ciency of human reason, both to discover to us any of the things of God, and more especially the way of peace in the most needed Redeemer. The true believer in Jesus has no high conceit of his own powers, as they now are in his fallen state. He cannot cry up human reason to make revelation needless; no, nor to sit as a judge upon the declarations of infinite wisdom, measuring them by the pretended rule of what is called natural religion, and rejecting what does not come within the reach of man's understanding. He gladly accepts the offered light; is well content to take anything upon God's authority; waits continually to be taught the will of God and the way of salvation; and will trust neither to himself nor others for the truth of divine things, but only to Jesus, that great Prophet that should come into the world. But this, I fear, is

not the common way.

Those were they, a long while ago, who disclaimed all teaching of the Spirit as mere pretence, or, as they were pleased to call it, cant and enthusiasm. Indeed pretensions thereto, without the word, are no better than enthusiasm. But if the Spirit, without the word, be delusion, the word, without the Spirit, to the unassisted mind in its natural and corrupted state, is dark, unprofitable, and unsanctifying. Nevertheless, reason has been thought sufficient of itself to fathom and unfold the deep things of God. And see what the rejection of the Spirit has come to; depraved reason, because not able to comprehend, has mangled and tortured the great doctrines of the Gospel; taken away the whole power of the word, and left it an unanimated and unanimating lump, a little better, and that is all, than the dry philosophy of the Heathen. The wise and the prudent, they that would be so without God's making, have very reasonably and justly had the distinguishing and quickening truths of the Gospel hid from them, while those very doctrines have, in the plainest manner, been revealed unto babes by the Spirit, opening their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures. But while man's wisdom, by disclaiming the illumination of the Spirit, at least in practice if not in express terms, has put down God's word, I mean as to the distinguishing and vital doctrine of it, the people have suffered irreparable damage; the power of godliness has died away,

and even moral honesty and decency, being stripped of their main supports, have been forced to give ground to a general libertinism and licentiousness. I will not conceal the truth; the present dissoluteness of manners among us began in the exploding the operations of the Spirit; so the Scriptures being a sealed book, because the key to them was thrown away, every man set his blind reason to interpret them; mysteries were set apart or lowered to nothing; and the Gospel came forth not unlike a painted sun on a canvass, bearing some poor resem blance of the original, but absolutely without light or heat, But this is not all; our forefathers, in the pride of their reason, having refused the aid of the Spirit, and thereby missed of the whole spirituality of God's word, we of this age, their still wiser children, have too many of us proceeded further, and to the refusal of the Spirit boldly added a renunciation of the word also. Reason, it seems, cannot digest many things that are there; some things in it are not to be comprehended, and how can we believe what we cannot comprehend? Others are objectionable; we do not see the reasonableness and consistency of them; others are contrary to our notions of things, neither can we reconcile it how God should determine and direct as he is sometimes there said to do. Every little pretender to knowledge and debate will have his fling at the Bible; reason is set up in its place. Reason, that noble faculty, which, it seems, is capable of reaching through the universe; of sounding the very depths of God's government; can, as if brought up with him, nicely adjust the measure of all his counsels, determine the reason of all his doings, and exactly point out what is fit for him to expect from his creatures; in short, do everything, except it be the one needful thing, find out a way how the poor guilty sinner shall be saved.

The contest, you see, is between reason and Jesus; whether the fall has left our understandings darkened and insufficient to any spiritual discernment, and we need to be taught of Jesus, who is come, by his word and Spirit, to teach us all things which pertain unto life and godliness; or whether we stand not in any need of this his teaching, having power sufficient in our unassisted reason to discern the way of life in the Scriptures without the Spirit, or to discover a scheme of religion for our

selves without the help of the one or the other. It is evident that they who set up reason against the Spirit or the word, cannot take Christ for their Teacher; neither can they say, with an honest conscience, I believe in Jesus, since one grand point of the salvation which he claims as his property to give us, and which we, when we say we believe in him, declare that we hold from him, is deliverance from darkness and ignorance concerning all the things of God. The point is of the very first importance. In fact, nothing can be right if we fail here. Reason must first yield, otherwise we dispute every step of Gospelsalvation; we quarrel at the justice of God's sentence against us as sinners; cannot be brought to think we are such helpless creatures as God tells us we are; and at no rate can digest either his method of justifying us by the righteousness of another, or those other self-denying duties which the Gospel enjoins us. The pride of reason must bow, else the salvation of the Gospel will never take place. We must become fools if we will be wise; and, in order that we may submit ourselves to Christ's teaching, we must put on the temper of little children, who, because they know nothing, are pliable to receive everything from their parents and teachers. And till we do this, or any further than we do it, coming wholly for instruction to Christ's word, and praying for his Spirit, let us not presume to say what contradicts our practice, I believe in Jesus. But,

