death, the death of faith, and consequently the moral death of angelic spirits and human souls, who equally live by faith * during their state of probation. So fell Lucifer from heaven, to rule and rage in the darkness of this world: so fell Adam from paradise, to toil and die in this vale of tears so fell Judas from an apostolic throne, to hang himself and go to his own place.

Nor can we rise but in a way parallel to that by which they fell. For, as a disbelief of our Creator, productive of bad works, sunk our first parents; so a faith in our Redeemer, productive of good works, must instrumentally raise their fallen posterity.

Should you ask, which is most necessary to salvation, faith or works? I beg leave to propose a similar question : Which is most essential to breathing, inspiration or expiration? If you reply, that "the moment either is absolutely at an end, so is the other; and therefore both are equally important;" I return exactly the same answer. If humble faith receives the breath of spiritual life, obedient love gratefully returns it, and makes way for a fresh supply; when it does not, the Spirit is grieved; and if this want of co-operation is persisted in to the end of "the day of salvation," the sin unto death is committed, the spirit is quenched in his saving operation, the apostate dies the second death, and his corrupt soul is cast into the bottomless pit, as a putrid corpse into the noisome grave.

Again if faith has the advantage over works by giving them birth, works have the advantage over faith by perfecting it. "Seest thou," says St. James, speaking of the

* Faith in God as Creator, Lawgiver, and Judge, was not less necessary to Lucifer and Adam, in order to their standing in a state of innocence, than faith in God as Redeemer, Sanctifier, and Rewarder of them that diligently seek him, is necessary to sinners, in order to their recovery from a state of guilt; or to believers, in order to avoid relapses and final apostasy. Faith, therefore, so far as it implies an unshaken confidence in God, and a firm adherence to his will, is as eternal as love and obedience. But when it is considered "as the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen," which are essential properties of a believer's faith in this present state of things, it is evident that it will necessarily end in sight, as soon as the curtain of time is drawn up; and terminate in enjoyment, as soon as God's glory appears without a veil.

father of the faithful, "how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?" And if St. Paul affirms, that works without faith are dead, St. James maintains, that "faith without works is dead also."

Once more: Christ is always the primary, original, properly-meritorious cause of our justification and salvation. To dispute it is to renounce the faith, and to plead for antichrist. And yet, to deny that, under this primary cause, there are secondary, subordinate, instrumental causes of our justification, and consequently of our salvation, is to set the Bible aside, and fly in the face of judicious Calvinists, who cannot help maintaining it, both from the pulpit and from the press. Now, if in the day of our conversion faith is the secondary, subordinate

*

The Rev. Mr. Madan does not scruple to call our faith " the instrumental cause" of our justification. See his sermon on James ii. 24, printed by Fuller, London, 1761, page 18. And if we shall be justified in the day of judgment by our words, they shall undoubtedly be at least an evidencing cause of our final justification. Hence it is that the same judicious divine speaks (page 30, line 4, &c.) of our being "justified in this threefold sense of the word, meritoriously by Christ, instrumentally by faith, and declaratively by works, which are the fruits of faith."

The reader will permit me to illustrate the essential difference there is between primary and secondary causes, by the manner in which David became Saul's son-in-law. The primary causes of this event were undoubtedly, on God's part, assisting power and wisdom; and on king Saul's part, a free promise of giving his daughter in marriage to the man who should kill Goliath. The secondary causes, according to the Rev. Mr. Madan's plan, may be divided into instrumental and declarative. The instrumental causes of David's honourable match were his faith, his sling, his stone, Goliath's sword, &c. And the declarative or evidencing causes were his works. He insists upon fighting the giant, he renounces carnal weapons, puts on the armour of God, runs to meet his adversary, flings a fortunate stone, brings his adversary down, flies upon him, and cuts off his head. By these works he was evidenced a person duly qualified to marry the princess; or, to keep to the Rev. Mr. Madan's expression, "by these "works" he was "declaratively " judged a man fit to be rewarded with the hand of the princess. Now is it not clear, that his works, upon the evidence of which he received such a reward, had as important a part in his obtaining it, as the faith and sling by whose instrumentality he wrought the works? And is it not strange that the Rev. Mr. Madan should be an orthodox divine, when he says, that "we are declaratively justified by works," and that Mr. Wesley should be a dreadful heretic for saying, that "we are saved not by the merit of works, but by works as a condition; or, in other terms, that we are finally justified by works not as the primary, meritorious cause, but as a secondary, evidencing, declarative cause?

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cause of our acceptance as penitent sinners; in the day of judgment, works, even the works of faith, will be the secondary subordinate cause of our acceptance as persevering saints. Let us therefore equally decry dead faith and dead works, equally recommend living faith and its important fruits.

