C'liiisl cheers the Prospect

Hi J arms o^'merci/ are expanded to receive th*' comi/i^ .u>ui .
Fear net poer Strmer, Uj upprearAHmr, TTev/tU
ru't. on fzru/ iK.-omtt. ■ ast /Jtee oi/f .
Pa^e 12.9.

HELP

TO

ZION'S TRAVELLERS:

BEING AN ATTEMPT TO REMOVE

VARIOUS STUMBLING-BLOCKS OUT OF THE WAY

RELATING TO

DOCTRINAL, EXPERIMENTAL AND
PRACTICAL RELIGION.

BY ROBERT HALL,

Late of Arnshy.

ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES,

BY REV. JOSEPH A. WARNE, OF BROOKLINE, MASS.

A Recommendatory Preface hy Dr. Ryland,

AND AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE
BY THE LATE

ROBERT HALL, A. M. OF BRISTOL, ENG.

TO WHICH IS ADDED

THE AUTHOR'S LIFE.

BOSTON:

LINCOLN, EDMANDS AND CO.

1833.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833,

BY LINCOLN, EDMANDS & CO.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

ADVERTISEMENT

TO THE READER.

The substance of the following attempt to relieve dis-
couraged Christians, was delivered in a sermon at an
Annual Association, held at Northampton, May 26, 1779,
and was by the ministers and messengers of the churches
desired to be printed. But most of the said ministers,
and many of my friends, apprehending afterwards that
the great variety and vast importance of the subjects at-
tended to, would not admit of their being properly treated
in so small a compass as that of a sermon, they requested
that the plan might be enlarged, and the ideas expanded ;
and advised to print it by subscription.

This proposal I could not immediately comply with, as
it materially differed from, and greatly exceeded, what
was at first desired ; and therefore 1 resolved not to
publish in any form, till the sense of the associate brethren
could be taken. Accordingly, at their next annual meet-
ing, I gave my reasons why I had not complied with
their request; of which they approved, and earnestly
desired the last-mentioned plan might be adopted and
pursued.

I should not perhaps have mentioned the above, only
for the satisfaction of those who have complained of the
long delay. Being in a state of entire suspense for one
year, and waiting to collect the names of subscribers
afterwards, were the chief, though not the only reasons
of the publication being postponed ; for various provi-
dential occurrences have contributed to the delay.

Respecting what 1 have written. 1 have only to say,
the establishment of truth, the relief of distressed souls,

iv

the increase of brotherly love among the godly of every
denomination, delight in the adorable and boundless per-
fections of the great Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit,
and conformity to his righteous will, are the ends 1 have
had in view, and which I earnestly wish may be accom-
plished. But whether the manner of treating the several
subjects be calculated to answer such purposes, 1 cannot
say. I am habitually afraid, lest truth should suffer
through my weakness, and on that account have often
repented that I complied with the request of my friends^
However, having been greatly perplexed with most of
the difficulties referred to, I am not without hope that
the communication of what has been relieving to my own
mind, may be of use to others in similar exercises, through
the blessing of God, which it is earnestly desired may
attend every reader. And for which end may each one
endeavor to lift up his heart unto him who hath said,
I The meek he will guide in judgment, and teach his way.
Finally, brethren, pray for me, that I may live under the
influence of truth, and in the prospect of eternal glory r

ROBERT HALL,

Arnsby, Leicestershire ^
May 21, 178L

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

The work of which a new edition is now offered to the
public, stands in no need of a recommendation from the
pen of any man living. It has been its own recommen-
dation to the religious world in Great Britain, and also
in America ; and never did we meet with a serious
Christian who had read it, who did not award to it the
meed of his hearty praise. It has been long, it is be-
lieved, out of print in this country; and during the
time that it has been so, a state of the religious com-
munity has arisen, which has rendered such a Manual
exceedingly desirable; and, indeed, the absence of such
a one, much to be deplored.

The few last years have been remarkable for exten-
sive revivals of religion in almost every section of our
country ; and for very numerous additions made to the
numbers of professing Christians. The judicious and
observing, however, cannot but have lamented, that
while great pains, and unexampled labors have been
bestowed, by ministers, on the unconverted, to snatch
them from the burning, correspondent attention has not
been bestowed on the young convert, to indoctrinate
him in the truth. This has been a necessary conse-
quence of the limitation of man's physical powers. ^11
the strength of multitudes of ministers, has been spent
on the endeavor to awaken sinners ; andimnra4han all,
(jll iniiilMiiiiniiii f iiriiiiiii of course, the instruction of the

converted, " more perfectly in the way of God," has been
partially overlooked. One object of the present volume
is, to supply this deficiency ; by enabling the young
Christian, for himself, to acquire that acquaintance with
some of the doctrines of the religion of Christ, which,
while they lie at the foundation of hnnaan hope, are yet
apt to present difficulties in the way of " Zion's Trav-
ellers."

Of his own work, the Editor may be permitted to say,
that he has been careful, in reducing the treatise to
chapters, &c. not to destroy the integrity of Mr. Hall's
work ; and if, in a very few instances, he has made a
slight alteration in the collocation of words, he trusts he
shall meet with indulgence ; as it has been done only to
avoid the introduction of some compound words, which
the taste of modern readers cannot approve ; such as
'' Christ-dishonoring," and one or two others.

Of the Notes, he has only to say, that they were de-
signed for the elucidation of the text itself, or of the
doctrine of the text ; and, if he may rely on the judg-
ment of friends, to whose examination they have been
subjected, they will be found not altogether without
utilit)^ With these remarks and explanations, the
work is committed to the favor of the public, and the
blessing of God, by the

EDITOR.

Brookline, {Mass.)
Dec. 1833.

Recommendatory preface

TO THE

SECOND LONDON EDITION.

Twenty-eight years have elapsed since that Sermon
was delivered, in my father's pulpit, at Northampton,
before the Baptist Association, which Mr. Hall after-
wards enlarged into the following Treatise. As I then
united with many others in earnestly soliciting its pub-
lication, so I have since repeatedly perused it with much
satisfaction. When, therefore, the Publisher of the
present Edition applied to me for a recommendatory
Preface, I felt no hesitation but what arose from the
early impressions of veneration for one of the wisest
and best of men, to whom I was habituated to look up
with such respect, as made this office feel to me assum-
ing and arrogant. But when I reflect that he has been
removed from our world for more than sixteen years,
(and verily I miss no man more !) and consider that,
smce his decease, many have joined our churches, who
never had opportunity duly to appreciate his worth ; it
seems not to be taking too much upon me, to testify in
what high estimation he was justly held by those who
had the pleasure of his acquaintance. Strong natural
powers, ardent piety, deep exercises of mind, a series of
singular and sanctified trials, with a special unction from
the Holy One, rendered him a man of quick understand
ing in the fear of the Lord.

Deeply convinced of human guilt and depravity, and
very zealous for the honor of sovereign grace ; but no
less concerned for internal holiness and practical re-
ligion ; he was careful to walk in the midst of the paths
of judgment, and to beware of turning aside to the right
hand or the left.

Open to conviction, and willing to follow the light of
revelation, let it lead him whithersoever it would, he
believed that, about fourteen years before his death, he
had formed a more excellent way of solving some theo-
logical difficulties, than he had adopted in the earlier
part of his ministry.

He called no man upon earth master, in respect of his
religious sentiments, but he took a peculiar delight in
the writings of President Edwards ; and two Sermons
by Mr. Smalley, (which I borrowed of our venerable
friend Mr. JVeivton, of Olney, and after transcribing
them, lent them to Mr. Hall,) contributed much to
strengthen his conviction, that the moral impotence of
sinners is no more an excuse for their slighting the call
of the gospel, than it is for their violating the commands
of the law. As the greatest disinclination to regard
Divine authority cannot release a rational creature from
an obligation to obey God's precepts ; so the utter aver-
sion of a sinner to regard the kindness of God our
Saviour, cannot release him from an obligation thank-
fully to comply with his invitations.

At the same time, Mr. Hall remained as strenuous an
advocate as ever for the necessity and efficacy of divine
influence, to induce sinners or saints to comply cordially
with their indispensable duty ; and he was the more
abundantly confirmed in a belief of the sovereign free-
ness of grace, by reflecting that the inexcusable per-

IX

verseness of the human heart, which renders the agency
of the divine Spirit so necessary, must at the sEime time
evince that we are utterly unworthy of his gracious in-
terposition. The greater our reluctance is to come unto
God, in the way which he has prescribed for our return,
the more undeserving are we of being drawn unto him
by his Holy Spirit.

But this excellent man remarked, that if the invitations
of the gospel are not indefinite, or addressed to sinners
considered simply as needy and guilty, there can be no
foundation for the^ir*^ act of faith ; the sinner can have
no warrant for his application to Christ, unless he could
know his election, or prove his regeneration, before he
committed his soul to him. Hence, as he once observed
in a letter to a friend, they who would restrict the call
of the gospel, "ought in reason to point out how unbe-
lievers may know their election or regeneration in order
to warrant their first application to Christ ; or how the
assurance of personal interest in Christ may be obtained,
before persons come to him. The first acts of faith must
be unwarrantable and presumptuous, if there be no pre-
vious call or invitation. We allow a change of heart
must precede faith, but unknown renovation cannot be
the ground of the sinner's first encouragement to apply
to the Saviour, or that on which his right to confide in
him is founded, because it is unknown. And to suppose
any knowledge of regeneration or a change of heart, in
order to a reliance on Jesus, is the same as supposing an
assurance of possessing the spirit and grace of God,
while an unbeliever ; or that a man niust know he is
really safe, before he flee from danger."

This little volume, however, is far from being confined
to a subject on which Mr. Hall, in his latter years.

thought differently from the opinion he had embraced at
his first setting out in the ministry. It contains an able
vindication of the genuine doctrines of grace, from the
objections of Socinians, Sabellians, Arminians and Anti-
nomians. At its first publication, it was much approved
by many pious, judicious, and learned men, of different
denominations; and here that excellent man, who is
now laboring in India, with such indefatigable zeal for
the salvation of the heathen, first found his own system
of divinity. Raised from the greatest obscurity, Mr.
Care]) had but little access to books, at his first setting
out in religion ; and perplexed between the statements
of the Arminians, and the crudest representations of
Calvinism, by persons bordering closely on Antinornian-
ism, he searched the Scriptures attentively for himself,
endeavoring to find out the narrow way, between ex-
tremes which seemed irreconcilable to the honor of the
divine government, and the glory of divine grace : and
this was the first summary of evangelical truth, which
appeared to him fully to accord with the sacred standard.
On one particular which many readers might expect
Mr. Hall to have noticed, he has hardly touched viz.
the denial of the law of God as a rule of conduct to be-
lievers. This sentiment he ever considered as so gross a
piece of Antinomianism, that he did not suppose any
man could embrace it, whose conscience was not seared
as with a hot iron. The eminent divines, who verged to
an extreme respecting the obligation of sinners to repent
and believe the gospel, would have reprobated this doc-
trine, as tending to the greatest licentiousness. Dr.
Gill, Mr. Brine, Mr. Toplady, &c. utterly condemned
so vile a sentiment. But within the last twenty years
how many who exclaimed against Mr, Hall and his

XI

brethren, for embracing new sentiments respecting the
duty of sinners, have readily departed from their former
guides, and embraced new notions respecting the duty
of believers .'

To nie it appears a most marvellous instance of the
deceitfuiness of sin, if any man can think himself a
friend to evangelical religion, who by sinking unbelievers
below all obligation, and raising believers above all obli-
gation, almost annihilates both duty and sin, and so
leaves no room for the exercise of either pardoning
mercy or sanctifying grace. The apostolic axiom," where
there is no law there is no transgression," justly leads us
to conclude, that they who are below or above law have
no guilt, and need no Saviour; there is no room to show
the riches of his grace, or the efficacy of his blood, in the
pardon of those who never deserved punishment. If the
command be exceedingly narrow, our sins must be very
few, and the pardon of them a small matter. And if the
effectual ivfluence of the Spirit be supposed to be the
source, rule, ftnd measure of Obligation, no one can have
reason to mourn for sin : since he always does as much as
he was powerfully inclined to do, and by this supposition
it was not his duty to do any more. Thus sinless per-
fection is easily attained, though in the backward way;
not by coming up to the standard of rectitude, but by
bringing it down to our level. Most comfortable doctrine
to a carnal heart !

The first edition of this excellent work was very in-
correctly printed. This will, I trust, be found very
much improved, by the care of my respected brother,
the Editor, who is endeared to me by the friendship of
forty years, (for it is very near so long since we were
baptized together at Northampton,) and by many cor-

rections made by the Author himself, as well as by the
addition of a clear analysis. May God bless the re-
printing of it, to lead many more fully into the truth as
it is in Christ Jesus, is the earnest prayer of
The reader's cordial friend,

and servant, for Christ's sake,

JOHN RYLAND.

INTRODUCTORY PREFACE

TO THE THIRD LONDON EDITION.

An aversion to religious controversy may arise from
two causes, in their nature the most opposite ; a con-
tempt of religion itself, or a high degree of devotional
feeling. They who consider the objects of religion as
visionary and uncertain, or who, rejecting revelation, feel
their inability to find a place where they may fix their
footing, will naturally feel an emotion of contempt for
theological contests, similar to that which we should ex-
perience towards men who were fighting for possessions
in the air.

There are not a few who would engage with the ut*
most seriousness and ardor in a dispute on the nature
and effects of paper currency, who would be ashamed of
being suspected of directing their attention for a moment
to the most weighty questions in theology. Attentive to
all the aspects and combinations of the material and of
the political world, they are accustomed to regard re-
ligion as a sort of Utopia, a land of shadow and of fiction,
where, wrapt in pleasing vision, Credulity reposes on the
lap of Imposture. This sort of persons are so completely
overcome by the enchantments of the present state, so
entirely devoted to the wisdom which St. James denomi-
nates earthly and sensual, that they are incapable of
being impressed with a conviction of the possibility of a
higher order of objects, or a more elevated and refined
condition of being, than that with which they are con-
versant; and though they may possess a subtle and
penetrating genius, they are not less disqualified for re-

llgious inquiries than an idiot or an infant. Tliey mind
earthly things.

How far the indisposition to religious controversy
which prevails at pres^ant, may be justly ascribed to this
Sadducean temper, I shall not pretend to determine. It
is certain, however, that, in some, this indisposition pro-
ceeds from a better cause. While the former class of
persons think religion not worth disputing about, there
are others who conceive it to be a subject too sacred for
dispute. They wish to confine it to silent meditation, to
sweeten solitude, to inspire devotion, to guide the prac-
tice, and purify the heart, and never to appear in public
but in the character of the authentic interpreter of the
will of Heaven. They conceive it degraded whenever
it is brought forward to combat on the arena. We are
fully convinced, that a disputatious humor is unfavorable
to piety ; and that controversies in religion have often
been unnecessarily multiplied and extended ; but how
they can be dispensed with altogether, we are at a loss
to discover, until some other method is discovered of con-
futing error, than sound and solid argument. As we no
longer live in times (God be thanked !) when coercion
can be employed, or when any individual, or any body
of men, are invested with that authority which could
silence disputes by an oracular decision, there appears
no possibility of maintaining the interests of truth, with-
out having recourse to temperate and candid controversy.
Perhaps the sober use of this weapon may not be with-
out its advantages, even at the present season. Prone
as we are to extremes, may there not be some reason to
apprehend, we have passed from that propensity to mag-
nify every difference subsisting among Christians, to a
neglect of just discrimination, to a habit of contemplating
the Christian system as one in which there is little or

XV

nothing that remains to be explored ? Let us cultivate
the most cordial esteem for all that love the Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. Let us anxiously guard against
that asperity and contempt which have too often mingled
with theological debates ; but let us aim, at the same
time, to acquire and retain the most accurate conceptions
of religious truth. Every improvement in the knowl-
edge of Christ and the mysteries of his Gospel, will
abundantly compensate for the labor and attention ne-
cessary to its attainment.

However unhappily controversies have too often been
conducted, the assistance they have afforded in the dis-
covery of truth, is not light or inconsiderable. Not to
mention the Reformation, which was principally effected
by controversy, how many truths have, by this means,
been set in a clearer view ; and, while the unhappy pas-
sions it has awakened have subsided, the light struck
out in the collision has been retained and perpetuated.

As the physical powers are scarcely ever exerted to
their utmost extent, but in the order of combat, so intel-
lectual acumen has been displayed to the most advan-
tage, and to the most effect, in the contests of argument.
The mind of a controversialist, warmed and agitated, is
turned to all quarters, and leaves none of its resources
unemployed in the invention of arguments, tries every
weapon, and explores the hidden recesses of a subject
with an intense vigilance and an ardor which it is next
to impossible, in a calmer state of mind, to command.
Disingenuous arts are often resorted to, personalities are
mingled, and much irritative matter is introduced ; but
it is the business of the attentive observer to separate
these from the question at issue, and to form an impar-
tial judgment of the whole. In a word, it may be truly

XVI

affirmed, that the evils occasioned by controversy are
transient } the good it produces is pern)anent.

These observations I beg leave to submit to the
reader, as an apology for the republication of a Treatise
v^hich is confessedly controversial. Coinciding with the
venerable author in the general aim and drift of the fol-
lowing sheets, I am far from pledging myself to the ap-
probation and support of every position contained in
them ; nor would I be understood to attach all the im-
portance to some of the points in discussion, which they
appear, in his estimation, to have possessed.

If there be any impression in the following Treatise,
which implies that the questions at issue betwixt the
Calvinists and Arminians are of the nature of funda-
mentals, (of which, however, I am not aware,) 1 beg
leave, as far as they are concerned, to express my ex-
plicit dissent; being fully satisfied that upon either sys-
tem the foundations of human hope remain unshaken,
and that there is nothing in the contrariety of views en-
tertained on these subjects, which ought to obstruct the
most cordial affection and harmony among Christians.

Having no pecuniary interest in this work, I may,
perhaps, be allowed with the more freedom to communi-
cate my opinion of its merit. I am much mistaken if the
candid reader will not perceive in the author an impar-
tial love of truth, together with a degree of ingenuity
and acuteness in its illustration and defence, not always
to be met with in theological discussions.

The sentiments of my honored father were decidedly
Calvinistic. His object, however, in the following
Treatise, was not so much to recommend that system in
general, as to disengage it from certain excrescences,
v^rhich he considered as weakening its evidence and im-
pairing its beauty. On reviewing his religious tenets

XVll

during the latter years of his life, and impartially com-
paring them with the Scriptures, he was led to discard
some opinions which he had formerly embraced, and
which he afterwards came to consider as having a per-
nicious tendency.

From the moral impotence which the oracles of truth
ascribe to man in his fallen state, a certain class of di-
vines were induced to divide moral and religious duties
into two classes, natural and spiritual; comprehending
under the latter, those which require spiritual or super-
natural assistance to their performance ; and under the
former, those which demand no such assistance. Agree-
able to this distinction, they conceived it to be the duty
of all men to abstain from the outward acts of sin, to
read the Scriptures, to frequent the worship of God, and
to attend with serious assiduity to the means of grace ;
but they supposed that repentance, faith in Christ, and
the exercise of genuine internal devotion, were obliga-
tory only on the regenerate. Hence their ministry con-
sisted almost entirely of an exhibition of the peculiar
mysteries of the gospel, with few or no addresses to the
unconverted. They conceived themselves not war-
ranted to urge them to repent and beheve the gospel,
those being spiritual duties, from whose obligation they
were released by the inability contracted by the fall.

These conclusions were evidently founded upon two
assumptions ; first, that the impotence which the Scrip
lures ascribe to the unregenerate is free from blame, so
as to excuse them from all the duties to which it ex-
tends. In opposition to this, the Author of the follow-
ing Treatise has proved, in a very satisfactory manner,
that the inability under which the unconverted labor is
altogether of a moral nature, consisting in the corrup-
tion of the will, or an aversion to things of a spiritual and
B

divine nature ; that it is in itself criminaJ ; and that, acr
far from affording an excuse for what would otherwise
be duty, it stamps with its own character all its issues
and productions.

In considering- the moral character of an action, we
are naturally led to inquire into its motive, and according
as that is criminal, laudable, or indifferent, to character-
ize the action whence it proceeds. The motive, how-
ever, appears no otherwise entitled to commendation,
than as it indicates the disposition of the agent ; so that
in analyzing the elements of moral character, we can as-
cend no liigher than to the consideration of the dispo-
sition, or the state of the will and of the affections, a?
constituting the essence of that portion of virtue or of
vice which we respectively ascribe to it. To proceed
farther will only involve us in a circle, since to what-
ever we might trace the disposition in question, should
we be induced, for example, to ascribe it to the free ex-
ercise of the will, that exercise would fall under the
same predicament, and be considered either as virtuous
or vicious, according to the disposition whence it pro-
ceeds. When the Scriptures have placed the inability
of mankind to yield holy and acceptable obedience in an
evil disposition, or in blindness and hardness of heart,
they have conducted us to the ultimate point on this
subject, and have established the doctrine of human
criminality upon a basis which cannot be shaken or dis-
turbed, without confounding the first principles of moral
discrimination. Though it is manifest this impotence is
entirely of a moral nature, totally distinct from the want
of natural faculties, it is equally evident, that to what-
ever extent it exists, while it actually subsists, it is as
effectual an impediment to the performance of holy
actions as any physical privation whatever ; and on that

account, and that alone, may, without absurdity, be
styled an inabilitij.* This important distinction was not
altogether unknown to our earlier divines, though they
neglected to avail themselves of it as fully as they ought.
It is clearly stated by the great Mr. Howe, in his Bless-
edness of the Righteous, as well as adverted to by Mr.
Baxter in several of his practical works. But the earliest
regular treatise on this subject it has been my lot to
meet with, was the production of Mr. Towman, an emi-
nent non-conformist divine. In his dissertation on moral
impotence, as he styles it, he has anticipated the most
important arguments of succeeding writers, and has
evinced, throughout, a most masterly acquaintance with
his subject. This work is mentioned in terms of high
respect by Nelson, in his Life of Bishop Bull, whore-
marks, that his thoughts were original, and that he had
hit upon a method of defending Calvinism against the
objections of Bull and of others, peculiar to himself.
His claim to perfect originality, however, was not so
well founded as Nelson supposed. Since his time the
subject has been fully discussed by the celebrated Jona-
than Edwards, in his treatise on the Will, and the dis-
tinction defended with all the depth and precision pe-
culiar to that amazing genius.

Another principle assumed as a basis by the high Cal-
vinists, is, that the same things cannot be the duty ol
man, and the gift of God : or, in other words, that what
is matter of promise, can on no occasion, be the matter

* This truth is lost sight of by these preachers among us, who asseit
*' that it is as easy to give up the affections to God as it is to rise from our
seat." The difference in nature between physical and moral anability >
does not destroy the reality of either: the latter is as reoZas tfee former'
.and may be as absolute. Ed.

of obligation. The Scriptures frequently affirm faith
and repentance to be the gifts of God ; hence it is con-
cluded that they cannot be obligatory on the unregene-
rate ; a conclusion diametrically opposed to innumera-
ble passages in the Old and New Testament, which
insist, in the most peremptory style, on true conversion
and a lively faith, as the most essential duties, which
other passages are equally express in exhibiting as mat-
ter of promise. A neio heart will I give them, says the
Lord by Ezekiel, and a new spirit will I put within
them, and I will take away the heart of stone, and give
them a heart of flesh. The same prophet cries, Make
you a new heart, for lohy viiLl ye die, 0 house of Israel ?
in exact accordance with the language of St. James,
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, ard purify yovr hearts,
ye douhle-viinded. The burden of our Saviour's minis-
try, as well as that of his forerunner, was, Repent, for
the kingdom of God is at hand ; while St. Peter, who
perfectly knew the genius of Christianity, affirms that
Christ is exalted to give repentance and the remission of
sins. Circumcise your hearts, said Moses, and be no
longer stiff-necked: the same Moses had been previously
commissioned to declare, The Lord thy God shall cir-
cumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed. Now the
circumcision of the heart we are taught by St. Paul in
his Epistle to the Romans, to regard as the distinguish-
ing feature of the truly regenerate — of him who is a
Jew inwardly, whose praise is not of man, but of God.
Whoever impartially weighs the import of these Scrip-
lures, must be convinced that the same things are, in
fact, matter of command, and the subject of promise, and
must, consequently, be prepared to acquiesce in the de-
cision of infinite wisdom on this subject, however much

XXI

he may be at a loss to explain or account for it. The
consistency of the promises and of the commands in
question, arises from the matter of each being of a
moral nature. If we will allow ourselves to reflect, we
shall perceive that the will, and the will only, is the
proper object of command, and that an agent is no other-
wise accountable, or susceptible of moral government,
than as he is the subject of voluntary powers : we shall
also perceive that the disordered state of the will, or the
radical indisposition of an agent to comply with legiti-
mate commands, which is the same thing, by no means
exempts him from their obligation, nor tends in the least
degree to render the addressing such commands to him
absurd or improper. That they will not be complied
with, while that disordered state subsists, is true: but
legitimate commands, enforced by proper sanctions, are
amongst the strongest motives ; that is, they tend in
their own nature to incline the will, and therefore they
cannot be withheld, without virtually relinquishing the
claim of authority and dominion. This may suffice to
evince the propriety of issuing commands, notwithstand-
ing the known and radical indisposition to comply ;
or, which comes to the same thing, whatever be the
state of the will. With respect to the other side of the
supposed contradiction, what can be plainer than that
the will, as well as every other faculty of the mind, is
under divine control, and that God can with infinite
ease, in what instances, and in what manner he please,
so change and modify it, as to induce a prompt and
cheerful compliance with his requisition .'' What should
prevent him, at whose disposal are the hearts of the
mightiest of men, to make his people zoilling in the daij
of his power ?

It is instructive, as well as amusing, to trace the
coincidence which is often found betwixt systems
which appear at first view at the utmost variance from
each other. The grosser Arminians and Pelagians con-
tend, that it is the duty of all men to repent and believe,
because all possess an inherent power of so doing, with-
out special or supernatural assistance. The high Cal-
vinists, on the contrary, deny that any man in a state of
unregeneracy is under an obligation to perform those
duties, because they are not possessed of the requisite
ability. Thus both concur in making moral ability the
measure of obligation ; a position which, when the
terms are accurately defined and cleared of their am-
biguity, conducts us to this very extraordinary conclu-
sion, that men are obliged to just as much of duly as
they are inclined to. On these, and other points con-
nected with them, the reader, if we are not mistaken,
will find much solid instruction in the following Treatise,
accompanied with such a constant attention to the great
end of theological discussion, the promotion of practical
piety, as can scarcely fail of affording high satisfaction
to serious minds. To this Treatise, and to another on a
similar subject, by my excellent and judicious friend,
Mr. Fuller, the Dissenters in general, and the Baptists
in particular, are under great obligations, for emancipa-
ting them from the fetters of prejudice, and giving free
scope to the publication of the gospel. By these means
a considerable revolution has been effected in the senti-
ments of the denomination to which I have the honor to
belong: the excrescences of Calvinism have been cut
off; the points of defence have been diminished in num-
ber, and better fortified; truth has shone forth with
brighter lustre, and the ministry of the go-pel been ren-
dered more simple, more practical, and more efficacious.

XXIIl

In reply to such as may object to the metaphysica!
subtlety which pervades some parts of the following
Treatise, I would avail myself of the distinction adaiira-*
bly illustrated by tlie author of the Light of Nature
pursued.* He observes, that although metaphysical
reasoning rarely, if ever, conduces to the discovery of
truth, it is of great advantage in the detection of sophis-
try ; and that the mist and confusion in which moral
subjects have been involved, by crude and undigested
metaphysics, can only be exploded by the temperate use
of that which is true and genuine ; so that the chief
praise of metaphysics is the cure of its own ills, the
repair of the mischief which itself has wrought. The
reader will observe, that the author employs metaphysics,
not to rear the fabric of truth, which can only be effected
by a profound deference to inspiration, but to demolish
a rotten superstition which conceals its beauty. For the
want of elegance or polish, discernible in the following
sheets, it will be sufficient apology to inform the reader,
that the author, destitute of the advantages of early
education, had no other resources to depend upon, in
his religious inquiries, than what were derived from the
vigor of his understanding, and his unbiassed integrity
of heart. Had he enjoyed the benefit of literary cul-
ture, he would have undoubtedly written in a style and
manner more adapted to gain the attention of tha supe-
rior classes : whether his reasoning would have been
more cogent, or his method of handling his subject better
fitted for the instruction of plain serious Christians, for
whose benefit he principally laboured, i,s more question-
able.

* Abrsham Tucker.

Gratitude and veneration compel me to add, that
with all the imperfections of the work, and the disadvan-
tages under which the author of it labored, I shall ever
esteem it one of the greatest favors an indulgent Provi-
dence has conferred upon me, to have possessed such a
father, whom in all the essential features of character it
will be ray humble ambition to imitate, though con-
scious it must ever be

I'aud passibus aeqtiis.

R. H.
Sept. 1824.

HELP

TO

ZION'S TRAVELLERS, &c.

[SAiAH, Ivii. 14.

Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the ivay, take up the
stumbling-hlock out of the way of my people.

These words seem to have been the language
of those who in a time of general declension
adhered to God and religion, and in every difficul-
ty and danger trusted in the Lord, being encour-
aged by his precious promises, as mentioned in the
preceding verse. Knowing, by mournful experi-
ence, the various obstacles and intricacies which
annoy and perplex the heavenly traveller in times
of distress and obscurity, they are represented as
saying, on behalf of the discouraged and entanglet^
to those who were employed in the ways of Zion, i
Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, &c. I

Whether the text be considered as historical, or '
prophetical, as a relation of what was the request
of the godly in the days of the prophet, or a pre-
C

26 HELP TO ZIOn's TRAVELLERS.

diction of what would be solicited in some future
period, it is evident from the words that the people
of God are represented as on a journey, seeking a
better country, which is an heavenly ; therefore are
frequently called strangers, and pilgrims on the
earth ; that the way in which they are to walk is
not at all times easy to be discovered ; and when
obscurity attends the path, hesitation prevents a
progress. Hence the servants of the Lord are call-
ed upon to cast up and prepare the way, to render
it more visible and obvious to every spiritual pas-
senger, to see that it be raised or elevated, and
thereby rendered safe, even when floods of perse-
cution and temptation abound, and made as plain
as possible, by the removal of everything tending
to injure the weak or benighted traveller: there-
lore it is added. Take up the stumbling-block out
of the way of my people. This desire, this request
seems to be represented as the personal and united
wish of every good man, whether in the days of
the prophet, or in future periods of time. For thus
saith the Lord, "He that putteth his trust in me
— shall say. Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the
way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way
of my people."

Though stumbling-block is mentioned only in
the singular, as if pointing to some one danger or
difficulty to be removed, yet it is evident from
Scripture, that various things are so denominated;
but the singular number only being used in the
words, may denote the dreadful nature and dan-

HELP TO ZIOn's TRAVELLERS. 27

gerous tendency of the doctrine and practice of
idolatry, which was the stumbling-block Balaam
taught Balak to east before the children of Israel,
and against which the prophet in this chapter had
been bearing his testimony. The doctrine of idol-
atry in its different forms has been, and continues
to be, a fatal stumbling-block to many : hence the
church of Pergamos was censured for keeping in
her community them that held the doctrine of
Balaam. Rev. ii. J4. Again, if the text be consid-
ered as the language of every believer, it may re-
fer to, or include, whatever was or may be found
of a stumbling nature to each of them. The ex-
periences of Christians are very different respect-
ing what is, or has been, to them of a trying, per-
plexing nature ; and as each Christian is ready to
fear what has been the principal stumbling-block
to him may be the same to others, it is natural to
suppose, that as every heart knows its own bitter-
ness, each tried believer would thus express him-
self, and in reference to his own experience, say,
"Take the stumbling-block out of the way of my
people."

Besides, as there is often a prevalence of various
errors in different periods, and distinct places; so,
what is injurious to the people of God, as a pre-
vailing stumbling-block in their way, is variable,
according to the methods taken to obscure, mis-
represent, or oppose the solemn and sacred truths,
which God has graciously revealed in his word ;

28 HELP TO ZIOn's TRAVELLERS.

or lessen their genuine influence and native ten-
dency, as recorded in the holy Scriptures.

From these considerations we may infer, that
though the text speaks in the singular number,
yet the servants of the Lord must expect to have
various things of a stumbling nature to remove,
according to the different exercises of the saints,
or the injury done to truth at different times, and
by different persons.

The ministers of Christ are set for the defence
of the gospel, and are appointed to help the faith
and joy of those who have believed through
grace. And as this is a day in which errors of
various kinds abound, a day of gloominess and
perplexity to many sincere Christians who desire
to know the truth as it is in Jesus, to be devoted
to him through life, as well as found in him at
death ; for the sake of such I would endeavor, as
the Lord shall help, to remove some of those
stumbling-blocks, which lie in their v/ay, relating

to DOCTRINAL, EXPERIMENTAL and PRACTICAL
RELIGION.

DEITY OF CHRIST. 29

PART I.

DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

CHAPTER I. — THE DEITY OF CHRIST.

Respecting doctrinal difficulties, we may ob-
serve the most common and artful methods taken
by many to overturn the soul-supporting truth of
Christ's divinity. It is only from the sacred Scrip-
tures we can have information respecting the per-
son and work of our precious Redeemer: to these
he appealed in the days of his flesh, saying, Search
the Scriptures, for they testify of me: but with
what deceitfulness is the word of God handled by
many, when the person of Christ is the suhject of
inquiry! [Instances might easily be multiplied;
but I shall mention only the following.]

1. Some, in order to overthrow his claim to
divinity, and the supreme love of his people, have
collected a number of passages of Scripture,
which plainly declare his inferiority to God : from
which they infer, with an appearance of gravity
and good will to truth, that as Scripture is evi-
dently consistent with itself, he therefore who is
therein declared to be inferior to deity, cannot
possibly be divine. But a little attention is suffi-
cient to discover that art is substituted in the
room of argument, and sophistry occupies the

30 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

place of sense. Every good man will rejoice in
the harmony and consistency of divine revelation,
and readily allow that inferiority and equality are
opposites, and that in the sense in which Christ is
spoken of as inferior, he is not, cannot be equal
with God.

But as in the person of Christ two distinct na-
tures are united, in consequence of which he is
Immanuel, God with us; therefore it does not fol-
low, because he has a nature inferior to God, yea,
even to angels, that his superior nature is not
properly divine. Ten thousand testimonies in
proof of his humanity do not in the least degree
enervate his claim to deity: a very small attention
to the subject under consideration, is suffieient to
discover the fallaciousness of such reasoning as
the above. For those who maintain the divinity
of the blessed Saviour, as firmly believe him to be
properly man,* as they do who deny him to be
God over all.

It is our unspeakable felicity, that the Son of
God was sent into the world as a Mediator, to

* The doctrine of Sabellianism, viz : That Christ's body
was truly human ; but was animated by the inhabitation
of Deity, as the bodies of men are by that of their souls,
is often adopted by worthy Christians through mere
want of reflection. It may be accounted for, from the
fact, that the full humanity of the Redeemer is, per-
haps, less frequently insisted on from the pulpits of
Trinitarians, than its importance, and its obviousness ia
the sacred writings, would seem to require. Ed.

DEITY OF CHRIST. 31

make peace between Jehovah in his public char-
acter as a governor, and rebelHous men, that the
Lord God might dwell among them, and they
with him. In order to accomplish which, it was
necessary he should assume human nature, and
dwell among us. To reconcile God and man, it
was needful he should be a middle person, possess-
ing the nature of hath, and as equally interested in
favor of each party, be able to establish Heaven's
righteous claim, and raise self-ruined man to a
state of safety, dignity, and delight.

Considered as a complex person, he kindly
condescended to act on our behalf in office ca-
pacity, as if inferior to Deity. For as Mediator he
acted as under the direction and commission of
his Father ; and as such, was God's servant, though
his Son ; therefore said, of himself he could do
nothing: not through the want of ability, but
being under official obligations to adhere to his
Father's directions. Though an ambassador can
do nothing of himself, but is bound in duty to act
in all things in conformity to his instructions, yet
it is not from thence inferable that his nature,
ability, or mental powers, are inferior to those of
his sovereign ; for the restriction or limitation is
not the effect of personal debility, but of office
capacity. The blessed Jesus is therefore not only
inferior to G&d as man, but as Mediator ; never-
theless, inferiority in office does not prove, nor
imply, an inferiority of nature. Nay, on the con-
trary, the errand on which he came, and the work

32 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

assigned him to perform, were so infinitely im-
portant, awful, and arduous, that he could not
have discharged his trust without the power and
penetration of Deity. Hence he appealed to his
works in proof of his divine mission, likewise as
evidences of his filial relation to God, in such a
sense as exposed him to the charge of hlasphemy,
had he not been properly divine: John x. 24 — 38.
His true dignity as a divine person being infer-
able from what he did, his enemies were on that
account inexcusable, because his works sufficiently
demonstrated to every honest inquiring mind,
who he was, as well as from whence he came ;
though it was inconsistent with his then state of
humiliation and debasement, to allow the glories
of divinity to shine forth in their native lustre and
infinite splendour : hence he repeatedly charged
his friends not to publish to the world who he was,
till after his resurrection from the dead. That he
was a man, his enemies knew as well as his dis-
ciples; yea, some of them thought him to be the
promised Messiah, and said one to another. This
is the heir, let us kill him : but as a divine person
they knew him not ; for, had they known him,
they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
For the principal charge brought against him, and
for which he was condemned, was, that, being a
man, he made himself equal with God ; John v. 18.
Chap. xix. 7.

If Christ exposed himself to death through am-
biguity, how did he witness a good confession at

DEITY OF CHRIST. 33

Pilate's bar? Ifhe did not mean an equality with
God, which the Jews thought he did, strange that
his regard to truth did not lead to an explanation
of what he intended.

It is no wonder that priests and others in that day
of prevalent ignorance and perverseness, should
have a secret conviction ofhis office capacity as Mes-
siah, without an idea of his divinity, seeing, some
under the profession of gospel ministers, acknowl-
edge and plead for his divine mission, and yet op-
pose and reject with contempt the idea of his
being a divine person.

How kind and wonderful the condescension of
the blessed Jesus, that he should stoop to take
upon him human nature (not as when in its orig-
inal dignity, but in its debased state) in order to
suffer, and serve, in favour of those who would, he
knew, on that very account, rob him ofhis repu-
tation, as a divine person I It is mournful to think
he should be despised on earth for that, on the ac-
count of which he is admired in heaven.

Consider the complex capacity of the adorable
Jesus as God, and as man, with his acting as Me-
diator, in consequence of such an union of dis-
tinct natures, and then the Scripture account of
his inferiority and subjection to the divine Father
will appear quite consonant with the doctrine of
his true and proper divinity ; and the stumbling-
block aforesaid be totally removed. But when the
aforesaid [difficulty] is removed, behold another is

34 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

with equal art thrown in the way of the ignorant
and unwary, which is

2. A perversion of the terms used in treating
of this important subject. In consequence of such
unwarrantable, not to say unmanly craft, the unity
of the divine e55ence is represented to be so evi-
dently inconsistent with a plurality of divine per-
sons, as if it was universally agreed lo consider
them as absolute contradictions, and to convey ir-
reconcileable ideas; whereas it is very well known
that those who believe the divinity of the blessed
Jesus (and the Holy Ghost) as firmly maintain the
unity of the divine essence, or that there is only one
God, as they do who oppose a plurality of divine
persons. Yet things are so represented as if they
and the Trinitarians agreed in that about which
they differ, and again as if they differed about that
in which they are agreed ; for the consistency be-
tween a plurality of persons in the one divine
essence, is the very thing for which those contend
who believe the divinity of Christ. And that
there is but one living and true God, both parties
unite and agree in acknowledging. The doctrines
of unity in the divine essence, and a plurality of
persons, are in their very nature distinct, and
ought never to be confounded. But that they are
opposites and inconsistent in reference to God,
has not yet been proved, and I believe never will.
But though the adversaries of Christ's divinity
oppose the one to the other, as if they were allowed
contrarieties ; yet, by and by, they will treat those

DEITY OF CHRIST. 35

very terms by which the doctrines are distin-
guished, as if they were intended to express the
same thing, or convey similar ideas. Hence, if the
essence of God be the subject treated of, the term
person is immediately substituted, as if synony-
mous with that o^ essence, and then with an air of
triumph it is inferred, that. If God he one, he is not
two or three. Again, if the doctrine of divine per-
sonality be the matter of immediate consideration,
and scriptural j^roofs be adduced in support of a
plurality of persons truly rfii?i;ie, behold the idea of
essence is by them substituted in the room of per-
son, and unity instead of plurality, and by the help
of such a substitutioji and perversion of terms, and
shuffle of ideas, they very gravely exclaim against
Tritheism, i. e. the doctrine of three Gods. As the
friends of Christ's divinity never assert God to be
three in the sense in which he is one, nor one in the
same sense in which he is three, but perpetually dis-
tinguish between a plurality of persons and the
unity of God, the methods taken as aforesaid are
disingenuous, contemptible, mean, and even be-
neath notice, were it not that thereby inattentive
minds are imposed upon, the opposition to the
Redeemer's dignity is supported, and weak Chris-
tians are stumbled.

