Skip to main content

Full text of "Checks to antinomianism"

See other formats 


i 


<\ 


V  ;^ . 


^J> 


CONTENTS  OP  VOLUME  11. 


— -s^\^. 


I.       FIFTH  CHECK.. ..PART  FIRST, 


Pag? 

6 


J.  An  Answer  to  the  *'  Finishing  Stroke"  of  Mr.  Richanl  HiU 

II.  Remarks  on  the  Creed  of  an  Antinomian.  ^  ,  .  .  ,         , 

III.  Appendix:   On  the  remaining  Difference  between  C a  vxmst*  and 

Anti-CalYinists,  respecting  Final  Justification  by  Works ok 

II.       FIFTH  CHECK.. ..PART  SECOND, 

i.  Sincere  Obedience  defended •  •• 

II.  The  Evangelical  Law  of  Liberty ^^ 

IIL  The  Conditionality  of  Perseverance 

III.       THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.     81 

IV.       AN  EQUAE  CHECK    TO    PHARISAISM    AND    ANTI- 
N0MIAN1SM....PART    FIRST. 


The  Design  of  the  Work,  and  the  Reasons  of  its  Publication. ,  109 

;e  and  Harmony  of  the  two  Gospel 
and  the  fatal  Consequences  of 


^"T^Ann^ti^iZ-Iy  ;7the  Importance  and  Harmony  of  the  two  Gospel 

■      PrecepU  Believe  and  Obey;    and  the  fatal  Consequences  of  ^^^ 


parting  them ,  ,,      rx   -.rri-o    ^k. 

II    A  Discourse  preached  at  Madeley,  April  18,  and  May  9,  17.3,  on 
*     the  two  Covenants,  that  of  Works  and  that  of  Grace;    show.ng  ^^_ 
that  Salvation  is  only  by  the  latter /  ' ' '  V.' '  7 '  V*  tlil 

III.  A  Scriptural  Essay,  on  the  Rewardableness  of  the  Works  of  true  ^^ 
Faith,  according  to  the  Covenant  of  Grace 

IV    An  Essay  on  Truth :  or  a  rational  Vindication  of  the  Doctnne  of 
'    Salvation  by  Faith;  displaying  the  Nature  and  Saving  Power  of 
reli-iou-  Truth,  when  cordially  embraced  by  Faith,  and  the  van- 
ous^Sorts  and  Degrees  thereof,- with  Addresses  to  different  De-  ^^^ 
scriptions  of  Persons 


CONTINUED : 

OR, 

THE  FIRST  PART 

OF 

THE  FIFTH  CHECK 

TO 


CONTAINIJTG 

AN  ANSWER  TO 


ee^rwiEtTa  ^^^^"^T^sjjujg^df  g^prp(^(m!i?T55dd 


OF 


RICHJIRI)  HILL,  ESq, 

In  which  some  Remarks  upon  Mr.  Fulsome's  Aktinomian  Creed,  published 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berridgey  are  occasionally  introduced. 


APPENDIX, 

L'pon  the  remaining  Difference  between  the  Calvinists  and  the  Anti-Calvinist5, 

with  respect  to  our  Lord's  Doctriue  of  Justification  by  Words,  and  St. 

James's  Doctrine  of  Justification  by  Works,  and  not  by  Faith  only. 

.^j  deceivers  and  yet  fnt^. — In  meekness  instructing  them  that  oppose  themselves. 

2  C«r.  Ti.  18.     2  Tim.  ii.  Sf.. 

Vol.  II.  1 


CONTENTS. 


SECT.  I.  Mr.  Hill  endeavours  to  screen  his  mistakes,  by  presenting  the  world  with  a 
*y  rong  view  of  the  controversy. 

Sect.  II.  His  charge,  that  the  practical  religion  recommended  In  the  Checks  "  under- 
mine both  Law  and  Gospel,"  is  retorted :  and  the  Mediator's  Law  of  Liberty  is  defended. 

Sect.  III.  Mr.  Hill's  faint  attempt  to  show,  that  his  scheme  differs  from  speculative  Anti- 
nomianisra :  His  inconsistency  in  pleading  for  and  against  sin,  is  illustrated  by  Judah's  beha- 
viour 10  Tamar. 

Sect.  IV.  At  Mr.  Hill's  special  request,  Mr.  Fulsome,  [a  gross  Antinomian,  first  intro- 
duced to  the  world  by  Mr.  Berridge,]  is  brought  upon  the  stage  of  controversy.  Mr.  Ber- 
ridge  attempts  in  vain  to  bind  him  with  Calvinistic  cords. 

Sect.  V.  Mr.  Hill  cannot  defend  his  doctrines  of  grace  before  the  judicious,  by  producing 
a  list  of  the  gross  Antinomians  that  may  be  found  in  Mr.  Wcsley^s  societies. 

Sect  VI.  Mr.  Hill,  after  passing  ov€r  all  the  Arguments  and  Scriptures  of  the  Fourth 
Check,  attacks  an  illustration  with  the  IXth  Article.  His  stroke  is  warded  off,  and  that  Ar- 
ticle turned  against  Calvinism. 

Sect.  VII.  His  moral  creed  about  faith  and  works  is  incompatible  with  liis  immoral 
system. 

Sect.  VIII.  He  raises  a  cloud  of  dust  about  a  fair,  though  abridged  quotation  from  Dr. 
Owen ;  and  in  his  eagerness  to  charge  Mr.  Wesley  and  his  second  with  disingenuity,  fur^ 
nishes  them  with  weapons  against  his  own  errors. 

Sect.  IX.  The  "  execrable  Swiss  slander"  proves  sterling  English  truth. 

Sect.  X.  The  sincerity  of  our  i^ord's  intercession,  even  for  Judas,  is  defended. 

Sect.  XI.  An  answer  to  two  capital  charges  of  gross  misrepresentation. 

Sect.  XII.  Some  queries  concerning  Mr.  Hill's  forwardness  to  accuse  his  opponents  of 
disingenuity,  gross  perversion,  calumny,  forgery,  &c.  and  concerning  his  abrupt  manner  of 
quitting  the  field  of  controversy. 

Sect.  XIII.  A  perpetual  noise  about  gross  perversions,  and  base  forgeries,  becomes  Mr. 
Hill  as  little  as  any  writer,  considering  his  own  inaccuracy  with  regard  to  quotations ;  some 
flagrant  instances  of  which  are  produced  out  of  his  Finishing  Stroke. 

Sect.  XIV.  The  author,  after  professing  his  brotherly  love  and  respect  for  all  piou«; 
Calvinists,  apologizes  for  hie  antagonist  before  the  Anti-Calvinists  :  and, 


4  CONTENTS. 

Sect.  XV,  Takes  his  friendly  leave  of  Mr.  Hill,  after  promising  him  to  publish  a  sermon 
on  Rom.  xi.  5,  6,  to  recommend  and  Guard  the  doctrine  of  Free  Grace  in  a  scriptural 
manner. 

In  the  Appendix,  the  author  proves  by  ten  more  arguments,  the  absurdity  of  supposing 
with  the  Solifidians,  that  Believers  are  justified  by  works  before  Men  and  Akgels,  but  not 
before  God. 


AN 

ANSWER 


TO 


OF 

RICHJIRJ)  HILL,  ESCi. 

Hon.  and  dear  Sir, 

X  HAVE  received  your  Finishing  Stroke,  and  retura  the  following 
Answer  to  you,  or,  if  you  have  quitted  the  field,  to  your  pious 
Second,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berridge,  who  by  a  public  attack  upon  sincere 
obedience,  and  upon  the  doctrine  of  a  believer's  Justification  by  Works, 
and  not  by  Faith  only,  has  already  entered  the  lists  in  your  place. 

Sect.  I.  Page  6,  You  complain,  that  I  represent  you  as  fighting 
the  battles  of  the  rankest  Antiuomians,  "  Because  (say  you)  we  firmly 
believe  and  unanimously  assert,  that  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from 
all  sin,  and  that,  if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  &lc. 
and  that  this  advocacy  prevails."  Not  so,  Sir  :  I  apprehend  you  give 
your  readers  totally  wrong  ideas  of  the  question.  You  know,  I  never 
opposed  you  for  saying,  that  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  a  penitent 
believer  from  all  sin.  On  the  contrary,  this  I  insist  upon  in  a  fuller 
sense  than  you  do,  who,  if  I  mistake  not,  suppose  that  death,  and  not 
the  blood  of  Christ,  applied  by  the  sanctifying  Spirit,  is  to  be  our 
cleanser  from  all  sin.  The  point  which  we  debate  is  not  then, 
whether  Christ's  blood  cleanses  from  all  sin,  but  whether  it  actually 
cleanses  from  all  guilt  an  impenitent  backslider,  a  flthy  apostate ;  and 
whether  God  says  to  the  fallen  believer,  that  commits  adultery  and 
murder,  "  Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love,  my  undefiled,  there  is  no  spot  in 
thee:^^  This  you  affirm  in  your  fourth  Letter;  and  this  I  expose  as 
the  very  quintessence  of  Ranterism,  Antinomianism,  and  Calvinistic 
perseverance. 


6  FIFTH  CHECK 

The  second  part  of  your  mistake  is  yet  more  glaring  than  the  first. 
The  question  is  not  [as  you  inform  your  readers]  whether,  if  any 
man  sin^  *we  have  an  Advocate  li^ith  the  Father^  &lg.  You  know,  Sir, 
that  far  from  denying  this  comfortable  truth,  I  maintain  it  in  full 
opposition  to  your  narrow  system,  which  declares,  that  if  any  man, 
who  is  passed  by  or  non-elected,  sinneth,  there  is  no  Advocate  with  the 
Father  for  him  :  and  that  there  are  thousands  of  absolutely  reprobated 
wretches,  born  to  have  the  devil  for  a  tempter  and  an  accuser,  with- 
out any  help  from  our  Redeemer  and  Advocate. 

Nor  yet  do  we  debate  whether  Christ's  Sidvocacy  prevails,  in  the  full 
extent  of  the  word,  for  all  that  know  the  day  of  their  visitation.  This 
is  a  point  of  doctrine,  in  whi':h  I  am  as  clear  as  yourself.  But  the 
question,  about  which  we  divide  is,  1.  Whether  Christ's  advocacy 
never  prevails,  when  he  asks  that  barren  fig-trees,  which  are  at  last 
cut  down  for  persisting  in  their  unfruitfulness,  may  be  spared  this  year 
also  ?  2.  Whether  it  prevails  in  such  a  manner  for  all  those,  who 
once  made  ever  so  weak  an  act  of  true  faith,  that  they  shall  never 
iffiake  shipwreck  of  the  faith,  never  deny  the  Lord  that  bought  them,  and 
bring  upon  themselves  swift  destruction?  3.  Whether  Aaron  and 
Korah,  David  and  Demas,  Solomon  and  Hymeneus,  Peter  and  Judas, 
Philetus  and  Francis  Spira,  with  all  that  fall  from  God,  shall  infallibly 
sing  louder  in  heaven  for  their  grievous  falls  on  earth  ? — In  a  word, 
whether  the  salvation  of  some,  and  the  damnation  of  others,  are  so 
finished,  that,  during  the  day  of  their  visitation,  it  is  absolutely  impossi- 
ble for  one  of  the  former  to  draw  back  to  perdition  from  a  state  of 
salvation  ;  and  for  one  of  the  latter  to  draw  back  to  salvation  from  a 
state  of  perdition  ? 

These  important  questions  you  should  have  laid  before  your  readers 
as  the  very  ground  of  our  controversy.  But  instead  of  this  you  amuse 
them  with  two  precious  Scriptures,  which  I  hold  in  a  fuller  sense  than 
yourself.  This  is  a  stroke  of  your  logic;  but  it  is  not  the  finishing 
one,  for  you  say  : 

Sect.  11.  P.  6.  "  We  cannot  admit  the  contrary  doctrine  [that  of 
the  Checks]  without  at  once  undermining  both  Law  and  Gospel.  For 
the  law  is  certainly  undermined  by  supposing,  that  any  breach  of  it 
whatever,  is  not  attended  with  the  curse  of  God." — What  law  do  I 
undermine  ?  Is  it  the  law  of  innocence.^  No.  For  I  insist  u'pon  it  as 
well  as  you,  to  convince  unhumbled  sinners,  that  there  can  be  no 
salvation  but  in  and  through  a  Mediator. — Is  it  the  Mediator's  law,  the 
law  of  liberty?  Certainly  not :  for  I  defend  it  against  the  bold  attacks 
you  make  upon  it ;  and  shall  now  ward  off  the  dreadful  blow  you^ 
eive  it  in  this  argument. 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM.  7 

O  Sir,  is  it  right  to  confound,  as  you  do,  the  law  of  paradisiacal 
innocence,  with  the  evangelical  law  of  liberty,  that  in  point  of  ^per- 
sonal, sincere  obedience,  you  may  set  both  aside  at  one  stroke  ?  Is 
not  this  Calvinistic  stroke  as  dangerous,  as  it  is  unscriptural  ?  '  There 
is  no  law  but  one,  which  damns  for  want  of  absolute  innocence  ;  all 
those  that  are  under  any  law,  must  be  under  this  law,  which  curses 
for  a  wandering  thought  as  well  as  for  incest. — But  believers  are  not 
cursed  for  a  wandering  thought.  Therefore  they  are  under  no  law : 
they  are  not  cursed  even  for  incest ;  they  may  break  their  "  rule  of 
life^*  by  adultery  as  David,  or  by  incest  as  the  unchaste  Corinthian, 
without  falling  under  the  curse  of  a7iy  divine  law  in  force  against 
them  :  in  a  word,  without  ceasing  to  be  men  after  God's  own  heart.' 

Now  whence  arises  the  fallacy  of  this  argument  ?  Is  it  not  from 
overlooking  the  Mediator's  law^  the  law  of  Christ?  Can  you  see  no 
medium  between  being  under  "  a  rule  of  Hfe,'^  the  breaking  of  which 
shall  work  for  our  good  ;  and  being  under  a  law  that  curses  to  the  pit 
of  hell  for  the  least  want  of  absolute  innocence  ?  Betwixt  those  two 
extremes,  is  there  not  the  evangelical  law  of  liberty? 

O  Sir,  be  not  mistaken  :  the  Gospel  has  its  law.  Hear  St.  Paul : 
God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  my 
GOSPEL,  Rom.  ii.  16.  Hear  St.  James;  So  speak  ye  [believers]  and 
so  do,  as  they  that  shall  be  judged  by  the  law  of  liberty  ;  for  he  [the 
believer]  shall  have  judgment  without  mercy,  that  hath  showed  no  mercy, 
James  ii.  12,  13.  illustrated  by  Matt,  xviii.  23—35. 

Christ  is  neither  an  Eli  nor  a  Nero,  neither  a  dolt  nor  a  tyrant ; 
but  a  priestly  king,  a  Melchisedec.  If  he  is  a  king,  he  has  a  law  ;  his 
subjects  may,  and  the  disobedient  shall,  be  condemned  by  it.  If  he 
is  a  priestly  king,  he  has  a  gracious  law  ;  and  if  he  has  a  gracious  law, 
he  requires  no  absolute  impossibilities.  Thus  the  covenant  of  grace 
keeps  a  just  medium  between  the  relentless  severity  of  the  first 
covenant,  and  the  Antinomiao  softness  of  the  covenant  trumpeted  by 
some  Calvinists. 

Be  not  then  frightened,  0  Sion,  from  meditating  in  Christ's  law  day 
and  night ;  for  it  is  the  law  of  thy  gracious  King,  who  cometh  unto  thee 
meek,  and  sitting  upon  the  foal  of  a  mild,  pacific  animal  :  and  not  that 
of  thy  fierce  and  fond  monarch,  O  Geneva,  who  comes  riding  upon 
the  wings  of  storms  and  tempests,  to  damn  the  reprobates  for  the  pre- 
ordained, unavoidable  consequences  of  Adam's  preordained,  unavoida- 
ble sin  ;  and  to  encourage  fallen  believers,  that  climb  up  into  their 
neighbours'  beds,  by  saying  to  each  of  them,  Thou  art  all  fair,  my 
love,  my  undejiled,  there  is  no  spot  in  thee.  But  more  of  this  to  Mr. 
Berridge.     When  you  have  given  us  a  wrong  idea  of  the  Mediator's 


8  FIFTH    CHECK 

law :  you  proceed  to  do  the  same  by  the  Gospel,  with  which  that 
law  is  so  closely  connected.     For  you  say  : 

P.  6.  "  The  Gospel  is  certainly  undermined,  by  supposing,  that 
there  is  provision  made  in  it  for  some  sins,  and  not  for  others."  Well 
then,  Sir,  Christ  and  the  four  evangelists  have  "  certainly  under- 
mined the  Gospel;"  for  they  all  mention  the  blasphemy  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  sin  unto  death,  or  the  sin  of  final  impenitency  and  un- 
behef ;  and  they  not  only  suppose,  but  expressly  declare,  that  it  is  a 
sin,  for  which  "  no  provision  is  made,"  and  the  punishment  of  which 
obstinate  unbelievers  and  apostates  must  personally  bear.  Is  it  not 
strange,  that  the  capital  doctrine,  by  which  our  Lord  guards  his  own 
Gospel,  should  be  represented  as  a  capital  error,  by  which  "  the 
Gospel  is  certainly  undermined  ?" 

Sect.  III.  P.  6.  To  show  that  your  scheme  is  different  from  specu- 
lative Antinomianism,  you  ask,  "  Is  the  experience  of  David,  Lot, 
and  Solomon,  that  of  all  those  who  abide  by  those  doctrines  ?"  I  an- 
swer. It  may  be  that  of  thousands  for  aught  you  know,  and  if  it  be 
not  that  of  myriads,  no  thanks  to  you.  Sir,  for  you  have  given  them 
encouragement  enough,  [though  I  still  do  you  the  justice  to  say,  you 
have  done  it  undesignedly ;]  And  lest  they  should  forget  your  former 
inuendo,  in  this  very  page  you  say,  that  "  the  covenant  of  grace" 
[including,  no  doubt,  finished  salvation']  "  standeth  sure  in  behalf  of 
the  elect  under  every  trial,  state,  and  circumstance,  they  can  possibly 
be  in;"  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  imphes  that  they  may  be  in  the 
impenitent  ''state''  of  drunken  Lot,  and  adulterous  David;  or  in  the 
dangerous  "  circumstances'"  of  idolatrous  Solomon,  and  the  incestu- 
ous Corinthian,  without  being  less  interested  in  finished  salvation, 
than  if  they  served  God  with  Noah,  Job,  and  Daniel.  To  this  an- 
swer I  add  FlavePs  judicious  observation  :  "  If  the  principle  will 
yield  it,  it  is  in  vain  to  think  corrupt  nature  will  not  catch  at  it, 
and  make  a  vile  use  and  dangerous  improvement  of  it."  But  you 
say,  p.  7.  '*  You  know  in  your  conscience,  that  we  deter  and  abhor 
that  damnable  doctrine  and  position  of  real  Antinomians,  Let  us  sin, 
that  grace  may  abound.''' — I  believe.  Sir,  that  all  pious  Calvioists,  and 
consequently  you,  abhor  that  horrible  tenet  practically,  so  far  as  you 
are  saved  from  sin.  And  yet,  to  the  great  encouragement  of  practical 
Antinomianism,  you  have  made  an  enumeration  of  the  goodlhat  sin, 
yea  any  length  in  sin,  unto  adultery,  murder,  and  incest,  does  to  the 
pleasant  children.  You  have  assured  them  that  sin  shall  work  for 
their  good;  and  you  have  closed  the  strange  plea  by  saying,  that  "  a 
grievous  fall  will  make  them  sing  louder  the  praises  of  free,  restoring 
grace  to  all  eternity  in  heaven."      Now,  Sir,  pardon  me,  if  I  tell 


TO    ANTINOMIAOTSM.  V 

i 

you  ray  whole  mind  :  Really,  tb  this  day,  I  think,  that  if  I  wanted  to 
make  Christ  publicly  the  minister  of  sin,  and  to  poison  the  minds  of 
my  hearers  by  preaching  an  Antinomian  sermon  from  these  words, 
Let  us  sin,  that  grace  may  abound,  I  could  not  do  it  more  eflfectually 
than  by  showing,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  your  fourth  Letter, 
1.  That,  upon  the  whole,  sin  can  do  us  no  harm  :  2.  That,  far  from 
hurting  us,  it  will  work  for  our  good  :  And  3.  That  even  a  grievous 
fall  into  adultery  and  murder,  will  make  us  "  sing  louder  in  heaven  ; 
all  debts  and  claims  against  believers,  be  they  more  or  be  they  less, 
be  they  small  or  be  they  great,  be  they  before  or  be  they  after  con- 
version, being  for  ever  and  for  ever  cancelled  by  Christ's  fulfilling 
the  law  for  them."  In  the  name  of  reason,  I  ask,  where  is  the  dif- 
ference between  publishing  these  unguarded  tenets,  and  saying 
roundly.  Let  us  sin,  that  grace  may  abound? 

Do  not  reply,  Sir,  that  this  objection  was  brought  against  St.  Paul 
as  well  as  against  you,  and  therefore  the  apostle's  doctrine  and  yours 
exactly  coincide  ;  for  this  would  be  impeaching  the  innocent  to  screen 
the  guilty.  The  charge  of  indirectly  saying,  Let  us  sin,  that  grace 
may  abound,  is  absolutely  false  when  it  is  brought  against  St.  Paul ; 
but  alas,  it  is  too  true  when  produced  against  the  author  of  Pietas 
Oxoniensis.  Where  did  that  holy  apostle  ever  say,  that  sin  works 
for  our  good  ?  When  did  he  declare  that  the  Lord  overrules  sin^ 
even  adultery  and  murder,  for  the  good  of  his  backsliding  people ; 
and  that  grievous  falls  in  this  world  will  make  us  more  joyful  in  the 
next  ?  But  you  know.  Sir,  who  has  published  those  maxims,  and  who 
stands  to  them  even  in  a  Finishing  Stroke  :  intimating  still,  that  it  is 
God's  "  secret  wiW  to  do  good  to  his  people  by  the  abominable  thing 
which  his  soul  haieth,  p.  55. 1.  36,  &c.  O  Sir,  hell  is  not  farther  from 
heaven,  than  this  doctrine  from  that  of  the  apostle  :  for  while  you 
absolutely  promise  fallen  believers  louder  songs  in  heaven,  he  condi- 
tionally threatens  them  with  m,uch  sorer  punishment  in  hell,  Heb.  x. 
29.  and  Christ  says,  Go  and  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  happen  unto 
thee.  But  your  scheme  says,  Go  any  length  in  sin,  and  a  more  ex- 
cellent thing  shall  happen  unto  thee:  "A  grievous  fall  will  drive 
thee  nearer  to  Christ." 

Leading  you  to  reconcile  yourself  with  holy  Paul  and  our  blessed 
Lord,  I  beg  leave  to  account  for  the  warmth  with  which  you  some- 
times plead ybr,  and  sometimes  against  sin.  As  a  good  man,  you  un- 
doubtedly "  detest  and  abhor"  this  dangerous  maxim  of  the  great 
Diana  of  the  Antinomians  ;  "  sin  works  for  good  to  believers ;"  but 
as  a  sound  Calvinist,  you  plead  for  it,  yea,  and  you  father  it  upon  the 
apostle  too  :  see   Third   Check,  p.  231.     This  contrariety  in  yonj 

Vol.  U.  C 


to  yiFTH   CHECK 

sentiments,  may  be  illustrated  by  Judah*s  inconsistent  behaviour  to 
Tamar. 

As  Tamar  was  an  agreeable  woman,  Judah  took  an  Antinomian 
fancy  to  her,  gave  her  his  signet,  bracelets,  and  staff,  for  a  pledge  ; 
and  faithfully  sent  her  a  kid  from  the  flock.  But  as  she  was  his  dis- 
graced daughter-in-law,  big  with  a  bastard  child,  though  he  himself 
was  the  father  of  it,  he  rose  against  her  with  uncommon  indignation, 
and  said,  in  a  fit  of  legality.  Bring  her  forth  that  she  may  be  burnt ! 
O  that,  instead  of  calling  me  "  a  spiritual  calumniator,^^  and  ac- 
cusing me  of  ^'vile  falsehood,  and  gross  perversion,''^  for  bearing  my 
testimony  against  a  similar  inconsistency,  you  would  imitate  the  un- 
deceived  patriarch,  take  your  signet  and  bracelets  again  ;  I  mean, 
call  in  your  fourth  Letter,  that  fatal  pledge  sent  me  from  the  press 
of  your  great  Diana,  and  from  this  time  A;«oiiy  her  again  no  more  J 
Gen.  xxxviii.  26. 

Sect.  IV.  But  you  are  not  put  out  of  countenance  by  your  former 
mistakes,  for,  p.  8,  9.  speaking,  it  seems,  of  those  mistaken  good  men, 
*'  who  say  more  at  times  for  sin  than  against  it,"  or  of  those  who  tra- 
duce obedience,  and  make  void  the  law  through  faith  :  representing 
it  as  a  bare  rule  of  life,  the  breaking  of  which  will  in  the  end  work 
for  the  believer's  good  ;  you  say  :  "  Though  I  have  begged  you  sq 
earnestly  in  my  Review,  to  point  out  by  name  who  these  wretches" 
[you  should  say,  these  persons]  are  :  though  I  have  told  you,  that 
without  this  the  charge  of  slander  must  be  for  ever  at  your  door  ; 
still  neither  they  nor  their  converts  are  produced,  no,  nor  one  quo- 
tation from  their  writings,  in  order  to  prove  these  black  charges  upon 
them."  Here  is  a  heap  of  gross  mistakes.  I  have  not  only  produced 
one  quotation,  but  many,  both  from  Dr.  Crisp's  writings  and  your  own. 
See  Second  Check,  p.  143  to  146.  and  Third  Check,  from  p.  217 
to  236.  Again,  that  "  neither  they  nor  their  converts  are  produced," 
is  a  capital  oversight.  Turn  to  Fourth  Check,  p.  355  :  "  Produce 
a  few  of  them,"  says  your  brother  ;  to  which  I  answer,  "  Well, 
Sir,  I  produce  first,  the  author  of  Pietas  Oxoniensis,  next  yourself, 
and  then  all  the  Calvinists,  who  admire  your  brother's  Fourth  Letter, 
where  he  not  only  insinuates,  but  openly  attempts  to  prove,  that 
David,  &.C.  stood  absolved  and  complete  in  the  everlasting  righteousness 
of  Christ,  while  his  eyes  were  full  of  adultery,  and  his  hands  of  blood. 
Now,  Sir,  if  this  was  the  case  of  David,  it  may  not  only  be  the  case 
of  many,  but  of  all  the  elect :"  For  the  imaginary  covenant  o^ finish- 
ed salvation,  stands  as  sure  for  fallen  believers,  who  cheat,  swear, 
and  get  drunk,  as  for  those  who  commit  adultery,  murder,  and  in 
cest. 


XO   ANTINOMIANISM.  11 

But  since  you  press  me  still  to  produce  witnesses  I  promise  you 
to  produce  by  and  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berridge,  your  second,  together 
with  his  Antinomian  pleas  against  sincere  obedience.  In  the  mean  time 
I  produce  *'  Mr.  Fulsome,"  together  with  a  quotation  from  "  The 
Christian  World  Unmasked."  It  contains  a  ludricous  description  of 
a  consistent  Antinomian,  brought  over  to  the  doctrines  of  grace,  by  I 
know  not  which  of  our  Gospel  ministers. 

His  name,  says  Mr.  Berridge,  was  Mr.  Fulsome,  and  his  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Miss  Wanton.  '  When  the  cloth  was  removed,  and 
some  few  tankards  had  gone  round,  Mr.  Fulsome's  face  looked  like 
the  red  lion  painted  on  my  landlord's  sign,  and  his  mouth  began  to 
open.  He  talked  swimmingly  about  religion,  and  vapoured  much  io 
praise  of  [Calvinistic]  perseverance.  Each  fresh  tankard  threw  a 
fresh  light  upon  his  subject,  &c.'  No  sin,  he  said,  can  hurt  me.  I 
have  had  a  call,  and  my  election  is  safe.  Satan  may  pound  me,  if  he 
please  :  but  Jesus  must  replevy  me.  What  care  I  for  drunkenness 
or  whoredom,  for  cheating,  or  a  little  lying?  These  sins  ,may  hurt 
another,  but  they  cannot  hurt  me.  Let  me  wander  where  I  will  from 
God,  Jesus  Christ  must  fetch  me  back  again.  I  may  fall  a  thousand 
times,  but  I  shall  rise  again  :  yes,  I  may  fall  exceeding  foully.' — •  And 
so  he  did,  for  instantly  he  pitched  with  his  head  upon  the  floor,  and' 
the  tankard  in  his  hand.'     Christian  World  Unmasked. 

Thus  fell  the  Antinomian  champion  of  Calvinistic  perseverance. 
The  tankard  (adds  Mr.  Berridge)  was  recovered,  but  no  one  thought 
it  worth  their  while  to  lift  up  Mr.  Fulsome.'— And  what  does  Mr. 
Fulsome  care  for  it,  if  Jesus  Christ  himself  be  absolutely  engaged  to 
raise  him  up,  though  he  had  spilt,  not  only  some  of  my  landlord's 
ale,  but  all  my  landlord's  blood?  Let  Mr.  Fulsome  take  a  peaceful 
nap  upon  the  floor,  till  he  can  call  for  another  tankard  ;  it  will  never 
hurt  him,  for  Mr.  Hill  declares  that  **  the  covenant  of  grace  standeth 
sure  in  behalf  of  the  elect  under  every  trial,  state,  and  circumstance 
th^  can  possibly  be  in  :  and  that  God  overrules  sin/or  their  good. ^^ 
Finishing  Stroke,  p.  6.  and  p.  65. 

Upon  the  principles  of  Calvinism  no  logician  in  the  world  can,  I 
think,  tind  a  flaw  in  the  following  arguments  of  Mr.  Fulsome.  IC I  am 
unconditionally  elected,  irresistible  grace  will  certainly  save  me  at  last ; 
nay,  my  salvation  is  nWeady  finished :  And  for  this  tankard,  and  twenty 
more,  I  shall  only  "  sing  louder"  in  heaven  the  praises  of  free,  distin- 
guishing, restoring  grace,  which,  passing  by  thousands,  viewed  me 
with  unchangeable  love,  and  determined  to  save  me  with  an  everlast- 
ing salvation,  without  any  regard  to  that  '*  jack-o'lantern,  sincere  obe- 
dience.'^    If,  on   the  other  hand,  I   ana  unconditionally  reprobated,  I 


12  FIFTH    CHECK 

shall  absolutely  be  damned. — Again,  supposing  Christ  never  died  for 
me,  not  only  all  ray  faith,  but  also  all  my  endeavours  and  works,  [were 
they  as  many  as  those  of  Mr.  J.  W.]  like  a  "jacfe-o'/awiern,"  will  only 
dance  before  me  to  the  pit  of  hell. — Once  more,  if  I  am  absolutely 
justi6ed,  it  is  not  all  the  tankards  and  harlots  in  the  world,  that  can 
blot  my  name  out  of  the  book  of  life.  And  if  I  am  in  the  black  book, 
my  damnation  is  as  good  asjinished.  My  sincere  obedience  will  never 
reverse  a  personal,  absolute  decree,  older  and  6rmer  than  the  pillars 
of  heaven.  Nay,  it  may  be  the  readiest  way  to  hell ;  for  our  Vicar, 
who  is  one  of  the  first  Gospel  ministers  in  the  kingdom,  tells  us,  that 
"  the  devil  was  surely  the  author  of  the  condition  of  sincere  obe- 
dience,'^ and  that  "  thousands  have  been  lost  by  following  after  it." 
Landlord,  bring  in  another  tankard. — Here  is  the  health  of  all  those 
who  do  not  legalize  the  Gospel ! 

Mr.  Berridge  is  too  good  a  logician,  to  attempt  proving,  that  Mr. 
Fulsome's  creed  is  not  quite  rational  upon  the  principles  of  Calvinism. 
He  only  says,  p.  192.  "such  scandalous  professors  are  found  at  all 
times,  in  our  day,  and  in  St.  Paul's  day,  yet  St.  Paul  will  not  renounce 
•the  doctrine  of  perseverance." — True  ;  he  will  not  renounce  ^isooj/i 
doctrine  of  conditional  perseverance,  because  it  is  the  very  reverse 
of  the  doctrine  of  absolute,  or  Calvinistic  perseverance,  from  which 
Mr.  Fulsome  dr^ws  his  horrible,  and  yet  just  inferences. 

But,  says  Mr.  B.  p.  178,  "  A  believer's  new  nature  makes  him  hun- 
ger for  implanted  righteousness  ;"  insinuating  that  a  believer's  holy 
nature  puts  him  upon  such  spontaneous  obedience  to  his  "  rules  of 
life,"  that  he  needs  not  the  help  of  a  law  as  a  ride  of  rewards  and 
punishments^  to  encourage  him  in  the  path  of  dut}^  and  to  keep  him 
from  the  broad  way  of  disobedience.  As  this  is  one  of  the  grand 
arguments  by  which  pious  Calvinists  defend  the  Antinomian  Babel, 
I  shall  answer  it  first  as  an  anti-Calvinist,  and  Mr.  Fulsome  next  as  a 
Calvinist. 

1.  Experience  shows,  that,  to  secure  the  creature's  obedience,  or 
the  Creator's  honour,  the  curb  of  a  law  is  necessary  for  all/rce  agents^ 
who  ard  yet  in  a  state  of  probation  ;  and  that  so  long  as  we  are  sur- 
rounded with  so  many  temptations  to  faint  in  duty,  and  to  leave  the 
thorny  way  of  the  cross  for  the  flowery  paths  of  sin,  the  spur  and 
bridle  of  a  promising  and  threatening  law  are  needful,  even  with  re- 
spect to  those  duties  which  natural  or  supernatural  inclination  renders 
in  general  delightful  ;  such  as  for  mothers  to  take  care  of  their  own 
children,  and  believers  to  do  good  to  their  neighbours.  Now  as  the  civil 
law,  that  condemns  murderers  to  death,  does  not  except  mothers  who 
destroy  the  fruit  of  their  womb^  because  natural  affection  makes  them 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  13 

in  general  glad  to  preserve  it :  so  the  penal  law  of  Christ  makes  no 
exception  in  favour  of  believers,  who  fall  into  adultery  and  murder, 
under  the  Calvinistic  pretence,  that  their  new  nature  makes  them  in 
general  hunger  after  purity  and  love.  See  1  Cor.  vi.  8,  9. — Again, 
all  sophisms  flee  before  matter  of  fact.  Fallen  angels  and  our  first 
parents,  once  naturally  hungered  after  righteousness,  more  than  most 
believers  do  ;  and  yet  they  grossly  apostatized.  And  if  you  object  to 
these  instances,  1  produce  David  and  the  incestuous  Corinthian.  Both 
had  a  "  new  nature"  as  believers ;  and  yet,  as  fallen  believers,  the  one 
could  thirst  after  Uriah's  blood,  and  the  other  hunger  after  his  father's 
wife,  far  more  than  after  "  implanted  righteousness."     But, 

2.  Mr.  Fulsome  may  answer  Mr.  Berridge  as  a  Calvinist,  thus  ;  My 
new  nature  will  make  me  hunger  for  implanted  righteousness  "  in  the 
day  of  God's  power  :"  God  will  do  his  own  work  :  In  the  mean  time 
I  am  *'  in  a  winter  season  :"  I  am  carnal  and  sold  under  sin,  as  well 
as  St.  Paul,  and  I  thirst  after  my  tankard  as  David  did  after  Bath- 
sheba's  beauty,  and  Uriah's  blood  :  thus  the  Antinomian  gap  remains 
as  wide  as  ever. 

It  is  true  also  that  Mr.  Berridge  says,  p.  173,  "  Cheats  will  arise  : 
And  how  must  we  deal  with  them  ? — Deal  with  them,  Sir,  why  hang 
them,  when  detected  ;  as  Jesus  hanged  Judas."  I  thought  that 
Judas  and  not  Jesus  was  the  hangman.  But  I  let  that  pass,  to  observe, 
that  Mr.  Fulsome  may  justly  ask:  Why  will  yon  hang  me  ?  Does  not 
our  Lord,  speaking  of  his  elect,  say,  *'  He  that  touches  you,  touches 
the  apple  of  mine  eye  ?  If  Mr.  Berridge  answer :  You  are  no  elect: 
you  are  a  hypocrite  ;  you  never  had  grace  :  Mr.'  Fulsome  may 
justly  reply,  upon  the  plan  of  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  of  grace,  '  I 
have  had  a  call,  and  my  election  is  safe.  Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to 
the  charge  of  God's  elect?  Whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified  : 
yea,  they  are  justified  from  all  things.  You  have  no  more  right  to 
condemn  me  as  a  hypocrite,  because  you  see  me  with  a  tankard  in 
my  hand,  than  to  pass  a  sentence  of  hypocrisy  upon  all  backsliders. 
How  will  you  prove  that  I  have  not  as  much  right  to  toss  ray  tankard 
as  David  to  write  a  sanguinary  letter  :  Solomon,  to  worship  devils  : 
and  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  to  invade  the  rights  of  his  father's  bed  ? 
I  will  maintain  the  privileges  of  God's  children  against  all  the  legalists 
and  the  Wesleys  in  the  world  :  I  will  fight  for  free  grace  to  the  last 
drop  in  my  tankard. — My  service  to  you  !" 

If  Mr.  Fulsome's  arguments  are  conclusive,  as  well  as  Calvinistical^ 
how  can  he  be  brought  to  give  up  his  Antinomian  creed  ?  Undoubt- 
edly by  being  brought  to  give  up  Calvinism.  Till  then  it  is  evident 
that  he  will  still  hold  his  doctrines  of  grace  in  theory,  or  in  practice ; 


14  FIFTH    CHECK 

indirectly  and  with  mental  reserves,  as  all  pious  Calvinists  do  ;  m 
openly  and  without  shuffling,  as  he  does  in  his  confessien  of  faith. 
Thus  has  Mr.  Berridge  presented  the  world  with  an  Antinomian 
creed,  as  horrid  as  that,  which  I  have  composed  with  the  unguarded 
principles  of  your  Fourth  Letter.  And  by  acknowledging,  that  "  such 
scandalous  professors  as  Mr.  Fulsome  are  found  at  all  times,"  he  has 
confirmed  the  necessity  of  my  Checks,  shown  they  are  really  Checks 
to  Antinomianism,  and  not  "  Checks  to  the  Gospel,"  silenced  those 
who  have  accused  me  of  misrepresentation^  and  helped  me  to  give  the 
world  a  just  idea  of  Calvinistic  principles.  I  say  principles^  because 
many,  very  many  Calvinists,  like  Mr.  Berridge,  are  too  moral  not  to 
reject  in  their  practice^  and  not  to  explode  as  detestable  in  their  dis- 
course^ the  immoral  inferences,  consistent  Antinomians  justly  draw 
from  their  doctrines  of  grace. 

Sect.  V.  Having  thus  complied  with  your  request,  Sir,  by  pro- 
ducing '*  a  quotation*^  from  an  eminent  Calvinist  divine,  to  show  that 
I  do  not  fight  against  a  shadow  when  I  oppose  Mr.  Fulsome ;  and 
having  described  a  rational  *'  converC^  to  your  doctrines  of  grace  :  I 
return  to  the  Finishing  Stroke,  where,  to  ward  off  the  blow  given  to 
your  system  by  the  orthodoxy  and  bad  conduct  of  the  Fulsomes, 

P.  9.  You  offer  to  show  me  "  a  long  black  list  of  deluded  creaturefe 
[some  of  whom  have  been  principal  leaders  in  BIr.  W.'s  classes,  &c.] 
who  have  been  carrying  on  abominations  and  wicked  practices  under 
the  mask  of  religion."  And  you  tell  us  they  are  "  some  of  the  fruits 
which  the  doctrines"  of  Mr.  Wesley  "  have  produced."  But  you 
have  forgot  the  proof,  unless  you  think  that  your  bare  assertion  is 
quite  sutficient.  Suppose  that  one  out  of  twelve  of  Mr.  W.'s  class 
leaders  had  actually  turned  out  a  "  temporary  monster,"  what  could 
you  infer  from  it  against  Mr.  W.'s  doctrine,  but  what  the  Pharisees 
could,  with  equal  truth,  or  rather  with  equal  injustice,  have  inferred 
against  the  doctrine  of  our  Lord  ? 

By  what  plain  and  easy  consequence,  or  by  what  scriptural  argu- 
ment will  you  make  it  appear,  that  even  the  most  abhorred  of  all 
Mr.  W.'s  doctrines,  that  of  Christian  Perfection,  [or,  which  is  all 
one,  that  of  believing  in  Christ  with  a  penitential  faith,  till  we  love 
God  with  all  our  heart,  and  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,]  has  any 
more  tendency  to  turn  his  hearers  into  "  temporary  monsters,"  than 
our  Lord's  Sermon  upon  the  Mount  had  to  turn  his  apostles  into 
covetous  traitors  ?  But  how  can  you  free  your  doctrine  from  the 
dangerous  consequences  which  flow  from  it  as  naturally  as  a  river 
does  from  its  source  ?  Have  I  not  just  proved,  1  hope  to  the  satis- 
faction of  judicious  readers,  that  Mr.  Fulsome's   practice  perfectly 


TO   ANTINOMIANISM.  15 

agrees  with  your  Calvinistic  priaciples  ?  O  Sir,  that  vapourer  in 
favour  of  your  perseverance,  fairly  and  consistently  builds  upon  what 
your  brother  cSflls  "  the  foundation  of  the  Calvinists,"  that  is,  nncon- 
ditionat election  %ndi  finished  salvation  :  he  is  a  wise  master-builder. 
Apply  the  most  exact  plummet  of  reason  to  the  walls  of  his  Antino- 
mian  Babel,  and  you  will  find  them  straight.  They  do  not  project  a 
hair's  breadth  from  your  doctrines  of  grace,  which  are  the  foundations 
laid  in  some  of  our  celebrated  pulpits,  for  him  and  all  the  clan  of  the 
Fulsomes  to  build  upon.  He  is  a  judicious  monster  ;  he  has  reason 
and  your  orthodoxy  on  his  side.  But  the  monsters  of  your  long  black 
list  [supposing  it  to  be  a  true  one]  are  barefaced  hypocrites,  equally 
condemned  by  their  reason  and  profession  :  for  so  far  as  they  adhere 
to  Mr.  W.'s  doctrine,  their  principles  are  diametrically  opposed  to 
their  practice,  and  therefore  he  is  no  more  accountable  for  their 
*'  abominations"  than  our  Lord  was  for  Judas's  treason. 

Sect.  VI.  Page  12,  13.  You  leave  me  in  full  possession  of  the 
scriptures,  arguments,  and  quotations  from  our  Homilies  and  Liturgy, 
which  I  have  advanced  in  the  Fourth  Check ;  supposing  that  whea 
you  have  called  them  "  the  novel  chimeras  of  the  Fourth  Check," 
or  a  "  mingle  mangle  ;"  and  that  when  you  have  referred  your 
readers  to  "  the  faith  of  Mr.  Ignorance,"  you  have  given  my  senti- 
ments a  Finishing  Stroke.  To  such  forcible  arguments  I  can  make 
no  better  and  shorter  reply  than  that  of  my  title-page,  Logica  Gene- 
vensis !     However, 

P.  11.  You  decide  that  my  illustration  of  the  woman  dropping  her 
child  down  the  precipice  "  is  totally  foreign  to  the  purpose,"  i.  e. 
does  not  at  all  prove  that  Calvinism  fathers  "  unprovoked  wrath" 
upon  the  God  of  love.  But  how  do  you  make  it  appear  ? — Why, 
you  insinuate,  that  '*  man  has  forfeited  all  right  and  title  to  the  favour 
of  God  by  his  fall  in  Adam  ;"  and  therefore  God  has  been  justly  pro- 
voked to  drop  the  reprobates  down  the  precipice  of  sin  into  hell,  by 
an  eternal,  unconditional,  absolute  decree  of  non-election. 

The  argument  is  specious,  and  has  deceived  thousands  of  simple 
souls  into  Calvinism  ;  but  can  it  bear  examination  ?  Who,  or  what 
provoked  God  to  make,  from  all  eternity,  a  decree  of  absolutely 
dropping  Adam  down  the  precipice  of  sin,  and  the  reprobated  part 
of  his  posterity  down  the  precipice  of  damnation  ?  Was  it  the  sin  of 
reprobates  ?  No  :  for  millions  of  them  are  as  yet  unconceived,  and 
therefore  sinless ;  for  what  has  not  yet  a  substance,  cannot  yet  have 
a  mode ;  what  does  not  yet  exist,  cannot  yet  be  sinful.  Was  it  a  fore- 
sight of  their  sin  ?  No  :  for  upon  the  Calvinistic  plan,  God  certainly 
forfi:3ees  what  niU  happen,  only  because  he  has  absolutely  decreed  what 


16  FIFTH    CHECK 

SHALL  happen.  Was  it  Adam's  sin,  as  you  insinuate  ?  No  :  for 
Adam's  sin  was  committed  in  time,  and  therefore  could  not  influence 
an  absolute  decree  of  personal  reprobation  made  before  time,  yea, 
from  all  eternity.     But  you  add  :  ^ 

P.  11,  12.  "If  you  believe  that  the  transgression  of  our  first  parent 
entailed  no  condemnation  upon  his  posterity,  why  did  you  subscribe 
to  the  IXth  article  of  our  church,  which  says,  that  in  every  man  born 
into  the  world  it  deserves  God^s  wrath  and  damnation  :^^  I  apprehend 
you  mistake,  Sir  :  that  article  says  no  such  thing.  What  it  aflirms  of 
a  derivation  of  Adam's  corruption,  or  of  "  the  fault  and  corruption 
of  the  nature  of  every  man,^^  you  represent  as  spoken  of  Adam's  per- 
sonal transgression ;  which  is  absolutely  confounding  the  cause  and 
the  eff'ect.  Every  anti-Calvinist  may,  and  I,  for  one,  do  believe,  that 
in  every  man  born  into  the  world,  and  considered  according  to  the  first 
covenant,  original  corruption  (not  Adam's  transgression)  deserves 
God's  wrath  and  damnation  at  the  hands  of  a  holy  and  righteous  God ; 
without  dreaming  that  any  man  shall  be  ever  damned  for  it ;  seeing 
that,  according  to  God's  mercy  and  goodness  displayed  in  the  second 
covenant,  Christ  the  second  Adam  is  come  to  taste  death  for  evers: 
man,  and  to  be  the  Saviour  of  all  men ;  so  that  for  his  sake,  the  free 
gift  is  come  upon  all  men  to  justification  of  life.  See  the  Fourth 
Check,  p.  358,  &c.  Thus,  by  looking  at  our  divine  compass — the 
word  of  God,  we  sail  through  the  straits  of  error,  keeping  at  an 
equal  distance  from  the  rocks  against  which  Calvinists  run  on  the 
right  hand,  and  the  Pelagians  on  the  left. 

