of others, our warfare is directed to the encouragement and help of our fellow-soldiers; the salvation (not the destruction) of our fellow-sinners; the benefit of all around us; and, above all, the honour of our divine Saviour, by the spread of his gospel among men. Our bold profession of the truth, our exemplary conduct, expansive benevolence, fervent prayers, improvement of talents, and unremitted attention to the duties of our several stations, with quietness and prudence, as well as zeal, promote these ends. The religion of Jesus is thus continued from age to age, by the conversion of sinners to the faith; and though the seed of the serpent still bruises the Redeemer's heel, in the sufferings of his people, yet Satan is, as it were, put under the feet of every true Christian at death, and Christ will at length finally and completely crush his head, whilst all his faithful soldiers shall attend his triumphs, and share his glory.

It must appear, from this compendious view of our conflicts, that all who are really engaged in them experience a variety of changing emotions in their minds, to which others remain entire strangers. They must often mourn their ill success, or that of the common cause, or rejoice in the advantages attained or hoped for. Sometimes they will be ashamed and alarmed by being baffled; and at others, they will resume courage and return to the conflict. They will always come far short of that entire victory over their appetites, passions, and temptations, to which they aspire; they cannot, therefore, be so calm as indifference would render them. Much self-denial must be required in such a case, and perpetual fears of being surprised by the enemy. Yet their very alarms, tears, groans, and complaints, are evidences that they are Christ's disciples: their joys (with which a stranger intermeddleth not) far more than counterbalance their sorrows, and they can often triumph in the assur

ed hope of final victory and felicity, even amidst the hardships and sufferings of the field of battle.

ESSAY XVII.

ON THE PRIVILEGES ENJOYED BY THE TRUE

BELIEVER.

THE sacred oracles continually teach us, that the upright servant of God, (notwithstanding his mourning for sin, and all his conflicts, fears, chastenings, and tribulations,) is favoured and happy above all other men, even in this present world; for, when the apostle observed, that "if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable," he only meant, that if a Christian could be deprived of the hope of heaven, and all those earnests, consolations, and lively affections which result from it, his peculiar trials, his tenderness of conscience, his antipathy to sin, and his thirstings after God and holiness, would be superadded to the ordinary burdens of life, without any proportionable counterpoise to them. But as this is not, and cannot be the case, so the Christian, with the hope of glory, and his other peculiar privileges may be, and actually is, in proportion to his diligence and fruitfulness, of all men the most happy. In order to evince this truth, it may be useful to appropriate this Essay to the consideration of the most distinguished privileges of the real -Christian, which no other man in the world can share with him, for they constitute " a joy, with which a stranger intermeddleth not;"" the secret of the Lord, which is with them that fear him" (Psal. xxv. 14; Prov. xiv. 10; Rev. ii. 17). And it may be premised, that a disposition supremely to desire, and diligently to seek after, all these

blessings, as the felicity in which our souls delight, and with which they are satisfied, is one grand evidence that we are actually interested in them.

I. Every real Christian is actually pardoned and justified in the sight of God: and "blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven," &c. (Psal. xxxii. 1, 2; Rom. iv. 6-8). Among a number of condemned criminals, that man would be deemed the happiest who had obtained the king's pardon, though others were more accom. plished or better clothed; for he would expect, in cheerful hope, the opening of his prison door, to set him at liberty from his confinement, and to restore him to the comforts of life; and this hope would render the temporary hardships of his situation more tolerable: whereas the rest would dread the hour when they were to be brought out of their cells to an ignominious and agonizing execution; which prospect would add to the gloom and horror of the dungeon. We all are criminals: death terminates our confinement in this vile body, and this evil world: at that important moment, the pardoned sinner goes to heaven, the unpardoned sinner drops into hell; and, except as the one has his views darkened by temptation, or by a fatherly rebuke for his misconduct; or as the other has his fears obviated by infidelity, or dissipated by intoxicating pleasures and pursuits; the very thought of this closing scene, and its most interesting consequences, must have a vast effect upon the inward feelings of their minds during the uncertain term of their remaining lives. Nothing can be more evident than that the scripture declares the sins of all believers to be actually pardoned, and their persons completely justified."There is," says the apostle, " no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit" (Rom. viii. 1, 33, 34); "for who shall lay any thing to the

charge of God's elect, whom he justifieth? or who shall condemn those for whom Christ died and rose again?" &c. And our Lord not only assures us, that "he who believeth is not condemned," but also that " he hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation" (John iii. 14-21; v. 24). The same privilege was proposed to the Old Testament Church, when the prophet, stating repentance and conversion as the concomitants and evidences of true faith, declares, in the name of Jehovah," that if the wicked man will turn from all his sins, and do that which is lawful and rightall his transgressions that he hath done shall not be mentioned to him," &c. (Ezek. xviii. 21, 22, 27.) In other places, the Lord speaks of "blotting out the sins of his people, and remembering them no more;" of "casting them into the depths of the sea;" and of " not imputing iniquity” (Isa. xliii. 25; xliv. 22; Jer. xxxi. 34; Mic. vii. 19). The apostles assure us, that all who believe are justified from "all things;" that the blood of Christ cleanseth them from all sin;" and that even little children in Christ have their sins forgiven them, for his name's sake (Acts iii. 19; xiii. 38, 39; 2 Cor. v. 19; 1 John i. 7; ii. 12). So that the forgiveness and justification of believers are stated to be already past; and their deliverance from condemnation is not represented as a future contingency, but as secured to them by an irrevocable grant: Being justified by faith, they have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.'

But, though this be the privilege of all true believers without exception, yet the actual assurance, that the blessing belongs to them, is possessed only by some, and only at times even by many of these: for true faith may be very weak; and it may connect with a confused judgment, a considerable degree of ignorance, many prejudices or mistakes, and sometimes a prevalence of carnal

R

:

affections. So that a man may believe with a trembling faith, and cry out with tears, "Lord, help my unbelief!" or he may firmly credit the testimony, and rely on the promises of God, with a full persuasion of his power and willingness to perform them; and yet doubt whether he do not presume and deceive himself, in supposing his faith to be of a saving nature. In various ways a man may doubt whether he be a true believer, though he do not doubt but that Christ will certainly save all true believers. Nay, the frame even of a real Christian's mind, and the present tenor of his conduct, may render such doubts reasonable, and the necessary consequence of faith; for if a man yield to those evils which the scripture enumerates as marks of unconversion, the more entirely he credits the divine testimony the greater reason will he have to call his own state in question and I suppose, that when St. Paul told the Galatians that he stood in doubt of them, he meant to induce them to examine whether they were in the faith, or whether they had hitherto deceived themselves. We are, therefore, directed to give diligence both to obtain and to preserve" the full assurance of hope" (Heb. vi. 11; 2 Pet. i. 10); but this would not be proper advice to believers, if saving faith consisted in being sure of an interest in Christ; which doctrine (though incautiously maintained by some very respectable persons) is evidently suited to discourage feeble believers, and to bolster up the false confidence of hypocrites. In proportion as it is manifest that we are regenerate, that our faith is living, that it works by love, and is accompanied by repentance, and that we partake of the "sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience;" we may be sure that our sins are pardoned, and that all the promises of God shall be accomplished to us. Yet misapprehension, and excessive fear of being deceived in a concern of