It is evident, however, beyond contradiction,
that according to the Scriptures there was a plu-
rality of persons antecedent to creation ; for in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God, the same was in the

86 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

beginning with God: all things were made by
him, and without him, was not any thing made
that was made ; John i. 1,2, 3: that glorious per-
son who was with God was therefore distinct from
him with whom he was, and yet of the same
nature, being one in essence with the Father.
For the word was God, and that Jesus Christ is
intended by the Word who was in the beginning
with God, and the author of creation, is plain from
verse 10. He was in the world, and the world
was made by him. Again, verse 14, The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we be-
held his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth. As he was
before all things, so by him all things consist;
Col. i. 17. He was with the Father from everlast-
ing, and all that is done in time is according to
the eternal purpose which the Father purposed
in him. Hence God chose his people in him,
committed them to his care in the everlasting
covenant, and promised eternal life in him before
the world began. Many instances might be given
of Christ's existence before his incarnation, as he
said, Before Abraham was, I am ; John viii. 58.
The plural pronouns used in Scripture by the
great Eternal when speaking of acts, authority,
and properties peculiar to Deity, are striking
proofs of a plurality of persons in one essence.
God said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness ; Gen. i. 26. Behold the man is be-
come like one of us ; chap. iii. 22. Let us go

DEITY OP CHRIST. 37

down and confound their language : chap. xi. 7.
Whom shall I send, who will go for us ? Isaiah,
vi. 8. And respecting all other objects of worship,
Jehovah's language is, Produce your cause, saith
the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, saith
the King of Jacob ; let them show the former
things what they be, that we may consider them.
Or declare us things to come, that we may know
that ye are gods; yea, do good or do evil, that we
may be dismayed, and behold it together. Isaiah
xli. 21, 22, 23. Again, to stain the pride of man
and curb human arrogance, he asserts his divine
prerogative in the following solemn and instruc-
tive interrogations. Who hath declared from the
beginning that we may know ? And before time,
that we may say be is righteous ? I beheld, and
there was no man, no counsellor, that when I
asked them could answer a word ; Isaiah, xli.
26, 28. From these and many more instances
which might be produced, it is evident, that there
is a plurality of persons in the one eternal God,
even the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and that these three are one. In the name of
which sacred three the holy ordinance of baptism
was ordered to be administered.

The adversaries of Christ's divinity being con-
scious, that the Scriptures treat of a plurality of
persons employed in creation, &c. and lest the
artful manner of treating the argument respect-
ing person and essence as aforesaid should not
block up the way leading to the divine glories of

38 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

Jesus, have invented another stunnbling-block to
render the path of faith in Christ's divinity quite
impassable, which is [to advocate]

3. The pre-existence of Christ's soul. It is
acknowledged some have maintained this senti-
ment without any designed injury to the doctrine
of the Trinity. But it is equally evident that
some of the most virulent enemies of Christ's di-
vine personality, find it impossible to give their
scheme of opposition even the appearance of con-
sistency, but as aided by the aforesaid hypothesis;
therefore great pains have been taken to render it
plausible, in consequence of which it has proved
a stumbling-block to some.

But that it was not a human soul which existed
with the Father before time, and which made the
world, and to which God spake, saying. Let us
make man, Slc. &c. but his own infinitely glo-
rious Son, will appear, if the following things be
duly considered. He who was with the Father,
was with him from everlasting, rejoicing always
before him, and whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting ; Mic. v. 2, and who
should be called, though clothed with humanity,
the everlasting Father, the mighty God ; Isaiah
ix. 6. But it is absurd to suppose a creature to
have existed before time began. Every creature
once was not ; to suppose a creature always to
have been, is to form an idea of a creature which
was never created ; all things were made by Je-
sus Christ, without him nothing was made that

DEITY OF CHRIST. 39

was made ; but according: to the aforesaid opin-
ion, there was a creature made which Jesus
Christ was no way concerned in the formation
of; for a creature cannot be thought to have
created itself, without absurdly supposing it to
have been before it was, to exist prior to its ex-
istence, or to act whilst it was nothing, in order to
be something — the above absurdities are unavoid-
able: if the Scripture account of the creation (as
the production of a plurality of persons) be credit-
ed, and the divinity of Christ be denied.

As a soul could not create itself, so neither
could it be the author of the other ])arts of the
creation, which Jesus Christ is positively declared
to be- For by him were all things created that
are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions,
principalities, or powers : all things were created
by him and for him; Col. i. 16. If a human soul
be the author of creation, various creatures would
be above their Creator. Angels, for instance,
would be superior to their Maker, and excel him
in strength; for man (which Christ is asserted
only to be) is naturally inferior to those celestial
spirits. Thou madest him a little lower than the
angels; which supposes the angels were, when
his humanity was made ; Heb. ii. 7. The ac-
knowledgment of Christ as Creator, renders the
denial of Viis proper divinity inexcusable, and saps
the foundation of not only revealed, but natural re-
ligion : for, if Jesus be the former of all things,

40 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

the invisible things of him from the creation of
the world are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made, even his eternal })ower
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse
who glorify him not as God. Rom. i. 20, 21.
Some assert that Christ was only an instrument
in creation ; but the work of creation was of such
a nature as to exclude the idea of an instrumental
creator. An instrument, if concerned at all, must
have been employed either before or after the pro-
duction of being, for there was no medium. Not
before, because prior to creation there was not any
thing existing for an instrument to act upon, or to
be employed about. Not afte7\ because when a
creature does exist, it is too late for an instrument
to be employed in producing it. Nothing short of
infinite agency could possibly be concerned in
creation ; the persons so engaged were properly
divine, and essentially one. However, that there
was no instrument concerned is beyond all dis-
pute, if what Jehovah says be duly regarded ; for
he declares there was none such with him. Prov.
viii. ; Mic. v. 2. Thus saith the Lord thy Re-
deemer, and be that formed thee from the womb ;
I am the Lord that niaketh all things, that stretch-
ed out the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad
the earth by myself. Isaiah xliv. 24. Which
ALONE spreadeth out the heavens. Job ix. 8.
Hence it appears, that though there were distinct
persons employed in creation, yet they were so

DEITY OF CHRIST. 41

united as to be included in the one all-creating
Jehovah.

4. To render the scheme of opposition to
Christ's divinity more consistent, and the idea of
the soul existing before time, instead of the Son
of God, less exceptionable ; it has been thought
proper to exclude the body from being an essen-
tial constituent part of a man. Such an exclu-
sion to be sure was a happy thought, and quite
necessary; for without it the all-creating creature
would not have been j)roperly either God, angel,
or man. But that it might be considered as be-
longing to some scale or class of being, " It is
asserted to be a proper human person, a true and
real man, the body being only a temporary cover-
ing for, but not a constituent part of, human na-
ture." But this method of de|;reciating the divine
glories of the blessed Jesus will prove abortive, if
the Scri})ture account of human nature be attend-
ed to; and without doubt he who made man
could best describe him. From the sacred pages
we learn, that the Lord God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and man became a living soul ;
Gen. ii. 7: and that the rib, which the Lord God
had taken from man, made he a woman ! and
Adam said. She shall be called woman, because
she was taken out of man. Again, to Adam as a
transgressor, the Lord said. Dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return ; Gen. iii. 19. Man
shall return again to dust. Now as the soul was
D

42

DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

not formed of the dust, nor the rib of which Eve
was made, taken out of the soul; but the rib from
the body, and the body from the ground; there-
fore the body must be a constituent part of man,
for the body only returns to dust, and yet the
Lord says, vian shall return thither. Job xxxiv.
15. Again : the personal name of man is often
given to the body, which would be improper if the
body was not a part of the person. Jacob in his
affecting lamentation says, Joseph is without
doubt rent in pieces. I will go down into the
grave unto my son mourning: thus his father
wept for him. Gen. xxxvii. 33, 35. It was not the
soulj hut the feorf?/ of his son which he concluded
was torn asunder ; nor his own soul, but his
body, that would go down to the grave. And
when the same patriarch was near death, he
charged his sons, saying, Bury me with my
fathers; in such a cave which he described ; add-
ing, there they buried Abraham and Sai'ah his
wife ; there they buried Isaac and Rebecca his
wife, and there I buried Leah. Gen. xlix. 29, 3L
And that the body of Christ was an essential
part of his humanity, is evident from what the
angel said to his weeping friends. He is not here,
he is risen : Come, see the place where the Lord
lay. Matt, xxviii. 6. But if the body was no
proper constituent part of his manhood, /le never
lay in the grave ; nor did he ever rise from the
dead, for he did not die. They did not nail him
to the tree ; the whole account of his corporal

DEITY OF CHRIST. 43

sufferings is a mere fiction, if it be true, that his
body was not a proper constituent part of himself.
In a word, there never will be a resurrection of
any man, if bodies are not essential to human na-
ture, and this world of men are quite as invisible
to each other as the world of angels are [to them.]
According to that notion, the sight of a man is a
singular rarity. That a soul can exist without a
body is readily allowed, but such a separate ex-
istence is the effect o^ death ; and can it be thought
reasonable that Christ's first existence should be a
state similar to that of the dead? Once more, on
such a supposition Christ could not be the son of
man in any sense, because his soul is said to exist
before all men ;* and his body not a part of his

* From a conviction of the singular absurdity attend-
ing the supposition of a creature existing from eternity,
some have boldly asserted that everlasting from which
Christ is said to exist, only intends a measurable period,
and therefore does not convey the idea of eternity, or
unlimited duration. It is granted that by the term ever-
lasting and eternal likewise, sometimes is intended no
more than a very distant period, but that is not their
native primary signification. But the natural meaning
of the word is a perpetual existence or infinite duration.
Hence we read, The eternal God is thy refuge, and un-
derneath are the everlasting arms : Deut. xxxiii. 27.
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord, ray God ? Hab.
i. 12. If it be said the existence of Christ is limited, as
being only from everlasting, or ever the earth was, and
that, before the mountains were brought forth, or the

4#

DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

humanity. But he was the son of David, a des-
cendant of Abraham, as the Scriptures assert, and
as the apostle to the Hebrews said, " It is evident
our Lord sprung out of Judah ;" Ileb. vii. 14. To
conckide ; the incarnation of Christ was not only
considered by the great apostle as an instance of
infinite condescension, but admired by him and
every believer in his day, as being in its nature
really inexplicable, and truly mysterious ; they did
not dispute the fact, though they could not con-
ceive hoiv divinity and humanity were united in
one person ; but rejoiced in, and steadily support-
ed, its reality as the pillar and ground of the
truth. "Without controversy, great is the mys-
tery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh :"
1 Tim. iii. 15, 16. "The Word" which "was
God," "was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us."
But if Christ be only a man, or a mere creature,
the wonder ceases, for it cannot be thought a

highest part of the dust, were qualifying terms tending
to establish a limited idea, therefore though Christ was
from everlasting, yet not eternal ; we answer, the Holy
Ghost has taken care to guard his people against
sophistry so dishonoring to Christ : for Moses, the
Man of God, when treating on Jehovah's eternity, and
human mortality, says, Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed tlie earth and
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art
God; Psal. xc. 2. Again, thy throne is of old, thou
art from everlasting; Psal. xciii. 2. See Mich. v. 2,

DEITY OF CHRIST. 45

thing singular and surprising for a human soul to
possess a body ; nor for God to manifest himself
to a holy creature, and employ in his service a good
man. It is truly lamentable and really astonishing
that any who wish to be saved by Jesus, should
endeavour to sink his character and diminish his
dignity : Yea, rejoice in hope of proving the Sa-
viour infinitely unworthy of their supreme love
and delight. You happy souls who need, know
and esteem the Redeemer, as infinitely powerful,
and divinely precious — oh, pity the condition, and
dread the deception, of such, whose peace and
pleasure rise high in consequence of the Saviour
sinking low in their esteem. Pray for them, and
take heed lest you also be tempted ; and [labor] that
your own faith may be firm in, and your love fer-
vent to, the infinitely glorious and lovely Redeem-
er. Consider and frequently contemplate the
proofs of his [iroper divinity, as recorded in the sa-
cred volume: such as the properties of which he
is possessed, the work he has performed, the wor-
ship he has received from angels and men, the
divine names and titles which are given him, the
honors ascribed to him, the unlimited confi-
dence placed in him by good men in every age,
and the claims which are made by him ; for he,
who was never the subject of arrogance, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God ; Phil. ii. 6.
May the Lord grant that every reader may search
the Scriptures which testify of Jesus, with godly
fiiflcerity and gospel simplicity. To the upright,

46

DOCTRPNAL DIFFICULTIES.

light shall rise in darkness. I might greatly en-
large ; but it is hoped, that the above considera-
tions may serve through the Divine blessing to re-
move the common difficulties respecting the true
knowledge of, and faith in, the Redeemer's dignity
as a person properly divine. My heart's desire is,
that all the saints may be brought to rejoice in Je-
sus, as the mighty God, the Alpha and Omega, the
first and the last, which is, and which was, and
which is to come, the Almighty, llev. i. 8.

CHAPTER II.

Difficulties concerning the Love of God.

That Jehovah changeth not, is a self-evident
truth, a scripture axiom. " With him there is no
variableness, nor shadow of turning." Being per-
fection itself, therefore the properties of his nature,
and purposes of his will, are absolutely unalterable.
What he has determined, shall be done. " He is
of one mind, and who can turn him ? For the
counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts
of his heart to all generations, and to Zion he
says, he will rest in his love. He will rejoice over
her with singing, for having loved his own which
were in the world, he loved them unto the end."
Notwithstanding the above and such like solemn
declarations made by the God of truth, such ob-
jections have been raised against the unchangea-

ON LOVE TO GOD. 47

bleness of Jeiiovah's love, as greatly to perplex and
stumble some who are evidently the distinguished
objects of it.

As wrong conclusions may be drawn from prin-
ciples wliich are unexceptionably right, so I ap-
prehend many of those things are indisputable
facts from whence the changeable nature of God's
love is inferred ; and indeed, it seems his people
are more agreed in their primary principles, than
in their conclusions. In the former there may be a
happy union, though in the latter they widely differ,
and cast stumbling-blocks in each other's way.
For the exemplification and removal of which, as
relating to the doctrine of divine love, it may be
proper to observe, that creatures who are now the
objects of God's indignation, were once loved by
him ; those infernal spirits who kept not their first
estate, though now the abhorred of the Lord, were,
while innocent, the objects of his approbation ; and
the same may be said of man, considered as in his
present state of corruption, and his original state
of perfection as created of God. John i. 1,14;
Phil. ii. 6, 7.

It is evident, God could not produce creatures
morally defective, or disagreeable to himself; they
were what he willed them to be, i. e. good, yea,
very good, and as such were loved and delighted
in, by their Maker. Every creature being Jeho-
vah's production, therefore no creature was, in its
original state, the object of his disapprobation : and
yet many of them are now the declared objects of

48 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

his hatred and indignation. From the above self-
evident facts, it is inferred by some sincere inquir-
ers after truth, that the love of God is changeable,
and not invariably fixed on its objects; which in-
ference has perplexed many of the people of God,
and proved a stumbling-block in their way to a
proper acquaintance with several very important
truths in divine revelation. From this source va-
rious errors have proceeded, by which the glorious
gospel of the grace of God has been beclouded,
the faith of many Christians staggered, and their
joy in Jesus and hope of glory greatly diminished.
But that the above plausible inference is a false
conclusion, (though drawn from undeniable facrs,)
will I hope be made plainly [to] appear, if we im-
partially survey the doctrine of Jehovah's love in
the light of divine revelation.

The love of God, according to the Scriptures, ought
to be considered [under these distinctions, viz.] as
Natural and as Sovereign. The righteous
Lord loveth righteousness, and holiness is his per-
petual delight. This love arises from the perfec-
tion and purity of his nature, and has for its object
his own holy image, as enstamped upon his rational
creatures ; or in other words, in holy dispositions
and corresponding acts, the Lord takes pleasure
and delight. He is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity with approbation, or look on holiness with
disgust. His hatred of sin, and love of purity, are
not acts of divine sovereignty. Sin is not hateful
because God willed it should be so, but is odious

ON THE LOVE OF GOD. 49

in its own nature to every y)ure being; and is
tiierefore infinitely hateful to an injinitely holy God .

God does not hate sin, because he has by his law
forbidden it ; but has forbidden it, because it is what
he loathes, as contrary to his holy nature. Perfect
conformity to God, and supreme delight in him as
the chief good, are enforced by God's holy law,
because of their native excellency and propriety.
Holiness then, being the object of God's natural
love, or essential approbation, and sin the reverse,
it necessarily follows that every unholy creature is
odious in the sight of God ; therefore a creature
having lost its purity, ceases to be the object of
his natural approbation ; yet the alteration is not
in God, but in the creature, which is become,
through moral impurity, what he abhors. God's
natural love is still unalterably fixed on personal
purity, wherever it is found ; but in reference to a
polluted creature, love has lost its object, that
on which it was fixed being quite annihilated or
destroyed.

Thus it appears that the various ranks of intelli-
gent creatures were, in their original condition,
interested in God's favour. Even those abomina-
ble beings, called devils, were, while holy, the ob-
jects of their Maker's love and approbation, as
well as the angels who continue to shine in holy
splendour and untainted purity. Though a part
of the angelic world, and the whole human race,
have, by their revolt from God, become vile, and
E

50 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

cease to be the objects of the Lord's delight, yet
there is no variableness or change in Jehovah. But,
to every proper object, " God is love;" 1 John iv.
16 ; for God has no aversion to his creatures, simply
considered as creatures; biu on account of their
moral depravity ; nor does he necessarily love
them, because they owe their existence to his sov-
ereign will and almighty power ; but as the sub-
jects of his moral image, which consists in righte-
ousness and true holiness. As all mankind have
lost the image of God in which they were created,
and become base and abominable in his sight, be-
ing Jilthy and ^-1^% before him, they must have
continued in a condition eternally disgustful to
God, and in a state tremendously terrible to them-
selves, had not the Lord been pleased to show
them kindness in a sovereign way ; being gracious-
ly determined to save wiiom be thought proper,
with an everlasting salvation. Tliat love from
which salvation springs is [not natural but] prop-
erly sovereign ; [not necessary bur] absolutely free.
None are its objects because they deserved to be
so, nor was God under any necessity of nature so
to distinguish them ; but it consisted in a voluntary
determination to do good to the persons he sover-
eignly fixed upon as his peo[>le, with infinite and
invariable delight.

If, then, we consider the voluntary love of the
great Eternal as distinct from, and yet harmoniz-
ing with, that [natwal and necessary love] of which
we have been* treating, difRculiies, which other-

ON THE LOVE OF GOD. 51

wise are insurmountable, will disappear. That
love which is essential, or natural to God, has per-
sonal holiness or pure principles for its invariable
object. But sovereign love fixed upon personst
without a regard had to their dispositions as its
cause ; which sovereign favour is entirely uninflu-
ced by their dispositions, and is beautifully illus-
trated by the Lord's voluntary favor to the person
of Jacob, and the distinguished special privileges
enjoyed by his posterity, without respect had to his
having done either good or evil. Jacob have I
loved, saith the Lord. Rom. ix. 13.^ And Moses,
speaking of Israel as a chosen people, observes,
The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor
choose you because ye were more in number than
any people, (for ye were the fewest of all people,)
but because the Lord loved you. Deut. vii. 7, 8.
Such as it hath pleased the Lord to make his peo-
ple, 1 Sam. xii. 22, may with humble joy and holy
admiration say, "Bfrhold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God." 1 John iii. 1. This sove-

* The hatred of Esau, as opposed to the love of the
Lord to Jacob, is not to be considered as implying any
positive indignation to his person as a sinner; because
the love and the hatred spoken of, was without their hav-
ing done either good or evil ; it only intends his not be-
ing loved as Jacob was. In this sense, hatred is to be
understood in Deut, xxi. 15 > Luke xxiv. 26 ; and John
xii. 25.

02 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

reign love of the Lord to his spiritual Israel, set
apart his own son, Immanuel, as the head of his
people, and gave their persons to him before the
w^orld was ; and in time gave him to die for them.
God sovereignly loved their persons, but abhorring
their sinful conduct and criminal dispositions, was
determined to remove that from them which he
hated in them, and by creating them anew in
Christ Jesus, or implanting holy and heavenly
principles in their souls, to make them a holy peo-
ple, that as such they might become the suitable,
fit and proper objects of his natural, necessary, and
essential love ; which, as aforesaid, has holiness
for its invariable object. Sovereign love having
their persons only for its objects, without being ex-
cited by their dispositions, is therefore invariably
the same, without addition or diminution. Hence
all that is done for them, and wrought in them, is
inconsequence of, and according to that great love
wherewith he loved them, even when they were
dead in trespasses and sins. This sovereign love is
the fruit of God's good pleasure, or the effect of
gracious good-will to them. The utility and pro-
priety of the above distinction, were it sufficiently
attended to, would appear as bright as the sun in
a clear meridian. I wish some able pen would un-
dertake to investigate the subject more fully than
either my talents or time will admit of. However,
the few following remarks I hope maybe of use to
weak Christians, for whose sake I write, either to

ON THE LOVE OF GOD. 53

rectify their judgments — stimulate their obedience
— increase their joy, — or relieve their perplexity.

1. From the sacred oracles it appears, that
God's necessary hatred to sin is not contrary to his
sovereign love or gracious intentions to do good to
his people, even while they are subjects of no
other dispositions than what he abhors. If sover-
eign love to the sinner was inconsistent with his
infinite hatred to sin, who then could be saved?
For fallen men are, as such, become altogether
abominable in the eyes of their holy Maker, the
imagination of their hearts being, while unrenew-
ed, evil, only evil, and that continually. "They
are corrupt, they have done abominable works,
there is none that doeth good, no not one;" Psal.
xiv. 1, 3; compared with Rom. iii. 9, 18. "We
ourselves also, were sometimes foolish, disobedi-
ent, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one
another." Tit. iii. 3. They who do such things
are worthy of death, and likewise those who take
pleasure in them that do them. Rom. i. 32. "So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God ;"
Rom. viii. 8. Nevertheless, "God commended his
love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us;" Rom. v. 8. "Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and
sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins ;"
1 John iv. 10. "In this was the love of God man-
ifest." Ver. 9. " Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness

54 DOCTRINAL DimCULTlES.

have I drawn thee ;" Jer. xxxi. 3. Jesus when
pleading with his Father on hehalf of his chosen,
says, "Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved
me, and thou lovedst me before the foundation of
the world." John xvii. 23, 24. "We all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of the flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we
were dead in sins, hath (juickened us, &c." Eph.
ii. 3, 4, 5. Respecting their persons they were lov-
ed while in their sins ; but [they were] not loved in
reference to theAv dispositions. No ; God necessarily
hated, while he sovereignly loved. " But after that
the kindness and love of God our Saviour appear-
ed toward man; not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost ;" Til. iii. 5. Being thus
the workmanship of God created anew in Christ,
the church becomes the object of the Lord's neces-
sary love, or natural delight. As he saith, "I will
caliber beloved which was not beloved;" Rom.
ix. 25.

2. Those who are renewed in the spirit of their
minds, and possessed of holy principles, and are
undeniably, as such, the objects of God's natural
love, yet through sin become the objects of his
holy displeasure. Nevertheless, that does not sup-
pose, nor imply any change in Jehovah. Not in his

ON THE LOVE OF GOD 55

sovereign good will, [which has regard] to their
persons, and which is still the same, being the ef-
fect of his mere good pleasure, and not fixed on
them because of any good moral quality in them.
Nor is there any change in his natural love, be-
cause only holiness is its invariable object. Agree-
ably to, and in proof of the above, we read that
though God loved, yet he greatly abhorred Israel,
and was wroth with his inheritance. Ps. Ixxviii.
59, 62. Being defiled with their own works,
therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against
his peo()le, insomuch that he abhorred his own in-
heritance ;" Ps. cvi.40. " Nevertheless he regard-
ed them when he heard their cry ;" ver. 44.
"Yea, mine heritage, saith the Lord, is unto me as
a lion in the forest, it crieth out against me, there-
fore / hate it. I hate the dearly beloved of my soul ;"
Jer. xii. 7, 8. "Thou hast wearied me with thine
iniquities ;" yet sovereign grace breaks forth in Is-
rael's favor, and Jehovah adds, "1, even I, am he
that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own
sake, and will not remember thy sins ;" Isaiah
xliii. 24, 25. "I knew thou wouldest deal very
treacherously, and was called a trangressor from
the womb. Yet, saith the Lord, for my name's
sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise
will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not oflT; Isaiah
xlviii. 8,9. "For the iniquity of his covetousness
was I wroth and smote him, I hid me and was
wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his
heart." And was not the desperate sinner made a

56 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

dreadful example of Divine displeasure? He must
have been so, had not free exuberant grace inter-
posed in his favor, saying, " I have seen his ways,
and I will heal him," Isaiah Ivii. 17,18. Sovereign
love triumphs in the sinner's salvation, through the
merits of the Almighty Saviour, in a way which
displays the infinite purity of Jehovah's nature and
[his] unmerited favor. Sin gives many a mortal
wound, but grace provides a cure.

Thus, from the example of God's conduct to-
ward backsliding saints, we have striking proofs that
neither God's natural nor [his] sovereign love change
their objects. Holiness is the invariable object of
the former, and the persons of his people the ob-
jects of the latter. I might add, all the good which
sovereign grace does work, or implant in the hu-
man heart, meets with God's necessary approba-
tion in all its genuine operations. He atiends to
the language of penitence with pleasure. He says
of mourning Ephraim, whom he heard bemoaning
himself, " My bowels are troubled for him, and I
earnestly remember him still." With what melting
pity does he address the soul that seeks for soli-
tude to lament its doleful condition ? "O my dove,
thou art in the clefts of the rocks ; let me see thy
countenance, let me hear thy voice, for sweet is
thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." Song
ii. 14. Sovereign love having given sight to the
soul which was before blind to the beauties of Im-
manuel, to Jesus it now looks and loves ; and he
being dehghted with the exercise of grace, savs,

ON THE LOVE OF GOD. 57

"Thou hast ravished my heart, thou hast ravished
my heart with one of thine eyes ; how fair is thy
love, my sister, my spouse ! How much better is
thy love than wine ; and the smell of thine oint-
ments than all spices !" Song iv. 10. The produc-
tions of sovereign grace God naturally loves, and
therefore takes pleasure in them that fear him, in
them who hope in his mercy. Psalm cxlvii. 11.
Once more :

3. Of that love which is essential to the nature
of God, good men are not equally the objects ; for as
no man is its object but in consequence of being
the subject of holiness, therefore a growth in
grace, or in holy obedience, will ever meet with
God's increasing approbation. Christ, as man,
though ever pure, " increased in favor with God ;"
Luke ii. 92. " Therefore doth my Father love me
(said Jesus) because I laid down my life :" John
X. 17. " He that loveth me shall be loved of my
Father, and I will love him. If a man love me, he
will keep my words, and my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him. " John xiv. 21, 23. "For the Father
himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and
have believed that I came out from God ;" John
xvi. 27. "Keep yourselves in the love of God;"
Jude, 21st verse- "As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you; continue ye in my love. If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my
love, even as I have kept my Father's command-
ments and abide in his love;" John xv. 9, 10.

58 DOCTRINAL DIFFtCULTIES.

Though all regenerate persons are evidently the
equal objects of special sovereign favor, and with
them, as in Christ, the Lord is well pleased for his
righteousness' sake; Isaiah xlii. 21, and their per-
sons are accepted in the beloved ; yet with many
of them the Lord is not well pleased, with respect
to the temper of their hearts, and manner of life.
See 1 Cor. X. 4, 5- Therefore "only let your con-
versation be as becometh the gos[)el of Christ."
" We beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by
the Lord Jesus Christ, that as ye have r^iceived of
us how ye ought to walk, and to please God, so ye
would abound more and more ;" Phil. i. 27. 1
Thess. iv. 1. "Knowing that your labour shall
not be in vain in the Lord." ] Cor. xv. 58. "For
God is not unrighteous to forget your work and
labor of love ;" Heb. vi. 10.* From the above we
may infer:

1. That the everlasting damnation of those who
kept not their first estate in which they enjoyed the

* The meaning of the excellent autiior, may perhaps
be more lucidly and connectly presented thus: No man
is the object of God's natural love, unless he is the sub-
feet of holiness ; for holiness is the proper and only ob-
ject of this love ; and every man is thus beloved of God
in proportion to the degree in which he is holy : but the
children of God are holy in a great variety of degrees ;
they are, therefore, in the same variety of degrees,
the objects of God's natural love. Ed.

ON THE LOVE OF GOD. 59

Divine approbation,* does not oppose the unchange-
able nature of Jehovah's love, nor render the eter-
nal salvation of his people y)recarious or uncertain.

2. How carefully phould every saint watch
against every sin, and strive to grow in perfect
conformity to his God. True happiness will ever
be found inseparably connected with real holiness;
and sin, wherever it is, will invariably remain the
object of God's displeasure. On the account of
this he hides his face, and is wroth with his people ;
and though he pardon them, yet he will take
vengeance on their inventions ; for whom he lov-
eth he chasteneth.

3. How awfully miserable must our condition
have been, having lost that rectitude of nature in
which God delighted, had he not proceeded to-
wards us in a way of sovereign grace, choosing
us in, and committing our persons to the care of

* That approbation was his natural, and not his sove-
reign love : its object was their disposition, i. e. holiness,
and not their persons. But this disposition they no
longer possess ; hence he can no longer love it in them :
yet the change is not in him, but in them. But his peo-
ple the Lord loves with a sovereign love ; the object of
this love is their persons, irrespective of their disposi-
tions. Change, then, in their dispositions (as when they
backslide,) effects no change in sovereign love ; for it
takes no cognizance of dispositions. Yet, as we have seen
above, it deprives them of God's natural love ; for their
.sin is a removal of that holiness which is its proper
object. Ed.

60 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

his own Son, laying our iniquities upon him, and
punishing* him for them, and justifying us on his
account, conveying hohness, pardon and peace,
through him, to make us pure and spotless before
his throne ! There, in that world of bliss, God, in
all his essential glories, will be forever enjoyed the
same as though sin had never been ; with ad-
ditional pleasures arising from the amazing infinite
source of sovereign spontaneous favor. The hearts
of the redeemed will be ravished, their powers of
mind animated, and their elevated songs make
heaven's high arches ring with the joyful acclama-
tion of. Salvation to our God and the Lamb. A full
evidence of the infinite desert of sin, which seems
to be intended by the smoke of the furnace as-
cending before the throne, will heighten their ad-
miration of sovereign love, and fill their capacious
souls with unspeakable joy, profound reverence,
and holy wonder.

4. Opposition to the sovereign grace of God
is truly lamentable. How mournful to think that
poor condemned criminals should be filled with
enmity against that, in consequence of which,
only, salvation can become the object of hope.

* We cannot entirely approve of the author's phrase-
ology in this place ; though we have no doubt of the cor-
rectness of his meaning. Strictly speaking, punishment
can be inflicted only on the guilty : suffering may fall
on his substitute. Hence the Scripture says, *' he was
bruised for our iniquities ;" but nowhere that he was
punished for them. Ed.

ON ELECTION. 61

It is a striking proof of the deceitful and infatu-
ating nature of sin, and the pride of the human
heart.

CHAPTER III.

THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION.

Some upright minds, being subject to discour-
agements through misapprehensions which are
often the fruit of misrepresentations of truth, I
shall [now] attend to another subject nearly con-
nected with the above, at the very name of which
some professors are startled, though it is fre-
quently met with in the Scriptures of truth. [This
subject is the doctrine of Election.]

1. Election or choice always implies freedom of
will in the person or persons who choose or elect.
Constraint or compulsion is incompatible with, and
opposite to choice, which must be voluntary or
not at all.

2. Every elector has an end in view, in respect
of which he makes his choice, or for the accom-
plishment of which the choice is made.

3. The person chosen is always considered as
passive, being entirely at the will of the elector, so
far as relates to the act of choosing.

These three ideas are inseparably connected
with election, or a proper choice, whatever kind
of election we refer to, whether made by God or
man. But some young or weak Christians have
confused or discouraging ideas of the doctrine

62

DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

now under consideration, for want of attending
to the different senses in which the Scriptures
speak of persons heing the chosen, or the elect of
God. Of this ignorance or inattention the op-
posers of sovereign grace take the advantage ;
and in order to perplex or prejudice their minds,
produce Scripture instances of some who were
elected, and nevertheless perished in their sins,
as there is reason to think Saul and Judas did,
and yet both of them were chosen of God- Hence
it is inferred, that as some are lost who were
elected, therefore election does not secure the
salvation of those who are chosen, but is of such
a nature as to leave their future happiness and
final felicity entirely precarious. As such infer-
ences as the above, at the first view, wear the ap-
pearance of truth, it is no wonder that some gra-
cious persons are indifferent about the doctrine.
But the apostle exhorts Christians to give all dili-
gence to make their calling and election sure,
by being able to produce such evidences as may
demonstrate their personal interest in Jehovah's
choice: the knowledge of which, in the judg-
ment of Jesus, is calculated to produce in his
people greater pleasure than they ought to take
from the evidence of devils being in subjection
to them. To have hell vanquished must afford
unutterable joy to those who wrestle with the
powers of darkness; "notwithstanding in this re-
joice not, that the spirits are subject unto you,
(saiih the Lord,) but rather rejoice because your

ON ELECTION. 63

names are written in heaven." Luke x. 20. For
the relief of serious inquirers after the truth, it may
be proper to observe, that by Election, in Scripture
is sometimes intended God's setting apart, or
choosing a people, to the enjoyment of peculiar
external privileges; in that sense he chose the
Jewish nation, and therefore they as a nation, not-
withstanding their wickedness, are frequently call-
ed the Lord's elect, or chosen people. Again, the
Lord hath elected, or chosen particular persons to
act in office capacity ; as Samuel, Saul, David, and
many more under the Old Testament ; and Peter,
James, Judas, and others, were chosen, or elected
in like manner under the New. Hence Jesus said
to his disciples, " Have not I chosen you twelve ?
and one of you is a devil."

But the election of grace, of which I am treat-
ing, is of a different nature, and consists in God's
choosing of persons in Christ Jesus, or setting
them apart as in connexion with him, to salva-
tion, through sanctification of the Spirit, and be-
lief of the truth. Salvation was the end God had
in view ; — to bring his chosen to the possession
and enjoyment of salvation, not only as consist-
ing in a deliverance from punishment, but from
all iniquity. Therefore in the definition the
apostle gives of the doctrine, sanctification by
the Spirit, and a true faith, were what these per-
sons were chosen to be the subjects of, through
which only, salvation could be enjoyed. This
choice was from the beginning, or ever the earth

-h

64 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

was. They were not chosen, because they were
viewed as holy, and therefore deserving to be dis-
tinguished as God's favorites, on account of their
obedience or personal purity, but that they should
be holy. The great apostle, in his deep, but de-
lightful epistle to the saints at Ephesus, treats of
the important subject in so full, plain, and accu-
rate a manner, as to answer almost every perti-
nent query that can be made respecting the doc-
trine. He begins with expressions of fervid
affection and humble gratitude to its infinite
Author, saying. Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ.

Q. 1. What hath he done ?

A. Who hath blessed us.

Q,. 2. With what hath he blessed us ?

A. With all spiritual blessings.

Q. 3. Where are those blessings deposited ?

A. In Christ.

Q,. 4. Where may seeking souls expect to find
and enjoy them ?

A. In heavenly places (or things.)

Q,. 5. According to what does he proceed in
the bestowment of such special privileges: is it
owing to our choice of him ?

A. No; but accordingas he hath chosen us in him.

a. 6. When?

A. Before the foundation of the world.

Q,. 7. But did he choose us because we were
holy, or because he foresaw we would be so ?

A. No ; but that we should be holy.

ON ELECTION. 65

Q. 8. Did he then intend that all such should T
be made completely holy ? \

A. Yes, and without blame before him in love.

Q,. 9. And is every thing aforesaid absolutely
secured ?

A. Yes, having predestinated us.

Q. 10. Predestinated to what?

A. Unto the adoption of children,

Q. Jl. By, and to whom ?

A. By Jesus Christ to himself.

Q. 12. What is the source of such favors, or
from whence do they flow ?

A. The good pleasure of his will.

Q. 13. In what does the whole terminate, or
to what does it lead ?

A. To the praise of the glory of his grace.

Wherein he hath made us accepted in the Be-
loved, in whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the
riches of his grace. See Eph. i. 4th to the 12th,
Again, the same inspired writer asserts, such were
"chosen to salvation, through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. ii. 13»
God kindly connected their final felicity and his
own eternal glory, when he ordained them to
eternal life. Acts xiii. 48. But though Judas
was chosen to office, he was not chosen to holi-
ness, for Jesus, when speaking to the disciples as
his servants and true followers (Judas being pres-
ent) he said, I speak not of you all. I know
whom I have chosen. John xiii. 18. The names
F

66 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

^'of his chosen are written in heaven, and all such
. are freed from condemnation. Who shall lay any-
thing to the charge of God's elect ? Rom. viii. 33.
: All this could not [with propriety] be said of the
i Jewish nation, nor of Judas, and many more who
have been chosen [merely] to office : besides, in-
dividuals are called the elect, who could not bear
rule in the church of God ; for a woman was not
suffered to speak in the cliurch, nor to usurp au-
• thority over the man, but was to be in silence.
; 1 Tim. ii. 12. Yet we read of an elect lady and
her elect sister. 2 John i. 13. If God hath thus
chosen, the end he had in view will certainly be
accomplished, for saith Jesus, " AH that the Fath-
er giveth me shall come unto me, and him that
Cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."
" His people shall be willing in the day of his
power," for having "loved them with an everlast-
ing love, therefore with loving kindness will he
draw them." No one instance can be given of
God having chosen any people, person, or place,
to that which was not actually accomplished.
Did the Lord choose the Jewish nation to pecu-
liar privileges? Yes, and in consequence of that
choice they had the advantage of all other
nations, and much every way. Samuel did
actually prophesy, and Saul and David were
really kings in Israel. Judas was actually num-
bered with the apostles, and with them took part
of the ministry to which he was elected. Moses
was Israel's leader, and lawgiver, because he

ON ELECTION. 67

was chosen by the Lord to such dignity. Aaron
and his descendants were priests of the most high
God, because they were elected by him to that
office. So the Lord chose Jerusalem as the resi-
dence of the ark, and the place where sacrifices
shouhl be offered ; and thither the tribes of Israel
actually repaired to worship, and adore him
whose dwelling was in Zion. In no one instance
did Jehovah choose in vain. The ends he had in
view were ever accomplished. And if so, can
there be any reason assigned why those, and
those only who were chosen to the greatest bless-
ings, should fall short of them ? But the founda-
tion standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. In every age "as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed"
"the election obtained it, but the rest were blind-
ed" by " the god of this world, who blindeth the
eyes of them who believe not." " So then at this
present time also there is a remnant according to
the election of grace, and if by grace, then it is no
more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace."
Rom. xi. 5, 6.

Another stumbling-block in the way of many
inquirers, next to the doctrine of election, is
reprobation, which is generally [but improperly]
considered as the counterpart of election, and re-
lated to it as its direct opposite ; as a negative,
is related to a positive idea. But if it be under-
stood as the negative of election, is it not strange
it should change its nature, and, in controversy,

68

DOCTRINAL DIFriCULTIES.

become a positive idea ? And yet as such it has
been [both] opposed and defended with great
warmth ; for the adversaries of sovereign grace
scarcely ever directly encounter the doctrine of
election ; but artfully file off to reprobation, as if
they were conscious [that] election was itself in-
vulnerable, and could not possibly be reduced.
But from the mountain of reprobation tfiey attack
the doctrine intended to be demolished, and charge
it with the most horrid consequences, too shock-
ing to relate. These consequences the defend-
ers of sovereign grace have repeatedly proved to
be quite foreign to, and not in the least inferable
from, the doctrine of God's sovereign choice of
his people to grace and glory. But perhaps their
defence of the doctrine of reprobation has not
been equally successful. [And no wonder ; — they
have unwarily admitted it to be the opposite of
election ; and this admission] has been stumbling
to many inquirers after truth, and encouraging to
its opposers. Election or choice, indeed, implies
a negative, or that some are not chosen ; which
the Scripture calls the rest: this is readily allowed,
but reprobation as mentioned in Scripture is never
opposed to election. To the doctrine of election
it does not seem related, but stands in a quite differ-
ent situation in the system of scriptural divinity.
1. If reprobation conveyed the idea of non-
election, by a person being reprobated, we should
understand one not elected ; but how will such
an idea comport with the apostle's reasoning,

ON ELECTION. 69

when he says, "Know ye not that Jesus Christ is
in you except ye be reprobates ?" 2 Cor.xv. 15. To
suppose him to mean they were not elected if
Christ was not in tliem, is supposing him to con-
tradict his own experience, and oppose self-evident
facts ; for there was a time when Christ was not
in Paul himself; during which period he was ex-
ceeding mad against those who professed the
name of Jesus. But, says he, " it pleased God to re-
veal his Son in me." Before this happy change
took place he was in a state of reprobation, for
Christ was not in him, and yet he was never in a
stale of non-election, hut was one chosen in Christ
before the world was. Again, he could not mean
if Christ was not in them they were not elected, be-
cause Christ is not naturally in his elect, as most of
them know ; and [they] lament, when called by grace,
that they lived without God and without Christ in
the world ; therefore, during that period, they were
reprohates, not having Christ in them ; neverthe-
less they were the elect of God, of which their be-
ing called by grace is a proof. From hence it ap-
pears that reprobation is not the opposite of election.
2. That reprobation is not the opposite of elec-
tion will appear evident, if it be considered that
election is an act of divine sovereignty, arising
merely from the will of God, without any fitness
in creatures deserving to be so distinguished ; but
reprobation, whenever the word is used in Scrip-
ture, respects a comparative deficiency, or an es-
sential defect in those who are reprobated- Eiec-

70 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

tion is the effect of, or entirely flows from the good
pleasure of God's will in favor of the persons of
his people ; but reprobation originates not merely
from God's will, but from the natural contrariety
there is between Jehovah's purity and their •pol-
lution*

3. Reprobation in Scripture always stands op-
posed to, and is the natural negative of, approba-
tion, whether it respect the state of a person, the
frame of his mind, or the nature of his actions.
Hence, vile professors are compared to the alloy

* If the distinction laid down, page 48, between the love
of God as Natural and as Sovereign be borne in mind, it
M'ill render even more clear, the point which the author
is here discussing. Election is the choice which sover-
eign love makes of the persons of such as shall be saved.
But Reprobation is not the opposite of this; — it is God's
natural aversion to the disposition (i. e. the unkoliness}
of sinners, whether elect or not. And as God's natural
hatred to the disposition of an impenitent sinner would
be no proof that the person of the same sinner was not
an object of his sovereign love, so, neither is the fact that
a man is reprobate, any proof that he is not elect ; for as
God " loved" Israel with a sovereign love, and yet
" greatly abhorred" them with a wa^MraZ aversion, (Psal.
Ixxviii. 59, comp. 62) and this love and abhorrence were
not only compatible, but co-existent; so are the election
and reprobation (i. e. disapproval ; see following sec-
tion) of the same person compatible, and may be co-
existent, and, therefore, one cannot be the opposite of
the other. Ed.