I  have  warded  off  the  Stroke,  which  you  have  attempted  to  give  my 
sentiments  with  our  IXth  Article  ;  and  now  it  is  but  just,  you  should 
Buffer  me  to  return  it.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  that  Article  is  repug- 
nant to  Calvinism  in  two  respects.  1.  It  says  not  one  word  about 
the  imputation  of  the  demerits  of  Adam's  first  transgression ;  but 
makes  original  sin  to  consist  only  in  the  "  infection  of  our  nature  ;''^ 
which  saps  the  foundation  of  your  imaginary  imputation  of  Adam's 
personal  sin,  and  consequently  ruins  its  counterpart,  namely,  your 
imaginary  imputation  of  Christ's  personal  good  works,  distinct  from 
some  actual  participation  of  his  holiness.  2.  It  aflirms,  that  this 
infection  in  every  person  born  into  the  world,  deserves  God's  wrath  : 
A  strong  intimation  this,  that  it  did  not  actually  deserve  that  wrath, 
before  we  were  actually  defiled  by  a  sinful  birth  or  conception.  Now 
this,  if  I  mistake  not,  implies,  that  of  all  the  men  now  living  upon  the 
earth,  not  one  actually  deserved  God's  wrath  and  damnation  200  years 
ago.  So  that  if  God  absolutely  reprobated  one  man  now  living,  three 
hundred,  much  more,  six  thousand  years  ago,  much  more  from  aU 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM.  17 

-eternity,  he  did  it  according  to  Calvin's  doctrine  of  rich,  free,  un- 
provoked, gratuitous,  undeserved  wrath.  O  ye  considerate  English- 
men, stand  to  your  Articles,  and  you  will  soon  shake  off  Geneva 
impositions ! 

Sect.  VII.  P.  12.  You  say  in  your  moral  creed  about  faith  and 
works  : — "  Faith,  when  genuine,  will  always  manifest  its  reality  by 
bringing  forth  good  works,  and  all  the  fruits  of  a  holy  life."  Now, 
Sir,  if  you  stand  to  this,  without  secret  reserves  about  a  "  winter 
state,"  in  which  a  genuine  believer  [so  called]  may  commit  adultery, 
murder,  and  incest,  for  many  months,  without  losing  the  character  of 
a  man  after  God^s  own  heart,  and  his  title  to  heaven  ;  you  make  up 
the  Antinomian  gap,  you  set  your  seal  to  St.  James's  epistle,  you 
ratify  the  Checks  ;  and  consequently  you  give  up  the  Fourth  Letter, 
which  contains  the  very  marrow  of  Calvinism  :  unless  by  some 
salvo  of  Geneva  Logic  you  can  reconcile  these  two  propositions, 
which  upon  the  rational  and  moral  plan  of  the  Gospel,  appear  to  me 
utterly  irreconcileable  :  1.  Faith,  when  genuine,  alzvays  brings  forth 
till  the  fruits  of  a  holy  life. — 2.  A  man's  faith  may  be  genuine  while 
he  goes  any  length  in  sin,  and  brings  forth  all  the  fruits  of  an  unholy 
life  ;  adultery  and  murder  not  excepted. 

Sect.  VIII.  My  quotation  from  Dr.  Owen,  which  sets  Calvinistic 
contradiction  in  a  most  glaring  light,  seems  to  embarrass  you  much,  p. 
14,  &c.  You  produce  passage  upon  passage  out  of  his  writings,  to 
show  that  he  explodes  "  the  distinction  of  a  double  justitication."  But 
you  know.  Sir,  the  Doctor  had  as  much  right  to  contradict  himself  in 
his  writings,  as  you  to  militate  against  yourself  in  your  Review  :  See 
Fourth  Check,  First  Let.  Besides,  I  have  already  observed,  (Fourth 
Check,  Tenth  Let.)  that  "  a  volume  of  such  passages,  instead  of  in- 
validating the  doctrine  I  maintain,"  [or  the  quotation  I  produce] 
"  would  only  prove  that  the  most  judicious  Calvinists  cannot  make 
their  scheme  hang  tolerably  together."     However,  you  say, 

P.  13,  14.  "  He  [Dr.  Owen]  drops  not  the  least  intimation  of  any 
fresh  act  of  justification,  which  is  then  to  pass  upon  a  believer's  per- 
son."— What,  Sir,  has  not  the  Doctor  said,  in  his  Treatise  upon  Justi- 
tication, p.  222,  "  Whenever  this  inquiry  is  made,  not  how  a  sinner, 
kc.  shall  he  justified,  which  is"  (as  we  are  all  agreed,  by  faith,  or  to 
use  the  Doctor's  unscriptural  phrase)  "  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
alone  imputed  to  him :  but  how  a  man  that  professes  evangelical  faith 
in  Christ  shall  be  tried  and  judged;  and  whereon  as  such"  (i.  e.  as  a 
believer)  ••  he  shall  he  justifed :  we  grant  that  it  is  and  must  be  by  his 
ozvn  personal  obediejue,"  Now,  Sir,  if  the  Doctor  has  ?aid  this.,  and 
Vol.  II,  3 


1i^  FIFTH    CHECK 

you  dare  not  deny  it ;  has  he  not  said  the  very  thing  which  I  contend 
for? 

When  you  affirm,  that  he  makes  no  mention  of  afresh  act  of  justi- 
tication,  do  you  not  betray  your  inattention  ?  Does  he  not  declare, 
that  a  sinner  is  justified  by  imputed  righteousness,  and  that  a  believer, 
as  such,  shall  be  tried  and  justified  by  his  own  personal  obedience  ? 
Now  if  justification  is  the  act  of  justifying,  are  you  not  greatly  mis- 
taken, when  you  represent  the  justification  of  a  sinner  by  Christ's  im- 
puted righteousness,  and  the  justification  of  a  believer  or  a  saint^  by 
his  own  personal  obedience,  as  one  and  the  same  act?  Permit  me,  Sir, 
to  refer  you  to  the  argument  contained  in  the  Fourth  Check,  p.  263  ; 
on  which,  next  to  the  words  of  our  Lord,  Matt.  xii.  37.  I  chiefly  rest 
our  controversy  about  justification.  An  argument,  the  answering  of 
which  [if  it  can  be  answered]  would  have  done  your  cause  more  ho- 
nour and  service,  than  what  you  are  pleased  to  insinuate  next  con- 
cerning Mr.  Wesley's  honesty  and  mine. 

D.  Williams,  out  of  whose  book  I  copied  my  quotation  from  Dr, 
Owen,  being  a  Calvinist,  and  as  clear  about  a  sinner's  justification  by 
faith  as  Dr  Owen  himself,  for  brevity's  sake  left  out  what  the  Doctor 
says  about  it  under  the  Calvinistic  phrase  of  ChrisVs  imputed  righte- 
ousness. Here,  as  if  D.  Williams's  wisdom  were  duplicity  in  me,  p. 
14,  you  triumph  not  only  over  me,  but  over  Mr.  Wesley,  thus  :  "  I 
never  dare  trust  to  Mr.  Wesley  or  Mr.  Fletcher  in  any  quotations, 
&c. — More  words  expunged  by  Mr.  Fletcher  out  of  the  short  quota- 
tion he  has  taken  from  Dr.  Owen." — But  suppose  1  haAknavishly  ex- 
punged  the  words,  which  D.  Williams  wisely  left  out  as  useless  to  his 
point,  what  need  was  there  of  reflecting  upon  Mr.  Wesley  on  the  oc- 
casion ?  O  ye  doctrines  of  free  grace  and  free  wrath,  how  long  will 
ye  mislead  good  men  ?  How  long  will  ye  hurry  them  into  that  part  of 
practical  Antinomianism,  which  consists  in  rash  accusations  of  their 
opponents,  in  a  lordly  contempt  of  their  gracious  attainments,  and  in 
repeated  insinuations  that  they  pay  no  regard  to  common  honesty  ? 

When  a  combatant  is  too  warm,  he  frequently  gives  an  unexpected 
advantage  to  his  antagonist.  You  are  an  instance  of  it.  Your  eager- 
ness to  reflect  upon  Mr.  W.  and  me,  has  engaged  you  to  present  the 
world  with  a  clause,  which,  though  it  was  useless  to  the  question 
debated  by  D.  Williams,  is  of  singular  use  to  me  in  the  present  con- 
troversy, and  in  a  marnner  decides  the  point.  For  in  the  passage  left 
out  by  D.  Williams,  Doctor  Owen  speaks  of  the  justification  of  a  sin- 
ner,  and  says,  as  I  have  observed,  that  he  is  "justified  by  the  righte- 
ousness of  Christ  alone  imputed  to  him :"  and  this  justification  he 
evidently  opposes  to  that  of  a  believer^  which,  says  he,  "  is  and  mu^t 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM.  1^ 

be  by  his  own  personal  obedience."     So  that  the  world  (thanks  be  to 
your  controversial  heat  !*)  sees  now,  that  even  your  champion,  injone 
of  those  happy  moments,  when  the  great  Diana  did  not  stand  in  his 
lio-ht,  saw,  and  held  forth  the  important  distinction  between  St.  Paul 
and  St.  James's  justification,  that  is,  between  the  justification  of  a  sin- 
ner by  Christ's  proper  merits,  according  to  the  first  Gospel  axiom  ; 
and  the  justification  of  a  saint  by  his  own  personal  obedience  of  faith, 
or  by  Christ's  derived  merits,  according  to  the  second  Gospel  axiom. 
Nor  is  this  a  new  distinction,  (you  would  say,  a  "  novel  chimera") 
among  Protestants  :  for  looking  lately  into  a  treatise  upon  good  works, 
written  by  La  Placette,  that  famous  Protestant  champion  and  confessor 
abroad,  who,  after  he  had  left  his  native  country  for  righteousness 
sake,  was  minister  of  the  French  church  at  Copenhagen,   p.  272, 
Amst.  edit.  1700, 1  fell  upon  this  passage  :  "  Les  Protestants  de  leur 
cote  distinguent  double  justification,  celle  du  pecheur,  et  celle  du  juste, 
&c.  :"  That  is,  "  Protestants  on  their  part  distinguish  a  twofold  justi- 
fication, that  of  the  sinner^  and  that  of  the   righteous,*^  &c.     Then 
speaking  of  the  latter,  he  adds,  "  The  justification  of  the  righteous, 
considered  as  an  act  of  God,  implies  three  things  :   1.  That  God  ac- 
knowledges for  righteous,  him  that  is  actually  so :  2.  That  he  declares 
him  such  :  and  3.  that  he  treats  him  as  such."     How  different  is  this 
threefold  act  of  God  from  that  which  constitutes  a  sinner^s  justifica- 
tion ?  For  this  justification  being  also  considered  as  the  act  of  God, 
implies,   1.  That  he  pardons   the  sinner:    2.  That  he  admits  him  to 
his  favour  :  and  3.  That  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  he  witnesses 
this  double  mercy  to  the  believing  sinner's  heart,  by  giving  him  a 
sense  of  the  peace  which  passes  all  under  standings  and  a  taste  of  the 
glory  which  shall  be  revealed.     However,  as  if  all  this  were  a  mere 
*'  chimera,"  you  say, 

P.  17.  "Having  fully  vindicated  Dr.  Owen  from  the  charge  you 
have  brought  against  him  of  holding  two  justifications,  &c." — Nay, 
Sir,  you  have  not  vindicated  him  at  all  in  this  respect :  all  that  you 
have  proved  is,  that  he  was  no  stranger  to  your  logic,  and  that  his 
love  for  the  great  Diana  of  the  Calvinists  made  him  inconsistently 
deny  at  one  time,  what  at  another  time  his  hatred  of  sin  forced  him  to 
confess.  Nor  is  this  a  new  thing  in  mystic  Geneva.  You  know  a  pious 
Gentleman,  who  after  militating  in  a  book  called  the  Review,  against 
the  declarative  justification  by  works,  which  I  contend  for,  drops  these 
words,  which  deserve  to  be  graven  in  brass,  as  an  eternal  monument 
of  Calvinistic  contradiction.     "  Neither  Mr.  Shirley,   nor  I,  nor  any 

*  The  second  instance  of  this  heat,  so  favourable  to  my  cause,  may  be  seen  in  the  Ap* 
pendix,  (No.  10/' 


20  FIFTH    CHECR. 

Calvinist,  that  I  ev^er  heard  of,  deny  that  a  sinner"  [should  you  not 
have  said  a  believer?]  "  is  declaratively  justified  by  zvorks,  both  here 
and  at  the  day  of  judgment, ^^  Review,  p.  149.  Now,  if  no  Calvinist 
you  ever  heard  of,  denies,  in  his  luminous  intervals,  the  very  justifi- 
cation which  I  contend  for  in  the  Checks,  do  you  not  give  a  finishing 
stroke  to  Calvinistic  consistency  when  you  say,  p.  18,  "I  am  deter- 
mined to  prove  my  former  assertion  against  you,  viz.  that  you  cannot 
find  one  Protestant  divine  among  the  Puritans,  &c.  till  the  reign  of 
Charles  II,  who  held  your  doctrines  ?"  (you  mean  those  of  a  sinner's 
justification  by  faith,  and  of  a  saint's  justification  by  works,  according 
to  Gal.  ii.  16.  and  Matt.  xii.  37.)  Is  it  not  granted  on  all  sides,  that 
they  held  the/ormer  justification  ?  And  do  you  not  tell  the  world.  No 
Calvinist  that  you  ever  heard  of,  denied  the  latter?  However,  while 
yon  thus  candidly  confess,  that  all  Protestant  divines /ieZrf  those  capital 
doctrines  of  the  Checks,  I  should  not  do  you  justice,  if  I  did  not  ac- 
knowledge, that  few,  if  any  of  them,  held  them  uniformly  and  consis- 
tently in  England,  till  Baxter  began  to  make  a  firm  stand  against  '*  An- 
tinoraian  dotages." 

Sect.  IX.  P.  20.  You  produce  these  words  of  mine,  taken  from 
the  Fourth  Check,  "  Your  imputation  stands  upon  a  preposterous 
supposition,  that  Christ  the  righteous  was  an  execrable  sinner."  To 
this  you  reply  with  the  warmth  of  a  gentleman,  who  has  learned 
politeness  in  mystic  Geneva;  "  1  tell  you.  Rev.  Sir,  with  the  blunt- 
ness  and  honesty  of  an  Englishman,  that  this  is  execrable  Swiss 
slander." — Now,  Sir,  that  what  you  call  "  execrable  Szn'iss  slander^^^ 
is  sterling  English  truth,  I  prove  by  these  quotations  from  your  fa- 
vourite divine  Dr.  Crisp,  who,  as  quoted  by  D.  WilHams,  says,  p.  328. 
God  makes  Christ  as  very  a  sinner  as  the  creature  himself  zuas. — Again, 
p.  270.  JVor  are  we  so  completely  sinful,  but  Christ  being  made  siny 
was  as  eompletely  sinful  as  we. — And  it  is  well  known  that  Luther,  in 
one  of  his  unguarded  moments,  called  Christ  the  greatest,  and  con. 
sequently  the  most  execrable  sinner  in  the  world.  Now,  Sir,  if 
"  Christ  was  as  completely  sinful  as  we,''"'  (to  use  the  words  of  your 
oracle)  does  it  not  follow,  that  he  was  a  sinner  as  completely  exe- 
crable as  we  are  ?  And  that  you  deviate  a  little  from  brotherly 
kindness,  when  you  call  Crisp's  Calvinistic  mistake  an  execrable  slan- 
der of  mine. 

Sect.  X.  P.  21,  22.  You  find  fault  with  my  saying,  "  Is  this  (Christ's 
praying  for  Peter)  a  proof  that  he  never  prayed  for  Judas  ?"     And 
you  declare,  that  this  "  assertion'''  (you  should  have  said  query)  "  doe 
little  honour  to  the  advocacy  of  Christ.''''     Permit  me.  Sir,   to  explain 
myself     Though  I  believe  with  Bishop  Latimer,  Xh^i  Christ  shed  m 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  21 

much  blood  for  Judas  as  for  Peter  ^  I  never  said  nor  believed,  as  you 
insinuate,  "  That  Christ  took  more  pains  for  the  salvation  of  Judas 
than  for  that  of  Peter."  You  cannot  justly  infer  it  from  my  mention- 
ing a  matter  of  fact  recorded  in  Scripture,  viz.  that  once  our  Lord 
spoke  to  Judas,  when  he  only  looked  at  Peter ;  for  he  had  exphcitly 
warned  Peter  before.  Therefore  in  either  case,  Christ  showed  him- 
self void  (not  of  a  peculiar  regard  for  Peter's  peculiar  sincerity,  but) 
of  Calvinistic  partiality.  Again  ;  I  am  persuaded,  that  during  the  day 
of  Judas's  visitation,  Christ  prayed  for  him,  and  sincerely  too  :  for 
if  Christ  had  borne  him  a  grudge,  and  in  consequence  of  it,  had 
always  made  mental  reserves,  and  excepted  him,  when  he  prayed  for 
his  apostles  ;  would  he  not  have  broken  the  second  table  of  the  law  ? 
And  might  he  not  be  proposed  as  a  pattern  of  inveterate  malice, 
rather  than  of  perfect  charity  ? 

You  reply,  p.  22.  "  If  this  were  the  case,"  (i.  e.  if  our  Lord 
prayed  for  Judas)  "  those  words  of  his,  Iknow  thou  hearest  me  always, 
must  be  untrue  ;  for  when  he  prayed  for  Judas  his  prayer  was 
rejected."  But  is  your  inference  just?  Christ  always  prayed  with  di- 
vine wisdom,  and  according  to  his  Father's  will.  Therefore  he  pray- 
ed consistently  with  the  eternal  decree,  that  mora/  agents  shall  be 
invited,  drawn,  and  gently  moved,  but  not  forced  to  obey  the  Gospel. 
Now,  if  our  Lord  prayed  conditionally  for  Judas,  (as  he  certainly  did 
for  all  his  murderers,  since  they  were  not  all  forgiven)  he  might  say, 
/  know  thou  hearest  me  always ;  and  yet  Judas  might,  by  his  perverse- 
ness,  as  a  free  agent,  reject  against  himself  the  gracious  counsel  of 
God,  till  he  was  absolutely  given  up.  Thus  our  scheme  of  doctrine, 
instead  of  dishonouring  Christ's  advocacy,  represents  it  in  a  rational 
and  Scriptural  light ;  while  yours,  I  fear,  wounds  his  character  in 
the  tenderest  part,  and  fixes  upon  him  the  blot  of  cunning  uncharita- 
bleness  and  profound  dissimulation. 

Sect.  XI.  P.  25.  You  say  :  "  Time  would  fail  me  to  pretend  to 
enumerate  the  many  gross  misrepresentations,  &c.  However,  as  you 
have  actually  represented  me  as  saying,  that  the  more  a  believer  sins 
upon  earth,  the  merrier  he  will  be  in  heaven,  I  beg  you  will 
point  out  to  me  where,  in  the  plain,  easy  sense  of  my  words,  I  have 
spoken  any  such  thing  ;  or  where  I  have  ever  used  so  ludicrous  an 
expression  as  mirth,  &lc.  when  speaking  of  those  pleasures  which  are 
at  God's  right  hand  for  evermore." 

I  conclude  my  Antinomian  creed  thus.  Fourth  Check,  p.  320, 
•*  Adultery,  incest,  and  murder,  shall,  upon  the  whole,  make  me 
holier  upon  earth  and  merrier  in  heaven." — Two  lines  below,  I  ob- 
serve, that  ''  1  am  indebted  to  you  for  all  the  doctrines,  and  most  of 


22  FIFTH    CHECK 

the  expressions  of  this  creed." — You  have  therefore  no  right  to  saj\ 
*'  Where  have  I  used  the  expression  merry  ?^^  for  I  never  said  you 
have  used  it,  though  our  Lord  has,  Luke  xv.  32.  But  as  you  have  a 
right  to  say,  Where  is  the  Doctrine  ?  1  reply  :  in  your  Fourth  Letter  : 
where  you  tell  us,  that  a  grievous  fall  will  make  believers  sing  louder 
in  heaven  to  all  eternity.  Now  as  louder  songs  are  a  certain  indica- 
tion of  greater  joy ,  where  nothing  is  done  in  hypocrisy,  1  desire  even 
Calvinists  to  say,  if  I  have  wrested  '*  the  plain,  easy  sense  of  your 
words,  in  observing  that,  according  to  your  scheme,  apostates  shall 
be  merrier i  or,  if  you  please,  more  joyful,  in  heaven  for  their  griev' 
6US  falls  on  earth. 

P.  27.  '•  Now,  Sir,  give  me  leave  to  p  uck  a  feather  out  of  your 
high-soaring  wings,  &c.  by  asking  you  simply,  whence  have  you  taken 
it  ?"  [this  quotation,  so  called]  *'  Did  I  ever  assert  any  thing  like  this  ? 
&c.  Prove  your  point,  and  then  I  will  confess  that  you  are  no  calum- 
niator of  God's  people."     I  answer, 

L  I  did  not  produce,  as  a  quotation,  the  words  which  you  allude  to : 
I  put  them  in  commas,  as  expressive  of  the  sentiments  of  "  many  good 
men:^^  how  then  could  you  think,  that  you  alone  are  many  good  men  ? 
2.  But  you  say  that  you,  for  one,  understand  the  words  of  St.  John, 
He  that  does  righteousness  is  righteous,  of  personal  holiness.  Now  to 
prove  me  a  '*  calumniator,^^  you  have  only  to  prove  that  David  did 
righteousness  when  he  defiled  Uriah's  wife ;  for  you  teach  us, 
directly  or  indirectly,  that  when  he  committed  that  crime  he  was 
"  undefiled,^''  and  continued  to  be  "  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,^''  i.  e. 
a  righteous  man,  for  the  Lord  alloweth  the  righteous,  but  the  ungodly  does 
his  soul  abhor.  3.  However,  if  I  have  mistaken  one  of  the  scriptures 
on  which  you  found  your  doctrine,  I  have  not  mistaken  the  doctrine 
itself.  What  are  the  words  for  which  you  call  me  '*  a  calumniator,'^ 
and  charge  me  with  "  horrid  perversion,  falsehood,  and  base  disingenu- 
ity  ?"  Why,  I  have  represented  "  many  good  men,''  as  saying  (by 
the  general  tenor  of  one  of  their  doctrines  of  grace,  the  absolute 
perseverance  of  fallen,  adulterous,  idolatrous,  incestuous  believers,) 
"  Let  not  Mr.  W.  deceive  you  :  he  that  actually  liveth  with  another 
man's  wife,  worships  abominable  idols,  and  commits  incest  with  his 
father's  wife,  may  not  only  be  righteous,  but  complete  in  imputed 
righteousness,"  kc.  This  is  the  doctrine  I  charge  upon  many  good 
men  :  and  if  you,  for  one,  say,  "  Did  I  ever  assert  any  thing  like 
this  ?"  I  reply,  Yes,  Sir,  in  your  Fourth  Letter,  which  is  a  professed 
attempt  to  prove,  that  believers  may,  like  adulterous  David,  idolatrous 
Solomon,  and  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  go  any  length  in  sin  without 
ceasing  to  stand  complete  in,   what  1   beg  leave  to  call,  Calvinistic 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM-.  23 

righteousness.''*  Thus,  instead  of  "  plucking  a  feather  out  of  my  wings," 
you  wing  the  arrow  which  I  let  fly  at  your  great  Diana. 

Sect.  XII.  For  brevity's  sake,  I  shall  reduce  my  answer  to  the  rest 
of  your  capital  charges  into  plain  queries,  not  doubting  but  my  judi- 
cious readers  will  see  their  unreasonableness,  without  the  help  of 
arguments. 

1.  Is  it  right  in  Mr.  Hill  to  call,  (p.  34,  35.)  my  Extract  from  Flavel, 
**  a  citation ^''^  and  *♦  a  quotation  ;"  and  then  to  charge  me  with  '*  dis- 
ingenuity,  gross  perversion,  expunging,"  &c.  because  I  have  not 
swelled  my  extract  by  transcribing  all  Flavel's  book,  or  because  I 
have  taken  only  what  suits  the  present  times,  and  what  is  altogether 
consistent?  Especially  when  I  have  observed.  Fourth  Check,  p.  292. 
*'  That  when  Flavel  encounters  Antinomian  errors  as  a  disciple  of 
Calvin,  his  hands  hang  down,  Amalek  prevails,  and  a  shrewd  logiciaa 
could,  without  any  magical  power,  force  him  to  confess,  that  most  of 
the  errors  which  he  so  justly  opposes,  are  the  natural  consequences 
of  Calvinism  ?" 

2.  Is  it  right  in  Mr.  Hill  to  charge  me,  p.  57,  with  "  base  forgeries  ;'* 
and  to  represent  me,  p.  56,  as  descending  to  the  poor  ^  illiberal  arts  of  for- 
gery  and  defamation^'*  because  I  have  presented  the  public  with  a 
parable,  in  the  dress  of  a  royal  proclamation,  which  I  produce  as  a 
mere  "  illustration'" — because  I  charge  him  with  indirectly  propnga- 
ting  tenets  which  as  necessarily  flow  from  his  doctrines  of  grace,  as 
light  does  from  the  sun, — and  because  I  have  distinguished  by  commas, 
a  creed  framed  with  his  avowed  principles  ?  although  I  have  added 
these  words,  to  show  that  I  took  the  composition  of  it  upon  myself; 
"  You  speak  indeed  in  the  third  person,  and  /  in  the  first,  hut  this  al- 
ters not  the  doctrine. — Some  clauses  and  sentences  I  have  added^  not 
to  misrepresent  and  blacken,"  (for  what  need  is  there  of  blackening 
the  sable  mantle  of  midnight  ?)  "  but  to  introduce,  connect,  and  illus- 
trate your  sentiments." 

3.  Angry  as  the  Pharisees  were  at  our  Lord,  when  he  exposed 
iheir  errors  by  parables,  did  they  ever  charge  him  with  base  forgery ^ 
because  his  "  illustrations"  were  not  true  stories  ?  Is  it  not  strange 
that  this  admirable  way  of  defending  "  the  truth,"  should  have  been 
lound  out  by  the  grand  defender  of ''  the  doctrines  of  grace  ?" — Again, 
if  marking  with  commas  a  paragraph  of  our  composing,  to  distinguish 
it  from  our  own  real  sentiments,  is  a  crime  ;  is  not  Mr.  Hill  a  cri- 
minal as  well  as  myself  ?  Does  he  not,  p.  31,  present  the  public  with 
a  card  of  his  own  composing,  in  which  he  holds  forth  the  supposed  sen- 
timents of  many  clergymen,  and  which  he  distinguishes  with  commas 
thus  :  "  The  Feather's  Tavern  fraternity  present   compliments    to 


54  FIFTH  CHECK 

Messrs.  J.  Wesky  and  Fletcher,"  &c. — Shall  what  passes  for  wit  in  the 
author  of  Pietas  Oxoniensis,  he  gross  disingenuity^  and  base  forgery  in  the 
author  of  the  V^indication  ? — O  ye  candid  Calvinists,  partial  as  your 
system  is,  can  you  possibly  approve  of  such  glaring  partiality  ? 

4.  Is  it  right  in  Mr.  Hill  to  take  his  leave  of  me  in  this  abrupt  man- 
ner, p.  39,  40.  "  The  unfair  quotations  you  have  made,  and  the 
shocking  misrepresentations  and  calumnies  you  have  been  guilty  of, 
will  for  the  future  prevent  me  from  looking  into  any  of  your  books, 
if  you  should  write  a  thousand  volumes  :"  And  this  especially  under 
pretence,  that  I  have  "shamefully  perverted  and  misrepresented  the 
doctrines  of  Anthony  Burgess,"  when  I  have  simply  produced  a  quo- 
tation from  him,  in  which  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  misrepresentation, 
as  the  reader  will  see  by  comparing  Fourth  Check,  p.  281,  with  the 
last  paragraph  of  the  Xllth  Sermon  of  Mr.  Burgess  on  Grace  and  As- 


surance ? 

Sect.  Xlll.  This  perpetual  noise  about  gross  misrepresentations^ 
shameful  perversions  ^  interpolations,  base  forgeries,  &c.  becomes  Mr,  Hill 
as  little  as  any  man ;  his  own  inaccuracy  in  quotation  equalling  that 
of  the  most  inattentive  writer  I  am  acquainted  with.  Our  readers 
have  seen  on  what  a  slender  basis  he  rests  his  charge  of  "  base  forge- 
ries ;"  I  beg  leave  to  show  them  now,  on  what  solid  ground  I  rest  my 
charge  of  uncommon  inaccuracy ;  and  not  to  intrude  too  long  upon 
their  patience,  I  shall  just  produce  a  few  instances  only  out  of  his 
Finishing  Stroke.* 

*  To  produce  such  instances  out  of  the  Review,  would  be  almost  endless.  One,  however 
Mr.  Hill  forces  me  to  touch  upon  a  second  time.  This  is  the  case.  The  sword  of  th& 
Spirit  which  Mr.  Wesley  uses,  is  two-edged.  When  he  defends  the  first  Gospel  axiom 
against  the  Pharisees,  he  preaches  Salvation,  not  by  the  merit  of  works,  hvt  bybelieving  in 
Christ :  A  nd  when  he  defends  the  second  Gospel  axiom  against  the  Antinomians,  he  preaches 
Salvation,  not  by  the  merit  of  works,  but  by  works  as  a  condition.  No  sooner  did  the 
Calvinists  see  this  last  proportion  at  full  length  in  the  Minutes,  than  they  took  the  alarm, 
fondly  imagining  that  Mr.  Wesley  wanted  to  overthrow  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  salvation 
by  faith.  To  convince  them  of  their  mistake,  I  appealed  to  Mr.  Wesley's  Works  in  gene- 
ral,  and  to  the  Minutes  in  particular,  two  sentences  of  which  evidently  show,  that  he  had 
not  the  least  intention  of  setting  aside  faith  in  Christ,  in  order  to  make  way  for  the  anti- 
christian  merit  of  works.  Accordingly  I  laid  those  sentences  before  my  readers,  taking 
special  care  to  show,  by  commas,  that  I  produced  two  different  parts  of  the  Minutes,  thus 
**  J^ot  by  the  merit  of  works,^^  but  by  ^^believingin  Christ."  Here  is  not  a  shadow  of  dis- 
ingenuity ;  either  as  to  the  quotations,  for  they  are  fairly  taken  from  the  Minutesj  or  as  to 
the  sense  of  the  whole  sentences :  for  fifty  volumes,  and  myriads  of  hearers  can  testify,  that 
it  perfectly  agrees  with  Mr.  W.'s  well-known  doctrine.  But  what  does  Mr.  Hill  ?  Biassed 
by  his  system,  he  tampers  with  my  quotations ;  he  takes  off  the  two  commas  after  the  word 
works;  he  overlooks  the  two  commas  before  the  word  believing-.'  he  [inadvertentty,  I 
hope]  throws  my  two  distinct  qu.otations  info  one  ;  and  by  that  mean  adds  to  them  the 
words  "  but  by,"  which  I  had  particularly  excluded.    When  he  has  thus  turned  my  two  just 


^*^-  TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  25 


«l»v 


1.  That  performance  does  not  do  my  Sermon  justice,  for  p.  61, 
Mr.  Hill  quotes  me  so  ;  *'  They  (good  works)  are  declarative  of  .our 
free  justification  :"  whereas  my  manuscript  runs  thus  :  "  They  are 
the  declarative  cause  of  our  free  justification,"  viz.  in  the  day  of  trial 
and  of  judgment.  The  word  cause  here  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  my  doctrine,  powerfully  guarding  the  Minutes  and  undefiled  re- 
ligion. Whether  it  is  left  out  because  it  shows  at  once  the  absurdity 
of  pretending  that  my  old  sermon  "  is  the  best  confutation  of  Mr. 
Wesley's  Minutes  ;"  or  because  Mr.  Hill's  copier  omitted  it  first,  is 
best  known  to  Mr.  Hill  himself. 

2.  I  say  in  the  Fourth  Check,  p.  '370,  "  To  vindicate  what  I  beg 
leave  to  call  God's  honesty,  permit  me  to  observe,  first,  that  I  had 

quotations  into  one  that  is  false,  he  is  pleased  to  put  me  into  the  Geneva  pillory  for  his  own 
mistake  ;  and  as  his  doctrines  of  Grace  teach  him  to  kill  two  birds  with  one  stone,  he  in- 
volves Mr.  Wesley  in  my  gratuitous  disgrace,  thus :  "  Forgeries  of  this  kind  have  long 
passed  for  no  crime  with  Mr.  Wesley  ;  I  did  not  think  you  would  have  followed  him  in 
these  ungenerous  artifices,"  Review,  p.  27. 

Upon  the  remonstrance  I  made  about  this  strange  way  of  proceeding  (see  note,  Fourth 
Check,  vol.  i.  286,)  I  hoped  that  Mr.  Hill  would  have  hanged  down  his  head  a  moment,  and 
dropped  the  point  for  ever.  But  no  :  He  must  give  a  finishing  stroke,  and  drive  home  the 
nail  of  his  rash  accusation,  by  calling  my  remarks  upon  his  mistakes,  "  Attempts  to  vindi- 
cate that  most  shameful  false  quotation,  he  [Mr.  Fletcher]  has  twice  made  from  the  Mi- 
nutes," Log.  Wesl.  p.  35.  And  to  prove  that  my  attempts  have  been  unsuccessful,  he  pro- 
duces passages  out  of  a  newspaper,  which  represent  "  His  majesty," — "  stealing  bread."— 
"  Her  majesty," — "  committed  to  the  house  of  correction."  To  this  T  answer,  that  if  such 
unconnected  quotations  (of  which  [  only  give  here  the  substance)  were  properly  distin- 
guished by  commas  ;  if  they  were  separated  by  intervening  words  ;  and  if  they  did  not  in 
the  least  misrepresent  the  author's  sense,  it  would  be  great  injustice  to  call  thejn  either  "  a 
most  shameful  false  quotation,^'*  or  "  a.  forgery."  Now  these  three  particulars  meet  in  my 
two  quotations  from  the  Minutes  :  1.  They  are  both  properly  distinguished  with  commas  : 
2.  They  are  parted  by  intervening  words  -.  And  3.  They  do  not  in  the  least  misreprestnt  Mr. 
Wesley's  meaning :  Whereas  [to  say  nothing  more  of  my  commas  expunged  in  the  Review  1 
no  word  intervenes  between  Mr.  Hill's  supposed  quotations  out  of  the  papers :  and  thev 
form  a  shameful  misrepresentation  of  the  publisher's  meaning. 

Oh  !  but,  as  the  quotations  from  the  Minutes  are  linked,  they  "  speak  a  language  directlv 
opposite  to  the  Minutes  themselves."  So  says  Mr.  Hill,  without  producing  the  shadow  of  a 
proof.  But,  upon  the  ai^uments  of  the  Five  Checks,  I  affirm  that  the  two  Gospel  axioms,  or 
my  linked  quotations  and  the  Minutes,  agree  as  perfectly  with  each  other,  as  those  positions 
of  St.  Paul,  to  which  they  answer:  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved  through  faithy — Therefore 
"  Work  out  your  salvation  ivithfear.''^ 

From  this  redoubled  stroke  of  Mr.  Hill,  I  am  tempted  to  think,  that,  like  Justice^  Logica 
Genevensis  has  a  covering  over  her  eyes  :  but  alas  !  for  a  very  different  reason. — Like  her 
also  she  has  a  balance  in  her  left  hand  ;  but  it  is  to  weigh  out  and  vend  her  own  assertions 
as  proofs.  And,  like  her,  she  holds  a  stvord  in  her  right  hand;  but  alas  I  it  is  often  to 
wound  brotherly  love,  and  stab  evangelical  truth.  Bring  her  into  the  field  of  Controversy, 
and  she  will  at  once  cut  down  Christ's  doctrine  as  dreadful  heresy.  Set  her  in  the  Judg- 
jinent-seat  to  pass  sentence  over  g-oofZY^wA-s,  and  over  honest  men,  that  do  not  bow  at  her 
shrine;  and  without  demur  she  will  pronounce,  tb^t  the  former  are  di'Ttg,  and  thnt  the 
latter  are  knaves. 

Vol.  n.  4 


36  FIFTH  CHECK 

rather  believe,  Joseph  told  once  *  a  gross  untruth^^  than  to  suppose 
that  God  perpetually  equivocates."  For  undoubtedly  of  two  evils  I 
would  choose  the  least,  if  a  cogent  dilemma  obliged  me  to  choose 
either.  But  this  is  not  the  case  here  ;  the  dilemma  is  not  forcible  ; 
for  in  the  next  lines  I  show,  that  Joseph,  instead  of  "  telling  a  gross 
untruth,"  only  spake  the  language  of  brotherly-kindness.  However, 
without  paying  any  regard  to  my  vindkation  of  Joseph's  speech,  Mr. 
Hill  catches  at  the  conditional  words,  "  I  had  rather  believe  :"  Just 
as  if  I  had  said,  /  do  actually  believe,  he  turns  them  into  a  peremptory 
declaration  of  my  faith,  and  three  times  represents  me  as  asserting 
what  I  never  said  nor  believed  :  Thus,  p.  38,  "  Your  wonderful  as- 
sertion, that  Joseph  told  his  brethren  a  gross  untruth  :" — Once  more, 
p.  39,  "  The  repeated  words  of  inspiration  you  venture  to  call  gross 
untruth."  Solomon  says,  *'  Who  can  stand  before  envy  ?"  And  I  ask, 
"  Who  can  stand  before  Mr.  Hill's  inattention  ?"  I  am  sure  neither 
I,  nor  Mr.  Wesley.  At  this  rate  he  can  undoubtedly  find  a  blasphemy 
in  every  page,  and  sl  farrago  in  every  book. 

3.  Take  another  instance  of  the  same  want  of  exactness.  I  say. 
in  the  Fourth  Check,  p.  277,  "  I  never  thought  Mr.  Whitefield  was 
clear  in  the  doctrine  of  our  Lord,  In  the  day  of  judgment  by  thy  words 
shalt  thou  be  justified ;  for  if  he  had  seen  it  in  a  proper  light,  he  would 
instantly  have  renounced  Calvinism." — This  passage  Mr.  Hill  quotes 
thus,  in  italics  and  commas,  p.  23,  "  You  never  thought  him  clear  in 
our  Lord's  doctrine,  for  if  he  had,  he  would  have  renounced  his  Calvin- 
ism.^^  The  inaccuracy  of  this  quotation  consists  in  omitting  those  im- 
portant words  of  our  Lord,  In  the  day  of  judgment,  ^c.  By  this  omis- 
sion that  sense  of  the  preceding  clause  is  left  indefinite,  and  1  am 
represented  as  saying,  that  Mr.  Whitefield  was  not  clear  in  any  doc-- 
trine  of  our  Lord,  no,  not  in  that  of  the  fall,  repentance,  salvation  by 
faith,  the  new  birth,  &c.  This  one  mistake  of  Mr.  Hill  is  sufficient  to 
make  me  pass  for  a  mere  coxcomb  in  all  the  Calvinistic  world. 

4.  It  is  by  the  like  inattention  that  Mr.  Hill  prejudices  also  against 
me  the  friends  of  Mr.  Wesley.  In  the  Fourth  Check,  after  having 
answered  an  objection  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hill  against  Mr.  Wesley,  I 
produce  that  objection  again  for  a  fuller  answer,  and  say,  "  But  sup- 
posing, that  Mr.  Wesley  had  not  properly  considered,  &c.  what  would 
you  infer  from  thence  ?  &c.  Weigh  your  argument,  &c.  and  you  will 
find  it  is  wanting  :"  Then  I  immediately  produce  Mr.  Hill's  objection 
in  the  form  of  an  argument,  thus  :  "  Twenty-three,  or,  if  you  please, 
three  years  ago,  Mr.  Wesley  wanted  clearer  light,''  &c.  Now  what 
I  evidently  produce  as  a  supposition,  and  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hill's  own 
argument  unfolded  in  order  to  answer  it,  my  opponent  fathers  upon 


TO   ANTINOMIANISM.  27 

me  thus,  "  ^Vhe  following  are  your  own  words.^'  *  Three  years  ago 
Mr.  Wesley  wanted  clearer  light,^  &c. — True,  they  are  my  own  words  ; 
but  to  do  me  justice  Mr.  Hiil  should  have  produced  them  as  I  do, 
namely,  as  a  supposition^  and  as  the  drift  of  his  brother's  objection  in 
order  to  shflw  its  frivolousness.  This  is  partly  such  a  mistake  as  if 
Mr.  Hill  said.  The  following  are  David^s  own  words,  '*  Tush  !  there 
is  no  God." 

However,  he  is  determined  to  improve  his  own  oversight,  and  he 
does  it  by  asking,  p.  17,  "  What  then  is  becooje  of  thousands  of  Mr. 
Wesley's  followers,  who  died  before  this  clearer  light  came  ?" — An 
argument  this,  by  which  the  most  ignorant  Papists  in  my  parish  per- 
petually defend  their  idolatrous  superstitions  ;  "  What  is  become  of 
all  our  forefathers,  say  they,  before  Luther  and  Calvin  ?  Were  they 
all  damned  ?" — Is  it  not  surprising,  that  Mr.  Hill,  not  contented  to 
produce  a  Popish  friar's  conversation,  should  have  thus  recourse  to 
the  argument  of  every  Popish  cobbler,  who  attacks  the  doctrines  of 
the  Reformation  ?  O  Logica  Genevensis  !  how  dost  thou  show  thy- 
self the  genuine  sister  of  the  Logica  Romana ! 

5.  I  return  to  the  mistakes,  by  which  Mr.  Hill  has  supported  before 
the  world  his  charge  of  "calumny."     I  say,  in  the  Second  Check, 
vol.  i.  p.  136,  '  How  few  of  our  celebrated  pulpits  are  there,  where 
more  has  not  been  said  at  times  for  sin  than  against  it  V  Mr.  Hill,  p.  7. 
says.    "  The  ministers,  who  preach  in  these  (our  most  celebrated  pul- 
pits) are  condemned  without  exceptionj  as  such  pleaders  for  sin,  that 
they  say  more  for  it,  than  against  it.^^    Here  are  two  capital  mistakes  : 
1.   The  question,  How  few  ?   &c.  evidently  leaves  room  for  some  ex- 
ceptions ;   but  Mr.  Hill  represents  me  as  condemning  our  most  cele- 
brated pulpits  "  without  exceptionj*^     2.  This  is  not  all :  To  mitigate 
the  question,  I  add,  at  times,  words  by  which  I  give  my  readers  to  un- 
derstand, that  sin  is  in  general  attacked  in  our  celebrated  pulpits,  and 
that  it  is  only  at  times,  that  is,  on  some  particular  occasions,  or  in  some 
part  of  a  sermon,  that  the  ministers  alluded  to,  say  more  for  sin  than 
against  it.     Now,  Mr.  Hill  leaves  out  of  his  quotation  the  words,  at 
times,  and  by  that  mean  effectually  represents  me  as  "  a  calumniator 
of  God's  people  :"  For  what  is  true  with  the  limitation  that  I  use, 
becomes  a  falsehood  when  used  without  it.    This  omission  of  Mr.  Hill 
is  the  more  singular,  as  my  putting  the  words,  at  times,  in  italics,  indi- 
cates that  I  want  my  readers  to  lay  peculiar  stress  upon  it  on  account 
of  its  importance.     One  more  instance  of  Mr.  Hill's  inaccuracy,  and 
I  have  done. 

6.  P.  7,  8.     He  presents  his  readers  with  a  long  paragraph,  pro- 
duced as  a  quotation  from  the  Second  Check.     It  is  made  up  of  some 


28  FIFTH  CHECK 

detached  sentences  picked  here  and  there  from  that  piece,  and  put  to- 
gether with  as  much  wisdom  as  the  patches  which  make  up  a  fool's 
coat.  And  among  these  sentences  he  has  introduced  this,  which  is 
not  mine  in  sense,  any  more  than  in  expression,  "  They  [celebrated 
ministers]  handle  no  texts  of  Scripture  without  distorting  them,"  for 
I  insinuate  just  the  contrary,  in  the  Second  Check,  p.  137. 