Hitherto I have endeavoured to check the rapid progress of speculative antinomianism, that perpetually decries works, and centres in the following paragraph, which presents without disguise the doctrine of the absolute, unconditional perseverance of adulterous believers, and incestuous saints :

"Saving faith, being immortal, can not only subsist without the help of good works; but no aggravated crimes can give it a finishing stroke. A believer may in cool blood murder a man, after having seduced his wife, without exposing himself to the least real danger of forfeiting either his heavenly inheritance, or the divine favour; because his salvation, which is finished in the full extent of the word, without any of his good works, cannot possibly be frustrated by any of his evil ones."

*

It will not be improper now to attempt a check to pharisaism, which perpetually opposes faith, and whose destructive errors collected in one position may run thus :"If people perform external acts of worship towards God, and of charity towards their neighbour, their principles are good enough: and should they be faulty, these good works will make ample amends for that deficiency." Upon this common plan of doctrine, if the filthy sepulchre is but whitewashed, and the noisome grave adorned with a flowery turf, it little matters what is within, though it be "a dead man's bones," a dead heart swelled with pride, or "all manner of corruption."

* The ingenious author of a new book, called " Essays on public worship, patriotism," &c., does not scruple to send such an exhortation abroad into the world. "Let us substitute honesty instead of faith. It is the only foundation of a moral character, and it ought to be the only test of our religion. It should not signify what, or how little, a man believed, if he was honest. This would put Christianity upon the best footing." See the Monthly Review for March, 1773.

It is hard to say who do Christianity most disservice, the solifidians, who assert that works are nothing before God; or the pharisees, who maintain that certain religious ceremonies, and external duties of morality, are the very soul of religion. O, thou true believer, bear thy testimony against both their errors; and equally contend for the tree and the fruit, the faith of St. Paul and the works of St. James; remembering that if ever the gates of hell prevail against thee, it will be by making thee overvalue faith and despise good works, or overrate works and slight precious faith.

The world, I grant, is full of Gallios, easy or busy men, who seldom trouble themselves about faith or works, law or gospel. Their latitudinarian principles perfectly agree with their loose conduct; and if their volatile minds are fixed, it is only by a steady adherence to such commandments as these: "Be not righteous overmuch.-Get and spend.-Marry or be given in marriage.-Eat and drink. -Lie down to sleep, and rise up to play.-Care neither for heaven nor hell.—Mind all of earth but the awful spot allotted thee for a grave," &c. However, while they punctually observe this decalogue, their conscience is sometimes awakened to a sense of corroding guilt, commonly called uneasiness, or low spirits; and if they cannot shake it off by new scenes of dissipation, new plunges into sensual gratifications, new schemes of hurrying business; if a religious concern fastens upon their breasts, the tempter deludes them, by making his false coin pass for the "gold tried in the fire." If his dupes will have faith, he makes them take up with that of the antinomians. If they are for works, he recommends to them those of the self-righteous. And if some seem cut out to be brands in the church; fiery, persecuting, implacable zealots; he gives them a degree in the university of Babel : one is a bachelor of the science of sophistry, another a master of the liberal art of calumny, and a third a doctor in human, or diabolical, divinity. But if all these graduates, though they have not as much faith as Simon Magus, or as many works as the conceited pharisee, yet they may have as much zeal for the church as the bigot who set out from Jerusalem

for Damascus in pursuit of heretics. They may sometimes pursue those who dissent from them, even "unto strange cities."

Has not the world always swarmed with those devotees, who, blindly following after faith without loving obedience, or after obedience without loving faith, have "made havoc of the church," and driven myriads of worldly men to a settled contempt of godliness; while a few, by equally standing up for true faith and universal obedience, have kept up the honour of religion in the world? Take a general view of the church, and you will see this observation confirmed by a variety of black, bright, and mixed characters.

The first man born of a woman is a striking picture of perverted mankind. He is at once a sullen pharisee, and a gross antinomian: he sacrifices to God, and murders his brother. Abel, the illustrious type of converted sinners, truly believes, and acceptably sacrifices. Faith and works shine in his life with equal lustre; and in his death we see what good men may expect from the impious church and the pious world. Protomartyr for the doctrine of this Check, he falls the first innocent victim to pharisaical pride and antinomian fury. The sons of God mix with the daughters of men, learn their works, and make shipwreck of the faith. Enoch, nevertheless, truly believes in God, and humbly walks with him. Faith and works equally adorn his character. The world is soon full of misbelief, and the earth of violence. Noah, however, believes and works: he credits God's word, and builds the ark.

This work "condemns the world, and he becomes heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

Consider Abraham: see how he believes and works! God speaks, and he leaves his house, his estate, his friends, and native country. His faith works by love: he exposes his life to recover his neighbour's property, he readily gives up to Lot his right of choice to prevent a quarrel, he earnestly intercedes for Sodom, he charitably hopes the best of its wicked inhabitants, he gladly entertains strangers, humbly washes their feet, diligently instructs his household, and submissively offers up Isaac, his