ON ELECTION. 71

or dross frequently mixed with metal, which on
trial is found base or deficient in quality ; there-
fore " reprobate silver shall men call them, be-
cause the Lord has rejected them." Jer. vi. 30.
So in the text before mentioned, " Know ye not
that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates ?" the
ai)ostle's obvious meaning is, that such are destitute
of real worth. For, however splendid a profession
be, yet without Christ, all will be found mere re-
fuse at last ; therefore he puts them upon close ex-
amination, lest they should be deceived by appear-
ances, Thinking themselves something, while in fact
they are nothing. Hence in the next verse he adds,
"But I trust that ye shall know that we are not
reprobates." 2 Cor. xiii. 5, 6 ; and in verse 7, he
says, " Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not
that we should appear approved, but that ye should
do that which is honest, though we be as repro-
bates." Thus he considers reprobation and appro-
bation as natural opposites. Again, men of corrupt
minds are said to be ^^ reprobate concerning the
faith," i. e- destitute of a true understanding of the
truth. 2 Tim. iii. 8. And the "abominable and
disobedient are unto every good work reprobate."
Tit. i. 16. Agreeable, therefore, to this view of
reprobation, those vile affections to which the
Gentiles were given up, are called "a reprobate
mind." Rom. i. 26, 28, 29. Meaning that their
dispositions and conduct were odious, and could
not possibly be approved of, either by God or good
men. From the above considerations it evidently

72 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

appears, that election and reprobation are not in-
separably connected, nor even so much as related
as kindred ideas, and that reprobation does not in-
tend an absolute appointment to eternal misery,
for such may still find mercy as Paul did ; but
that it is the awful opposite to divine approbation,
whether it respect persons, principles, or proceed-
ings.

But some may reply. Though the term reproba-
tion should be disused as relating to election, yet if
the ideas be retained which were conveyed by it,
the doctrine is not less exceptionable than before.
True ; therefore, let us calmly consider whether
those horrid ideas, which the opposers of election
have always connected with the term reprobation,
are, or are not, as foreign to the doctrine of
election as the term itself. The most decent and
sober opposers of the doctrine in question^generally
charge it with implying three things: 1. An ap-
pointment to inevitable destruction of those who
are not elected ; therefore, 2. That the doctrine
of election is injurious to those not included in it;
and consequently, 8. Is a reflection on the justice
or moral character of God. These reasons, it is
confessed, are quite sufficient to justify a dissent
from the doctrine, or an opposition to it, supposing
them well founded. But whether these awful in-
ferences are the genuine offspring of election or
not will appear, if brought under impartial exami-
nation.

ON ELECTION. 73

1. Respecting the first objection, the question
is, Whether the doctrine of election (supposing it a
fact) be the cause of, or in the least influential up-
on, an appointment of any creature to destruction ?
That it was neither the cause nor the occasion of
such an appointment is demonstrably evident from
its very nature. It could not liave such a tendency,
because election is an act absolutely sovereiijn, or
a gracious act arising simply from Jehovah's will.
But punishment does not arise from divine sover-
eignty. If it did, it would be causeless; but God
never punished (therefore never intended to do so)
without a criminal cause in the creature. God
does not punish for sin because it was his sovereign
will ; but his very will to punish arises from the
holiness of his nature and the equity of his govern-
ment; therefore God's intention to punish arises
from a distinct source from that out of which elec-
tion springs. They are in their nature eternally
distinct, as any acts of God can possibly be.* Such
a charge, therefore, might as well be brought
against creation as election. It seems very strange
that any serious person should oppose the idea of
God's decreeing to punish for sin, seeing he actually

* These distinctions may be thus shown: — The
*' source" of election is mercy ; Eph. ii. 4, 5. That of
punishment is justice. Luke xxiii. 41. The "nature" of
the two acts also is distinct ; — election is a gracious act ;
Rom. xi. 5. Punishment is a righteous one ; Rom.
iii. 5, Ed.

G

74 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

does SO, which he could not, if it was an unrighte-
ous thing in God to take vengeance. If it he right
for the Lord to punish tiiose who are punislied by
him, it could not be wrong to resolve to do so, un-
less it be ivrorig to determine to do what is right.
However, such a decree does not arise from elec-
tion. What is opf)osite to election, is a mere nega-
tion, or a leaving others in that state in which all
men are viewed by the great Eternal when he
chose his people : therefore,

2. The doctrine is not injurious to those not in-
cluded in it ; for if election respected its objects as
sinless, or simply considered as creatures formed
of God, which some think, seeing the hap{>y an-
gels and the person of Chri.^t were included in
Jehovah's choice, those from among whom they
were chosen could not be deemed punishahle, be-
ing considerefl in their pure unfallen state ; there-
fore election, if so considered, could not in the na-
ture of things, be the cause or occasion of God's
designing to punish any man. If the election of
men be considered as a clioice of cnmiwaZ creatures^
or of creatures considered as in a sinful fallen
Slate, in which light it is viewed by many, because
the choice is unto salvation through sanctifcation of
the spirit, (however, the different staling of the doc-
trine is only a circumstance whicli does not alter
the nature of the truth stated, for if it be thus con-
sidered,) it unavoidably follows, that as those not
included in the sovereign choice, were viewed by
God as sinful when the choice was made; there-

ON ELECTION. 75

fore the choice could not possibly make them sinful
nor cause them to he viewed as criminals. It is
singularly absurd to sui)[)ose the prescience of
God, or his all-comprehending understanding, to
he the fruit of his sovereign will; and yet this ab-
surdity, gross as it is, attends the objection, which
is the same as saying, if God had not elected some,
he would never have known or tliougbt of the
condition of others. As no injury is done to any
man by the doctrine in question, therefore,

3. It is not contrary to, or an impeachment of,
the moral character of God. In election there is
no connivatice at sin implied. By it, sin in the
chosen was not rendered less odious, nor justice
partially administered in their favour, but a surety
was graciously substituted in their stead, who bore
their sins, and was wounded for their transgres-
sions, and by whose obedience the law of God was
magnified, and through his death impartial justice
shone with tremendous lustre. Had the crimes of
which the elect was guilty been transferred or im-
puted to those who perish, in that case an exemption
of the elect from punishment would have been
unjust and injurious, because mercy shown to them
would have heightened the misery of others. But
as every one who perishes suffers only according
to the demerit of his own personal sins, therefore
to infer that the doctrine of election is detrimental
to man, and unworthy of God, discovers either ^pi^-
idble weakness, or powerful prejudice ; for such in-
ferences seem as opposite to truth, decency and

76^ DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

common sense, as a man would appear to he, if he
undertook to prove that God is cruel because he is
kind, and that those have great cause to complain
who were never injured. That the doctrine is not
inimical to Christian experience, but of contrary
tendency, will be shown in its proper place. What
has been said I hope may tend to remove the ob-
jections against it,"^ as a revealed truth of great im-

*The following condensed view of the doctrine of
election, may, perhaps, not be unacceptable to the
young Christian.

1. There is a manifest difference among mankind in
their moral and religious character ; — a difference which
is not merely external, but apparently, radical and essen-
tial : some are the subjects of real, vital piety, of which
others are entirely destitute,

2. As every effect must originate in some cause, so
this difference in men's characters is an effect of some
cause, and the Scriptures attribute it to God ; Eph. ii. 3,
5. " We were by nature children of wrath even as
others ; but God — hath quickened us."

3. As God is the author of this difference, he has,
doubtless, in producing it, acted like an intelligent and
wise being. But such a Being does not act till he has
determined to act; and each act is part of a plan of ope-
ration: therefore, before God produced this difference in
men's characters, he determined to produce it, and the
change produced, is part of his great plan of operations ;
i. e. what he has done in time, he has resolved to do be-
fore time began : he determined, then, to effect the very
change he has effected, and in the very persons in whom

UNION TO CHRIST. 77

portance, in consequence of which, Christ and his
people were so connected that wiiat he did was im-
putable to them.

CHAPTER IV.

UMOiV TO CHRIST.

Though the Scriptures speali with remarkable
plainness of the near relation subsisting between
Christ and his churcli, in consequence of electing
love, yet various stumbling-blocks are frequent-
ly found in the way of [those who desire]
clear views of that doctrine ; for the removal of

he has effected it ; (Rom. viii. 29, 30,) and this determi-
nation is election.

From this it will be seen that election has absolutely
no hearing upon any but the saved ; it does not touch, or
at all regard others ; — no more than if they had not any
being. It leaves them exactly as they were, and as they
would have been if there had been no election at all.

From an inspection of the passage just referred to, in
connection with the above remarks, it will be seen, also,
that so far from election securing the salvation of any,
irrespective of character and piety, their character is one
object regarded in their election ; and election secures
that it shall be holy ; (Eph. i.4.) Election, as we have
seen, was the determination that there should be a differ-
ence in conduct and character between its objects and
others ; and that they should be sanctified in spirit, by the
belief of the truth. 2 Thes. ii. 13.

78

DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

which, if God please to bless the attempt, let us
now brie% consider, [that relation to Christ which
is expressed by the title of the present chapter.]

Various warm disputes have existed among the
people of God about union to Christ, particu-
larly as relating to its commencement, which is
thought by some to have been from everlasting,
and by others not till, or after believing. Though
agreed in the main about its nature and duration,
each side has been pretty free, and fertile in the
invention of consequences, as arising from their
opponents' sentiments, which [consequences,] per-
haps, are equally abhorrent to both. On this ac-
count, many sincere inquirers after truth have been
greatly discouraged, wounded in their minds, and
prevented making progress in religious attainments.
Some are likewise perplexed and stumbled by a
thii-d party, who, differing from the other about
the nature of the union, therefore deny its durabil-
ity^ and maintain that those who are in Christ to-
day may ])ossibly be in hell to-morrow. Perhaps
the doctrine of union with Christ may be of such a
copious and complex nature, as to justify in some
measure the sentiment of each, who viewing the sub-
ject in detached parts only, therefore may conclude
some things are opposite, which are, in fact, only
distinct. However, so far as that may be the case
with common Christians, an impartial survey, or
review of ilie subject, may have a conciliating
tendency; for which purpose it should be consid-
ered, that union to Christ is of a threefold nature.

UNION TO CHRIST. 79

which may (for the sake of keeping ideas distinct)
be denominated, visible^ vital, and virtual.

First ; By visible, is intended a credible profes-
sion of Christ, joined with an apparent subjection
to him, or an embracing his gospel, and obeying
his laws. Where there appears love to Jesus, and
subjection to him as a Saviour, and a Sovereign,
we are bound to consider such persons as related
to him, and to love them accordingly. The
apostle, treating of the visible church as in union
with Christ, founded on profession, says, We being
many, are one body in Christ, and every one mem-
bers one of another. Rom. xii. 5. And speaking
of the churches of Judea, he adds, which were in
Christ. Gal. i. 22. To be therefore in the church
by a credible ])rofession, was called a being in
Christ, as in 1 Cor. xii. 2. See Gal. iii. 27 ; I Cor.
xii. 13. Yet it is evident that the apostle did not
account all were true believers which were in
Christ by profession, though he was bound in
charity to hope thus of them all, till there was
evidence to the contrary. The inspired penmen
did not certainly know the gracious state of the
persons they addressed, but had cheering hopes
and distressing fears, respecting those to whom
they ministered. See Epist. to Gal. Even Jesus,
" who knew what was in man," generally, as a
minister, addressed his own people by such terms
as were descriptive of gracious dispositions; Matt,
v. As many are in Christ only by a profession,
Iiaving a name to live, and *tre dead, therefore

80 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

there is a striking pro])riety in the various ifs we
meet with in Scripture, when promises and en-
couragements are treated of, which ifs do not im-
ply an uncertainty of a true believer's future hap-
piness; but an uncertainty respecting who the
persons are that have believed through grace.
With what jealousy does Paul sf)eak of the Gala-
tian churches, and of many in that of Corinth ;
and with what caution does Peter mention one
whom he greatly valued, "Sylvanus, a faithful
brother, as I suppose." 2 Pet. v. 12. The visible
kingdom of Christ is compared to a net which en-
closeth divers kinds: but the Lord, who searcheth
the heart, will take care of the good, and cast the
bad away. Then many who were visibly in con-
nexion with Christ, who ate and drank in his
presence, who were the children of the kingdom,
and visible members of his body, the church, will
be cast out ; so that those who are found fruitless
branches in Christ, will be broken off, and burned
with unquenchable fire. Therefore it is granted
that many who are in Christ, in [this] sense, [i. e.
visibly,] may notwithstanding lift up their eyes in
hell, being in torment.

Secondly ; there is a vital union, or a divine
connexion between Christ and his people, which
takes place at regeneration, when the soul is
made to hear the voice of the Son of God and
live ; for the Son quickeneth whom he will. Hence
the apostle says, " I live ; yet not I, but Christ
which liveth in me." To live implies three things,

UNION TO CHRIST. 8 1

all whicl), in a spiritual sense, every true Christian
is the subject of, viz.; sensation, animation,

PRESERVATION.

1. Sensation. They feel the burden of guilt,
and are sensible of the plague of their own hearts.
They are convinced of their wants and weakness,
and are conscious of being in a condition both
mean and miserable. They see their own deform-
ity and Jehovah's beauty. Their ears are open to
receive instruction ; and the voice of God in his
word, whether terrific or tender, makes deep and
durable impressions on their minds. They have a
taste for the things of religion, after which they
hunger and thirst. To them Christ is precious:
his name is an ointment [)oured forth, his beauty is
as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon ; yea, he
is altogether lovely. All their spiritual sensations,
whether painful orpleasurable, are in consequence,
o^ living union w'\th Jesus; for })rior to its com-
mencement they were dead in sin, and destitute of
every holy emotion and perception.

2. Animation. Christian activity is entirely
owing to Christ's animative influence. Through
his Spirit and all-sufficient grace, they serve
with pleasiu*e, or suffer with patience ; they
strive and war against sin, and wrestle with
princij>alities and powers, over all which they
are more than conquerors through him who hath
loved them. Yea, they can do all things through
Christ strengthening them, and without him they
can do nothing.

82 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

3. Preservation. The princi|)le of animation
ever discovers an inclination to preserve its connex-
ion with that which is animated by it : this is obvi-
ous not only in rational life, but even in animal
likewise. So, Christ has always discovered an en-
tire, infinite inclination to keep and preserve his
people in connexion with himself. He influences
theni to love, and labor for the meat which perish-
eth not. He alarms their fears that they may es-
cape danger, and strengthens their faith that they
may lay hold of eternal life, secures their love by
fresh discoveries of divine heauiies, and the suita-
bleness of celestial objects to heaven-horn souls.
Thus he draivs them in the paths of duty by the
bands of love, and by the cords of a man. He is
the author of then- preservation^ in such a way as to
prevent presumption, and secure their attention to
appointed means, which Divine wisdom has con-
nected with the desired end. He says he never
will leave them, but will be with them always to
the end of the world ; and writes his law in their
hearts, that they might not finally depart from
him. He saves them, therefore, not contrary to
\he\Y indination^ but with their /ree consent, and
fervent desire. He that is joined unto the Lord is
one spirit ; 1 Cor. vi. 17. Between Jesus and
them, there is a oneness in perception, affection, in-
terest, and end. As they are precious to him, so
he is precious to them ; the chief among ten
thousand, and altogether lovely. His interest is
theirs, and theirs is his. He rejoiceth in the pros-

UNION TO CHSIST. 83

perity of his people, and they esteem Jerusalem,
i. e. his cause on earth, above their chief joy ; his
revealed designs correspond with their real desires.
The destruction of sin and the perfection of purity
they long for. He gave his life for them, neither
do they count theirs too dear to sacrifice on his
behalf; their life therefore is in their hand, ready
to be delivered up at their Saviour's call. They
rejoice in Jesus on account of his mediatorial obe-
dience, not only as it is their security from con-
demnation, but as it does infinite honour to
Heaven's righteous law. What Christ has done,
intentionally centres, and will ultimately termi-
nate, in the vindication of God's moral govern-
ment, and the eternal display of Jehovah's essen-
tial perfections, in all their native beauty, and
infinite excellency, grandeur, and glory, that God)
to whom sinners have an aversion, may appear
and be acknowledged, not only by angels, but by
men, as all in all. As influenced by grace, the
true believer says, " Oh, how I love thy law !"
"I delight in the law of God after the inward
man." Jehovah he admires and adores ; and when
he takes a solemn view of the great Eternal,
whose glory dazzles angelic eyes, he is astonished,
confounded, and lost, in pleasing tvonder. He
sinks into profound contempt of himself, and feels
keen reflections on his criminal want of affection
to, and departures from a Being so infinitely de-
serving the supreme love of men and angels. But
on the revival of hope, with humble reverence,

84 DOCTRI.XAL DIFFICULTIES.

and holy rapture, he sings, " The Lord is my por-
tion, saith my soul. He is my rock and fortress, and
my deliverer, my God, my strength, my buckler, my
salvation, and my high tower. In his presence is
fulness of joy, at his right hand are pleasures for
evermore. Then shall I be satisfied, when I
awake in his likeness." Though conscious of
meanness and demerit, his language now is, "Will
he plead against me with his great power? No,
but he will put strength into me." " I know whom
I have believed. He hath said. My grace shall be
sufficient for thee, my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Tlie Lord will i)reserve me unto his
heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and
ever. Amen."

As such souls freely give themselves unto the
Lord, so he receives them graciously, and rejoiceth
in them as Iiis spouse, his property, and portion;
it is his will, and their desire to be like him, and
with him forever; and for them to die is gain.
Therefore, though siioals of professors perish,
none who are possessors of his grace ever shall.
Their internal life is eternal in its duration ; for
thus saith the Lord, " I give unto my sheep eter-
nal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of my hand." John x. 28.
"He that believeth on him is not condemned."
John iii. 18. "There is therefore now no condem-
nation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Si)irit." Rom.
viii. 1. As there is no condemnation to such nowy

UNION TO CHRIST. 85

there never shall be any. "Verily, verily, I say
unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth,
shall not con^.e into condemnation, but is passed
from death unto life. John v. 24. Whoso be-
lieveth on him, shall not perish, but have eternal
life. John iii. 15, 16. They shall never die ;
though they were dead, yet shall they live. John
xi. 25. Who shall separate them from the love of
Christ? Rom. viii. 35. Whose Spirit is in them
as a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. John iv. 14. He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life" Those, therefore, who are vitally united
to Christ, cannot lose their spiritual life while he
maintains his own ; for he hath said, "Because I
live ye shall live also." Being bought by his pre-
cious blood, and kept by almighty power, they
therefore may conclude with the apostle, "That
when Christ, who is their life, shall appear, they
shall also appear with him in glory."

There is, therefore, no real contradiction in the
declarations in Scri])ture, though they may to
some appear opposite, respecting the Jinal state of
those who are united to Christ ; for salvation is
not inseparably connected with a visible, but with
a vital union to the Son of God. Those who per-
ish never were spiritually in Christ: he was never
the home of their hearts. They never approved of
him, nor he of them ; therefore he will say to all
that shall be doomed to destruction, I never knew
you. Though they may have been among the

86 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

saints, yet such were never of them ; but of a con-
trary character all the wliile. Hence of apostates
the apostle thus speaks: "They went out from
us, but they were not of us, for if they had been
of us, they would no doubt have continued with
us ; but they went out that they might be made
manifest, that they were not all of us, but ye have
an unction from the Holy One" &c. 1 John ii. 19, 20.
Thus it appears, that a visible and a vital union to
Christ are very distinct ; and yet they are not op-
posites, for a profession of Christ cannot be deemed
contrary to a possession of him.

Thirdly, Vital union is distinct from virtual,
though one is not contrary or opposite to the other.
By virtual union with Christ, is intended a real
connexion subsisting between him and the elect of
God considered simply as such. That there was
such a connexion antecedent to vital union, is evi-
dent from the following considerations. They
were chosen in Christ, and given to him ; in
covenant he represented them as a federal head.
He became a surety for them, and on their behalf
was made under the law, in consequence of which
there was a legal connexion of union established
between him and them. The substitution of his
person under the law in their stead, was the
ground of the imputation of their sins to him, and
of his obedience for them. What he did and en-
dured, would have had no efficacy in their favour,
had they not been personally interested in him.
Their sins could not have been done away by the

UNION TO CHRIST. 87

sacrifice of himself, had he not given himself /or
them in particular or died in their stead. But as
their kinsman-Redeemer, he ransomed them from
death, and as the Head of the church, he became
the Saviour of the body. Thus was he related to
his chosen, as their head of representation ; and,
as their surety, by his gracious engagements and
condescending substitution of his person [to endure
the penalties of the law] in their place, and by his
performing for them what was required of them,
he became the Lord their righteousness, and by his
death he procured on their behalf an eternal
exemption from deserved punishment, and a legal
title to everlasting bliss. In consequence of tliis
union, the elect were intrusted to his care, and
were preserved in Christ Jesus, and, therefore,
called to be saints. By virtue of the aforesaid con-
nexion, they are said to be his sheep, whom he
must bring ; for of all that the Father hath given
him, he will lose none : and from thence ariseth the
propriety of the apostle's language in Eph. ii.4, 6:
** God who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us,evenivhenwe were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
and hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
Now as this virtual union docs not supersede vital,
or render it unnecessary, but is the secret source
from whence it flows, why then should the godly
quarrel one with another about what is so evi-
dently consistent ? Though fruit be only found in
the branches, yet the root is surely not unprofi-

88 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

table, seeing from thence the sap of the tree pro-
ceeds. According to this simile we may observe,
what the Scripture calls bringing forth fruit unto
God, can only be expected among professors of
religion, who are in Christ as visible branches.
But even amongst them, will no fruit be found
without sap or living nourishment ; and there can
be no vital nourishment, but in consequence of
union with the root. As none ever imagine there
is no connexion between the i-oot and branches of a
tree till blossoms appear, why then should any
think there is no connexion between Christ the
root of the righteous, and his people, before the ap-
pearance of grace ? It is owing to the appearance
of gracious dispositions, that a relation to Christ
is discovered, or claimable by any person what-
ever: nevertheless, the union or relation in the last
sense in which we have been speaking, does not
then commence. If there was no previous secret
connexion with Christ, from whence did grace
proceed to the soul? It must have a source or
original cause. The apostle observes all spiritual
blessings were given us in Christ. Eph. i. 3. If
Christ was intrusted with all spiritual blessings to
communicate to his people, then no spiritual bless-
ing is ever possessed, but what flows from him ;
and if so, there must be a prior cormexion w^ith
him. Believers have reason gratefully to ac-
knowledge that they all have received out of his
fulness, grace for grace. John i. J 6. To the hesi-
tating soul we would recommend a close consider-

UNION TO CHRIST. 89

ation of the apostle's query; "What hast thou,
that thou didst uot receive:" 1 Cor. iv. 7.

The doctrine of union between Christ and his
church is of a nature so copious, that no one meta-
phor can properly represent it ; therefore in the
Scriptures we meet with various similitudes, tend-
ing to illustrate the important subject. Christ is
frequently compared to a foundation, on which
his people are built ; but that conveying only the
idea of support, therefore he is compared to a root,
by which the idea of injluence is hkewise illustra-
ted. But though branches are influenced, and
rendered fruitful, in consequence of conveyed
nourishment, yet Christian activity is not thereby
properly represented : to supply this defect, Christ
and his people are farther illustrated by the
union subsisting between head and memhers. But
though the idea of activity is thereby conveyed,
there is still a material defect, for the relation be-
tween these is quite involuntary. Had it been/
otherwise, the head might possibly have chosen
better feet, cr better hands ; and had they been the
subjects of distinct volition, they would, probably,
have chosen to have been in union with a better
head: theretore to supply the deficiency of the
above simile, and to include the idea of mutual
choice and social endearments, Christ and his church
are compared to husband and wife. If then we
are in such near and close connexion with the
blessed Jesus, as the Scriptures assert, and, by so
many significant similitudes, illustrate his own
H

90 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

people to be, let us frequently think of, and bless
God for, that sovereign and inseparable love whicji
constituted the relation. It is all of God, as is
devoutly acknowledged by that sweet singer in
our British Israel, the late Dr. Watts, who of the
Father's love and choice thus speaks :

Christ be my first elect, he said,

Then chose our souls in Christ our Head ;

Nor shall our souls be thence remov'd,

Till he forgets his first belov'd.

CHAPTER V.

rp:lation to god.

As there are unhappy differences among the
professors of religion about union to Christ, so
in like manner they are subject to cast stumbling-
blocks in each other's way respecting relation to
God.

For the removal of these, and the purpose of
reconciliation, let us consider on what, relation
to God is founded. That relation in which God's
people stand unto himself, distinct from others,
according to the Scripture, arises from adoption
and regeneration. Adoption is a taking those into
the relation of sons, and treating them as such,
who are not so by nature. Now God's people
were all by nature aliens ; but, by adopting grace,
[they] were by him considered as his children.

RELATION TO GOD. 91

Again, His people are all his children hy hirth;
being born again, they possess or partake of his
nature, as it consists in righteousness and true
holiness, and so bear his image. Adoption con-
stitutes relation, but does not convey likeness of
nature; but regeneration does both. Adoption is
before, or antecedent to regeneration, for there is
no propriety in supposing those are made sons by
adoption who are so by birth. No man ever
adopted his own son ; those who are sons by na-
ture, need not to he made sons by adoption.
Though the y)ersons who are regenerated were
adopted, yet they were not adopted as regenerate,
but when they were in a stale of alienation from
God. In which state all men are by nature, as
the descendants of an apostate head. Adoption is
therefore the taking those into the relation of
children, who are not so by nature, or reckoning,
or accounting those sons, who are not, [as yet,
such] by regeneration. Relation by adoption is,
therefore, quite distinct from sonship arising from
regeneration, or a being generated, and born
anew ; and accordingly we find it treated of as a
separate subject in the word of God. Adoption is
an act of God's sovereign ivill, according to Eph.
i. 5, 6. "Having predestinated us unto the adop-
tion of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accord-
ing to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise
and glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved." Regeneration is the
work of his power, it is a manifest change of soul

92

DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

produced by his Holy Spirit. "Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regen-
eration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Tit.
iii. 5. The people of God, considered as children
by adoption, were the subjects of redemption.
Being, through sin, in a state of distance and
dreadful captivity, Christ gave his life a ransom
for them. " He died, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring thein to God." Hence those who
were sometime afar off are made nigh by the
blood of his Son. It was therefore expedient that
Christ should die for the people, and gather to-
gether in one the children of God that were scat-
tered abroad. John xi. 50, 52. For it became him
for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. Heb. ii. 10. They were not redeemed,
considered as saints, but as sinney-s ; not redeemed
as children, by regeneration, but as sons by adop-
tion; and of them, as such, Christ will at last say,
"Father, here am I and the children which thou
hast given me." The application of redeeming
love, and the possession of the Redeemer's pur-
chase is not enjoyed, nor by them desired till re-
newed in the spirit of their minds; but being
God's adopted sons, therefore in his account
they were entitled to them ; and because they
were sons, the Spirit of Christ is sent into their
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. It is owing to the

RELATION TO GOD. 93

Spirit of adoption, or the Holy Ghost, bearing
witness to their relationship as the children of
God, that they are delivered from that bondage
and fear which would otherwise overwhelm
them, in consequence of a sight and sense of
critninal distance from God, and unlikeness to
him. Rom. viii. 15, 17. The bodies of God's
l)eople were included in the act of adoption, and
with their souls were given to Christ, and bought
by him ; "Ye are bouglit with a price, wherefore
glorify God in your bodies, — which are his.
But though the members of the body are instru-
ments of righteousness unto holiness, in conse-
quence of a person being renewed in the spirit of
his mind, yet while in this life the bodies of the
saints have no })eculiar marks of divine sonship,
but are subject to vanity, bondage, and corruption.
The privileges of adoption, therefore, as relating
to them, will not be enjoyed till the resurrection,
for the bodies o{ all men through sin are the seat
of n)isery ; and not only bodies in general, but
ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of the body." Rom. viii. 23. Sonship by adoption
is not contrary to, nor does it render relationship to
God by regeneration, unnecessary; there is as
much need of a meetness for heaven as of a title to it.
In order to consummate happiness, it is as neces-
sary to have a disposition, or taste, for pure and
refined pleasure, as it is to be^elivered from pain.

94 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

Therefore, except a man be born again, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God, he cannot see it in
its nature, beauty, and spiritual glory, for the nat-
ural man perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God, neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. Hence (says Christ) ye
must be born again. The doctrine of adoption
is supporting to the believer's hope, even when
he loathes and bemoans himself on the account of
transgressions, for the very name Jesus (a Sa-
viour) was given to hnmanuel, because he shoidd
save his people from their sins. Matth. i. 21. But
considered as born again, they are not denomi-
nated sinners, but saints, for he that is born of
God sinneth net. Sin is not his occupation. By
adoption God's people were in a point of relation
made near to him, as resj.iecting their persons.
By regeneration they become followers of him as
dear children, through their being the subjects of
gracious principles and holy dispositions.

To conclude ; as sonsljip amongst men arises
from adoption and likewise from natural descent,
or generation ; the Lord, therefore, more fully to
express his love to his people, and the ground of
their claim or title to heavenly things, has been
pleased to discover himself as their Father under
both considerations ; which if properly attended
to by the household of faith, their differences
would in some measure subside, and their diffi-
culties in some degree diminish ; for according to
the scriptural account of relation to God, they

RELATION TO GOD. 95

are most certainly right who say, that by regen-
eration or heavenly birth the people of God are
denominated sons in a proper sense, and in which
sense they were not his children before, for we are
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus;
and if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of his. But those who heartily subscribe to
this truth, may surely, without offence, be allowed
to say, that by adoption they ivere constituted sons
before believing ; for none are denominated be-
lievers till born of God, and it would be absurd to
suppose they were not till then adopted. Equally
absurd as to suppose Adam adopted Abel, or that
it is necessary for his majesty to adopt the prince
of Wales. When the Scriptures treat 07ily of
men's relation to God, it is then attributed to adop-
tion ; or the gracious act of Jehovah's will
towards them ; which does not imply, but is dis-
tinct from, his powerful influences in" and upon
them. But when likeness and relation to God are
jointly considered, an heavenly birth is then in-
tended or included. For the Holy Spirit's opera-
tions in the souls of men are illustrated by natural
generation ; because, such are thereby made par-
takers of the Divine image, as it consisteth in
righteousness and true holiness. The considera-
tion of these things, it is hoped, may tend to
reconcile the minds of some of the people of God,
and prevent their falling out by the way.

96 DOCTRINAL DimcULTIES,

CHAPTER VI.

THE DOCTRINE Or ATONEMENT.

This important truth is attended with divers
difficulties, which are perplexing to weak Chris-
tians, the removal of which calls for serious at-
tention to its nature and necessity. Atonement
signifies reconciliation, or appeasii]g of anger ; to
atone is to harmonize or bring parties to an agree-
ment that were at variance, or to remove that
distance and disaffection which have subsisted
between parties offended, so as to be at one again,
or brought into a state of friendship, amity, and
good will. The atonement under present consid-
eration, is that by, or on the account of, which
God is pacified towards, or pardons the sins of,
his people. Various ideas are included in the
term, as used in Scripture, but they are all of
a kindred nature, and adhere to the important
doctrine, as their central point, tending to explain
its natural origin and efficacy. In order to obtain
a distinct view of the subject, it may be proper to
observe.

First ; It supposes the party to have been justly
injured [or offended] to whom satisfaction is due.
This was in fact the case in respect of God. Men, all
men, are become enemies to him without any reason
which can possibly exculpate them from blame.
His law, which men have broken, was in every re-
spect reasonable and right. His authority, though

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 07

indisputably tlie highest and best founded, is
treated by man with the greatest contempt. The
moral beauty and excellency of God is become
disgu:?ttul to his rebellious creatures. As Jehovah
is the first, the best, and most worthy of all beings,
it is fit he should value and esteem his own glory
in proportion to its worth, which is infinitely njore
excellent and more dear to him than all creatures
in heaven and earth. But man has set up his
own honor and happiness in opposition to God's,
and (as it were) deifies himself, and debases Je-
liovah, to whom he pays no further regard than
he apprehends will terminate in his own advan-
tage. God's anger is righteous displeasure, for
men have hated him without a cause; there was
nothing in his nature, character, or commands,
with which men could be justly displeased. God
never did any thing to provoke his creatures to
revolt ; if he had, he would have been under obli-
gation to have made satisfaction to man for the
injury done him, in order to an honorable recon-
ciliation, that man might be just, and the justifier
of God, which is shocking to suppose: therefore.

Secondly : The atonement supposes the offend-
ing party, man, to have been justly deserving
punishment, and exposed to misery. If he was
not exposed to misery, there could have been no
need of the exercise of mercy ; and if he was the
real oflTender, something was needful to atone for
the offence, in order to a restoration of friendship
between him and his Creator. There is a preva-
I

yb DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

lent conviction attending guilt, of the necessity
of something to reccmmend to and pacify offended
Deity. It is not against atonement that men are
naturally prejudiced ; but it is only that of God's
providing to which they have an enmity and
aversion. "Wherewith shall I come before the
Lord, and bow myself before the most high God?"
is the common and grand inquiry of a guilty
mind. It is not a bowing before him, either in a
way of submission, confession, supplication, or
obedience, that will satisfy for past offences, but
something that has worth and efficacy to alone
for the sin of the soul, in order to an acceptable
coming to, and bowing before the most high God:
therefore, "thousands of rams, ten thousand of
rivers of oil," and even " the first-born of the
body," is thought of for the purpose of pleasing
an offended God. "He hath shown thee, O
rnan !" (in his word,) " what is good" for the paci-
fication of Divine justice, and what he recjuires
of thee, as a grateful return for the inestimable
favor.. Mic. vi. 6, 7, 8. Not all created good
(was it at the sinner's disposal) could compensate
for the injury done to Jehovah's righteous law
and equitable government, because it bears no
proportion to an infinite evil ; therefore, the wis-
dom of men and angels could never have pointed
out a method for the exercise of mercy, consistent
with the natural rights of justice and truth. But
God, through infinite wisdom and sovereign love,
has made a gracious proclamation in favor of

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 99

criminal man, saying, "Deliver his soul from
going down to the pit, I have found a ransom" or
an atonement: this was entirely a new procedure,
the effect of a new and well-ordered covenant,
according to his eternal purpose, wiiich he pur-
posed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Tiiere was noth-
ing in God's law, nothing in the original constitu-
tion of things, nor any known property in Deity,
from whence it could be inferred, that mercy would
ever be shown to man, or friendship be restored
between him and his justly offended Sovereign.
The gracious intention was hid in God. Eph. iii.9.
Yea, had an intimation been given of the kind
design, the nature of atonement is such that
created wisdom could never have guessed how^
or by whom it could be accomplished. For,

1. The person undertaking to atone, must have
been able to offer to God that which was infinite
in its worth and value.

2. [He must have the nature of those whom his
atonement is to benefit; i. e. he must] be man,
capable of obeying the law, and bearing its tre-
mendous curse ; [and this] without personal and
perpetual destruction.

3. He who atones for another's crimes must
himself be innocent, otherwise an atonement
would be needful on his own account; and there-
fore, whatever he might do or endure for the pur-
pose of reconciliation, could not properly be im-
puted to, or benefit, any other guilty person. But
among men, where could perfect innocence be

100 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

found, seeing the whole world is become guilty
before God ? But supposing such a one could have
been found, an atonement would not have ap-
peared possible, because,

4. Equity cannot allow an innocent person to
suffer punishment. It is contrary to the natural
rule of right ; penal suffering cannot be inflicted
but in consequence of guilt: therefore he that
justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the
just, even they are both an abomination to the
Lord. Prov. xvii. 15. And shall not the Judge of
all the earth do right ? It is not possible he should
do that which is abhorrent to his nature, and
abominable in his sight ; therefore, as a God of
equity he cannot clear the guilty, nor punish the
innocent. Again,

5. He who is supposed to endure vicarious
punishment, or suffer in the room and stead of
another, must stand in such prior relation to or
union with him, on whose behalf he is punished,
as is necessary to support the delinquent's claim
to an equitable discharge. But where could such
a friend be found, standing judicially related to
miserable man, to act as his surety, or as a day's-
man, between him and his God, and lay his hand
upon them both? Job ix. 33. xvii. 3. But on a
supposition such a friend could have been pointed
out, who was allowedly one in law with the sinner,
yet he could not die, or suffer in his stead, though
even desirous of it, because.

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 101

6. No creature lias power or authority over
his own life, to lay it down when he pleases, nor
even to suffer rriutilation on hehalf of his dearest
friend ; for his life and his limbs are at the sole
and only disposal of God, in whom we all live and
move, and from whom we have our being.

From the above, and similar considerations, it
appears, that the natin-e of sin, and the condition
of men, were such as totally to preclude every ray
of hope, yea, every idea of the possibility of an
atonement being made, or a reconciliation accom-
plished. But in the glorious gospel, God has
opened a door of hope for lost sinners. He has
graciously provided and revealed a method of
salvation, which finite wisdom could never have
deemed possible, a contrivance wherein he hath
abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence.
Eph. i. 8. For every difficulty vanishes when the
glorious Immanuel is viewed as the atoning priest
and bleeding victim.* Here is infinite worth, value

* Let us examine the preceding numbered paragraphs
in the light of Scripture ; and we shall perhaps see more
fully what was the meaning of our author, and what is
Scripture truth on the subject which he discusses. He
says,

1. '* He who would atone must offer what is of infinite
value." The blood of bulls and lambs cannot atone, there-
fore he says " lo i come." Now why ? that he might
do what they could not : — " he taketh away the first to
establish the second." He came to " take away sin by
the sacrifice of himself." See Heb. x. 4 — 10.— ix. 26.

102 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

and virtue, infinite ability to obey the precepts of
the law, and endure its awful penalty, without
sustaining the loss of final felicity. He was holy,
harmless and separate from sinners. But that he

2. " He must be man." And accordingly " He took
not on him the nature of angels ; but he took on him the
seed of Abraham." " The word was made flesh." "He
must be able to bear the curse without destruction.''
And we read, " He was raised for our justification" after
being " delivered for our offences," i. e. his resurrection
evinced that his sacrifice was sufficient and accepted, and
that justice had no further claims; and hence " Christ
being raised , dieth no more ; death hath no more dominion
over him," and we are " begotten again to a lively hope of
an incorruptible inheritance by his resurrection from the
dead." See Heb. ii. 16. John i. 14. Rom. iv. 25. vi. 9.
1 Pet. i. 3.

" He must be innocent." And he was so. His blood
was as that " of a lamb without blemish and without
spot." He was just such a High Priest as our case
required — "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin-
ners." Hence "he needed not," as the Leviticai
priests, " to off"er daily, first for his own sins, and then
for those of the people." 1 Pet. i. 19. Heb. vii. 26. 27.

4. " It is inequitable that an innocent person should
suffer punishment;" and it was not, strictly speaking, pM»-
ishment which Jesus did endure. " But it became him by
whom and for whom are all things, to make the Captain of
our salvation perfect ihvovigh. sufferings" and this;was done
without iniquity, "for he gave his life a ransom." It was
not " taken from him ; but he laid it down of himself;^*
and had a right to do so ; being himself " the Prince

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 103

might legally suffer, the just for the unjust, he who
knew no sin was made sin for us. The Lord laid
on him the iniquity of us all, which he hore in hi-s
own body on the tree, when he made his soul an
offering for sin. Thus, through imputation, he
was numbered with transgressors, and bore the
sins of many, which he put away by the sacrifice
of himself. What he did and endured in the room
and stead of ins people, was righteously placed to
their account. He being graciously substituted in
their stead, being their surety, made under the law,
that he might redeem them from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for them. He, therefore?
kindly gave his life a ransom for his people, for he
had authority and power to lay down his life, and
power to take it up again. This commandment,
says he, I received of my father. His propitiatory

of life." See above under 6. ' Heb. ii. 10. Matt. xx. 28.
John V. 2(3.

5. " To render equitable the delinquent's discharge, he
who suffers vicariously must have previously sustained
a relation to him." Such a relation existed, and was
recognized, and the promise of discharge to the delin-
quents was given ; and it was based on the recog-
nised existence of this relation. "As for thee also by the
blood of THY COVENANT I havc sent forth thy prisoners
out of the pit wherein is no water." Zech. Ix. 11.

6. " No creature has power or authority over his own
life, &c." But the Messiah is not a creature : he is
"over all, God blessed for ever," "The second man is
THE LORD from heaven." Rom. ix. 5. 1 Cor. xv.
47. Ed.

104 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

death was according to the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, and agreeable to the
everlasting covenant, and therefore with his full
approbation and free consent ; for the counsel of
peace was between them both, (which will ever
continue) and his delights were with the sons of
men.

Christ's atonement was illustrated by the various
atonements under the law, [and was the central
point of them.] The respective victims were with-
out blemish ; were the property of the persons on
whose account they were to be offered ; the crimes
they were designed to expiate and atone for, were
first solemnly confessed over them, and then as hav-
ing sin placed on or transferred to them, they were
offered up as the sinner's substitute, in consequence
of which temporary forgiveness was obtained ; for
these were only shadows of good things to come,
and were offered year by year continually, but
could never make the comers thereunto perfect, or
take away sin as pertaining to the conscience.
The law could make nothing perfect, but the bring-
ing in of a better hope did : see Heb. x. Atonement
is a declaration of divine righteousness, and a vin-
dication of Jehovah's justice in condemning and
punishing for sin ; therefore the act of Phineas, in
taking vengeance in behalf of God on daring of-
fenders, is called an atonement for the congrega-
tion. Atonement is designed as a covering of the
guilty soul ; thereby their iniquities are covered^
and their transgressions are forgiven. When the

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 105

congregation was numbered, it was enjoined on
every man to give to the Lord a ransom for his
soul ; the rich were not to give more than half a
shekel,* nor the poor less ; which was called atone-
ment money, as thereby atonement was made for
their souls. In consequence of which price, they
were covered from the plague to which they were
liable. See Exod. xxx. 12, 16. So Jesus gave
liimself a ransom for many : his people were bought
with a price, not with silver or gold, but with the
precious blood of the Son of God, in whom we
hav« redemption, even the forgiveness of sins. By
the blessed Jesus, the purity of God's law was fully
approved and eternally preserved, its righteous
claims established and fully confirmed ; its tremen-
dous curse was by him endured, and his people
exempted from wrath to come. In him mercy and
truth are met together, righteousness and peace
have kissed each other. He is the true antitype of
the mercy-seat, whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood. The seat
of mercy, where Deity ai)peared propitious, was
the cover of, and supported by the ark, which con-
tained and preserved the holy law which men had
violated, denoting that the glory of God's righteous
government must be secured before pardoning
mercy could be discovered. To deny the glory
and equity of God's law, by which sinners are con-

* A Utile over twenty-five cents, and so within the com-
.pass of the poor.