7.  But  the  greatest  fault  I  find  with  that  paragraph  of  Mr.  Hill's 
book,  is  the  conclusion,  which  runs  thus, — "  They  [celebrated  minis- 
ters] do  the  devil's  work,  till  they  and  their  congregations  all  go  to 
hell  together.  Third  Check,  p.  176,  179." — Now  in  neither  of  the 
pages  quoted  by  Mr.  Hill,  nor  indeed  any  where  else,  did  I  ever  say 
so  wild  and  wicked  a  thing.  Nothing  could  engage  my  pious  opponent 
to  father  such  a  horrid  assertion  upon  me,  but  the  great  and  severe 
Diana,  that  engages  him  to  father  absolute  reprobation  upon  God. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  alluding  to  the  words  of  our  Lord,  Matt. 
XXV.  I  say  in  the  Second  Check,  vol.  i  p.  160.  "  If  these  shall  go 
into  everlasting  punishment,"  &-c.  But  who  are  these  ?  All  celebrated 
ministers,  with  all  their  congregations  ?  So  says  Mr.  Hill,  but  happily 
for  me,  my  heart  starts  from  the  thought  with  the  greatest  detestation, 
and  my  pen  has  testified,  that  i/iese  condemned  wretches  are,  in  general, 
"  Obstinate  workers  of  iniquity y"  and  in  particular,  unreners^ed  anti-Cal- 
vinists,  and  impenitent  JVicolaitans.^^  Page  156,  vol.  i.  [the  very  page 
which  Mr.  Hill  quotes,]  I  describe  the  unrenewed  anti-Calvinists 
thus,  "  Stubborn  sons  of  Belial,  saying.  Lord,  thy  Father  is  merciful  : 
and  if  thou  didst  die  for  all,  why  not  for  us  ?"  "  Obstinate  Pharisees, 
who  plead  the  good  they  did  in  their  own  name  to  supersede  the  Re- 
deemer's merit." — Impenitent  Nicolaitans,  or  Antinomians,  I  describe 
thus,  p.  158,  159,  160.  "  Obstinate  violators  of  God's  law — who 
scorned  personal  holiness — rejected  Christ's  word  of  command  —have 
gone  on  still  in  their  wickedness — have  continued  in  doing  evil — have 
been  unfaithful  unto  death — and  have  defiled  their  garments  to  the 
last." — Is  it  possible  that  Mr.  Hill  should  take  this  for  a  description 
of  all  celebrated  ministers,  and  of  all  their  congregations ;  and  that 
upon  so  glaring  a  mistake,  he  should  represent  me  as  making  them 
*'  all  go  to  hell  together !" 

Sect.  XIV.  O  ye  pious  Calvinists,  whether  ye  fill  our  celebrated 
pulpits,  or  attend  upon  them  that  do,  far  from  sending  you  "  cdl  to  hell 
together,''''  as  you  are  told  I  do,  I  exult  in  the  hope  of  meeting  you  all 
together  in  heaven:  I  lie  not ;  I  speak  the  truth  in  him  that  shall  jus- 
tify us  by  our  words :  even  now  I  enjoy  a  foretaste  of  heaven  in  lying 
at  your  feet  in  spirit ;  and  my  conscience  bears  me  witness,  that 
though  1  try  to  detect  and  oppose  your  mistakes,  I  sincerely  love  and 


TO   ANTINOMIANISM.  29 

honour  your  persons.  My  regard  for  you,  as  zealous  defenders  of  the 
first  Gospel  axiom,  is  unalterable.  Though  your  mistaken  zeal  shojild 
prompt  you  to  think  or  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  me,  because  I 
help  Mr.  Wesley  to  defend  the  second  ;  1  am  determined  to  offer  you 
still  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  And  if  any  of  you  should  honour 
me  so  far  as  to  accept  it,  I  shall  think  myself  pecuUarly  happy  ;  for, 
next  to  Jesus  and  Truth,  the  esteem  and  love  of  good  men  is  what  I 
consider  as  the  most  invaluable  blessing.  A  desire  to  recover  the  in- 
terest I  once  had  in  the  brotherly-kindness  of  some  of  you,  has  in 
part  engaged  me  to  clear  myself  from  the  mistaken  charges  of  calumny 
and  forgery y  by  which  my  hasty  opponent  has  prejudiced  you  against 
me  and  my  Checks.  If  you  find  that  he  has  defended  your  cause 
with  carnal  weapons^  hope  with  me,  that  precipitation  and  too  warm 
a  zeal  for  your  doctrines,  have  misled  him,  and  not  malice  or  disin- 
genuity. 

Hope  it  also,  ye  Anti-Calvinists,  considering  that  if  St.  James  and  St. 
John,  through  mere  bigotry  and  impatience  of  opposition,  were  once 
ready  to  command  fire  from  heaven  to  come  down  upon  the  Samari- 
tans, it  is  no  wonder  that  Mr.  Hill,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  should 
have  commanded  the  fire  of  his  Calvinistic  zeal  to  kindle  against  Mr. 
Wesley  and  me.  As  you  do  not  unchristian  now  the  two  rash 
apostles  for  a  sin,  of  which  they  immediately  repented  ;  let  me  be- 
seech  you  to  confirm  your  love  towards  Mr.  Hill,  who  has  probably 
repented  already  of  the  mistakes,  into  which  his  peculiar  sentiments 
have  betrayed  his  good  nature  and  good  breeding. 

Sect.  XV.  I  return  to  you,  honoured  Sir,  and  beg  you  would  for- 
give me  the  liberty  I  have  taken  to  lay  before  the  public  what  1 
should  have  been  glad  to  have  buried  in  eternal  oblivion.  But  your 
Finishing  Stroke  has  been  so  heavy  and  desperate,  as  to  make  this  ad- 
dition to  Logica  Genevensis  necessary  to  clear  up  my  doctrine,  to  vin- 
dicate my  honesty,  to  point  out  the  mistaken  Author  of  the  Farrago, 
and  give  the  world  a  new  specimen  of  the  arguments,  by  which  your 
system  must  be  defended,  when  reason,  conscience,  and  Scripture, 
[the  three  most  formidable  batteries  in  the  world]  begin  to  play  upon 
its  ramparts. 

You  "  earnestly  entreaV^  me  in  your  Postscript,  to  publish  a  manu- 
script sermon  on  Rom.  xi.  5,  6.  that  I  preached  about  eleven  years 
ago  in  my  church,  in  defence  of  the  first  Gospel-axiom.  You  are 
pleased  to  call  it  three  times  "  excellent,''''  and  you  present  the  pub- 
lic with  an  extract  from  it,  made  up  of  some  unguarded  passages ; 
detached  from  those  that  in  a  great  degree  guard  them,  explain  my 
meaning,  confirm  the  doctrine  of  mj  Checks,  and  sap  the  foundation 


30  FIFTH    CHECK 

of  your  mistakes.  As  I  am  not  less  williog  to  defend  frtt  grace,  than 
to  plead  for  faithful  obedience ;  I  shall  gladly  grant  your  request,  so  far 
at  least  as  to  send  my  old  sermon  into  the  world  with  additions  in 
brackets,  just  as  !  preached  it  again  last  spring  ;  assuring  you  that 
the  greatest  addition  is  in  favour  of  free  grace.  By  thus  complying 
with  your  "  earnest  entreaty^*^  I  shall  show  my  respect,  meet  you  half 
"Way,  gratify  the  curiosity  of  our  readers,  and  yet  give  them  a  speci- 
men of  what  appears  to  me  a  free,  guarded  Gospel. 

That  Discourse  will  be  the  principal  piece  of  An  Equal  Check  to 
Pharisaism  and  Antinomianism,  which  I  have  prepared  for  the  press. 
Upon  the  plan  of  the  doctrines  it  contains,  I  do  not  despair  to  see 
moderate  Calvinists,  and  unprejudiced  Anti-Calvinists,  acknowledge 
their  mutual  orthodoxy,  and  embrace  one  another  with  mutual  for- 
bearance. May  I  and  you  set  them  the  example  !  In  the  mean  time 
may  the  brotherly  love,  with  which  we  forgive  each  other  the  real 
or  apparent  unkindness  of  our  publications,  continue  and  increase ! 
May  the  charity  that  is  not  provoked,  and  hopeth  all  things,  uniformly 
influence  our  hearts !  So  shall  the  words  that  drop  from  our  lips, 
or  distil  from  our  pens,  evidence  that  we  are,  or  desire  to  be,  the 
close  followers  of  the  meek,  gentle,  and  yet  impartial,  plain-spoken 
Lamb  of  God.  For  his  sake,  to  whom  we  are  both  so  greatly 
indebted,  restore  me  to  your  former  benevolence,  and  be  persuaded, 
that  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  your  Finishing  Stroke,  and  the 
plainness  of  my  answer,  1  really  think  it  an  honour,  and  feel  it  a 
pleasure,  to  subscribe  myself,  honoured  and  dear  Sir,  your  affection- 
ate and  obedient  Servant  in  the  Gospel  of  our  common  Lord, 


J.  FLETCHER. 


Madelev, 
Sept.  13,  1773. 


TO  ANTINOMIANISU 


.%  Si 


APPENDIX, 


^pon  the  remaining  difference  between  the  Calvinists  and  the  Anti-Cal- 
vinists,  with  respect  to  our  Lord's  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Words, 
and  St.  Jameses  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Works. 

X  O  force  my  opponents  out  of  the  last  intrenchment  in  which  they 
defend  their  mistakes,  and  from  behind  which  they  attack  the  Justifi- 
cation by  words  and  works  peculiarly  insisted  on  by  our  Lord  and 
St.  James  ;  I  only  need  to  show  how  far  we  agree  with  respect  to 
that  justification  ;  to  state  the  diflference  that  remains  between  us  ; 
and  to  prove  the  unreasonableness  of  considering  us  as  Papists  because 
we  oppose  an  unscriptural,  and  irrational  distinction,  that  leaves  Mr. 
Fulsome  in  full  possession  of  all  his  Antinomian  dotages. 

On  both  sides  we  agree  to  maintain,  in  opposition  to  Socinians  and 
Deists,  that  the  grand^  the  primary,  and  properly  meritorious  cause  of 
our  justification,  from  first  to  last,  both  in  the  day  of  conversion  and 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  is  only  the  precious  atonement,  and  the  infinite 
merits  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. — We  all  agree  likewise,  that  in  the 
day  of  conversion,  faith  is  the  instrumental  cause  of  our  justification 
before  God.  Nay,  if  I  mistake  not,  we  come  one  step  nearer  each 
other,  for  we  equally  hold,  that,  after  conversion,  the  works  of  faith 
are  in  this  world,  and  will  be  in  the  day  of  judgment,  the  evidencing 
cause  of  our  justification :  that  is,  the  works  of  faith  [under  the  above- 
mentioned  primary  causeof  our  salvation,  and  in  subordination  to  the 
faith  that  gives  them  birth]  are  now,  and  will  be  in  the  great  day,  the 
evidence  that  shall  instrumentally  cause  our  Justification  as  believers. 
Thus  Mr.  Hill  says,  Review,  p.  149,  "  Neither  Mr.  Shirley  nor  I, 
nor  any  Calvinist  that  I  ever  heard  of,  deny,  that  though  a  sinner  be 
justified  in  the  sight  of  God  by  Christ  alone,  he  is  declaratively  justified 
by  worksy  both  here  and  at  the  Day  of  Judgment."  And  Mr.  Madan, 
in  his  Sermon  on  Justification  by  works,  &.c.  stated,  explained,  and  re- 
conciled with  Justification  by  faith,  &.c.  says,  p.  29,  "  By  Christ  only 
are  we  men'/onows/y  justified,  and  by  faith  only  are  we  instrumentally 
justified  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  but  by  works  and  not  by  faith  only,  are 


32  FIFTH   CHECK 

we  declaratively  justified  before  men  and  angels.^^  From  these  two 
quotations,  which  could  easily  be  multiplied  to  twenty,  it  is  evident, 
that  pious  Calrinists  hold  the  doctrineof  a  justification  by  the  works 
of  faith,  or,  as  Mr.  Madan  expresses  it,  after  St.  James,  by  works,  and 
not  by  faith  only. 

It  remains  now  to  show  wherein  we  disagree.  At  first  sight  the 
difference  seems  trifling,  but  upon  close  examination  it  appears,  that 
the  whole  Antinomian  gulf  still  remains^  fixed  between  us.  Read  over 
the  preceding  quotations  ;  weigh  the  clauses  which  I  have  put  in 
italics ;  compare  them  with  what  Mr.  Berridge  says  in  his  Christian 
World  Unmasked,  p.  26,  of  *'  an  absolute  impossibility  of  being  justi- 
fied in  any  manner  by  our  works,"  namely,  before  God  ;  and  you  will 
see,  that  although  pious  Calvinists  allow,  we  are  justified  by  works 
before  men  and  angels,  yet  they  deny  our  being  ever  justified  by  works 
before  God,  in  whose  sight  they  suppose  we  are  for  ever  '^justified  by 
Christ  alone,''''  i.  e.  only  by  Christ's  good  works  and  sufferings  absolutely 
imputed  to  us,  from  the  very  first  moment  in  which  we  make  a  single 
act  of  true  faith,  if  not  from  all  eternity.  Thus  works  are  still  en- 
tirely excluded  from  having  any  hand  either  in  our  intermediate  or  final 
justification  before  God,  and  thus  they  are  still  represented  as  totally 
needless  to  our  eternal  salvation.  Now,  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
above-mentioned  distinction,  we  Anti-Calvinists  believe,  that  adult 
persons  cannot  be  saved  without  being  justified  by  faith  as  sijiners, 
according  to  the  light  of  their  dispensation  ;  and  by  ivorks  as  believers, 
according  to  the  time  and  opportunites  they  have  of  working : — We 
assert,  that  the  works  of  faith  are  not  less  necessary  to  our  justifica- 
tion before  God  as  believers  ;  ih^n  faith  itself  is  necessary  to  our  jus- 
tification before  him,  as  sinners  : — And  we  maintain,  that  when  faith 
does  not  produce  good  works  [much  more  when  it  produces  the  worst 
works,  such  as  adultery,  hypocrisy,  treachery,  murder,  &c.]  it  dies, 
and  justifies  no  more  ;  seeing  it  is  a  living,  and  not  a  dead  faith,  that 
justifies  us  as  sinners  ;  even  as  they  are  living,  and  not  dead  works, 
that  justify  us  as  believers.  I  have  already  exposed  the  absurdity  of 
the  doctrine,  that  works  are  necessary  to  our  final  justification  before 
men  and  angels,  but  not  before  God.  However,  as  this  distinction  is  one 
of  the  grand  subterfuges  of  the  decent  Antinomians,  and  one  of  the 
pleas  by  which  the  hearts  of  the  simple  are  most  easily  deceived  into 
Solifidianism,  to  the  many  arguments  that  I  have  already  produced 
upon  this  head,  in  the  Sixth  Letter  of  the  Fourth  Check,  I  beg  leave 
to  add  those  which  follow  : 

1.  The  way  of  making  up  the  Antinomian  gap  by  saying,  that 
works  are  necessary  to  our  intermediate  and  final  justification  before 


TO  ANTINOMIANIS]tf.  33 

men  and  angels^  but  not  before  God,  is  as  bad  as  the  gap  itself.  "  If 
God  is  for  me  (says  judicious  Mr.  Fulsome)  who  can  be  against  me  ? 
If  God  has  for  ever  justified  me  otdy  by  Christ,  and  if  works  have 
absolutely  no  place  in  my  justification  before  him,  what  care  I  for  men 
and  angels  ?  Should  they  justify  when  God  condemns,  what  would 
their  absolution  avail  ?  And  if  they  condemn  when  God  justifies,  what 
signifies  their  condemnation  ?  All  creatures  are  fallible.  The  myriads 
of  men  and  angels  are  as  nothing  before  God.  He  is  all  in  all." 
Thus  Mr.  Fulsome,  by  a  most  judicious  way  of  arguing,  keeps  the 
field  of  licentiousness,  where  the  Solifidian  ministers  have  inad- 
vertently brought  him,  and  whence  he  is  too  wise  to  depart  upon 
their  brandishing  before  him  the  broken  reed  of  an  absurd  distinc- 
tion. 

2.  Our  justification  by  works,  will  principally,  and  in  some  cases 
entirely,  turn  upon  the  works  of  the  heart,  which  are  unknown  to  all 
but  God.  Again,  were  men  and  angels  in  all  cases  to  pass  a  decisive 
sentence  upon  us  according  to  our  works,  they  might  judge  us  severely, 
as  Mr.  Hill  jud;:;es  Mr.  Wesley  ;  they  might  brand  us  for  forgery  upon 
the  most  frivolous  appearances  ;  at  least  they  might  condemn  us  as 
rashly  as  Job's  friends  condemned  him.  Once  more  :  were  our 
fellow-creatures  to  condemn  us  decisively  by  our  works,  they  would 
often  do  it  as  unjustly  as  the  disciples  condemned  the  blessed  woman, 
who  poured  a  box  of  very  precious  ointment  on  our  Lord's  head. 
They  had  indignation,  and  blamed  as  uncharitable  waste,  what  our 
Lord  was  pleased  to  call  a  good  work  wrought  upon  him, — a  good 
work,  which  shall  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her,  as  long  as  the  Chris- 
tian Gospel  is  preached.  To  this  may  be  added  the  mistake  of  the 
apostles,  who,  even  after  they  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  con- 
demned Saul  of  Tarsus  by  his  former,  when  they  should  have  ab- 
solved him  by  his  latter  works.  And  even  now  how  few  believers 
would  justify  Phinehas  for  running  Zimri  and  Cosbi  through  the  body, 
or  Peter  for  striking  Ananias  and  Sapphira  dead,  without  giving  them 
time  to  say  once,  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us !  Nay,  how  many  would 
condemn  them  as  rash  men,  if  not  as  cruel  murderers  ?  In  some  cases, 
therefore,  none  can  possibly  justify  or  condemn  believers  by  their 
works,  but  he  who  is  perfectly  acquainted  with  all  the  outward  cir- 
cumstances of  their  actions,  and  with  all  the  secret  springs  whence 
they  tiow. 

3.  The  Scriptures  know  nothingof  the  distinction  which  I  explode. 
When  St.  Paul  denies  that  Abraham  was  justified  by  works,  it  is  only 
when  he  treats  of  the  justification  of  Rsijiner,  and  speaks  of  the  works, 
of  unbelief.  When  Christ  says,  By  thy  words  thou  shah  be  justified,  he 
"^  Vol.  n.  5 


34  FIFTH  CHECK 

makes  no  mention  of  angels.  To  suppose  that  they  shall  be  able  to 
justify  a  world  of  men  by  their  words,  is  to  suppose,  that  they  have 
heard,  and  do  remember  all  the  words  of  all  mankind,  which  is  sup- 
posing them  to  be  gods.  Nay,  far  from  being  judged  by  angels,  St. 
Paul  says,  that  we  shall  judge  them ;  not  indeed  as  proper  judges, 
but  as  Christ's  assessors  and  mystical  members  :  for  our  Lord, 
in  his  description  of  the  great  day,  informs  us  that  he,  and  not  men 
or  angels,  will  justify  the  sheep  and  condemn  the  goats,  by  their 
works. 

4.  St.  Paul  discountenances  the  evasive  distinction  which  I  op- 
pose, when  he  says,  Thinkest  thou,  O  man,  who  doest  such  things,  that 
thou  shah  escape  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  who  will  render  eter- 
nal life  to  them  that  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing,  seek  for  glory, 
4*c.  when  he  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by  Jesus  Christ?  For 
reason  dictates,  that  neither  men  nor  angels,  but  the  Searcher  of 
hearts  alone,  will  be  able  to  justify  or  condemn  us  by  secrets,  un- 
known possibly  to  all  but  himself. 

5.  If  you  say.  Most  men  shall  have  been  condemned  or  justified 
long  before  the  day  of  judgment ;  therefore  the  solemn  pomp  of 
that  day  will  be  appointed  merely  for  the  sake  of  justification  by  men 
and  angels  :  I  exclaim  against  the  unreasonableness  of  supposing 
that  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  God,  with  an  eye  to  which  the 
world  of  rationals  was  created,  is  to  be  only  the  day  of  men  and  angels  • 
and  I  reply : — Although  I  grant  that  judgment  certainly  finds  us 
where  death  leaves  us  ;  final  justification  and  condemnation  being 
chiefly  a  solemn  seal  set,  if  I  may  so  speak,  upon  the  forehead  of 
those  whose  consciences  are  already  justified  or  condemned,  accord- 
ing to  the  last  turn  of  their  trial  upon  earth  :  yet  it  appears,  both 
from  Scripture  and  reason,  that  mankind  cannot  properly  be  judged 
before  the  great  day  :  departed  spirits  are  not  men ;  and  dead  men 
cannot  be  tried  till  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  takes  place,  when 
departed  spirits,  and  raised  bodies,  will  form  men  again  by  their  re- 
union. Therefore  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  God  cannot  judge 
mankind  before  the  great  day ;  and  to  suppose  that  the  Father  has 
appointed  such  a  day,  that  we  may  be  finally  justified  by  our  works 
before  men  and  angels,  and  not  before  him,  is  to  suppose  that  he  has 
committed  the  chief  judgment  to  the  parties  to  be  judged,  i.  e.  to 
men  and  angels,  and  not  to  Jesus  Christ. 

6.  But  if  I  mistake  not,  St.  James  puts  the  matter  out  of  all  dis- 
pute, where  he  says  :  You  see  then  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and 
not  by  faith  only,  chap.  ii.  24.  This  shows  that  a  man  is  justified  by 
works  before  the  same  Judge,  by  whom  he  is  justified  by  faith;  and 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  ^*\  3b 

here  is  the  proof:  nobody  was  ever  justified  by  faith  before  men 
and  angels,  because  faith  is  an  inward  act  of  the  soul,  which  none  but 
the  Trier  of  the  reins  can  be  a  judge  of.  Therefore,  as  the  Justifier  by 
faith  alluded  to  in  the  latter  part  of  the  verse,  is  undoubtedly  God 
alone ;  it  is  contrary  to  all  the  rules  of  criticism  to  suppose,  that  the 
Justifier  by  works  alluded  to  in  the  very  same  sentence,  is  not  God, 
but  men  and  angels.  Nay,  in  the  preceding  verse  God  is  expressly 
mentioned,  and  not  men  or  angels  :  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was 
imputed  to  him  for  righteousness  ^  i.  e.  he  was  justified  before  God  :  so 
that  the  same  Lordy  who  justified  him  as  a  sinner  by  faith  in  the  day 
of  his  conversion,  justified  him  also  as  a  believer  by  works  in  the  day 
of  his  trial. 

7.  But  this  is  not  all  :  Turning  to  Gen.  xxii.  the  chapter  which 
St.  James  had  undoubtedly  in  view,  when  he  insisted  upon  Abra- 
ham's justification  by  works,  I  find  the  best  of  arguments — matter  of 
fact.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  God  did  tempt,  i.  e.  try  Abraham, 
The  patriarch  acquitted  himself  like  a  sound  believer  in  the  hard 
trial,  he  obediently  offered  up  his  favourite  son.  Here  St.  James 
addresses  a  Solifidian,  and  bluntly  says,  Wilt  thou  know,  0  vain  man, 
that  faith  without  works  is  dead,  i.  e.  that  when  faith  gives  over  work- 
ing by  obedient  love,  it  sickens,  dies,  and  commences  a  dead  faith  ? 
Was  not  Abraham  our  father  justified  by  works,  when  he  offered  up 
Isaac  upon  the  altar  ?  If  Mr.  Hill  answers  ;  Yes,  he  was  justified  by 
works  before  men  and  angels,  but  not  before  God  :  I  reply  :  Impossi- 
ble !  for  neither  men  nor  angels  put  him  to  the  trial,  to  bring  out 
what  was  in  his  heart.  God  tried  him,  that  he  might  justly  punish, 
or  wisely  reward  him  ;  therefore  God  justified  him.  If  a  judge, 
after  trying  a  man  on  a  particular  occasion,  acquits  him  upon  his  good 
behaviour  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  reward  of  him,  is  it  not  absurd 
to  say,  that  the  man  is  acquitted  before  the  court,  but  not  before  the 
judge ;  especially  if  there  is  neither  court  nor  jury  present,  but  only 
the  judge  ?  Was  not  this  the  case  at  Abraham's  trial  ?  Do  we  hear  of 
any  angel  being'^iresent  but  T\'\7V  *]nSd,  the  Angel  Jehovah  ?  And 
had  not  Abraham  left  his  two  servants  with  the  ass  at  the  foot  of  the 
mount  ?  Is  it  reasonable  then  to  suppose  that  Abraham  was  justified 
before  them  by  a  work  which  as  yet  they  had  not  heard  of;  for, 
says  St.  James,  When  (which  implies  as  soon  as)  he  had  offered  Isaac, 
he  was  justified  by  works  ?  If  you  say,  •that  he  was  justified  before 
Isaac;  I  urge  the  absurdity  of  supposing,  that  God  made  so  much 
ado  about  the  trial  of  Abraham  before  the  lad :  and  I  demand  proof 
tliat  God  had  appointed  the  youth  to  be  the  justifier  of  his  aged  parent. 


36  FIFTH  CHECK 

8.  But  let  the  sacred  historian  decide  the  question.  And  the  Lord 
called  to  Abraham  out  of  heaven,  and  said,  Lay  not  thy  hand  upon  the 
lad,  for  now  I  know  [declarative!}']  that  thoufeai^est  God,  (i.  e.  believ- 
est  in  God  :)  JSTow  1  can  praise  and  reward  thee  with  wisdom  and  equity  * 
seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thy  only  son,  from  me.  Upon  Cal- 
vinistic  principles,  did  not  God  speak  improperly  1  Should  not  he  have 
said,  Now  angels  and  men,  before  whom  thou  hast  offered  Isaac,  do 
know  that  thou  fearest  me  ?  But  if  God  had  spoken  thus,  would  he 
have  spoken  consistently  with  either  his  veracity  or  his  wisdom  ? 
Is  it  not  far  more  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  although  God,  as  Om- 
nisoient,  with  a  glance  of  his  eyes  tries  the  hearts,  searches  the  reins, 
and  foresees  all  future  contingencies,  yet  as  a  Judge,  and  a  wise  dis- 
penser of  punishments  and  rewards,  he  condemns  no  unbelievers,  and 
justifies  no  believers,  in  St.  James's  sense,  but  by  the  evidence  of 
tempers,  words,  and  actions,  which  actually  spring  from  their  unbe- 
lief, or  their  faith  ? 

9.  Was  it  not  from  the  same  motive,  that  God  tried  Job  in  the  land 
of  Uz,  chap.  i.  12. ;  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  Deut.  viii.  1.  compared 
with  Josh.  xxii.  2.  ?  and  King  Hezekiah  in  Jerusalem,  2.  Chron. 
xxxii.  31.  ?  God  (says  the  historian  left  him  (to  the  temptation)  that 
He  (God)  might  knoro  declaratively)  all  that  was  in  his  heart.  It 
is  true,  Mr.  Hill  supposes,  in  the  2d  Ed.  of  his  Five  Letters,  that 
the  words,  He  might  know,  refer  to  Hezekiah,  but  Canne,  more  judi- 
ciously refers  to  Gen.  xxii.  1.  where  God  tried  Abraham,  not  that 
Abraham  might  know,  but  that  He  himself  might  declaratively  know 
what  was  in  Abraham's  heart.  If  the  word  that  he  might  know,  did 
refer  to  Hezekiah,  should  not  the  affix  (l)  he  or  Am,  have  been 
added  to  n>*l,  thus  in>nS,  as  it  is  put  to  the  two  preceding  verbs,  )2^y, 
he  left  HIM,  imDjS,  to  try  him  ? 

10.  Our  Lord  himself  decides  the  question,  where  he  says  to  his 
believing  disciples,  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  But  whosoever 
shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  BEFOlft:  my  Father  who 
is  in  heaven.  It  was  undoubtedly  an  attention  to  this  Scripture,  that 
made  Dr.  Owen  say,  "  Hereby  [by  personal  obedience]  that  faith 
whereby  ive  are  justified  [as  sinners]  is  evidenced,  proved,  manifested 
in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.^^  And  yet,  astonishing  !  this, passage, 
which  indirectly  gives  up  the  only  real  difference  there  is  between 
Mr.  Hill's  justification  by  works  and  ours;  this  passage,  which  cuts 
him  off  from  the  only  way  he  has  of  making  his  escape  (except  that 
by  which  his  brother  tried  to  make  bis  own,  see  Fourth  Check,  p. 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM.  37 

351.)  this  very  passage,  which  makes  so  much  for  my  sentiment,  is 
one  of  those  concerning  which  he  says,  [Finishing  Stroke,  p.  J  4.) 
*'  Words  prudently  expunged  by  Mr.  Fletcher,"  when  they  are  only 
words,  which  for  brevity's  sake  I  very  imprudently  left  out,  since 
ihey  cut  down  Solfidianism,  even  with  Dr.  Owen's  sword. 

To  conclude  :  Attentive  reader,  peruse  James  ii.  where  the  jus- 
tification of  believers  by  works  before  God  is  so  strongly  insisted  upon  : 
observe  what  is  said  there  of  the  law  of  liberty ;  of  believers  being 
judged  by  that  law  ;  o(  the  judgment  without  mercy,  that  shall  be  shown 
to   fallen,   merciless  believers  according  to  that  law  : — Consider  that 
this  doctrine  exactly  coincides  with  the  Sermon  upon  the  Mount,  and 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews— that  it  perfectly  tallies  with  Ezek.  xviii. 
xxxiii.     Matt.  xii.  xxv.    Rom.  ii.    Gal.  vi.  &,c.  and  that  it  is  delivered 
to    brethren,  yea,    to    the  beloved  brethren  of  St.  James,  toswhom   he 
could  say,  Of  his  own  will  the  Father  of  lights  begat  us  with  the  word 
of  truth : — Take  notice,  that  the  charge   indirectly  brought  against 
them,  is,  that  they  had  the  faith  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  respect 
of  persons ;  and  that  they  deceived  their  own  selves,  by  not  being  as 
careful  doers  as  they  were  diligent  hearers  of  the  word : — Then  look 
round  upon  some  of  our  most  famous  believers;  see  how  foaming, 
how    roaring,  how  terrible  are  the  billows  of  their  partiality.     Read 
*'  ^in  address  from  Candid  Protestants  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fletcher ;  read 
^^  The  Finishing  Stroke  ;^^  read  ^^  More  Work  for  Mr.  Wesley  f  read 
the  Checks  to   Antinomianism  ;    and  say,  if  there  be  not   as  great 
need    to  insist   upon    a  believer's  justification    by  words  and  works, 
as  there  was  in  the  days  of  our  Lord  and  St.  James' :    and  if  it  be 
not  high   time    to    say  to  modern  believers,   My  brethren,  have  not 
the  faith  of  our  Lord   Jesus  Christ  with  respect  of  persons. — So  speak 
ye,  and  so  do,  as  they  that  shall  be  judged  by  the   law  of  liberty :  for 
he  shall  have  judgment  without  mercy,  that  hath  showed  no  mercy : — 
For  with  what  judgment  ye  judge,   ye  shall  be  judged:  and  with  what 
measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again,  [by  him  that]  shall 
render  to  every  one  according  to  what  he  has  done  in  the  body,  whether 
it  be  good  or  bad.^"* — But  "  Candid  Protestants''''  have  an  answer  ready 
in  their  "Address  :"  This  is  "  the  Popish  doctrine  of  justification  by 
works,"''  and  "  Arminian  Methodism  turned  out  rank  Popery  at  last.'''' — 
This  is  a  mingle  mangle  of  "  the  most  high  and  mighty,  self-righteous, 
self  potent,  self-important,  self -sanctifying,  self  justifying,  and  self  exalt- 
ing MEDLEY  Minister.''''*     The  misfortune  is,  that  amidst  these  witti- 
cisms of  "  the  Protestants,^^  (for  it  seems  the  Calvinists  engross  that 

**  S'ee  tlie  above-mentioircd  ♦«  Address  from  Caridid  Proiestcint3r"' 


38  FIFTH  CHECK  TO  ANTINOMIANISM. 

name  to  themselves)  we,  "  rank  Popisfs,"  still  look  out  for  argu- 
ments ;  and  when  we  find  none,  or  only  such  as  are  worse  than  none,, 
we  still  say,  Logica  Genevensis !  and  remain  confirmed  in  our  **  dread- 
ful heresy^'''  or  rather  in  our  Lord's  anti-Calvinistic  doctrine,  By  thy 
words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  con- 
demned. 


aj©©ii©A  ©s^ia^iaBgi!® 


CONTINUED 


OR, 


THE  SECOJS'B  PART 


OF 


THE  FIFTH  CHECK 


TO 


CONTAINING 

A  DEFENCE  OF  "JACK  O'LANTERN,"  AND  "THE  PAPER  KITE,"  i.e.  SINCERE 
OBEDIENCE -.—OF  THE  "COBWEB,"  i.  e.  THE  EVANGELICAL  LAW  OF  LIBERTY  ; 
AND  OF  THE  "  VALIANT  SERGEANT  IF,"  i.  e.  THE  CONDITIONALITY  OF  PERSE- 
VERANCE, ATTACKED  BY  THE  REV.  MR.  BERRIDGE,  M.  A.  VICAR  OF  EVERTON, 
AND  LATE  FELLOW  OF  CLARE-HALL,  CAMBRIDGE,  IN  HIS  BOOK,  CALL£D 
'THE  CHRISTIAN   WORLD  UNMASKED." 


^^iai»«- 


Cftiitnlnijttr  iomit  dorviitot  Tfotr>f-tn. 


11- 


CONTENTS 

OF 
THE  SECOND  PART  OF  THE  FIFTH  CHECK. 

— -<i'Vi^<^< — 

iiVTRODUCTION.    Mr.  Berridge's  uncommon  piety  and  zeal  give  an  uncommon  sanp- 
tion  to  his  dangerous,  though  well-meant  mistakes. 

Sect.  I.  Mr.  Berridge  advances  the  capital  error  of  the  Antinomians,  when  he  says,  that 
"  Faith  must  utterx-y  exclude  all  justification  by  works ;  and  when  he  represents 
*'  the  Passport  of  Obedience''^  as  a  Paper-kite. 

Sect.  II.  A  view  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Solfidians  with  respect  to  the  Gospel  law,  or 
the  [Law  of  Liberty,  which  Mr.  Berridge  •  indirectly  calls  a  "  cobweb"  and  with  respect 
to  sincere  Obedience,  which  he  directly  calls  "  a  jack  o'  lantern."  With  two 
notes,  showing  that  Mr.  Berridge  holds  the  doctrine  of  merit  of  congruity,  as  much 
as  Thomas  Aquinas ;  and  that  Bellarmine  held  absolute  reprobation  as  much  as  Mr, 
Toplady. 

Section  III.  An  answer  to  the  dangerous  ai^uraents  of  Mr.  Berridge  against  sincere 
obedience,  in  which  it  is  proved,  that  Christ  is  not  "  ai  the  head  of  the  Antinomian 
Preachers"  for  making  our  duty  feasible  as  redeemed  sinners ;  and  that  Mr.  BeiTidge*s 
rash  pleas  against  obedience,  as  the  condition  of  eternal  salvation,  totally  subvert  Faith 
itself,  which  he  calls  "  the  total  term  of  all  salvation." 

Sect.  IV.  When  Mr.  Berridge  grants,  that  "  our  damnation'is  wholly  from  ourselves,  " 
he  grants  that  our  salvation  is  suspended  upon  some  term,  which,  through  grace,  we  have 
power  to  fulfil ;  and  in  this  case,  unconditional  reprobation,  a&w/M/e  election,  and  fnished 
salvation,  are  false  doctrines ;  and  Calvin's  whole  system  stands  upon  a  sandy  founda- 
tion :  with  a  Note  upon  a  Pamphlet  called  "  A  Check  upon  Checks." 

Sect.  V.  Mr.  Berridge  candidly  grants  the  conditionality  of  perseverance,  and  conse- 
quently of  Election,  by  showing  much  respect  to  "  Serjeant  IF,"  who  "  guards  the  camp 
of  Jesus :"  But  soon  picking  a  quarrel  with  the  valiant  Serjeant,  oddly  discharges  him 
as  a  Jew,  opens  the  camp  to  the  Antinomians  by  opposing  to  them  only  a  sham  sentinel, 
and  shows  the  foundation  of  Calvinism  in  a  most  striking  light. 

Conclusion.  In  which  the  Author  expresses  again  bis  brotherly  love  for  Mr.  Ber- 
ridge, makes  an  apology  for  the  mistakes  of  his  pious  antagonist,  and  accounts  for  tho 
oddity  of  his  own  style  in  answering  him. 


Vol.  II. 


as?®s©a)®®®i©3Jt^ 


~-^\\j^w5ji^ 


H 


AVING  animadverted  on  Mr.  Hill's  Finishing  Stroke,  I  proceed  to 
ward  off  the  Jlrst  blow,  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berridge  has  given  to 
practical  religion.  But  before  I  mention  his  mistakes,  I  must  do  jus- 
tice to  his  person.  It  is  by  no  means  my  design  to  represent  him  as 
a  divine,  who  either  leads  a  loose  life,  or  intends  to  hurt  the  Re- 
deemer's interest.  His  conduct  as  a  Christian  is  exemplary  ;  his  la- 
bours as  a  Minister  are  great :  and  I  am  persuaded  that  the  wrong 
touches  which  he  gives  to  the  aik  of  godliness,  are  not  only  unde- 
signed, but  intended  to  do  God  service. 

There  are  so  many  things  commendable  in  the  pious  Vicar  of 
Everton,  and  so  much  truth  in  his  Christian  World  Unmasked,  that  I  find 
it  a  hardship  to  expose  the  unguarded  part  of  that  performance.  But 
the  cause  of  this  hardship  is  the  ground  of  my  apology.  Mr.  Ber- 
ridge is  a  good,  an  excellent  man,  therefore  the  Antinomian  errors, 
which  go  abroad  into  the  world  with  his  letters  of  recommendation, 
which  speak  in  his  evangelical  strain,  and  are  armed  with  the 
poignancy  of  his  wit,  cannot  be  too  soon  pointed  out,  and  too  carefully 
guarded  against.  I  flatter  myself  that  this  consideration  will  procure 
me  his  pardon^  for  taking  the  liberty  of  despatching  his  "  Valiant  Ser- 
geanC*  with  some  doses  of  rational  and  scriptural  antidotes  for  those, 
who  have  drunk  into  the  pleasing  mistakes  of  his  book,  and  want  his 
piety  to  hinder  them  from  carrying  speculative  into  practical  Antino 
raianism. 

SECTION  I. 

ONE  of  my  opponents  has  justly  observed,  that  "  the  principal 
cause  of  controversy  among  us,"  is  the  doctrine  of  our  justifica* 


H 


44  FIFTH    CHECK 

tion  by  the  works  of  faith  in  the  day  of  judgment.  At  this  rampart 
of  practical  godliness  Mr.  Berridge  levels  such  propositions  as  these 
in  his  Christian  World  Unmasked,  second  edition,  p.  170,  171.  Final 
justification  by  faith  is  the  capital  doctrine  of  the  Gospel: — Faithbeing 
the  term  of  salvation,  ^c.  must  utterly  exclude  all  justification  by 
Works. — And  p.  26.  we  read  of  aw  absolute  impossibility  of  being 
justified  IN  ANY  MANNER  by  our  works. 

If  these  positions  be  true,  say,  reader,  if  St.  James,  St.  Paul,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  did  not  advance  great  untruths  when  they  said,  By 
WORKS  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only,  James  ii.  24.  For  not 
the  hearers  of  the  law  [of  Christ]  are  just  before  God,  but  the  doers  shall 
be  justified,  ^c.  in  the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men  by 
Jesus  Christ,  Rom.  ii.  13,  16.  For,  (adds  our  Lord,  when  speaking 
of  the  day  of  judgment)  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  &c.  Matt, 
xii.  37.  Christian  reader,  say,  who  is  mistaken  ?  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, or  the  late  Fellow  of  Clare-hall  ? 

Mr.  Berridge  goes  farther  still.  Without  ceremony  he  shuts  the 
gates  of  heaven  against  every  man  who  seeks  to  be  justified  by  works, 
according  to  our  Lord's  and  St.  James's  doctrine.  For  when  he  has 
assured  us,  p.  171.  ihai  faith  must  utterly  exclude  all  justification  by 
works,  he  immediately  adds,  "  And  the  man,  who  seeks  to  be  justified  by 
kis  passport  of  obedience,  "will  find  no  passage  through  the  city  gates.''^ 
Might  not  our  author  have  unmasked  Calvinism  a  little  more,  and  told 
the  Christian  world,  that  the  man  who  minds  what  Christ  says,  shall 
be  turned  into  hell  ? 

See  the  boldness  of  Solifidianism  !*  In  our  Lord's  days  believers 
were  to  keep  their  mouths  as  with  a  bridle,  and  to  abstain  from  every 
idle  word,  lest  in  the  day  of  Judgment  they  should  not  he  justifed.  In 
St.  John's  time  they  were  to  do  Christ' s  commandments,  that  they  might 
enter  through  tlie  gates  into  the  city.  Rev.  xxii.  14.  ;  but  in  our  days,  a 
Gospel  minister  assures  us,  p.  171.  that  the  believer,  who,  according 
to  our  Lord's  doctrine,  seeks  to  be  ^'justified  by  his  passport  of  obe- 
dience, "will find  NO  passage  through  the  city  gates.  He  may  talk  of  the 
tree  of  life,  and  soar  up  with  his  Paper-kite  to  the  gates  of  paradise, 
but  will  find  7io  entrance." — I  grant  it,  if  an  Antinomian  pope  has  St. 
Peter's  key  ;  but  so  long  as  Christ  has  the  key  of  David,  so  long  as 
he  opens,  and  no  Solifidian  shuts  ;     the  dutiful  servant,  iestead  of 

*  Solifidianism  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Solifidians ;  and  the  Solijidtans  are  men,  who, 
because  sinners  are  justified,  [Solajide]  by  sole  faith  in  the  da}  of  conversion,  infer,  as 
Mr.  Berridge,  that  '*  believing  is  the  total  term  of  a^Z  salvation,"  and  conclude,  as  Mr  Hill, 
that  the  doctrines  of ^na/ justification  by  the  works  of  faith  in  the  great  day,  is  "fall  oY 
rottenness  and  deadly  poison."    It  is  a  softer  word  for  Antinomianism. 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  45 

being  sent  flying  to  hell  after  *'  the  paper-kite"  of  obedience,  will, 
through  his  Lord's  merits,  be  honourably  admitted  into  heaven  by-lhe 
passport  of  good  works,  which  he  has  about  him.  For  though  the 
remembrance  of  his  sins,  and  the  sight  of  his  Saviour,  will  make  him 
ashamed  to  produce  it ;  yet  he  had  rather  die  ten  thousand  deaths, 
than  be  found  without  it.  The  celestial  Porter,  after  having  kindly 
opened  it  for  him,  will  read  it  before  an  innumerable  company  of 
angels,  and  say,  Enter  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord,  for  I  was  hungry  an^ 
thou  gavest  me  meat,  4"C.  Matt.  xxv.  35,  &c. 

If  the  Vicar  of  Everton  throws  in  an  Antinomian  caveat  against 
this  "  passport  of  obedience,"*  and  ridicules  it  still  as  a  "  paper-kite,^"* 
Isaiah  and  St.  Paul  will  soon  silence  him.  Open  ye  the  gates,  says  the 
evangelical  prophet,  that  the  righteous  nation  which  keepeth  the  truth 
(of  the  Gospel  doctrines)  mMy  enter  in :  For,  adds  the  evangelical  apos- 
tle. Circumcision  (including  all  professions  of  faith,)  is  nothing,  hut  the 
keeping  of  the  commandments  of  God.  Yea,  though  I  have  all  faith, 
and  no  charity,  I  am  nothing.     Isa.  xxvi.  2.     1  Cor.  vii.  19.  xiii.  2. 

If  I  am  at  the  city  gates,  when  Mr.  Berridge  will  exclaim  against 
the  "  passport  of  obedience,"  I  think  I  shall  venture  to  check  his 
imprudence  by  the  following  questions.  Can  there  be  a  medium 
between  not  having  a  passport  of  obedience,  and  having  one  of  disobe- 
hience?  Must  a  man,  to  the  honour  of  free  grace,  take  a  passport  of 
refractoriness  along  with  him  ?  Must  he  bring  a  certificate  of  adultery 
and  murder  to  be  welcome  into  the  New  Jerusalem  ?  I  am  persua- 
ded that,  with  the  utmost  abhorrence,  Mr.  Berridge  answers  No !  But 
his  great  Diana  speaks  louder  than  he,  and  says  before'all  the  world  : 
"  There  is  no  need  that  he  should  have  a  testimonium  of  adultery  and 
murder,  but  he  may  if  he  please  :  nay,  if  he  be  so  inclined,  he  may 
get  a  diploma  of  treachery  and  incest :  it  will  never  invalidate  his 
title  to  glory  ;  for  if  David  and  the  incestuous  Corinthian  had  saving 
faith,  inamissible  eternal  life,  'andjinished  salvation,  when  the^  com- 
mitted their  crimes  ;  and  if  faith  or  believing  (as  Mr.  Berridge 
affirms,  p.  168. j  be  the  total  term  of  all  salvation,''''  why  might  not 
every  Christian,  if  he  be  so  minded,  murder  his  neighbour,  worship 
idols,  and  gratify  even  incestuous  lusts  as  well  as  primitive  backsliders, 
without  risking  his  finished  salvation  /  Upon  this  Antinomian  axiom 
advanced  by  Mr.  Berridge,  "  Believing  is  the  total  term  of  all  sa/- 
vation,''''  1  lay  my  engine,  a  grain  of  reason,  and  ask  every  unpreju- 
diced peri^on,  who  is  able  to  conclude  that  two  ant}  two   make  four, 

*  I  speak  only  of  the  obedience  of  faith.  It  is  only  for  that  obedience,  and  for  the  works 
(ffaiih,  that  St.  James  pie  ids  in  his  epistle,  Mr.  Wesley  in  the  Minutes,  and  I  in  the 
r'-hncks.     All  other  obedience  fs  j??.sm cere— all  other  works  Pharisaical. 


