculated to hinder the fanctification of the Sabbath, than what is expressly prohibited by these acts? or, that it becomes a Christian to indulge himself in habitual rebellion against fuch falutary inftitutions of church or ftate? And hath not God exprefsly declared that such as refift the higher powers in their lawful appointments, refift his ordinance, and fhall receive to themfelves damnation? Rom. xiii. 1, 2. 2. It |