106 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

demned, antecedent to the gospel, is to iinderm ine
the foundation of mercy, and destroy the pillars
which support the throne of rich, reigning grace.
The blood of atonement, sprinkled annually on the
mercy-seat by the high priest, was an acknowledg-
ment of Israel's guilt, and Jehovah's just authority ;
and likewise of their absolute dependence on his
voluntary mercy, richly dispensed and gloriously dis-
played, consistent with his infinite hatred to sin
and inflexible regard to impartial justice and puni-
tive equity.

Some represent the atonement of Christ as un-
necessary in order to the pardon of sin, the remis-
sion of which is, by them, considered as an act of
divine clemency, without respect had to any merit
attending the sufferings of Christ in the stead of
those whose transgressions are forgiven. By this
many have been perplexed, seeing such a repre-
sentation and view of things evidently tends to
jessen the odious nature of sin, tarnish the lustre
of Jehovah's character, and diminish the believer's
obligation to Jesus. Vie therefore shall consider,

1. It is undeniable that a consciousness of sin
is attended with a fear of punishment in those who
are not favored with a divine revelation. Hence
the apostle, speaking of the heathen world, says?
*' Who knowing the judgment of God, that they
which commit such things are worthy of death."
Rom. i. 32. But if punishment be not necessarily
connected with transgression, how could the dread
of suffering, and a conviction of the righteousxie&s

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 107

of God in taking vengeance, be so deeply engraven
on tiie hearts of those who did not know the will
and determination of God, except as inferred from
the natural obligation his creatures are under to
glorify him as their Creator? No creature can
possibly know what originates in, or is dependent
upon, the sovereign will of God, without a divine
revelation , but as the punisliment of sin can be
known where a revelation \s not [possessed], there-
fore the punishment of sin arises not from divine
sovereignty, but from the essential purity, dignity
and rectitude of Jehovah's nature : [and hence]
there was a necessity for Christ, as the surety, to
endure the penalty, in order to his people's enjoy-
ing a pardon ; for sin is so abominable in God's
sight, so contrary to his pure nature, that punish-
ment for it cannot be dispensed with ; a sinner, as
such, cannot be safe. Hence there was a necessity
for Jesus the Saviour to put away sin, by the sac-
rifice of himself, to endure the curse, that his peo-
ple might be exempted from sin's demerit, enjoy
heavenly blessings, and wear the celestial crown.
2. Through the sufferings of Christ the essential
righteousness of God is discovered, and his equity
in acquitting the believer is thereby evidenced, and
on that basis eternally established. It is Jesus
Christ as a Redeemer, " whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past," (i. e. the sins of the Old Testament
saints,) "through the forbearance of God: to

108 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that
he might be just and the justifier of him that be-
lieveth in Jesus." Rom. iii. 25, 26. If God could
with equity have pardoned sin, and justified crim-
inals by an act of sovereign clemency, without an
atonement, the death of Jesus did not render the
sinner's acquittal just and righteous, which the
apostle asserts. But as the equity of God in justi-
fying the ungodly, depends upon the Saviour's
sufferings, therefore without his sufferings there
could have been no pardon of sin granted ; for " all
his ways are judgment, a God of truth, and with-
out iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. xxxii. 4.
When \ve say, God could not pardon sin without
an atonement, or that "without shedding of blood
there is no remission," a limitation of Jehovah's
power is not intended, nor is it from thence infera-
ble ; for pardon and justification are not produc-
tions of Divine power, but are acts of his will.
Besides, God cannot do what is improper. He
cannot lie, he cannot deny himself; and of iniquity
he says, " I cannot away with it ;" not owing to a
deficiency in power, but the perfection of his purity
and rectitude of his nature.

3. God's gift of his Son to die for us, is always,
in Scripture, admired as the greatest and most
astonishing instance of his love to sinners, and
considered as a blessing superior to any other cc^i-
ferred on his people. Hence the apostle infers, " if
God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not, with him, freely give us

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 309

all things ?" Rom. viii. 32. But if sinners could
have been made happy without Jesus, if there was
no real necessity for his death, the gift of Christ, by
such an awful supposition, is diminished in its value,
and the favor sinks into the num'jer of non-essen-
tials in point of salvation and eternal felicity.

4. If Divine justice could have dispensed with
the punishment of sin, Christ was so precious to
his righteous Father, and so entirely loved by him,
that it is natural to suppose he would have been
spared ; those agonizing sorrows and excruciating
pains, under which he groaned and died, would
not have been, without necessity, inflicted upon the
darling of heaven. But as sin was placed to his
account, it ])leased the Father to bruise him, and
put him to grief; though he pleaded to have the
cup removed if possible, yet he s[)ared him not.
Now as in every other thing the Father heard him
always, may we not from thence conclude, it was
impossible for the connexion between sin and
suffering to be broken ? Who can attend to the
tremendous language of a sin-avenging God, say-
ing, " Awake, O sword, against the man that is my
fellow," smite him ; or seriously reflect on the dole-
ful groans and bloody sufferings of the Son of God,
in the garden, and on the cross; and calmly con-
chide there was no necessity for any thing of that
nature.

5. Those who are redeemed from sin, and reiga
with God in heavenly pomp and holy splendor,
ascribe their deUverance and advancement to the

110 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

kindness of Christ, and the efficacy of his suffer-
ings ; for with triumphant pleasure and gratitude
they sing, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to
him be glory and dominion for ever and ever,
Amen." Rev. i. 5. 6. But how does the propriety
of such acknowledgments appear, if what Jesus
did was not at all necessary to their deliverance
from sin and advancement to dignity and delight?
From the above considerations it appears, there
■was a necessity for Jesus to die, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring them to God.

Some again admit the death of Christ was ne-
cessary, in order to the forgiveness of sins, yet deny
him the honour of properly meriting for his people
an exemption from punishment, and assert that
the efficacy of his sufferings as a sacrifice arose
entirely from the will and appointment^ of God.

* This opinion is sometimes advanced and advocated by
persons who are the farthest possible from desiring to
detract from the glory of the Redeemer. Let such per-
sons carefully weigh the reasoning of this author, and
they will see cause to relinquish their opinion. In con-
firmation of his position the following considerations are
offered to the reader.

1. Sin cannot be forgiven without a satisfaction to
eternal justice. Justice i^ an essential attribute of Deity ;
if its claims are compromised, the basis of Divine govern-
ment is undermined : for ''justice and judgment are
the establishment (see margin) of his throne." Sin has

THE ^OCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. Ill

That he became a mediator, surety, and sacrifice
on behalf of his people, in consequence of Divine
appointment, is undoubtedly evident ; but that his
value and worth, efficacy and merit, arose from

merited punishment; its wages is death. Now the blood
of bulls and goats cannot take away sin ; and yet it must
be removed, and blood (i.e. death) is requisite to remove
it. Heb. ix. 22. " The Lamb of Godreally taketh away
the sin of the world," and Christ is that Lamb. Hence
the death of Christ is a real sacrifice ; i. e. it takes away
sin in virtue of its inherent efficacy ; and not merely
because it was appointed to do so. " He is the propitia-
tion for our sins."

2. The Prophets taught the reality of his sacritice.
What other interpretation can be put on such passages
as the following, by the simple student of the holy ora-
cles ? Isa. liii. 4— 6, 8, 10, 11, 12. and Dan. is. 24. 26. Here
is nothing indicative of the efheacy of his sufferings
being derived from his being appointed ; but on the
contrary, the clearest statements that his sufferings were
substitutionary, and his sacrifice real. True he was " set
forth as a propitiation ;" but his being set forth did not
render him such. He was set forth as such, because he
was such, and as the apostle says, for these two purposes '-
First, '•' that God might he just" in forgiving sin ; and
Secondly, that he might appear just : — *' to declare his
righteousness in the forgiveness of sins that are past,"
and " that God might be just and the justifier of him that
believeth " Now neither of these purposes could have
been accomplished if justice had not been satisfied j
unless (which will not be supposed) God should sacrifice
his truth by appearing just^ when in fact he was not so.

112 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIIkS.

thence, can never be proved. God graciously
provided and found the ransom, on which account
]>ardon, jtistification, and the whole of salvation
is all of iijrace ; free exuberant grace, and rich
mercy. Tiiat a j)erson of such infinite worth and
dignity as Imuianuel, God's own, and only begotten
Son, should die for sinners, is an unparalleled
instance of favour and love. It is the wonder
of angels, the terror of devils, and the joy and
triumph of saints. But it is absurd to suppose
his personal dignity arose from his debasement,
that he became strong, because help was laid upon

But if justice be satisfied with the death of Jesus, our
position is established ; for nothing but a " quidpro quo"
will satisfy it ; and the deatli of Christ was a real
sacrifice.

3. The New Testament writers are explicit to the
same point. 2 Cor. v. 21. " He made him to be a
sin-offering for us." Gal. .iii 13. " Christ hath redeemed
us from tlie rurse, — being made a curse for us." 1 Pet. ii.
24. *' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body
on the tree." iii. 18- " Christ^sufFered for sins, the just
for the unjust."

The plain and obvious meaning of these passages is,
that Jesus endured all that even handed justice required,
instead of the designated objects in whose place he stood ;
andthus secured, for them, exemption from its endurance.
If he endured less than this, justice is not satisfied, and
the Divine honor is tarnished. If he endured this, his
death was, as we have seen above, a real sacrifice.

Ed.

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 113

liim, or that his real worth arose from his appoint-
ment to ransom miserable captives, and discharge
the debt of prodigal transgressors. Christ was
appointed, and agreed in covenant to do and suf-
fer what he was under no natural obligation to
perform or endure; and from his native dignity,
worth, and ability, arose his merit and efficacy.
To suppose God appointed his death to be effica-
cious without real efficacy, or meritorious without
personal merit, is a contradiction in terms, an
awful reflection on the Divine understanding, and
an affront to common sense. Again, if God ac-
cepted of the death of Jesus as meritorious, though
it was not so in its own nature, then might he
have pardoned sins by a simple act of sovereign
clemency, without the death of his Son; for it
would surely have been equally just to have par-
doned sin without a sacrifice, as to remit sin in
consequence of that which is, in its nature, desti-
tute of merit and efficacy. Once more, if merit
and real efficacy arise only from the Divine ap_
pointment, it would have been possible for the
blood of bulls and of goats to have taken away
sin, or any other animal would have been suf-
ficient for the removal of guilt and saving lost
sinners, if God had been pleased to have appointed
such an end to have been answered by their death.
But the direct contrary to the above is asserted
by one who well understood and delighted in the
doctrine of reconciliation. His words are: "Fo^
it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
K

114 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

should take away sins ;" Heb. x. 4, " which sacrifices
can never take away sins ;" verse 11. " It was ne-
cessary that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these, but the heavenly
things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
But now once in the end of the world hath he
(Christ) appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself;" chap. ix. 23, 26. "He hath made
peace by the blood of his cross," Heb. ix. 12;
"having obtained eternal redemption for us," "made
an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, and
l)rought in an everlasting righteousness," "with
which the Lord is well pleased ;" Dan. ix. 24. Isaiah,
xlii. 21. Therefore to every believer Jehovah says,
"Fury is not in me." Isaiah xxvii. 4.

It is hoped the above remarks may help the
entangled Christian over the objections made
against the necessity, merit, and eflScacy of the
Saviour's death, as an atoning sacrifice for sin,
and tend to increase his knowledge of, faith
in, and love to the blessed Jesus, as able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by
him. I should therefore add no more on the
subject, were it not for another stumbling-block
lately thrown in the way of believers, equally, if
not more formidable in appearance than the
above: Which is, if Christ was a Divine person,
he could not atone for sin, because Deity could
not die.

This artful objection seems intended to draw
the unwary Christian into a dreadful dilemma?

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 115

either to give up the soul-supporting doctrine of
the atonement, or to deny the divinity of tlie Son
of God. The objection is the more dangerous,
as it seems to look on the doctrine of atonement
with a smiling, approving countenance. But in
fact the design of it is to undermine the real per-
sonal merit of Ciirist, and place the efficacy of
his blood to the account of God's appointment, as
mentioned above. The evident, though disguised
intention of the objection and language is plainly
this: "Sinners, you must be content with a finite
"creature .Saviour, or none at all. If Christ be
"God, he is too great to do you any essential
"service as a Saviour, because Deity cannot die.
"Therefore do not think siti is infinitely odious_
" and hateful to God. It does not demerit infi-
" nite displeasure and punishment. If it did,
" there could be no infinite satisfaction made to
"God; for even supposing Christ to be Divine?
'' his sacrifice could not be of infinite value, be-
" cause as a Divine person he could not die." Let
us calmly consider this formidable objection, and
seriously attend to the supposed dreadful dilemma,
in which will be found more artful sophistry, than
argument and solid sense.

Death always implies a separation or a loss of
that wherein life consisted. Death, in the sense
we are now called to consider it, is a separation
of the principle of sensation and influence; thus
it is said, " The body without the spirit is dead."
Without the soul it is in a state of total inactivity?

116 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

incapable of voluntary motion, and divested of all
sensation. Now though the body only be the sub-
ject of death, considered as a state of inactivity
and insensibility, yet the man is said to be dead,
when soul and body, the constituent parts of hu-
manity, are separated, although the soul or spirit,
distinctly considered from the body, is not the
subject of death. A spirit cannot die, because it
is of a simple or uncompounded nature. There
is no part of a soul, from whence another part of
itself can be separated or divided. If a soul
can be so separated, consciousness either does, or
does not, continue in each separated part. If
each part remain conscious, then are they two
souls, or two conscious subsistences. If one sepa-
rated part of the soul remain unconscious, or in a
state of insensibility, wherein does that supposed
unconscious part differ from matter ? A created
spirit might cease to exist, if God so determined ;
but die it cannot. Annihiliation is not death.
What is annihilated has no existence, but what is
dead exists, however its form be changed. There
is therefore no force in the objection. Deity cannot
die ; for as no spirit can die, it might as pertinently
be objected, if Christ had a soul he could not
atone for sin, because a soul cannot die. But the
death of a spirit cannot be supposed ; in that
case, death is not predicable ; yet a man being
composed of body and spirit, is with propriety
said to be dead, when matter and mind, those
constituent parts of humanity, are separated.

THE DOCTRINE OP ATONEMENT. 117

Dead saints are therefore said to *' rest in their
beds," in respect of their bodies: yet in reference
totlieir souls, "each one is walking in his upright-
ness." Death is therefore called a departure.
" The time of my departure is at hand." Now as
the Divine and human Spirit of our Immanuel ceas-
ed to animate his body, the person of the Mediator
may as properly be said to have been dead, as the
person of Samuel, David, . or any other. It may
be necessary to observe, that death does not dis-
solve the relation between the body and spirit,
but death consists in a total cessation of vital in-
fluence, or a removal from the body, for a peribd,
of the principle of sensation and animation. But
the relative union still continuing, therefore the
spirits of martyrs are represented as concerned
about, and longing for their bodies, which were
killed for the cause of Christ on earth, and at the
resurrection every soul will have its own body.
As through the separation of body and soul, and
the relation between them being undissolved, the
man is properly dead, and yet the soul not changed
in its natural powers ; so, in like manner, and for
the same reason, it appears the person of the
Mediator was really dead for a time, his precious
body not being animated by, though related to,
his human and Divine spirit. Yet his death does
not imply or suppose the least change or mutabil-
ity in its Divine ^lature, nor any alteration in
the powers and properties of his soul. Agreeably
to the above view of things we are told, that when

118 DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

the beloved disciple saw liis Lord in transcendent
splendour and majestic glory, and fell at his feet
as dead, the reviving and compassionate language
of Jesus was, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,
he that liveth and was dead, and behold I live
for evermore, amen ; and have the keys of hell
and death." Rev. i. 17, 18. That he, the first and
the last, was dead, is again repeated in the solemn
message sent to the church at Smyrna. Rev. ii. 8.
Thus it appears that there is no force at all in the
objection aforesaid ; for instead of Christ's divinity
rendering him incapable of atoning for sin, the
infinite virtue and value attending the sufferings
of his humanity arose from its union with the
Divine nature, as one person. By virtue of which
union his blood is divinely precious, and called
the blood of God : like as the spirits under the
altar call the blood with which they sealed their
testimony for God, when in the body, our hlood.^^

*To elucidate the above subject, and i-ender it plain to
youngChristians,itmay notbe amiss to observe the follow-
ing easy illustrative gradations. There is a value or
worth attending simple matter considered as the produc-
tion of God, who made every thing good, yea, very good ;
yet animated matter is superior to what is not so, though
it were an inferior form ; otherwise a living dog would
not be better than a dead lion, nor the body of a man
preferable to a bag of sand. Animated bodies arise in
value and respect, in proportion to tjie natural superiority
of the spirits by which they are governed and influenced ;
though the body of a sparrow is^the subject of aniraatioa

THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT. 119

May the Lord the Spirit less these attempts to
remove the stumbling-blocks out of the way of
serious inquiries after the truth as it is in Jesus.

as much as the body of a man, yet a human body is of
tnore value than many sparrows. Again, the importance
of actions through the medium of matter arises from the
volitions and influence of the spirit by which they are
performed ; were it not so, the action of a man would
not excel those of a monkey. Moreover, in regard to
human nature, there is agreat disproportion in real worth,
arising from internal qualities, or external dignity; for
scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradven-
ture for a good man, some would even dare to die.
HenceDavid's adherents said, T/jowar^toorif/i ten thousand
of us. How infinitely precious and worth 3'^ then was the
Divine Jesus, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the God-
head bodily. May every believer's heart glow with love
to him, and gratitude for him, and say, with unfeigned
lips, " Thayiks be to God for his unspeakable gift.^'

120 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

PART II.

EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES-

CHAPTER I. — A sinner's WARRANT TO APPLY TO
CHRIST.

Stumbling-blocks relating to christian ex-
perience are various; and what generally appears
first in view is, respecting what right or warrant an
undone sinner hath to apply to Jesus as a Sa-
viour. It is common for those who afe convinced
of sin, and see the need of salvation, to look for
some good thing in them, as the ground of en-
couragment for their applying to and closing
with the blessed Jesus. But finding themselves
altogether vile, sinful, and unworthy, they appre-
hend it would be daring presumption in their pre-
sent condition to trust in, or apply to him for sal-
vation. The stumbling-block, in this case, seems
to arise from a mistaken apprehension,* accounting

*There is another misapprehension, the correction of
which may relieve the perplexity of the persons in
question. They confound Christ, the Messiah, with
simple Deity ; and as God " cannot look on iniquity with
allowance, they draw the same conclusion respecting
Christ; especially if they cordially believe the truth
of his Deity. But Christ, though truly and properly
God, is not merely and only God. To God the sinner

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. IQl

tliat which supports a ])erson's right to come to
Christ is synonymous with, or equivalent to, what
evidences an interest in him ; or, in other words,
persons want to k?)ow that they are really convert-
ed before they dare apply to Jesus. What greatly
tends to entangle and retard the progress of such
souls, are certain injudicious and dangerous max-
ims relating to experimental religion.

First ; Some will say. and many suggest, that it
is not the duty of unconverted people to pray. But
if so, in order to a conviction of prayer being a
duty, the prayeWess person, even while continuing
so, must have evidence of a conversion to God,
which is ridiculously absurd. Though Peter per-
ceived tiiat Simon the sorcerer was in the gall of
bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, yet he direct-
ed /lim to penitence and prayer. It is evident there
can be no gracious acts, but in consequence of
gracious principles ; yet it is equally evident, that

needs a medium of approach ; — not so to Christ, who is,
in one person, God and man. To him the sinner may
approach as a sinner. To the Father, no man can ap-
proach but by Christ ; but to Christ the sinner may come
immediately. True, Christ infinitelyhates sin, and hates
it in the applicant ; but he is the friend of the smner, and
to him the sinner may come confidently. And ezjcr?/ sin-
ner may do so ; for the warrant of an approach to him is
not any merit in the applicant, nor any knowledge of the
divine purpose to accept him in particular ; but it is the
invitation given to all, and a knowledge from divine de-
clarations, of a purpose to receive all who apply. — Ed.

122 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES,

gracious principles cannot be discerned but by
gracious acts ; therefore such acts must necessarily
precede^or be prior to the discernment of a spiritual
principle. It is therefore impossible for any man
to know or feel himself to be the subject of grace
while he isprayerles3, or to have the least evidence
of his relation to Christ, without a reliance upon
him and delight in him.

To assert, therefore, thai persons are not to pray
till they are converted, is dangerous and absurd.
Dangerous, as it leads into a state of deception,
into the very essence of pharisai&m ; for such as
think themselves converted before they come to
Christ, by penitential prayer and faith, found their
hopes on self-rightex)usness : the secret language
of their deceived hearts is, God he thanked, I am
not noiv like other men, stand by, thou unconverted
sinner, I am holier than thou. Such do not go to
Christ as a trembling criminal, but a confident
convert j not as an undone sinner, but a self-admir-
ed saint. Again ; such a representation is danger-
ous, as it tends to fatal security, and keeps a carnal
mind in profound and fatal peace ; for a man lives
without prayer, and consequently without God, yet
his conscience does not, cannot accuse him with
the neglect of duty. If he ought not to pray, an
aversion to pray is not a criminal, but a commenda-
ble disposition ; for surely a person is much to be
commended for being averse to what he ought not
to do. If it be said, an unregenerate man ought
not to pray, because while in such a state they are

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 123

incapable of spiritual actions, such objectors ought
to point out what duties the unconverted can per-
form acceptably, or allow that they are not bound
to the performance of any ; and if not under obli-
gation to obedience, they are not chargeable with
sin, and consequently are in a state of safety, not
being exposed to punishment; for whoever are
not culpable need not fear the Divine displeasure.
But God has said he will pour out his fury on all
them who call not on his name.

It is shocking to think any poor sinner should
be taught to consider himself exempted from an
acknowledgment to God for the mercies he enjoys,
and hkewise from an application to him for present
or future favors. Besides, it is absurd to assert,
that a person ought not to pray until he feels him-
self converted, for it is much the same as saying
a man ought not to ask for guidance till he knows
he is right, nor seek for a cure till he feels himself
healed.

Secondly : A second stumbling maxim is, No
man can be the subject of genuine repentance
till he beholds by faith the Redeemer as dying for
his transgressions, or at least have hope that his
sins are forgiven him. A poor wounded sinner
not being so favored, is thereby taught to consider
the way to the Saviour as barred against him ; yea
to conclude it would be an affront to the Lord, a
horrid provocation to God, for him to pray, Take
away all iniquity ; or so much as to cry, God be
merciful to me a sinner : for all such language is

124 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

only solemn mocking in the lips of the impenitent ;
and impenitent such must be, who are destitute of
real repentance. But is it not strange that a per-
son cannot be sorry for a fault till he hopes he
shall not be punished ; nor sincerely beg for afavor
till he enjoys it ? How shall a person while he is
in a state of impenitency know, or what is his war-
rant to conclude, that Christ died for him in parti-
cular ? There is nothing in Scripture to encourage
an impenitent sinner to believe or hope he is in a
safe condition, but the very reverse is plainly and
awfully expressed, " Thou, — after thy hardness
and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself
wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God." Rom. ii. 5. "For
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
Luke xiii. 3. " If we confess our sins, God is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins;" but the
sense of no Scripture is, if God will give us assur-
ance, or hope of a pardon, we will be faithful and
just to acknowledge our offences. If there be no
true repentance till the soul behold by faith the
Redeemer as dying for its sins, then are we pre-
sented with a view of an impenitent believer, or
one who believes his sins are pardoned, for the
commission of which he was never sorry. The
Scriptures represent the nature of repentance and
faith, and the connexion between them, as the very
reverse of those raw and rash assertions before
referred to, " Repent and be converted, that your

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 125

sins may be blotted out when the times of refresh-
ing shall come from the presence of the Lord."
Acts iii. 19. Repentance towards God and faith
towards our Lord Jesus Christ are subjects so im-
portant and comprehensive, as to include the sub-
stance of the great apostle's ministry : the necessity
of repentance in order to the hope of pardon
through faith in the blood of Jesus, he constantly
inculcated and testified both to the Jews and
Greeks. Acts xx. 21.

Christ is exalted to give first repentance ; and
then remission of sins to Israel. Acts v. 31. Par-
don of sin is never, in all the Scripture, declared
as belonging to the impenitent, but its uniform
language is agreeable to the solemn assertion of
the Son of God; "Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish." Luke xiii. 3. 5. Therefore the
belief of a pardon is not prior to repentance*
repentance indeed implies knowledge of, and belief
in the righteous and holy nature of God and his
law, and a persuasion of personal criminality, as
represented in the word of God. It consists in a
pungent sense of the evil of sin; — a loathing and
hearty forsaking of it, and humiliation for it ; joined
with a justification of the righteousness of God in
passing sentence on the guilty criminal. Repent-
ance therefore implies, and is accompanied with
the primary actings of faith, and is the immediate
effect of grace in the soul; but the first actings
of faith are not a believing the person is pardoned,

J26 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

nor even u reliance* on Christ for the remission of
sin. Nothing can be more false than that an imj)eni-
tent person has a revealed right to pardon ; if he
ought to believe he is pardoned before he repents,
then he ought to believe a lie. But the most firm,
hearty, and constant belief of a falsehood will
never njake it a truth. To suppose a person to
believe in Christ as a dying Saviour, without
repentance, is the same as supposing a man to
need a physician, and long for a cure, while he is
whole. But that such need not a physician, but
they that are sick ; see Matt. ix. 12. It is impos-
sible such a faith can be right, which springs from

* If the true meaning of the author appear in the text,
the Editor questions, at least, its correctness. If a re-
liance on Christ for the remission of sins be not the prima-
ry act of faith, the author should have told his readers
what that act is. It is not indeed a belief that sin is ac-
tually remitted prior to reliance on Christ ; but it is a re-
riance on him for it, i. e- an expectation of the blessing of
remission from him. It may, perhaps, be said that the
first act of faith is submission to Christ — a commitment
of the whole soul to him, to be disposed of by his sovereign
will, and this under the influence of Esther's sentiment,
'* If I perish — 1 perish y" — but then we would ask
whether there is not even in this commitment of the soul
to Jesus, a forhjrn hope, at least, that it may he his will
to pardon and save r If this be admitted, it is all for which
we contend : such a commitment of the soul includes a
reliance on Christ for remission of sins : — it says
" Other refuge have I none,
Helpless hangs my soul on thee." Ed.

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 127

an impenitent heart, and which consists in believ-
ing that to be a fact, of the truth of which there is
no evidence. If such a faith be not genuine, how
can a false faith produce true repentance ? Re-
pentance is proved to be of a genuine spiritual
nature, by its continuance and increase, when the
fault repented of is remitted. But the conviction
of blame does not spring from a forgiveness of the
crime. Legal repentance, or the terrific operation
of the law on the conscience without the grace of
the gospel, arises from the sense of danger, and is
continued and increased only by the fear of pun-
ishment ; therefore when danger disappears, and
self is supposed to be safe, such a repentance im-
mediately dies, the idea of danger being its sole
support. But true - repentance, arising from a
change of heart, a new and holy principle, and
consisting in an aversion to sin, considered in its
power and pollution, as well as its punishment,
therefore a sense of pardon (though it does not
give existence or being to repentance) greatly
increases a godly sorrow for sin, the evil of which
is more deeply impressed on the mind from a view
of the Saviour's sufferings, and the infinitely amia-
ble character of God as a righteous lawgiver and
loving Father. Such a view melts the soul into
evangelical sorrow for sin, and inflanies the mind
with indignation against it, and a vehement desire
after its total destruction ; called by the apostle
revenge. 2 Cor. vii. 11. When God pours on his
chosen the spirit of grace, he first convinceth the

128 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

soul of sin, and is then to his people a Spirit of
supplication ; and such suppUants, saith the Lord,
shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his
only son. Zech. xii. 10. The language of the
true penitent, under the enjoyment of a full par-
don, is beautifully set forth in the following
lines : —

Whilst, with a melting, broken hetut,
My murdered Lord I view,
I'll raise revenge against my sins,
And slay the murderers too.

Watts.

Again, thirdly: It is frequently asserted, that
a true faith in Christ is inseparably connected with
the knowledge of an interest in him, or that there
can be no proper believing in Jesns without con-
sidering him as a person's own : this has proved a
stumbling block to many ; for as common sense
suggests the absolute necessity of €i?i<fence, in order
to support a claim, and the soul before it goes
to Christ not having that evidence, therefore is
discouraged from applying to him, till proof of
an interest in him appear. Laboring in vain for
marks and signs, as evidences of their belonging to
Christ, in order to warrant or encourage their
application to him, they conclude there is no hope,
;hey are none of his chosen and redeemed, ^c,
?i\ii there is no doctrine contained in the gospel,

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 12D

nor even any threatening in the law of God,whicli
is, in its own nature, a bar to an undone sinner's
coming to Christ fur salvation. Their right to come
to Christ, does not in the least depend upon, or arise
from, a prior knowledge of interest in special bless-
ings, or yeeZing* themselves the subjects of superna-
tural principles. Such knowledge, such experience,
is impossible to be obtained, but in consequence
of believing in or receiving Jesus the Saviour; for
he who believeth not, is declared to be under con-
demnation , — the wrath of God abideth on him.
To attempt, therefore, to define, as some do, who
ought, and who ought not to return to God by
Christ, is daring presumption, and tends to discou-
rage the soul, and rivet the fetters of guilt, where
a sense of meanness and misery prevails, and in
others, to encourage self-righteousness, by estab-
lishing the idea of previous fitness in order to
salvation.

If any one should ask, Have I a right to apply
to Jesus the Saviour, simply as a poor, undone, pe-
rishing sinner, in whom there appears no good
thing? I answer. Yes ; the gospel proclamation is,
"Whosoever will, let him come." "To you, O
men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men."
Prov. viii. 4- The way to Jesus is graciously laid
open for every one who choses to come to him.
His arms of mercy are expanded to receive the
coming soul. Fear not, poor sinner, to approach
him, he will not, on any account, cast thee out.
John vi. 37. He does not receive with reluctance ;

wo EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

no, it is his joy, it is his delight to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God hy him. Con-
sider, the painful work of salvation is now, with
him, for ever over. His endearing invitations to
poor heavy-laden sinners, his melting txposiula-
tions with them, and gracious reception of them,
are left on record as the warrant, and for the
encouragement of sinners ; therefore, the worst of
such, even the vilest of the vile, may come and
apply to him for salvation from sin and sorrow.
However remote yoii are, however great the dis-
tance from him, he kindly invites you to view
him as the almighty Saviour ; saying, " Behold me ;
Behold me .'" Isaiah, Ixv. ]. " Look unto me, all ye
ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God,
and there is none else" Isaiah, xlv. 22. The gra-
cious gi'ant is indefinite ; — the way to Jesus is open
and free for whosoever will, without exception ;
nothing that God has done, or said, is in its
nature an obstacle. None can in truth say they
desire salvation, but may not apply for it, or
<;annot attain it. To infer that personal unwor-
thiness, or any scriptural doctrine, is a bar in
their way to Jesus, is either the effect of strong
temptations, or owing to the want of attention
to the grace of God displayed in the gospel.
There is no preventive bar in the sinner's way
to the Saviour, l)Ut what arises from a carnal
heart; such as impenitency for sin, an attach-
ment to self-righteousness, and an avowed aver-
sion to the holy perfections of God and his sove-

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 131

leign methods of grace. But let it be observed,
that a grant to come to Christ does not siipj)ort a
claim^ or give u right to conclude they shall be
saved by him. No, such a conclusion is only
inferable from our having really believed in his
name ; a right to go to Christ is no proof we
have done so.* What evidences a person's being
a true believer is quite distinct from what war-
ranis his applying to the Saviour: the latter arises
from what God in his word says to him ; the for-
mer appears from the change which is wrought in
him. To put persons, therefore, upon examining
themselves whether they have faith, before they
believe, is extremely injudicious ; and to encourage
professors in the persuasion they are believers,

*These two things cannot be too clearly distinguished.
Many, perhaps, perish through confounding them.
Ascertaining that they have the warrant to apply to
Christ, they rest satisfied without actual apphcalion ;
and yet take to themselves the consolations which belong
only to those who have applied. Let the reader take the
following illustration of the case : I receive a card of
invitation to a sumptuous entertainment ; and this card
is my warrant for attending it. But 1 may have this
warrant, and yet never participate in the provisions of
the feast: — these are for those only who go to it. The
card is not i\\Q provisions ; and 1 shall be infatuated if I
boast of the provisions as mine, because I have been
invited to partake of them. I must^o to the entertain-
ment, and then the invitation I have received insures for
me a participation of the provisions. Ed.

132 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

without Scripture evidence of an internal change,
is awfully dangerous.

It would be a great advantage to inquiring
souls, and discouraged Christians, as well as pre-
sumptuous professors, to have right ideas of the
nature of faith, or what it is to believe to the
saving of the soul. Faith is a believing the Divine
testimony. For he that believelh not niaketh
God a liar. Faith in Christ is a crediting what
the Scriptures assert concerning him ; which
may be comprised in the following three things :
That he is, — what he is, — and whose he is. — The
first is absolutely necessary ; for, saith Jesus,
" Except ye believe that I am he," viz. the real and
true Messiah, the promised Saviour, "ye shall die
in your sins." But it is not enough to believe
this, which wicked men may do ; Simon the
sorcerer did, and devils believe it and tremble.
These evil spirits knew him to be Christ the Son
of the living God. Luke iv. 41. But true faith,
with which salvation is connected, consists in
believing likewise, ivhat he is. Truths, respecting
his person, offices, works, and relations, may be
assented to, by such as hath no faith in his
excellency, but have an enmity against what he
is. But to them that believe Christ is precious ;
he is declared to be the chief among ten thou-
sand, and altogether lovely. The gracious soul
heartily believes him to be so, and therefore can
sincerely adopt the language as his own. His
personal qualities, with the nature and design of

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 133

his work and offices, the real Christian beheves.
He gives credit to the Divine testimony, not
only in respect of its reality, but likewise its holy
nature and spiritual tendency. The tidings con-
cerning the person of Christ, and his infinite
fulness of merit and grace, are declared to be
good, as well as true ; the renewed soul believes
them to be so, even the only satisfying portion
that an immortal mind can possess. He receives
them as every way suited to his present circum-
stances, as guilty and impure; being divinely
adapted to render him holy and happy for ever.
This is what the Scripture calls an embracing,
when true faith is the subject under immediate
consideration. See Heb. xi. 13.

Saving faith is differently denominated in Scrip-
ture, but always exactly corresponding with the
various representations of Christ in the gospel.
Is he lifted up as an object to be beheld ? Be-
lievers " look to him" as the wounded Jews did to
the brazen serpent lifted up in the wilderness for
their relief. Is he a "g*t/if?" Faith as such "re-
ceives" him. As he is called the "bread of life,"
believing is termed an "eating or living upon" him.
Considering him as a support, faith is described as
a leaning upon him. He is called a faithful friend ;
and faith is then denominated a "confiding or trust-
ing" in him. He is set forth as a "refuge," and
faith is then termed a " running or flying" to him
for safety. He is represented as the husband of his
people, and then their faith is called giving them-

134 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

selves to him. Many more instances might be pro-
duced of the diversification of believing in Christ,
according as its object is represented; for the pur-
pose of setting forth the various infinite blessings
in him, and benefits flowing from him, who is the
real believers's all in all. But I hope the above
few instances may sufiice to illustrate the true
Christian's belief in Jesus respecting what he is;
with which faith salvation is inseparably connected
in the Scriptures of truth. As to faith in the third
sense, i. e. Whose he is: Faith, or believing in the
last sense, if right, must be founded on the Divine
word as well as the former; for that must sink
which has not " Thus saith the Lord*^ for ^its sup-
port. If faith be a beliving the Divine testimony,
then the grand inquiry ought to be, who the
Scripures declare to be interested in Christ?* To

* The author has here insensibly blended things which
are distinct. He is speaking of the faith which secures
the soul, and asserts that this faith consists in believing
the testimony of Scripture conserning Jesus. So far he
is clear and correct. But when he would comprise this
testimony under the three heads, That he is ; What
he is ; and Whose he is, we begin to be sensible of con-
fusion. The testimony as to " whose he is," is not given
in any other way than describing their characters and
dispositions. It is, then, the testimony of Scripture con-
cerning them and not him which is now believed : i. e.
it is a perception that in them are found the characteris-
tics of real believers. This is indeed faith ; and faith
too, in a divine testimony ; but it is a testimony concern-

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 135

enforce the solemn inquiry, and lead to solid satis
faction in a matter so infinitely important, we may
observe two things, which I suppose will readily
be granted by every person of common under-
standing,

1. All men are not savingly interested in Christ,
for some are declared to be none of his.

2. No man is described as belonging to Christ
by his personal name, situation in life, external
profession, natural connexions, or descent ; there-

ing believers ; and hence not the faith which secures the
soul ; for that, as our author says, page J 32, is a belief of
the testimony of Scripture concerning Christ, or as John
says, of " the record that God gave concerning his Son.''
Our author has confounded "the nature of Faith," with
the '' Evidences of Grace," and it is important to the
feeble traveller in the way to Zion that this confusion
should be pointed out; lest, if hisown evidences should
be less bright than is desirable, he should conclude his
faith to be wrong, and the Saviour not his. The reason-
ing of the author, through a failure to distinguish things
which differ, would lead to the absurdity which he suc-
cessfully combats in a following paragraph; viz;
that only those are interested in Christ who believe
themselves to be so ; for it tends to the establishment of
the position that our faith, to be right in the third sense,
must believe " that we are the characters whom the
Scriptures declare to be interested in Christ" Now our
faith may be right, and yet many doubts be entertained
on this point ; for he that really " fears the Lord and
obeys the voice of his servant" may, nevertheless, " walk
in darkness and have no light." Isa. 1. 10. Ed.

136 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

fore it follows, that some other description of the
persons must be sought for, distinct from the
above, on which the belief for a saving interest in
Christ may be founded.

Who then have a right, according to Scripture, to
conclude Christ is theirs, and they are his? Some
there are whose common reply to the impor-
tant query is, Christ belongs to those who believe them-
selves savingly interested in him. But the query re-
turns. On what is such a faith or belief founded ? If
their right to Christ arise from believing him to be
theirs, they had no title to him before they so believ-
ed ; therefore the thing was false when they first
believed it true ; and it is very extraordinary indeed
that a falsehood should become a truth, by its being
confidently believed, or industriously propagated.
Faith makes no alteration in the nature of the thing
believed. What is true does not become false be-
cause it is discredited. Nor is it possible a lie
should change its nature, and become true, however
a person may strive to keep up a frm persuasion
of its being a truth, and labor against doubting its
reality. It might be happy for such professors,
whose faith is founded on falsehood, if they could
be made ashamed of their assurance, by a deep
conviction of their being under a strong delusion,
that they believe a lie, and rejoice in a thing of
nought, (See 2 Thess. ii. 11. Amos vi. 13.) In
this condition, those, most certainly are, who be-
lieve Christ is theirs without any scriptural evi-
dence to support the persuasion. But alas! the

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 137

hands of such are generally made strong by the joy
that accompanies their coiifidence ; for, taking it for
granted their faith is right, they apply to them-
selves the promises of salvation, and think it would
be a sin to doubt of their safety, and a much great-
er to cast away their confidence, which they ap-
prehend will meet with a great recompense of
reward. Such despise all evidences of a change
of heart, and of the disposition of the soul, as legal
and low: their maxim is, The weaker the evidence
the stronger the faith. Some of the class referred
to have defined faith to consist in a believing that
Christ died for my sins in particular. Such a defi-
nition, to be sure, is consistent enough with the
sentiment of universal redemption. For all who
believe that doctrine must have such a faith, unless
they should happen to doubt their being of the
human species. But that faith does not ensure the
salvation of any man, unless all men be saved.
Nay, if the sentiment aforesaid be granted, the
salvation of no man cari be inferred from an interest
in the Saviour's death, because each of those in hell
(if it be allowed any of the human race are there)
may with as much truth as those in heaven, say,
Jesus loved me, and gave himself for me. Such a
faith is therefore destitute of evidence of a saving
interest in Christ.^

* In the endeavour to be brief, our author, here, becomes
obscure. If, after repartee! perusals of the above sen-
tences, I have a correct idea of the writer's meaning, it

M

138 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIE

Others have asserted that faith is a believing
Christ to he a person^s own, ivithout any evidence
from Scripture, sense or reason. Be not discouraged,
ye seeking souls, with the boasted attainments of
such believers as aforesaid, who glory in their
freedom from doubts about their soul's salvation.
You have a more sure word of j)rophecy, to which
ye do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a
dark place. God has, in his word, given a full
description of all those who are interested in
Christ, and are, as such, heirs of his salvation ;
those who answer the description have a right to
conclude, that through the grace of the Lord Jesus
they shall be saved. Those who have not the spirit
of the Lord Jesus Christ, (however they may
make their boast of God, as the carnal Jews did,)
they are none of his. Rom. viii. 9 ; and they that
are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affec-
tions and lusts. Gal. v. 24 ; they give full consent
to the death of sin, and heartily cry respecting all

is the following : " The belief that Christ died for my
sins in particular" corresponds with Universalism, for
all Universalists must believe that Christ died for their
sins in particular. And if any sinners of the human race
are in the world of misery, they too, may, if Uni-
versalism be, on this point, correct, believe that Christ
died for theirsins in particular. Hence, the belief that
he so died for my sins does not secure my salvation ; for
some who are not saved, may believe the very same, and
hence I may be lost as well as they. This faith, then,
is not that which saves the soul. Ed.