46  ¥IF'¥H    CHECK 

whether  we  may  not,  without  any  magical  power,  heave  morality  out 
of  the  world,  or  Calvinism  out  of  the  Church  ? 

If  Mr.  Berridge  pleads,  that  when  he  says,  p.  168,  "  Believing  is 
the  TOTAL  term  of  all  salvation,''''  he  means  a  faith,  "  including  and 
producing  all  obedience,"  I  reply,  Then  he  gives  up  Solifidianism  ; 
he  means  the  very  faith  which  I  contend  for  in  the  Checks  ;  and, 
pressing  him  with  his  own  definition  of  faith,  I  ask,  how  can  a  *'  faith 
including  all  obedience,"  include  murder,  as  in  the  case  of  David  ; 
idolatry,  as  in  the  case  of  Solomon  ;  lying,  cursing,  and  denying 
Christ,  as  in  the  case  of  Peter ;  and  even  incest,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
apostate  Corinthian  ?  Are  murder,  idolatry,  cursing,  and  incest,  "  all 
obedience  ?" — If  Mr.  Berridge  reply,  JVo :  Then  David,  Solomon,  &c. 
lost  the  justifying  faith  of  St.  Paul,  when  they  lost  the  justifying  works 
of  St.  James  ;  and  so  Mr.  Berridge  gives  up  the  point  together  with 
Calvinism — If  he  say,  Fes ;  he  not  only  gives  up  St.  James's  justifi- 
cation, but  quite  unmasks  Antinomianism  ;  and  the  rational  world, 
who  "  come  and  peep  ;"  may  see  that  his  doctrine  of  grace  is  not  a 
chaste  virgin,  but  a  great  Diana,  who  pays  as  little  regard  to  decency, 
as  she  does  to  Scripture. 

If  this  be  sophism,  I  humbly  entreat  the  learned  Fellow  of  Clare- 
hall  to  convince  the  world  of  it,  by  showing  where  the  fallacy  lies. 
He  can  do  it  if  it  can  be  done,  "  having  consumed  a  deal  of  candle 
at  a  noted  hall  at  Cambridge,  in  lighting  up  a  good  understanding," 
even  after  he  was  declared  master  of  the  art  of  logic.  But  if  the 
dilemma  is  forcible,  and  grinds  Calvinism  as  between  an  upper  and 
nether  millstone,  I  hope  that  he  will  no  longer  oppose  the  dictates  of 
reason,  merely  to  pour  contempt  upon  our  Lord's  doctrine  of  a  be- 
liever's justification  by  the  words  of  faith ;  and  to  sport  himself  with 
obedience,  rendered  as  ridiculous  as  Sampson  was,  when  the  Philis- 
tines treated  him  as  a  blind  mill-horse. 

SECTION  II. 

WE  have  already  seen  how  Mr.  Berridge  gives  the  passport  of  obe- 
dience to  the  winds  as  a  boyish  trumpery.  To  render  the  "  paper 
kite'^  more  contemptible,  p.  145,  he  ties  to  it,  instead  of  a  tail,  *' a 
spruce  new  set  of  duties  half  a  yard  long,  called  legally  evangelical,  and 
evangelically  legal,  unknown  to  Christ  and  his  apostles,  but  discovered 
lately  by  some  ingenious  gentlemen.''''  Just  as  if  I,  who  have  ventured 
upon  those  expressions,  to  indicate  the  harmony  that  subsists  between 
the  promises  of  the  Gospel  and  the  duties  of  the  law  of  liberty,  and 
Mr.  W«sley,  who  has  let  those  compounded  words  pass  in  the  Second 


.^  TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  47 

Check,  were  the  first  men  who  have  taught,  That  believers  are  not 
without  law  to  God,  but  under  a  law  to  Christy  1  Cor.  ix.  21.  Just  as 
if  nobody  had  said  before  us,  Do  we  make  void  the  law  through  faith^ 
or  through  the  Gospel  ?  God  forbid  !  Yea,  we  establish  the  law,  Rom, 
iii.  31.  That  is,  by  preaching  a  faith  that  worketh  by  love,  we  esta- 
blish the  moral  law  ;  for  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  it,  and  he  that  loveth  ano- 
ther, has  fulfilled  the  law,  Rom.  xiii.  8,  10. — Not  indeed  the  cere- 
monial law  of  Moses,  for  ceremonies  and  love  are  not  the  same  thing ; 
nor  yet  the  Adamic  law  of  innocence,  for  if  the  apostle  had  spoken  of 
that  law,  he  would  have  said,  "  He  that  has  a/a)a?/s  loved  another  with 
perfect  love,  has  fulfilled  the  law."  Therefore  he  evidently  speaks 
of  the  evangelical  law,  preached  thus  by  St.  James  to  believers,  So 
speak  ye,  arid  so  do,  as  they  that  shall  be  judged  by  the  law  of  liberty,  James 
ii.  12.  A  law,  which  is  so  called,  not  because  it  gives  us  the  least 
liberty  to  sin  ;  but  because,  during  the  day  of  salvation,  it  indulges  us 
with  the  precious  liberty  to  repent  of  our  former  sins,  and  come  to 
Christ  for  pardon,  and  for  stronger  supplies  of  sanctifying  grace. 

However,  Mr.  Berridge,  as  if  the  Antinomians  had  already  burned 
St.  James's  epistle,  says,  p.  144,  after  speaking  of  the  law  of  innocence 
given  to  Adam  before  the  fall,  "  Ml  other  laws,^^  [and  consequently 
the  law  of  liberty]  "  are  cobwebs  of  a  human  brain :"  What,  Sir,  do 
you  think  that  Moses  was  a  spiritual  spider,  when  he  wove  the  cere- 
monial law  ?  Can  you  possibly  imagine  that  David's  blessed  man, 
whose  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  meditates  day  and  night  in  a 
LAW,  which  bids  him  "  stand  upon  his  own  legs,"  and  absolutely  de- 
spair of  mercy  upon  "  a  single  trip  /"'  Would  yon,  on  second 
thoughts,  say,  that  St.  Paul  and  St.  James  weave  "  cobwebs^'  in  the 
brains  of  mankind,  when  they  declare,  that  the  end  of  the  command- 
ment [or  of  Christ's  law]  is  charity,  from  a  pure  heart,  a  good  conscience, 
and  faith  unfeigned;  when  they  speak  of  fulfilling  the  royal  law  ac- 
cording to  the  Scripture,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself ;  or  when 
they  assure  us,  that  he  who  loveth  another  hath  fulfilled  it  ;  and  ex- 
hort us  tobear  one  another'' s  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ  ? 
See  1  Tim.  i.  5.  James  ii.  8.  Gal.  v.  13.  and  vi.  2. 

I  shall  not  borrow  here  the  rash  expression  which  Mr.  Berridge 
uses  when  he  confounds  original  worthiness,  and  derived  merit,  and 
reflects  upon  Christ,  who  evidently  attributes  the  latter  to  believers  ; 
1  shall  not  say,  that  my  new  opponent's  mistake  "  is  enough  to  make*  a 

*  How  strangely  may  prejudice  influence  a  good  man!  Mr.  Berridge,  p.  164,  &c. 
raises  a  masked  battery  against  the  article  of  the  Minutes,  where  Mr.  Wesley  hints,  that 
the  word  merit  might  he  used  in  a  scriptural  sense  to  express  what  Or.  Owen,  by  au 
uncouth  circuitilocution,  calls  the rcwardable  condccency,  that  our  whole  obedience,  throvsrfr 


48  FIFTH    CHECK 

devil  blush  f^  but  I  may  venture  to  affirm,  that  before  he  can  prove, 
the  law  of  liberty  is  *'  a  cobweb,^^  he  must  not  only  burn  St.  James's 
epistle,  but  sweep  away  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans  and 
to  the  Galatians  ;  together  with  the  law,  the  prophets,  and  the  psalms. 
While  he  considers  whether  the  tree  of  Antinomianism  will  yield  a 
besom  strong  enough  for  that  purpose,  I  beg  leave  to  dwell  a  moment 
upon  another  of  his  mistakes.  It  respects  obedience  and  good  works, 
against  which  Solifidians  indirectly  wage  an  eternal  war.  It  runs 
through  several  pages,  but  centres  in  the  following  unguarded  pro- 
positions. 

P.  35.  1.  18.  Sincere  obedience  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  the  Gospel 
as  a  coNRiTiON  of  salvation;  and  p.  36.  1.  4.  Works  have  no  share  in 
the  covenant  of  grace  as  a  condition  of  life.  I  grunt  it,  if  by  salvation 
in  the  first  proposition,  and  by  life  in  the  second,  Mr.    Berridge 


God's  gracious  appointment,  has  unto  eternal  life. — "  O  Sir,  (says  Mr.  Berridge)  God 
must  abominate  the  pride,  the  insolence  of  human  pridip ,  which  could  dream  of  merit :  it 
is  enou2;h  to  make  a  devil  blush."  There  is  great  truth  in  these  words,  if  Mr.  Berridge 
speak  only  of  proper  merit,  or  merit  of  condignness  and  equivalence :  but  if  he  extend 
them  to  the  evangelical  worthiness  so  frequently  mentioned  by  our  Lord  ;  if  he  apply  them 
to  improper  merit,  generally  called  m.erit  of  congruity  ;  he  indirectly  charges  Christ  with 
teaching  a  doctrine  so  excessively  diabolical,  that  the  devil  himself  would  be  ashamed  of 
it ;  and  what  is  more  surprising  still,  if  I  mistake  not,  he  indirectly  enforces  the  dreadful 
heresy  himself  by  an  illustration,  which  in  some  degree  shows  how  God  rewards  us 
'■'^for  our  works,  and  "  according  to''''  our  works. — '*  A  tender-hearted  gentlemen  (says 
he)  employs  two  labourers  out  of  charity,  to  weed  a  little  spot  of  four  square  yards. 
Both  are  old  and  much  decrepit,  but  one  is  stronger  than  the  other.  The  stronger  weeds 
three  yards,  and  receives  three  crowns  :  the  weaker  weedeth  one,  and  receives  one  crown. 
Now  both  are  rewarded  for  their  labour,  and  according  to  their  labour,  but  not  for  the 
meHt  of  their  labour." — Granted,  if  merit  be  taken  in  the  sense  oi  proper  merit,  or  merit 
of  condignness  and  equivalence ;  but  absolutely  denied  if  it  be  taken  in  the  sense  of 
improper  worthiness,  <x  merit  of  congruity. — Let  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  most  famous  of 
all  the  Papist  divines,  bring  his  standard  of  merit,  and  measure  Mr.  Berridge ;  and  if 
the  Vicar  of  Everton  (how  loud  soever  he  may  exclaim  against  the  word)  is  not  found 
holding^lhe  doctrine  of  merit  of  congruity  as  much  as  Mr.  Baxter,  let  me  for  ever  for- 
feit all  pretensions  to  a  grain  of  common  sense.  "  The  angelic  doctor"  defines  merit 
thus;  ^^  D'lc'itar  aWqms  mereri  ex  condigno,  quando  invenitur  equalitas  inter  prsemium  et 
meritum  secundum  estimationem  ;  ex  congruo  autem  tantum  quando  talis  aequalitas  non  iu- 
Tenitur ;  sed  solum  secundum  liberalitatem  dantis  munus  tribuitur  quod  dantem  decet." — 
That  is,  "a  man  is  said  to  merit  with  a  jnenV  of  condignness,  (i.  e.  to  merit  properly,) 
when,  upon  an  average,  there  appears  an  equality  between  the  reward  and  the  merit. 
But  he  is  said  to  meiit  only  with  a  merit  of  congruity  (i.  e,  to  merit  improperly)  when 
there  is  no  such  equality  ;  and  vvhen  a  benefactor,  out  of  mere  liberality,  makes-a  present 
which  it  becomes  him  to  make." — Now  let  candid  men  compare  Mi*.  Berridge's  illustra- 
tion, with  the  definition  that  the  most  renowned  Papist  doctor  has  given  us  of  merit ;  and 
let  them  say  if  Mr.  Berridge,  instead  of  splitting  the  hair,  does  not  maintain,  and  illustrate 
the  doctrine  of  merit  of  congruity ;  and  if  one  of  the  blushes  which  he  supposes  our  Lord's 
doctrine  of  xoorihiness,  or  merit,  would  bring  upon  the  face  of  some  modest  devil,  does  not 
become  the  autlior  of  the  Christian  VS'^orld  Unmasked  more  than  the  author  of  the  Minutes^? 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  49 

means  initial  salvation,  and  life  begun  in  the  world  of  grace.  For 
undoubtedly  the  free  gift  is  come  upon  all  men  to  justification,  or  aal- 
Tation  from  the  guilt  of  original  sin,  and  consequently  to  some  inter- 
est in  the  Divine  favour  previous  to  all  obedience  and  works.  Again 
and  again  have  I  observed,  that  a??  by  one  man''s  disobedience  many 
[at  TToXXtn^  the  multitudes  of  men]  were  made  sinners:  so,  by  the  obe- 
dience of  one,  many  [oi  toXXoi,  the  multitudes  of  men]  shall,  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  be  made  righteous,  i.  e.  partakers  of  the  above- 
mentioned  justification  in  consequence  of  Christ's  atonement  and  the 
talent  of  free  grace,  and  supernatural  light,  which  enlightens  every 
man  that  comes  into  the  world.  (Compare  Rom.  v.  18,  19.  with  John 
i.  4,  5,  9.)  Far  from  opposing  this  initial  life  of  free  grace,  this 
SALVATION  unconditioTially  begun,  1  assert  its  nprf.fisity  against  the 
the  Pelagians,  and  its  reality  against  the  Papists  and  Calvinists, 
who  agree  to  maintain  that  God  has  *  absolutely  reprobated  a  con- 

*  Some  of  my  readers  will  wonder  at  ray  coupling  the  Calvinists  and  the  Romanists, 
when  I  speak  of  those  who  hold  absolute  reprobation ;  but  my  observation  is  founded  upon 
matter  of  fact.  We  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the  opinion  of  the  Calvinists  concerning 
the  vessels  of  wrath.  The  sentiments  of  the  Papists,  not  being  so  public,  may  be  brought 
to  light  by  the  following  anecdote.  Being  some  years  ago  at  Ganges  in  the  south  of  France, 
I  went  with  Mr.  Pomaret,  the  Protestant  minister  of  that  town,  to  recommend  to  Divine 
merey  the  soul  of  a  woman  dying  in  childbed.  When  he  came  out  of  the  house  he  said, 
Did  you  take  notice  of  the  person  who  was  by  the  bed-side .''  He  is  a  man-midwife,  and  a 
strenuous  Papist.  You  see  by  the  consequences  that  this  poor  woman  had  a  very  hard 
labour.  As  it  was  doubtful  whether  the  child  would  be  bora  alive,  he  insisted  upon  bap- 
tizing it  in  the  womb,  avec  une  seringue,  according  to  custom.  The  Protestant  women  in  the 
room -exclaimed  against  his  intention  of  tormenting  a  woman  in  that  extremity,  by  so  ridi- 
culous and  needless  an  operation.  "  Needless!"  replied  he,  "  how  can  you  call  that  needless 
which  will  save  a  soul  ?  Do  you  not  know,  that  if  the  child  dies  unbaptized,  it  will  certainly 
be  lost .'"'  The  doctrine  of  the  Romish  church  is  then  free  wrath,  or  free  reprobation 
for  the  myriads  of  infants  who  die  without  baptism  all  the  world  over. 

I  beg  leave  to  confirm  this  anecdote  by  a  public  testimony.  My  opponents  have  fre- 
quently mentioned  the  agreement  of  my  sentiments  with  those  of  the  Popish  champion 
Bellarmine.  TS is  gave  me  a  desire  of  looking  into  his  works.  Accordingly,  I  procured 
them  last  winter ;  and  to  my  great  surprise,  before  I  had  i-ead  a  page,  I  found  him  a  pecu- 
liar admirer  of  the  great  pfcdestinarian  St.  Augustine,  whom  he  perpetually  quotes.  Nay, 
he  is  so  strenuous  an  assertorof  Calvinistic  election,  that  to  prove  "  IVc  can  give  no  account 
of  God's  election  on  our  part,^''  among  the  reasons  advanced  by  Calvin,  Coles,  Zanchius, 
&c.  in  support  of  unconditioual  election  and  reprobation,  he  proposes  the  following  aro^u- 
ment,  "  Tertia  ratio,  &c.  ducitur  a  parvulorum  diversitate,  quorum  aliqui  rapiuntur  statiir, 
a  baptismo,  alii  paulo  ante  baptismmi,  quorum  priores  ad  gloriam  praedestinatorum,  poste- 
riores  ad  poenam  reproborum  pertinere  non  est  dubium  ;  nee  possunt  hie  ulla  merita  previsa 
ullusve  bonus  usus  liberi  arbitrii,  aut  gratia  fingi."  Belt,  Opera  de  gratia  et  lihero  ar- 
biirio.  Cap.  v.  Antverpice,  1611,  p.  766.  That  is,  "  2^he  third  reason  is  taken,  from 
the  different  lot  of  little  children ;  some  being  snatched  immediatehj  after  baptism,  and 
others  a  little  before  baptism :  the  former  of  whom  undoubtedly  go  to  the  glory  of  the 
elect;  and  the  latter  to  the punishr.ient of  the  reprobates.  JVor  can  any  desertforeseen,  or 
any  good  use  of  free  xoill  or  of  grace  be  here  pretended.     This  argument  is  tru^r  wor'Kv 

Vol.  II.  7 


60  i'lPTH  CHECK 

siderable  part  of  mankinii.  But  Mr.  Berridge's  propositions  are 
Antinomianism  unmasked,  if  he  extend  their  meaning  (as  his  scheme 
does)  to  finished  salvation^  and  to  a  life  of  glory  unconditionally 
bestowed  upon  adulterous  backsliders  :  for  sincere  obediencey  or  the 
good  works  of  faith,  are  a  condition,  (or,  to  use  Mr.  Berridge's 
word,  "a  term,'')  indispensably  required  of  all  that  stay  long  enough 
upon  the  stage  of  life,  to  act  as  moral  agents.  Every  branch  in  me 
that  beareth  not  fruity  he  taketh  away,  John  xv.  2.  Be  not  deceived, 
neither  fornicators,  4*c.  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  1  Cor. 
Ti.  9.  See  Ezek.  xviii.  and  xxxiii.  "  If  the  penitent  thief  had 
lived,  (says  our  church,)  and  not  regarded  the  works  of  faith,  he 
should  have  lost  his  salvation  again."  As  for  the  argument  taken 
from  these  words.  He  that  believeth  (now  with  the  heart  unto  righte- 
ousness) hath  everlasting  life^  (i.  e.  has  a  title  to  it,  and  a  taste  of 
a  life  of  glory,  and  shall  have  the  enjoyment  of  it,  if  he  continue  in  the 
faith  rooted  and  grounded ;)  it  is  answered  at  large,  Fourth  Check, 
vol.  i.  p.  319,  &c. 

Page  38,  Mr.  Berridge  unmasks  Antinomianism  in  the  following 
proposition.  *'/  have  gathered  up  my  ends,  respecting  this  matter; 
and  I  trust  you  see  at  length,  that  sincere  obedience  is  nothing  but  a  jack 
o'  lantern,  dancing  here  and  there  and  every  where.  No  man  cotdd  ever 
catch  him,  but  thousands  have  been  lost  by  following  him.'^ 

If  1  mistake  not,  Mr.  Berridge  here  exceeds  Mr.  Hill.  The  author 
of  Pietas  Oxoniensis  only  supposes,  that  works  have  nothing  to  do 
before  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  in  the  matter  of  our  eternal  salva- 
tion ;  and  that  all  believers  shall  "  sing  louder"  in  heaven  for  all  their 
crimes  upon  earth.  But  the  Vicar  of  Everton  represents  sincere  obe- 
dience (which  is  a  collection  of  all  the  good  works  of  upright  Hea- 
thens, Jews,  and  Christians,)  as  "  a  jack  o'  lantern  :  and  thousands,'^ 
says  he,  **  have  been  lost  by  following  him.'^ — Here  is  a  blow  at  the 
root ! — What !  thousands  lost  by  following  after  sincere  obedience  to 
God's  commands  !  Impossible  ! — Our  pious  author,  I  hope,  means  tVi- 
sincere  obedience ;  but  if  he  atand  to  what  he  has  Written,  he  must  not 

of  the  cause  which  it  supports.  The  very  essence  of  Calvinism  is  an  irreconcilable  oppo- 
sition to  the  second  Gospel  axiom.  And  as  Bellarmine's  argument  demolishes  that  axiom 
(it  being  impossible  that  the  damnation  of  reprobated  infants  should  be  frotn  themselves,) 
he  necessarily  builds  up  Calvinism,  with  all  its  gracious  doctrines.  I  might ^here  return 
my  last  opponent  these  words  of  his  Finishing  Stroke,  p.  15.  when  he  writes  in  capitals^ 
*•  So  Bbllarmink." — "  See,  Sir,  what  company  you  are  Jbund  in :" — But  I  do  not  admire 
such  arguments.  Were  Father  Walsh,  and  Cardinal  Bellarmine  in  the  right,  it  would 
be  no  more  disgrace  to  Mr.  Hill  to  stand  between  them  both,  than  it  is  to  me  to  believe 
with  the  Cardinal,  that  Christ  has  said.  In  the  day  of  judgment  by  thy  words  thou  shall 
be  justified. — For,  as  a  diamond  does  not  become  a  pebble  upon  the  finger  of  a  Papist,  so 
truth  does  not  become  a  lie  under  his  pen. 


TO  ANTINOMIANiSM.  51 

"be  surprised  if,  with  the  ^^  good  folks  cast  in  a  Gospel  foundery,  I  ring 
afire-bell^'''*  and  warn  the  Protestant  world  against  so  capital  a  mistake. 
That  thousands  have  been  lost  by  resting  in  faithless,  superficial,  hy- 
pocritical, insincere  obedience,  I  grant :  But  thousands  ! — lost !  by  fol- 
lowing after  sincere  obedience,  i.  e.  after  the  obedience  we  uprightly 
perform  according  to  the  light  we  have  ! — This  is  as  impossible,  as  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  should  lie  when  he  testifies,  '*  In  every  nation  he  that 
feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of  him  ;"  accord- 
ing to  one  or  another  of  the  Divine  dispensations  :  he  is  accepted  as 
a  converted  Heathen,  Jew,  or  Christian. 

Had  I  the  voice  of  a  trumpet  I  would  shout  upon  the  walls  of  our 
Jerusalem,  Let  no  man  deceive  you :  Nobody  was  ever  lost,  but  for 
not  following  after,  or  foV  starting  from  sincere  obedience ;  Christian 
faith  itself  being  nothing  but  sincere  obedience  to  this  grand  Gospel  pre- 
cept, Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.  We  have 
received  apostleship  (says  St.  Paul)  for  obedience  to  the  faith  among  all 
nations,  Rom.  i.  5.  No  adult  children  of  Adam  were  ever  eternally 
saved,  but  such  as  followed  after  sincere  obedience,  at  least  from  the 
time  of  their  last  conversion,  if  they  once  drew  back  towards  per- 
dition. For  Christ,  says  the  apostle,  is  the  author  o/*  eternal  salva- 
tion to  them  that  obey  him;  and  he  undoubtedly  means  that  obey 
him  sincerely.  He  will  render  eternal  life  to  them  who  by  patient  conti- 
nuance in  well-doing,  or  by  persevering  in  sincere  obedience,  seek  for 
glory. — Has  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt- qff'er in gs,  Sciys  Samuel,  as 
in  OBEYING  fand  I  dare  say  he  meant  sincerely  obeying)  the  voice  of  the 
Lord? — Behold!  (whatever  Solifidians may  say)  to  obey  is  better  than 
sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams  :  for  rebellion  (or  disobe- 
dience) is  as  the  siii  of  witchcraft,  and  stubbornness  as  idolatry.  Heb. 
V.  9.  Rom.  ii.  7.  1  Sam.  xv.  22. 

God,  to  show  the  high  value  he  puts  upon  sincere  obedience,  sent  Je- 
remiah to  the  Rechabites  with  this  message  ;  Tlius  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  EecoMse  ye  have  obeyed  the  commandment  of  Jonadab  your  father, 
and  kept  all  his  precepts ;  therefore  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  shall  not 
want  a  man  to  stand  before  me  for  ever.  His  capital  charge  against 
Israel  is  that  of  disobedience.  St.  Peter,  who  observes  that  the  be- 
lieving Jews  had  purified  their  souls  by  obeying  the  truth,  asks.  What 
shall  the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  ?  And  St.  Paul  answers, 
that  Christ  tvill  come  in  fiamingfire  taking  vengeance  on  them, — and 
that  God  will  render  tribulation  and  wrath  to  them  that  do  not  obey  the 
truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness  :  and  even  that  famous  passage.  He  that 
belicveth  on  the  Soji,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son, 
shMll  not  see  life,  John  iii.  f^G.  is  in  the  original  a  rampart  against  Soli- 


62  FIFTH    CHECK 

fidianism  :  for  in  the  last  sentence  of  it,  the  word  rendered  believeth 
not,  is  not  ov  Trii-svm,  in  opposition  to  the  first  clause  :  but  uTretB-av,  an 
expression,  which,  by  signifying  equally  he  who  disobeyeth,  and  he 
•who  believeth  not,  guards  the  doctrine  of  obedience  as  strongly  as 
that  of  faith. 

SECTION  III. 

An  Answer  to  Mr.  Berridge^s  capital  Arguments  against  Sincere 

Obedience. 

THE  serious  reader  probably  wonders  at  the  pious  Vicar  of 
Everton,  and  asks,  if  he  supports  his  assertions  against  sincere  obe- 
dience by  arguments  ?  Yes,  he  does,  and  some  of  them  are  so  plausi- 
ble, that  the  simple  can  hardly  avoid  being  deceived  by  them  ;  nay, 
and  some  of  the  judicious  too.  For  asking,  last  summer,  a  sensible 
clergyman,  what  part  of  Mr.  Berridge's  book  he  admired  most,  he 
convinced  me  of  the  seasonableness  of  this  publication,  by  replying, 
"I  think  him  most  excellent  upon  Sincere  Obedience.^''  A  glaring  proof 
this,  that  the  impossibility  of  deceiving  the  very  elect  is  not  absolute, 
and  that  our  Lord  did  not  give  them  an  impertinent  caution  when  he 
said,  Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you.  But  let  us  hear  Mr.  Ber- 
ridge. 

P.  24,  "  PerJiaps  you  think  that  Christ  came  to  shorten  man's 
duty,  and  make  it  more  feasible  by  shoving  a  commandment  out  of 
Moses's  tables,  as  the  Papists  have  done  ;  or  by  clipping  and  paring 
all  the  commandments,  as  the  moralists  do.  Thus  sincere  obedience, 
instead  of  j3cr/ec^,  is  now  considered  as  the  law  of  works.  But  if 
Jesus  Christ  came  to  shorten  a  man's  duty,  he  came  to  give  us  a  li- 
cense to  sin.  For  duty  cannot  be  shortened  without  breaking  com- 
mandments. And  thus  Christ  becomes  a  minister  of  sin  with  a  wit- 
ness, and  must  be  ranked  at  the  head  of  Antinomian  preachers." — To 
this  specious  argument  I  reply : 

1.  After  the  fall,  Christ  was  given  in  the  promise  to  mankind  as  a 
Mediator ;  and  help  was  laid  upon  him  to  make  man's  duty  (as  a  re- 
deemed sinner)  feasible.  To  deny  it,  is  to  deny  man's  redemp- 
tion. At  that  first  promulgation  of  the  Gospel,  what  St.  Paul  calls 
the  law  of  faith,  and  St.  James,  the  law  of  liberty,  took  place.  This 
gracious  law  has  been  in  force  under  all  the  dispensations  of  the 
everlasting  Gospel  ever  since.  And  according  to  its  tenor,  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  we  shall  be  justified  or  condemned.  Matt.  xii.  37.,  2.  To 
assert  that  the  law  of  liberty,  or  the  law  of  faith,  requires  of  us  para- 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  53 

jisiacal  innocence,  and  such  ?k  perfection  of  bodily  and  rational  powers 
as  Adam  had  before  the  fall,  is  to  set  Christ's  mediation  aside  ;  andjto 
suppose  that  it  leaves  us  just  where  it  found  us,  that  is,  under  the 
old  Adamic  covenant.  3.  The  Law  of  Liberty  "  neither  shoves  out, 
pares,  nor  clips"  any  moral  commandment  ;  for  it  condemns  a  man 
for  the  adultery  of  the  eye,  as  well  as  for  gross  fornication ;  and  for 
the  murder  of  the  tongue  or  heart,  as  well  as  for  manual  assassina- 
tion ;  and  it  requires  us  to  love  God  with  all  our  hearty  and  our  neigh- 
bour as  ourselves,  according  to  the  light  of  our  dispensation,  and  the 
talent  of  power  we  have  received  from  above.  He  that  keeps  this 
whole  law,  and  breaks  it  in  one  point  (as  Saul  did  in  the  matter  of  Agag, 
David  in  the  matter  of  Uriah,  Judas  in  the  matter  of  Mammon,  some 
Corinthians  and  Galatians  in  biting  one  another,  and  some  of  the 
Christians  to  whom  St.  James  wrote,  in  despising  the  poor,  and  show- 
ing a  mean  partiality  to  the  richj — he,  I  say,  that  knowingly  and  wil- 
fully breaks  this  law  in  07ie  point,  is  guilty  of  all ;  and  he  remains 
under  the  curse  of  it,  till  he  has  repented,  and  resumed  the  obedience 
of  faith.  Therefore,  when  our  Lord  substituted  the  law  of  liberty 
for  the  law  of  innocence,  he  neither  ^'  gave  us  a  license  to  5i*n,"  nor 
*'  became  a  minister  of  sin  with  a  witness,'*''  as  Mr.  Berridge  rashly 
affirms.  4.  The  fourth  Mosaic  comtnandment  allows  no  manner  of 
work,  but  the  last  edition  of  the  law  of  liberty  allows  all  manner  of 
works  of  necessity  and  mercy^  to  be  done  on  the  Sabbath.  Our  Lord, 
therefore,  dispenses  with  the  uncommon  rigour,  with  which  the  Jews 
observed  the  sacred  day.  And  if  Mr.  Berridge  will  call  that  indul- 
gence "  clipping,  par ing,^^  or  altering  the  Fourth  Commandment,  he 
is  at  liberty;  but  if  we  break  a  commandment  in  availing  ourselves  of 
our  Lord's  gracious  dispensation,  why  does  Mr.  Berridge  allow  his 
man-servant,  his  maid-servant,  or  his  horse  to  work  on  the  Saturday  ! 
Why  does  he  not  keep  the  seventh  day  holy  "  like  the  circumcised 
race  ?" 

5.  Innocent  man  with  unimpaired  powers,  could  yield  perfect  obe- 
dience to  the  law  of  innocence  ;  therefore  that  law  made  no  allowance, 
no  provision  for  any  deficiency  in  duty.  Not  so  the  law  of  liberty : 
for  although  it  allows  no  wilful  sin,  yet  it  does  not  reject  sprinkled, 
though  as  yet  imperfect  obedience.  Nor  does  it,  as  some  divines 
would  persuade  the  world,  curse  the  bud,  because  it  is  not  yet  the 
blossom,  nor  the  blossom  because  it  is  not  yet  the  fruit,  or  the  fruit 
because  it  is  not  yet  ripe  ;  provided  it  tends  to  maturity,  and  harbours 
not  insincerity,  the  worm  that  destroys  evangelical  obedience.  It  de- 
clares, that  our  works  of  faith  are  accepted  ac  ording  to  what  we  have, 
and  not  according  to  what  we  have  not.     It  graciously  receives  from  a 


64  riVTH  CHECK 

heathen,  the  obedience  of  a  heathen  ;  and  fronrj  a  bal»e  in  Christ,  the 
obedience  of  a  babe.  And  instead  of  sentencing  to  hell  the  raan^ 
whose  pound  has  only  gained^^je  pounds,  and  in  whom  the  seed  of  the 
word  has  only  produced  thirty-fold ;  it  kindly  allows  him  half  the  re- 
ward of  him,  whose  pound  has  gained  ten  pounds,  or  in  whom  the 
seed  has  brought  forth  sixty-fold.  But  it  shows  no  mercy  to  the  wn- 
prqfitable  servant,  who  buries  his  talent ;  and  it  threatens  with  sorer 
punishment  the  wicked  servant,  who  turns  the  grace  of  God  into  lasci- 
viousness. 

6.  "  Thus  sincere  obedience  is  now  considered  as  the  law  of 
works."  Not  so  :  but  it  is  considered  even  by  judicious  Calvinists, 
as  that  obedience,  which  the  law  of  liberty  accepts  of,  by  which  it  is 
fulfilled,  and  through  which  believers  shall  be  justified  in  the  great  day, 
I  might  fill  a  volume  with  quotations  from  their  writings  ;  but  three  or 
four  will  sufficiently  prove  my  assertion. — Joseph  AUeine,  that  zeal- 
ous and  successful  preacher,  says  in  his  Sure  Guide  to  Heaven,  or 
Alarm  to  the  Unconverted,  Lond.  1706.  p.  153,  154.  "  The  terms  of 
mercy,  (he  should  have  said.  The  terms  of  eternal  salvation,)  are 
brought  as  low  as  possible  to  you.  God  has  stooped  as  low  to  sinners, 
as  with  honour  he  can.  He  will  not  be  thought  a  factor  of  sin,  nor 
stain  the  glory  of  his  holiness  ;  and  whither  could  he  come  lower 
than  he  hath,  unless  he  should  do  this  ?  He  has  abated  the  impossible 
terms  of  the  first  covenant,  Acts  xvi.  31.  Prov.  xxviii.  13.  He  does 
not  impose  any  thing  unreasonable  or  impossible,  as  a  condition  of 
life."  (AUeine  should  hdive  sd\A,  as  a  condition  of  etert^al  life 'in 
GLORY  ;  for  God  in  Christ  most  freely  gives  us  an  initial  life  of  grace, 
before  he  puts  us  upon  performing  any  terms,  in  order  to  an  eternal 
life  of  glory.)  *'  Two  things  were  necessary  to  be  done  by  you  ac- 
cording to  the  first  covenant,  &c.  And  for  future  obedience,  here  he 
is  content  to  yield  to  your  weakness,  and  remit  the  rigour.  He  does 
not  stand  upon"  (legal)  "  perfection,  &c.  but  is  content  to  accept  of 
sincerity.''*     Gen.  xvii.  11. 

Matthew  Mead  in  his  treatise  on  The  Good  of  Early  Obedience,  Lon- 
don, 1683,  p.  402,  says,  "It  must  be  an  upright  and  sincere  obe- 
"  DiENCE.  Walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect.  Gen.  xvii.  1.  In  the 
"  margent  it  is,  sincere  or  upright.  So  that  sincerity  and  uprightness 
*'  is  new  covenant  perfection.  The  perfection  of  grace  in  heaven  is 
*'  glory  ;  but  the  perfection  of  grace  on  earth  is  sincerity.**  Mr. 
Henry  perfectly  agrees  with  Mr.  Mead,  when  he  thus  comments  upon 
Gen.  vi.  9.  "  JVoah  was  a  just  man  and  perfect :  he  was  perfect,  not 
"  with  «  sinless  perfection,  (according  to  the  first  covenant)  but  a  per- 
"  feotion  of  sincerity.     And  it  is  well  for  us,  that  by  virtue  of  the 


TO   ANTINOMIANISM.  5^ 

''  covenant  of  grace,  upon  the  score  of  Christ's  righteousness,  sin- 
"  cerity  is  accepted  as  our  Gospel  perfection!" — Hence  it  is  that  Dr. 
Owen  says,  a  believer,  "  as  such,  shall  be  tried,  judged^  and  justified,  by 
his  own  personal  sincere  obedience."  Of  Justification,  p.  1 11.  By 
comparing  these  fair  quotations  with  Mr.  Berridge's  argument,  my 
reader,  without  having  the  sagacity  of  "  an  old  fox,^^  will  see,  that 
Antinomianism  has  lost  all  decency  in  our  days,  and  is  not  ashamed  to 
call  *'  jack  o'  lantern,''^  &c.  what  the  sober  Calvinists  of  the  last  cen- 
tury called  Gospel  perfectioji." 

Lastly,  to  insinuate,  as  Mr.  Berridge  does,  that  "  Christ  becomes  a 
minister  of  sin  with  a  witness,  and  must  be  ranked  at  the  head  of  the 
Antinomian  preachers ;"  because  he  has  substituted  the  law  of  liberty 
for  the  old  Adaraic  covenant,  is  something  so  ungrateful  in  a  believer, 
so  astonishing  in  a  Gospel  minister,  that — But  I  spare  the  pious  Vicar 
of  Everton,  and  rise  against  thee,  O  Crispianity !  Thou  hast  seduced 
that  man  of  God,  and  upon  thee  I  charge  his  dreadful  mistake.  How- 
ever, he  will  permit  me  to  conclude  this  answer  to  his  shrewd  argu- 
ment by  the  following  query  :  If  "  Christ  become  a  minister  of  sin, 
and  must  be  ranked  at  the  head  of  Antinomian  preachers,'''*  for  placing 
us  under  the  law  of  liberty,  which  curses  a  fallen  believer  that  breaks 
it  in  one  point,  (though  it  should  be  only  by  secretly  harbouring  malice 
or  lust  in  his  heart)  what  must  we  say  of  the  divines,  who  give  us  to 
understand,  that  believers  are  not  under  the  law  preached  by  St. 
James,  but  under  directions  or  "  rules  of  life,"  which  they  may 
break  unto  adultery  and  murder,  without  ceasing  to  be  God's  pleasant 
children,  and  men  after  his  own  heart  ? — Must  these  popular  men  be 
ranked  at  the  head,  or  at  the  tail,  of  the  Antinomian  preachers? 

P.  24.  Mr.  Berridge  advances  another  argument.  "  If  sincere 
obedience  mean  any  thing,  it  must  signify,  either  doing  what  you  can, 
or  doing  what  you  tB;i7/."— I  apprehend  it  means  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other,  but  doing  with  uprightness  what  we  know  God  requires  of 
us,  according  to  the  dispensation  of  grace  which  we  are  under ;  /^ 
meekly  lamenting  our  deficiencies,  and  aspiring  at  doing  all  better  and 
better  every  day.  "  So  we  are  (not)  got  upon  the  old  swampy  ground 
again,''''  but  stand  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  there  defend  the  law 
of  liberty  against  mistaken  Solifidians. 

P.  27.  Mr.  Berridge,  instead  of  showing,  that  our  obedience  is  zn- 
sincere,  if  we  live  in  sin,  and  despise  Christ's  salvation,  goes  on  mow- 
ing down  all  sincere  obedience  without  distinction, — ^^  I  perceive,^* 
says  he,  *'  you  are  not  yet  disposed  to  renounce  sincere  obedience ;  and 
to  engage  us  to  it,  he  advances  another  argument,  which  if  it  were 
•sound,  would  demolish,  not  only  "  sincere  obedience^^^  but  true  repent- 


SB  FIFTH    CHECK 

once,  faith  unfeigned^  and  all  Christianity.     To  answer  it  therefore, 
I  only  need  to  produce  it ;  substituting  the  words  true  repentance^  or 
faith  unfeigned^  for  "  sincere  obedience,''^  which  Mr.  Berridge  ridicules, 
thus  : 

'*  You  might  have  reason  to  complain^  If  God  had  made  sincere  obe- 
dience^'''' [I  say,  true  repentance,  or  faith  unfeigned]  *'  a  condition  of 
salvation :  much  talk  of  it  there  is,  like  the  good  man  in  the  moon,  yet 
none  could  ever  ken  it.     I  dare  defy  the  scribes  to  tell  me  truly  what  sin- 
cere^'' [repentance]  "  is  :  zvhether  it  means''^  leaving  *'  hulf^  nay  sins,  "  or 
one  fiftieth,  or  one  hundredth  part  f  shedding  "  half  -d  score  of  tears. 
or  fifty,  0.    one  hundred.     I  dare  defy  all  the  lawyers  in  the  world,  to 
tell  me,  whether''^  faith  unfeigned  ''  means,''"'  believing"  half  the  Bible, 
"  or  three  quarters,  or  one  quarter,   or  one  fiftieth,   or  one  hundredth 
part;''''  Or,  "  whether  it  means''''  believing  with*  "  half''  a  grain  of  the 
faith  which  removes  a  mountain  load  of  guilt,  "  or  one  fiftieth  or  one 
hundredth  part''^  of  a  grain  ;  or  whether  it  implies  believing  with  all 
our  hearts,   or  with   '■^haJf,   or  three   quarters,  or  one  quarter,^'  ^'C, 
"  Where  must  we  draw  the  tine  ?  It  surely  needs  a  magic  wand  to  draw 
it.''     See  p.  27,  &c. 

Mr.  Berrido;e  turns  his  flaming  argument  against  sincere  obedience, 
like  the  cherub's  sword,  every  way.  Take  two  more  instances  of  his 
skill ;  still  giving  me  leave  to  level  at  faith  unfeigned,  "  the  total  term 
of  all  salvation,'"  what  he  says,  against  sincere  obedience. — P.  28. 
"  IfGodhas  made  sincere  obedience'"  [1  retort,  faith  unfeigned]  the  con- 
dition" [or  term]  "  of  salvation,  he  would  certainly  have  drawn  the  line, 
and  marked  out  the  boundary  precisely,  because  our  life  depended  on  it. '"^ 
- — P.  28.  *'  Sincere  obedience''''  [I  continue  to  say,  faith  unfeigned]  "  is 
called  a  condition,'''  [or  a  term]  "  and  no  one  knows  what  it  is,  4*f.  Ofinc 
condition  !  Surely  Satan  was  the  author  of  it.'" — 

P.  24.  *' It  is  Satan's  catchword  for  the  Gospel." — P.  38.  It  is 
"  nothing  but  a  jack  o'  lantern,  dancing  here  and  there  and  every  where,''' 
^c.  For  p.  29,  "  If  God  has  drawn  no  boundary,  man  must  draw  it,  and 
will  draw  it  where  he  pleaseth.  S'mcere  obedience'''  [I  still  retort,  sincere 
repentance,  or  true  faith]  "  thus  becomes  a  nose  of  wax,  and  is  so  fingered 
as  to  fit  exactly  every  human  face.  I  look  upon  this  doctrine  as  the  devil's 
masterpiece,  <^c." 

And  I  look  upon  these  assertions  as  the  masterpiece  of  Antinomian 
rashness  and  Geneva  logic  in  the  mouth  of  the  pious  Vicar  of  £ver- 

*  Mr.  Berridge  invites  me  thus  to  retort  his  bad  ar;^ument  against  sincere  obedience,  p. 
94, 1.  18,  "  J  have  been  praying  fifteen  years  for  faith  with  some  earnestness,  and  am  not  yet 
possest  of  more  than  half  a  grain — Jesus  assures  you  that  a  single  grain,  &c.  would  re/noi"f 
«  nzoMwtom  load  of  guilt  from  the  cortscience,"  &c. 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM.  5t. 

ton.  Is  it  not  surprising,  that  he  who  unmasks  the  Christian  world 
should  be  so  hoodwinked  by  Calvinism,  as  not  to  see,  that  there  aie 
as  m^ny  false  professors  of  sincere  repentance  and  trvv:  faith,  as  there 
are  of  sincere  obedience ;  that  even  the  Turks  call  themselves  Mussul- 
men,  or  true  believers;  and  that  he  has  full  as  much  reason  to  call 
sincere  repentance,  or  true  faith,  a  rotten  buttress,  a  nose  of  wax,  a 
paper  kite,  a  jack  o'  lantern,  ^c.  as  sincere  obedience  ? 

What  a  touch  has  this  learned  divine  given  here  to  the  Ark  of  God, 
fn  order  to  prop  up  that  of  Calvin?  And  how  happy  is  it  for  religion, 
that  this  grand  argument  against  obedience,  repentance,  and  faith,  is 
founded  upon  a  hypothetical  proposition,  p.  29.  1.  8.  "  If  God  has 
drawn  no  boundary?''  This  supposition  Mr.  B.  takes  for  granted, 
though  it  is  evidently  false  ;  the  boundaries  of  sincere  obedience  being 
full  as  clearly  drawn  in  the  Scriptures  as  those  oftrue  repentance,  and 
faith  unfeigned. 

God  himself,  without  "  a  magic  wand,''  has  "  drawn  the  line,"  both 
in  every  man's  conscience,  and  in  his  written  word.  The  line  of 
Jewish  obedience  is  drawn  all  over  the  Old  Testament,  especially 
Exod.  XX.  Ps.  XV.  Ezek.  xviii.  and  Mic.  vi.  8.  The  line  of  Chris- 
tian  obedience  is  exactly  drawn  all  over  the  New  Testament,  and  most 
particularly  in  our  Lord's  Sermon  upon  the  mount :  and  the  line  of 
Heathen  faith  and  obedience  is,  without  the  Scripture,  drawn  in  every 
breast,  by  the  gracious  light  that  enlightens  every  man  who  comes  into 
the  world.  Through  this  light  even  Mahometans  and  Heathens  may 
BELIEVE  that  God  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  those  who  diligently 
seek  him;  and  by  this  faith  they  may  work  righteousness,  do  to  others 
as  they  would  be  done  by,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  liberty,  according  to 
their  dispensation  :  and  that  some  do  is  evident  from  these  words  of 
the  apostle  :  When  the  Gentiles,  who  have  not  the  (written)  law,  do  by 
nature  (in  its  present  state  of  initial  restoration,  without  any  other  as- 
sistance than  that  which  divine  grace  vouchsafes  to  all  men  univer- 
sally) the  things  contained  in  the  law;  these,  having  no  (written)  law,  are 
a  law  unto  themselves,  and  show  the  work  (or  precepts)  of  the  law 
written  in  their  hearts  ;  their  conscience  also  bearing  witness,  and  their 
thoughts  accusing  or  excusing  one  another,  Rom.  ii.  14,  15.  There- 
fore, the  dreadful  blow,  inadvertently  struck  at  all  religion  through 
the  side  of  sincere  obedience,  is  happily  given  with  a  broken  reed  : 
Christianity  stands  :  the  important  term  of  sincere  obedience,  with 
respect  to  adult  persons,  has  not  Satan,  but  God,  for  its  author ;  and 
\ntinomianism  is  more  and  more  "  unmasked." 

