they had overturned the protestant doctrine of salvation by faith without [the] works [decried by St. Paul]; I beg leave to show its weakness by a comparison. Suppose you said to me, "Your doing the work of a parish priest will never [merit] you an archbishoprick;" and I answered, with discontent, "If doing my office will never [merit] me the see of Canterbury, why should I do it at all? I need not trouble myself about preaching any more; would you not ask me whether a clergyman has no reason to attend his flock, but the wild and proud conceit that his labour must [deserve]* him a bishoprick. And I ask, in my turn, "Do you suppose that a Christian has no motive to do good works, but the wilder and prouder notion, that his good works must [properly speaking, merit] him heaven?" See the fifth note. If, therefore, I can show that he has the strongest motives and inducements to abound in good works, without the doctrine of [proper] merits, I hope you will drop your objection. You say, "If good works will never [properly merit us salvation, see the fifth note] why should we do them?" I answer, For six good reasons, each of which [in some degree]† overturns your objec tion. 1. We are to do good works, to show 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]. ‡ * 38. This illustration is not strictly just. If the king had millions of bishopricks to give, and if he had promised to bestow one upon every diligent clergyman, solemnly declaring that all who neglect their charge, should not only miss the ecclesiastical dignity annexed to diligence, bu be put to a shameful death, as so many murderers of souls, the cases would then be exactly parallel. Besides, every clergyman is not a candidate for a bishoprick, but every man is a candidate for heaven. Again: a clergyman may be as happy in his parsonage as a bishop in his palace; but if a man miss heaven, he sinks into hell. These glaring truths I overlooked when I was a "late evangelical preacher." + Formerly I said " entirely ;" but experience has taught me otherwise. 39. This argument is weak without the additions. Our Lord informs us, that when the Fatber in the gospel says to his fair-spoken т б 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 show that our faith is saving. St. James strongly insists upon this, chapter ii. 18: "Show me thy faith without thy works," says he, "and I will show thee my faith by my works;" that is, Thou sayest thou hast faith [because thou wast once justified by faith ;] but thou doest 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 show 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 be! * [And how absurd is it to suppose, that thou canst be instrumentally justified by a dead faith, or declaratively justified by bad works, either before men or in the sight of God!] But "I will show thee my faith by my works," adds the apostle; that is, 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." v. 16. 66 Matt. 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 brough up children, but they have rebelled against me." Wo to the parent: who have such children, and have no power to cut off an entail! 40. 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 Goliath. +41. This argument is quite frivolous, if my late opponent is right. "How has many a poor soul," says he, "who has been faithless through 66 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 66 cast off their first faith," and consequently their first love, and their first gratitude. 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 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, the fear of man, even blessed God for Peter's denial!" Five Letters, second edition revised, page 40. Hence it appears, that denying Christ with oaths and curses will cause many a poor soul to bless God," that is, to " glorify our heavenly Father." Now, if horrid crimes do this as well as good works, is it not absurd to enforce the practice of good works, by saying, that they alone have that blessed effect? But my opponent may easily get over this difficulty before those whose battles he fights. He needs only charge me with disingenuity for not quoting the third revised edition of his book, if he has published such a one. 42. 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." and [add to] his activity: so a believer does not walk in good works to get [an initial life of 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 [in heaven. For as the best health without any 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 a 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,* antichristian 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 [as well as] + with 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 eminently 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 show their faith [or holiness] by * 43. Here I leave out the word "selfish," as being ambiguous. It is not selfishness, but true wisdom and well-ordered self-love, evangelically to labour for the meat that endureth to everlasting life. Not to do it, is the height of Laodicean stupidity, or antinomian conceit. † 44. Here I leave out, "although not with heaven," and supply 66 well as," for the reasons assigned in the Scriptural Essay. as 45. Mr. Hill triumphs in his Finishing Stroke, page 50, last note, 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 kindreds, 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, instrumental 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." [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 seal to the second gospel axiom, replies with great condescension, Salvation "to them that are worthy! Eternal salvation to all that obey" me. Rev. iii. 4; Heb. v. 9. [Therefore, notwithstanding the perpetual assaults of proud pharisees, and of self humbled antinomians, the two through my omission of those two words. But without having recourse to "magical power," or even to "Logica Helvetica," to reconcile my sermon with my Checks; I desire unprejudiced Calvinists to mention any one besides the dying thief, that ever evidenced his faith by confessing Christ, when his very apostles denied or forsook him; by openly praying to him, when the multitudes reviled him; by humbly pleading guilty before thousands; by publicly defending injured innocence; by boldly reproving blasphemy, by kindly admonishing his fellow-malefactor; and by fully acknowledging Christ's kingly office, when he was crowned with thorns, and hanging on the cross? Did St. John, did Mary Magdalen, did even the Virgin Mary, show their faith by such glorious works, under such unfavourable circumstances? O ye solifidians, where is your attention ? |