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 139

their iniquities, Away with them, crucify them.
They wish every sin to be the object of universal
contempt, and would gladly put them to open
shame. They account them the worst enemies to
God and their souls; and such is their enmity
against those grand deceivers, that nothing can
satisfy them short of their total destruction. The
Spirit of God in the word, in describing the char-
acter of real saints, heareth witness with our spirits,
which are conscious of a real change, that we arc
the children of God; and if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.
Rom. viii. 16, 17. Therefore, he that believeth on
the Sou of God, hath the witness in himself.
That is, he is conscious of the acts of his own
soul, that they are in nature and kind, however
they are deficient in degree^ what the people of
God in the Scriptures are described by.

Every Christian, therefore, habitually believes
that such persons as answer to the description
of saints, whether themselves or others, shall have
everlasting life, (and that no other but such shall
be saved.) He that believeth not God, hath made
him a liar, because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son ; and this is the record,
that God hath given to us eternal life; and this
life is in his Son; 1 John, v. 10, 11. There is a
cordial believing in Christ respecting both, thai
he is, and what he is, and likewise respecting ivhosc
he is, in reference to the true character of thos:-
interested in him, before the believer may be fully

140 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

satisfied respecting his own personal claim to
Christ. The apostle Paul, writing to the saints at
Ephesus, and speaking of himself and others who
first trusted in Christ, adds, In whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the
[gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that
ye believed, ye were sealed with that H0I3' Spirit of
promise. Eph. i. 13. A seal is a visibleimpression
made for the purpose of confirmation ; the saints
were not confirmed in their personal interest in
the promises, till after they trusted, or believed in
Christ. Another apostle, in a letter to the people
of God in general, says, these things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of
ihe Son of God, that ye may know that ye have
eternal life ; and that ye may believe on jhe name
of the Son of God. 1 John, v. 13. He had in the
hitter laid down several marks, by which the
.-aints are distinguished from others, such as
obedience to God, hatred to sin, and love to the
brethren, and hereby (says he) we knoiv that we
!;now him. Chap. ii. 3. The weak among
i!iem, which he called little children, he was con-
fident, from the appearance of real holiness, that
they were in a happy and safe condition, having
ilieir sins forgiven for Christ's sake. Yet these
were not fully confirmed, though they had believed
to the saving of the soul; therefore, what he
had wrote for their serious consideration, was in
order that they might be assured of eternal life,
i)eing included among those of whom he speaks in

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. ]41

the preceding verse, That have the Son. He sup-
poses some professors might believe without evi-
dence,^ and boMly say, We have fellowship with
God. Chap. i. 6. Says another, / know him, chap.
ii. 4. and abide in him, verse 6. / love God.
Chap. iv. 20. Yea, he supposes some professors
might boast of having attained to sinless perfec-
tion, chap. i. 8. But without any ceremony he
pronounceth all those, who claim a title to salva-
tion, without evidence of sanctification, to be self-
deceived, and strangers to God and truth. Chap,
i. 6, ii. 10, iv. 20. He calls them to the bar of
conscience, and asserts that those, and those only,
whose hearts do not condemn them, have confi-
dence towards God. Chap. iii. 19, 21. every
true Christian is possessed of what Jesus terms an
honest heart. Luke viii. 15. They would not,
they dare not claim, or take possession of what
is not their own ; they are persuaded those who
do, will be rejected at last, and made ashamed of
their hope and presumptuous persuasion. A God
of truth can never require any man to believe a

* And even contrary to evidence ; as in these instan-
ces : e. g. they might say, " We have fellowship with
him," and yet " walk in darkness :" they might say, " I
know him" and yet " not keep his commandments :"
they might say, " they abide in him," while yet they
walk not as he walked : — they might say " they loved
God," and yet " hate their brethren." Now as these
are plainly incompatible : he who thus speaks and acts
is a self-deceiver. Ed

142 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

falsehood ; nor even any thing relating to a fact
which is unrevealed. For instance, he requires
men to believe there are three that bear record in
heaven, and that these three are one, and the
union of two natures in the person of Christ.
But how th ese are one, being not revealed, is
neither the object of faith, nor the subject of
human understanding. The support of faith is the
authority and fidelity of God. Hence the Scrip-
tures are called the faithful word. Tit. i. 9;
the true saying of God. Rev. xix. 9. And this is
a faithful saying, (to be depended upon as an
established fact,) and worthy of all acceptation,
(being fully proved to be infinitely good as well as
true,) that Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners. 1 Tim. i. 15. Faith therefore includes not
only an assent to gospel truths, but a persuasion of
their infinite worth and transcendent glory ; and
personal interest therein ariseth from the evidence
of having received the truth in the love of it; for
faith, objectively considered, or as it respects the
things believed by the Christian, is a compen-
dium, or the substance of things hoped for, as
published in the glorious gospel of the grace of
God. Faith, subjectively considered, consisteth
in the evidence of things not seen by the carnal
mind, or corporeal eye. Heb. xi. 1 : which hidden
realities, though concealed from the wise and
prudent, are revealed unto babes. Matt. xi. 25;
and every one who really receives Christ Jesus
the Lord, to them he gives power, or authority, to

WARRANT TO APPLY TO CHRIST. 143

become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name. However weak their faith may be,
they are |)0ssessed of that which is in its own
nature an evidence that they are born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God. John, i. 12, 13. But though
every heaven-born soul is the subject of what
evidences a relation to God, he has not always
light enough lo discern it. Besides, a view of the
depravity of his heart engages his attention, and
frequently fills him with fear that he is not passed
from death unto life. Such persons are referred
to the following chapter.

CHAPTER n.

CONCERNING THE NEW EIRTH.

Some gracious people are greatly discouraged
because they cannot ascertain the time when they
passed under such a change. They are persuaded
of the truth, and are convinced of the propriety of
the Lord's solemn asseveration, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man he born again, he cannot see,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But not
knowing the time when they were born again, and
perhaps, through confused ideas of what is intend-
ed by the term, they are kept in a state of uncom-
fortable suspense, and their progress of vital
religion is retarded, not knowing how to determine
or by what rule to judge, whether they are, or are

144 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

not, born again. To such persons I would pro-
pose the following consideration :

Do you know the exact time of your natural
birth ? None can answer they do from their own
knowledge and jnemory ; and though some cannot
obtain certain information from any one on what
day, or even in what year they were born, yet
they do not doubt of the fact. As effects in
natural things lead back to their respective causes,
and are infallible proofs of their reality, soil is in
spiritual affairs. In this manner we are taught
in Scripture to proceed, in order to gain assurance
respecting facts which fall not under immediate
personal observation. As, saith the apostle, every
house is builded by some man ; as therefore every
structure, from the princely palace to the meanest
cottage, are incontestible proofs of human agency,
so as saints are God's workmanship, created anew
in Christ Jesus, and habitations of God through
the Spirit, the nature of the change produced in
them claims Jehovah for its author ; therefore, as
tlie apostle adds, he that buildeth all things is
God. Heb. iii. 4. The great inquiry should be,
Whether we are the subjects of the heavenly
birth or not ? for as to the time when, it is an im-
material circumstance, any further than as related
to the question. How old art thou'^ As it is not
necessary to know the time of your natural birth,
in order to prove your proper humanity, neither
is the knowledge of your spiritual birth, as to the
time when, at all needful to evidence your true

CONCERNING THE NEW BIRTH. 145

Christianity; the change may be demonstrably
evident, though the time when it first commenced
be uncertain. To know whether a person is born
again, it shouhl be considered that the work of
the Spirit of God upon the soul, whereby sinners
are denominated new creatures, is set forth by
figurative language. As there are new principles
or dispositions produced, it is called a creation.
*' Created in Christ Jesus." Eph. ii. 10. As it bears
resemblance to procreation, it is therefore called
a regeneration and a new birth. These terms
are used for the purpose of illustrating its nature,
the evident and plain import of which are to
point out, that a person who is the subject of such
a gracious charge, feels and views himself to be
in such circumstances, in a spiritual sense, as re-
semble the natural condition of an infant; for
such persons feel themselves feeble and forlorn ;
they are convinced of their utter inability to pro-
vide for the least of their numerous wants, or
even to describe them : like a new-born babe
they desire the sincere milk of the word, which
they relish, taste the sweetness of, and are nou-
rished by They are dependent entirely on the
Lord's care and kindness, who loves them, deals
tenderly with them, feeds them with what is con-
venient for them, as they are able to bear it,
clothes them with the robe of righteousness, and
garments of salvation. He teaches them, gra-
dually, the things relating to the kingdom of grace
into which they are brought, and of which they are

146 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

naturally ignorant; for "they shall all be taught
of God, from the least of them to the greatest of
them." Isai. liv. 13. As they liave a disposition
for spiritual activity, so the Lord increases their
strength, takes them by the hand, teaches them
to go. Hos. xi. 3. As they grow in acquaintance
with their heavenly Father, and the household of
faith, they feel a love to God, a fear of him, have
their dependence upon him, and arc desirous of
his presence, protection, and guidance. They
love all the people of God, and those the best
who, as they think, most resemble him. Those,
therefore, who are thus dependant upon God,
humble before him, having a relish for Divine
things, or, in a word, dispositions towards God of
a filial nature, becoming a child to his father and
family ; such have the evidences of being born
again, they having been brought with godly sim-
plicity to receive the kingdom of heaven as a little
child, without which, the Redeemer has declared,
no man can in any wise enter therein. Luke,
xviii. 17. Thus the feeble state and forlorn con-
dition of the Jews, when God first entered into
covenant with them as a people, and they became
his special property and care, is illustrated by an
infant, Ezek. xvi. in the most deplorable condi-
tion. So the spiritual experiences of his people,
both sorrowful and sweet, are represented by the
metaphor of a helpless infant, under the kind care
of its loving, compassionate, and prudent parent.
Again, such bear the likeness of their Father

CONCERNING SPIRITUAL JOYS. 147

God ; as by their first birtli they partake of the
image of the earthly, so by their second birth
they are made partakers of the heavenly ; for that
which is born of the flesh, is flesh ; and that
which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. John, iii. 6.
They that are born again, love what God does,
and hate what he abhors, which gradually in-
creaseth as they grow in grace, or to maturity, as
perfect men in Christ Jesus. A holy disposition is
therefore an infallible proof of a heavenly descent,
or that such are born again.

CHAPTER III.

CONCERNING SPIRITUAL JOTS.

Many Christians are discouraged on account of
their not having been favoured with such strong
consolation as others speak of; and some are
stumbled because of the short duration of their
joy ; and in both the above causes perplexities
arise about the real difference between false and
true pleasure attending religion. Such persons
would do well to consider, that it is not the height
of consolation, nor the length of its continuance,
which proves it genuine, or of a true spiritual
nature: some of the Galatian church, of whose
gracious state the apostle was in doubt, spoke of
great blessedness. Gal. iv. 15. The Israelites
sang God's praise with great delight at the Red
Sea, but soon forgot his works, and rebelled

148 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

against his authority ; the stony ground hearers
received the word with joy, but not having depth
of root, therefore, when tribulation came for the
word's sake, their pleasure and profession died.
Even Herod heard John with gladness, yet clave
to his sins ; and Ezekiel was a pleasant song to
many of his hearers who took no delight in obedi-
ence to God. It is possible some may hold fast
their self-deception, and go down to hell with a
lie in their right hand, rejoicing in a thing of
nought ; for a hope of deliverance from ])unish-
ment cannot fail giving pleasure to its possessors ;
and while the pleasing expectation is supported,
the degree of consolation arising from a false hope
may be equal, yea, superior to what is produced
by a good one. Such not knowing their own
hearts, and the infinite evil of sin, are therefore
not plagued like other men. Psal. Ixxiii. 5, 14.
We ought seriously to consider from what our
comforts spring, and in what they terminate, in
order to know and judge of their true nature and
kind : false comforts frequently arise from a par-
tial view of God's salvation. An unsanctified
soul will rejoice in the hope of a deliverance from
the punishment of sin, simply from the principle
of self-love. But mere safety does not satisfy the
truly gracious ; all such likewise want to have the
power of sin subdued, and the pollution of sin
removed ; their habitual prayer to God is, " Take
away all iniquity, and receive us graciously."
Pleasures therefore arising from

CONCERNING SPIRITUAL JOYS. 149

a prospect of freedom from sorrow, may be where
sin maintains a full dominion; ^'' I shall have peacCf
saitli one, though I walk in the imagination of mine
heart, to add drunkenness to thirst ; thus he blesseth
himself in his heart, ivhen he heareth Jehovah^s tre-
mendous curse." How awful is Heaven's language
to such a daring deluded sinner! " T/ie Lord will
not spare him, but the anger of the Lord and his
jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the
curses ivritten in this hook shall lie upon him"
Deut. xxix. 19, 20.

Again ; false joy sometimes ariseth from the
manner of relief being brought to the mind, but
true pleasure springs from the matter apphed,
or the nature and suitableness of truth discovered.
The suddenness oi relief is only a circumstance in
itself, and yet some seem to build their hope of
salvation upon it ; but those who infer such
impressions are all of God, and absolutely safe,
forget that Satanical influences are compared to
darts: on the other hand, some unmercifully cen-
sure every extraordinary relief as diabolical. But
as times of dreadful temptations and overwhelming
sorrows are periods which will not admit of delay ;
and when viewed in that light, it is no wonder the
soul with holy vehemence should cry, " Make haste,
make no tarrying, oh my God ;" and, is it a won-
der that God should hear prayer, or be found a
present, yea, a very present help in time of
trouble? If not, why then should such appear-
ances be opposed or doubted ? The Lord flies on

150 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

the wings of the wind for the help of Jeshurun*
and may he not avenge his own elect, who cry
unto him day and night, and that speedily, though
he may seem to bear long with them ; for as he
sendeth forth his commandment upon earth, his
word runneth very swiftly ? Yea, he says, " Before
they call, 1 will answer ; and whilst they are yet
speaking, I will hear." Isaiah, Ixv. 24. Daniel
found his promise verified in his experience ; for
while he was speaking in prayer, Gabriel being
caused to fly swiftly, touched him, and told him,
that at the beginning of his supplication, the
commandment came forth, in obedience to which
he appeared in his favour. Dan. ix. 21, 23.

Those, therefore, are not to be censured or dis-
couraged, who have found that ere they were aware
their souls were made like the chariots of Amina-
dab ; providing their hopeleads to holiness, and their
peace and pleasure terminate in purity. Many
Christians have reason to admire the speedy man-
ner in which the Lord has relieved them, when
their {)rospects were dismal, and their souls with
horror stood trembling on the brink of eternal
woe ; like a poor criminal at the fatal tree, expect-
ing every, moment to launch into eternity, but
who is happily prevented by the sudden arrival
of a reprieve or a pardon from his gracious
sovereign. He admires and is thankful for the
speed with which the joyful message came. Not-
withstanding which, he does not consider the man-
ner of the messenger's arrival ; but the tidings

CONCERNING SPIRITUAL JOYS. 151

brousjht are the principal spring of his joy, and
the only foundation of his present security. The
posts which carried the cruel edict from the Per-
sian court, to destroy the Jews in every province
were hasted by the king's comnriandment, as well
as those despatched in their favour ; therefore the
monarch's intention was not from thence discover-
able. The speed with which a message is car-
ried does not prove it to be of a favourable
nature, nor does it so much as demonstrate from
or to whom it is sent. Neither does the manner
in which any portion of Scripture is brought to
the mind, determine its being the language of God
to that person in particular; the mere mode of
impressions is not essential to spiritual comfort,
conviction, or instruction; yet many are encou-
raged or cast down more from the manner in
which impressions are made on their minds, than
from the matter expressed, or the nature and ten-
dency of truth contained in the Scriptures. A
genuine hope in God, or the enjoyment of pardon,
is ever accompanied with self-diffidence ; such as
are so favoured, rejoice in Christ iesvis, and put no
confidence in the fiesh. Sacred pleasure is not
only incomparably superior, but of a nature op-
posite to levity and carnal security ; fervent love
to God will be excited and promoted by it. I will,
says David, love the Lord, because he hath heard
my supplication ; and of Mary it is said, she loved
much because mucii was forgiven her. It invigo-
rates repentance ; " they shall look upon me ichom

152 EXPERIMExNTAL DIFFICULTIES.

they have pierced^ and mourn,^^ yea, "shall be
ashamed and confounded ivhen I am pacified towards
them, for all that they have done, saith the Lord."
It promotes humble, cheerful, and universal
obedience ; the language of such a soul is, " What
am I? or what was my father's house, that thou
shouldest bring me hitherto ? How is it, Lord, thou
shouldest thus manifest thyself I What shall I
render unto the Lord? I will run the ways of thy
commandments. Bless tlie Lord, O my soul."

In regard to those who are distressed about the
fluctuation of their enjoyments, it may he a relief
to their minds to consider that God "iveni up from
Jacob in the place where he talked with him.^' Gen.
XXXV. 13. David's mountain stood strong, but
when the Lord hid his face, he was troubled.
Permanent joy is not to be expected in this world,
but is reserved for the next. What God imparts
now, is designed to encourage and forward the
Christian in his duty, and so to profit rather than
to please. Again ; the shorter our present com-
forts are, the oftener should we apply to the God
of all consolation for the renewal of them ; saying
with David, "Restore unto me the joys of thy
salvation ;" and with the pensive [)rophet, "O the
hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of
trouble, A^hy shouldest thou be as a stranger in
the land , and as a wayfaring man, that turneth
aside to tarry lor a night?" Jer. xiv. 8. And the
more watchful should we be lest we grieve the
Holy Sp'rit, the Comforter, and cause him to with-
draw hif soul-cheerinff influences.

EXPERIENCE OF INDWELLING SIN. 153

CHAPTER IV.

EXPERIENCE OF INDWELLING SIN.

A deep sense of internal depravity, or the preva-
lency of sin in the heart, has often been very stum-
bling to serious Christians, who, on a view of their
vileness, have been ready to conchide their cases
ai'e both singular and sad; says the discouraged
soul, "If I be a Christian, why am I thus?"

It may be an advantage for such to reflect, that
a soul-humbling sense of sin, and deep abasement
before God, has been experienced by the most em-
inent saints recorded in scripture, as is evident from
the language they have used on the subject of self-
description, saying, "Behold I am vile, I abhor
myself." "I am undone. I am a man of unclean
lips." " I blush to look up to heaven." " I am as
a beast before thee." "Surely I am more brutish
than any man, and have not the understanding of
a man." "In me, that is, in my flesh, dvvelleth
no good thing. I am carnal, and sold under sin.
I find a law in my members warring against that
in my mind, leading me into captivity." "Iniqui-
ties prevail against me." " Evil is present with me.
I cannot do the things that I would. O wretched
man that I am ! who shall deliver me ?" " We
are all as an unclean thing." These, with many
more instances which might be produced, dem-
onstrate, that true believers, and they ordy, are
properly acquainted with the plague of their own

154 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

hearts. Why then should the Christian be dis-
couraged through feeling himself to be, what those,
who were eminent for godliness, have with shame
and sorrow acknowledged they were ? Besides,
have you not repeatedly entreated the Lord to
search and try you, to discover what was in your
hearts? And shall you now be stumbled and dis-
couraged because he has heard and answered
your prayers? And as God has given you an ex-
perience similar to what was once the case of
those who are now the subjects of spotless purity
and perpetual praise, is it reasonable to conclude
from thence you are not the subjects of a gracious
change ? You may rather infer, that if the Lord
had been pleased to have slain you, he would not
have shown you such things as these. Remember
the whole need not a |)hysician, biit those that are
sick ; and grace has made rich provision for heal-
ing all the diseases and maladies of the mind.
Perhaps every good man will at least account him-
self of all others the most indebted to God and
grace : for he feels that in himself which he does
not certainly know is in any other, for every heart
only knows its own bitterness. By such experi-
ences, the Lord is training his people for the future
glory. For, accounting themselves, as St. Paul
did, the chief of sinners, 1 Tim. i. 15, their own sal-
vation will be the matter of eternal wonder, every
one viewing his own deliverance as the effect of a
peculiar exertion of Divine power, and an uncom-
mon display of rich superabounding grace. Being

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 155

each under infinite deficiency, respecting their per-
sonal endeavours to extol the great Jehovah, mu-
tual assistance will be intreated in the work of
praise ; for the language of the redeemed of the
Lord to fellow saints frequently is, "O magnify the
Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together,"
Psalm xxxiv. 3. Go on, then, ye blessed of the
Lord, pressing after the full possession of that sal-
vation which you see the absolute need of, even a
complete deliverance from sin, as well as from sor-
row ; that grace which has rendered sin loathsome,
and Christ lovely in your view, is sufficient for you.
In a perpetual dependence on which, may you
hold pn your way with courage and caution, till
you arrive at Zion's celestial gate ! Then shall you
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing
shall flee away. Isaiah, xxxv. 10.

CHAPTER V.

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

Another class of Christians present themselves
to view, whose progress is retarded by a false
and discouraging representation of the distin-
guishing doctrines of grace ; which are frequently
asserted to be inimical to experimental religion,
and of such a nature as to supersede personal
holiness, and render internal conformity to God
unnecessary. Whatever God has revealed in
his word, we may be sure is worthy of himself,
and advantageous to his people. We ought

156 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

diligently to inquire what Jehovah has revealed as
matter of faith and ohedience ; and whatever is
of a divine original demands our reverent attention,
cordial reception, and cheerful obedience. It is
the height of arrogance in a puny mortal to
dispute with his Maker about the propriety of
what he does or says. "O man, who art thou
that repliest against God ?" Rom. ix. 20. How-
ever, for the relief of such serious minds as are
perplexed and stumbled in consequence of the
aforesaid objections, let us briefly consider those
doctrines which are generally supposed the most
exceptionable in relation to Christian experience.

First, the doctrine of imputation. This is not
liable to the aforesaid objection ; for the placing
of the Redeemer's righteousness to the account
of his peo|)le does not supersede the work of the
Spirit of God in the soul, nor render unnecessary
holiness of Ijeart, or the exercise of spiritual
graces. Imputation is not a transfusion. It
makes no alteration in the internal disposition.
If it did, our sins being imputed to Christ would
have tainted his holy mind. But though sin was
placed to his account, and the Lord laid on him
the iniquities of us all : though He was made sin
for us, that he might legally suffer in cur stead ac-
cording to law ; yet he was still the Holy One, who
knew no sin as a principle in him. So Christ's
righteousness is upon and towards those who be-
lieve, Rom. iii. 22; by which they are freed from
condemnation, but are not thereby made inwardly

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. J57

pure ; the righteousness of Christ is not infused
as a holy principle in them, but put upon them
as a heavenly robe. Now though righteousness
delivers from death, and entitles to life, yet an
internal disposition suited to the nature of heaven-
ly felicity i!= absolutely necessary; therefore there
is need of a life of grace here, in order to a life of
glory hereafter ; and indeed they differ only in
degree, not in nature and kind. Hence Jesus says,
"I give unto my sheep eternal life." John, x. 28.
"This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." John, xvii. 3. Men need a righteousness
imparted, as well as a righteousness imputed; the
inner man of the heart is therefore created anew
in righteousness and true holiness, in order to the
enjoyment of true happiness. Being guilty, there
was a necessity of Christ's fulfilling the law for us,
but when perfect in holiness, the righteousness of
the law will be fulfilled in us. By the former we
escape eternal misery. By the latter we have a
taste for, and are rendered capable of, enjoying
heavenly felicity ; therefore we ought to be as much
concerned to possess a meeiness for heaven as a
right to it. But a capacity to enjoy does not
give a title to enjoyment, in reference to the
things of nature, nor does it give a right to the
blessings of grace. A man, while sick, cannot
enjoy the most pleasing inheritance. Yet no
man in his right mind ever thought the best state
of health, or the firmest constitution, could give

158 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

a title to an estate. So the believer's claim, or
entitling righteousness to future glory, does not
depend upon, nor arise out of his own personal
qualifications, though there is a necessity of per-
fect holiness, in order to complete happiness.
" This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord ;
and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."
Isaiah, xliv. 17. In answer to the solemn ques-
tion, " Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, and
who shall stand in his holy place ?" it is said, " he
that hath clean hands and a pure heart, — even
he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and
righteousness from the God of his salvation."
Psalm xxiv. 4, 5. The believer therefore longs
for purity, but, after all his religious attainments,
resolves to go through life, down to death, and
home to glory "in the strength of the Lord God,
making mention of his righteousness, and of his
only." Psalm Ixxi. 16.* Again,

* Justification and sanctification have each their own
appropriate place in the Christian system. Both are ab-
solutely indispensable, and of course neither is inimical
to the other. Only let them be distinguished properly,
and their harmony becomes obvious. Justification ia
secured by the imputation of Christ's righteousness.
Sanctification is produced by the Spirit's operation on
the heart. Justification is a declaration made respecting
us; sanctification is a work vi^rought in us. Justifica-
tion gives a title to heaven; but imparts no^mes^for
it: sanctification produces a fitness for heaven, but
makes out no title to it. Justification frees us from

Erroneous views op christian doctrines. 159

Secondly; Some are ready to object against
the efficacious nature of Divine grace in conver-
sion, and say " that constraining grace cannot be
consistent with the natural freedom of the luiman
will. For if 1 freely choose the things of God,
how is my choice owing to divine grace ? And if
I be impelled by the power of grace, how am I
free in my choice ?"

By a proper attention to our experience of men-
tal acts, whether as creatures or Christians, it will
be found that choosing is giving a preference, or
is a preferring some personsor things above others.
The preference given, or choice made, is the effect
of their appearing to us more agreeable, or having
an ascendency in our esteem. However precious
or excellent any thing be in itself, yet if that ex-
cellence or worth be not discovered, it does not be-
come the object of choice.

Things are therefore chosen or refused, es-
teemed or disesteemed, according as they appear
to the understanding, or are presented to the mind's
view, as agreeable or disagreeable. Now, as the

condemnation; sanctification cleanses us from pol-
lution. Justification affects our state in point of laic ;
sanctification improves our condition in point of fact.
Justification changes our legal slate; sanctification
our moral state. Let these distinctions be borne in
mind, and it will at once be seen that the doctrine of
justification by the righteousness of Christ is not in-
consistent with experimental religion. Ed.

160 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit
of God, because they are spiritually discerned,
therefore he does not choose them. As facts
they are knowable to such; but their Divine
beauty and spiritual excellency lie concealed
from the carnal mind ; therefore natural things
are freely chosen or preferred to spiritual, being
more agreeable to the mind in its unrenewed
state. But when omnipotent grace begets new
principles in the soul, changes the heart, and
opens the understanding to behold things as they
really are, then the world and all temporary
good sinks into nothing and vanity, when com-
pared with Christ and the blessings of the gos-
pel. Now the will which before freely chose sin-
ful delights, as freely chooseth the one thing need-
ful. Christ, in whom sinners saw no form nor
comeliness wherefore they should desire him, is
now in their esteem the chief among ten thousand,
and altogether lovely. Now they freely choose
such things for their portion, and such persons for
their associates, as before they had an utter aver-
sion to. Now they as freely choose the paths of
virtue and religion, as before they did those of vice
and sensuality. If there be such an alteration
experienced, need I ask such a happy soul, "Who
made thee to differ ?" 1 Cor. iv. 7. Surely such
will be free to acknowledge with the apostle, " By
the grace of God I am what I am." 1 Cor. xv. 10.
If so, you cannot consistently object,
Thirdly ; To the doctrine of election ; for it

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 161

looks upon you vvilh a friendly aspect, and by it
you are informed, that grace was treasured up
for you in Christ Jesus before the world began ;
and if God has now given grace to you, (the cer-
tain pledge of glory,) it surely will not be offen-
sive to be informed he intended to do so, and
that he had it in reserve for you before he be-
stowed it upon you. You will not, you cannot
complain of his having loved you too soon, or
made gracious provision for you too early. No,
you will admire and adore the free and distin-
guishing grace of the Father, who chose you in
particular, from everlasting, set you apart for him-
self, and preserved you in Christ Jesus, and by
his Spirit called you with an high calling, and
is now fitting you for, and leading you to, the full
enjoyment of salvation with eternal glory. 1 Tim.
ii. 10. " Put on, therefore, (as the elect of God, holy
and beloved,) bowels of mercies, kindness, humble-
ness of mind, meekness, long suffering," which you
are under the strongest obligations to discover to
your fellow-Christians and fellow-creatures. Ever
remember that those who "are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a.n holy nation, a peculiar peo-
ple, should show forth the praises of him who hath
called them out of darkness into his marvellous
light." 1 Pet. ii. 9.

This doctrine is not discouraging in its own

nature, (however it may be represented,) to any

sincere seeking sinner. Such are not called to

produce evidences of their election, in order to

0

162 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

warrant their application to Jesus for salvation.
No, my dear friends, your present concern is now
to have guilt and pollution removed, that you
may stand accepted before Jehovah's bar. To
you there is a fountain opened, the blood of Jesus,
which cleanseth from all sin. Your desire of
coming to Christ, under a sense of the absoluSe
need you are in of a Saviour, is a hopeful sig:n
that you shall know, if you follow on to know the
Lord. None but the chosen of God da ever
heartily choose religion as the one thing needful ;
and the language of the compassionate Saviour
is, " All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me ; and him that cometh to me I will in nowise
cast out." John, vi. 37. Therefore such as long
and wait for the salvation of God, through sanc-
tification of the spirit and belief of the truth as
it is in Jesus, whose hearts' desire, is to be found
in Christ, and without blame before him in love,
will never meet with a disappointment; for he
who cannot lie hath said, "He will regard the
prayer of the destitute, and not despise their
prayer." Psalm cii. 17. He satisfieth the long-
ing soul, even such as (for the present,) sit iu
darkness, and in the shadow of death, being
bound in affliction and iron. Psalm cvii. 9, 10.
Cordially to embrace Christ, and deliberately to
take up his cross and follow him, are the genuine
effects of electing love. To every such soul the
language of the Lord is, "Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love : therefore with loving

£URONEOUrs VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 16^

kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. xxxi. 3. " I
will rest in my love, I will rejoice over thee with
singing." Zeph, iii. 17. You who love the Lordj
and desire to be entirely and eternally devoted
to him, you know and are sure you were not na-
turally so disposed ; and if so, that new covenant
promise made to Iramanuel has been fulfilled in
your favour, " Thy people shall be willing in the
day of thy power." Psalm ex. 3- He sent his
word unto Jacob, and it lighted upon Israel.
You happy souls, who are conscious of having
chosen and elected the Lord as your God, need
not perplex yourself about his choice of you
as his f>eop]e. But know that the Lord has set
apart him that is godly for himself; Psalm iv. 3.
Therefore, blessed is the man whom the Lord
hath chosen, and caused to approach unto him:
Psalm Ixv. 4. For the foundation of God standeth
sure, having his seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are his, 2 Tim- ii, 19. This doctrine is a
source of strong consolation to them who have
fled for refuge to Christ, the hope set before
them, Heb. vi. 17, 18- For in the midst of all
the perplexing difficulties and trying occurrences
in this fluctuating world, such may triumph in
the hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie
promised them in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Tit. i, 2. For yet a httle while, and he
that hath said he shall come, will come and will not
tarry ; then shall they meet with a hearty welcome
into the kingdom prepared for them from the foun-
dation of the world.

164 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

Fourthly ; If discouragements be removed re-
specting the doctrine of election, it is not pro-
bable that redemption will be viewed in a light
unfavourable to weak Christians. Every truth
relating to the law of God or the gospel of grace,
if properly stated, will be disgustful to the carnal
and unsanctified mind. But those who are Chris-
tians indeed, though they may be ignorant of, or
even prejudiced against, the terms by which truths
are distinguished, yet the nature of truth is not
with them an object of aversion ; as personal elec-
tion is not prejudicial to such, it cannot be thought
redemption should be so.

For the election and redemption of men are in-
separably connected in Scripture as distinct links
in the grand chain of gospel truth ; the persona]
objects and end are the same in each, and Christ's
claim to his people is founded on both ; "Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me. I pray not
for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and
thine are mine." John xvii. 6, 9, 10. As they
were given to him so they were purchased by him :
they were committed to his care as sheep to a
shepherd, and he laid down his life for them.
John, X. 15. " The flock of God he purchased with
his own blood." Acts,xx.28. Called "the precious
blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and
without spot." 1 Pet. i. 18. They were given him
out of the world. John, xvii. 6. And he redeem-
ed them from among men. Rev. xiv. 4. Out of

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 165

every kindred, and tongue, and people, and na-
tion. Rev. iv. 9. When God chose his people, he
foreknew that man would fall, and the whole hu-
man race would lose their purity, and become
transgressors from the womb. Isaiah, xlviii. 8. He
therefore chose them to complete salvation and
absolute purity, that they might be without blame
before him in love. Eph. i. 4. Christ in whom
they were chosen, and to whose care they were
committed, being constituted the Head of the
church, he became the Saviour of the body, and
gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish." Eph. v. 23, 25, 26, 27. Powerful opera-
tions of grace in and upon the church and chosen
of God, by which they are purified and made meet
for heaven, are necessarily connected with the
redemption which Jesus obtained for them by his
precious blood. Divine justice was satisfied with
the stipulated price, and infinite power secures the
purchased possession; such a redemption is suita-
ble to Christians of every rank, and discouraging
to none, if its nature be known properly, or what
is included in it be duly considered.

Those who come to Christ consider themselves
as criminals justly condemned, and therefore in
absolute need of a pardon. ' God be merciful to
nie a sinner,' is the language of each ; and where

i'66 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

should such look for relief but to the Saviour, "in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace?" Eph. i. 7. Gracious souls are conscious
of having grievously departed from God. "All
we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned
every one to his own way ;" Isaiah, liii. 6 ; and
have trespassed against our God. But Jesus, to
whom the flock belonged, has made satisfaction
for the damage sustained ; for the Lord laid on
him the iniquity of us all. His people know they
have trespassed and are unable to make a recom-
pense; for, being poor, they have nothing to give
unto him against whom they have trespassed.
Numb. V. 7. But in this doctrine Jesus is repre-
sented as the kind and compassionate kinsman
who engaged, that for the trespass of his people
a recompense should be made unto the Lord. He
was therefore wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities, and redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. Gal. iii. IS. Do they consider themselves afar
oif from God, and desire to be a people near unto
the Lord? How cheering to such is the doctrine of
redemption ! Wherefore remember ye, saith Paul
to the saints in his day, " that ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, having no hope, and without God in the
world ; but now in Christ Jesus, ye who some-
times were afar off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ." Eph. ii. 12, 13. For Christ suflTered for

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 167

sins, the just for the unjust, (not that he might
only open, or put us into a way in which we might
possibly attain to glory) but th^t he might bring
us to God. 1 Peter, iii. 18. In this the saints tri-
umph in Heaven, and of this tliey sing, saying,
"Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast re-
deemed us to God by thy blood." Rev. v. 9. Cheer
^, ye discouraged souls, for with the Lord there
is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption,
and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Psalm cxyx. 7, 8.

Considerthe Redeemer's priesthood and power
are unchangeable. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them. Heb. vii. 24, 25. You who are now the
servants of God, were once slaves to Satan and
sin, serving divers lusts and pleasures ; wherefore
the great deliverance and happy change are en-
tirely owing to the efficacy of redemption.

How thankful ought we to be, who are made
free from such an awful state of bondage; "foras-
much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ." 1
Pet. i. 18.

That peculiar and particular redemption (^
which Christ is the author, cannot justly be deem-
ed discouraging to any who are sensible of their

108 ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES.

misery, and long for deliverance ; because those
who are declared in Scripture to be personally in-
terested in this special blessing, are described by
qualities of mind and exercises of soul, many of
which the weakest Christian knows and feels him-
self to be the subject of; such as a conscious sense
of spiritual depravity, debt, and danger, joined
with an approbation of Jesus, and desires after
those blessings which result from his merits and
mediation.

May saints rejoice in, and sinners seek after this
great redemption, which consisteth in a deliver-
ance from the curse of the law, (Gal. iii. 13.) from
all iniquity, (Tit. ii. 14.) from the tyranny of Sa-
tan, (1 John, iii. 8. Isaiah, xlix. 25.) the spirit of
bondage, (Heb. ii. 15.) the sting of death, the ruins
of mortality, (Hosea, xiii. 14.) and from wrath to
come, (1 Thes. i. 10 ) From these few considera-
tions, the certain salvation of all the redeemed of
the Lord may be safely inferred, for the redemp-
tion is not only copious, but durable ^ all its bless-
ings are stamped with eternity, for Jesus has ob-
tained eternal redemption for us. Heb. ix. 12.
Therefore of the way of holiness it is asserted by
the lip of truth, that "the redeemed of the Lord
shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord
shall return and come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall
flee away." Isaiah, xxxv, 9, 10. On^e mo-o

ERRONEOUS VIEWS OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. J69

Fifthly. The doctrine of final perseverance can
scarce be thought discouraging to the saints, and
none but such ought to be encouraged to hope
they shall be saved. Those who are entered upon
a journey, and are very desirous of a sale arrival,
will not count it a disadvantage to have a faithful
and infallible guide, who will watch over them
night and day, and never leave them, but conduct
them through every difficulty they may meet with.
Is it reasonable to suppose they will be discour-
aged to hear that every thing is previously prepar-
ed by a kind friend that went on purpose, as their
forerunner, for their accommodation while on the
road, and their joyful entrance and welcome re-
ception to those mansions where they wish to
dwell for ever?

Would it sink the courage of a soldier, or cause
him to enter the field of battle with reluctance, be-
cause he is given to understand, that no one who
draws the sword in favor of his sovereign shall be
slain, but shall assuredly gain a glorious victory,
and return with songs of triumph to the grand
metropolis, the seat of royalty, and there in the
midst of millions of joyful spectators receive every
mark of honor and approbation which can be de-
sired from the king .'

Would the loving spouse, who is at a vast and
dangerous distance from her royal husband, be
distressed, because he has concerted measures for
her honorable arrival at his palace, and sent both
his chariot and his guards to conduct her home
P

170 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

with a message, assuring her he cannot be satis-
fied without her presence, and to see her a part-
ner with him on his throne ?

If the above cannot be supposed, how then can
Christians be cast down by that which ensures
their final salvation and the fulfilment of all their
vast desires? The doctrine, if properly understood,
cannot be deemed in its own nature disadvantage-
ous to any man, though it be frequently abused,
as every other part of revelation is, and likewise
its Divine Author. It does not encourage sloth,
or suppose the exercise of grace unnecessary, and
caution needless. No, it is " through faith and
patience they inherit the promises." The inten-
tion and design of the great and precious promises
are to encourage a close adherence to Christ, and
a continuation in well doing, as connected with
eternal life. And it is a stimulating motive not to
be idle, when they know their labor shall not be in
vain in the Lord. 1 Cor. xv. 58. To know that
the doctrine is a truth, I need only say. Search the
Scriptures, which testify of Christ's near relation
to them : the strength of his love towards them ;
the infinite price he gave for them ; the change he
has wrought in them, and the declaration he has
made concerning them, that where he is they shall
be, and because he lives they shall live also.

MTSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 171

CHAPTER VI.

MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE.

Many Christians liave been, and are stumbled
and much discouraged because of God's provi-
dences appearing in various instances contrary to
his promises. To consider them as real opposites,
the good man knows would be daring infidelity.
But not being able to reconcile them as relating to
himself, he therefore is ready to conclude, that as
providences are gloomy and appear against him,
he has no right to interpret the promises of God
in his favor. It may be a relief to such to observe,

First ; Jehovah's proceedings are extremely mys-
terious. " His ways are in the sea, and his footsteps
are not known" As the Governor of the world,
" Clouds and darkness are round about him,''* the
most penetrating creature cannot pry into his deep
and vast designs. To impeach his conduct is the
greatest insolence, to prescribe to himrulesof pro-
priety, is horrid presumption. We ought to "be
still, and know that he is God," and does all things
well ; therefore as relating to his will and opera-
tions, we may truly say, Jfhatever is, is best. The
history of Joseph is a striking proof of the myste-
ry of Providence ; the Lord's kindness to him at
last appeared, notwithstanding all the awful con-
sequences attending his brethren's cruelty ; through
ignominy he was brought to honor ; through
slavery, to liberty and authority ; yea, by means of
an irksome prison he was advanced to the splen-

172 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICDLTIES.

dor of a palace. Therefore let discouraged Chris-
tians wait with patience, till they see in what
their trials may terminate ; wherein a decision is
difficult and dangerous, a suspension of judgment
is prudent and safe ; therefore judge nothing be-
fore the time.

Secondly ; Consider, good and great men have
frequently been mistaken when they have ventur-
ed to pass judgment on the proceedings of God.
David thought he should one day die by the hand
of Saul. Providence wore, for a time, such a
gloomy aspect, that he concluded the prophecies
and promises respecting him would never be ac-
complished, and that the messengers of God were
liars. Jacob, in a trying period, said of Divine
dispensations, ' All these things are against me.'
And yet those very providences brought him into
such a state of honor, comfort, and tranquillity, as
he never before enjoyed. This is further evident
from good Asaph's query, "Will the Lord cast off
for ever; will he be favorable no more? Is his
mercy clean gone for ever ? Doth his promise fail
for evermore ? Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
Hath he in his anger shut up his tender mercies ?"
Psalm Ixxvii. 7, 8. And so awful and intricate
were the Divine proceedings toward holy Job,
that he appeared to his friends as a singular object
of God's displeasure. Yea, he himself verily
thought the Lord counted him as an enemy, and
treated him as such.