But  these  are  not  all  Mr.  Berridge's  objections  against  sincere  obe* 
dience  :  For,  p.  30,  he  says,  *'//"  works  are  a  conditien  in  the  Gospe 

Vol.  II.  8 


•jS  VIVTR    CHECK 

covenant^  then  n^orks  must  make  the  whole  ofii.'  Why  so  ?  May  not 
faith  and  repentance,  so  long  as  they  continue  true  and  lively,  pro 
duce  good  works,  their  proper  fruit  ?  Why  must  the  fruit  "  make  the 
whole'^  of  the  tree  ?  Besides,  works  being  the  evidencing  cause  of  our 
salvation,  according  to  the  Gospel,  you  have  no  warrant  from  Scrip- 
ture  to  say,  they  must  make  the  n^hole  cause  of  if.  They  agree  ex- 
tremely well  with  faith,  the  instrumental  cause  ;  with  Christ'' s  bloody 
the  properly  meritorious  cause :  and  with  God^s  mercy,  the  first  moving 
cause.  May  I  not  affirm,  that  the  motion  of  the  fourth  wheel  of  ^ 
clock  is  absolutely  necessary  to  its  pointing  the  hour,  without  suppo- 
sing that  such  a  wheel  must  make  the  is^holc  of  the  wheel-work  ?  O 
how  have  the  lean  kine,  ascending  out  of  the  lake  of  Geneva,  eaten 
those  that  fed  so  long  near  the  river  Cam  ? 

But  you  add  p.  30,  '-^Sincere  obedience,  as  a  condition,  will  lead  you 
unavoidably  up  to  perfect  obedience.^'     And  suppose  it  should,  pray, 
where  would  be  the  misfortune  ?    Is  it  right  to  frighten  the  Christian 
world  from  sincere  obedience,  by  holding  out  to  their  view  Christian 
perfection,  as  if  it  were  Medusa's  fearful  head  ?     Are  we  not  com- 
manded to  go  on  to  perfection  ?     Was  not  this  one  of  our  Lord's  com- 
plaintjB  against  the  Church  of  Sardis — I  have  not  found  thy  works  per- 
fect before  God  ?     Does  not  St.  Paul  sura  up  all  the  law,  or  all  obedi- 
ence, in  love  ?     And  does  not  St.  John  make  honourable  mention  of 
perfect  love,  and  excite  those  who  are  not  made  perfect  in  love,  to  have 
fellowship  with  him?  and  with  those  who  could  say,  Our  love  is  made 
perfect  ?  1  John,  iv.  17.     Why  then  should  the  world  be  driven  from 
sincere,  by  the  help  of  perfect  obedience  ?     especially  as  our  Lord 
never  required  absolute  perfection  from  archangels,  much  less  from 
fallen  man?  the  perfection  which  he  kindly  calls  us  to,  being  nothing 
but  a  faithful  improvement  of  our  talents,  according  to  the  proportion 
of  the  grace  given  us,  and  the  standard  of  the  dispensation  we  are 
under.     So  that,  upon  this  footing,  he,  whose  one  talent  gains  another, 
obeys  as  perfectl}'^  in  his  degree,  as  he  whose  five  talents  gain  five 
more.     Notwithstanding  all  the  insinuations  of  those  fishers  of  me?!, 
who  beat  the  streams  of  truth,  to  drive  the  fishes  from  Christian  per- 
fection into  the  Antinoraian  net,  God  is  not  an  austere  master,  much 
less  a  foolish  one.    He  does  not  expect  to  reap  where  he  has  not  sown  ; 
or  to  reap  wheat  where  he  sow^  only  barley.  Those  gracious  words 
of  our  Lord,  repeated  four  times  in  the  Gospel,  might  alone  silence 
them  that  discourage  believers  from  going  on  to  perfection  of  obe- 
dience peculiar  to  their  dispensation,  To  every  one  that  hath  to  purpose, 
shall  he  giveuy  and  he  shall  have  abundance,  he  shall  attain  the  perfec- 
tion of  his  dispensation  ;  hut  from  hiiji  that  hath  not,  because  he  buries 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM. 


m 


his  talent,  under  pretence  that  his  Lord  requires  unattainable  obe- 
dience, shall  be  take  away  even  that  zs;hich  he  hath  :  Compare  Malt.  xiji. 
12.  with  Matt.  xxv.  29.  Mark  iv.  24.  and  Luke  Tiii.  18. 

The  two  last  arguments  of  Mr.  Berridge  against  sincere  obedience 
may  be  retorted  thus.  I.  If  faith  be  a  condition  (or  term) in  the  Gospel 
covenant,  then  (faith)  must  make  the  whole  of  it.  But  if  this  be  true, 
what  becomes  of  Christ's  obedience  unto  death  ?  You  reply,  Faith 
necessarily  supposes  it.  But  you  cannot  escape  :  I  follow  you  step  by 
step,  and  say.  The  works  I  plead  for,  necessarily  suppose,  not  only 
our  Lord's  obedience  unto  death,  hutfaith,  which  you  call,  "  the  only 
term  of  all  salvation."  2.  You  say.  Sincere  obedience,  as  a  condition, 
will  lead  you  unavoidably  up  to  perfect  obedience.  And  I  retort :  Faith 
unfeigned,  as  a  term  or  condition,  ■will  lead  you  unavoidably  up  to  per- 
fect faith  :  for  if  the  law  of  liberty  commands  us  to  love  God  with  all 
our  soul,  it  charges  us  also  to  believe  in  Christ  with  all  our  hearty  Acts 
viii.  37.  Should  you  reply,  I  am  not  afraid  of  being  led  up  to  perfect 
faith,  I  return  the  same  answer  with  regard  to  perfect  obedience. 

This  argument  against  sincere  obedience,  taken  from  the  danger  of 
going  on  to  the  perfection  of  it,  is  so  much  the  more  extraordinary, 
when  dropping  from  Mr.  Berridge's  pen,  as  it  is  demolished  by  the 
words  of  his  mouth,  when  he  sings, 

"  Thee  we  xvould  be  always  blessing, 

*'  Serve  thee  as  thine  hosts  above, 
"  Pray  and  praise  thee  without  ceasing-, 

"  Gloiy  in  thy  perfect  love. 

"  Finish  then  thy  new  creation  ; 

"  Pure  and  spotless  may  we  be  ! 
'*  Triumph  in  thyjull  salvation, 

"  Perfectly  restor'd  by  thee !" 

See;  A  Collection  of  Divine  Songs,  by  J.  BerridgerM.  A.  &.c.  p.  173- 

To  conclude  :  Another  argument  is  often  urged  by  this  pious  author 
(0  render  the  doctrine  of  a  believer's^na^  justification  by  the  evidence 
of  works  odious  to  humble  souls.  He  takes  it  tor  granted  that  it  encou- 
rages boasting ;  still  confounding  the  works  of  faith,  which  he  at  times 
recommends  as  well  as  I,  with  the  Pharisaical  works  of  unbelief  which  1 
perpetually  decry  as  well  as  he.  But  even  this  argument,  about  which 
the  Calvinists  make  so  much  noise,  may  be  retorted  thus  :  There  is  as 
much  danger  of  being  proud  of  one^a  faith,  as  of  one's  works  of  faith  : 
and  if  Mr.  Berridge  press  me  with  Rom.  iii.  27.  Boasting  is  excluded 
by  ike  law  of  faith;  I  reply,  that  the  works  I  plead  for  being  the  works 
OF  FAITH,  his  argument  makes  as  much  for  me  as  for  him  :  and  I 
press  him  in  my  turn  with  Rom.  xi.  18,  20.  Boast  not  thyself  against 


^0  FIFTH  CHECK 

the  branches.  •  Thou  standest  by  faith.  Be  not  high-minded ^  hut  fear. 
Which  shows  it  is  as  possible  to  be  proud  oi  faith ^  as  of  the  works 
of  faith.  Nor  can  a  believer  boast  of  the  latter  unless  his  humble 
faith  begins  to  degenerate  into  vain  fancy. 

Such  are  the  capital  objections  that  Mr.  Berridge,  in  his  unguarded 
zeal  for  the  first  Gospel  axiom,  has  advanced  against  the  second. 
Should  he  attempt  to  exculpate  himself  by  saying,  that  all  his  argu- 
ments against  sincere  obedience  are  levelled  at  the  hypocritical  obe- 
dience which  Pharisaic  boasters  sometimes  call  sincere :  I  reply^ 
1.  It  is  a  pity  he  never  once  told  his  readers  so.  2.  It  is  surprising 
that  he,  who  unmasks  the  Christian  World,  should  so  mask  himself, 
as  to  say  just  the  reverse  of  what  he  means.  3.  If  he  really  design 
to  attack  insincere  obedience,  why  does  he  not  attack  it  as  insincere? 
And  why  does  he  advance  no  arguments  against  it,  but  such  as  would 
give  the  deepest  wound  to  truly  sincere  obedience,  if  they  were  con- 
clusive ?  4.  What  would  Mr.  Berridge  say  of  me,  if  I  published 
an  impious  essay  against  divine  xvorship  in  general,  and  to  vindicate 
my  own  conduct,  gave  it  out  some  months  after,  that  I  only  meant  to 
attack  the  "  worship  of  the  host,^^  which  makes  a  part  of  what  the 
Papists  call  "  divine  worship  .^"  Would  so  lame  an  excuse  clear  me 
before  the  unprejudiced  world?  But,  5.  The  worst  is.  That  if 
Calvinism  be  true,  all  Mr.  Berridge's  arguments  are  as  conclusive 
against  evangelical,  sincere  obedience,  as  against  the  hypocritical 
works  of  Pharisees  :  or,  if  Christians  (who  have  time  to  add  the 
works  chiefly  recommended  by  St.  James,  to  ihefaith  chiefly  preached 
by  St.  Paul)  have  a  full,  inamissible  title  io  final  justification  without 
those  works,  nay,  with  the  most  horrid  works,  such  as  adultery  and 
murder  ;  is  it  not  evident  that  the  passport  of  good  works  and 
sincere  obedience,  is  as  needless  tojtheir  eternal  salvation,  as  a  rotten 
buttress,  apaper  kite,  or  a  jack  o'  lantern  ? 

SECTION  IV. 

When  Mr.  Berridge  grants,  that  "  our  damnation  is  wholly  from  our- 
selves" he  grants  that  our  salvation  is  suspended  upon  some  term, 
which  through  grace  we  have  power  to  fulfil  ;  and  in  this  case, 
unconditional  reprobation,  absolute  election,  and  finished  salvation, 
are  false  doctrines  ;  and  Calvin's  whole  system  stands  upoji  a  sandy 
foundation. 

WHEN  a  man  grants  me  two  and  two  he  grants  me  four  ;  he  cannot 
help  it.  If  he  exclaim  against  me  for  drawing  the  necessary  infer- 
ence, he  only  exposes  himself  before  men  of  sense.  Mr.  Berridge, 
p.  190,  fully  grants  the  second  Gospel  axiom :   "  Our  damnationy*^ 


10   ANTINOMIANISM.  6t 

^ays  he,  ^* is  wholly  from  ourselves:''^  nevertheless,  he  declares,  p. 
26.  that  there  is  "  an  absolute  impossibility  of  being  justified^''  (^>r 
saved)  "  in  any  manner  by  our  works ;"  and  part  of  his  book  seems 
levelled  at  this  proposition  of  the  Minutes,  "  Salvation,  not  by  the 
merit  of  works,  but  by  works  as  a  condition."  Now,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,  by  granting  the  above-mentioned  Gospel  axiom,  as  all  mode- 
rate Calvinists  do,  he  grants  me  Mr.  Wesley's  proposition,  together 
with  the  demolition  of  Calvinism  !     For, 

1.  If  my  damnation  is  wholly  from  myself'*  it  is  not  the  necessary 
consequence  of  an  absolute,  efficacious  decree  of  non-election,  for 
then  my  damnation  would  be  wholly  from  God.  Nor  is  it  the  necessary 
consequence  of  the  deviFs  temptation,  for  then  it  would  be  from  the 
devil:  nor  is  it  (upon  the  Gospel  plan)  the  necessary  consequence  of 
Adam's  fall ;  because,  although  I  fell  seminaljy  into  a  state  of  damna- 
tion in  the  loins  of  Adam,  yet  the  free  gift  came  seminally  upon  me,  as 
well  as  upon  all  men,  unto  initial  justification;  for  I  was  no  less  in 
Adam,  when  God  raised  him  up  by  the  true  promise  of  a  Mediator, 
than  when  he  fell  by  the  lying  promise  of  the  tempter. 

Now,  if  my  damnation  be  neither  from  any  unconditional  decree  of 
reprobation,  nor  from  [the  fall  of  Adam,  what  becomes  of  Apollyon, 
and  his  sister,  the  great  Diana  ?  What  becomes  of  absolute  reproba- 
tion ;  and  its  inseparable  companion,  unconditional  election  ?  What 
becomes  of  all  the  horrors  that  St.  Paul  is  supposed  to  father  upon 
the  God  of  love,  Rom  ix.  ?     In  a  word,  What  becomes  of  Calvinism  ? 

Again.  If  "my  damnation  be  wholly  from  myself^  the  just  Judge 
of  all  the  earth  must  damn  me  personally  for  something,  which  he 
had  put  in  my  power  personally  to  do  or  to  leave  undone.  My  damna- 
tion, (hen,  and  consequently  my  salvation,  is  necessarily  suspended 
on  some  term  or  condition,  the  performance  or  non-performance  of 
which  is  at  my  option.  Nor  is  light  more  contrary  to  darkness,  than 
these  two  propositions  of  Mr.  Berridge  are  to  each  other,  "  Our 
damnation  is  wholly  from  ourselves  :"  And,  "  St.  Paul  plainly  shuts 
eut  all  works  of  sincere  obedience,  as  a  condition"  of  eternal  salva- 
tion. On  the  first  stand  the  Minutes  and  the  Checks  ;  on  the  second 
Calvinism  and  Antinomianism.  And  as  some  of  Mr.  Berridge's  read- 
ers cannot  receive  two  incompatible  propositions,  they  desire  to  know 

*  By  the  word  wholly,  Mr.  Berridge  cannot  mean  that  our  damnatioo  may  not  have 
secondary  causes,  such  as  a  tempting  devil,  an  alluring  world,  wicked  company,  a  bad 
book,  &c.  He  is  too  wise  to  deny  it.  All  I  suppose  he  means,  as  well  as  myself,  is,  that 
every  reprobate  is  the  primary,  meritorious  cause  of  his  damnation.  Just  as  divine  grace 
in  Christ  is  the  primary,  meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation  ;  although  under  that  original 
principal  leading  cause,  there  are  inferior,  instrumental,  evidencing  causes^  luch  as  Biblei, 
minisJers,  religious  conversation,  faith,  good  works,  <tc. 


62  FIFTH    CHECK 

which  of  them  we  must  give  to  the  winds,  with  the  paper-kite  of 
sincere  obedience  ? 

I  hope  that  gentleman  will  not  endeavour  to  screen  Calvinism  by 
saying,  that  the  reprobates  are  damned  merely  for  their  personal  sins, 
and  therefore  their  damnation  is  wholbj  from  themselves.  An  illustra- 
tion will  easily  show  the  fallacy  of  this  argument,  by  which  Calvinism 
is  frequently  kept  in  countenance. 

A  monarch,  in  whose  dominions  all  children  are  naturally  born 
lame^  makes  a  law,  that  all  who  shall  not  tualk  straight  before  a  certain 
day,  shall  be  cast  into  a  fiery  furnace.  The  terrible  day  comes,  and 
myriads  of  lame  culprits  stand  before  him.  His  anger  smokes  against 
them,  and  with  a  stretched-out  arm  he  thunders  :  Depart  from  me, 
ye  cursed,  into  that  place  of  torment  prepared  for  obstinate  offenders  ; 
for  when  I  bid  you  walk  upright,  ye  persisted  to  go  lame.  Go,  burn 
to  all  eternity,  and  as  ye  burn,  clear  my  justice  ;  and  remember,  that 
your  misery  is  wholly  from  yourselves. 

Wholly  from,  ourselves  !  they  reply  with  one  voice  :  was  it  ever 
in  our  power  not  to  be  born  lame  ;  or  to  walk  upright  in  our  crippled 
condition  ?  Wast  not  thou  acquainted  with  our  natural  misfortune  ? 
When  a  wonderful  man  came  into  thy  kingdom,  to  heal  the  lame, 
didst  thou  not  order  that  he  should  pass  us  by  ?  If  he  and  his  servants 
have  tantalized  us  with  general  offers  of  a  free  cure,  dost  thou  not 
know,  they  were  complimental,  lying  offers  ?  Hast  thou  forgotten, 
how  thou  orderedst  the  loving  Physician  who  wept  over  us,  never  to 
prepare  one  drop  of  his  purple  tincture  for  us  ?  And  how  thy  "  secret 
wilV*  bound  us  with  the  invisible  chains  of  an  efficacious  decree  of 
pretention,  that  we  might  never  come  at  that  precious  remedy  ?  In  a 
word,  was  it  not  from  the  beginning  thy  fixed  determination,  that  as  we 
were  born  lame  and  helpless  subjects  to  thy  crown  ;  so  we  should 
remain  the  lame  and  remediless  victims  of  thy  wrath  ?  If  therefore  thou 
wilt  show  the  boundless  extent  of  thy  grim  sovereignty,  by  casting  us 
into  that  flaming  abyss,  do  it ;  for  we  cannot  resist  thee !  but  do  not 
pretend  that  ti^e  have  pulled  down  thy  wrath  upon  us.  Rob,  O  rob 
us  not  of  the  only  alleviation,  that  our  deplorable  case  can  admit  of, 
viz.  the  comfort  of  thinking,  that  our  destruction  is  not  from  our- 
selves. If  thou  wilt  be  fierce  as  a  lion,  at  least  be  not  hypocritical 
as  a  crocodile. 

Hear,  ye  Heavens,  replies  the  absolute  monarch,  give  ear,  O  Earth, 
and  judge  of  the  justice  of  my  proceedings  against  these  lame  culprits. 
In  consequence  of  a  permissive,  efficacious  decree  of  mine  five  or  six 
thousand  years  ago,  one  of  their  ancestors  brought  lameness  upon 
himself  and  upon  them  ;  therefore  their  necessary  lameness,  and  the 


TO    ANTINGMIANISM.  63 

tearful  destruction  with  which  I  am  going  to  punjsh  their  lame  steps, 
are  wholly  from  themselves.     Are  not  my  ways  equal,  and  theirs  uq- 
oqual  ?  And  far  from  boing  a  crocodile  towards  them,  am  I  not  a  Iamb 
in  whose  mouth  is  no  guile  ?  Or  at  least  a  lion  who,  like  that  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  use  my  sovereign  power  only  according  to  the  clear- 
est dictates  of  justice  and  equity  ? — Out  of  thine  own  mouth,  reply 
the  wretched  culprits,  the  world  of  rational  beings  will  condemn  thee, 
thou  true  king   of  terrors  !    Thou  acknowlodgest  that  thousands  of 
years  before  we  were  born,  one  of  our  ancestors  brought  upon  us 
the  necessary  lameness,  in  consequence  of  which  we  must  be  cast  into 
that  fiery  furnace,  without  having  ever  had  it  in  our  power  to  take  one 
straight  step ;  and  yet  thou  sayest  that  our  destruction  is  zcholly  from 
ourselves!  If  thou  wert  notlosttoall  senseof  equity  and  regard  for  truth, 
thou  wouldst  say,  that  our  condemnation  is  not  from  ourselves,  but, 
wholly  from  a  man  whom  most  of  us  never  heard  of;   unless  thou  wast 
the  grand  contriver  of  the  fall,  which  brought  on  his  lameness  and  ours ; 
and  in  that  case  our  destruction  is  far  less  from  him  than  from  thyself 
Besides,  thou  hast  published  a  decree,  in  which  thou  declarest.  They 
shall  say  no  more.  The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's 
teeth   are  set  on  edge :  hut  every  one  shall  die  for  his  own  iniquity. 
Behold^  all  souls  are  mine^  as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also  the  soul  of  the 
son  is  mine.     The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die,  the  death  thou  designest 
us.     Now  iniquity,  that  we  could  never  personally  help,  an  iniquity 
caused  by  one  of  our  ancestors,  can  never  be  our  own  iniquity,  con- 
tradistinguished from  that  of  our  fathers.     If  thou  didst  cast  all   the 
asses  of  thy  kingdom  into  thy  fiery  furnace,  because  they  do  not  brav 
as  melodiously  as  the  nightingale  sings  ;  or  all  the  ravens,  because 
they  are  not  as  white  as  swans  ;    couldest  thou  with  any  truth  say, 
Their  torments  are  wholly  from  themselves  ?  And  hast  thou  any  more 
reason  to  say  that  our  perdition  is  from  ourselves,  when  thou  burnest 
us  merely  for  qmt  natural,  necessary  lameness,  and  for  the  lame  steps 
that  it  has  naturally  and  necessarily  occasioned  ? 

The  judicious  reader  will  enter  into  this  illustration,  without  being 
presented  with  a  key  of  my  own  making  ;  and  trusting  his  candour 
and  good  sense  with  that  business,  I  draw  the  following  inferences 
from  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  which  Mr.  Berridge  has  explicitly 
granted.  1.  God  does  not  prevaricate,  but  speaks  a  melancholy 
truth  when  he  says,  "  O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself'  2. 
Every  reprobate  is  his  own  destroyer,  not  only  because  he  has  wil- 
fully sinned  away  the  justification  mentioned  Rom.  v.  18,  by  which  all 
infants  are  entitled  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  also  because  he  wil- 
fully rejects  the  salvation  really  prepared  for,  and  sincerely  offered  te 


64  FIFTH  CHECK 

him  in  Christ.  3.  Recording  to  the  second  covenant,  we  are  never 
in  a  state  of  personal  damnation,  till  we  have  personally  buried  the 
talent  of  that  grace  ivhich  bringeth  salvation,  and  hath  appeared  to  all 
men.  4.  Calvinism,  which  teaches  the  reprobates  fully  to  exculpate 
themselves,  and  justly  to  charge  God  with  shuffling,  lying,  injustice, 
cruelty,  and  hypocrisy,  is  a  system  that  does  the  reprobates  infinite 
honour,  and  the  divine  perfections  unspeakable  injury.  And,  5. 
When  Mr.  Berridge  maintains,  that  "  our  damnation  is  wholly  from 
ourselves,^^  he  maintains  indirectly,  that  the  Minutes  and  Checks, 
which  necessarily  stand  or  fall  with  that  Gospel  axiom,  are  truly 
scriptural.     Thus,  like  other  pious  Calvinists,*  he  gives  us  an  excel- 

*The  warm  author  of  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  ^*  Dr.  Crisp's  Ghost;  or  a  Check  upon 
Checks,  Being  a  Bridle  for  Jlniinomiaiis,  and  a  Whip  for  Pelagian  and  Arminian  Method' 
ists,"  with  this  motto,  TVithout  are  dogs,  and  whosoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie ;  designed, 
it  seems,  to  wftip  the  Arminian  rfog-5,  and  to  prove  that  Flavel,  Baxter,  Williams,  and  I, 
•make  a  lie,  when  we  represent  Crisp  as  an  abettor  of  ''  Antinomian  dotages."  This  warm 
author,  I  say,  informs  us,  that  even  Crisp,  overcome  by  the  glaring  evidence  of  truth,  once 
said  :  "  I  must  read  the  fearful  doom  of  all,  who  have  net  learned  this  lesson,  [denying  un- 
godliness] and  are  not  yet  taught  it  of  God,  &c.  They  are  yet  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and 
in  the  bond  of  iniquity,  and  have  not  their  part  in  this  matter.  I  say,  as  yet,  this  is  their 
fearful  doom,  and  if  they  continue  thus  untaught  their  lesson,  there  can  be  no  salvation  by 
grace  for  them.  Not  every  one  that  says,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  but  he  that  doth  the  will  of  my  Father,  which  is  in  heaven,  &c.  Some  licentious, 
ungodly  wretehes,  I  know,  reply,  though  to  their  own  ruin,  &c.  that  Christ  justifies  the  un- 
godly, and  we  are  saved  by  faith  without  works  ;  bat  alas  !  they  observe  not  how  cunningly 
the  devil  equivocates  to  lull  them  asleep  in  their  ungodly  practices.  It  is  true  indeed  that 
Christ  justifies  the  ungodly,  that  is,  he  finds  them  ungodly  when  he  imputes  his  righteous- 
ness to  them  ;  but  he  does  not  leave  them  ungodly  after  he  has  inspired  them  •.  he  teacheth 
them  to  deny  ungodliness.  He  affords  no  cloak  to  perseverance  in  ungodliness,  but  will 
come  in  flaming  fire,  with  his  mighty  angels,  to  render  vengeance  unto  such.  He  that 
denies  not  ungodliness,  him  will  Christ  deny  before  his  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Why 
then  wilt  thou  be  deluded  with  gross  sophistry,  in  so  clear  a  sunshine  of  the  Gospel .''  Is  not 
jhe  light  so  bright  that  thine  own  heart  checks  thee  .''  And  if  thine  heart  condemns  thee, 
God  is  greater,  and  searches  all  things." 

Hail !  Crisp.  Far  from  checking  my  Checks,  and  whipping  the  Arminian  dog,  in  a 
happy  moment  thou  manfully  fightest  St.  James's  battle  ;  thou  callest  the  doctrine  of  the 
Checks  "  sunshine  ;^^  and  whippest  thine  own  speculative  error  out  of  the  church  as  "  gros's 
sophistry." 

Dr.  Crisp,  (as  quoted  by  his  opponent)  almost  discovered  once  the  important  difference 
between  the  salvation  of  a  sinner,  previous  to  works ;  and  the  salvation  of  a  believer,  con- 
sequent upon  works. 

His  excellent  words  run  thus.  "  It  is  true  also,  we  are  saved  by  faith  without  works, 
but  here  also  Satan  equivocates  as  grossly  as  in  the  other  case  ;  for  though  faitji  only  saves 
without  works  efficiently,  yet  not  consequentially,  as  I  said  before  ;  that  is,  though  faith 
only  saves,  yet  that  faith  must  not  be  alone  that  saves,  but  must  be  attended  with  its  fruits, 
to  wit,  denying  ungodliness;  else  it  is  so  far  from  saving,  that  it  is  but  a  dead  faith,  and  he 
is  but  a  vain  man  that  has  no  better,  as  St.  James  well  affirms.  The  person  believing  must 
deny  ungodliness,  though  this  denial  works  not  his  salvation." — [this  is  very  true,  if  it  be 
oaderstood  either  of  initial  salvation,  or  of  the  primary  cause  of  eternal  salvation.]  "  Our 
Saviour  speaks  to  the  same  purpose,  A  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  He  does  not  say 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  65 

lent  dose  of  antidote  to  expel  Antinomian  poison.  But  wbo  shall  re- 
oommend  it  to  the  Calvinistic  world  ?  Mr.  Wesley  they  will  not  hear^: 
My  Checks  they  will  not  read.  Go  then,  ''valiant  Sergeant  IF.'^ 
Thou  comest  from  Everton,  therefore  thou  shalt  be  welcome.  Thou 
knowest  the  way  to  the  closets  of  Solifidians  :  nay,  thou  art  there 
already  with  *'  The  Christian  World  Unmasked.''^ 

SECTION  V. 

Mr.  Berridge  candidly  grants  the  conditionality  of  perseverance, 
and  consequently  of  election,  by  showing  much  respect  to  "  Ser- 
geant IF,"  who  '*  guards  the  camp  of  Jesws."  But  soon  picking  a 
quarrel  with  the  valiant  Sergeant,  he  discharges  him  as  a  Jew,  opens 
the  camp  to  the  Antinomians  by  opposing  to  them  only  a  sham  sen- 
tinel, and  shows  the  foundations  of  Calvinism  in  a  most  striking 
light. 

THE  pious  author  of  "  The  Christian  World  Unmasked,"  speak- 
ing of  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  unconditional  perseverance,  which 
he  confounds  with  the  evangelical  doctrine  of  conditional  persever- 
ance, p.  194,  says,  with  great  truth,  provided  he  had  spoken  of  the 
latter:  It  "affords  a  stable  prop  to  upright  iiain<ie,  yet  lends  no 
wanton  cloak  to  corrupt  hearts.  It  brings  a  cordial  to  revive  the 
faint,  and  keeps  a  guard  to  check  the  forward.  The  guard  attending 
on  this  doctrine  is  Sergeant  IF;  low  in  stature,  but  lofty  in  signi- 
ficance ;  a  very  valiant  guard,  though  a  monosyllable.  Kind  notice 
has  been  taken  of  the  Sergeant  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  ;  and 

the  fruit  makes  it  a  good  tree,  yet  the  good  fruit  is  inseparable.  I  speak  not  of  quantities 
or  degrees,  &c.  but  of  the  truth,  to  wit,  a  real  and  sincere  denial  of  ungodliness.'''' — Excel- 
lent! To  whip  the  dogs,  the  Rev.  Mr.  P--: 1  need  only  prove,  that  when  David  robbed 

Uriah  of  the  ewe-lamb  that  lay  in  his  bosom,  tried  to  kill  his  soul  with  drunkenness,  and 
treacherously  killed  his  body  with  the  sword  of  the  Ammonites,  he  ^'■really  and  sincerely 
denied  vngodliness.''''  And  that  his  faith  produced  the  good  fruit,  which  is  inseparable 
from  saving  faith.  The  moment  this  is  done,  I  promise  the  public  to  clear  pious  Calvinists 
in  general  from  the  charge  of  speculative  Aniinomianism,  Dr.  Crisp  in  particular,  from  that 
of  glaring  contradiction,  and  his  zealous  second,  who  accuses  me  with  "  gross  falsities,''* 
from  Calvinistic  rashness. 

We  can  no  more  exculpate  warm  Calvinists,  when  they  betray  holiness  into  the  hands 
of  practical  Antinomians,  because  they  now  and  then  speak  honourably  of  good  works ; 
than  we  can  clear  Pontius  Pilate,  from  the  guilt  of  delivering  the  Messiah  to  the  Jews, 
because  he  once  solemnly  "  took  water,  and  washed  his  hands  before  the  multitude,  saying, 
I  find  no  fault  in  this  just  person;  I  am  innocent  of  his  blood:  See  ye  to  it."  If  the  author 
of  the  Whip  for  the  Arminians  consider  this,  or  if  he  turn  to  Check  IV.  p.  279.  where  I 
produce  D.  Williams's  observation  concerning  Crisp's  inconsistency,  he  will  be  probably 
less  forward  in  checking  Checks,  that  he  has  not  candidly  cons^idered ;  and  in  making  whips 
for  the  backs  of  his  honest  neighbours,  lest  some  of  them  should  take  them  from  him  to  lash 
his  mistakes  and  chastise  his  precipitation. 

Vol.  II.  9 


66  FIFTH  CHECK 

much  respect  is  due  unto  him  from  all  the  Lord's  recruiting  officers, 
and  every  soldier  in  his  army.  Pray  listen  to  the  Serjeant's  speech  : 
IF  ye  continue  in  my  word^  then  are  ye  my  disciples  indeed^  John  viii. 
31.  IF  ye  do  these  things^  ye  shall  never  fall,  2  Pet.  i.  10.  IF 
what  ye  have  heard  shall  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  continue  in  the  Son 
and  in  the  Father,  1  John  ii.  24.  We  are  made  partakers  of  Christ, 
IF  we  hold  steadfast  unto  the  end,  Heh.  xiii.  14.  Whoso  looketh  and 
continueth  (that  is,  IF  he  that  looketh  doth  continue)  in  the  perfect  law 
of  liberty ^  that  man  shall  be  blessed,  in  his  deed,  James  i.  25." — And 
again,  p.  194,  "  IF  backsliders  fancy,  they  must  all  be  restored 
by  repentance,  because  David  was  restored,  and  Peter  was  ;  they 
might  as  well  suppose,  they  must  all  be  translated  into  heaven  with- 
out dying,*  because  Enoch  and  Elijah  were."  p.  199,  1.  17. 

Upon  this  plan  of  doctrine,  we  are  ready  to  lay  by  our  controver- 
sial pens,  and  shake  hands  with  our  Calvinist  brethren.  All  that  we 
desire  of  them,  in  order  to  a  lasting  agreement,  is — 1.  To  consider 
what  is  implied  in  the  preoeding  concessions  ;  and  not  to  gag  Sergeant 
IF,  when  he  honestly  speaks  the  very  words  of  the  Captain  of  our 
Salvation,  or  those  of  the  apostles,  his  lieutenant-generals  : — 2.  Not 
to  call  him  a  Galatian,  or  a  Papist,  when  he  is  found  in  company 
with  :St.  Jauies. — 3.  Not  to  enter  an  action  against  him,  for  disturbing 
the  peace  of  those  backsliders,  who  having  denied  the  faith,  and  lost 
their  lirst  love,  now  quietly  hug  a  bosom  sin,  or  take  their  Laodicean 
rest  on  the  pillow  of  5e//*-election  : — 4.  Not  to  put  him  under  arrest, 
for  heading  a  platoon  of  those,  whom  some  of  the  elect  call  diabolo- 
nians,  because  they  doubt  the  truth  of  unconditional  election,  or  elec- 
tion without  IF  ;  and  choose  to  fire  at  sin,  rather  than  at  their  cap- 
fdin. — And  5  not  to  say  to  him,  Hail !  Sergeant,  kissing  him  as  if  he 
were  a  good  Christian,  in  order  to  betray  him  with  some  decency  into 
the  hands  of  the  Antinomians,  as  "  a  circumcised  caitiff. "^ 

Whether  my  pious  opponent  has  not  treated  the  honest  Sergeant  in 
that  manner,  I  leave  the  candid  reader  to  determine.  "Yet  take 
Dotice,"  [!=iays  he,  p.  194.]  "  that  Sergeant  IF  is  not  of  Jewish,  but 
Christian  parentage  ;  not  sprung  from  Levi,  though  a  son  of  Abra- 
ham ;  no  sentinel  of  Moses,  but  a  watchman  for  the  camp  of  Jesus. 
He  wears  no  dripping  beard,  like  the  circumcised  race  ;  and  is  no  le- 
gal blustering  condition  to  purchase  man's  salvation,  but  a  modest  Gos- 

*  Here  Mr.  Berridge,  in  a  fit  of  legality,  far  exceeds  the  limits  of  the  truth  which  I 
maintain  in  the  Checks  ;  for  he  insinuates,  that  the  recovery  of  backsliders  is  as  improbable 
as  their  bodily  translation  mto  heaven.  For  my  part,  severe  as  I  am  represented  to  back- 
sliders, I  believe  their  return  is  ten  thousand  limes  more  probable  than  their  goiog  to  hea- 
vea  as  Enoch  and  Elijah  did. 


TO  ANTINOMIANISM.  07 

pel  evidence  to  prove  the  truth  of  grace.  He  tells  no  idle  tales." — 
Enough,  Sir,  if  "  he  tell  no  idle  tales,''''  he  does  not  ca?il  and  quibble, 
much  less  does  he  deny  his  proper  name,  and  well-kooun  meaning 
Although  he  no  more  dreams  of  ^'purchasing  man^s  salvation,^^  than 
you  do,  yet  he  is  conditional  IF, — Sergeant  IF,— a  very  valiant  guard 
to  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  perseverance,  and  an  irreconcileable 
enemy  to  Calvinian  election,  and  "  Antinomian  dotages." 

O  ye  opposers  of  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  "  Pray  come  and  peep  /" 
See  Calvinism  *'  unmasked''''  by  one  of  your  principal  leaders,  who 
shows  to  the  world  the  futile  foundation  of  your  doctrine  of  grace ! 
Thanks  be  to  his  humorous  honesty ,  we  see  now  that  those  famous  doc- 
trines stand  upon  the  super-metaphysical  difference  there  is  between 
IF,  and  IF  ; — between  Jewish  IF,  and  Christian  IF  ; — legal  IF,  and 
evangelical  IF  ; — IF  at  Madeley,  and  IF  at  Everton.  When  IF,  the 
culprit,  appears  in  the  Foundery  pulpit,  he  tells  idle  tales,  it  seems  !  he 
slily  disguises  himself!  But  when  IF,  the  orthodox,  shows  himself  in 
the  desk  at  Everton,  (for  it  is  to  be  feared,  that  he  seldom  appears  in 
the  pulpit  valiantly  to  guard  Bible  perseverance)  he  never  equivo- 
cates !  When  he  says  to  people  that  never  stood,  or  to  people  that 
can  never  fall,  IFye  do  these  things,  ye  shall  never  fall,  &c.  he  is  not  a 
condition,  and  yet  he  never  shuffles  !  These  are  strange  hints  indeed  ! 

Patient  Reader,  permit  me  to  try,  by  the  following  questions,  the  so- 
lidity of  the  Calvinistic  distinction  between  IF  aod'lF,  which  supports 
the  amazing  weight  of  the  great  Diana.  1.  When  the  Gospel  said  to 
David, /Fi/iou  dost  these  things  thou  sha.lt  ncoerfall,  and  he  fell  into  adul- 
tery :  was  Sergeant  IF  a  mot>est  Gospel  evidence  to  prove  the  truth  of 
his  (Trace?  And  supposing  he  was  such  a  moc/esi  evidence,  did  he 
<'  lend  no  wanton  cloak  to  a  corrupt  heart  .^" — 2,  When  our  Lord  said 
to  the  young  ruler.  IF  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  sell  all ;  was  Sergeant  IF 
of  Jewish  or  Christian  parentage  ? — 3.  How  shall  I  know  when  the  Ser- 
geant is  "  a  sentinel  of  Moses, ^'  or  when  he  is  "  a  watchman  for  the 
camp  of  Jesus?''''  Should  you  answer,  A  Jewish  IF  wears  a  dripping 
beard,  you  may  indeed  by  such  an  argument  convince,  and  entertain 
some  Calvinists  ;  but  you  leave  me  quite  in  the  dark  ;  and  with  some 
very  honest  folks,  who  are  cast  in  a  Gospel  foundery,''^  instead  of  "  ring- 
ing a  fire-bell,''''  I  smile  at  your  wit  and  orthodoxy,  but  can  no  more 
understand  what  you  mean  by  an  IF,  "  with  a  dripping  beard,""  than 
you  could  conceive  what  I  would  be  at,  if  I  spoke  of  a  Yes,  ivith  a  long 
tail,  or  a  Perhaps,  with  ^feaitful  horns  ! — How  shall  I  distinguish  a 
♦'  legaV  from  an  evangelical  IF  ?  Should  you  say,  that  the  "  legal, 
blustering''  Sergeant  wears  a  halberd,  butthe  evangelical,  mild  IF,  has 
no  weapon  at  all  :  I  ask,  What  business  has  aQ  unarmed  IF  in  "  the 


68  yiPTH   CHECK 

camp  of  Jesus  ?"  Why  do  you  call  him  Sergeant  ?  Is  he  not  a  sham 
senjtinel.  a  ridiculous  scarecrow,  to  deceive  the  simple,  rather  than  "  a 
very  valiant  guard  to  check  the  forxscard?"'' — 5.  How  shall  I  make  a 
difference  between  an  Everton  IF,  and  a  Madeley  IF  ?  When  1  have 
read  my  Bible  in  both  places,  I  have  always  found  the  Sergeant  ex- 
actly oi  the  same  stature  :  he  always  appeared  in  the  same  black  regi- 
mentals :  and  to  this  day  a  Madeley  IF  exactly  answers  to  the  descrip- 
tion that  the  pious  Vicar  of  Everton  gives  of  him.  He  is  "  a  mono- 
syllable^ low  in  stature,  but  lofty  in  signijicance :"  Whereas  the  Ever- 
ton IF  is  yet  lower  in  signijicance  than  in  stature^  since  you  make  him 
signify'  just  nothing.  Should  you  reply,  that  a  Madeley  IF  is  "  like  one 
of  the  circumcised  race ;'''  I  answer,  that  although  about  eleven  years 
ago  I  circumcised  him  with  an  Antioomian  knife,  yet  1  did  not  quite 
mutilate  him.  But  I  could  name  a  Gospel  minister,  who  has  "  ser- 
ved more  than  three  apprenticeships  at  a  noted  hall  of  physic,"  by 
whom  the  unhappy  Sergeant  has  not  only  been  "  circumcised,''''  but 
quite  emasculated,  yea,  deprived  of  his  very  vitals.  For  when  IF, 
in  the  above-quoted  scriptures,  is  absolutely  divested  of  conditionalityf 
and  turned  into  an  unnecessary  evidence  of  grace,  which  the  elect  can 
do  without,  as  well  as  David  and  Solomon ;  may  it  not  be  compared 
to  a  dead  Sergeant,  whose  lungs  and  heart  are  pulled  out  :  and  whose 
ill-smelling  remains,  far  from  being  a  *'  valiant  guard''*  against  the 
forward,  prove  an  enticing  lure  to  unclean  birds,  who  fly  about  in 
search  of  a  carcass. 

Excuse,  reader,  this  proVix  and  ludicrous  defence  of  the  Sergeant. 
The  subject,  though  treated  in  so  queer  a  manner,  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  ;  for  the  Minutes,  the  Checks,  and  the  second  Gospel 
axiom,  stand  or  fall  with  Sergeant  IF.  If  he  is  a  coward,  a  knave, 
or  a  cipher,  Antinomianism  will  still  prevail ;  but  if  he  recover  his 
true  and  lofty  signijicance,  he  will  soon  rid  the  church  of  Antinomian 
dotages.  As  "  much  respect  is  due  unto  him,"  and  to  St.  James's 
\indefibd  religion,  which  the  ingenious  book  I  quote  indirectly  under- 
mines, I  thought  it  ray  duty  to  "  open  my  bag"  also,  and  let  out  a 
ferret,  or  to  speak  exactly  the  language  of  Everton,  "  a  fox,^^  to 
ehase  "  a  straggling  goose  hard  at  hand.''^  Take  notice,  however, 
that  by  the  "  goose,'''*  I  do  not  mean  the  reverend  author  of  TJie 
World  Unmasked,  for  he  has  wit  enough,  and  to  sparer  but  the 
*'  waddling  dame,''"'  Calvinistic  contradiction,  alias  Logica  Genevensis. 
And  now  reader,  1  lay  her  before  the^noLto  make  thee  "  5wp"  upon 
her  *'  amidst  a  deal  of  cacklini(  music,''''  but  that  thou  wouldest  help 
me  to  nail  her  up  to  the  everlasting  doors  of  the  temple  of  truth,  as 
sportsmen  do  cranes  and  foxes  to  the  doors  of  their  rural  buildings. 


TO    ANTINOMIANISM.  09 


CONCLUSION. 

WERE  I  to  conclude  these  strictures  upon  the  dangerous  tenets, 
inadvertently  advanced,  and  happily  contradicted,  in  The  Christian 
World  Unmasked,  without  professing  my  brotherly  love  and  sincere 
respect  for  the  ingenious  and  pious  author,  I  should  wrong  him, 
myself,  and  the  cause  which  1  defend.  I  only  do  him  justice  when  I 
say,  that  few,  very  few  of  our  elders,  equal  him  in  devotedness  to 
Christ,  zeal,  diligence,  and  ministerial  success.  His  indefatigable 
labours  in  the  word  and  doctrine  entitle  him  to  a  double  share  of 
honour ;  and  I  invite  all  my  readers  with  me  to  esteem  him  highly  in 
love  for  his  Master's  and  his  "work's  sake :  entreating  them  not  to 
undervalue  his  vital  piety,  on  account  of  his  Antinomian  opinion  ;  and 
beseeching  them  to  consider,  that  bis  errors  are  so  much  the  more 
excusable  as  they  do  not  influence  his  moral  conduct,  and  he  refutes 
them  himself,  far  more  than  his  favourite  scheme  of  doctrine  allows 
him  to  do.  Add  to  this,  that  those  very  errors  spring  in  a  great 
degree  from  the  idea,  that  he  honours  Christ  by  receiving,  and  does 
GoJ  service  by  propagating  them. 

The  desire  of  catching  the  attention  of  his  readers,  has  made  him 
choose  a  witty,  facetious  manner  of  writing,  for  which  he  has  a  pecu- 
liar turn  ;  and  the  necessity  I  am  under  of  standing  his  indirect  attack, 
obliges  me  to  meet  him  upon  his  own  ground,  and  to  encounter  him 
with  his  own  weapons.  I  beg,  that  what  passes  for  evangelical 
humour  in  him,  may  not  be  called  indecent  levity  in  nie.  A  sharp 
pen  may  be  guided  by  a  kind  heart ;  and  such,  I  am  persuaded,  is 
that  of  my  much-esteemed  antagonist,  whom  I  publicly  invite  to  my 
pulpit ;  protesting  that  I  should  be  edified,  and  overjoyed,  to  hear 
him  enforce  there  the  guarded  substance  of  his  book,  which,  notwith- 
standing the  vein  of  Solifidianism  1  have  taken  the  liberty  to  open, 
contains  many  great  and  glorious  truths. 