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Secondly. I believe in Jesus implies this also, "I believe in him as my Deliverer from the curse of the law due to me, and threatened against me for my sins. I acknowledge myself a sinner, conceived in sin, the deadly body of which remains within me; I cannot do anything as I ought; as formerly, so now I am daily sinning in thought, word, and deed, insomuch that at no time, nor in any one instance, have I been able, or am I now able, to answer the high, but most holy and desirable, demands of the law. I cannot make any claim to life by my own doings; for I do not what the law requires of me. On that footing there is nothing before me but death, which God, I am satisfied, has in perfect righteousness and justice appointed to be the wages of sin; neither have I the least remedy, help, or hope in myself. I cannot make the injured God satisfaction; in no way can I do this. Not by better

obedience, certainly all thought of that is vain; it would not cancel past offences, and the wages of every sin of my life is death death, which may not be remitted, which must be endured; while also every day and hour I am sinning afresh, and adding to the number of my provocations and the load of my guilt. I cannot therefore make God satisfaction by better obedience. No, nor would my endurance of ten millions of years' imprisonment in hell retrieve the disgrace my sins have brought upon him. The wrath to come is eternal, because injured Majesty can never be satisfied by any measure of punishment laid upon sinners. There is then utterly no hope in myself; but I have heard of Jesus; I know him to be the Son of God; I am satisfied his business in the world was to save sinners; I am assured that, infinite God as he is, he took up our nature; in that nature, he put all possible and more than conceivable honour upon the law by his obedience unto it; and by his death made such a satisfaction to God's justice as ten thousand times ten thousand hells could not equal. Him God has accepted in his atonement for sinners; for I see him for his obedience unto death exalted to glory and immortality, as the representative of believing sinners. I hear, in consideration of that death, the most blessed promises issued out from the court of heaven, and recorded in that book which shall outlive the world. God himself has told me, that all that believe in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Yea, he has commanded me, upon the peril of my soul, to believe on the name of his only-begotten Son. Since then God will have it so, and will get himself glory by freely justifying the ungodly, I have humbly taken him at his word, and do put in my claim to his pardon and acceptance in consideration of the obedience and death of Jesus. Hither am I come for refuge, and here do I rest my soul upon the Redeemer's righteousness. Confessing my sins, I lay my hand upon his head, and ask the offered mercy, and proclaim this to be all my salvation; while in the sight of all my guilt, in the prospect of death, and judgment, and hell, I joyfully take up my word, and say, I believe in Jesus. Let others seek salvation and rest their hope where they will, I believe in Jesus."

Here you find is a plain renunciation of all self-righteousness,

and as plain and full acceptance of the righteousness of Jesus. And, in truth, what an absurdity is it, to declare a belief in Jesus for pardon and acceptance with God, when we are cleaving, either in whole or in part, unto a pretended righteousness of our own? You cannot but observe, that to accept Christ's righteousness is to disclaim our own, as utterly insufficient; and when we say, I believe in Jesus, what do we other than publish our relinquishing all hope from the one, and our placing all hope in the other; since it is so evident that the point before us is a matter of Christian faith, and that, as persons saved by grace, we do hereby acknowledge our consent to such salvation? Yet, after all, this is sooner said than done. There are many things standing in the way of our saying, in sincerity of heart, I believe in Jesus as my Deliverer from the curse of the law due to me and threatened against me for my sins. Wherefore we shall do well seriously to inquire into this business. I would ask therefore two very plain questions.

1.-Are we all truly made sensible that we have no righteousness of our own? By righteousness is meant a conformity with the law of God in heart and life. Whoever can produce this conformity with the law of God is certainly righteous; has a righteousness of his own upon which he may safely stand, and has no manner of need of the righteousness of Jesus the Saviour. But then you must take notice, this must be a perfect conformity of heart and life, and that at all times, for the law speaks but one language, and admits of no abatements. Should there be outward perfect conformity, yet, if the inward be wanting, that could not avail; yea, and though there should be outward and inward both, yet, if it were not always so, we could not pretend any right, as sinless. Upon this state of the case, every man without exception is ready to own, "I am not come up to this; we are all sinners." Even they who do not see their hearts, and the ocean of iniquity that is there, cannot help owning that in word and deed they have many times sinned; and they who do know their hearts will be as ready to own that matters have been a great deal worse with them. Now you would be apt to think, when people talk at this rate, they do very readily disclaim all self-righteousness, and lean on nothing within themselves. But, in truth, it is no such matter; we have many a shift under all

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