You who think there is no sorrow like unto your

MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 173

sorrow, attend to the lamentation of that holy man
of God, which he uttered in the anguish of his
spirit, and the complaint which he made in the
bitterness of his soul, recorded in chap. vii. from
verse 3. chap. xiii. 24, 27. chap. xvi. and chap. xix.
6, 21 ; and yet before the commencement of his
trials, and after their accomplishment, Jehovah
declares him to have been not only truly religious,
but the most eminent of all his servants then on
the earth ; and Jeremiah, who with remarkable
courage pleaded on Heaven's behalf against a re-
volted, God-provoking nation, though he had sweet
intercourse with the Most High, yet, through a
complication of difficulties and trying dispensa-
tions, he said, "Surely against me is he turned."
Lam. iii. 3. Such discouragements have not only
attended some few individuals who have been
called to bear the burden and heat of the day, but
have accompanied the people of God in general,
while in this vale of tears ; for " Zion said, the
Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgot-
ten me." Isaiah, xlix. 14. The above, and many
more instances of the like kind, are left on sacred
record, not for our imitation, but admonition : these
mournful proofs of human weakness may serve to
convince us of our incapacity to discover, in dark
dispensations, the harmony and connexion between
the kindness of God's heart, and the operations of
his hand ; likewise of the necessity of walking by
faith, and not by sight. Those, therefore, " who
are in darkness, and have no light," are gracious-

174 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

ly invited and kindly encouraged to "trust in the
name of the Lord, and stay themselves upon their
God" Isaiah, \\. 10. "You have heard of the pa-
tience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord,
that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy."
May the discouraged Christian then come to the
same resolution, which that eminent man of God
did, saying, " Though he slay me, yet I will trust in
him." Job, xiii. 15. Consider,

Thirdly ; That by such trying providences the
Lord discovers to his people what is in their hearts
(see Deut. viii. 2.) by which their humility and re-
pentance are promoted, and their dependence on
God increased ; they are thereby put upon self-
examination, in order to know why the Lord con-
tendeth with them : each one, therefore, with
solemn seriousness, is brought to interrogate con-
science, saying, What have I done ? And seeing
the absolute necessity of direction, support, and
pardon, they become more frequent and fervent in
prayer. Like Jacob, they retire from the world to
wrestle with God ; and being encouraged by his
precious promises, are therefore resolved not to let
him go without a blessing ; therefore they cry unto
him day and night, (Luke, xviii.) praying without
ceasing. And many kind interpositions of Provi-
dence are recorded in Scripture, and are still ex-
perienced by his people, who have by adverse dis-
pensations been stirred up to seek the Lord with
their whole hearts. When Jacob wept and made
supplication to his God, the terrible prospect of his

MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 175

brother's approaching him at the head of a furious
army, breathing vengeance, was changed into a
melting scene of tender friendship and aflfection.
Esau's dreadful designs were at once dismissed ;
and instead of killing, he salutes his brother with
kisses of kindness, and generously offers his ser-
vice for his future protection.

Thus providences are in fact designed to fulfil
the" promises of God in a way which prepares the
minds of his people for the reception of the favor
he intends to confer; so that God's wisdom, as
well as his goodness, power, and veracity, becomes
the object of admiration ; for thereby the Lord
makes crooked things straight, and rough places
plain, humbles and yet helps, discovers the corruj)-
tion of the human heart ; and thus from a sense of
meanness and misery, difficulty and danger, deliv-
erances appear more conspicuously the effects of
wonderful grace.

Thus God trieth the righteous by a suspension
of promised mercies, which delays are often in-
terpreted as denials, through the prevalency of
unbelief. But let tried Christians consider the
conduct of Providence towards the heirs of pro-
mise, as recorded in Scripture, in order to the
support of hope, and a patient waiting for Christ.
Abraham was kept waiting five-and-twenty years,
and then with joy embraced the promised son.
Again, consider, promised mercies frequently are
mistaken in their first appearance, through their
being viewed by the eye of sense and reason,

176 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

as clothed with the garb of misery. The choicest
mercies have commonly come in disguise; there-
fore who can by present appearances know what
is good for a man in this life, all the days of his
vain life which he spendeth as a shadow ? Eccles.
vi. 12. However, it is evident, from an impartial
survey of Jehovah's conduct, that the methods
he takes to accomplish his own gracious designs,
and his people's holy desires, are all worthy of
himself, though frequently the very reverse of the
plans of finite wisdom ; as remarkably evidenced
in his dealings with Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Mo-
ses, David, Daniel, and many others whose religious
characters shine as stars of the first magnitude in
the horizon of grace.

Fourthly: Another spring of perplexity arising
in the minds of many, respecting the providences
of God, is, mistaken views of the nature of Divine
promises. Spiritual blessings promised in the
Scriptures are frequently construed as including
certain degrees of temporal felicity. Such an in-
terpretation prevailed among the disciples of Christ;
and being disappointed in their hopes of such en-
joyments, therefore sorrow filled their hearts, the
expectation of earthly dignity and worldly splen-
dor beclouded their minds, and darkened their un-
derstanding respecting the spiritual glories of
Christ, the nature of his kingdom, and designs of
his death. Though there was an inconsistency
and real contrariety in nature between the p7'oceed-
ings of God and his promises as interpreted by them,

MYSTERIES OF PROVIDEi>f CE. 177

yet afterwards, when favored with a clearer un-
derstanding of the Scriptures, they saw a happy
harmony, and an inseparable connexion between
them, and rejoiced in the accomplishment of the
promises of God, which were all found yea and
amen in Christ Jesus. To prevent the like mistake
among believers in future, the apostle to the He-
brews points out the various trying providences
attending the worthies of old ; who wandered about
in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute, af-
flicted, tormented, but through faith and patience
are now inheriting the promises. Therefore, hav-
ing nothing of this world is not inconsistent with
inheriting all things which relate to the world to
come. The Lord has promised to provide for his
people's real wants in this life. He hath said,
" Thy bread shall be given, and thy water shall be
sure ;" " your heavenly Father knoweth you have
need of these things." " He careth for you," — but
he hath not described the quality or quantity of
earthly good, with which you shall be fed. Po-
verty, yea extreme poverty, has been the lot of
many who were evidently the heirs of glory. The
churches of Christ in Macedonia were in deep
poverty. Yet many of the children of God were
poorer than they, to whose relief the said churches
contributed, even beyond their power, of which
the apostle Paul, who was a witness, bears record,
2 Cor. viii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. "And unto the church in
Smyrna write these things, saith the first and the
last, which was dead and is alive, I know thy works

178 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich ;"
Rev. ii. 8, 9.

"Hearken, my beloved brethren, (saith a com-
passionate follower of Jesus,) hath not God chosen
the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs
of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them
that love him ?" James, ii. 5. The same inspired
writer even supposes a brother or sister to be
naked, and destitute of daily food, ver. 15. Such
have therefore been spoken of by the appellation
of poor saints, Rom. xv. 26. A distressed saint
may lie at the door of a rich sinner without re-
ceiving a crumb of relief, and appear as if for-
saken by God and man. But oh, how great the
change ! How vast the difference in eternity ! He
who seemed as if neglected by Heaven and earth,
ascends at death to glory and to Abraham's bosom ;
while the sumptuous living sinner sinks down to
hell, and being in torment, asks in vain for a drop
of water to cool his scorched tongue. But of La-
zarus, it is said with an air of sacred pleasure,
NOW he is comfoiied. Again,

Fifthly ; Some have great discouragements and
perplexity, arising from the failure of what they
have considered as special and direct promises
made to them in particular, as relating to the
path of duty, or the enjoyment of some future
good. The persuasion of promises being made
to them in particular arose perhaps from some
portion of Scripture being impressed on their
mind, the terms and language of which were ex-

MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 179

actly suitable to what they had been seeking the
Lord about, and therefore deemed expressive of
his mind in that particular; the failure, therefore,
of these, discourages their hope respecting the
fulfilment of those which relate to their eternal
salvation. For the relief of such 1 would observe,
that though it is not denied but in some special
cases the Lord may have favored some of his
people with Intimations of his mind in the manner
aforesaid, nevertheless there is commonly dan-
ger and disappointment attending such a con-
struction of Scripture in ordinary affairs ; for we
need no new revelation to point out the path of
duty, the Scriptures being sufficient for such a
purpose, and a more sure word of prophecy than
any thing referred to above. A criminal curios
ity to pry into, or sinful anxiety to know future
events, the Lord in mercy may reprove in his
people, by disappointments. The design of the
promises of God is to encourage faith and hope
in the Lord, that he will provide what he sees
necessary for, and give what is good to those who
fear him ; but not to make a previous discovery
in what manner he will support and supply. Even
Moses, the man of God, seems to have been mis-
taken in regard to the time when, and the means
by which the Lord intended to accomplish the
deliverance of his people from the bondage of
^gypt 3 for when he defended the injured Is-
raelite, and avenged him that was oppressed, he
supposed his brethren would have understood

180 EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

how that God by his hand would have deHvered
them, but they understood not; Acts, vii. 25.
And instead of his being then embraced as a de-
liverer, he was informed against, and banished as
a dehnquent. He continued in a state of exile
for forty years ; and afterwards, when the Lord
sent him from Midian to Pharaoh, to demand in
his name Israel's release, instead of deliverance,
their bondage was increased, and his conduct they
severely censured ; on which account he returned
unto the Lord, and said, "Lord, wherefore hast
thou so evil intreated this people ? Why is it
that thou hast sent me ? For since I came to Pha-
raoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to
this people ; neither hast thou delivered thy peo-
ple at all ;" Exod. v. 21 — 23. And when provi-
dences turned up contrary to what Jeremiah ex-
pected, he in the bitterness of his soul uttered these
awful words : "O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and
I was deceived.'''* Jer. xx: 7. From the above
instances it is evident that persons may be in
some cases disappointed in their most sanguine
expectations in regard to the dispensations of
God in this life, and yet the foundation of their
hope remain unshaken in reference to eternal sal-
vation. May Christians be cautious, and not use
the word of the Lord in such a manner, and for
such purposes, as were never intended ! To in-
terpret the designs of God, from detached sen-
tences, either impressed on the mind, or as first
presented to the eye on opening the sacred vol-

MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE. 181

lime, is very injudicious, and has an entangling
tendency ; therefore, fis the apostle says, "We do
not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye
might be Jilled tvith the knowledge of his will, in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding.'''' Col. i.
9. In order to which may you be enabled to com-
pare spiritual things with spiritual ; 1 Cor. ii. V^.
Col. iii. 16. " Let the word of Christ dwell in. you in
all ivisdom"

May we all consider that the mistakes of em-
inent saints are recorded, not for our imitation, but
our admonition, and to prevent overwhelming de-
spondency on viewing our own mistakes, and to
show the necessity of a strict careful examination
of ourselves, fervent application to God, an hum-
ble dependence on him, connected with cheerful
obedience to him, and a patient waiting for him.
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime,
were written for our learning ; that we, through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have
hope." Rom. xv. 4.

182 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

PART III.

PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

[There are several stumbling-blocks in the way of Zion's
travellers, which are more properly classed under the
head of " practical difficulties" than under either of
the preceding; viz. such as arise out of the sinful con-
duct of professors of religion, the enmity of the world,
and the heresies of false religionists. These impedi-
ments in the way to heaven will now be briefly con-
sidered.]

CHAPTER I.

SINS OF PROFESSORS.

The disposition and conduct of some professors
of religion is very stumbling to serious inquirers
after the way in which they should walk.

First ; A proud censorious spirit, condemning
the weak as worthless, and treating inferiors with
an air of contempt, is very trying and discourag-
ing. But who hath despised the day of small
things ? God does not, therefore men ought not ;
and it is certain a humble Christian cannot. Let
the weak and discouraged Christian contemplate
the compassionate Saviour, who will not break
the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.
The lambs he will lay in his bosom, and gently

SIN.S OF PROFESSORS. 183

lead those that are with young, and to them who
have no might he will increase strength ; the
strongest believer was once a babe in Christ; the
tallest cedar once was not superior to the lowest
shrub ; and the stoutest oak was once in as tender
a state us a feeble straw. How unreasonable then
to despise the weak, seeing those who have arrived
to the highest eminence in religion, in whatever
sense they may be said to be great, yet their be-
ginnings were but small. Those, therefore, who
are strong, ought to bear the infirmities, of the
weak, and not to please themselves. Support the
weak, is the Lord's express command. Hence,
says the apostle, "let us not therefore judge one
another any more, but judge this rather, that no
man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to fall,
in his brother's way." Rom. xv. 13.

Secondly ; Loose professors are extremely per-
nicious ; of such the apostle spake with weeping,
and pronounced them enemies to the cross of
Christ. By them saints are discouraged and sin-
ners hardened ; through them the good ways of
God are evil spoken of, and religion reproached,
the righteous traduced, and the name of the Lord
blasphemed. When professors fall into sin, the
cry of the profane is. This is their religion. But
the established Christian with sighing says ; No,
such miscarriages are owing to its absence. But
weak believers are not only grieved, but silenced
and confounded : and when those who are eminent
for God are overcome by the deceitfulness of sin

184 PRACTFCAL DIFFICULTIES.

or the violence of temptation, Ciiristians in gen-
eral are alarmed, as when a standard-bearer faint-
eth ; and some are thereby for a time so discour-
aged, that they dare not profess* religion, fearing
they should likewise act an unbecoming part, and
deeper wound its reputation. Thus they linger,
though they love, not daring to proceed for fear
of falling. Others, to avoid being sharers in re-
proach, sigh and go backwards into a state of pre-
tended neutrality. Again, some notorious trans-
gressors, termed sinners in Zion, when reproved
for their sins, and admonished according to Christ's
direction given in the Scriptures, and especially
such as are excluded from church communion on

* This reason for not professing religion is often as-
signed ; but it is entirely without force. A Christian
must live without professing religion till his dying hour,
if he would be quite certain that he shall not afterwards
dishonor his profession. And, moreover, it is sinning to
avoid sin ; " doing evil that good may come ;" — for cer-
tainly it is sin to disobey the commands of Christ by not
confessing him before men. And, once more, such a
course is presumptuous ; for God has promised *' to meet
them that rejoice and work righteousness; them that re-
member him in his ivays.'' To be secure, then, against de-
clension, backsliding, and apostacy, we must be found in
his ways, and not expect Him to go out of his way to
meet us. Use then, the means of grace, and expect the
communication of grace with the means : walk, in faith,
humbly with God ; and not, in unbelief, dictatorially ;
demanding an assurance without obedience, which He
gives only to the meekly obedient. — Ed.

SINS OF PROFESSORS. 185

account of their abominations, will, from a spirit
of revenge, join affinity with the world, and Satan
like, turn accusers of the brethren with whom
they were connected, and of whom they will
speak all manner of evil. Such impenitent apos-
tates, stooj)ing to the low olfice of cooks in the
devil's kitchen, will frequently dress up the imper-
fections of professors of religion, so as to grat-
ify the taste of the ungodly, to whom the sins of
the saints afford high entertainment, and on which
the profane frequently feast with sweet satisfac-
tion, as saith the Lord ; " They eat up the sin of
my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity^
Hos. iv. 8, 9. In consequence of which those who
sigh for the abounding abominations of the land,
and are active for God in Zion, become the deri-
sion of fools, and the song of the drunkards ; on
which account they frequently adopt David's la-
mentation, who on the like occasion said ; "Woe
is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the
tents of Kedar." Psalm cxx. 5.

Such things, it is confessed, are very trying ; but
shall religion be deserted because it is dishonored ?
No, God forbid ; the Lord's cause is good and hon-
orable. Christ and religion are no worse for being
betrayed, denied, or misused. Shall the rebellion
of some be urged in favor of disloyalty to our
heavenly Sovereign ? Ought we to be inactive be-
cause others are indolent? Or resolve not to be
true, because they are treacherous ? When Christ
was deserted by various pretended friends, he ad-

a

186 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

dressed his few remaining followers thus: " ffill
ye also go away f To which Peter replied in the
name of the rest; "Lord, to whom should we go *?
thou hast the words of eternal life." May every lover
of Jesus be in like manner resolved to adhere to
him ! How rational the resolution ! How becoming
the determination in every point of view ! For
Jesus is possessed of every thing relating to eter-
nal life : he, and he only, can satisfy and save the
immortal soul. Is sin dreaded as aforesaid? Let
such consider which is the most likely method to
be kept from its prevalency. Surely those whose
daily cry is, Hold me up, and then I shall he safe,
cannot with calmness conclude, that those are most
likely to be heard of God and kept from sin who
disregard his authority, and live in the neglect
of duty. A prevailing sense of weakness is no
indication of danger; no, pride goeth before de-
struction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. The
Christian ought to consider, the fewer they are
that engage heartily in the cause of real religion,
and the greater the opposition made to it, the more
is his assistance needed. May such resolve " to go
in the strength of the Lord God, making mention
of his righteousness, and of his only." Though
you proceed with trembling steps, the Lord can
make you say and sing with lioly triumph, " The
hows of the mighty men are broken, and they that
stumbled are girt with strength." " The God of
Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto
his people; Messed be God." 1 Sam. ii. 4. Psalm

ENMITY OF THE WORLD. 187

Ixviii. 35. Those who continue cool spectators,
caring for none of these things, would do well to
consider that the Lord allows of no neutrality in the
important and perpetual contest between the king-
dom of Heaven and that of hell, but says, " He that
is not for us, is against ws." He abhors a state of
indifference in matters of rehgion. "I would,'
says he, "thou wert cold or hot ; so then because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will
spew thee out of my mouth." Rev. iii. 15, 16.
How alarming the language in Deborah's song
respecting those of the aforesaid disposition and
conduct I "Curse ye Meroz (said the angel of the
Lord,) curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof,
because they came not to the help of the Lord, to
the help of the Lord against the mighty." Judges,
V, 23. May the supine Christian hear and fear!

CHAPTER IL

ENMITY OF THE WORLD.

Some are stumbled on account of the cross,
or the reproach and persecution attending religion.
A prospect of suffering in their persons, property,
or character, is grievous to nature and trying to
grace. In regard to reproaches from men, we
may observe, those who do not deserve them,
need not dread them. ^^ If ye be reproached for the
name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory
and of God resteth upon you ; on their part he is
evil spoken of, hut on your part he is glorified." 1

188 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

Pet.iv. 14. " Cruel mockings, reproaches, and perse-
cutions^^ (Heb. xi. 36, 38) have been the lot of the
righteous in every age, who are generally called
to endure a great fight of afflictions as soon as
they are illuminated, partly whilst they are made
a gazing-stock, both by reproaches and afflictions,
and partly whilst they become companions of
them who are so used. Heb. x. 33. " If any man
will live godly in Christ Jesus, he must suffer perse-
cution ; for as of old, he that was horn after the
fiesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, even so it is now^ Gal. iv. 29. But
although such treatment is very trying, yet con-
sider how much more dreadful are the frowns of
God and the stings of conscience. Jehovah's
smiles will compensate for, and infinitely outweigh
the revilings of men, or the rage of the devil ; yet
a little while, and the wicked shall cease from
troubling, and the weary shall be at rest. " Heark-
en unto me (saith the Lord,) ye that know righte-
ousness, the people in whose heart is my law.
Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye
afraid of their revilings, for the moth shall eat
them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat
them like wool ; but my righteousness shall be
for ever, and my salvation frotn generation to
generation." Isaiah, Iviii. 7, 8. Attend, O dis-
couraged Christian, to the Saviour's cheering
language. He says, " Blessed are ye when men
shall hate you, and when they shall separate you
from their company, and shall reproach you, and

EJVMITY OF THE W0RL1>. 189

cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's
sake. Rejoice and leap for joy ; for behold your
reward is great in heaven." Luke, vi. 22. Ac-
cordingly we find the apostles " rejoiced that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
name's sake;" "therefore (says Paul) I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessi-
ties, in distresses, for Christ's sake ; for when I am
weak, then am I strong." 2 Cor. xii. 10. Where-
fore let no man's heart fail him because of these
things, nor be discouraged because of the way :
the Lord is able to make you rejoice in tri-
bulation, through which you must enter the
kingdom, and at last will crown your conflicts
with victory, and turn your pensive sighs into
perpetual Songs. Keep in view the blessed Jesus
as your pattern, who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again ; return not railing for railings, but
pity and pray for them who despitefuUy use you
and persecute you, saying. Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. Take care you
are neither ashamed of religion, nor a shame to
it ; therefore in all things be ye circumspect,
consider him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and
faint in your minds. As he through the hope set
before him endured the cross, and despised the
shame, (Heb. xii.) therefore arm yourself likewise
with the same mind ; (1 Pet. iv. J.) and having put
on the whole armor of God, stand fast in the
faith, quit yourselves like men, be strong in the

190 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

name of the Lord, lift up your banners, and fight
the good fight of faith. The heroic Paul, when
he reconnoitered the host of inveterate foes,
and viewed surrounding difficulties and approach-
ing dangers, said, " JVone of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I
might finish my course with joy f^ and when
methods of prudence were proposed by his weep-
ing friends, to avoid impending danger, he, consid
ering the advice inconsistent with Christian duty
and dignity, replied with warmth and holy vehe-
mence, "What mean ye to weep, and break mine
heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but
also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord
Jesus." Acts, XX. 24 ; xxi. 13 ; 2 Cor. iv. 17. His
heavy trials, which continued through life, he con-
sidered as light and short, when compared with
the durable delights in a future world, even a far
more exceeding and eternal iveight of glory.
Then those who have faithfully followed the Lord
through difficulties, dangers, and death, will meet
with peculiar approbation and distinguished
honors ; then the Captain of our salvation shall
recount his worthies; Nahum, ii. 5; Rev. vii. 14;
who will appear with the ensigns of victory and
the trophies of triumph in the new Jerusalem,
of whom the applauding inhabitants will with joy
sing, These are they which came out of great tribula-
tion. Then the trial of your faith will be found
more precious than gold which perisheth. The
believing Hebrews therefore took joyfully the

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 191

spoiling of tiieir goods, knowing that in heaven
they had a more enduring substance ; and Moses
chose to suffer affliction with the people of God,
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of Egypt : for he had respect
unto the recompense of reward. James, v. 11.
" Behold, we count them happy who endure ;*'
"for in due time ye shall reap, if ye faint not;"
" therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast,
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord." 1 Cor. xv. 58.

CHAPTER in.

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS.

[The errors of false religionists are of two kinds,
speculative and practical ; and when the former
are cherished they infallibly produce the latter.

First ; Speculative errors present difficulties.]
Some are prevented attending to practical reli-
gion, by being told believers are not in any sense
under the law. By the law we are frequently to
understand the covenant of works, or that com-
pact and agreement which a God of kindness and
condescension made with Adam, as the public
head and representative of his offspring. Adam
was under a natural and necessary obligation to
obey his Maker's will, and was absolutely depend-
ent on God's sovereign pleasure for the continu-

198 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

ance of his happy existence. A right to everlast-
ing life he could never have procured by his most
ardent affection and strict obedience to God and
his law ; the Lord therefore kindly connected the
promise of life with man's natural duty, and threat-
ened death in case of failure. Thus Adam's mo-
tives to obedience were increased, being made a
trustee for his numerous descendants. In that
covenant a small and easy test of his subjection
to God was fixed upon. Nothing more than a
prohibition of one tree, while the vast and various
productions in the garden of God were liberally
granted for his pleasure and profit. In the midst
of which likewise flourished that which was an
emblem and pledge of the promised blessing, call-
ed The Tree of Life, which would serve to confirm
his faith in his covenant God, and invigorate his
hope, that his obedience might be secured, in
order to the enjoyment of the gracious reward,
■and that he might escape the threatened punish-
ment. But, alas! notwithstanding the said agree-
ment was so advantageous in its nature, it was
broken by our first parent, whereby all right to
life, on the footing of law, was for ever forfeited,
according to that covenant ; and death, the
threatened penalty, was incurred, notonly respect-
ing his own person, but his posterity also. " Where-
fore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin, so death passed upon all, for
that all have sinned." Rom. v. 12. Through the
offence of one many be dead, v. 15 ; for by one

ERRORS OF fALSE IlE LIGIONIS TS. 1'93

man's offence death reigned. By the offence of
one, judgment came upon all men; for by one
man's disobedience, many were made sinners;
V. IG to 19. The apostle proves there was a cov-
enant or law before that given by Moses, according
to which the whole human race were under the
sentence of condemnation ; for until the law
(given on Mount Sinai) sin was in the world;
but sin is not imputed where there is no law.
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over them that had not sinned after the simil-
itude of Adam's transgression ; Rom. v. 13, 14.
The law of Moses was not given that sinners might
obtain life by it; for by the law is the knowledge
of sin ; Rom. iii. 20. It was added because of
transgressions, (Gal. iii. 19.) that the offence
might abound, (Rom. v. 20.) that every mouth
may be stopped, and the whole world may become
guilty before God ; therefore by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.
Rom. iii. 19, 20. That no man is justified by the
law in the sight of God is evident ; for the just
shall live by his faith, and the law is not of faith,
but the man that doth them shall live in them.
Gal. iii. 11, 12. But whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. James, ii. 10 ; for, considering the
law as a covenant, one sin destroys a title to legal
life, and exposes the gnilty to its awful penalty:
for as many as are of the works of the law, are
under the curse ; for it is written, Cursed is every
R

194 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

one tliat continueth not in all things which art
■written in the book of the law to do them. Gal.
iii. 10; Deut. xxvii. 26. Believers, therefore, are
not under the law as a covenant; their exjiecta-
tion of, and right to, eternal life, does not arise from
their personal obedience, nor is their hope of
freedom from punishment founded on any com-
pensation which they liave made or can make for
their crimes; through Christ they are dead to the
law as promising life, or punishing with death ;
they are neither under its promise nor its penalty;
their covenant connexion with the law is dissolved,
and a marriage to Christ commenced, that they
might bring forth fruit unto God. See Rom. vii.
verse 1 to 7. That real believers are not under the
law, hut under grace, is an undeniable truth. But
it is equally evident, they are not without law to God,
hut under the law to Christ. That there is no
contradiction in these scriptural propositions wilj
appear, if we consider the following things :

First; That by the term law, we are to under-
stand the rule of moral, and likewise positive
obedience. Moral obedience ariseth from our
natural connexion with God (as the Author of our
existence,) and with our fellow-creatures, and con-
sisteth in supreme love to God, and an equal love
to our neighbor as to ourselves ; so that the whole
law is comprehended in love. Moral commands
arise from, and are founded on, the natural propri-
ety and fitness of things, and therefore are binding
on ail rational creatures in this world and that

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 195

wljich is to come. Whilst the relation continues
between tlie Creator and his creatures, their obli-
gation to love him as their chief good, and to live
to his honor as their ultimate end, can never
cease; the law, therefore, by which such love and
obedience are enforced, cannot possibly vary.
Jehovah does not demand our highest love merely
because of his authority over us, but because
of his own infinite excellency and relation to us.
He does not become the only proper object of
our supreme love because he hath commanded us
so to love him, but his being the only Jit object
of our superlative affection is the reason why
he requires it. The moral law does not make any
duty fitting and proper, but declares and requires
what is so. Moral commands, therefore, differ
from,

Secondly, positive appointments f the latterarise
simply from the will of God, and are therefore
alterable in their nature, being altogether depend-
ant on his pleasure and sovereign determination ;
the propriety of moral obedience, the light of
nature or right reason may discover. But no
idea can be formed of positive obedience, but in
consequence of liivine revelation ; the former is

** The following brief distinction between moral laws
and positive precepts is off3red to the reader : The for-
mer are enjoined becatisie they are right ; the latter are
right because they are enjoined. The one have their
foundation in the nature of things ; the other in the
will of the lawgiver. Ed.

196 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

clue from every creature, whether angelic or
human : the suhjects of the latter are particu-
larly described in the holy Scriptures. Thus the
vviiole code of ceremonial laws was confined to
Israel, as a shadow of good things to come, and
was done away in Christ, who was the substance
which these laws tended to exhibit, and the end in
which they terminated. But the moral law
ever was, and ever will be, equally binding on
all : it beings the rule of that love and obe-
dience which Jews and Gentiles naturally owe to
Jehovah, the supreme good and fountain of exist-
ence ; and to each other, considered as his oft*
spring. Notwithstanding the ceremonial law
under the Old Testament was accomplished in
Christ, and done away by his death, he then, as it
were, nailing it to his cross, yet many Jews who
believed in Jesus continued much attached to the
shadow, though the substance was come. The
apostles, therefore, labored to prove the abroga-
tion of that law by which those ceremonial
observances became binding on the church of
God, in the former dispensation. These appoint-
ments had been revered and justly esteemed,
and they were to Israel very beneficial for two
purposes: to humble them under a sense of pol-
lution and guilt, and liability to punishment,
according to the tenor of the covenant of works,
to which they had a retrospect view ; and to direct
their faith and hope to the appointed Saviour
and promised Messiah. The law was therefore

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. . 197

to them as a schoolmaster niito Christ. But
after Christ was coirie, they were no longer under
a schoolmaster. Gal. iii. 24, 25. Those painful
and tedious a[)pointments heeorning unprofitahle,
the great apostle labored to convince these
Judaiziiii^ believers, that they were not under that
law. They were under no law as giving a title to
salvation ; for if there had been a law given, (of
any kind) which could have giren life, verily,
righteousness should have been by the law ; (Gal.
iii. 21,) and the gospel would have been overturned,
and the death of Christ quite unnecessary. With
great diflicidty were the Jews brought off from
the ceremonial observances in the days of the
apostles; therefore, those inspire<l penmen, in
speaking of the church of Christ as delivered from
the law, and those tedious, painful, and now un-
profitable appointments, which were abrogated
and done away, make use of the most contemp-
tuous terms when speaking of the subject; caHing
them beggarly elements, carnal ordinances, &c.
But the duties of the moral law are enforced by the
strongest motives. In that law Paul delighted
after the inner man ; and the charge of making it
void throtigh the faith of the gospel he denies with
holy vehemence, and rejects the very idea with
indignation. Do we then make void the law
through faith ? God forbid : Yea, we establish the
law. Rom. iii. *31. See a sermon on this text,
by the Rev. C. Evans, entitled. The Law estab-
lished by the Gospel ; Dr. Gill on the Law in the

198 . PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

Hand of Christ; and Mr. Booth's Deatli of Legal
Hope, &c.*

Thirdly; From the universal extent of the
moral hiw, the apostle proves that Gentiles as
well as Jews were under sin, and therefore ex-
j)osed to punishment; that a title to life could not
arise from, or spring out of human obedience,
because, according to the rule of righteousness,
every one is found culpable. Being, therefore,
condenmed for dispositions and acts contrary
to law, consequently by the deeds of the law no
flesh living could be justified: a believer's title
to life, and exemption from punishment, spring-
ing from another source. Therefore, such are said
not to be under the law, but under the administra-
tion of grace ; for the law is the ministration of
death to every transgressor, and by it indignation
and wrath, tribulation and anguish are denounced
against every soul of man that doth evil, of the

* Tiie ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper are
of a positive nature, and dependent entirely on the will of
God, as revealed in the Scriptures of truth ; there the
subjects are delineated, the manners of administration
pointed out and illustrated, the end and design of each
ordinance explained, and their duration in the church till
the second coining of Christ, abundantly confirmed.
The moral law, though distinct from, yet is connected
with, and runs through every positive institution;
whereby obedience to them is enforced on all those who
are described as proper subjects, which believers would
do well to consider.

ERRORS or FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 199

Jew first, and also of the Gentile. But oiii* dear
Ifninanuel having fulfilled its precepts and endured
its penalty in favor of his people, has thereby
delivered them from deserved punishment, and
given them a right to life, founded on his infinite
merits. Believers are therefore delivered from the
law as a covenant. From it life is not expected by
them, nor by it death inflicted upon them as afore-
said, because they are not under the law, but under
the powerful influences, encouraging promises,
and copious blessings of grace. However they do
not, they cannot from thence infer, that their
obligation to love and obey God is thereby dimin-
ished, l)ut on the contrary, infinitely increased.

If any, professing godliness, deny the law of
the Lord as the rule of obedience, charity obliges
us to hope their meaning is injudiciously ex-
pressed ; for some people's words and ideas are
extremely unsociable, and keep at a vast distance,
and differ so much, that a reconciliation is scarcely
ever expected. But those who deliberately
maintain believers are not under the law as a rule
of life, and act from such a principle, give full
evidence that they are grossly ignorant of (not to
say at enmity with) the nature of God, his
government, and gospel. A more pernicious
sentiment, or a greater absurdity, was never in-
vented, than the aforesaid Antinomian tenet. It
tends to destroy every idea of good and evil, of
right and wrong, by denying the existence or
use of that by which the nature of thoughts and

200 PRACTICAL UIFFICULTIES.

actions is ;^-ied and discovered. It renders be-
lievers incapable of sorrowini^ for sin, either as
in or done by themselves or other Christians.
For wliere there is no law, there is no transgres-
sion. It makes penitence iin infallible mark of
impiety, and delight in the law of God h delu-
sion ; it tends to prevent a believer from praying
for Divine direction ; because, however he wander,
he is never wrong, nor ever in danger of step-
ping aside out of the path of duty, being not-
obliged to walk in any. A believer must not pray
to be kept from evil ; lest it grieve him, for sin he
cannot, do what he may, sin being a transgression
of the law. Nor can he at^k God to forgive him
his debt, being confident he does not owe his
Lord one farthing. Whatever may have been
the case heretofore, he being now a lawless
person, no demand can be made ujjon him. In
a word, Antinomianism teaches a believer neither
to fear God nor to regard man ; for, according to
it, he cannot be guilty of ofR-nding the one nor of
injuring the other; for as there is no law, cruelty
is not prohibited, nor kindness required ; but truth
and treachery, profanity and i)iety, love and
hatred, are equally agreeable in believjrs.

"Bwf, brethren, ye have not so learned Christ, if
so he that ye have heard him, and been taught of
him as the truth is in JesusJ'^ PJph. iv. 20, 21.
You will not only rejoice in your relation to the
Lord, but each believer ought to consider himself
as under infinite obligation to love him, to obey

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 201

him, and to adliere to hiin, becoming the nature
of his connexions with him, even as a subject to
a sovereign,— (1 Thes. ii. 12; Col. i. 10— 13.)— a
spouse to her husband, — (Eph. v. 23, 29.) — asoklier
to his general, — (2 Tim. ii. 3.) — a servant to his mas-
ter,— (I Pet.ii. 16; Rom.vi,16 — 22.)— and as a child
to a tender compassionate parent. Be ye, therefore,
iollowers of God as dear children. Eph. v. i.
" JVe beseech you, hrethren, and exhort you hy the Lord
Jesus, that as ye have received of us how you ought
to tvalk, and to please God, so ye ivill abound more
and more,''^ knowing that the law is good, if a man
use it lawfully. 1 Thes. iv. 1 ; 1 Tim. i. 8. "For
this is a faithful saying, That they which have
believed in God should be careful to maintain
good works. These things are good and profitable
to men." Tit. iii. 8. "And let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
2 Tim. ii. 29. Nothing is more evident than that
believers are not under the covenant of works, but
under grace. But what then ? Shall wc sin
because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid ! Rom. vi. 15.

Secondly. [Practical errors present hinderances.
First:] Tliough darkness and doubts respecting
the moral law be removed, others are stumbled in
respect of the Lord's positive appointments ; jtartly
through the neglects of some, and the contem[)tu-
ous manner in which others treat the sacred
ordinances of the gospel, who are notwithstanding
had in reputation for religion. Young Christians

202 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

are commonly much influenced by those they value
and have a veneration for; and, therefore, when
they observe such who have long known and
loved the Lord, living in the neglect of gospel
ordinances, they are ready to conclude, that for
them to take the lead of such eminent Christians
would be rash and precipitate; and have the
appearance of pride and presumption. They,
therefore, through false modesty, or real fear, keep
back from telling what God has done for their
souls, and making a visible profession of Christ
in his solemn appointments. By delays, their
zeal for Christ and the love of their espousals
are greatly abated, and then objections in abun-
dance arise against its being their particular duty
on account of not having such a lively frame of
mind as is thought necessary for such solemn
proceedings. Thus, through their neglects, others
are discouraged and prevented bearing a testi-
mony for Jesus, as he has directed those that love
him should.

For the relief, direction, and animation of such
discouraged believers, I would j)ropose to their
serious consideration the following things:

First; The kindness of Christ in abolishing the
vast number of ceremonial observances which
were binding upon the church in the Mosaic dis-
pensation, and which were to Israel diflicult, j)ain-
ful, and very expensive, called therefore a yoke of
bondage ; and as he has appointed only two posi-
tive ordinances to be observed by his followers

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 203

unrler the gospel, viz. Baptism and the Lord's Sup-
per, how ungrateful is it to refuse obedience or a
compliance with what is so mild, so merciful, when
compared with what he made the indispensable
duty of those whose privileges were inexpressibly
inferior to yours !

Secondly; Though inquiring Christians ought
to regard the conduct of others, and are directed
to go by the footsteps of the fock, and to be fol-
lowers of them, ivho through faith and patience
inherit the promises, yet none are to be imitated
further 'than they are followers of Christ, how-
ever eminent they are or may appear to be. The
more eminent a man is for piety and talents, the
more pernicious is his example when he is re-
miss in, or forsakes the path of duty. Perhaps
some would have remonstrated against the de-
testable contrivance to change Jehovah's glory
into the similitude of an ox, had not Aaron, the
saint of God and priest of the Most High, entered
deep into the design. But as things were, the
people acquiesced with pleasure, and danced for
joy. Had their elevation been a sure sign of
God's approbation, all would have been well; for
the congregation had a very comfortable time, a
delightful opportunity, till they were interrupted
by Moses, who, though naturally weak, yet re-
buked the transgressors with pungent severity.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to
send forth a stinking savor, so doth a little
folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and

204 PRACIICAL DIFFICULTIES.

honor. Eccles. x. 1. Therefore call no man
master on earth, relatinf^ to sacred tlnn^is. It is
the example and authority of Christ, your IMaster
in heav^en, who is Zion's King, which you are
conscientiously to regard. You ought to love
and respect all that love Jesus, but at the same
time consider you serve the Lord Christ. And it
is to your own Master you stand or fall. To him
only are you accountable. None can prove they
have a dispensation granted under his hand for
the neglect or changing an\ of his appointments;
and indeed none do plead for the power of granting
indulgences in his name, save the man of sin, and
those delegated hy him. But even supposing
others to have obtained such a dispensation, what
proof can be given that you are included in the
grant? Stand not, therefore, O believer, waiting
to see what this or the other good man may re-
solve to do, nor perplex your mind about Christ's
conduct to them. Think of Christ's reply to Peter
when he was so inquisitive about his brotlier .lolin,
saying. Lord, what shall this man do'l How keen,
and yet how kind was the Redeemer's answer to
the impertinent querist ! If 1 will that he tarry till I
ro??ie, What is that to thee? follow tiiou
ME ; John, xxi- 2Q.

Thirdly: Consider, the Divine authority is not
to be trifled with. Two sons of Aaron were
struck dead for daring to deviate from the Lord's
command. And Moses, the man of God, had like
to have lost his life through his postponing a

ERRORS OF FALSK RELIGIONISTS 203

matter of duty, probably in compliance with the
solicitations of Jiis spouse. Perhaps you may be
told by some, that an attendance to such appoint-
ments is unnecessary, as they are not saving or-
dinances. It might not be amiss to inquire of
such people, What are saving ordinances ? Where
are they to be found? If none are saving, then,
according to the o!)jection, none ought to be at-
tended to. No works of righteousness should be
performed, because salvation is not of works, but
of grace. It is astonishing such a mongrel maxim
should ever be used by those who abhor Antino-
mian liberty, and Arminian legality, seeing the
nature of both are therein united. It is the genuine
offspring of those two very opposite and equally
absurd sentiments. Has Jesus in very deed lost
all his authority, that his appointments should
sink into insignificancy ? and has Christ done so
little for his people, that they are under no manner
of obligation, out of gratitude, to act for him ?
Has the love of Jesus lost its constraining in-
fluence.^ And ought Christians to be really in
different about serving God any further than they
can merit by it ?

Is the dying request of dear friends usually
regarded by the surviving relatives ? And shall
not our best friend, our dear dying Immanuel, be
listened to with cordial affection, when he ap
pointed the ordinance of the Supper, saying, "This
do in remembrance of me ?" Afterwards he sent
from heaven, by the apostle Paul, arenev>al of his

206 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

request to the churches. See 1 Cor. xi. 23. His
ordinances are his palaces where he shows his
glory, and feasts with his people, saying, " Eat,
O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O be-
loved." Come forward, then, ye friends of Jesus,
follow his example, and receive the kind me-
morials of his love.

Secondly ; Divine requirements being superior to
the ability of men in their present fallen condition,
have been exceedingly perplexing to many ; es-
pecially such as feel themselves without strength,
which the Scriptures declare them to be for whom
Christ died, (Rom. v. 6.) and to whom he says,
Without me ye can do nothing, John, xv. 5, whose
experience of their utter inability and absolute
dependence on the Lord coincides with what the
apostle expresses concerning himself and his
brethren, who were even able ministers of the
New Testament. Their language is, Who is
sufficient for these things ? 2 Cor. ii. 16.