4 ,' 
^.i 


THE 


FICTITIOUS  AND  THE  GENUINE 

CREED : 


COMPOSED 

BF  RICHARD  HILL,  ESq, 

TO    WHICH    IS    OPPOSED, 

A  CREED 

FOR  THOSE   WHO   BELIEVE   THAT 

CHRIST  TASTED  DEATH  FOR  EVERY  MAN 

BY    THE    AUTHOR   OF   THE 

CHECKS  TO  ANTINOMIANISM. 


la  doctrine  thovs  uncorruptness,  gravity,  sincerity,  sound  speech  thai  cannot  be  condemned . 
ihat  he  loho  ts  of  the  contrary  part  may  be  ashamed. — Tit-  ii.  7,  8. 


PREFACE. 


In  which  the  Author  gives  an  account  of  Mr.  HiWs  new  method  of  attack^ 
and  makes  some  reconciling  concessions  to  the  Calvinists,  by  means  of 
which  their  strongest  arguments  are  unnerved^  and  all  that  is  truly 
scriptural  in  Calvinism  is  openly  adopted  into  the  anti-Calvinian  doc- 
trine of  grace. 

W  E  should  be  deservedly  considered  as  bad  Protestants,  if  we 
were  not  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  with  meekness  to  every  man 
{much  more  to  Mr.  Hill,  a  gentleman  of  piety,  learning,  reputation, 
wit,  and  fortune,]  who  asketh  us  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  us. 
We  confess,  that  after  the  way  which  our  opponents  call  the  heresy 
of  the  Arminians  and  Perfectionists,  we  worship  the  God  of  our 
fathers  ;  believing  what  is  written  in  the  Scriptures  concerning  the 
extent  of  redemption  by  price  and  by  power.  . 

Concerning  the  extent  of  Christ's  redemption  by  price  we  believe, 
that  he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  tasted  death  to  procure  initial  salvation 
for  every  man,  and  eternal  salvation  for  them  that  obey  him :  and  con- 
cerning the  extent  of  his  redemption  by  power,  we  are  persuaded, 
that,  when  we  come  to  God  by  him,  he  is  able  and  willing  to  save  to 
the  uttermost  our  souls  from  the  guilt  and  pollution  of  sin  here,  and 
our  bodies  from  the  grave,  and  from  corruption  hereafter. 

With  regard  to  our  extensive  views  of  Christ's  redemption  by 
price,  Mr.  Hill  calls  us  Arminians  ;  and  with  respect  to  our  believing, 
that  there  is  no  perfect  faith,  no  perfect  repentance  in  the  grave  ; 
that  the  Christian  graces  of  repentance,  faith,  hope,  patience,  &c. 
must  be  perfected  here  or  never  ;  and  with  respect  to  our  confidence 
that  Christ's  blood,  fully  applied  by  his  Spirit,  and  apprehended  by 
perfect  faith,  can  cleanse  our  hearts  from  all  unrighteousness  before 
we  go  into  the  purgatory  of  the  Cahinists,  or  into  that  of  the  Papists, 
that  is,  before  we  go  into  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  or  into 
the  suburbs  of  hell  ; — with  respect  to  this  belief  and  confidence,  I  say, 
Mr.  Hill  calls  us  Perfectionists ;  and  appearing  once  more  upon  the 
Vol.  H.  10 


74  PREFACE, 

stage  of  our  controversy,  be  has  lately  presented  the  public  with 
what  he  calls,  *'  A  Creed  for  Arininians  and  Perfectionists,'^  which  he 
introduces  in  these  words:  "  The  following  confession  of  faith,  how- 
ever shocking,  not  to  say  bJaspbemous,  it  may  appear  to  the  humble 
Christian,  must  inevitably  be  adopted,  if  not  in  express  words,  yet  in 
substance,  by  every  Arminian  and  Perfectionist  whatsoever  ;  though 
the  last  article  chiefly  concerns  such  as  are  ordained  ministers  in  the 
Church  of  England."  And  as  among  such  ministers,  Mr.  J.  Wesley, 
Mr.  W.  Sellon,  and  myself,  peculiarly  oppose  Mr.  Hill's  Calvinian 
doctrines  of  absolute  election  and  reprobation,  and  of  a  death-pur- 
gatory ;  he  has  put  the  initial  letters  of  our  names  to  his  Creed ; 
hoping,  no  doubt,  to  make  us  peculiarly  ashamed  of  our  principles. 
And  indeed  so  should  we  be,  if  any  "  blasphemous^'  or  "  shocking'^ 
consequence  '*  inevitably'"'  flowed  from  them. 

But  how  has  Mr.  Hill  proved  that  this  is  the  case  ?  Has  he  sup- 
ported his  charge  by  one  argument  ?  No  :  but  among  some  conse- 
quences of  our  doctrine,  which  are  quite  harmless  and  scriptural,  he 
has  fixed  upon  us  some  shocking  consequences,  which  have  no  neces- 
sary connexion  with  any  of  our  doctrines  of  grace.  We  apprehend, 
therefore,  that  by  this  method,  Mr.  Hill  has  exposed  his  inattention 
more  than  our  "  heresy." 

If  Mr.  Hill  had  said  before  a  thousand  witnesses,  I  hold  ten  guineas 
in  my  right  hand,  and  ten  in  my  left,  could  the  author  of  the  Checks? 
wrong  him,  or  expose  his  own  candour,  if  he  insisted  upon  the  truth 
of  this  consequence,  "  Then  Mr.  Hill  holds  twenty  guineas  in  both 
his  hands."  And  if  Mr.  Hill  protested  ever  so  long,  that  he  holds  but 
fifteen  in  all,  and  that  I  am  a  "  culumniator''''  for  saying  that  he  holds 
twenty;  would  not  all  the  witnesses,  who  are  impartial,  and  acqu  tinted 
with  the  proportion  of  numbers,  clear  me  of  the  charge  of  calumny^ 
and  accuse  Mr.  Hill  of  inattention?  Again,:  If  1  had  said  before  the 
same  witnesses,  that  I  have  two  guineas  in  ray  right  hand,  and  txs^o  in 
my  left ;  and  if  Mr.  Hill,  to  keep  his  error  in  countenance  by  bring- 
ing me  in  guilty  of  as  great  a  mistake  as  his  own,  fixed  the  following 
consequence  upon  my  assertions,  *'  Then  you  hold  seven  guineas  in 
both  your  hands;"  would  he  not  expose  himself  more  than  me?  And 
would  not  all  the  candid  spectators  declare,  that  although  I  have  a 
right  to  maintain  that  ten  and  ten  make  twenty,  my  opponent  cannot 
reasonably  assert  that  two  and  two  make  seven.  The  justness  of  this 
illustration  will  appear  to  the  reader,  if  he  cast  a  look  upon  the 
Creed  which  I  have  composed  for  an  Antinomian  with  Mr.  Hill's 
principles.  The  doctrines  that  it  contains  are  all  his  own,  and  they 
sire  expressed  chiefly  in  his  own  words,  as  appears  from  numerou* 


PREFACE.  7$ 

quotations,  in  which  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  pages  where  he  has 
puhhcl}'  maintained  the  tenets  which  1  expose  :  but  Mr.  Hill  has  not 
produced  in  his  Arminian  Creed  one  line  out  of  my  Checks  from 
which  any  shocking  or  blasphemous  doctrine  flows  by  "  unavoidable^^ 
consequence.  If  he  had,  I  protest,  as  a  lover  of  truth,  that  I  would 
instantly  renounce  the  principle,  on  which  such  a  doctrine  might  be 
justly  fathered  ;  being  persuaded  that  the  pure  light  of  a  pure  doc- 
trine, can  never  be  necessarily  productive  of  gross  darkness  :  al- 
though it  may  accidentally  be  obscured  by  occasional  difficulties,  as 
the  sun  may  be  darkened  by  interposing  clouds. 

Some  readers  will  probably  think,  that  I  have  made  the  Calvinists 
too  many  concessions  in  the  following  pages:  but  I  am  persuaded  that 
I  have  granted  them  nothing  but  what  they  have  a  scriptural  right  to  : 
and  God  forbid  that  any  Protestant  should  grant  them  less ! — At  the 
Synod  of  Dort,  the  Arminians,  being  sensible  that  a  gratuitous  election 
can  be  defended  by  reason  and  Scripture,  would  debate  first  the  doc- 
trine of  gratuitous,  Calvinian  reprobation,  which  is  flatly  contrary  to 
reason  and  Scripture.  The  Calvinists,  on  the  other  hand,  being  con- 
scious that  the  strength  of  their  cause  lay  in  maintaining  a  gratuitous 
election,  and  hoping  that  the  gratuitous  reprobation  would  naturally 
^kulk  under  that  election,  insisted  that  the  doctrine  of  election  should 
be  debated  first.  The  Arminians  would  not  consent  to  it,  so  that 
nothing  was  properly  discussed  :  and  the  Calvinists  having  numbers 
and  the  sword  on  their  side,  deposed  their  opponents  as  obstinate 
heretics.  Whilst  we  disapprove  the  severity  of  the  Calvinists,  we 
blame  the  Arminians  for  provoking  that  severity  by  refusing  to  clear 
up  the  doctrine  of  election.  And  improving  by  the  mistakes  of  both 
parties,  we  make  the  reconciling  concessions  which  follow. 

1.  We  grant  that  there  is  an  election  of  distinguishing  ^race;  but 
we  show  that  this  election  is  not  Calvinian  election ;  thousands  being 
partakers  of  the  partial  election  of  distinguishing  grace,  who  have 
no  share  in  the  impartial  election  of  distributive  yw^f/ce;  two  distinct 
-elections  these,  the  confounding  of  which  has  laid  the  foundation  of 
numberless  errors.     See  Scripture  Scales,  Sect.  XII. 

2.  We  grant  the  Calvinists  that  initial  salvation  is  merely  by  a 
decree  of  Divine  grace  through  Jesus  Christ.  But  we  assert  that 
eternal  salvation  is  both  by  a  decree  of  Divine  grace  and  of  distribu- 
tive justice  ;  God  rewarding  in  Christ  with  an  eternal  life  of  glory 
those  believers,  who,  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doings  seek  for  glory  ^ 
honour  and  immortality. 

3.  We  grant,  that  although  God,  as  a  judge,  is  no  respecter  of  persons; 
yet,  as  a  benefactor,  he  is,  and  of  consequence  has  a  right  to  be,  so  far 


7^'  PREFACE. 

a  respecter  of  persons,  as  to  bestow  h\s  favours  in  various  degrees  upoa' 
his  creatures  ;    dealing  them  to  some  with  a  more  sparing  hand  thaa 
he  does  to  others  : 

4.  We  grant  that  although  God  punishes  no  one  with  eternal  death 
for  original  and  necessary  sin  ;  yet  when  sin,  which  might  have  been 
avoided  by  the  help  of  creating  or  of  redeeming  grace,  has  been  vo- 
luntarily and  personally  committed  :  God  does  punish  (,and  of  conse- 
quence has  a  right  to  punish)  with  eternal  death,  some  offenders  more 
quickly  than  he  does  others ;  his  showing,  in  such  a  case,  mercy  and 
justice  upon  Gospel  terms  to  whom  he  pleases,  and  as  soon  or  late  as  he 
pleases,  being  undoubtedly  the  privilege  of  his  sovereign  goodness  or 
justice.  An  awful  privilege  this,  which  is  perfectly  agreeable  to  the 
evangelical  law  of  liberty,  and  with  which  the  Calvinists  have  absurdly 
built  their  twin  doctrines  ai  finished  salvation  and  finished  damnation ; 
not  considering  that  such  doctrines  stain  the  first  Gospel  axiom,  and 
totally  destroy  the  second. 

The  nature  of  this  concession  may  be  illustrated  by  an  example. 
Two  unconverted  soldiers  march  up  to  the  enemy.  Both  have 
avoidably  transgressed  the  third  commandment :  the  one  by  calling 
fifty  times  for  his  damnation  :  and  the  oiherfive  hundred  times.  Now, 
both  have  personally  forfeited  their  initial  salvation,  and  continuing 
impenitent,  God,  as  a  righteous  revenger  of  profaneness,  may  justly 
suffer  the  fifty  pence  debtor  to  fall  in  the  battle,  and  to  be  instantly 
hurried  to  the  damnation  he  had  madly  prayed  for  :  and,  as  a  long- 
suffering,  merciful  Creator,  he  may  suffer  the^t;e  hundred  pence  debtor, 
I  mean  the  soldier  who  has  sinned  with  a  higher  hand,  to  walk  out  of 
the  field  unhurt,,  and  to  be  spared  for  years  ;  following  him  still  with 
new  ofiers  of  mercy,  which  the  wretch  is  so  happy  as  to  embrace  at 
last.  Here  is  evidently  a  higher  degree  of  the  distinguishing  grace 
which  was  manifested  towards  Manasses,  as  it  has  also  been  to  many 
other  grievous  sinners.  But  by  this  peculiar  favour  God  violates  no 
premise,  and  he  acts  in  perfect  consistency  with  himself :  for,  when 
two  people  have  personally  forfeited  their  eternal  salvation  by  one 
avoidable  sin,  of  which  they  do  not  repent  when  they  might ;  he  does 
no  injustice  to  the  fifty  pence  debtor,  when  he  calls  him  first  to  an 
account ;  and  he  greatly  magnifies  his  long-suffering ,  when  he  con- 
tinues to  reprieve  the  five  hundred  pence  debtor. 

By  this  sparing  use  of  astonishing  mercy,  God  strongly  guards  the 
riches  of  his  grace.  This  inferior  degree  of  forbearance  makes 
thoughtful  sinners  stand  in  awe  ;  as  not  knowing  but  the  first  sin  they 
shall  commit,  will  actually  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquities,  and 
provoke  the  Almighty  to  swear  in  his  righteous  anger,  that  their  day 


'^  PREFACE.  7^ 

of  grace  is  ended.  To  justify  therefore  God's  conduct  towards  men 
in  this  respect,  we  need  only  observe,  that,  if  distinguishing  grace  did 
not  make  the  difference  which  we  grant  to  the  Calvinists,  perverse 
free  will  would  draw  amazing  strength  from  the  unwearied  patience 
of  free  grace.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  God  had  ensured  to  all  men 
a  day  of  grace  of  fourscore  years,  would  not  all  sinners  think  it  time 
enough  to  repent  at  the  age  of  threescore  years  and  nineteen  ?  There- 
fore, through  the  clouds  of  darkness  which  surround  us.  reason  sees 
far  into  the  propriety  of  the  partiality  with  which  distinguishing  grace 
dispenses  its  superior  blessings.  But  all  the  partiality  which  that 
grace  ever  displayed,  never  amounted  to  one  single  grain  of  Calvinian 
reprobation.  Because  God,  as  a  righteous  judge,  lets  every  man 
have  a  fair  trial  for  his  life.  Nor  will  all  the  sophisms  in  the  world 
reconcile  the  ideas,  which  the  Scriptures  and  rectified  reason  give  us 
of  divine  justice,  with  a  doctrine  which  represents  God  as  condemn- 
ing to  eternal  torments  a  majority  of  men,  for  the  necessary,  unavoid- 
able consequences  of  Adam's  sin  : — A  sin  this,  which,  upon  the 
scheme  of  the  absolute  predestination  of  all  events,  was  also  made 
unavoidable  and  necessary.     To  return  : 

6.  We  grant  that  although  Christ  died  to  purchase  a  day  of  [initial] 
salvation  for  all  men,  yet  he  never  died  to  purchase  eternal  salva- 
tion for  any  adults,  but  them  that  believe,  obey,  and  are  faithful  unto 
death.  And,  that  of  consequence,  the  redemption  of  mankind  by 
Jesus  Christ  is  general  and  unconditional  with  respect  to  initial  sal- 
vation ;  but  particular  and  conditional  with  respect  to  eternal  salva- 
tion :  except  in  the  case  of  infants,  who  die  before  actuaLsin*  These, 
and  only  these,  are  blessed  with  unconditional  election  and  finished 
salvation  in  the  Calvinistical  sense  of  these  phrases  : — These  are 
irresistibly  saved  and  eternally  admitted  into  one  of  the  many  mansions 
of  our  heavenly  Father's  house.  Free  grace,  to  the  honour  of  our 
Lord's  meritorious  infancy,  absolutely  saves  them  without  any  con- 
currence of  their  free  will.  Nor  is  it  surprising,  that  God  should 
do  it  unavoidably ;  for  as  they  never  were  personally  capable  ofztvork- 
ing  WITH  free  grace,  i.  e.  of  working  out  their  salvation  ;  so  they 
never  were  in  a  capacity  of  working  against  free  grace,  or  of  begin- 
ning to  work  their  damnation.  Having  never  committed  an  act  of 
sin,  God  can  consistently  with  the  Gospel,  save  them  eternally  with- 
out any  act  of  repentance.  In  a  word,  infants  having  no  unrighteous- 
ness but  that  of  the  first  Adam,  reason,  as  well  as  Scripture,  dictates 
that  they  need  710  righteousness  but  that  of  the  second  Adam. 

6.  From  the  preceding  concession  it  follows,  that  obedient,  per- 
severing believers  are  God's  elect  in  the  particular  and  full  sense  of 


78  PREFACE.  ;. 

the  word  :  being  elected  to  the  reward  of  eternal  life  in  glory  : — A 
reward  this,  from  which  they  who  die  in  a  state  of  apostacy  or  im- 
penitency  have  cut  themselves  off,  by  not  making  their  calling  and 
conditional  election  sure. 

7.  We  grant,  that  none  of  these  peculiar  elect  shall  ever  perish, 
though  they  would  have  perished  had  they  not  been  faithful  unto 
^eath  :  and  we  allow,  that  with  respect  to  God's  foreknowledge  and 
omniscience^  their  number  is  certain-  But  we  steadily  assert  that, 
•with  regard  to  the  doctrines  of  general  r<?demption,  of  God's  cove- 
nanted mercy,  of  man's  free  agency,  of  divine  justice,  and  of  a  day 
in  which  the  Lord  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness :  we  steadily 
assert,  I  say,  with  regard  to  these  doctrines,  the  number  of  the 
peculiar  elect  might  be  greater  or  less,  without  the  leaSt  exertion  of 
forcible  grace,  or  of  forcible  wrath.     For  it  might  be  greater,  if  more 

wicked  and  slothful  servants  improved  instead  of  burying  their  talents  : 
And  it  might  be  less,  if  more  good  and  faithful  servants  grew  faint  in 
their  minds,  and  drew  back  to  perdition  before  they  had  fought  their 
good  fight  out,  kept  the  faith,  and  finished  their  course, 

8.  And  lastly,  we  grant,  that,  according  to  the  election  of  distin- 
guishing grace,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  various  dispensations  of 
divine  grace  towards  the  children  of  men,  Christ  died  to  purchase 
more  privileges  for  the  Christian  Church  than  for  the  Jews,  more 
for  the  Jews  than  for  the  Gentiles,  and  rnore  for  some  Gentiles  than 
for  others :  for  it  is  indubitable  that  God,  as  a  sovereign  Benefactor^ 
may,  without  shadow  of  injustice,  dispense  his  favours  spiritual  and 
temporal  as  he  pleases  :  it  being  enough  for  the  display  of  his  good- 
ness, and  for  the  exciting  of  our  gratitude,  1.  That  the  least  of  his 
heathen  servants  had  received  a  talent,  with  means,  capacities,  and 
opportunities  of  improving  it,  even  to  everlasting  happiness  :  2.  That 
God  never  desires  to  reap  where  he  does  not  sow,  nor  to  reap  a 
hundred  measures  of  spiritual  wheat,  where  he  only  sows  a  handful 
^f  spiritual  barley  :  and,  3.  That  the  least  degree  of  his  improveable 
goodness  is  a  seed,  which  nothing  but  our  avoidable  unfaithfulness 
■hinders  from  bringing  forth  fruit  to  eternal  life  in  glory. 

By  making  these  guarded  concessions,  1  conceive,  we  rectify  the 
mistakes  of  Arminius  ;  we  secure  the  doctrine  of  grace  in  all  its 
branches,  whilst  Calvinism  secures  only  the  irresistible  ^race,  by 
which  infants  and  complete  idiots  are  eternally  saved ;  we  turn  the 
edge,  and  break  the  point  of  all  the  arguments  by  which  the  Cal- 
vinian  doctrines  of  grace  are  defended  ;  and  tear  in  pieces  the  cloak 
with  which  the  Antinomians  cover  their  dangerous  error. 


t^  PREFACE.  TO 

Had  Arminius,  and  all  the  ancient  and  modern  Semi-Pelagians, 
granted  to  their  opponents  what  we  grant  to  ours,  Calvinism  would 
never  have  risen  to  its  tremendous  height.  If  you  try  to  stop  a 
great  river,  refusing  it  the  liberty  to  flow  in  the  deep  channel  which 
nature  has  assigned  it,  you  only  make  it  foam,  rise,  rage,  overflow  its 
banks,  and  carry  devastation  far  and  near.  The  only  way  to  make 
judicious  Calvinists  allow  us  the  impartial  remunerative  election,  and 
the  general  redemption,  which  the  Gospel  displays,  is  to  allow  them 
with  a  good  grace,  the  partial,  gratuitous  election,  and  the  particular 
redempiion,  which  the  Scripture  strongly  maintain  also.  See  the 
Scales,  Sect.  XI.  XII.  XIII.  For  my  part,  I  glory  in  going  as  near 
the  Calvinists  as  I  safely  can.  Zelotes  is  my  brother  as  well  as  Ho- 
nestus  ;  and  so  long  as  I  do  not  lose  firm  footing  upon  Scripture- 
ground,  I  gladly  stretch  my  right  hand  to  him,  and  my  left  hand  to 
his  antagonist ;  endeavouring  to  help  them  both  out  of  the  opposite 
ditches,  which  bpund  the  narrow  way,  where  Truth  frequently  takes 
a  solitary  walk. 

I  conclude  this  introduction  by  thanking  Mr.  Hill  for  coming  a 
little  closer  to  the  knot  of  the  controversy  in  his  Fictitious  Creed, 
than  he  has  done  in  his  Finishing  Stroke ;  for  by  this  mean  he  has 
stirred  me  up  to  dig  deeper  into  the  Scriptures — those  inexhaustible 
mines  of  truth,  which  God  has  set  before  us.  I  would  not  intimate 
that  I  have  dug  out  new  gold.  No  :  the  oracles  of  God  are  not  new  ; 
but  1  hope  that  I  have  separated  a  little  dross  from  some  of  the  rith- 
est  pieces  of  golden  ore,  which  the  Arminians  and  the  Calvinists 
have  dug  out  of  those  mines  :  and  I  flatter  myself  that  the  judicious 
and  unprejndiced  will  confess,  that  some  of  those  pieces  which  Cul- 
vinian  and  Arminian  bigots  have  thrown  away  as  lumps  of  dross  or  of 
arsenic,  contam  nevertheless  truths  more  precious  than  thousands  of 
gold  and  silver.  Should  these  sheets  in  any  degree  remove  the  pre- 
judice of  professors,  and  prepare  them  for  a  reconciliation  upon  the 
Scriptural  plan  of  the  doctrines  of  Grace  and  Justice,  or  of  the 
two  Gospel-axioms,  I  shall  humbly  rejoice  and  thankfully  give  God 
the  glory. 

Madeley,  JOHN  FLETCHER. 

Dec.  14,  1774. 


THE 


FICTITIOUS  AND   THE  GENUINE 

CREED. 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED, 

BEING  A  CREED  FOR  ARMINIANS. 

Composed  by  Richard  Hill,  Esq.  and  published  at  the  end  of  his 
"  Three  Letters  written  to  the  Rev.  J.  Fletcher,  Vicar  of 
Madeley." 

ARTICLE  I. 

1  BELIEVE  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  the  whole  human  race,  and 
that  he  had  no  more  love  towards  those  who  now  are,  or  hereafter 
shall.be  in  glory,  than  for  those  who  now  are,  or  hereafter  shall  be 
lifting  up  their  eyes  in  torments  ;  and  that  the  one  are  no  more  in- 
debted to  his  grace  than  the  other." 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

Being  an  Anti-Calvinian  Confession  of  Faith,  for  those  who  be- 
lieve that  Christ  tasted  death  for  every  man  ;  and  that  some  men, 
by  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them^  bring  upon  themselves  szeift 
destruction. 

ARTICLE  I. 

WE  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  the  whole  human  race, 
with  an  intention  (irst,  to  procure  absolutely  and  unconditionally  a 
temporary  redemption,  or  an  initial  salvation  for  all  men  universnlly  : 
and  secondly .  to  [»rocure  a  particular  redemption,  or  an  ^i^nm/ sal- 
vation conditionally  for  all  men,  but  absolutely  for  all  tbat  die  in  their 

Vol.  II.  11 


82  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

infancy,  and  for  all  the  adult  who  obey  him,  and  are  faithful  unto 
death. 

We  believe  that,  in  consequence  of  the  general  and  temporary  re- 
demption procured  by  Christ  for  all  mankind,  every  man  is  uncondi- 
tionally blessed  with  a  day  of  grace,  which  the  Scripture  calls  the 
accepted  time,  and  the  day  of  salvation.  During  this  day  [under  va- 
rious dispensations  of  grace,  and  by  virtue  of  various  covenants  made 
through  Christ, — David, — Moses, — Abraham, — Noah, — or  Adam] 
God,  for  Christ's  sake,  affords  all  men  proper  means,  abilities,  and 
opportunities  to  work  out  their  own  salvation,  or  to  make  their  call- 
ing and  CONDITIONAL  election  to  the  eternal  blessings  of  their  re- 
spective dispensations  sitre ;  and  as  many  do  it,  by  keeping  the  free 
gift  which  is  come  unto  all  men,  or  by  recovering  it  through  faithful 
obedience  to  reconverting  grace :  or,  in  other  terms,  as  many 
as  know,  and  perseveringly  improve,  the  day  of  their  visitation,  are  in 
consequence  of  Christ's  particular  redemption,  entitled  to  an  eternal 
redemption  or  salvation  :  that  is,  they  are  eternally  redeemed  from 
hell,  and  eternally  saved  into  different  degrees  of  heavenly  glory,  ac- 
cording to  the  different  degrees  of  their  faithfulness,  and  the  various 
dispensations  which  they  were  under.  While  they  that  bury  their 
talent,  and  know  not  [i.  e.  squander  away]  the  day  of  their  visitation, 
forfeit  their  initial  salvation,  and  secure  to  themselves  God's  judicial 
reprobation,  together  with  all  its  terrible  consequences. 

We  believe  moreover,  that,  although  Christ  tasted  death  for  every 
man,  yet,  according  to  his  covenants  of  peculiarity  or  distinguishing 
grace,  he  formerly  showed  more  love  to  the  Jews  than  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  now  shows  more  favour  to  the  Christians  than  to  the  Jews, 
and  to  some  Christians  than  to  others  ;  bestowing  more  spiritual  bless- 
ings upon  the  Protestants  than  upon  the  Papists, —  more  temporal 
mercies  upon  the  English  than  upon  the  Greenlanders,  &c.  We 
farther  believe,  that  this  special  favour  is  not  only  national,  but  also 
in  some  cases  personal :  thus  it  seems  that  God  showed  more  of  it  to 
Jacob  than  to  Esau ; — to  Esau,  than  to  Shechem  ;  to  David  and  Solo- 
moUi  than  to  Jonathan  and  Mephibosheth;  to  St.  Paul  than  to  Apol- 
los  ;  and  to  Peter,  James,  and  John,  than  to  Judas,  Bartholomew,  and 
Matthias. — We  likewise  believe,  that  God  [according  to  his  prescience'^ 
has  a  regard  for  the  souls,  who  [he  foresees]  will  finally  yjeld  to  his 
grace  ;  and  this  regard  he  has  not  f©r  those  souls,  who  [he  foresees] 
zvill  finally  harden  themselves  against  his  goodness.  Thus  with  re- 
spect to  divine  foreknowledge,  we  grant,  that  Christ  had  a  respect 
for  fallen  Peter,  which  he  had  not  for  fallen  Judas  :  for  when  they 
were  both  lying  in  the  guilt  of  their  crimes,  he  could  not  but  prefer 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  83 

iiim  who  had  not  yet  sinned  out  his  day  of  grace,  to  him  who  had  : — 
him  who  had  done  the  Spirit  of  grace  a  partial,  temporary  despite-, 
to  him  who  had  done  that  Spirit  a  total  and  final  despite.  And,  in  a 
word,  him  who  would  repent,  to  him  who  absolutely  would  not. 
However,  this  peculiar  regard  for  some  men,  this  lengthening  or 
shortening  a  sinner's  day  of  grace  arbitrarily,  and  this  bestowing  more 
talents,  i.  e.  more  temporal  ar.d  spiritual  blessings  upon  one  man 
than  upon  another,  according  to  the  sovereign  prerogative,  which 
God  claims  in  his  covenants  of  peculiarity : — This  peculiar  regard 
for  some  men,  I  say,  never  amounts  to  a  grain  of  partiality  in  judg- 
ment :  much  less  to  a  rape  committed  by  overbearing  grace,  or  in- 
frustrable  wrath,  upon  the  moral  agency  of  two  men  (suppose  Peter 
and  Judas)  to  bring  afeout,  in  anmiavoidable  manner,  the  final  perse- 
verance of  the  one,  and  the  final  Ofostacy  of  the  other.  For,  had 
the  covetous  traitor  humbly  repented  when  he  could  have  done  it,  he 
yet  would  have  gone  to  heaven  ;  and  had  the  lying,  perjured  apostle, 
put  off  his  repentance  as  obstinately  as  Judas  did,  he  would  have 
gone  to  the  place  of  impenitent  apostates :  for,  God  having  put  life 
and  death  before  the  sons  of  men  ;  and  having  appointed  eternal  re- 
wards for  those  who  finally  choose  life  in  the  rectitude  of  their  con- 
duct, and  eternal  punishments  for  those  who  finally  choose  death  in 
the  error  of  their  ways,  he  can  no  more  finally  turn  the  scale  of  their 
will,  than  he  can  deny  himself  and  turn  the  solemnity  of  the  great 
day  into  the  pageantry  of  a  Pharisaic  masquerade. 

The  end  of  the  first  article  of  Mr.  Hill's  Fictitious  Creed,  is  not 
less  contrary  to  all  our  principles,  than  the  middle  part.  For,  ac- 
cording to  all  our  doctrines  of  grace,  persons  who  are  in  glory  like 
Peter,  are  infinitely  more  indebted  to  Christ's  grace,  than  persons  who 
lift  up  their  eyes  in  torments  like  Judas.  This  will  appear  if  we 
consider  the  case  of  those  two  apostles.  Although  they  were  both 
equally  indebted  to  Christ  for  his  redeeming  love,  which  put  them  in 
a  state  of  initial  salvation ;  and  for  his  distinguishing  favour,  which 
raised  them  to  apostolic  honours  ;  yet  upon  our  scheme,  Peter  is  in- 
finitely  more  beholden  to  free  grace  than  Judas  ;  and  I  prove  it  thus  : 
Christ,  according  to  his  remunerative  election,  which  draws  after  it  a 
particular  redemption,  and  eternal  salvation  : — Christ,  I  say,  accord- 
ing to  that  remunerative  election,  has  chosen  Peter  to  the  reward  of 
a'heavenly  throne  and  a  crown  of  glory.  Now  this  election,  in  which 
Judas  has  no  interest,  springs  from  God's  free  grace,  as  well  as  from 
voluntary  perseverance  in  the  free  obedience  of  faith.  It  was  of 
free  grace  that  God  designed  to  give  to  all  penitent,  persevering  be- 
lievers, and  of  consequence  to  Peter,  a  crown  of  glory  in  his  bea- 


84  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE     CREED. 

venly  king;(1om  :  for  he  might  have  given  them  only  the  convenieR- 
cips  of  life  in  a  cottage  on  earth  : — he  m'ght  have  dropped  them  into 
their  original  nothingness,  after  having  blessed  them  with  one  single 
smile  of  his  approbation  : — nay,  he  might  have  demanded  their  ut- 
most obedience,  uitbout  promising  them  the  least  reward.  There- 
fore Peter,  and  all  the  saints  in  glory,  are  indebted  to  Christ,  not 
only  for  their  rewards  of  additional  grace  on  earth,  but  also  for  all 
their  eternal  salvation,  and  for  all  the  heavenly  blessings  which  flow 
from  their  particular  redemption.  Infinitely  gracious  rewards  these, 
which  God  does  not  bestow  upon  Judas,  nor  upon  any  of  those  who 
die  impenitent!  Injlmtely  glorious  rewards!  which  nothing  but  God's 
free  ^race  in  Christ,  cotild  move  his  distributive  justice  to  bestow 
upon  persevering  believers.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  Mr.  Hill  has 
tried  to  mike  our  fundamental  d«ctnne  of  general  redemption  appear 
ridiculous,  by  absurdly  clogging  it  with  an  odious  consequence,  which 
has  no  more  to  do  with  that  comfortable  doctrine,  than  we  have  to  do 
with  Mr.  Hills  uncomfortable  tenet  of  absolute  reprobation. 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  IL 

"  I  BELIEVE  that  Divine  grace  is  indiscriminately  given  to  all 
men  ;  and  that  God,  foreseeing  that  by  f;<r  the  greater  part  of  the 
world  vvill  reject  his  grace,  doth  nevertheless  bestow  it  upon  them  in 
order  to  heighten  their  torments,  and  to  increase  their  damnation  in 
hell."   . 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  II. 

We  do  not  believe  that  Divine  grace  is  indiscriminately  given  to  all 
men.  For  although  we  assert,  that  God  gives  to  all  at  least  one  talent 
of  true  grace  to  profit  with  ;  yet  we  acknowledge,  that  he  makes  as 
real  a  difference  between  man  md  man,  as  between  an  angel  and  an 
archangel,  iiiving  to  some  men  one  talent,  to  others  two  taleii»ts,  and 
to  oihers  Jive,  according  to  the  election  of  distinguishing  grace  main- 
tained in  the  Scripture  Scales,  Sect.  XII.  But  the  least  talent  6f 
grace  is  saving,  if  free  will  do  not  bury  it  to  the  last. 

And  we  believe,  that,  although  God  foresaw  that  in  some  unhappy 
periods  of  the  world's  duration,  the  greater  part  of  adults  would  reject 
his  grace,  he  nevertheless  bestows  it  in  different  measures  upon  all : 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  8J 

but  not  (as  Mr.  Hill  says)  "  in  order  to  heighten  the  torments,  and 
increase  the  damnation  of  any  in  hell. ^''  This  is  a  horrid  conceit, 
which  we  return  to  those  who  insinuate,  that  God  gives  common  grace 
[thai  is,  we  apprehend,  wisaving,  graceless  grace]  to  absolute  repro- 
bates, i.  e.  to  men  for  whom,  [upon  Mr.  Hill's  scheme  of  absolute 
reprobation]  there  never  was  in  God  the  least  degree  of  mercy  and 
saving  goodness  : — This  shocking  consequence,  fixed  upon  us  by  Mr. 
Hill,  is  the  genuine  offspring  of  Calvinistic  non-election,  which  sup- 
poses that  God  sends  the  Gospel  to  myriads  of  men,  from  whom  he 
absolutely  keeps  the  power  of  believing  it ;  tantalizing  them  with 
offers  of  free  grace  feere,  that  he  may,  without  possibility  of  escape, 
sink  them  hereafter  to  the  deepest  hell  ;— the  bell  of  the  Caper- 
naites. 

According  to  the  Gospel,  the  reprobation  that  draws  eternal  dam- 
nation after  it,  springs  from  our  own  personal  free  will  doing  a  final 
despite  to  /rec  grace ;  and  not  from  God's  eternal  yVee  wrath.  And 
if  Mr.  Hill  ask.  Why  God  gives  a  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  of 
grace  to  men,  who  [he  foresees]  will  do  it  a  final  despite,  as  well  as 
to  those  who  through  that  grace  will  work  out  their  own  salva- 
tion ?  We  reply. 

1.  For  the  same  reason  which  made  him  give  celestial  grace  to  the 
angels  who  became  devils  by  squandering  it  away  ;  paradisiacal  grace 
to  our  first  parents  ; — expostulating  Gentile  grace  to  Cain  : — Jewish, 
royal  grace  to  Saul  ; — and  Chri.^tian,  apostolic  grace  to  Judas.  If 
Mr.  Hill  says,  he  does  not  understand  what  that  reason  is  ;  we  an- 
swer ;  By  the  same  reason  which  induced  the  master  v<'ho  corrected 
Mr.  Hill  for  making  a  bad  exercise  at  Westminster  school,  to  give 
his  pupil  pen,  paper,  ink,  and  proper  instruction,  before  he  could 
reasonably  call  Mr.  Hill  to  an  account  for  his  exercise.  And  by  the 
same  reason  which  would  make  all  Shropshire  cry  out  against  Mr. 
Hill  as  against  a  tyrannical  master,  suppose  he  horsewhipped  his 
coachman  and  postilion  for  not  driving  him,  if  he  had  taken  away 
from  them  boots,  whips,  spurs,  harness,  coach,  and  horses  ;  and  if  he 
had  contrived  himself  the  hW  of  their  apartment,  that  all  their  bones 
might  be  put  out  of  joint,  when  the  floor  gave  way  under  them. 

2.  If  Mr.  Hill  is  not  satisfied  with  these  illustrations,  we  will  give 
him  some  direct  answers.  God  gives  a  manifestation  of  his  grace  to 
those  who  make  their  reprobation  sure,  by  finally  resisting  his  gra- 
cious Spirit :  First,  Because  he  will  show  himself  as  he  is,  gracious 
-and  mercifid,  true  and  long-suffering  towards  all,  so  long  as  the  day  of 
their  visitation  lasts. — Thus  he  bestows  a  talent  of  grace  upon  all  his 
slothful  servants  who  bury  it  to  the  last,  because  he  will  display  his 


g6  THE    FICTI'flOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

equity  and  goodness,  although  they  will  display  their  wickedness  and 

sloth. Secondly,  Because  he  is  determined,  that  if  those  servants 

will  destroy  themselves,  their  blood  shall  be  upon  their  own  heads, 
according  to  that  well-known  Scripture,  O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed 
THYSELF.  /  would, — and  YE  WOULD  NOT. — Thirdly,  Because  God 
will  judge  the  world  in. righteousness,  and  display  his  distributive  jus- 
tice in  rendering  to  all  according  to  their  works ;  deservedly  clothing 
his  finally  unfaithful  servants  with  shame  ;  and  making  the  faithful 
walk  with  him  in  white,  because  they  are  [evangelically]  worthy.  And 
to  sura  up  all  in  one, — Because  the  two  Gospel  axioms  are  firm  as 
the  pillars  of  heaven  and  hell :  and  God  will  display  their  truth 
before  men  and  angels,  and  especially  before  Pharisees  and  Antino- 
7nians.  Now,  according  to  the  first  axiom,  there  is  a  Saviour,  a 
measure  of  saving  grace,  and  a  day  of  initial  salvation  for  all.  And 
according  to  the  second  axiom,  there  is  free  will  in  all,  and  a  day  of 
judgment,  with  a  j?wa/ salvation  or  damnation  for  all,  according  to 
their  good  or  bad  works,  that  is,  according  to  their  free  agency ;  the 
good  works  of  the  righteous  being  the  product  of  their /ree,  avoid- 
able co-operation  with  God's  grace ;  and  the  bad  works  of  the  wicked 
springing  from  their /ree  avoidable  rebellion  against  that  grace. 

Hence  it  appears,  that  the  second  Article  of  the  Fictitious  Creed 
contains  indeed  a  "  shocking,  not  to  say  blasphemous,^'  consequence, 
but  that  this  consequence  is  nothing  but  a  sprig  of  Mr.  Hill's  sup- 
posed "  orthodoxy,"  absurdly  grafted  upon  the  supposed  "  heresy" 
which  St.  John  and  St.  Paul  maintain  in  these  words  :  "  He  [Christ] 
was  the  true  light,   which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 

world. The  grace  of  God,  which  bringeth  salvation,  has  appeared 

unto  all  men,  teaching  (not  forcing)  us  to  deny  ungodhness,  &;c.  and 
to  live  soberly,"  &c.  (if  we  are  obedient  to  its  teachings.) 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  III. 

"  I  BELIEVE  it  depends  wholly  on  the  will  of  the  creature, 
whether  he  shall  or  shall  not  receive  any  benefit  from  divine 
grace." 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  in, 

WE  believe  that  the  benefits  of  a  temporary  redemption,  of  a  day 
of  salvation,  and  of  the  free  gift  which  came  upon  all  men  to  the  jus^ 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  ^ 

tification  mentioned  Rom.  v.  18. — we  believe,  I  say,  these  benefits, 
far  from  "  depending  wholly  on  the  will  of  the  creature^''''  as  to  the  re- 
ceiving of  them,  depend  no  more  upon  us  than  our  sight,  and  the 
light  of  the  sun.  AH  those  blessings  are  at  first  as  gratuitously,  and 
irresistibly  bestowed  upon  us,  for  Christ's  sake,  in  our  present  man- 
ner of  existence,  as  the  divine  image  and  favour  were  at  first  bestowed 
upon  our  first  parents  in  paradise  :  with  only  this  difference ;  before  the 
fall  their  paradisiacal  grace  came  immediately  from  God  our  Creator ; 
whereas  since  the  fall,  our  penitential  grace  comes  immediately  and 
irresistibly  from  God  our  Redeemer ; — I  say  irresistibly,  because  God 
does  not  leave  to  our  option  whether  we  shall  receive  a  talent  of 
redeeming  grace  or  not,  any  more  than  he  left  it  to  Adam's  choice 
whether  Adam  should  receive  five  talents  of  creative  grace  or  not : 
although  afterward  he  gives  us  leave  to  bury  or  improve  our  talent  of 
redeeming  grace,  as  he  gave  leave  to  Adam  to  bury  or  improve  his 
five  talents  of  creative  grace;  Our  doctrine  of  the  general  redemp- 
tion and  free  agency  of  mankind,  stands  therefore  upon  the  same 
scriptural  and  rational  ground,  which  bears  up  Mr.  Hill's  system  of 
man's  creation  and  moral  agency  in  paradise ;  it  being  impossible  to 
make  any  objection  against  the  personal  loss  of  redeeming  grace  in 
Judas,  that  may  not  be  retorted  against  the  personal  loss  of  creative 
grace  in  Adam  or  Satan. 

But,  with  respect  to  all  the  temporal  and  eternal  benefits,  which 
God  has  promised  by  way  of  reward  to  his  every  good  and  faithful 
servant,  we  believe,  that  they  depend  upon  the  concurrence  of  two 
causes,  the  first  of  which  is  the  free  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  : 
and  the  second,  the  faithfulness  of  our  assisted  and  rectified  free  will ; 
which  faithfulness  is  graciously  crowned  by  God's  remunerative  jus- 
tice and  evangelical  veracity.  And,  instead  of  blushing  at  this  doc- 
trine, as  if  it  were  "  shocking,^^  we  glory  in  it,  as  being  perfectly 
rational,  strictly  scriptural,  and  equally  distant  from  the  two  rocks 
against  which  Calvinian  orthodoxy  is  dashed  in  pieces:  I  mean  the 
twin  doctrines  of  wanton  free  grace,  and  eternal  free  wrath,  accord- 
ing to  which,  God,  without  any  respect  to  the  faith  or  unbelief,  to  the 
good  or  bad  works  of  free  agents,  absolutely  ordained  for  some  of 
them  the  robe  of  Christ's  imputed  righteousness,  and  the  unavoidable 
reward  of  eternal  life  by  the  mean  of  unavoidable  faith  :  while  he 
absolutely  appointed  for  all  the  rest  the  robe  of  Adam's  imputed 
unrighteousness,  and  the  unavoidable  punishment  of  eternal  death  by 
means  of  necessary,  unavoidable  unbelief. 


88  THE  FICTITIOUS  AND  GENUINE  CREED. 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

"  THOUGH  the  Scripture  tells  me,  that  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity 
against  God,  yet  1  believe  that  there  is  something  in  the  heart  of 
every  natural  man,  that  can  nourish  and  cherish  the  grace  of  God  ; 
and  that  the  sole  reason  why  this  grace  is  effectual  in  some  and  not 
in  others,  is  entirely  owing  to  themselves,  and  to  their  own  faithful- 
ness, or  unfaithfulness,  and  not  to  the  distinguishing  love  and  favour  of 
God."  ' 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

THOUGH  the  Scriptures  tell  us,  that  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God,  and  that  the  Jlesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  yet  we  believe,  that 
from  the  time  God  initially  raised  mankind  from  their  fall,  and  pro- 
mised them  the  celestial  Bruiser  of  the  serpent's  head,  there  is  a 
GRACIOUS  free  agency  in  the  heart  of  every  man  who  has  not  yet  sinned 
away  his  day  of  salvation  :  and  that,  by  means  of  this  gracious  free 
agency,  all  men,  during  the  accepted  time,  can  concur  with,  and  work, 
under  the  grace  of  God,  according  to  the  dispensation  they  belong 
to. — Again,  we  believe  that  no  child  of  Adam  is  a  natural  man  in  the 
Calvinian  sense  of  the  word  ; — [i  e.  absolutely  destitute  of  all  saving 
grace]  except  he  who  has  ac^ua%  sinned  away  his  day  of  grace.  And 
when  we  consider  a  man  as  absolutely  graceless,  or  as  a  child  of  wrath 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word,  we  consider  him  in  fallen  Adam, 
BEFORE  God  began  to  raise  mankind  by  the  promise  of  the  woman's 
Seed.  Or  we  must  consider  that  man  in  his  own  person  after  he 
has  done  final  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  that  grace,  which  has  more  or 
less  clearly  appeared  to  all  men  under  various  dispensations. 