We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any
thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of
God. 2 Cor. iii. 5, 6. From a consciousness of
personal inability, joined with a conviction of their
absolute and necessaiy obligation to obedience,
arise various difficulties relating to the equity of
God in requiring that of his creatures which he
knows and declares is not in their power to per-
form. To assert and maintain that men have
an inherent power to turn to God and embrace the
gospel, and glorify him in a course of holy obe-

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 207

diencc to his law, without the infusion of super-
natural principles, is to opjiose the |)ositive de-
clarations of God's word respecting the necessity
of regeneration, and the impossibility of those
who are in the flesh doing any thing pleasing and
acceptable to God. See Rom. viii. 5, 8. But
those who oppose the doctrine of free grace are
constrained to plead for the power of man to love
and obey God, representing men's inability ai
absolutely inconsistent with scriptural command*
and exhortations to obedience and faith ; these, on
the one hand, declaim with an air of triumph on
the absurdity of supposing God to require im-
possibilities ; in which those heartily concur who
hold the truth in unrighteousness, and rejjresent
men as quite blameless, though disobedient, be-
cause they have no power of themselves to obey.
Various methods have been taken to apologize for
man's imperfections, and extenuate his guilt. As
men are naturally disaffected to God. it is no
wonder they should endearor to new model his
government according to their different inclina-
tions, in order to keep conscience easy, and
support a pleasing expectation of future happiness
without holiness ; or being beholden to his cle-
mency and grace. Every opposition to the gos-
pel, every false scheme of divinity, agree in
supposing the law of God naturally too severe ;
and that it ought to be, if possible, accommodated,
and rendered agreeable to men's present condi-
tion ; though they greatly differ as to the manner

208 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

how it may be accomplished. And those wiio
think the law of God cannot be altered or ex-
plained so as to suit the carnal mind, and having
an equal aversion to internal purity as to the
law which requires it, therefore plead for an
exemption and total deliverance from its hateful
authority, esteeming it a peculiar privilege to
settle if possible in the province of Antinomian-
ism ; a state so far from God, that the wretched
inhabitants suppose his dominion does not extend
to them. All false systems unite in proof of one
important truth, which is, that till God's law be
approved of, as just in all its demands and awful
denunciations, the gospel will never be properly
understood and cordially embraced; which the
following brief remarks may perhaps sufficiently
evince, as well as prepare the way to a solution of
the difficulty in question.

First ; Some confidently assert that on the failure
of man. in his obedience, the perfections of God
obliged him to alter the constitution of his govern-
ment so far, as that there was no need at all of
Christ's death to procure an exemption from
punishment. That repentance and pardon are
connected by the law of natural equity. That
Christ ca?ne not to make a reconciliation for ini-
quity, but only as a pattern of acceptable obe-
dience, and to confirm his doctrine by sealing it
with his blood. But, in confirmation of the truth
for which he was condemned, Christ could have
prayed to his Father, who would have sent more

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 209

lijau twelve legions of angels to have delivered
him from death. But how then (said he) should
the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be,
(Matt. xxvi. 53, 54,) for without shedding of blood
there is no remission. Heb. ix. 22. Admitting
Christ came only as an example, will it not follow
that the law which he came to obey required
purity of nature and perfect obedience ; seeing
our pattern was the subject of both ? If the law
did not require perfect obedience, but repentance
-was substituted and accepted in its stead, and
Christ came to set us an example how we might
obtain salvation ; is it not natural to infer, that in
order to his being a proper pattern to us for such
a purpose and end, he should have been deficient
in his obedience, and the subject of sincere re-
pentance'^ and thus have demonstrated for our
encouragement and imitation, that though he was
imperfect as we are, yet by being penitent, he ob-
tained forgiveness of all his imperfections. This
scheme, it must be acknowledged, so far as relates
to acceptance with God, entirely excludes the ne-
cessity of Christ ; he being neither a proper pat-
tern to show men how they might obtain salvation,
nor its procuring author. However by such a
rejection of Jesus the Scriptures are fulfilled,
which say, If there had been a law which could
have given life, verily righteousness had been by
the law. Gal. iii. 21. And if righteousness came
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Gal. ii.
21. If the death of Christ was entirely in vain,

210 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

his laying down !iis life, when there was no need
for it, cannot be deemed an example worthy of our
imitation ; for no man, however heroic, has a right
to throw away his life to no purpose. So far from
its being virtuous, such conduct would not only
be imprudent, but extremely sinful. Can we suj>-
pose Christ came itato our world on a needless
errand, and shed his blood in rain? Yet shock-
ing as the supposition is, it must be granted, as
an established fact, if there was any law existing
which could have given life. For nothing could
be more evident, than that if men could have an-
swered the demands of the law, there would have
been no need of the obedience and death of Jesus,
according to the reasoning of the great apostle,
whose judgment in divinity few will care to
dispute. This system, therefore, tends to embarrass,
instead of solving the question, respecting the
equity of God in requiring that of his creatures
which they are now unable to perform.

Secondly ; Some suppose the difficulty would
be removed if it might be allowed that Christ by
hi death procured or engaged the Father's love
to sinners, so far as to obtain a relaxation of that
law under which they originally were, and estab-
lish a milder system of government suited to
the condition of his rebellious subjects. But this
plea is quite inadmissible, because the love of
God, from which salvation springs, was the cause
of Christ's coming to die for transgressors. '• God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. '211

Son." John, iii. 10. " In tlils was manifested the
love of God towards us, t!iat God sent his Son into
the world, that we might live through him." John,
iv.9. "Hereby we perceive theloveof God, because
he laid down his life for ns." Cliap. iii. ]0.
Christ did not pfocnre a new remedial law, be-
cause that laiv under which dinners are, requires
perfect obedience, on j)ain of jserpetual punish-
ment. "Cursed is every one that contitiueth not
in all things written in the book of tlie law to do
them, and as ujany as are of the works of the
law are under its curse." Gal. iii. 10. The law
under which sinners are, is that according to
which the world stands condemned as criminal
at Jehovah's bar, and l»y the deeds of which no
flesh shall be justified in his sijjlit. Horn. iii. 19,
20. Those who think a relaxation of tlie law is
obtained, ought to point out wherein the abate-
ment consisteth, tlint men might keep in a happy
medium, and not presume to go beyond \iov fall
short in obedience to its j)rece|)ts. Will the
Lord indeed allow men to have other gods be-
sides himself, or to worship hitri in a way con-
trary to what he has appointed ? Will he hold
them guiltless that take his name in vain ? May
people now lawfidly forget to keep holy the sab-
bath day? Has Christ released men from their
natural obligations to parents? Or given them a
license to murder, to live in uncleanness, and
falsely to accuse their neighbors, or covet what
is the property of others? If moral commands

212 PRACTICAL DIFFTCULTJES.

continue in full force, as is abundantly evident
from the New Testament, wherein then does the
alteration consist ? Does the law cease to take
cognizance of the heart, and being less spiritual
is it therefore more agreeable to the carnal mind ?
If that be the case, how can mental acts be con-
demned by it, which the Scriptures positively de-
clare they are ? Impure desires are by it deemed
adultery; hatred, murder; and covetousness,
idolatry. See Matt. v. 28 ; 2 Pet. ii. 14] 1 John,
iii. 15; Col. iii. 5. The language of Christians
in the apostolic day was, We know the law is spi-
ritual. Rom. vii. 14. It is holy, just, and good,
Rom. vii. 12. I delight in it after the inward
man, says Paul, verse 22, so then with my mind
I serve the law of God, verse 25, The law of
which the apostle spoke, and in which he delighted
was that which slew him, that commandment
which was ordained to life, (but as a criminal)
he found to be unto death. Verse 10, 11. He was
delivered from it as a covenant, but under it as an
unalterable law, verse 6, 7 ; as a covenant it
became weak (that it could not give life to the
sinner,) not weak in its own nature, much less
wicked, but weak through the flesh. What it
could not therefore do in favor of the guilty,
was done by Jesus, who did not blame the law,
but justified and satisfied its demands, and con-
demned all oi)j)osition to it, even sin in the Jlesh.
Rom. viii. 3. The law under which Christians
are, requires truth in the inward parts as mueb

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 215

as ever, and cannot alter whilst Jehovah remains
the same : for God is a Spirit, and they that wor-
ship him MUST worship him in spirit and in
truth. John, ii. 24. If then both the matter and
spiritual nature of moral obedience remain the
same, notwithstanding men's inability, it is evi-
dent the law by which obedience is enforced is
not altered, and that a new remedial law is a fic-
tion. Besides, if the law became unrighteous
when its subjects became ungodly (which would
be blasphemy to suppose,) God would certainly
have repealed it, and not sent his son to honor
an unjust law, at the expense of his blood. Fi-
nally : If the Divine law ceaseth to require perfect
obedience, saints will at last rise in obedience
superior to the law under which they are ; for the
spirits of just men will be made perfecty and
when so they will love God more than he desires
they should, unless the law rise and fall in its re-
quirements according to the inclination of its sub-
jects, on which absurd hypothesis the notion of a
neiu law seems to be founded. The gospel exhibits
neiv motives to love and obedience, and graciously
conveys neiv principles, in consequence of which
saints yield to God new obedience, and by his au-
thority attend to new positive ordinances, for new
and special purposes ; and are accepted of God,
and aj)proach him under new characters, in a
new and living ivay ; and are encouraged by neio
and better promises, in consequence of theneio and
well ordered covenant of grace, under whieb th^r-r

214 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

are. But though he make all things new in re-
spect of acceptance with him, ^w^l enjoyment o? him
and old things pass away in favor of them who
inhabit the new Jerusalem, yet as God is the same,
without variableness, in his own adorable joe?/ec-
tionSj infinite beauty, and boundless authority, he
cannot therefore alter his moral law, considered
simply as a law, without giving up his claim to
Deity, because moral obligations arise from that
natural connexion and relation subsisting between
God and rational creatures, considered as thep-o-
ductions of his power. Hence it is that noaltera-
tion'm them can possibly diminish their obligations
to him.

"Our revolt was a practical declaration that
he was- not by nature God, nor worthy to be
glorified as God. To give up the law in favor
of his rebellious creatures, must therefore be
the same in effect, v.s for God to give up his own
divinity, and ungod himself in the sight of all his
dominions, to gratify a rebel."* It is no new
thing for professors of religion to show an inclina-
tion to excuse themselves, and throw the blame
upon God ; a certain wicked and slothful servant,
when called to- an account by his master, could
say, "Lord, I knew thee to be an hard man,
reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathei ing
where thou hast not strewed, and I was afraid,

* See Mr. Joseph Bellamy on the Nature and Glory
of the Gospel, p. 21.

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 215

nnd went, and hid my Lord's money." iMatt. xxv.
24. Sinners in general think their case Vvould
not be so extremely bad as the Scriptures assert
and they frequently fear, were they fairly dealt
with. Instead of taking blame and shame to
themselves, their powers are employed to find
om other methods to appease conscience, and sup-
port hope, than that which is set before them in
the gosfjel. Tlierefore,

Thirdly; Some api)rehend the difficulty may
be solved by supjiosing a certain degree of grace
bestowed on all men, in order to enable them to
perform what is necessary to the enjoyment of
God's friendship and favor. But the difficulty
is rather increased than diminished by this contri-
vance. For,

If such degrees of grace be necessary to en-
able men to obey, and render their disobedience
inexcusable^ it necessarily supposes, that unless
such a degree of what is called common grace
was given them of God, they could not have been
judged blameahle for the ivant of obedience. If
they were not blameable before^ or antecedent to
the supposed grace being bestowed, they certainly
were not liable to punishment. And if not liable
to punishment before they had this common grace
conferred on them, how is this common grace an
advantage? seeing that without it they were safe,
but the possession of it has rendered their state at
best precarious.

Again ; if such grace be given not so much for

Sl6 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

their advantage, as to vindicate JehovaWs character,
which is by some supposed to be the design of
it (for men, being not culpable without it, but in
consequence of it, could have done very well
had it never been bestowed ; for where there
is no blame, no punishment can in equity be in-
flicted ;) — I say if this common grace, or light with-
in, or whatever name it may be called by, be given
for the purpose of vindicating the character of
God as a lawgiver and judge, it is necessarily
implied or pre-supposed, that without such a be-
stowment, his conduct would have been liable to
censure and impeachment, and not at all capable of
being defended as equita!)le and just.

Further ; If without the impartation of the afore-
said grace, men would have had cause to com-
plain of unfair dealing, what is called common
grace is, in fact, no other than a common debt,
which God could not justly withhold from any
man. Thus the doctrine of common grace repre-
sents the Lord as neither generous nor just. It is
the same as saying. If God will please to do us
justice, we will out of complaisance call it grace.
But, as a proof of esteeming what we call grace
a proper debt, and no real favor, we, in our hearts,
verily account, and are bold to declare that with-
out such a bestowmenl, we should have had cause
for ever to complain of harsh treatment. Thus
it appears that all erroneous systems, however
widely they differ, agree in tacitly charging God
and his law with injustice in condemning for

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 217

sin ; and that the enmity of carnal men is such,
that they cannot he reconciled to his government
unless certain concessions be made on his part
to obtain their forgiveness of the supposed injury.
However, it is evident, that approving views of the
requirements of God's law are absolutely necessary,
in order to admiring views of the grace in his
gospel. For where condemnation would be unjust
an acquittal is no favor ; and where obedience is
not due, it cannot be justly demanded.

Fourthly ; Another method of accounting for
God's requiring perfect obedience of imperfect
men, is the consideration of our being represented
by Adam in the covenant which was made with
him. The reasoning of many eminent men has
been thus : — "We had in Adam full and adequate
ability every way proportionable to the nature
and extent of duty ; and though men have lost
their power to obey, God has neither lost nor
given up his authority to command : therefore
it is our duty to exert not only the strength
we are now possessed of, but likewise the strength
we should have had, supposing our first par-
ent had continued in that state of purity and
power."

That Adam was the covenant head of his pos-
terity, appears evident from the Scriptures, and 1
hope has been proved under another particular
head. And that advantages and disadvantages
naturally result from representation, according
as representatives act in their public character
T

218 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

none, I presume, will deny. The covenant made
with our first parent was most certainly a right-
eous constitution ; and had the condition been
performed, we should all have admired, not only
the equity, but the kindness of the compact. But,
as success does not make a transaction equitable,
nor does a failure constitute a stipulation wrong
which is naturally right, we may rest satisfied,
that it was impossible for an infinitely holy God
and an innocent creature to enter into an agree-
ment essentially wrong. Therefore, we ought to
be for ever silent, in respect of censure and com-
plaint.

Though this last-mentioned method of account-
ing for the Lord's requiring of us what is supe-
rior to our present power be less exceptionable
than any of those before referred to, yet it does
not seem to come fully to the point, or cast suffi-
cient light upon the subject ; for it seems con-
trary to the common or known rules of justice
and equity, to punish on the account of not per-
forming what is naturally impossible to be per-
formed.

Hence, some who have endeavored to hold up
the doctrines of grace as objects of ridicule and
contempt, have boldly asserted, that according
to these doctrines, future judgment would be a
mere farce. For that God might as justly punish
slow moving animals for deficiency in swiftness,
and those for not flying who have no wings to
fly with, nor .in any respect formed for such a

£RtlOIlS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 219

motion, as to punish men for not doing what they
cannot possibly accompHsh, but is as much above
their power as to create a world. Such kind of
checks the adherents to truth have frequently met
with. And such reasoning, or rather declamation,
has been very stumbling to weak Christians.
Some have been severely tried by the above mis-
representation of gospel truths, and tempted to
think what they dare not utter.

For the relief of such, I would propose to their
calm and candid consideration a distinction
between natural and moral inability which seems
necessary to be well understood in order to obtain
consistent views of Djvine revelation, relating to
the requirements of God's righteous law and the
nature of his precious gospel.

By Natural inability, is intended a want of a
natural capacity or opportunity to know and do
what is commanded, or an absolute defect in the
natural powers of a man's mind or body, by which
he is rendered incapable of acting although his
will were bent upon the performance of his duty.
Whatever totally prevents, or is in absolute ob-
struction in the way of a person's knowing or
doing any thing, which renders the acquirement
impossible, though he be ever so desirous of
accomplishing it, is what I wish to have consid-
ered as included in natural inability.

Moral inability consists in a disinclination to
what is good, or a dislike of, and aversion to,
what God has made a person's duty. That I

220 PRACTICAL DIFnCULTlES.

may be properly understood, I would further
observe, that by natural power and ability, is
intended, the possession or enjoyment of such
powers and properties of soul and body, as are
necessary for the purpose of mental and corporeal
actions, and being in a situation suitable for the
exertion of them.

By moral ability is intended a suitable dispo-
sition, which consists in a holy inclination, a pro-
pensity of mind to what is truly good. To illus-
trate and point out the propriety and utility of the
above distinction, for the relief uf entangled minds,
I shall endeavor to demonstrate.

First, That natural inability, as above stated, is
not a crinniial defect ; and that,

Secondly, Moral inability is inseparably con-
nected with fault, and cannot possibly be considered
as an excuse or palliation of blame, but on the
contrary, that a man is culpable, because of his
inability to obey; or that criminality increases in
proportion to the degree of moral impotency.

That natural inability isnot'a criminal defect, or
culpable deficiency, will perhaps appear evident, if
the following observations be duly attended to.

First ; Though men's powers of mind and body
are no doubt greatly impaired by the fall, or the
entrance of sin, yet the Scriptures do not seem to
intimate that weakness in either is sinful ; they
are spoken of as pitiable infirmities, but never as
punishable faults. Therefore it is written. As a
father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 221

that fear liim. He considers our frame, and
remembers we are but dust. Parents, by whose
pity the Lord illustrates his own, know how to
make the distinction respecting their children,
and would be cruel if they did not. Supposing a
son in the height of some criminal proceeding
should break his legs, would it not be deemed
cruel, not only to punish him for tlie criminal
action by which he came by his disaster, but for
his not walking, which he would be very glad to
do if he could. Upon this self-evident principle
of equity, Mephibosheth founded his yjlea, when
accused by his servant of disloyalty to king David
his sovereign. He loved David's person and
government, and he pleaded, that his not accom-
panying him in a time of trouble, when he fled
before his unnatural son, was not owing to disaf-
fection^ but Thy servant is lame.

It is not the sin of the blind that they do
not read the Scriptures ; nor are the deaf blame-
able for not hearing the sound of the gospel : nor
the dumb culpable on account of their not plead-
ing for God. Nor is it the duty of any to work
or war with their hands who have none. Nor
are any blamed for being sick, though it should
be unto death. The reason is, because they could
not he or do otherwise if they would. Though
Paul's bodily presence was weak, and his speech
contemptible, yet he did not consider himself crimi-
nal on that account ; but rejoiced in his infirmities,
yea, most gladly rejoiced in them, that the power

222 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

of Christ might rest upon him ; but he did not
rejoice in his sins.

Secondly ; Deficiency or weakness in mental
powers is not criminal ; for was that the case, the
weakest men would be the most wicked, and
those who are superior in natural parts would
always excel in piety, which is contrary to fact, as
founded on observation and revelation. Men are
dead in sin, but that death does not consist in
a deprivation of natural faculties. When ration-
ality is absent, the words and actions of such
people nre never deemed punishable, because
they are not accounted criminal. But if the
fault lay in natural weakness, the less understand-
ing and reason a person is possessed of at any
time, the greater would be his crimes. And instead
of not being punished for injuring others, siich
ought to be punished with greater severity on that
account.

Thirdly ; In regeneration the Holy Spirit does
not create new faculties, or bestow a new set
of natural powers; he does not produce '■''anew
head, hut a new heart,'''' by infusing new principles
and holy dispositions. But if a deficiency in
natural powers was ihe Jountain of fault, or the
source of blame, from whence criminal actions
proceed, there would be a necessity for the pro-
duction of new faculties, or otherwise a removal
of their natural deficiencies. And if so, the surest
evidences of a gracious change would be a strong
memory, a fertile imagination, a fund of wit.

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 223

and a profound, deep understanding, or clear
ideas, and strong reasoning. In short, an assem-
blage of fine brilliant parts would, in that case,
be the best proof of true holiness. And thus the
devil might perhaps he admired for his purity,
for according to that mode of reasoning Satan
might be proved a delightful saint. No greater
natural powers are necessary to love God, than to
hate him ; to serve him, than to oppose him.
Therefore God does not require more of any man
than the right use of what he hath. And surely
it is not ivrong to require what is right. God does
not require any thing unreasonable ; he requires
only what he has a right to, and deserves ; even
all the heart, all the soul, and all the strength.
He does not require in point of degree the like of
all ; for " to whom much is given, of them he
requires the more." Luke, xii. 48. It is each
one's all that he demands ; he does not require his
creatures to be alike strong in mental powers : he
never intended they should. Angels excel in
strength ; but he requires all his rational crea-
tures to love and serve him with all the strength
they have. He could not require more with
equity to his creatures, nor dispense with less in
justice to himself. He requires nothing naturally
impossible to be performed. He has not made
any thing the duty of his creatures which ex-
ceeds their natural ability, nor does he punish
them for not acquiring or doing what is naturally
beyond their power to perform. As men's na-

224 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

tural capacities and situations are very different^
lie does not tlierefore require all men to be alike
knowing, nor does he require knowledge above
and beyond the means of information. He does
not condemn those who have no revelation, for
not knowing what is only knowahle by revela-
tion ; nor expect of those who have the Scriptures
to know a little more than is revealed by them.
Hence, as to those things which are only re-
vealed as matters of fact, that they are ignorant
hotv they are, is not the sin of any man. Though
God exhorts to liberality, yet none are required
to give liberally who haye nothing to bestow.
Duty is ever measured by natural ability; and
where that is wanting, the. Lord accepts of a
willing mind. See 2 Cor. viii. 12. Where the
disposition is right, and the design or intention
good, the want of ability to act as intended,
exculpates the person from a charge of criminality
in that lespect. In a word, the good man is not
blameable because hk cannot do so much for God
as he would ; nor is the bad man commendable,
because he cannot do evil according to his will
and desire. Many wicked men would be greater
villains than they are, if they knew how. But
though they have not ability or opportunity to act
agreeably to their inclinations, none surely will
commend them on that account. See Acts, xxiii.
12. 1 Kings, viii. 18.

As commendation and blame do not result
from natural ability or inability, but from dispo-

ERRORS Of' FALSE RELIGIONISTS.

225

sitions and voluntary acts, therefore Jehovah's
conduct stands evidently clear from the imputa-
tion of injustice or cruelty, seeing his require-
ments are proportionate to, and are nothing more
than a right use of the natural powers, and the
privileges his creatures possess. His commands
are not grievous in their own nature, whatever
they be to our corrupt minds. They are agree-
able, and suited to the natural poivers of men,
how&ver contrary and disgustful to their natural
inclinations.

Secondly; If we attend seriously to moral \na.^
bility, we shall discover thereby the awful con-
dition in which men naturally are, and the abso-
lute necessity of omnipotent grace to deliver
them from a state evidently helpless, and truly
deplorable. For such cannot love God, nor con-
tribute in the least to their own deliverance ;
and yet their criminality is equal to their inability.
A sinner while unrenewed by grace cannot love
God, obey the law, or embrace the gospel.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God,
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. Rom. viii. 7. The wicked will
not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts.
Psalm X. 4. Such do not like to retain God in
their hearts; therefore desire not the knowledge
of his ways. Rom. i. 28 ; Job, xxi. 14. Yea, they
treat him with scorn and disdain. Wherefore
do the wicked contemn God ? Psalm x. 13. They
being the subjects of dispositions contrary to his

226 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

holy nature, are therefore alienated from the life
of God, and dead in trespasses and in sins. Eph.
ii. 1 ; chap. iv. 18. The natural man is blind to
the moral excellency and beauty of God ; to
the spiritual glories of Christ and his kingdom.
He has no perception of the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. ii. 14. As
unconverted sinners cannot be subject to the law
of God, so they»cannot embrace the gospel. Jesus
himself has declared it impossible while they con-
tinue in that state, saying, "No man can come
unto me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw him." John, vi. 44. " The Spirit of truth
the world cannot receive." John, xiv. 17. " Why
do ye not understand my speech ? Even because
ye cannot hear my word." John, viii.43. "Their
ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken."
(The reason is added, not as owing to natural, but
moral inability, for) ** behold the word of the Lord
is unto them a reproach, they have no delight in
it." Jer. vi. 10. Their hearts are destitute of spir-
itual emotions, and compared to stone ; (Ezek.
xxxvi. 26 ;) even to the adamant, (Zech. vii. 12,)
which is harder than flint, (Ezek. iii. 9,) and which
naturalists have said cannot be broken till steeped
in the blood of a goat.* So then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God, (Rom. viii. 8) being
under the sole power and dominion of dispositions
averse to his nature and will.

* Plin, Nat. Hist, book 37, chap. 4.

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 227

They cannot love and obey God, till they are
inclined so to do ; and no man can be so disposed
to love God, till he view him as an agreeable
object. And God never was agreeable to a car-
nal mind, it being enmity against him, on which
account it is not, cannot be subject to him.
Rom. viii. 7. Such will neglect and despise God,
while they continue to prefer other things before
him. Those therefore who are lovers of plea-
sures more than lovers of God, cannot possibly
esteem him as the chief good ; and unless he be
loved as such, he is not, as God, loved at all.
Those who love the praise of men more than the
praise of God, cannot seek the honor which
Cometh from him only. For every one, if not
prevented, will undoubtedly pursue what he pre-
fers, or act according to his prevailing inclina-
tions. Those, therefore, could not believe in, or
adhere to the humble Jesus, who were ambitious
of human honor. To such he said. How can ye
believe which receive honor one of another ?
John, v. 44.

But some may ask, " May not such persons love
God, repent and believe the gospel if they will.^"
Answer, " Most certainly they may if they choose
to do so." There is nothing to prevent their
doing so, wherever the gospel is published, but
their own criminal dispositions. There is no
bar in their way, but the wickedness of their
hearts. Whosoever will are invited to come and
take of the waters of life freely. Rev. xxii. 17.

228 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

They have faculties or powers of mind adequate
to what God requires of them. It is not owing to
the want of natural ability, as before stated, but
they have no moral ability to ])erform what is
good ; their impotency consists in an aversion to
the things of God. When that is removed the
difficulty is over. For, where God is loved, sin
will be hated, Christ admired, and the gospel will
be received and embraced, with cordial affection
and faith. But while men are in a carnal state,
they cannot choose what is spiritually good ; for
that would suppose them capable of choosing
what they do not approve of, or of preferring
what they do not esteem, but to which they have
a fixed aversion. Whilst a person sees no come-
liness in Christ, wherefore he should desire bin),
he cannot possibly choose him as the chief among
ten thousand — his all in all; which believers do.
Nor can he hate sin till it become disagreeable to
him, or sincerely seek the salvation of God till he
feels he wants it, and knows its worth.

The question therefore should rather be. Whe-
ther any unrenewed person ever did, or possibly
can choose to love God, hate sin, and cordially
embrace the gospel? For, if none while in that
state or condition ever did or can, make such a
choice, a ivillingness in such a case is not suppose-
able. If unconverted persons may love God,
repent, and truly believe in Jesus, conversion
would be needless so far as it relates to such well-
disposed persons; for true believing penitents

ERRORS OF FALi^E RELIGIONISTS. 229

shall be saved. And if so, such may be in heaven
who never were born again, contrary to the ex-
press and solemn declarations of the Saviour,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God ; except ye be converted and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. John, iii. 3, 5, 7. Matt,
xviii. 3. And if unregenerate persons may love
God, and obey the gospel, how, and by what,
are we to distinguish between those who are re-
generated and those who are not ? Tf they can-
not be distinguished who turn themselves, from
those whose hearts are turned and changed by
the Lord, the apostle's question to Christian con-
verts, ffho maketh thee to differ f would be quite
impertinent. We are taught by the unerring
word, that there is as great a likeness to, and as
close a connexion between men's voluntary ac-
tions and their internal principles, as between
the nature of a tree and the kind of fruit it bears,
or a fountain and its streams. Matt. vil. 16,20;
James iii, 11, 12. When a corrupt fountain sends
forth pure streams; and thorns, brambles, and
thistles, produce figs and grapes ; when the whole
course of nature is quite reversed, then, and not
before, may we expect a carnal man to choose
spiritual things.

But it may be replied, that as man is a free
agent, he has power to choose what and when he
thinks proper. That man is a free agent cannot
be denied, consistently with his being account-

^0 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES^*

able for his own actions. Man's free agency
consisteth in a power or capacity to compare
ideas and to give a preference to what appears,
all thing considered, to be most agreeable to
himself. Perfect freedom consisteth in a man's
acting agreeably to his own inclination, without
any compulsion or restraint. A man, therefore,
being a free agent, will act agreeably to his own
mind ; therefore free agency is a farther confir-
mation of man's moral inability. For, as Divine
things are, in their very nature, disagreeable to the
unrenewed sinner ; therefore as a free agent he
will, and cannot but, choose the contrary, as being
agreeable to the desires and bent of his soul.
If it be said, " Man has a determining power
over his own will, and therefore his ' will acts
as he directs it, and consequently he is capable
of making a commendable and virtuous choice:"
this indeed is the dernier, or last resort of most
sensible Arminians. It does not seem very in-
telligible to talk of a power over a power, resolv-
ing to resolve, or directing that by which a man
is guided, and leading what he follows. How-
ever, granting all that can be desired, yet man's
moral inabihty remains just as before stated. For
supposing a man to direct his will what to choose,
he is sure to direct it to choose that which he
thinks is best, or what is most agreeable to him-
self. The choice, therefore, which he is supposed
to direct his will to make, cannot possibly be in
favor of true religion, while spiritual things are

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 231

disagreeable to him ; which they will continue
to be as long as his heart is unrenewed by grace.
For the first supposed act of his mind, by which
the subsequent act of his will is directed, must
be according to the light in which he views the
objects to be chosen ; and while he does not view
the glory and superlative excellence of Divine
things, he cannot give a preference to them ; for
that would be preferring what he disesteems.
And till he prefers them he cannot order his will
to choose them. Thus it appears that every
wicked man is held by the cords of his sins.
Prov. v. 22. He feedeth on ashes ; a deceived heart
hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his
soul, nor say. Is there not a lie in my right hand ?
Isaiah, xliv. 20. That this awful state of moral
inability and death, is a blameable condition, or a
criminal defect, will appear from the following
observations.

I. It is voluntary and free. Men are not com-
pelled to sin contrary to their inclinations ; but
the hearts of the sons of men are set in them to
do evil. Eccles. viii. 11. Their language is, "We
have loved strangers, and after them will we go."
Jer. ii. 25. " As for the word thou bast spoken
to us from the Lord, we will not hearken unto
thee." Jer. xliv. 18. "Israel (saith the Lord)
would have none of me." Psalm Ixxxi. IL "I
called, but they gave me no answer ; all the day
long have I stretched out my hand to a disobedi-
ent and gainsaying people," (Rom, x. 21,) " which

232 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

walketh in a way that was not good, after their
own thoughts" (Isa. Ixv. 2) "which said unto God,
Depart from us; and what can the Al:nighty do
for them ? Depart from us, for we desire not the
knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty
that we should serve him ; and what profit should
we have if we pray unto him?" Joh, xxii. 17;
chap. xxi. 11. 14. " We will not have this man to
reign over us." The result cf their consultation
against the Lord, and his anointed, is, " Let us
break their hands asunder and cast away their cords
from us." Psalm ii. 3. Now if men are accoun-
table for any of their actions, they must be so for
those which are voluntary. Involuntary acts are
not of a criminal nature; they do not discover a
had disposition. A good man (like Peter) may he
bound by violent hands, and carried whither he
would not. In that case it is not his fault, though
he be found in company with men of the most
abandoned characters, being there contrary to his
choice or inclination. A gracious person may
possibly be delirious, and when so, or in fits of
convulsions, may injure himself or his friends ;
as such frequently discover the greatest antipathy
to those whom they most highly esteemed when
in their right minds ; yet such actions, though very
detrimental, are never deemed criminal, because
they are not then considered as effects of a bad
disposition, but as proceeding from disorders in the
animal frame. Acts of a nature much less violent
and injurious, are accounted punishable when

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 233

ihere is evidence they are entirely voluntary and
free, or arise from a had design. Involuntary
actions may occasion much grief when reflected
upon ; but a person cannot be said to repent of
ihem, any more than a man can repent be-
cause he has not had a proper perspiration, or a
regular pulse. Praise and blame, rewards and
punishments, are only connected vv^ith those actions
which ai-e the fruit of internal volitions. There-
fore no man will be punished further than he is
sinful, and no action deemed sinful which is not
the effect of choice. Nor is any man praiseworthy,
whatever good may result to others from his
conduct, if it appears that what he did was either
the effect' o{ cojnpulsion, or with an ill design.
Mordecai was not under any real obligation to
Haman, thougli he v/as by him arrayed in royal
apparel, and brought through the city on horseback,
who likewise proclaimed before him, " Thus shall
it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to
honor!" because what he did was contrary to his
inclination or choice, being compelled through fear of
the king's displeasure. Nor were Joseph's breth-
ren commendable, though they were instruments
of his advancement in Egypt; because, though
they sent him thither, they meant it for evil. The
devil's testimony in favor of Christ's filial relation
to God did not entitle him to commendation as
Peter's did, though equally true, full, and explicit,
because Peter's confession was voluntary, and his
intention good. He meant thereby to honor bis
U

234 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

Lord ; but Satan's acknowledgment was either
the effect of constraint, or done with a design to
sink the Savior's reputation. See Matt. xvi. 16 ;
Luke, iv. 41.

Hence it appears, that the criminal conduct of
creatures is the effect of their choice ; sinful actions
are voluntary and free. Therefore no man will be
found more sinful than he chose to be ; and if any
actions are punishable or commendable, it must be
those which were voluntarily performed ; and con-
sequently the strength of a propensity to evil, or a
moral inability to do good, cannot properly be
pleaded in favor of sinners, or as an extenuation
of guilt. But,

2. Every apology in favor of delinquents,
founded on moral inability, is not only absolutely
inadmissible according to every rule of equity, but
has a direct tendency to confirm the charge of
culpability, and to rivet the fetters of guilt. Men
are naturally disposed to cover their transgressions,
as Adam; (Job, xxxi. 33: Gen. iii. 12,) and fix the
charge of blame elsewhere ; and through confound-
ing or blending the idea of what is moral, with
what is natural, they endeavour to keep their con-
sciences easy in sin, from such-hke excuses as the
following:

" If men's propensity to evil be such as that
they cannot love and obey God without being
created anew in Christ Jesus, they are rather the
objects of pity than of blame; therefore we ought
not tc be condemned for what we cannot help."

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 235

To make this soothing inference consistent,
these words ought to be added ; \. e. if ive ivould.
Then it would be a good plea in favor of involun-
tary actions, or natural inability ; for none are
condemned for not doing what they could not
possibly perforin if they would ; but as it respects
moral inability, it is just the reverse ; for the
pi'evalency of inclination, or strength of pro})ensity
to good or evil, is the very thing from whence
degrees in each proceed, and are inferred. Moral
evil is that which God naturally and necessarily
hates, and voluntarily abhors. His propensity to
purity is infinite and invariable. He therefore
takes no pleasure in our obedience to his own
appointments when performed in a sinful manner;
he said to backslidden Israel, "Incense is an
abomination to me ; the new moons and sab-
baths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away
with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting;
your new moons and your appointed feasts my
soul hateth ; they are a trouble to me, I am weary
to bear them." Isaiah, i. lo, 14. As no man who
is the subject of common sense will infer that,
because Jehovah has an infinite strong propensity
CO purity, and cannot but hate sin, therefore he is
not glorious in holiness ,' or that because he cannot
lie, cannot deny himself, therefore there is no need
to resolve with David to praise his truth. Psalm
Ixxi. 22. Who then, with the least regard to, or
possessing any share of reason, truth, and decency,
can thus plead ? / «?7i not very bad, because I have a
very great and constant aversion to what is good.

236 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTrES*

If an intense love to sin, and hatred to holiness,
do constitute innocence, or freedom from blame ;
those who are the greatest enemies to God and all
righteousness, or most evidently belong to the
children of the devil, are the least liable to
punishment.

If disinclination to duty does free a person
from obligation to obedience, a slothful servant
would have an unanswerable argument in favor
of his conduct ; for he might say, (and no doubt
could give a sufficient proof if necessary,) that he
never loved work in his life, that he always had an
aversion to hard labor, and cannot yet be re-
conciled to it, being contrary to his inclination ;
and that to which he always found, as far as he
can remember, an inward fixed reluctance. He
might add, Sir, when I find work agreeahle to me,
I will attend to it: but till then, you cannot be so
unreasonable as to blame tiie, seeing we are taught
to consider that, even in matters of religion, no-
thing is duty further than there is a eorresponding
disposition. I love to look on, whilst others
labor, and I hope you will allow me, without
offence, to act according to my natural inclination.
The haughty servant might likewise say. You will
allow me, I hope sir, to do as 1 please, for I never did
love control; I was always of an ambitious tem{)er,
and have evep now a 5/ro»?g inclination and i7i/ew5e
desire after Aonor and authority. Iwishyou would,
and therefore I cannot but hoi>e you will, consider
yourself, in future, as under my direction. Must

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 237

the notorious thief be acquitted, because he has
been long under the power of a strong inclination
to injure his neighbors? or the murderer be
deemed /e6'5 guilty, because of his crueUlisposition ?
Were such a principle allowed, moral government
would be overturned ; every one might do as he
pleases without liability to punishment, especially
those of the vilest dispositions. And if so, perhaps
none would deserve less punishment than the
devil.

But it may be said, "Our aversion to God has
been transmitted to us from our first parents ; and
being born so, therefore we hope favor will be
shown, as our personal guilt is thereby diminished."
Were pity pleaded for, on account of natural
inability, or a natural defect and affliction, attend-
ing either our mental or bodily powers, the reason-
ableness of the plea would readily be granted,
and evidently appear. But sin is a moral defect,
and cannot be committed contrary to a person's
consent, or without a criminal inclination. The
above extenuating plea is only a false gloss. Its
genuine sense is the same as if a person should
say, when indicted for high treason, " I am, it is
true, deemed a traitor, but I hope it will be con-
sidered as an extenuation of my crime, that I am
the offspring and seed of evil doers ; my family in
all their respective generations have been rebels
against their sovereign. I have therefore only
acted as they have done who are my progenitors.
I hope I shall be favorably dealt with, as my dis-

1^38 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

loyalty (if it must be so termed) is a family disposi-
tion. Besides, what I have done, arose from a
rooted enmity in my heart to the king, his adher-
ents, and government, for which I ought not to be
censured, as my ancestors always discovered, as I
have done, an inclination to overturn the constitu-
tion ; and if possible to dethrone the sovereign, and
bring him and all his children and subjects into
perpetual contempt. And moreover, as my temper
and disposition are such, I cannot submit to his
authority, nor be beholden to his clemency; having
a rivetted aversion in my heart to what he is, has,
does, and says. If therefore my own enmity, or
my father^s, against the sovereign and h\s subjects
have any influence to exculpate or diminish the
charge of guilt, which doubtless ought to be allowed
in my favor, I hope, according to the law of equity,
my punishment (if any be justly inflicted) will be
very small." If it would be an affront to common
sense, and contrary to every rule of equity amongst
men to plead an exemption from punishment, on
account of the delinquent's i;i7e disposition, or that
of his ancestors, how awful then is the deception
of those who apprehend they cannot be treated by
God as criminals, because of moral inability, or the
badness of their hearts.

Besides, if the vileness of men's hearts, or their
abominable dispositions, free them from blame,
or secure them from punishment, they cannot ac-
count them to be bad hearts, seeing their present
peace and future hope depend upon them. They

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 239

are not, it seems, injurious heavts, but extremely
beneficial, providing they be but sufficiently vile.
Such persons would not know^ how to go on in
religion as they do — they could not sin without
sorrow, hope without holiness, believe without evi-
dence, and rejoice in a thing of nought ; but through
the help of a bad heart. They do not think them
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,
and that for the badness of them they are account-
able to God. They consider their base hearts, and
vile dispositions, as their best friends, which justify
and sanctify their omissions of duty, and commis-
sion of sins, as trifling. The gospel libertine, yea,
the whole tribe of indolent, light, and trifling pro-
fessors, seem to consider and use what they caH
their bad heart, as a dark room, or concealed
warehouse, where they hope to hide their crimes,
which, as fast as committed, are removed thither
in expectation of never being found, or exposed to
view, being secured by the lock of strong delusion
under the care of carnal confidence, who carries
the key of presumption, and is lord of all the
lumber.

But how very different are the declarations of
God, who says, " The sacrifice of the wicked is abo-
mination, HOW MUCH MORE, whcn he bringeth it
toith a WICKED mind" ? Prov. xxi. 27. " He hath
said in his heart, God hath forgotten ; he hideth his
face ; he will never see it. Thou wilt not require
it." See Psalm x. IJ— 15. "These things hast
thou done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that

^40 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES^

I was altogether such a one as thyself; but I will
reprove thee, and set them in order before thine
eyes." Psalm 1. 21. "Yea, also the heart of
the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in
their heart, while they live, and after that they go
to the dead." — " But know thou that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment." Eccl.
^x. 3; chap. xi. 9.

To conclude,

Tt is hoped the above remarks may, through a
Divine blessing, help entangled Christians, respect-
ing the following important particulars:

1. To behold and admire the equity and jus-
tice of Jehovah'sgovernment, in requiring nothing
above the capacity, or natural ability, of his crea-
tures ; and yet continuing the equitable demand
t)f perfect obedience, and not altering his law in
the least, to suit the base dispositions of his
rebellious subjects, which would have destroyed
-every idea of authority, and sunk the reputation
of God.

2. The necessity of the almighty operations of
the Holy Spirit, in changing the bias and disposi-
tions of men, by regenerating or creating them
•anew in Christ Jesus, and working in them to will
^nd to do of his own good pleasure. For till the
sinner's disposition be changed, till he be born
again, and became a new creature, he can have
no true love to God, no spiritual delight in his law,
no approving views of Christ and his glorious
gospel. And yet the change produced does not

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 241

destroy the natural freedom of the human will;
hut he acts differently from choice to what he did
before.

3. By the distinction between natural and
moral ability, sovereign grace is not only defen-
sible against every artful attack, but it appears
infinitely great and absolutely free. In every
respect it is truly wonderful, because those who
are saved were not only miserable, hut inexcusably
criminal, and as such under the sentence of eter-
nal death, from which there could not have been
the least hope of deliverance had not grace pro-
vided relief. If the several parts of the great
salvation be surveyed, even from its rise to its final
consHmmation, it will appear entirely of pure
grace, infinite, unmerited compassion, and aston-
ishing mercy, which could not be the case if moral
death was not a blameable state. Those who
want to see the subject of grace treated in a
masterly manner, and set in a clear convincing
light, I would recommend to their perusal a book,
entitled The Reign of Grace, by Mr. A. Booth,
London.