Mr.  Hill  greatly  mistakes  if  he  think  that,  according  to  our  doc- 
trine, God's  grace  is  "  eff^ectual  in  some,  and  not  in  others  ;^^  for  we 
believe  that  it  is  eff^ectual  in  all,  though  in  a  different  mannT?r.  It  has 
lis,  first  and  most  desirable  effect  on  them  that  "  cherish  it"  through 
the  above-mentioned  gracious  free  agency.  And  it  has  its  second,  and 
less  desirable  effect  on  those,  who  finally  reject  the  gracious  counsel  of 
God  towards  them  :  for  it  reproves  their  sins  ;  it  galls  their  con- 
sciences :  it  renders  them  inexcusable  ;  it  vindicates  God's  mercy  ;  it 


THE  FICTITIOUS  AND  GENUINE  CREEP.  89 

clears  his  justice  ;  it  shows  that  !he  Judge  of  all  the  earth  does  no 
wrong  ;  and  it  begins  in  this  world  the  just  punishment  which  right- 
eous vengeance  will  complete  in  the  next. 

The  grace  of  God,  therefore,  like  the  Gospel  that  testifies  of  it,  is 
a  two-edged  sword :  it  is  a  savour  of  life  to  those  who  cherish  it,  and 
a  savour  of  death  to  those  who  resist  it.  That  some  cherish  it,  by 
its  assistance,  work  righteousness  to  the  last,  and  then  receive  the  re- 
ward of  the  inheritance,  is  ncki  '•  entirely  owing  to  themselves  and  to 
their  own  faithfulness,"  as  the  Fictitious  Creed  asserts  :  nor  is  it 
**  entirely  owing  to  the  love  and  favour  of  God."  This  happy  event 
has  two  causes  :  the  first  is  free  grace,  by  the  assistance  of  which,  the 
faith  and  good  works  of  the  righteous  are  begun,  continued,  and 
ended  :  the  second  is  free  zi'ill  humbly  working  with  free  grace  :  as 
appears  by  the  numerous  Scriptures  balanced  in  the  Scripture 
Scales.  And  that  some,  on  the  other  hand,  resist  the  grace  of  God, 
and  are  personally  given  up  to  a  reprobate  mind,  that  they  might  be 
damned,  is  not  at  all  owing  to  God's/ree  wrath,  as  the  scheme  of  Mr. 
Hill  supposes  :  nor  is  it  entirel}'  owing-  to  the  unfaithfulness  and  ob- 
stinacy of  impenitent  sinners.  This  unhappy  event  has  also  two 
causes  :  the  ^rst  is  man's  free  will  finally  refusing  to  concur  with 
free  grace,  in  working  out  his  own  salvation  :  and  the  second  is  just 
wrath  revenging  the  despite  done  to  God's  free  grace  by  such  dfinal 
refusal. 

With  respect  to  "  the  distinguishing  love  and  favour''^  of  God  our 
Judge,  and  his  distinguished  hatred  and  ill  will  [on  which  our-eternal 
rewards  and  punishments  unavoidably  turn,  according  to  Mr.  Hill's 
twin  doctrines  of  finished  salvation  and  finished  damnation']  we  dare 
not  admit  them  into  our  holy  religion.  We  give  to  "  distinguishing 
favour''^  an  important  place  in  our  Creed,  as  appears  from  the  first 
Article  of  this  ;  but  that  favour  has  nothing  to  do  with  God's  judicial 
distribution  of  rewards  or  punishments,  i.  e.  with  God's  appointing  of 
us  to  eternal  life  or  to  eternal  death. — We  believe  that  it  is  a  most 
daring  attempt  of  the  Antinomians,-  to  place  distinguishing  favour  and 
distinguishing  displeasure  upon  the  judicial  throne  of  God,  and  in  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ;  no  decrees  proceeding  from  thence,  but 
such  are  dictated  by  impartial  justice  putting  Christ's  evangelical  law 
in  execution,  and  strictly  judging  [i.  e.  justifying  or  condemning,  re- 
warding or  punishing]  moral  agents,  according  to  their  works.  We 
should  think  ourselves  guilty  of  propagating  "  a.  shocking,  not  to  say 
blasphemous''^  doctrine,  if  we  insinuated,  that  "distinguishing  favour," 
and  not  unbribed  justice,  dictates  God's  sentence  ;  God  himself  having 
enacted.  Cursed  be  he  that  perverteth  judgment,  <5'e.  and  all  the  people 

Vou,  n.  12 


^30  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

shall  say  Amen,  Deut.  xxvii.  19.  Nor  need  I  tell  Mr.  Hill  this,  who 
has  hinted,  that  God  is  such  a  partial  judge  ; — yea,  that  carries  par- 
tiality to  such  a  height,  as  to  say  to  a  man  who  actually  defiles  a  mar- 
ried woman,  and  treacherously  plots  the  murder  of  her  injured  hus- 
band. Thou  art  all  fair,  my  love^  my  undejiled^  there  is  no  spot  in  thee  : — - 
Thou  art  a  man  after  my  own  heart.  If  Mr.  Hill  has  forgotten  this 
anecdote,  I  refer  him  to  the  Five  Letters,  the  sale  of  which  he  does 
not  scruple  to  advertise  again  in  his  Three  Letters,  saying,  "  1  now 
think  it  the  way  of  duty  to  permit — the  Five  Letters  to  Mr. 
Fletcher,  &c.  to  be  again  sold,  in  order  that  both  friends  and  enemies 
may,  if  possible,  be  convinced  that  I  never  retracted  my  senti- 
ments."  Strange  confidence  of  boasting!     0  Mores!    What  have 

Morality  and  Godliness  done  to  Mr.  Hill,  that  he  will  put  them  to  a 
perpetual  blush  ;  lest  his  Venus  [for  she  no  longer  deserves  the  name. 
of  Diana]  should  redden  one  moment  ? 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  V. 

*'  1  BELIEVE  that  God  sincerely  wishes  for  the  salvation  of  many 
who  never  will  be  saved  ;  consequently  that  it  is  entirely  owing  to 
want  of  ability  in  God,  that  what  he  so  earnestly  willeth,  is  not 
accomplished.!' 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  V. 

WE  believe  that  God's  attributes  perfectly  harmonize.  Accord- 
ingly his  goodness  and  mercy  incline  him  to  "  wish  for  the  salvation  of^^ 
all  men,  upon  gracious  terms  laid  down  by  his  wisdom  and  veracity. 
As  a  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  this  wish,  he  swears  by  himself,  that 
his  antecedent  will  or  decree,  is  not  that  sinners  should  die ;  but  that 
by  the  help  of  his  free  grace  and  the  submission  of  their  free  will, 
they  should  turn  and  live.  He  does  more  still ; — He  grants  to  all  men 
a  day  of  initial  salvation,  and  all  that  day  long  he  stretch&s  forth  his 
hands  to  them  ;  he  reproves  them  for  their  sins  ;  he  calls  upon  them 
various  ways  to  repent ;  and  gives  them  power  to  do  it  according  to 
one  or  another  dispensation  of  his  grace  ;  requiring  little  of  those  to 
whom  he  gives  little  ;  and  much  of  those  to  whom  much  is  given. 
But  it  is  his  subsequent  decree,  dictated  chiefly  by  his  holiness ,  justice. 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  91 

and  sovereignty,  that,  if  free  agents  will  none  of  his  reproofs,  and 
finally  disregard  the  offers  of  his  grace,  his  Spirit  shall  not  always 
strive  with  them.  A  day  of  calamity  shall  follow  the  day  of  their 
neglected  salvation :  and  justice  shall  be  glorified  in  their  righteous 
destruction.  This  is  the  sad  alternative  which  God  has  set  before 
them,  if,  in  opposition  to  his  antecedent  will,  they  [through  their 
free  agency]  finally  choose  death,  in  finally  choosing  the  way  that 
leads  to  it. 

This  part  of  our  doctrine  may  be  summed  up  in  three  propositions. 
1.  God's  mercy  absolutely  wills  the  initial  salvation  of  all  men  by 
Jesus  Christ.  2.  God's  goodness,  holiness,  and  faithfulness,  abso- 
lutely will  the  ETERNAL  salvation  of  all  those,  who,  by  the  concur- 
rence of  their  assisted,  unnecessitated  free  will,  with  his  redeeming 
grace,  are  found  penitent,  obedient  believers,  at  the  end  of  their  day 
of  initial  salvation  : — And,  3.  God's  justice,  sovereignty,  and  veracity^ 
absolutely  will  the  destruction  of  all  that  are  found  impenitent  at  the 
close  of  the  day  of  their  gracious  visitation,  or  initial  salvation.  To 
see  the,  truth  of  these  three  propositions,  we  need  only  consider  them 
in  the  light  of  these  two  Gospel  axioms,  and  compare  them  with  these 
declarations  of  Moses  and  Jesus  Christ.  /  set  life  and  death  before 
you,  (free  agents,  who  enjoy  a  day  of  initial  salvation  :)  Choose  life : 
(I  offer  it  you  first: — Choose  life,  I  say,)  that  you  may  live  eternally.. 
But  if  you  choose  death  in  the  error  of  your  ways,  your  rejected  Sa- 
viour will  complain,  "  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  you  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  brood  under  her  wings,  but  ye  would  not :  and  now 
the  things  that  made  for  your  peace  are  hid  from  your  eyes  ;"  that 
is.  You  are  given  up  to  judicial  blindness,  and  to  all  its  fearful 
consequences. 

Hence  it  is  evident,  that  the  damnation  of  those,  who  obstinately 
live  and  die  in  their  sins,  and  whom  God  was  willing  to  save  as  free 
agents  upon  Gospel  terms,  argues  no  "  want  of  ability  in  him'^  to  save 
them  eternally,  if  he  would  give  up  the  day  of  judgment,  and  exert 
his  omnipotence  in  opposition  to  his  wisdom,  justice,  holiness,  and  vera- 
<^ity;  or  if  he  would  destroy  the  most  wonderful  of  all  his  works, 
which  is  the  free  will  of  moral  agents.  We  never  doubted  his  ability 
to  unman  man,  and  eternally  to  save  all  mankind,  if  he  would  abso- 
lutely do  it ;  it  being  evident  that  the  Almighty  can  overpower  all  his 
creatures  if  he  should  be  bent  upon  it,  and  drive  them  from  sin  to 
necessitated  hoHness,  and  from  hell  to  heaven,  far  more  easily  than  a 
shepherd  can  drive  his  frighted  sheep  from  the  market  to  the 
slaughter-house.  Therefore,  the  supposition  that,  upon  our  princi- 
ples, "  God  wants  ability  to  save"  whom  he  absolutely  will  save,  is 


92  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    eREED. 

entirely  groundless  ;  every  man  being  actually  saved  so  far  as  God* 
absolutely  wills  :  for,  first,  God  absolutely  wills  that  all  men  should  be 
uncondiiionally  saved  with  initial  salvation;  and  thus  all  men  are 
unconditionally  saved  :  and,  secondly,  he  absolutely  wills  that  all  men 
who  are  obedient  and  faithful  unto  death,  should  absolutely  be  saved 
with  an  eternal  salvation  :  and  thus  all  men  who  are  obedient  and 
faithful  unto  death  are  actually  saved.  They  shall  never  perish, 
neither  shall  any  pluck  them  o;at  of  Christ's  protecting  hand.  But 
what  has  this  Scripture  doctrine  to  do  with  Calvinism? — With  the 
necessary^  eternal,  Jinished  salvation  of  all  the  disobedient  sfieep, 
who  turn  goats,  foxes,  lions,  and  serpents  !  Who,  far  from  remem- 
bering Lot's  wife,  slily  rob  their  neighbours  of  their  ewe-lambs, — 
their  heart's  blood, — their  reputation  ! 

To  conclude :  The  most  that  Mr.  Hill  can  justly  say  against  our 
principles,  is  ;  1.  That  according  to  the  Gospel  which  we  preach, 
MAN  is  a  free  agents  and  God  is  'wise^  holy,  true,  and  just ;  as  well  as 
good,  loving,  patient,  and  merciful :  and,  2.  That  one  half  of  these 
attributes  do  not  permit  him  to  necessitate  free  agents  ;, that  is,.t0  7naA:e 
them  absolutely  DO  or  FORBEAR  those  actions,  by  whiilli  they  are"  to 
stand  or  fall  in  judgment.  And  let  men  of  reason  and  religion  say, 
if  this  doctrine  be  not  more  rational  and  scriptural,  than  the  Caivinian 
doctrine  of  finished  salvation,  and  of  its  inseparable  counterpart, 
Jinished  damnation. 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

*'  I  BELIEVE  that  the  Redeemer  not  only  shed  his  precious 
blood,  but  prayed  for  the  salvation  of  many  souls  who  are  now  in 
hell ;  consequently  that  his  blood  was  shed  in  vain,  and  his  prayer 

*  The  reader  is  desired  to  take  particular  notice  of  this  observation,  because  it  cuts 
up  by  the  root  Bradwardeu's  famous  arg-uraent.  "  if  you  allow,  [says  he]  1.  That  God 
is  able  to  do  a  thing,  and,  2.  That  he  is  [absolutely]  willing  to  do  a  thing.  Then, 
3.  I  affirm-,  that  the  thing  will  not,  cannot  go  unaccomplished  : — Otherwise  God  must 
either  lose  his  power,  or  change  his  mind. — If  the  [absolute]  will  of  God  could  be 
frustrated  and  vanquished,  its  defeat  would  arise  from  the  created  wills  either  of  angels, 
or  of  men.  But  could  any  created  will  whatever,  &c.  counteract  and  bafBe  the  will  of 
God,  the  will  of  the  creature  must  be  superior,  either  in  strength  or  in  wisdom,  to  the 
will  of  the  Creator :  which  can  by  no  means  be  allowed."  We  fully  grant  to  Mr. 
Toplady,  that  the  argument  is  "  extremely  conclusive,^^  provided  the  two  words  absolutely 
and  absolute  be  taken  into  it.  And  therefore  we  maintain,  as  well  as  he,  that  man  is 
actually  saved,  s©  far  as  God  absolutely  wilts. 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  93 

Rejected  of  his  Father,  and  that  therefore  he  told  a  great  untruth 
when  he  said,  I  know  that  thou  hearest  me  always." 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

WE  believe  that  the  Redeemer  did  not  shed  his  precious  blood  or 
pray  absolutely  in  vain  for  any  man  :  seeing  he  obtained  for  all  men, 
in  their  season,  a  day  of  grace  and  initial  salvation^  with  a  thousand 
spiritual  and  temporal  blessings      Nor  were  his  prayers  for  the  eter- 
nal salvation  of  those  who  die  impenitent  rejected  by  his  Father ;  for 
Christ  never  prayed  that  they  should  be  eternally  saved  in  impeni' 
iency.     Before  Mr.  Hill  can  reasonably  charge  us  with  holding  doc- 
trines which  imply  that  Christ  told  a  gross  untruth  when  he  said, 
*'  I  know  that  thou  hearest  me  always,^^  he  must  prove  that  Christ  ever 
asked  the  eternal  salvation  of  some  men  whether  they  repented  or  not ; 
or  that  he  ever  desired  his  Father  to /orce,  to  the  last,  repentance, 
faith,  and  obedience,  upon  any  man.     If  Blr.  Hill  cannot  prove  this, 
how  can  he  make  it  appear  that,  according  to  our  doctrines  of  grace, 
one  of  our  Lord's  prayers  was  ever  rejected  ?    We  grant  that  Christ 
asked  the  forgiveness  of  his  murderers,  and  of  those  who  made  sport 
with  his  suflferings ;    but  he   asked  it  upon  Gospel  terms,    that   is, 
conditionally.     Nor  was  his  prayer  ineffectual  ;  for  it  obtained  for 
them  time  to  repent,  and  uncommon  helps  so  to  do,  with  a  peculiar 
readiness  in  God  to  pardon  them  upon  their  application  for  pardon  : 
And  if,  after  all,  through   the   power  of  their  free  agency,  they  de- 
spised the  pardon  offered  them  in  the  Gospel,  and  repented  not,  they 
shall  deservedly  perish  according  to  Christ's  own  declaration.     He 
has  acted  towards  them  the  part  of  a  gracious  Saviour.    He  never 
engaged  himself  to  act  that  of  a  tyrant : — I  mean,   he  never  sent 
either  his  good  Spirit,  or  the  evil  spirit  of  Satan,  to  bind  the  wills 
of  men  with  adamantine  chains  of  necessitated  righteousness  or  of 
necessitated  iniquity,  that  he  might  cast  some  into  Abraham's  bosom 
and  others  into  hell ;  as  Nebuchadnezzar  sent  the  strongest  men  in 
his  army  to  bind  Daniel's  companions,  and  to  cast  them  into  the  burn- 
ing fiery  furnace. 

Once  more  :  We  believe  that,  with  respect  to  the  reward  of  the 
inheritance,  and  the  doctrine  of  eternal  salvation,  Christ's  atonement 
and  intercession  are  like  his  Gospel.  Now  his  Gospel  is  guarded  by 
what  one  of  Mr.  Hill's  seconds  queerly  calls  "  the  valiant  Serjeant 
/F,"  that  is,  the  conditional ity  of  the  promises  and  threatenings  which 


S4  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

relate  to  eternal  salvation  and  eternal  damnation  ;  and  this  condition'- 
aliiy  is  the  rampart  of  the  old  Gospel,  and  the  demolition  of  the  new  ; 
strongly  guarding  the  ancient  doctrines  oi  free  grace,  free  will,  and 
just  wrath,  against  the  novel  doctrines  of  overbearing  grace,  bound 
will,  and  free  wrath. 

I  should  not  do  justice  to  our  cause,  if  I  dismissed  this  article 
without  retorting  Mr.  Hill's  ohjection.  I  have  shown  how  unrea- 
sonably we  are  accused  of  holding  doctrines,  which,  by  "  unavoid- 
able^'' consequence,  represent  Christ  as  *'  telling  a  gross  untruth.^'' 
And  now  we  desire  Mr.  Hill,  or  his  seconds,  to  show  how  the  Son  of 
God  could,  consistently  with  truth,  profess  hirnsolf  to  be  the  Saviour 
of  men,  the  Saviour  and  Light  of  the  world,  and  the  Di-azver  of  all 
men  unto  himself;  if  most  men  have  been  from  all  eternity  under  the 
fearful  curse  of  Calvinian  reprobation. — We  ask,  if  the  Redeemer 
would  have  "  told  a  gross  untruth,^"*  upon  the  supposition  that  Cal- 
vinism is  true,  had  he  called  himself  77ic  Reprobator  of  men ; — 
Tlie  Non-Redeemer,  the  Da  viner  of  the  world,  and  the  Rejecter  of 
all  men  from  himself;  seeing  that  according  to  the  doctrines  of  grace, 
(so  called)  the  bulk  of  mankind  were  ever  reprobated, — never  re- 
deemed,— never  initially  saved, — and  never  drawn  to  Christ. — We 
beseech  candid  Protestants  to  say,  if  the  Bible  do  not  clear  up  all 
the  difficulties  with  which  prejudiced  divines  have  clogged  the  ge- 
nuine doctrines  of  grace,  when  it  testifies,  that  our  Redeemer  and 
Saviour  has  procured  a  general  temporary  redemption,  together 
■with  an  initial  salvation,  for  all  men  universally  ;  and  a  particular 
eternal  redempUon,  together  with  a  finished  salvation,  for  them  that 
obey  him,  and  endure  to  the  end.  And  we  entreat  the  lovers  of  the 
whole  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  to  help  us  to  bring  about  this  scriptural 
plan,  a  reconciliation  between  those  who  contend  for  the  doctrines  of 
particular  redemption  and  finished  salvation  ;  and  those  who  main- 
tain the  doctrines  of  general  redemption,  and  of  a  day  of  salvation 
for  all  mankind. 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  Vll. 

'*  1  BELIEVE  that  God,  foreseeing  some  men's  nature  will  im- 
prove the  grace  which  is  given  them,  and  that  they  will  repent,  bc;^ 
lieve,  and  be  very  good,  elects  them  unto  salvation." 


•THE    FICTITIOUS    AND   GENUINE    CRElt).  S5 

THE   GENUINE   CREED. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

We  believe  that  out  of  mere  mercy,  and  rich  free  grace  in  Jesus 
Christ,  without  any  respect  to  foreseen  repentance,  faith,  or  goodness, 
God  places  all  men  in  a  state  of  initial  salvation  ;  electing  them  to 
that  state  according  to  the  mysterious  counsel  of  his  distinguishing 
love,  which  places  some  under  the  bright  and  direct  beams  of  Gospel 
truth  ;  whilst  he  suffers  others  to  receive  the  external  light  of  it, 
only  through  that  variety  of  clouds  which  we  call  Calvinism,  Popery, 
Judaism,  and  Mahometanism  ;*  leaving  most  in  Gentilism,  that  is,  in 
the  dispensation  under  which  Cain,  Abel,  Abimelec  king  of  Gerar, 
and  Melchisedec  king  of  Salem,  formerly  were. 

2.  We  believe  that  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  peculiarly  [although 
with  different  degrees  of  favour]  accepts  all  those  who,  in  all  the 
above-mentioned  religions,  i.  e.  in  every  nation  fear  him  and  work 
righteousness.  These,  when  considered  as  enduring  to  the  end,  are 
his  elect  according  to  the  election  of  remunerative  justice.  For  these 
he  is  gone  to  prepare  the  many  mansions  in  his  Father^s  house.  For 
these  he  designs  the  reward  of  the  inheritance  that  fadeth  not  away 
in  heaven.  And  when  he  speaks  of  some  men  as  belonging  to  this 
number,  it  is  always  with  respect  to  his  foreknowledge  that  they  will 
freely  persevere  in  the  obedience  of  faith  ;  it  being  the  highest  pitch 
of  Antinomian  dotage  to  suppose  that  God,  the  true,  the  wise,  the 
holy,  and  righteous  God,  elects  men  to  the  reward  of  persevering 
obedience,  without  taking  any  notice  of  persevering  obedience  in  his 
election. 

To  sum  up  all  in  a  few  lines :  The  doctrine  of  election  has  two 
branches  ;  according  to  the  first  branch  we  are  chosen  that  we  should 
he  holy  and  obedient,  in  proportion  to  the  ordinary  or  extraordinary 
helps,  which  divine  grace  affords  us  under  one  or  other  of  its  dispen- 
sations.    Tliis  election  to  holiness  has  nothing  to  do  with  prescience  : 


*  Calvinism  is  Christianity  obscured  by  mists  of  Pharisaic  election  and  reprobation,  aftd 
by  a  cloud  of  stoical  Fatalism. — Popery  is  Christianity  under  a  cloud  of  Pharisaic  bigotr}-, 
and  under  thick  fogs  of  heathenish  superstition. — Judaism  is  Christianity  under  the  veil  of 
Moses. — Mahometanimi  is  a  jumble  of  Christianity,  Judaism,  Gentilism,  and  imposture. 
— .\nd  Gmtilism  is  the  religion  of  Cain  and  Abel ;  or  if  you  please,  of  Sbem,  Ham,  and 
Japheth,  under  a  cloud  of  false  and  dark  tradition.  Some  call  it  the  religion  of  nature 
I  have  no  objection  to  the  name,  if  they  understand  by  it  the  religion  of  our  nature  in  its 
present  state  of  initial  recovery  through  Christ,  from  its  total  fall  ia  Adaxn 

9 


9tt  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

it  depends  entirely  on  free  grace,  and  distinguishing  favour.  Ac- 
cording to  the  second  branch  of  the  doctrine  of  election,  we  are 
chosen  to  receive  the  rewards  of  perfected  holiness  and  of  persever- 
ing obedience,  in  proportion  both  to  the  talents  which  free,  distin- 
guishing grace  has  afforded  us  ;  and  to  the  manner  in  which  our  as- 
sisted free  will  has  improved  those  talents.  This  remunerative  elec- 
tion depends  on  four  things.  1.  On  Free  grace,  promising  for 
Christ's  sake  the  reward  of  the  inheritance  to  the  persevering 
obedience  of  faith  : — 2.  On  faithful  Free  'will ,  securing  that  reward 
by  the  assistance  of  free  grace,  and  by  the  free  obedience  of  faith  : — 
3.  On  divine  Faithfulness,  keeping  its  Gospel  promise  for  ever  : — 
And  4.  On  distributive  Justice,  dispensing  the  reward  according  to  the 
law  of  Christ,  and  according  to  every  man's  work. —  This  election 
therefore  has  much  to  do  with  divine  prescience,  as  depending  in  part 
upon  Gods  knowledge  that  '■'■some  men  have  improved,  or  will  im- 
prove, the  grace  which  is  given  them,  repent,  believe,  and  be  good,  [if  not 
"  very  good^'^  and  faithful  servants  unto  the  end. 

Unprejudiced  readers  will  easily  see  how  much  our  doctrine  of 
election  is  preferable  to  that  of  our  opponents.  Ours  draws  after 
it  only  a  harmless  reprobation  from  some  peculiar  favours,  and  a 
righteous  reprobation  from  rewards  of  grace  and  glory  obstinately 
despised  or  wantonly  forfeited  :  but  the  election  of  the  Calvinists  is 
clogged  with  the  dreadful  dogmas  of  an  unscriptural  and  terrible 
reprobation,  which  might  be  compared  to  a  well-known  monster, 
"  Prima  Leo,  postrema  Draco,  Ibedia  ipsa  Chimera."  Its  head 
is  Free  wrath;  its  body.  Unavoidable  sin;  and  its  tail,  Finished 
damnation.  In  a  word,  Our  Election  recommends  God's  free, 
distinguishing  grace,  without  pouring  any  contempt  on  the  holiness 
of  Christ's  precepts,  the  sanction  of  his  law,  the  veracity  of  his 
threatenings,  and  the  conditionality  of  his  promises.  And  our  Repro- 
bation displays  God's  absolute  sovereignty,  without  sullying  his 
mercy,  impeaching  his  veracity,  or  disgracing  his  justice.  In  a  word, 
our  Election  doctrinally  guards  the  throne  of  sovereign  grace,  and 
eur  Reprobation,  that  of  Sovereign  justice.  But  Calvinian  Election 
and  Reprobation  doctrinally  overthrow  both  those  thrones  :  or  if 
they  are  left  standing,  it  is  to  allow  Free  Wrath  to  fill  the  throne 
of  justice,  and  unchaste,  bloody  Diana,  to  step  into  the-  throne  of 
grace,  whence  she  hints  to  Laodicean  believers  that  they  may  with 
advantage  commit  adultery,  murder,  and  incest ;  calling  as  many  as 
take  her  horrid  inuendoes.  My  love,  my  undefiled,  kc,  and  assuring 
them,  that  they  shall  never  perish,  and  that  all  things  (the  most 
grievous  sins  nT)t  excepted)  shall  work  for  their  good. 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  9/ 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

''  I  BELIEVE  that  the  love  and  favour  of  Him,  with  whom  is  no 
variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning,  and  whose  gifts  and  callings  are 
without  repentance,  may  vary,  change,  and  turn,  every  hour,  and 
every  moment,  according  to  the  behaviour  of  the  creature." 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

WE  believe  that  God's  works  were  all  originally  very  good;  and 
that  God  did  love  or  approve  of  them  all,  as  very  good  in  their 
places.  We  maintain,  that  some  of  God's  works,  such  as  some 
angels,  and  our  first  parents,  by  free,  avoidable  disobedience,  forfeited 
God's  love  or  approbation.  He  approved  or  loved  them  while  they 
continued  righteous  ;  and  disapproved  or  hated  them,  when  the  bad 
use  which  they  made  of  their  free  will  deserved  his  disapprobatioQ 
or  hatred. — Again  :  we  believe  that  God's  absolute  gifts  and  call- 
ings are  without  repentance.  God  never  repented  that  he  gave  all 
mankind  his  paradisiacal  favour  in  Adam,  and  yet  all  mankind  for- 
feited it  by  the  iA\. — God  never  repented  that  he  called  all  his  ser- 
vaojts,  and  gave  to  every  one  of  them  his  talents  as  he  thought  fit  :  and 
yet,  when  the  -wicked  and  slothful  servant  had  buried  and  forfeited  his 
talent,  God  said.   Take  the  talent  from  him. 

Once  more  :  We  believe,  that  so  certain  as  God  is  the  gracious 
Creator  and  the  righteous  Judge  of  angels  and  men,  the  doctrines  of 
divine  grace  and  divine  justice  (or  the  two  Gospel  axioms)  are  per- 
fectly reconcileable  ;  and  that  of  consequence,  God  can  justly  curse 
mankind  with  temporal  death,  after  having  blessed  them  with  paradi- 
siacal life  ;  and  punish  them  in  hell,  after  having  blessed  them  a 
second  time  with  initial  salvation  during  their  day  of  pergonal  proba- 
tion on  earth.  To  deny  this,  is  to  deny  that  there  are  graves  on  earth 
or  torments  in  hell  for  any  of  the  children  of  men. 

Nevertheless  we  believe  that  there  is  no  positive  change  in  God. 
From  eternity  to  eternity  he  is  the  same  holy  and  faithful  God  ;  there- 
fore he  unchangeably  loves  righteousness,  and  hates  iniquity ;  apostacy 
in  men  or  in  angels  does  not  imply  any  change  in  him  ;  the  change 
bema:  only  in  the   receptive  disposition  of  h\s>  free-willing  creatures. 

If  I  make  my  eyes  co  sore  that  1  cannot  look  with  pleasure  at  the 
sun,  or  that  its  beams,  wliich  cheered   me  yesterday,  give  me  pain 

Vol.  II.  If; 


!itJ  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED, 

to-day  3  this  is  no  proof  that  the  sun  has  changed  his  nature.  The 
law  that  condemns  a  murderer,  abjsolves  me  now  :  but,  if  1  stab  my 
neighbour  in  ten  minutes,  the  same  law  that  now  absolves  me,  will  in 
te7i  minutes  condemn  me. — Impossible!  says  Mr.  Hill's  scheme: 
*'  The  law  changes  not."  I  grant  it :  but  a  free  agent  may  change  ; 
and  the  law  of  liberty,  which  is  but  the  transcript  of  God's  eternal 
nature,  is  so  ordered,  that  without  changing  at  all,  it  nevertheless 
treats  all  free  agents  according  to  their  changes.  The  changes  that 
God  makes  in  the  world  do  not  change  him  ;  much  less  is  he  changed 
by  the  variations  of  free  agents  :  such  variations  indeed  lay  rebels 
and  penitents  open  to  a  new  aspect  from  the  Deity  ;  but  that  aspect 
was  in  the  Deity  before  they  laid  themselves  open  to  it.  Fire, 
without  changing  its  nature,  melts  wax  and  stiffens  clay  ;  now  if  a 
rebel's  heart  absolutely  hardens  itself,  so  that  it  becomes  like  unyield- 
ing clay  :  or  if  a  penitent's  heart  humbles,  itself  so  that  it  becomes 
like  yielding  wax,  God  changes  not  any  more  than  the  fire,  when  he 
hardens  the  stiff  rebel  by  resisting  him,  and  melts  the  yielding  peni- 
tent by  giving  him  more  grace. 

To  understand  this  better,  we  must  remember  that  God's  eternal 
nature  is  to  resist  the  proud  and  give  grace  to  the  humble ;  and  that 
when  free  grace,  (which  has  appeared  to  all  men)  assists  us,  we  are 
as  free  to  choose  hnmility  Rud'lifey  as  we  are  to  choose  pride  and 
death  when  we  dally  with  temptation,  or  indulge  the  natural  depravity 
of  our  own  hearts.  Hence  it  follows,  that  the  judicious  differ^ence 
which  God  makes  when  he  alternately  smiles  and  frowns,  dispenses 
rewards  and  punishments,  springs  not  from  any  alteration  in  his 
unchangeable  nature  :  but  from  a  change  in  the  mutable  will  and 
behaviour  of  free  agents  : — a  change  this,  which  arises  from  their 
WILL  FREELY  RESISTING  ^iiviuc  grace,  if  the  alteration  be  for  the 
worse  ;  and  from  their  will  yielding  w^ithout  necessity  to  that 
grace,  if  the  change  be  for  the  better.  Nor  are  we  any  more 
ashamed  to  own  man's/?'ee  agency  before  a  world  of  fatalists,  than  we 
are  ashamed  to  say,  Verily  there  is  a  reward  fur  the  righteous :  though 
hand  join  in  hand  the  wicked  shall  not  be  unpunished  :  Doubtless  there 
is  a  God  that  judgeth  the  earth,  and  will  render  to  every  man  according 
to  his  works,  that  is,  according  to  his  free  will  ;  works  being  oiir  own 
works,  only  so  far  as  they  spring  from  our  own  free  wiH.  And  we 
think  that  the  opposite  doctrine  is  one  of  the  most  absurd  errors  that 
ever  disgraced  Christianity  ;  and  one  of  the  most  dangerous  engines, 
which  were  ever  invented  in  Babel  to  sap  the  walls  of  Jerusalem : — 
a  dreadful  engine  this,  which,  if  it  rested  upon  truth,  would  pour  floods 
of  disgrace  on  all  the  divine  perfections  ;  would  overset  the  tribunal 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  9^ 

of  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  ;  and  would  raise  upon  the  tremendous 
ruins  the  throne  of  the  doctrinal  idol  of  the  day  :  I  mean  the  spurious 
doctrine  of  grace,  which  I  have  sometimes  called  T7/e  great  Diana  of 
the  Calvinists,  because,  like  the  great  Diana  qf  the  Ephesians,  it  may 
pass  at  once  for  Luna  or  finished  salvation  in  heaven,  and  for  Hecate 
or  finished  damnation  in  hell. 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

^- 1  BELIEVE  that  the  seed  of  the  word  by  which  God's  children 
are  born  again,  is  a  corruptible  seed  ;  and  that  so  far  from  enduring 
for  ever  (as  that  mistaken  apostle  Peter  rashly  affirms,)  it  is  frequent- 
ly rooted  out  of  the  hearts  of  those  in  whom  it  is  sown." 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

WE  believe  that  the  word  or  the  truth  of  God  is  the  divine  seed,  by 
which  sinners  are  born  again  when  they  receive  it,  that  is,  when  they 
believ^e  ;  and  this  spiritual  seed  (as  that  enlightened  apostle  Peter 
justly  affirms)  endures  for  ever ; — but  not  for  Antinomian  purposes; 
— not  to  say  to  fallen  believers  in  the  very  act  of  adultery  or  incest, 
My  love!  my  undefiled! — No,  it  endures  for  ever^  as  a  seed  of  reviving 
or  terrifying  truth  ;  it  endures  for  ever  as  a  two-edged  sword  to  de- 
fend the  righteous  or  to  wound  the  wicked  ;  to  protect  obedient 
believers,  or  to  pierce  disobedient  and  obstinate  unbelievers  ;  it 
endures  for  ever  as  a  sweet  savour  of  life  to  them  that  receive  and 
keep  it ;  and  as  a  bitter  savour  of  death  to  them  that  never  receive  it, 
and  to  them  that  finally  cast  it  away,  and  never  bring  forth  fruit  to 
perfection. 

But  although  the  seed  of  the  word  can  never  be  lost  with  respect 
to  both  its  effects,  yet,  (as  we  have  already  observed)  it  is  too  fre- 
quently lost  with  regard  to  its  more  desirable  effect.  If  Mr.  Hill 
doubts  of  it,  we  refer  him  to  the  parable  of  the  sower,  where  our 
Lord  observes  that  the  good  seed  was  thus  lost  in  three  sorts  of  peo- 
ple out  of  four,  merely  through  the  want  of  co-operation  or  concur- 
rence on  the  part  of  free  will,  which  he  calls  good  or  bad  ground, 
soft  or  stony  ground,  Lc.  according  to  the  good  or  bad  choice  it  makes, 
and  according  to  the  steadiness  or  fickleness  of  that  choice.     And  it 


lOO  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

Mr.  Hill  exclaim  against  the  obvious  meaning  of  so  well-known  a 
portion  of  the  Gospel,  the  world  will  easily  see  that,  supposing  his 
doctrine  of  grace  deserves  to  be  called  chaste,  when  it  pron)pts  him 
to  vindicate  as  openly  as  he  dares,  the  profitableness  of  adultery  and 
incest  to  fallen  believers  ;  it  by  no  means  merits  to  be  called  devout, 
when  it  excites  him  to  insinuate,  that  our  Lord  preached  a  "  shocking^ 
not  to  say  blasphemous  doctrine." 

THE  FICTITIOUS  CREED. 

ARTICLE  X. 

**  I  BELIEVE  that  Christ  does  not  always  give  unto  his  sheep 
eternal  life  ;  but  that  they  often  perish,  and  are  by  the  power  of 
Satan  frequently  plucked  out  of  his  hand." 

THE  GENUINE  CREED. 

ARTICLE  X. 

WE  believe  that  Christ^s  sheep  mentioned  in  John  x.  are  obedient; 
persevering  believers  ;  that  is,  as  our  Lord  himself  describes  them, 
Joiin  X  4,  5,  27  persons  that  hear  [i.  e.  obey]  his  voice,  and  whom 
he  kno7vs  [i.  e.  approves :]  persons  that  know  [i.  e.  approve]  his 
voice; — that  know  not  [i.  e.  do  not  approve]  the  voice  of  strangers  ; — - 
and  yiee  from  a  stranger  instead  of  following  him  : — In  a  word,  per- 
sons that  actually /o//ot<y  the  good  Shepherd  in  some  of  his  folds  or  pas- 
tures. In  this  description  of  a  sheep  every  verb  is  put  in  the  present 
tense,  to  show  us  that  ihe  word  sheep  denotes  a  character,  or  person 
actually  possessed  of  stich  a  character:  so  that  the  moment  the  cha- 
racter changes  ;  the  moment  a  man  ivlio  once  left  all  to  follow  Christ, 
leaves  Christ  to  follow  a  stranger  he  has  no  more  to  do  with  the 
name  and  privileges  of  a  sheep,  than  a  deserter  or  a  rebel  has  to  do 
with  the  name  and  privileges  of  his  majesty's  soldiers  or  subjects. 

According  then  to  our  doctrine,  no  sheep  of  Christ,  that  is,  no 
actual  follower  of  the  Redeemer,  perishes.  We  think  it  is  shocking 
to  say,  that  any  of  them  are  plucked  out  of  his  hand.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  frequently  say  with  St.  Peter,  Who  will  harm  you  [much 
more,  who  will  separate  you  from  the  love  of  Christ]  if  ye  be  followers 
of  that  which  is  good ;  [i.  e.  if  you  be  sheep  ;]  and  we  insist  upon  the 
veracity  of  our  Lord's  promise,  He  that  endureth  unto  the  ^nd,  in  the 
character  of  a  sheep,  i.  e.  in  the  way  of  faith  and  obedience,  the  same 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED/  iOl 

shall  be  [eternally]  saved.  And  we  maintain,  that  so  long  as  a  be- 
liever does  not  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith  and  of  a  good  conscience-; 
— so  long  as  he  continues  a  sheep,  a  harmless  follower  of  the  Lamb 
of  God,  he  can  no  more  perish,  than  God's  everlasting  throne  can 
be  overturned.  But  what  has  this  doctrine  of  our  Lord  to  do  with 
Calvinism  ? 

With  regard  to  the  sheep  mentioned  in  Matt.  xxv.  33,  34,  whom  our 
Lord  calls  blessed  of  his  Father,  we  believe  that  they  represent  the 
multitude  of  obedient  persevering  believers,  whom  two  apostles 
describe  thus  :  blessed  are  they  that  do  his  (God's)  commandments, 
that  they  may  have  right  (or  if  Mr.  Hill  pleases,  privilege)  to  the  tree  of 
life,  and  enter,  ^c.  into  the  city.  Rev.  xxii.  14. — blessed  is  the  man 
that  endureth  temptation ;  for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown 
of  life,  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to  them  that  love  him. — And  this 
is  the  love  of  God  that  we  keep  his  commandments,  James  i.  12. —  1  John 
V.  3.— For  such  enduring,  obedient  believers,  a  kingdom  of  glory  is 
prepared  from  the  foundation  of  the  world ;  and  to  it  they  are  and  shall 
he  judicially  elected  ;  while  the  goats,  i.  e.  unbelievers,  or  disobe- 
dient fallen  believers,  are  and  shall  be  judicially  reprobated  from  it. 
Hence  it  is,  that  when  our  Lord  accounts  for  his  judicial  election  of 
the  obedient,  (whom  he  parabolically  calls  sheep)  he  does  not  say, 
Inherit  the  kingdom,  &rc.  for  I  absolutely  finished  your  salvation :  but 
he  says.  Inherit  the  kingdom,  for  ye  gave  me  meat,  &.c.  ye  fed  the 
hungry  from  a  right  motive,  and  what  you  did  in  that  manner,  I 
reward  it  as  if  you  had  done  it  to  myself.  In  other  terms.  Ye  heard 
my  voice  and  followed  me,  in  hearing  the  whispers  of  my  grace,  and 
following  the  light  of  your  dispensation  ;  and  now  I  own  you  as  my 
eternally-rewardable  elect,  my  sheep,  which  have  followed  me  with- 
out finally  drawing  back. 

Again,  when  our  Lord  gives  an  account  of  the  judicial  reprob^ition 
of  the  finally  disobedient,  whom  he  parabolically  calls  goats,  he  does 
not  say.  Depart,  ye  cursed,  ir.to  everlasting  fire  prepared  for  vou  from 
the  foundation  of  tke  world,  for  then  1  absolutely  finished  your  eter- 
nal reprobation.  No  :  this  is  the  counterpart  of  the  Gospel  of  the 
'uJay.  But  he  says,  Depart,  4*c.  for  ye  gave  me  no  meat,  by  feeding 
the  hungry  in  your  generation,  &c.  That  is,  ye  did  not  believingly 
follow  me  in  following  your  light  and  my  precepts.  Either  you  never 
began  your  course,  or  you  drew  buck  before  you  had  finished  it. 
Either  you  never  voluntarily  listed  under  my  banner,  or  you  desened 
before  you  had  fought  the  good  fight  out ;  either  you  never  believed 
in  me,  the  Light  of  the  world,  and  your  light ;  or,  instead  of  keeping 
'he  faith,  you  voluntarily,  avoidably,  unnecessarily,  and  resolutely 


102  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED. 

made  shipwreck  of  it,  and  of  a  good  conscience.  And  therefore  your 
damnation  is  of  yourselves.  You  have  personally  forfeited  your  con- 
ditional election  to  the  rewards  of  persevering  obedience,  and  per^ 
sonally  made  your  conditional  reprobation  from  those  rewards  sure  by 
your  j^wa/ disobedience. 

From  these  evangelical  descriptions  of  the  sheep  and  the  goats, 
mentioned  in  John  x.  and  Matt.  xxv.  it  appears  to  us   indubitable  : 

(1)  That  these  sheep ^  [i.  e.  obedient  persevering  believers]  shall 
never  perish^  although  they  might  have  perished,  if  they  had  brought 
upon  themselves  swift  destruction  by  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them. 

(2)  That  they  shall  be  eternally   saved,  although  they  might  have 
missed  eternal  salvation,  if  they  had  finally  disregarded  our  Lord's 
declaration,  He  that  endureth  unto  the   end  the  same  shall  be  finally 
saved. — (3)  That  the  good  Shepherd  peculiarly  laid  down  hie  Ijfe  for 
the  eternal  redemption  of  obedient,  persevering  believers  ;  and  that 
these  believers  are  sometimes  eminently  called  God's  elect,  because 
they  make  their  conditional  calling  to  the  rewards  of  perseverance 
sure,  by  actually  persevering  in  the  obedience  of  faith. — (4)  That 
the  peculiarity  of  the  eternal  redemption  of  Christ's  persevering  fol- 
lowers, far  from  being  connected  with  the  absolute  reprobation  of  the 
rest  of  mankind,  stands  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  doctrines  of  a 
general,  temporary  redemption ;  and  a  general   initial  salvation ;  and 
with  the  doctrines  of  a  gratuitous  election  to  the  blessings  of  one  or 
another  dispe;isation  of  God's  saving  grace  ; — and  of  a  conditional 
election  to  the  rewards  of  voluntary,   unnecessitated   obedience. — 
(6)  That  our  opponents  give  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  two  desperate 
stabs,  when  they  secure  the  peculiar  eternal  redemption  of  finally 
disobedient  believers,   and  comfort   mourning  backsliders  in  so  un- 
happy a  manner,  as  to  overthrow  the  general,  temporary  redemption 
of  all  mankind :  and  to  encourage   or  countenance  the   present  dis- 
obedience of  Laodicean  believers. — (6)  That  the  Calvinian  doctrines 
of  grace,  which  do  this  double  mischief  under  such  fair  pretences, 
are  of  all  the  tares  which  the  enemy  sows,  those  )phich  ceme  nearest 
to  the  wheat,  and  of  consequence  those  by  which  he  can   best  feed 
his  immoral  goats,  deceive  simple  souls,  set  Christ's  moral  sheep  at 
perpetual  variance,  turn  the  fruitful  field  of  the  church  into  a  barren 
field  of  controversy,  and  make  a  deistical  world  think  that  faith  is 
cnthusiastical  fancy  ;  that  orthodoxy  is  immoral  nonsense  ;  and  that 
revelation  is  nothing  but  an  apple  of  discord. — (7)  And  lastly,  that  the 
doctrines  of  grace  which  we  maintain,  do  equal  justice  to  the  divine 
attributes; — defend   faith,    without    wounding   obedience: — oppose 
Pharisaism,  without  recommending  Antinomianism  ; — assert  the  truth 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINB   CREED.  103 

of  God's  promises,  without  representing  his  most  awful  threateniogs 
as  words  without  meaning  ;— reconcile  the  Scriptures,  without  wound- 
ing conscience  and  reason  ;  exalt  the  gracious  wonders  of  the  day  of 
atonement,  without  setting  aside  the  righteous  terrors  of  the  great 
day  of  retribution  ;  extol  our  heavenly  Priest,  without  pouring  con- 
tempt upon  our  divine  Prophet ; — and  celebrate  the  honours  of  his 
cross,  without  turning  his  sceptre  of  righteousness  into  a  Solifidian 
reed,  his  royal  crown  into  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  his  law  of  liberty 
into  a  rule  of  life^  by  which  his  subjects  can  no  more  stand  or  fall  in 
judgment,  than  an  Englishman  can  stand  or  fall  by  the  rules  of  civility 
followed  at  the  French  court. 