4. Thereby scriptural exhortations to repentance,
and faith appear quite consistent, which could
never be defended if criminality arose from na-
tural, and not moral inability. For in that case,
it would be equally ridiculous to call sinners to
repentance, as to exhort a blind man to repent
of his continuance so long in darkness, and never
beholding the surrounding beauties of creation ;

W

242 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

and no less absurd than to attempt to convince
the dead of the crime of indolence, for lyinij so
long in the grave, when their help is so much
needed both for work and war. While sin is
viewed as consisting in a natural defect, or a de-
ficiency in the natural powers, penitency can
never appear reasonable and right. For a man to
pretend to repent, when at the same time he
considers his fault to lie in a natural defect, which
he cannot possibly help, if he would, is like a deaf
man considering himself as exceeding criminal
because he did not hear to-day, but is resolved he
will not be guilty of the like sin to-morrow. It
indeed seems to suppose, or require, a very great
defect in a man's understanding, to be able to con-
clude, that such a repentance is what the Scrip-
ture recommends, and the godly possess. But
genuine repentance or sorrow for sin appears,
from the consideration of voluntary depravity,
rational^ and every way fitting; because duty is
not at all proportioned to our moral inability, or
less binding because of our disinclination to good.

5. The doctrine of natural and moral ability
is calculated to afford and administer much en-
couragement to seeking souls, and to comfort
those who are really devoted to Christ ; for as
none can come unto him but such whom the Fa-
ther draws, therefore spiritual desires after Jesus,
and delight in religion, are evidences of a gracious
change, holy dispensations, or a new heart.

You whose gifts are small, and natural powers

ERUORS or FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 243

are weaU, be not distressed on those accounts ;
for real grace is much superior to the best abili-
ties and most brilHant parts. Therefore, rejoice,
that the Lord hath shown you a more excellent
way. Who hath despised the day of small things ?
The profane world and proud professors may ;
but God will not. Those who love the Saviour, to
whom his person, blood, and obedience, are
precious, and his ways pleasant, and whose desire
is to walk humbly with God in the paths of
purity, though they frequently stumble, and are
often discouraged, yea, though they full, They
shall not utterly be cast down; (Psal. xxxvii.
24,) but shall hold on in their way, and grow
stronger and stronger; (Job, xvii. 9.) For the
strength and guide of Israel hath said, "The way-
faring men, though fools, shall nor err." "They
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and
sighing shall flee away." Isaiah, xxxv. 8, 10.
Those who are not able to plead on God's behalf,
but love to think upon his name, are precious in his
sight. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in
that day when I make up my jewels. Mai. iii. 16,
17. Therefore fear not, worm Jacob.

6. The strong believer, however enriched with
gifts and grace, is thereby led to various humbling
and profitable considerations. However great his
natural abilities are, he is as much under a per-
petual necessity to look to, and rely upon the Lord,
for gracious influences, as those of the weakest
capacity ; for a person may possess strong mental

244 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

powers and be morally weak. Grace may be languid
and low, where natural gifts are lively and strong.

Whilst the Christian is the subject of sin, and
a propensity to sin is felt, he will see the neces-
sity of perpetual watchfulness, repentance, and
prayer, and often cry, with holy Paul, O wretched
man that I am ! For though he is not under the
sole dominion of sin, yet he feels and laments a
criminal backwardness to good, and a proneness
to evil. So that when he would do good, evil is
present with him. He being the subject of two
opposite dispositions, therefore he cannot do the
things that he would. His resolutions are feeble,
and his comforts fluctuate, because his affections
are unstable, being sanctified but in part. Some-
times they mount to heaven, and seem fixed on
things above, but anon they drop down to earth
and sense ; and then he complains, and prays as
David did, saying, "JW?/ soul cleaveth to the dust,
quicken thou me." He feels and is assured, that
without Christ he can do nothing; yet that inabi-
lity of which he is sensible, he does not consider
as an excuse for the neglect of duty or commission
of sin. He does not bless himself that he has
got a bad heart, where he may safely deposit his
iniquities, and thereby keep his conscience calm.

But the sin of his heart is the sorroiv of his soul,
and his perpetual plague. It is the object of his
hatred, and the subject of his secret and unfeigned
lamentation : because the good man is taught to
consider moral defects as inexcusable faults.

ERRORS OF FALSE RELIGIONISTS. 245

He longs for lieaven, because it is a place of
purity where he shall be free from sin as well as
from sorrow. While in the body, he considers
himself neither ifj/iere nor a* he vvouhlbe; there-
fore his desire is to depart and l)e with Christ,
which is far better. And as he which tesiijieth these
things saith, Surely I come quickly : his heart rephes,
" Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus,"

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

Mr. Robert Hall was born in 1728, April
]5tli, old style, at a village called Black-Heddon,
in the parish of Stannington, about twelve miles
northwest of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in Northum-
berland. His father, Mr. Christopher Hall, was a
reputable farmer, as were his ancestors ; his
grand-father, it is said, lived on the same farm,
and was born in the same house, with his great-
grand-son Roliert. His father was a worthy,
honest man, of the Episcopal persuasion, but his
mother was a Presbyterian. He hoped they were
both possessed of true religion. His father died
when he was between eleven and twelve years
old, after which Robert was brought up with an
uncle, at Kirkley, three miles east of Black-
Heddon ; where he attended the Presbyterian
meeting, but with little advantage, the minister
being the most gross Arminian he ever met with.

However, the first year after he went there,
being only twelve years old, he was brought under
deep concern of soul. Hearing another youth,
who was himself very profligate, repeat some
awful things respecting the torments of hell,
which he had heard " the parson say at church"
a few days before, he was immediateJy, on this re-
lation, seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt,
and the misery of eternal banishment from God.
From that day, self-abhorrence attended with
black despair occupied his mind continually ; often

248

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

accompanied with horrid temptations and hlas-
phemies which ought not to he uttered. He could
see no way of escape from everlasting ruin, nor
was any satisfactory method of salvation pointed
out to him by the minister he then sat under.
Thus he lived for months and years, as on the
brink of hell, without a gleam of hope ; and so op-
pressed with this constant burden, tliat he could
scarcely think of any thing else, and hence often
thought of himself that he had not common sense.
Near the beginning of this time, he met with n
painful accident, l)y which he broke his arm and
three ribs ; and before he was cured, being sent
out into the harvest-field, on a young horse, with
his arm in a sling, and riding near a place where
they were felling some trees, the so«]nd of the axe
affrighted his horse, which ran away with hiruy
and threw him among the fallen branches. By
this fall his arm was broken again, with his other
arm and collar bone, and liis slioultler put out»
But he has repeatedly declared, that all the pain
of these broken bones did by no means equal the
anguish of his mind. The doleful sound of 'dam-
nation, damnation,' seemed continually in his ears.
He apprehended that his sins were unpardonable,
and that God could not save him if he would. He
really thought God must be reproached as an
unholy Being, if he shewed favor to such a sinner ;
and, therefore, he concluded it was a sin for him
to desire salvation. During this long season of
distress, he had some paroxysms of anguish still
more violent than what he felt in general, with
now and then a little occasional relief. x\nd one
time having imbibed a notion, some how or other,
thUt it was impossible for him to obtain acceptance
with God, and to be finally saved, except he ar-
rived at a state of sinless perfection, he strove
very bard for it, In order to bind himself mora

LIFE OF THE AtJTHOR. 249

effectually to duty, he entered into a written cove-
nant with God; this he did, it is thought, more
than once. However, he always hroke in upon
his engagements, and was convinced that he had
sinned again. He was much concerned about
this, and the notion still continuing that he must
either arrive at sinless perfection or perish, he
concluded, as the last expedient of which he could
think, that he would enter into a covenant with
God ivritten with his own Mood; and he actually
tied a ligature round his finger, pricked it, pro-
cured hlood for that purpose, and gave himself up
to God to be ruined to eternity if he ever sinned
again. The form of the covenant is not known,
hut the tenor of it was never to sin again while he
lived. For two or three days he thought he kept
it, but after that he was convinced he had sinned
again. Then he. thought it was all over with hinj,
and he concluded that he must he damned. But
he had very hard thoughts of God for njaking the
conditions of salvation so hard ; and as he expec-
ted that he must certainly perish, he thought with
himself whether it would not be a negative benefit
to him were he to put an end to his life imme-
diately. He knew that suicide was a great crime,
but he concluded that if he lived a few years, the
number of sins he should commit, in that time,
would more than equal the guilt of self-murder;
he therefore resolved, as the best thing he could
do upon the whole, to destroy himself. One day,
when he was at home at his father's house, he
made preparation to execute the horrid design ;
but before he did it, he resolved that he would
take his last leave of tlie Bible ; for, as he has said
several times to his brethren in the ministry when
he has related this story, nothing grieved him so
much when he thought of putting an end to his
life as this, I shall never see the Bible any more.

250 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

He accordingly took his Bible, not having his
mind any more upon one passage than another;
he opened it, and the first words that met his ob-
servation were these. Come noiv, and let us reason
together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as luhite as snow ; though they
be red like crimson, they shall be as wool ; Isa. i. 18.
This passage afforded him a gleam of ho[)e, and
he desisted from the shocking purpose, though the
habitual gloom of his mind soon returned again in
a great degree, and he obtained no abiding relief,
nor clear discovery of the gospel method of salva-
tion. But a considerable time after this, he took
up the Bible, and read in Exod. xxxiv. how Je-
hovah proclaimed his name before Moses, '■^ The
Lord, the Lord God, mercijul and gracious, &c.

FORGIVING INIQUITY, TRANSGRESSION, and SIN, and
that WILL BY NO MEANS CLEAR THE GUILTY," &C.

But instead of finding any relief from this encour-
aging passage, he was tempted to throw away his
Bible as containing irreconcilable inconsistencies^
in declaring that God wovild forgive iniquity, trans-
gression and sin, while yet it asserts that He loill
by no means clear the guilty. But at length, after
continuing in this state of distress and despondency
fijll s(3ven years, he obtained relief by a believing
view of the Gospel method of salvation. This he
had never heard stated by another, but one day,
resolving to look once more into the Bible, if
possibly it might discover to him any door of hope,
he cast his eye on Gal. iv. 4, 5. God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to

REDEEM THEM that WERE UNDER THE LAW, &C.

Immediately a new train of thought struck his
mind, " Christ ivas made under the law, — then he
was not under it originally ; — for what end was he
made under the law ? — to redeem them that were
under the law. — were under the law ! — then they

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 251

are not under the law now, but redeemed. There is,
therefore, a way of redemption for sinners from
the curse of the law, by which it is possible even I
may be saved ! — Being thus enlightened to see
that God could save him, if he plensed, without
debasing his own perfections, the bare possibility
of salvation, in a way consistent with the divine
glory, niade his heart glad indeed. He now began
to search the Scriptures for further discoveries of
this glorious gospel: and having once got hold of
the right clue, he read them as it were with new
eyes. The difficulty was now solved, which had
once tempted him to burn the Bible ; he under-
stood how God could forgive sin, and yet not clear
the guilty. Soon after this, his own salvation
began to appear not only possible, but probable,
and at length certain. This was in May, 1748.
He now was convinced, and rejoiced that salvation
was of GRACE indeed, and abhorred the Arminian
sentiments, which had so long held him in dread-
ful bondage. He remarked long after to a friend,
"perhaps I should never have detested that sys-
tem as I do, had I not once drank into it, and felt
its effects." On this account he left the minister
upon whom he formerly attended, and travelled
five miles to another Pre5%fenan meeting, where
the gospel was preached, and joined in commun-
ion with that people. The minister at this place
was a Mr. Dryden, who had a few young men
under his care designed for the ministry. Mr.
Hall contracted a peculiar intimacy with two of
these students, Mr. James Rutherford and Mr.
William Peden.

About this time there began to be a great noise
in those parts, respecting the Anabaptists, as they
were styled, who had licensed a house for preach-
ing, about twelve miles off. Mr. Hall's mother
having married again, her eldest sou Christopher

252 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

left her, and went to reside in the county of Dur-
ham. And now Robert heard that his brother
Christopher had joined these Anabaptists at Hnms-
teriey ; he abhorred the very name, and did not
like to hear his brother mentioned, because he wns
one of them, and had married a sister of the man
at wiiose house they had set up preachin^i, live
miles from Hexham. At last, however, he agreed
with his two friends, Rutherford and Peden, to go
and dispute with the Anabaptist minister, that, if
possible, they might put a stop to his farther pro-
gress in that neighborhood. Accordingly under
color of Mr. Robert Hall's visiting his new relation,
they went together to the [)lace, called Juniper-
dye-house, on a Saturday evening, when they
knew that the minister, Mr. David Fernie, would
be there, ready to preach on the morrow. They
were all three kindly entertained, and, according
to their eager wish, soon got into a close dispute
upon baptism. They were three to one ; never-
theless, in about two hours, the young men were
all entangled and ashamed. They then went out,
laid their heads together to muster up fresh argu-
ments, and returned to the company and renewed
the debate : but to their great mortification, were
again quite silenced, though not convinced. It
had been their design to have stopped and heard
Mr. Fernie on the morrow, but the two students
were so chagrined that they would not stay, but
set off homeward. After this repulse, they all
three met frequently, to fortify themselves for a
future attack, being resolved not to give up the
point, but to go again when prepared. But they
were disn|)pointed in their purpose of going to-
gether, for Mr. Dryden soon after gave up his
academy, and that scattered them. However, Mr.
R. Hall determined he would go once more, and
try what he could do by himself. Accordingly, he

LIFE or THE AUTHOR. .'253

fTot what books he could ai^ainst the Baptists, in-
tendinj; to confront Mr. Fernie with arguments
troin them. But upon thinking what Mr. F. might
])ossibly urge in reply to these arguments, he
found none of them would stand : so that by
searching the Scriptures upon the subject, and
reading Wilson's Scripture Manual, which fell
into his hands, he was convinced of believer's
baptism, without any more dispute. The next
time that he saw Mr. F. he was baptized by him,
January 5, 1752, at Juniper-dye-house aforemen-
tioned, and received into the little church at Hex-
ham : it was then a branch of a larger church,
whose principal meeting-place was in the county
of Durham, where the minister then resided, but
visited this ])lace once a month ; another branch
of his church met at Marten, in Yorkshire, a few
miles south of Stockton-upon-Tees.

The church conceiving that Mr. Hall was pos-
sessed of ministerial talents, urged him immedi-
ately to attempt expounding the Scriptures ; and
by their persuasion he made a trial privately,
before the members of the church, and founded
his discourse on the same text that he left for his
funeral, "/t is finished." He has often said, he
began where he should have left off, and that if he
knew which should be his last sermon, he would
preach it from those words. After five or six
months trial by the church, Mr. Hall was solemnly
called out, by them, to public w^ork, about June,
1752. He was then twenty-four years of age.

It is here needful to remark, that a serious good
man from Lutterworth, who had been at Carlisle,
in the duke of Cumberland's army, had there con-
tracted an acquaintance with Mr. Hall's eldest
brother Christopher, who had been some time in
the ministry, and was then assistant to an aged
minister at Broughton, in Cumberland. After the

254 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

rebellion was suppressed, and this good man had
returned home, he was the instrument of Mr. C.
Hall's being known to the people at Arnsby. Mr.
C. Hall was applied to, and he spent two Sabbaths
with them, in the latter part of the summer, 1752.
And the people persuaded him to engage, that if
no particular hindrance arose, he would visit them
again in the spring. He had fixed to spend the
ensuing winter at Whitehaven, where he had kept
an occasional lecture: and by the spring a people
were gathered there, who entered into a church
state, over whom Mr. C. Hall was ordained pastor
in April. Therefore early in the spring Mr. C.
Hall sent information to Arnsby, that he could not
leave his new-raised society, but that he had a
younger brother, newly called out to the ministry,
who was at liberty. They repeatedly desired him
to send his brother. Mr. Robert Hall had then in
view a place in Yorkshire. But, by his brother's
advice, he went first to Arnsby. When he came
there, he soon found his heart cleaving to the
people, and was favored with more liberty in
preaching than had been common with him be-
fore. They were a poor, plain people, but Mr.
Hall's low opinion of himself, made him really
think himself " unfit to preach to any other but
such." They pressed him much to abide with
them, and his mind being greatly fixed on God's
promise to Moses, My presence shall go with thee,
he was encouraged to venture, and complied with
their request, in June, 1753.

When Mr. Hall came to Arnsby first, the church
and congregation being small and very poor, never
raised him so much as £15 a year: "nor, indeed,"
said Mr. Hall, "for several years after, and
my family increased fast, having had fourteen
children in all. But I found my heart so united
to the people, that I never durst leave them.

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 255

though T often thought I must. I trust the Lord
was with us of a trutli, and the fifth chapter of the
first epistle of Peter was hahitually impressed on
my mind. It appearing pretty clear to myself and
my wife, that we were where God would liave us
to be ; this sense of duty, and a willingness to live
honestly, made us resolve ip the strength of the
Lord, that we ivould not run into debt, let us live as
hardly as we might: which resolution he enabled
us to keep But many and unknown difficulties
we grappled with : However, I am thankful I
have been enabled to continue with the people to
this day, of whom I can say with truth, I love
them in the Lord."*

Mr. Hall's first wife was Jane Catchaside, the
daughter of very creditable parents, Robert and
Mary Catchaside ; born at Proud-Hall, April 15,
1729, and married July 18, 175!, who died Dec.
21, 1776. She was a great encourager of her hus-

* Soon after his settlement at Arnsby, the doubts of
his call and qualifications beset him ; and on a Monday,
he desired his wife to go to the people, and desire they
would provide a supply for the next Sabbath, as he could
not preach. She refused, and said, Try what the Lord
will do for you. On the Saturday, he repeated the re-
quest to her; and she denied, saying, Stay till to-morrow,
and if they must be told so, g;o and tell them yourself,
for I cannot. He went ; and after telling his dismal
ditty to the people, an old father said, Sir, go up into the
pulpit and pray ; and if you find your mind set at liberty,
proceed in preaching ; if otherwise, come down and
we'll spend the time in prayer : for I trust you are with
a sympathizing people. He went to prayer, and soon
found his soul at perfect liberty, by the letting in of
those words. Come, for all things are now ready. Al-
most every member present expressed the greatest satis-
faction, and the preacher said, he found so great a ful-
ness in the words, that he thought he saw matter enough
in them to serve him to preach from as long as he lived.

256 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

band, under the trials they encountered, when
they first came to Arnsby, being naturally of a
cheerful, active disposition, and favored with great
spiritual enjoyments and consolations. For above
twenty years she lived generally in an assured
persuasion of the love of God ; but for four years
before her death, she underwent such sore afflic-
tions of body and mind, as have seldom been
equalled ; yet died at last in a most triumphant
manner. A brief account of the occasion, continu-
ance, and joyful conclusion of these sore conflicts,
was published soon after her death, under the title
of Mercy Manifested; in a letter from Mr. Hall to
a friend ; which went through two editions in
1777. Under this affliction his supports and con-
solations were such, and his faith and patience so
exemplary, as to fill all his friends with astonish-
ment.

Mr. Hall was justly and highly prized by his
brethren in the ministry, especially those who be-
longed to the Baptist Association, (consisting
principally of churches in Leicestershire and
Northamptonshire,) which he was greatly instru-
mental in forming. And several of their annual
letters, on the most important articles, were writ-
ten by this excellent man. None of them have
been more deservedly esteemed than that which
he wrote in the midst of his most heavy affliction,
viz. in the year 1776, upon the Doctrine of the
Trinity. The letter being much approved by
many of different denominations, a second edition
was called for, and printed on a larger type, to
which, by the desire of Mr. Ryland, Jr. he an-
nexed, Some Thoughts on the causes of Salvation
and Damnation, in answer to Mr. Fletcher, of
Madely.

In the year 1779, at the Association at North-
ampton, Mr. Hall delivered a discourse from Isa.

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 257

Ivii. 14. Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way,
take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my
people. 1'lii.s scM-moii lie was earnestly desired to
priiit, with such circumstantial alterations or en-
larir(;ments as he mii^ht judcfe proper. It was pub-
lished l>y subscription in 1781, under the title of
Help to Zion's Travellers: Being; an attempt
to remove various Stumbling-blocks out of the way,
relating to Doctrinal, Experimental and Practical
Religion. This little volutne, which principally
contains a vindication of the genuine doctrines of
jjrace, iVotn the objections of Socinians, Sabellians,
Arminians, and Antinomians, has met with con-
siderable approbation, from godly, judicious, and
learned men of various denominations.

Mr. Hall was married to a second wife, on June
21, 1780, viz. Mrs. Elizabeth Swan, tbe relict of
Mr. Swan of Northampton. Her maiden name
was Woodcock, and she was a native of Hinckley.
Mr. H. ever expressed great thankfulness for this
connexion ; she proved a tender and useful nurse,
as well as sympathizing friend, in all his latter
afflictions.

In December, 1783, he had a very narrow es-
cape from being smothered in the snow ; of which
he gave a very affecting account, in a letter dated
January 15, J 784, and then closed it with these

sweet lines: " Since I saw you, I have

bad more pleasure in my work, than has been
common with me. Indeed (but I beg you not to
mention a word of it to any one,) I have had the
most blessed half year in my soul, that I remem-
ber ever to have enjoyed. The a[)proach of Sab-
baths has been pleasurable to me; my work a
sweet reward; and the worship of God in general
attended with meltings of heart, and soleinn joy.
I have thought, though a poor creature as ever
■crawled, yet I would not, on the -whole, if I could,

X

258 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

exchange my relative connexion with Christ, and
consequential state, with an angel. Yet I tremble
while I thus speak. I would not vaunt, and I
dread desertion : but I make free with you, and
entreat you to regard the prohibition above. I am,
dear brother, yours in love and affection, sincere
and fervent, Roht. Hall."

In the beginning of 1788, his valuable hfe
seemed twice exposed to ittimineni danger, from
very trivial accidents. First, by a slight prick in
his finger brought on a mortification, which was
stopped with difficulty, and the loss of its first
joint. A few months afterwards he seemed in
equal danger from a slight friction in another
part, which for several weeks caused an alarming
inflammation on tlie right side of his head, about
the temples, and behind the ear. Nor was he
sufficiently recovered by the Association, May 27,
to be able to attend it, though held so near as
Kettering : but he sent the circular letter, which
he had been desired to draw up, and which was
approved and ordered for the press. This letter
principally treated on the evil of sin, and the dig-
nity of Christ; and was meant to fortify the
churches against every temptation to desert the
doctrines of ChrisVs infinite dignity and invaluable
atonement. These principles occupied a first place
in his heart ; they were his daily bread ; it was
under their influence that he ripened so much as
he did in humility, heavenly-mindedness, and joy
in God. The dear and adorable Redeemer, as he
used to express himself, was his life in this world,
and his hope for that to come.

When this letter was printed, his absence and
illness was notified to the churches, and their
prayers desired for his valuable life : and God
granted that which they requested for near three
years longer. The Association at Spalding, iu

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 259

178J, was too distant for him to attend, but his
letter on Communion with God, was that year
primed, which proved the last of his remains from
the press. But in 1790, he attended the Associa-
tion at Ohicy, where he preached from Acts xx.
24. But none of these things move me, neither
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
fnish my course toith joy, and the ministry which I
have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of
the grace of God. This was the last time he was
employed on a public occasion in his own con-
nexion.

Meanwhile his spasms, or fits of the cramp, re-
turned frequently, and often with great violence
In his last letter to his son-in-law, Mr. Isaac James,
of Bristol, dated February 4, 1791, he writes thus.
" In [)oint of health, when my fits are off", I am as
well almost as I could wish ; and as to my state
ijenerally, rather happy in my mind. The gospel
bears my spirits up, a faithful and unchanging Godj
lays the foundation of my hope, in oaths, and prom-
ises, and blood. This verse often is, and long has
been precious to me. I have you all more in
remetnhrance than ever. May the Lord say to
each, Thou shall not be forgotten q/*7/ie."

Fehruary 17, 1791, he wrote to his old and inti-
mate friend, Mr. Evans, of Northampton, The
following remarkable passages, I have extracted
from that letter. " As to myself, as I write to
a dear friend, I may use a little freedom. You
know I have had many things to crush my nat-
ural spirits, and often think, perhaps it is well
for me they were broken down in early life. I
have long groaned, being l)urdened, till a low,
timorous, pensive frame of mind, became habitual:
what you say of your usefulness, affects me to
tears. I hope the Lord has made me useful, (and
so he has you) but that never was to me a sufli

260 LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

cient proof of his approbation. He will call, com-
fort, and nourish his own, though the instrument be
only a nurse for a time, yea, worse, a black unclean
raven. Many and many a day and year have I
spent habitually bemoaning myself, surely I am
more hrutish than any man, &c. 1 liave often
dreaded and hung back from the Lord's vvork^
perhaps to the dishonor of Ids name and the dis-
couragement of my friends, particularly young
ministers; which I lament now, as such opportuni-
ties are over with me. Yet the Lord has been
ever kind to timorous, distrustful, ungrateful me.
1 have always dreaded long life, having a shattered
memory at best, and a|)prehending that under
natural decays, I should be useless indeed ; nay,
worse, a cumberer of the ground. But, dear
brother, I mention it for your encouragement,
though I dread saying too much, or that you
should think I am more favored than I really am ;.
yet, 1 say, I may venture to mention to you, that
hitherto my fears have not been verified. 1 trust
the Lord is with me rather more than heretofore ;
and the word seems blest to some, if not to many.
We are well attende<l, in ba(i weather excei^^ed ;:
and at evening meetings still more and more.
But sometimes I preach with much difficulty, and
the Lord's day was fortnight did not at all, having
a fit on me from luorning to night. I have many
that are soon got off, but several have baffled all
means of late ; at least for a long time. The few
last have been very diflTerent from what they used
to be. My head has not been affected, nor breast
in much pain : but I have been very sick, and in-
clined to swoonings. 1 have been generally \ery
happy in my mind. Last Lord's day night had a
very severe fit, though but of four hours continu-
ance. They called my son John out of bed- I
was happy beyond expression in my mind. It

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 261

was a night of sorrow deluged with joy. What
my dear wife and son, &c. feared, that I in a
measure longed for. I say in a measure, because,
thougli greatly afflicted, yet my comforts were so
much superior, that I thought, and said, I cared
not liow long I lived, though I had fits every day,
if the Lord continued me his heart-melting, heart-
strengthening presence. I had general pain all
over, hut 1 could not forbear saying. Pain was
pleasant, and sickness sweet, when the Lord is
near. I thought of you, brother Ryland, &c. with
great delight; and that if the Lord spared me, I
would write a few lines on God's behalf, viz. to
request you not to dread any thing but sin. I am
sure the Lord can make you most happy, when
afflictions are most heavy. He has really done so
to me, poor me ; and if so, can you distrust? One
time (a while ago) those words. Fear not, worm
.facob, &c. were so much to me, that I told the
Lord it was enough, I wished, 1 wanted no more.
But last Lord's day night my cup ran over. O
take care, dear brother, and never dishonor God,
as I have done, by slavishly dreading old age, sore
diseases, devils, or death. But here it becomes
me to stop ; I am yet in the body, having an evil
heart ; I know not how I may be yet, 1 therefore
almost repent I have written what I have. How-
ever, I must and will say, truly the Lord is good,
and if HE be with me, 1 will fear none evil, &c.

" After all, 1 know not the day of my death.
The Lord may spare me to drag on for years.
But none of these things move me, so that I may,
be when it will, finish my course with joy."

Mr. Hall had been going through the Epistle to
the Hebrews in an expository lecture on the
Lord's day evening; the last lecture was upon
Heb. vi. 12. That ye he not slothful, but followers oj
them, who through faith mid patience inherit tht
promises.

262

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

On the Lord's day wherein l)e was taken to
rest, he appeared very well in the morniiii:-, and
went into the meeting at the usual time, and
preached from John iv. 10. If thou knewest the gift
■of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me
to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he
would have given thee living water. It was a
()leasini( circumstance to some, that this sultject
led him to mention, what they had never been
told before, the first text he preached from at
Arnsby, which was in Prov. xxv. ^5. ^s cold
waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far
country. Many thought that he spoke with un-
common vigor, beyond what they remembered for
many years. He gave out at the close, 168th
Hynm of Rippon's Selection.^ The fountain of
Christ, Lord help us to sing, &c. He afterwards
ate his dinner as usual, and then lay down for a
while, and slept soundly. About five he arose,
as well, or rather better than usual. About six
o'clock he retired into the little parlor, and staid
about half an hour; when he came out again,
Mrs. Hall first perceived him to be indisposed.
He asked for some panjomile tea, being very sick,
and complained of a violent pain in ijis breast,
though his sickness rather abated. A friend
coming in to see how he did, lie seen)ed at first
not disposed to say much, but wished tiim good
night, when he was going away ; and presently,
as if he suddenly recollected himself, he called
him back, and said, "Friend Looms, fear nothing :
do not be afraid of trouble, trials, nor even death ;

* This Selection of Hymns, intended to be an Appen-
dix to Dr. Watts' Hymns and Psalms, was very early
indebted to Mr. Hall's patronage. Several verbal alter-
ations suggested by his critical acumen have been
adopted in the 4th edition by the Editor,

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 265

if the Lord is but with you, you will do." This he
said, in a very animated manner, and with a cheer-
ful tone of voice, and then wished him good night
again. To two others of his people he signified
that he was not much inclined to try fresh medi-
cines, "But," added he, "I have not lived so long
in the world as to be weary of it, nor am I afraid
to die. I don't care whether I live or die." About
eight o'clock he wished to go into the little par-
lor. Mrs. Hall took the candle to go before and
light him, and his friends. Palmer and Vice, took
hold of him as he got u[>, to lead hin) along more
safely; when he said, '•^ I shall swoon ;" and sunk
down to the ground, and expired without a groan
or struggle.

On the Thursday afternoon following, his re-
mains were committed to the grave ; at which an
oration was made by Mr. Fuller ; the funeral
sermon was preached by Mr. Ryland, junior, in
the yard, which adjoins both to the meeting and
dwelling-house, (the concourse of people being too
great to be contained in the place of worship,}
from the text mentioned before, " It is finished."

A letter from a friend, who had been intimately
acquainted with Mr. Hall for many years, contain-
ing a just delineation of his character, is inserted
more for the imitation of the living, than for the
honoring of the dead ; those who were most inti-
mately acquainted with him, will avouch it to con-
tain the words of truth and soberness.

"The distinguished talents of our dear deceased
friend, will long live in the remembrance of all
who knew him. His advantages of education
were extremely small, but possessing from his
infancy a contemplative cast of mind, and a
habit of patient thinking, he laid in a large stock
of useful knowledge. In the character of a minis-
ter of the gospel, there have been but few more

"264 LIFE OF THE A^JTHOR.

generally esteemed. Attentive only to the inr-
provenient of Iiis iiearers, he forgot himself, and
appeared entirely absorbed in hissubject. Though
he was unacquainted with the graces of oratory,
and the embellisimients of language, scarce any
rnan spoke with a more striking and visibh? effect.
From nature he rlerived a large share of sensi-
bility, and ;iS he excelled at the same time in
taking a profound and comprehensive view of a
subject, the understanding and affe(;tions of his
hearers were equally interested in his discourses,
which generally tlovved in a stream of argument
and jjathos. From a natural diffidence of tem()er,
heightened by a consciousness of his want of edu-
cation, he often ascended tl)e pulj)it with tremor;
but as soon as this subsided, he generally led his
hearers, step by step, into a large field of serious
and manly thinking, kindled as lie advanced, and
ex[)atiated with increasing energy and conviction
till the subject was exhausted. His eminent piety
lent a peculiar unction to the sentiments he de-
livered, led him to seize the most interesting
views of every subject, and turned topics, which
in the hands of others would have furnished bar-
ren speculation only, into materials for devotion
and prayer. He appeared to the greatest advan-
tage upon subjects where the faculties of most
men fad them, for the natural element of his mind
was greatness. At times he seemed to lal)or with
conceptions too big for his utterance, and if any
obscurity ever pervaded his discourses it must be
traced to this source, the disproportion of his lan-
guage to the vastness of his conceptions. He had
great force without ornament, and grandeur with-
out correctness. His ministry in the hands of
-God was effectual to the conversion of great num-
bers; and in this particular he was distinguished
in a manner not very common, for the last years

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

965

of his life were the most successful. But it was
not only iji the }julpit that he shone^ in his pri-
vate sphere of action as a Christian, his virtues
were not less distinguished than his talents as a
minister. Deep devotion and unaffected humility
entered far into this part of his character. Few
men have passed through greater vicissitudes ot
life than the deceased, and perhaps in each of
them no man preserved with a more inviolable
consistency the character of a Christian. He was
very early introduced into the school of affliction,
and the greater part of his subsequent life was dis-
tinguished by an uncommon succession of trials
and distresses. On his first entrance on the min-
istry his fortitude was exercised in a scene of per-
secutions and reproaches, which lasted for many
years; his worldly prospects at the same tiine
were gloomy and precarious in a high degree ; h&
had a very numerous family, and an income ex-
tremely limited. He united great susceptibility or
heart with firmness of mind, and endowed with
these dispositions, he met reproaches with gen-
tleness, sustained adversity with fortitude, and
pains and sorrows of various kinds with exem-
plary patience. In the habitual frame of his spirit
he walked with God. The consolations that sup-
ported him through life awaited him at death, for
so tranquil were- his last moments, so completely
was he reconciled to the prospects of both worlds,
that he declared a little time before he expired, he
would not give a straw to live or die. From his
first acquaintance with religion, to the close of his
life, he was never known to express the least
hesitation respecting his state, but enjoyed an un-
interrupted assurance of a happy immortality.
His conversation breathed so much of heaven,
was so tinctured with the very spirit of rehgion,
that none could enjoy it without an opportunity of

266

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

being made better. It was evident to all who
knew hitn, that his religion was not a transient
impression, but a permanent principle, that it
blended itself with all his feelings and his actions,
and that it raised his thoughts, his views, and his
passions towards heaven.

In the first years of his ministry, he encountered,
as hath already been remarked, much persecution
and reproach ; but at length his exemplary con-
duct dissipated these prejudices, and gained him
so completely the esteem of all classes of mankind^
that it may be doubted whether he had an enemy
in the world ; for certain he had none but those
whom his piety might make such. He was dis-
tinguished as a lover of peace, and as anxious to
heal breaches as he was cautious to avoid them.
With some, his extreme solicitude for the propa-
gation of evangelical sentiments might seem like
bigotry ; but they who knew him best were well
convinced that this was no part of his character,
and that he regarded sentinients in no other light,
nor cherished them in any higher degree, than as
he conceived them favorable to the interests of
holiness and virtue.

His brethren in the ministry will long and
deeply lament him ; for to them his talents and
dispositions peculiarly endeared him. How many
private circles hath he cheered and enlivened by
his presence ! In how many public solemnities
hath he lifted up an ensign to the people, invited
them to the standard of the cross, and warmed
and exalted their affections, whilst "his doctrine
dropped as the rain, and his speech distilled as the
dew." Great abilities are often allied to pride, but
the character of the deceased was an illustrious
exception to this rule. His talents and virtues
were in some measure concealed from the world,
and almost entirely from himself, by a veil of the

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. 267

most iin;ifF«!etecl modesty. He was never so happy
as whefj he was permitted to sit in the shade,
though the hij^h opinion entertained of his abili-
ties seldom allowed him that indulgence. It
would be difficult to conceive a human mind more
completely purged from the leaven of pride or of
envy, than was that of our deceased friend. In
this particular his magnanimity was so great, that
he seemed, on all occasions, desirous of sinking
the recollection of himself in the reputation and
applause of his cotomporaries. To cultivate the
seeds of reflection and improvement in the minds
of his inferiors, to behold the growing talents
and virtues of his brethren, to draw merit from its
obscurity and give confidence to timid worth,
formed some of the highest satisfactions of his life.
His temper was grave and contemplative, yet
few men took greater delight in Christian society,
and on these occasions he seldom failed to mix
with serious converse a vein of pleasantry and
humor in which he greatly excelled. From his
integrity and knowledge it may be inferred he was
eminently skilled for imparting advice, yet so
carefully did he shun every inclination to dictate,
that he scarce ever gave it unsolicited. His seo-
timents, when required, he imparted with tender-
ness and freedom, but he never made advice a
disguise for arrogance, or an engine of rule, nor
ever [jresumed to think himself affronted if his
counsels were not followed. In his whole de-
portment, prudence and humility was conspicu-
ous ; a prudence, however, that were candid and
manly, as far removed from art, as his humility
was from meanness. He had failings, no doubt,
(for who is free ?) But they were scarcely ever
suffered to influence his conduct, or to throw-
even a transient shade over the splendor of his
character. Upon the whole, if a strong and pene-

268 LIFE OP THE AUTHOR.

trating genius, simplicity of manners, integrity of
heart, fidelity in friendship, and all these virtues
consecrated by a piety the most ardent and sincere
on the high altar of devotion, have any claim to
respect, the memory of the deceased will long be
cherished with tears of admiration and regret by
those who knew him."

He died on March 13, 1791, in the 63d year of
his age.

^mi^^m^

PART I.
DOCTRINAL DIFFICULTIES.

CHAPTER I.

Page.

Artful Objections to Christ's Divinity, - - 29

1. From his Inferiority to the Father, - - ib.

2. Perversion of Terms used on this Head, - 34

3. Pre-existence of Christ's Human Soul, - 38

4. Excluding the Body from being a constituent

Part of Man, 41

CHAPTER II.

Difficulties concerning the Love of God, - - 46

1. Necessary hatred to Sin not inconsistent with

sovereign love to Persons, - - - 53

2. The Objects of God's natural Love may

through Sin become the Objects of his holy
Displeasure, 54

3. Good Men not equally the Objects of God's

natural Love, 57

Inferences,
(1.) The Damnation of such that kept not their

270

Page.

First Estate, wherein they enjoyed Divine
ApprobiUion, not inconsistent with God's

Immutability, 58

(2.) Need of watchfulness against Sin, - - 59
(3.) We are undone without sovereign Grace, ib

(4.) Opposition to divine Sovereignty lamentable

CHAPTER HI.

GO

Difficulties concerning the Doctrine of Election, 61

Election used in different Senses, - - ib.

Reprobation not the negative of Election, 67
(1.) Election not influenced on the appointment

of any to Destruction, - - - - 7.S

(2.) Nor injurious to those not included in it, 74

(3.) Nor contrary to the moral Character of God, 75

CHAPTER IV.

Union xoitk Christ, 77

Visible (79), vital (80), virtual - - SH

CHAPTER V.

Relation to God. By Adoption and Regeneration, 90

CHAPTER VI.

Difficulties obviated respecting the Atonement, - 96

1. It supposes God was injured, - - - ib.

2. Man justly obnoxious to Punishment. - 97

3. Innocence of him who makes Atonement, 99

4. Yet Equity seems to forbid the Punishment of

the Innocent, 100

5. The Substitute must be related to ihe Sinner, ib.

INDEX 271

Page.

6. No Creature has power over his own Life, 101

The Person of Christ answers all Difficulties, ib.

The Necessity of the Atoirenient proved by

Five Arguments, lOG

The Efficacy of Christ's Atonement not de-
pendent on mere arbitrary Appointment, 110

Answer to the Objection from this Considera-
tion, That Deity could not die, - - 112

PART II.
EXPERIMENTAL DIFFICULTIES.

CHAPTER I.

As to a Sinner's Warrant to apply to Christ, - 126
(I.) That it is not the Duty of the Unconverted

to Pray, I2l

(2.) That none can repent till they know that

Christ died for them, - - - - 123
(3.) That Faith is inseparably connected with

knowledge of Personal Interest, - - 128

Any poor Sinner welcome to Apply, - 129

Nature of Faith, 133

CHAPTER II.

Stumbling-Blocks relative to the New Birth, - 143

CHAPTER III.

Relative to Spiritual Consolation, - - - 147

CHAPTER IV.

Sense of Internal Depravity, .... 153

272 INDEX.

Page
CHAPTER V.

Hindeiances from wrong Views of Doctrines, - 155

(1.) Doctrine of Imputation, - - - 156

(2.) Efficacious Grace, 159

(3.) Doctrine of Election, . - - . 160

(4.) Doctrine of Redemption, - - - 164

(5.) Perseverance, 169

CHAPTEK VI.

Dark and afflictive Providences, - . _ 171

(I.) Often mysterious, ib.

(2.) Good men liable to mistake Providence, 172

(3.) Designed for our trial, .... 174
(4.) Occasion of perplexity through mistaking

Promises, 176

(5.) Failure of Promises supposed to be particu-
larly applied, 178

PART III

PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

CHAPTER I.

1 . Evil conduct of Professors (censorious) - 182

2. Loose Professors, 183

CHAPTER il.

The Enmity of the World ; or, the Cross and

Persecution, 187

CHAPTER III.

Errors of false Religionists — False assertion that

we are in no sense under the Law, - 191

INDEt. 27S

Page.

As to positive Appointments, - - - 195^

Stumbling-Blocks owing to the consideration
of Divine Requirements being superior to

Human Ability, 201

(1.) The Law not altered in consequence of the

Fall, 208

(2) The Death of Christ procured no such

Alteration, 210

(3.) No universal Grace necessarily superadded, 215
(4.) Not a sufficient answer to say we had Ability

in Adam, 217

(5.) Best answered by distinguishing between

Natural and Moral Ability, - - - 219
Natural and Moral Inability and Ability

defined. 220

I. Natural Impotence not criminal, - - ib.

[i.] Such weakness not condemned in Scrip-
ture, ib.

[ii.] If the fault lay here, the less under-
standing or Natural Capacity was pos-
sessed, the more criminal, - - - 222

[iii.] New faculties not created in Regen-
eration, ib.

II. Moral Inability criminal always, - - 225
A Query answered, .... 227
True state of the Question, - - - 228
Nature of free Agency, .... 229
Arminian Objection answered, - - 230

1. Sinful Actions voluntary, - - - 231

2. Apology from Moral Inability inadmissible, 234

Infer from hence,
1. The equity of Jehovah, .... 245

Z

274

2. Necessity of renewing Grace, - - - 240

3. Freedom and Riches of Grace, • - - 241

4. Consistency of Scriptural Exhortations, - ib.

5. Encouragement to Seeking Souls, - - 242

6. The Strong Believer is taught Humility, - 243
Life of the Author, 247

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