To  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  Reader,  thou  hast  been  led  into  the 
depth  of  our  doctrines  of  grace.  I  have  opened  to  thee  the  myste- 
ries of  the  evangelical  system,  which  Mr.  Hill  attacks  as  the  heresy 
of  the  Arminians.  And  now  let  Impartiality  hand  thee  up  to  the 
judgment-seat.  Let  Reason  and  Revelation  hold  out  to  thee  their  con- 
sentaneous light.  .  Pray  that  the  Spirit  of  truth  may  help  thine  infir- 
mities :  turn  Prejudice  out  of  the  court :  and  let  Candour  pronounce 
the  sentence  and  say,  whether  our  principles  or  those  of  Mr.  Hill, 
^'  inevitably^ ^  draw  after  them  "  shocking,  woi  to  say  blasphemous,^' 
consequences  ? 

i  shall  close  this  answer  to  the  Creed  which  that  gentleman  has 
composed  for  Arrainians,  by  an  observation  which  is  not  entirely 
foreign  to  our  controversy.  In  one  of  the  Three  Letters  which 
introduce  the  Fictitious  Creed,  Mr.  Hill  says,  ^^  Controversy ^  I  am  per- 
suaded^ has  not  done  me  any  good ;"  and  he  exhorts  me  to  examine 
closely  whether  I  cannot  make  the  same  confession.  I  own  that  it 
would  have  done  me  harm,  if  I  had  blindly  contended  for  my  opinions. 
Nay,  if  I  had  shut  my  eyes  against  the  light  of  truth  ;— if  I  had  set 
the  plainest  scriptures  aside,  as  if  they  were  not  worth  my  notice  ; — 
if  I  had  overlooked  the  strongest  arguments  of  my  opponents  ; — if  I 
had  advanced  groundless  charges  against  them  ; — if  I  had  refused  to 
do  justice  to  their  good  meaning  or  piety  ; — and,  above  all,  if  I  had 
taken  my  leave  of  them  by  injuring  their  moral  character,  by  pub- 
lishing over  and  over  again  arguments  which  they  had  properly 
answered,  without  taking  the  least  notice  of  their  answers  ; — if  1  had 
made  a  solemn  promise  not  to  read  one  of  their  books,  though  they 
should  publish  a  thousand  volumes  ;  if  continuing  to  write  against 
them,  I  had  fixed  upon  them  (as  <'  unavoidable'''  consequences)  absurd 
tenets,  which  have  no  more  necessary  connexion  with  their  princi- 
ples than  the  doctrine  of  general  redemption  has  with  Calvinian 
reprobation  J   if  1  had  done  this,  1  say,  controversy  would  have 


i04  The  fictitious  antd  genuine  creed. 

wounded  my  conscience  or  my  reason  ;  and  without  adding  any  thln^ 
to  my  light,  it  would  have  immovably  fixed  me  in  my  prejudices,  and 
perhaps  branded  me  before  the  world  for  an  Arminian  bigot.  But, 
as  matters  are,  I  hope  I  may  make  the  following  acknowledgment 
without  betraying  the  impertinence  of  proud  boasting. 

Although  I  have  often  been  sorry  that  controversy  should  take  up 
so  much  of  the  time,  which  I  might  with  much  more  satisfaction  to 
myself  have  employed  in  devotional  exercises  : — and  although  I  have 
lamented,  and  do  still  lament,  my  low  attainments  in  the  meekness  of 
zvisdom^  which  should  constantly  guide  the  pen  of  every  controversial 
writer ;  yet  I  rejoice  that  I  have  been  enabled  to  persist  in  my  reso- 
lution, either  to  wipe  off,  or  to  share  the  reproach  of  those  who  have 
hazarded  their  reputation  in  defence  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion. 
And,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  my  repeated  attempts  have  been  attended 
with  these  happy  effects  :  in  vindicating  the  moral  doctrines  of  grace, 
I  hope,  that,  as  a  Man,  I  have  learned  to  think  more  closely,  and  to 
investigate  truth  more  ardently  than  i  did  before.  There  are  rational 
powers  in  the  dullest  souls,  which  lie  hid  as  sparks  in  a  flint.  Con- 
troversial opposition  and  exertion,  like  the  stroke  of  the  steel,  have 
made  me  accidentally  find  out  some  of  these  latent  sparks  of  reason, 
for  which  I  should  never  have  thanked  my  Maker,  if  I  had  never 
discovered  them.  I  have  frequently  been  thankful  to  find  that  my 
horse  could  travel  in  bad  roads  better  than  I  expected  ;  nor  do  I  think 
that  it  is  a  piece  of  Pharisfiism  to  say,  I  am  thankful  to  find  that  my 
mind  can  travel  with  more  ease  than  I  thought  she  could,  through 
theological  roads  rendered  almost  impassable  by  heaps  of  doctrinal 
rubbish,  brought  from  all  parts  of  Christendom,  and  by  briers  of  con- 
tention which  have  kept  growing  for  above  a  thousand  years. — To 
return  :  as  a  Divine,  I  see  more  clearly  the  gaps  and  stiles,  at  which 
mistaken  good  men  have  turned  out  of  the  narrow  way  of  truth,  to 
the  right  hand  and  to  the  left. — As  a  Protestant,  I  hope  1  have  much 
more  esteem  for  the  Scriptures  in  general,  and  in  particular  for  those 
practical  parts  of  them  which  the  Calvinists  had  insensibly  taught  me 
to  overlook  or  despise.  And  this  increasing  esteem  is,  I  trust,  accom- 
panied with  a  deeper  conviction  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  with 
a  greater  readiness  to  defend  the  Gospel  against  infidels,  Pharisees, 
and  Antinomians.^As  a  Preacher,  I  hope  I  can  do  more  -justice  to  a 
text,  by  reconciling  it  with  seeminajly  contrary  scriptures. — As  an 
Jinti'Calvinist,  I  have  learned  to  do  the  Calvinists  justice  in  granting 
that  there  is  an  election  of  distinguishing  grace  for  God's  peculiar 
people  and  a  particidar  redemption  for  all  believers  who  are  faithful 
unto  death  : — And  by  that  means,  as  a  Controveriist,  I  can  more  easily 


THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREED.  105 

excuse  pious  Calvinists,  who  through  prejudice,  mistake  that  scrip- 
tural election  for  their  Antinomian  election  ;  and  who  consider  that 
particular  redemption  as  the  only  redemption  mentioned  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. Nay,  I  can  without  scruple  allow  Mr.  Hill,  that  his  doctrines 
of  finish  d  salvation  and  irresistible  grace^  are  true  with  respect  to  all 
those  who  die  in  their  infancy. — As  one  who  is  called  an  Arminian^  I 
have  found  out  some  flaws  in  Arminianism^  and  evidenced  my  impar- 
tiality in  pointing  them  out,  as  well  as  the  flaws  of  Calvinism.  [See 
the  Prefaced] — As  a  Witness  for  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  I  hope  I  ha?e 
learned  to  bear  reproach  from  ail  sorts  of  people  with  more  un- 
daunted courage.  And  1  humbly  trust,  that,  were  I  called  to  seal 
with  my  blood  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  justice  against 
the  Pharisees  and  the  Antinoinians,  I  could  (divine  grace  supporting 
me  to  the  last)  do  it  more  rationally,  and  of  consequence  with  greater 
steadiness. — Again,  as  a  FoUoiver  of  Chri^t^  I  hope  1  have  learned  to 
disregard  my  dearest  friends  for  my  heavenly  Prophet :  or  to  speak 
the  language  of  our  Lord,  1  hope  I  have  learned  to  forsake  father^ 
mother^  and  brothers  for  Christ'' s  sake  and  the  GospeVs. — As  a  Disputant, 
I  have  learned  that  solid  arguments  and  plain  scriptures,  make  no 
more  impression  upon  bigotry,  than  the  charmer's  voice  does  upon 
the  deaf  adder  ;  and  by  tiiat  mean,  I  hope,  I  depend  less  upon  the 
powers  of  reason,  the  letter  of  the  Scripture,  and  the  candour  of 
professors,  than  I  formerly  did.  — As  a  Believer,  I  have  been  brought 
to  see  and  feel,  that  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  truth,  which  teaches 
men  to  be  of  one  heart,  and  of  one  mind,  and  makes  thegn  think  and 
speak  the  same,  is  at  a  very  low  ebb  in  the  religious  world ;  and  that 
the  prayer  which  I  ought  continually  to  offer  is,  O  Lord,  baptize 
Christians  with  the  Spirit  of  truth  and  the  fire  of  love.  Thy  king- 
dom  come  !  Bring  thy  church  out  of  the  wilderness  of  error  and  sin, 
into  the  kingdom  of  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.~-^ 
As  a  Member  of  the  Church  of  England,  1  have  learned  to  be  pleased 
with  our  holy  Mother  for  giving  us  floods  of  pure  morality  to  wash 
away  the  fe^^f  remaining  Calvinian  freckles  still  perceptible  upon  her 
face. — As  a  Christian,  I  hope  1  have  learned  in  some  degree  to  ex- 
ercise that  charity,  which  teaches  us  boldly  to  oppose  a  dangerous 
error,  without  ceasing  to  honour  and  love  its  abettors,  so  far  as  they 
resemble  our  Lord  ;  and  teaches  us  to  use  an  irony  with  St.  Paul  and 
Jesus  Christ,  not  as  an  enemy  uses  a  dagger,  but  as  a  surgeon  uses  a 
lancet  or  a  caustic  :  and  lastly,  as  a  Writer,  I  have  learned  to  feel  the 
truth  of  Solomon's  observation,  '*  Of  making  many  books  there  is  no 
end,  and  much  study  is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh  ;  let  us  hear  the  con- 
clusion of  the  whole  matter :  Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments  ,- 
Voi.  11.  14 


lOG  THE    FICTITIOUS    AND    GENUINE    CREEB, 

for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man,^"*   and  the  sum  of  the  Anti-solifidian 
truth,  which  I  endeavour  to  vindicate. 

I  do  not  say  that  I  have  learned  any  of  these  lessons  as  I  should 
have  done  ;  but  I  hope  I  have  learned  so  much  of  them  as  to  say, 
that  in  these  respects  my  controversial  toil  has  not  been  altogether 
in  vain  in  the  Lord.  And  now,  Reader,  let  me  entreat  thee  to  pray, 
that  if  I  am  spared  to  vindicate  more  fully  what  appears  to  us  the 
scriptural  doctrine  of  grace,  1  may  be  so  helped  by  the  Father  of  lights 
and  the  God  of  love,  as  to  speak  the  pure  truth  in  perfect  love,  and 
never  more  drop  a  needlessly-severe  expression.  Some  such  have 
escaped  me  before  I  was  aware.  In  endeavouring  to  render  my 
style  nervous,  I  have  sometimes  inadvertently  rendered  it  provok- 
ing. Instead  of  saying  that  the  doctrines  of  grace,  (so  called)  re- 
present God  as  "  absolutely  graceless,''^  towards  myriads  of  "  repro- 
bated culprits,''''  1  would  now  say,  that,  upon  the  principles  of  my 
opponents,  God  appears  *'  devoid  of  grace''''  towards  those  whom 
he  has  absolutely  "  reprobated''''  from  all  eternity.  The  thought 
is  the  same,  I  grant ;  but  the  expressions  are  less  grating  and  more 
decent.  This  propriety  of  language  I  labour  after  as  well  as  after 
more  meekness  of  wisdom.  The  Lord  help  me  and  my  antagon- 
ists to  keep  ouv  garmcnis  cltun!  Controvertists  ought  to  be  clothed 
with  an  ardent  flaming  love  for  truth,  and  a  candid  humble  regard 
for  their  neighbours.  May  no  root  of  prejudice  stain  that  flaming 
love  !  no  malice  rend  our  seamless  garments!  And,  if  they  are  ever 
rolled  in  blood,  may  it  be  only  in  the  blood  of  our  common  enemies, 
destructive  error,  and  the  man  of  sin! 


.«#' 


AN 


EQUAL  CHECK 


to 

PART  I. 

CONTAINING, 

I.  AN  HISTORICAL  ESSAY  ON  THE  DANGER  OF  PARTING  FAITH  AND  WORKS. 

Ii;  SALVATION  BY  THE  COVENANT  OF  GRACE,  A  DISCOURSE  PREACHED  IN  THE 
PARISH  CHURCH  OF  MADELEY,  APRIL  18,  AND  MAY  9,  1773. 

III.  A  SCRIPTURAL  ESSAY  ON  THE  ASTONISHING  REWARDABLENESS  OF  WORKS> 
ACCORDING  TO  THE  COVENANT  OF  GRACE. 

V.  AN  ESSAY  ON  TRUTH :  OR,  A  RATIONAL  VINDICATION  OF  THE  DOCTRINE 
OF  SALVATION  BY  FAITH,  WITH  A  DEDICATORY  EPISTLE  TO  TIFE  RIGHT 
HON.  THE  COUNTESS  OF  HUNTINGDON. 

BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE 
CHECKS  TO  ANTINOMIANISM. 

The  armour  of  righteousness  on  tht  right  hand  and  on  tht  ltft.~1  Cor.  ri.  T. 


PREFACE. 


— '^mVX.- 


.T, 


HE  first  piece  of  this  Check  was  designed  for  a  preface  to  the 
Discourse  that  follows  it ;  but  as  it  swelled  far  beyond  my  intention, 
I  present  it  to  the  Reader  under  the  name  of  An  Historical  Essay  ; 
which  makes  way  for  the  tracts  that  follow. 

II.  With  respect  to  the  Discourse^  I  must  mention  what  engages 
me  to  publish  it.  In  1771  I  saw  the  propositions  called  the  Minutes. 
Their  author  invited  me  to  "  review  the  whole  affairJ*"*  I  did  so  ;  and 
soon  found,  that  1  had  "  leaned  too  much  towards^  Calvinism,"  which, 
after  mature  consideration,  appeared  to  me  exactly  to  coincide  with 
speculative  Antinomianism  ;  and  the  same  year  I  publicly  acknow- 
ledged my  error  in  these  words  : 

"  But  whence  springs  this  almost  general  Antinomianism  of  our 
congregations  ?  Shall  I  conceal  the  sore  because  it  festers  in  my  own 
breast  ?  Shall  1  be  partial  ?  No  :  in  the  name  of  Him  who  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons,  I  will  confess  my  sin,  and  that  of  man?/ of  my 
brethren,  &c. — Is  not  the  Antinomianism  of  hearers  fomented  by 
that  of  preachers  ?  Does  it  not  become  us  to  take  the  greatest  part 
of  the  blame  upon  ourselves^  according  to  the  old  adage,  Like  priest, 
like  people?  Is  it  surprising  that  some  of  ws  should  have  an  Antinomian 
audience  ?  Do  we  not  make  or  keep  it  so  ?  When  did  we  preach  such 
a  practical  sermon  as  that  of  our  Lord  on  the  mount  ?  or  write  such 
close  letters,  as  the  epistles  of  St.  John  ?"  Second  Check,  vol.  i.  p. 
133,  to  the  end  of  the  paragraph. 

When  I  had  thus  openly  confessed,  that  I  was  involved  in  the  guilt 
of  many  of  my  brethren,  and  that  1  had  so  leaned  towards  speculative^ 
as  not  to  have  made  a  proper  stand  against  practical,  Antinomianism  ; 
who  could  have  thought,  that  one  of  my  most  formidable  opponents 
would  have  attempted  to  screen  his  mistakes  behind  some  passages  of 
a  manuscript  sermon,  which  1  preached  twelve  years  ago ;  and  of 
which,  by  some  means  or  other,  he  has  got  a  copy  ? 

I  am  very  far,  however,  from  recanting  that  old  discourse.  I  still 
think  the  doctrine  it  contains  excellent  in  the  main,  and  very  proper 


110  PREFACE. 

to  be  enforced  (though  in  a  more  guarded  manner)  in  a  congregation 
of  hearers  violently  prejudiced  against  the  first  Gospel  axiom.  There- 
fore, out  of  regard  for  rhe  grand,  leading  truth  of  Christianity,  and 
in  comphance  with  Mr.  Hill's  earnest  entreaty,  [Fin.  Stroke,  p.  46,] 
I  send  my  sermon  into  the  world,  upon  the  following  reasonable  con- 
ditions :  1.  That  I  shall  be  allowed  to  publish  it,  as  I  preached  it  a 
year  ago  in  my  church  ;  namely,  with  additions  in  brackets,  to  make 
it  at  once  a  fuller  cherk  to  Pharisaism,  and  a  finishing  check  to 
Antinomianism  :  2.  That  the  largest  addition  shall  be  in  favour  of 
free  grace :  3.  That  nobody  shall  accuse  me  of  forgery,  for  thus 
adding  my  present  light  to  that  which  I  had  formerly  ;  and  for  thus 
bringing  out  of  my  little  treasure  of  experience  things  new  and  old : 
4.  That  the  press  shall  not  groan  with  tha  charge  of  disingenuity,  if 
I  throw  into  notes  some  unguarded  expressions,  which  I  formerly 
Qsed  without  scruple,  and  which  my  more  enhghtened  conscience 
does  not  suffer  me  to  use  at  present  :  5.  That  my  opponent's  call  to 
print  my  sermon,  will  procure  me  the  pardon  of  the  public,  for  pre- 
senting them  with  a  plain,  blunt  discourse,  composed  for  an  audience 
chiefly  made  up  of  colliers  and  rustics:  And  lastly,  that,  as  I  un- 
derstand English  a  little  better  than  I  did  twelve  years  ago,  I  shall  be 
permitted  to  rectify'a  few  French  idioms,  which  I  find  in  my  old 
manuscript ;  and  to  connect  my  thoughts  a  little  more  like  an  English- 
man, where  I  can  do  it  without  the  least  misrepresentation  of  the 
sense. 

If  these  conditions  appear  unreasonable  to  those  who  will  have 
heaven  itself  without  any  condition,  1  abolish  the  distinction  between 
my  old  sermon,  and  the  additions  that  guard  or  strengthen  it ;  and 
referring  the  reader  to  the  title-page,  f  publish  my  discourse  on 
Rom.  xi.  5,  6,  as  a  guarded  sermon,  delivered  in  my  church  on  Sun- 
day, April  the  18th,  &c.  1773,  exactly  eleven  years  after  I  had 
preached  upon  the  same  text  a  sermon  useful  upon  the  whole,  but 
in  some  places  unguarded,  and  deficient  with  respect  to  the  variety 
of  arguments  and  motives,  by  which  the  capital  doctrines  of  fret 
grace  and  Gospel  obedience  ousht  to  be  enforced. 

III.  With  regard  to  the  Scriptural  Essay  upon  the  rewardableness, 
or  evangelical  worthiness  of  works,  I  shall  just  observe,  that  it  attacks 
the  grand  mistake  of  the  Solifidians,  countenanced  by  three  or  four 
words  of  my  old  sermon.  I  pour  a  flood  of  scriptures  upon  it ;  and 
after  receiving  the  fire  of  my  objector,  I  return  it  in  a  variety  of 
scriptural  and  rational  answers,  about  the  solidity  of  which  the  public 
must  decide. 


PREFACE.  Ill 

iV.  The  Essay  on  Truth  will,  I  hope,  reconcile  judicious  moral- 
ists to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith,  and  considerate  Solifidians  to 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  zvorks  of  faith  ;  reason  and  Scripture 
concurring  to  show  the  constant  dependence  of  works  upon  faith  ; 
and  the  wonderful  agreement  of  the  doctrine  of  present  salvation  by 
TKVE.  faith,  with  the  doctrine  of  eternal  salvation  by  good  works. 

I  hope,  that  I  do  not  dissent,  in  my  observations  upon  faith^  either 
from  our  Church,  or  approved  Gospel  ministers.  In  their  highest 
dednitions  of  that  grace,  they  consider  it  o/i/?/ according  to  the  fulness 
of  the  Christian  dispensation  ;  but  my  subject  has  obliged  me  to  con- 
sider it  also  according  to  the  dispensations  of  John  the  Baptist,  Moses, 
and  Noah.  Believers,  under  these  inferior  dispensations,  have  not 
always  assurance  ;  nor  is  the  assurance  they  sometimes  have  so  bright 
as  that  of  adult  Christians,  Matt.  xi.  11.  But  undoubtedly  assurance 
is  inseparably  connected  with  the  faith  of  the  Christian  dispensation, 
which  was  not  fully  opened,  till  Christ  opened  his  glorious  baptism  on 
the  day  of  pentecost,  and  till  his  spiritual  kingdom  was  set  up  with 
power  in  the  hearts  of  his  people.  Nobody  therefore  can  truly  be- 
lieve, according  to  this  dispensation,  without  being  immediately  con- 
scious both  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  of  peace  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This  is  a  most  important  truth,  derided  indeed  by 
fallen  Churchmen,  and  denied  by  Laodicean  Dissenters  ;  but  of  late 
years  gloriously  revived  by  Mr.  Wesley  and  the  ministers  connected 
with  him  : — A  truth  this,  which  cannot  be  too  strongly,  and  yet  too 
warily  insisted  upon  in  our  lukewarm  and  speculative  age  :  and  as  I 
would  not  obscure  it  for  the  world,  I  particularly  entreat  the  reader 
to  mind  the  last  erratum;  without  omitting  the  last  but  one,  which 
guards  the  doctrine  of  initial  salvation  by  absoluteyVee  grace. 

I  do  not  desire  to  provoke  my  able  opponents ;  but  I  must  own, 
I  should  be  glad  to  reap  the  benefit  of  my  Checks,  either  by  finding 
an  increase  of  religious  sobriety  and  mutual  forbearance  among  those, 
who  make  a  peculiar  profession  of  faith  in  Christ ;  or  by  seeing  my 
mistakes  [if  1  am  mistaken]  brought  to  light,  that  I  might  no  longer 
recommend  them  as  Gospel  truths.  With  this  view  only,  I  humbl}- 
estreat  my  brethren  and  fathers  in  the  church,  to  point  out  by  Scrip- 
ture or  argument  the  doctrinal  errors  that  may  have  crept  into  the 
Equal  Check.  But  if,  upon  close  examination,  they  should  find,  that 
it  holds  forth  the  two  Gospel  axioms  in  due  conjunction,  and  marks 
out  the  evangelical  mean  with  strict  impartiality  ;  I  hope,  the  moderate 
and  judicious,  in  the  Calvinistic  and  Anti-calvinistic  party,  will  so  far 
unite  upon  this  plan,  as  to  keep  on  terms  of  reciprocal  toleration,  and 


112  PREFACE. 

brotherly  kindness  together ;  rising  with  redoubled  indignation,  not 
one  ^igainst  another,  but  against  those  pests  of  the  religions  world, 
prejudice  and  bigotry,  the  genuine  parents  of  implacable  fanatacism, 
and  bloody  persecution. 

Madeley^  May  21,  1774. 


i^i 


PART  I. 


--— ^^\R>^- 


ATI 


HISTORICAL  ESSAY, 

VrOti  THE  IMPORTANCE  AND  HARMONY  OF  THE  TWO  GOSPEL  PRE- 
CEPTS, BELIEVE  AND  OBEY  ;  AND  UPON  THE  FATAL  CONSEQUENCES 
THAT    FLOW    FROM    PARTING    FAITH    AND    WORKS. 

W  HEN  the  Gospel  is  considered  as  opposed  to  the  error  of  the 
Pharisees,  and  that  of  the  Antinoraians,  it  may  be  summed  up  in  thB 
two  following  propositions:  1.  In  the  day  of  conversion,  we  are 
saved  freely  as  sinners,  (i.  e.  made  freely  partakers  of  the  privileges 
that  belong  to  our  Gospel  dispensation  in  the  church  militant,)  through 
the  merits  of  Christ,  and  by  the  instrumentality  of  a  living  faith: 
2.  In  the  day  of  judgment  we  shall  be  saved  freely  as  saints,  (i.  e. 
made  freely  partakers  of  the  privileges  of  our  Gespel  dispensation 
in  the  church  triumphant,)  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  by  the 
evidence  of  evangelical  works.  Whence  it  follows  :  1.  That  nothing 
can  absolutely  hinder  our  justification  in  a  Gospel  day,  but  the  want 
of  true  faith  ;  andj  2.  That  nothing  will  absolutely  hinder  our  jus- 
tification in  the  day  of  judgment,  but  the  want  of  good  works.  If  I 
am  not  mistaken,  all  the  evangelical  doctrine  of  faith  and  works  turns 
upon  those  propositions.  They  exactly  answer  to  the  grand  direc- 
tions of  the  Gospel.  Wilt  thou  enter  into  Christ's  sheepfold  1 
Bdieve. — Wilt  thou  stay  there  ?  Believe  and  Obey. — Wilt  thou  be 
numbered  among  his  sheep  in  the  great  day  ?  Endure  unto  the  end : 
Continue  in  well  doing :  that  is,  persevere  in  faith  and  obedience. 

To  believe  then  and  obey^  or,  as  Solomon  expresses  it,  To  fear  God 
and  keep  his  commandmenis ^  is  the,  rivhole  duty  of  man.  Therefore,  a 
professor  of  the  faith,  without  genuine  obedjence,  and  a  pretender  to 

Vol.   H-  T5 


114  EiQUAL    CHECK.  S»AK1P    I» 

obedience,  without  genuine  faith,  equally  miss  their  aim,  while  a  friend 
to  faith  and  works  put  in  their  proper  place,  a  possessor  of  the  faith 
which  "jDorks  by  love,  hits  the  Gospel  mark,  and  so  runs  as  to  obtain 
the  prize  :  for  the  same  true  and  faithful  Witness  spoke  the  two  fol- 
lowing, and  equally  express  declarations.  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  hath  everlasting  life ;  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall 
net  see  life;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him.  John  iii,  36.  And,, 
The  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  come 
forth,  they  that  have  dOxNE  good,  unto  the  resurrectien  of  life ;  and  they 
that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  condemnation.  John  v.  29. 

See  that  sculler  upon  yonder  river.  The  unwearied  diligence  and 
watchful  skill  with  which  he  plies  his  two  oars,  points  out  to  us  the 
work  and  wisdom  of  an  experienced  divine.  What  an  even  gentle 
spring  does  the  mutual  effort  of  his  oars  give  to  his  boat  I  Observe 
him  :  his  right  hand  never  rests,  but  when  the  stream  carries  him  too 
much  to  the  left :  he  slacks  not  his  left  hand,  unless  he  is  gone  too 
much  to  the  right ;  nor  has  he  sooner  recovered  a  just  medium,  than 
he  uses  both  oars  again  with  mutual  harmony.  Suppose  that  for  a 
constancy  he  employed  but  one,  no  matter  which,  what  would  be  the 
consequence  ?  He  would  only  move  in  a  circle  ;  and  if  neither  wind 
nor  tide  carried  him  along,  after  a  hard  day's  work  he  would  find 
himself  in  the  very  spot  where  he  began  his  idle  toil. 

This  illustration  needs  verj'  little  explaining  ;  I  shall  just  observe 
that  the  Antinoraian  is  like  a  sculler,  who  uses  only  his  right  hand 
oar  ;  and  the  Pharisee,  like  him  who  plies  only  the  oar  in  his  left 
band.  One  makes  an  endless  bustle  about  grace  and  faithy  the  other" 
about  charity  and  works ;  but  both,  after  all,  find  themselves  exactly 
in  the  same  case  ;  with  this  single  difference,  that  one  has  turned 
from  truth  to  the  right,  and  the  other  to  the  left. 

Not  so  the  judicious,  unbiassed  preacher,  who  will  safely  enter 
the  haven  of  eternal  rest,  for  which  he  and  his  hearers  are  bound. 
He  makes  an  equal  use  of  the  doctrine  of  faith,  and  that  of  workso 
If  at  any  time  he  insist  most  upon  faith,  it  is  only  when  the  stream 
carries  his  congregation  upon  the  Pharisaic  shallows  on  the  left  hand  : 
and  if  he  lay  a  preponderating  stress  upon  works,  it  is  only  when  he 
sees  unwary  souls  sucked  into  the  Antinomian  whirlpool  on  the  right 
band.  His  skill  consists  in  so  avoiding  one  danger  as  not  to  run  upon 
the  other. 

Nor  ought  this  watchful  wisdom  to  be  confined  to  ministers  :  for 
though  all  are  not  called  to  direct  congregations  ;  yet  all  moral 
agents  are,  and  always  were,  more  or  less  called  to  direct  themselves, 
that  is,  to  occupy  till  the  Lord  come,  by  making  a  proper  use  of  their 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  ll5 

talents  according  to  the  parable,  Matt.  xxv.  15  to  31..  God  gave  to 
angels  and  man  *'  rtmigium  alarutn^^^  the  two  oars,  or  if  you  please^ 
the  equal  wings  of  faith  and  obedience  ;  charging  them  to  use  those 
grand  powers,  according  to  their  original  wisdom  and  enlightened  con- 
science. Or,  to  speak  without  metaphor,  he  created  them  in  such  a 
manner,  that  they  believed  it  their  duty,  interest,  and  glory,  to  obey  him 
without  reserve;  and  this  fdtith  was  naturally  productive  of  a  uni- 
versal, delightful,  perfect  obedience.  Nor  would  they  ever  have  been 
wanting  in  practice ^  if  they  had  not  first  wavered  in  principle.  But 
when  Lucifer  had  unaccountably  persuaded  himself,  in  part  at  least, 
either  that  obedience  was  mean,  or  that  rebellion  would  be  advan- 
tageous :  and  when  the  crafty  tempter  had  made  our  first  parents 
believe  in  part  that  if  they  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  far  from  dying, 
they  should  be  as  God  himself;  how  possible,  how  easy  was  it  for 
them  to  venture  upon  an  act  of  rebellion  ? — By  rashly  playing  with 
the  serpent,  and  sucking  in  the  venom  of  his  crafty  insinuations, 
they  soon  gave  their  faith  a  wilful  wound,  and  their  obedience  natu- 
rally died  of  it.  But  alas  !  it  did  not  die  unrevenged  ;  for  no  sooner 
had  fainting  faith  given  birth  to  a  dead  T^ork,  than  she  was  destroyed 
by  her  spurious  offspring.  Thus  Faith  and  Obedience^  that  couple 
more  lovely  than  David  and  his  friend,  more  inseparable  than  Saul 
and  Jonathan  in  their  death,  were  not  divided.  They  even  met  with 
»  common  grave,  the  corrupt,  atrocious  breast  of  a  rebellious  angel, 
or  of  apostate  man. 

Nor  does  St.  James  give  us  a  less  melancholy  account  of  this  fatal 
error.  While  faith  slumbered,  lust  conceived,  and  brought  forth  sin, 
and  sinjinished,  brought  forth  death,  the  death  of  faith,  and  conse- 
quently the  moral  death  of  angelic  spirits  and  human  souls,  who 
equally  live  by  faith  *  during  their  state  of  probation.  So  fell  Luci- 
fer from  heaven,  to  rule  and  rage  in  the  darkness  of  this  world;  so 
fell  Adam  from  paradise,  to  toil  and  die  in  this  vale  of  tears :  so 
fell  Judas  from  an  apostolic  throne,  to  hang  himself  and  go  to  his  own 
place. 

*  Faith  in  God  as  Creator,  Lawgiver,  and  Judge,  was  not  Cess  necessary  to  Lucifer  and 
Adam,  in  order,  to  their  standing  in  a  state  of  innocence,  than  faith  in  God  sis  Redeemer, 
Sandifier,  and  Rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him,  is  necessary  to  simiers,  in  order 
to  their  recovery  from  a  state  of  guilt ;  or  to  believers,  in  order  to  avoid  relapses  and  final 
apostacy.  Faith,  therefore,  so  far  as  it  implies  an  unshaken  confidence  in  God,  and  a 
firm  adherence  to  his  will,  is  as  eternal  as  love  and  obedicnc*.  But  when  it  is  considered 
as  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  sefn,  which  are 
essential  properties  of  a  believer's  faith  in  this  present  state  of  things,  it  is  evident  that  it. 
will  necessarily  end  in  sight,  as  soon  as  the  curtain  of  time  is  drawn  up ;  and  terminate  in 
epjovraent,  as  80on  as  God's  glory  appears  wilhoat  a  vfiil. 


iljb  EQUAL  CHECK.  FART  I, 

« 

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

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

Again,  if  faith  has  the  advantage  over  works  by  giving  them  birth, 
works  have  the  advantage  over  faith  by  perfecting  it.  Seest  thou, 
says  St.  James,  speaking  of  the  Father  of  the  faithful,  how  faith 
wrought  with  his  works,  and  by  works  was  faith  made  perfect  ?  And  if 
St.  Paul  affirms  that  works  without  faith  are  dead,  St.  James  maintains, 
^?iX  faith  without  work^  is  dead  also. 

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

*The  Rev.  Mr.  Madan  does  not  scruple  to  call  our  faith  "  the  instrumental  cause" 
of  our  justification.  See  his  sermon  on  James  ii.  24.  printed  by  Fuller,  London,  1761. 
page  18.  And  if  we  shall  be  justified  in  the  day  of  judgment  bv  our  words,  they  shall 
undoubtedly  be  at  least  an  evidencing  cause  of  our  final  justification.  Hence  it  is  tha^ 
the  same  judicious  divine  speaks,  (p.  30.  1.  4,  ^c.)  of  our  being  "  justified  in  this  three- 
fold sense  pf  the  wo^-d,  meritoriously  by  Christ,  instrumentaily  by  faith,  and  dedarativelyi 
by  works,  which  are  the  fruits  of  faith." 

The  reader  will  permit  me  to  illustrate  the  essential  difference  there  is  Wetween primary 
and  secondary  causes,  by  the  manner  in  which  David  became  Saul's  son-in-law.  The 
primary  causes  of  this  event  were  undoubtedly  on  God's  part,  assisting  power  and  wis- 
dom; and  on  king  Saul's  part,  a  free  promise  of  giving  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the 
roan  who  should  kill  Goliah.  The  secondary  causes  (according  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Madan's 
plan)  may  be  divided  into  instrumental  and  declarative.  The  instrumental  causes  of 
David's  honoirable  match  were  his  ,/(it<^,  his  sling,  his  .stone,  Goliah's  sword,  &c. :  ant'. 


•■'rf 


HISTORfCAL   ETSSAY  117 

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

Hitherto  I  have  endeavoured  to  check  the  rapid  progress  of  spe- 
culative Antinomianism,  that  perpetually  decries  works,  and  centres 
in  the  following  paragraph,  which  presents  without  disguise  the  doc- 
trine of  the  absolute,  unconditional  perseverance  of  adulterous 
believers  and  incestuous  saints. 

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

It  will  not  be  improper  now  to  attempt  a  check  to  Pharisaism, 
which  perpetually  opposes  faith,  and  whose  destructive  errors,  col- 
lected in  one  position,  may  run  thus  : — If  people  perform  external 
acts  of  worship  towards  God,  and  of  charity  towards  their  neighbour  ; 
their  principles*  are  good  enough  :  and  should  they  be  faulty,  these 
good  works  will  make  ample  amends  for  that  deficiency. — Upon  this 
common  plan  of  doctrine,  if  the  filthy  sepulchre  is  but  whitewashed, 
and  the  noisome  grave  adorned  with  a  flowery  turf,  it  little  matters 

the  declarative  or  evidencing  causes,  were  his  works.  He  insists  upon  fighting  the  giani, 
he  renounces  carnal  weapons,  puts  on  the  armour  of  God,  runs  to  meet  his  adversar)', 
sliags  a  fortunate  stone,  brings  his  adversary  down,  flies  upon  him,  and  cuts  off  his  head. 
By  thtst  works  he  was  evidenced  a  person  duly  qualified  to  marry  the  princess ;  or,  to 
keep  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Madan's  expression,  "  fcy"  these  "  works,^^  he  was  "  declarativehf 
judged  a  man  fit  to  be  rewarded  with  the  hand  of  the  princess.  Now  is  it  not  clear  that  hi- 
works,  upon  the  evidence  of  which  he  received  such  a  reward,  had  as  important  a  part  in 
his  obtaining  it,  as  the  faith  and  sling  by  whose  instrumentality  he  'wrought  the  works  ? 
And  is  it  not  strange  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Madan  should  be  an  orthodox  divine,  when  he  says, 
that  "  we  are  declaratively  justijied  by  works,^^  and  that  Mr.  Wesley  should  be  a  dreadful 
heretic  for  saying,  that  we  are  saved  not  by  the  merit  of  loorks,  but  by  works  as  a  condition  ; 
or  in  other  terms,  that  we  are  finally  justified  not  by  works  as  the  primary,  meritorious 
cause  ;  but  as  a  secondary,  evidencing,  declarative  cause  ? 

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


118  ^^UAL  CHECK,  PAET  i; 

what  is  within,    whether  it   be  a  dead   man^s  bones,  a  dead  heart 
swelled  with  pride,  or  all  manner  of  corruption. 

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

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

Has  not  the  world  always  swarmed  with  those  devotees,  who. 
blindly  following  after  faith  without  loving  obedience,  or  after  obe- 
dience without  loving  faith,  have  made  havock  of  the  church,  and 
-driven  myriads  of  worldly  mea  to  a  settled  contempt  of  godliness  ; 


HISTORICAL  ESSAV.  119 

While  R  (eWy  by  equally  standing  up  for  true  faith  and  universal  obe- 
dience, have  alone  kept  up  the  honour  of  religion  in  the  world  ? 
Take  a  general  view  of  the  church,  and  you  will  see  this  observa- 
tion confirmed  by  a  variety  of  black,  bright,  and  mixed  characters. 

The  first  man  born  of  a  woman,  is  a  striking  picture  of  perverted 
mankind.  He  is  at  once  a  sullen  Pharisee,  and  a  gross  Antinomian  : 
he  sacrifices  to  God,  and  murders  his  brother.  Abel,  the  illustrious 
type  of  converted  sinners,  truly  believes  and  acceptably  sacrifices. 
Faith  and  works  shine  in  his  life  with  equal  lustre  ;  and  in  his  death 
we  see  what  the  godly  may  expect  from  the  impious  church  and  the 
pious  world.  Protomartyr  for  the  doctrine  of  this  check,  he  falls  the 
first  innocent  victim  to  Pharisaical  pride  and  Antinomian  fury.  Tli€ 
sons  of  God  mix  with  the  daughters  of  meji^  learn  their  works^  and 
make  shipwreck  of  the  faith.  Enoch  nevertheless  truly  believes  in 
God,  and  humbly  walks  with  him  :  faith  and  works  equally  adorn  his 
character.  The  world  is  soon  full  of  misbelief  and  the  earth  of 
violence.  Noah  however  believes  and  works :  he  credit's  God's 
word,  and  builds  the  ark.  This  work  condemns  the  world,  and  he 
becomes  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith. 

Consider  Abraham  ;  see  how  he  believes  and  works !  God  speaks, 
and  he  leaves  his  house,  his  estate,  his  friends,  and  native  country. 
His  faith  works  by  love  ;  he  exposes  his  life  to  recover  his  neigh- 
bour's property,  he  readily  gives  up  his  right  of  choice  to  prevent  a 
quarrel,  he  earnestly  intercedes  for  Sodom,  he  charitably  hopes  the 
best  of  its  wicked  inhabitants,  he  gladly  entertains  strangers,  humbly 
washes  their  feet,  diligently  instructs  his  household,  and  submissively 
ofi*ers  up  Isaac  his  favourite  son,  the  child  of  his  old  age,  the  hope  oi 
his  family,  his  own  heir,  and  that  of  God's  promise  :  by  these  works 
his  faith  is  made  perfect^  and  he  deserves  to  be  called  the  Father  of 
the  faithful.  Moses  treads  in  his  steps  :  he  believes,  quits  Pharaoh's 
court,  and  sufifers  afiliction  with  the  people  of  God.  Under  his  con- 
duct  the  Israelites  believe,  obey  and  cross  the  Red  Sea  with  a  high 
hand  ;  but  soon  after  they  murmur,  rebel,  and  provoke  divine  ven- 
geance. Thus  the  destruction  which  they  had  avoided  in  Goshen 
through  obedient  faith,  they  meet  in  the  wilderness  through  the  works 
of  unbelief  Nature  is  up  in  arms  to  punish  their  backslidings.  The 
pestilence,  the  sword,  earthquakes,  fiery  serpents,  and  fire  from  hea 
ven,  combine  to  destroy  the  ungrateful  Antinomian  apostates. 

In  the  days  of  Joshua^  that  eminent  type  of  Christ,  faith  and 
works  are  happily  reconciled ;  and  whilst  they  walk  hand  in  hand, 
Iirael  is  invincible,  the  greatest  difficulties  are  surmounted,  and  the 
land  of  promise  is  conquered,  divided,  and  enioyed 


12U  li^UAL  qjiECii;  PARif  J 

Under  the  next  judges  faith  and  works  seldom  meet ;  but  ag  often 
as  they  do,  a  deliverance  is  wrought  in  Israel.  Working  believers 
carry  all  before  them :  they  can  do  all  things  through  the  Ldrd 
strengthening  them  :  they  are  little  omnipotents  ;  but  if  they  suflfer  the 
Antinomian  Delilah  to  cut  off  their  locks,  you  may  apply  to  them  the 
awful  words  of  David  (spoken  to  magistrates,  who  forsake  the  way  of 
righteousness  :)  /  have  said.  Ye  are  Gods,  and  all  of  you  are  children 
of  the  Most  High;  but  ye  shall  die  like  men,  -and  fall  like  one  of  the 
princes ;  like  Zimri  or  Corah,  Dathan  or  Abiram. 

The  character  of  Samuel,  the  last  of  the  judges,  is  perfect.  From 
the  cradle  to  the  grave  he  believes  and  works ;  he  serves  God  and  his 
generation.  His  sons,  like  those  of  Eli,  halt  in  practice,  and  their 
faith  is  an  abomination  to  God  and  man.  David  believes,  works,  and 
kills  the  blaspheming  Philistine.  He  slides  into  Antinomian  faith, 
wantonly  seduces  a  married  woman,  and  perfidiously  kills  an  honest 
man.  Solomon  follows  him  in  the  narrow  path  of  working  faith,  and 
in  the  broad  way  of  speculative  and  practical  Antinomianism.  The 
works  of  the  son  correspond  with  those  of  the  father.  Happy  for 
him,  if  the  repentance  of  the  idolatrous  king  equalled  that  of  his 
adulterous  parent  I 

In  the  days  of  Elijah  the  gates  of  hell  seemed  to  have  prevailed 
against  the  church.  Queen  Jezebel  had  cut  off  the  prophets  of  the 
Lord,  and  appointed  400  chaplains  to  his  majesty  king  Ahab,  who 
shared  the  dainties  of  the  royal  table,  and  therefore  found  it  easy  to 
demonstrate,  that  pleading  for  Baal  was  orthodoxy,  and  prosecuting 
honest  Naboth  as  a  blasphemer  of  God  and  the  king,  was  an  instance  of 
true  loyalty.  But  then  all  were  not  lost :  seven  thousand  men 
showed  their  faith  by  their  works  ;  they  firmly  believed  in  Jehovah, 
and  steadily  refused  bowing  the  knee  to  Baal. 

In  the  days  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  wickedness,  persecution,  and 
ipiaginary  good  works,  prevailed  under  a  show  of  zeal  for  the  temple^, 
and  of  regard  for  the  people  of  God.  But  even  then  also,  there  was 
a  small  remnant  of  believing  and  working  souls,  who  set  fire  to  the 
stubble  of  wickedness  during  the  pious  reigns  of  Hezekiah  and 
Josiah. 

Follow  the  chosen  nation  to  Babylon.  They  all  profess  Jhe  faith 
still :  bnt  how  few  believe  and  work !  Some  do  however  :  and  by 
their  tisork  of  faith  and  patience  of  hppe,  they  quench  the  violence  of 
fire,  and  stop  the  mouths  of  lions :  and  what  is  more  extraordinary 
etill,  they  strike  with  astonisbment  a  fierce  tyrant,  a  Nebuchadnez- 
zar :  they  fill  with  wonder  a  cowardly  king,  a  Darius  :  and  disarming^ 
the  former  of  his  rage,  the.  latter  of  his  fears,  they  sweetly  force 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  12^1 

them  both  to  confes?  the  true  God  among  their  idolatrous  courtiers, 
and  throughout  their  immense  dominions. 

In  the  days  of  Herod  the  double  delusion  is  at  the  height.  John 
the  Baptist  boldly  bears  his  testimony  against  it  in  the  wilderness,  and 
our  Lord  upon  the  mount,  in  the  temple,  and  every  where.  But 
alas !  what  is  the  consequence  ?  By  detecting  the  Antinomianism  of 
the  Pharisees,  and  the  Pharisaism  of  Antinomians,  he  makes  them 
desperate.  The  spirit  of  Cain  rises  with  tenfold  fury  against  an  in- 
nocence far  superior  to  that  of  Abel.  Pharisees  and  Herodians 
must  absolutely  glut  their  mtilice  with  his  blood.  He  yields  to  their 
rage  ;  and  while  he  puts  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself^  he  con- 
descends to  die  a  martyr  far  the  right  faith,  and  the  true  zvorks  ;  he 
seals,  as  adyingpmsi,  the  truth  of  the  two  Gospel  axioms,  which  he 
had  so  often  sealed  as  a  living  prophet,  and  continues  to  seal  as  an 
eternal  Melchisedec. 

The  apostles,  by  precept  and  example,  powerfully  enforce  their 
Lord's  doctrine  and  practice.  Their  lives  are  true  copies  of  their 
exhortations :  their  deepest  sermons  are  only  exact  descriptions  of 
their  behaviour.  It  is  hard  to  say  which  excite  men  most  to  believe 
and  obty,  their  seraphic  discourses  or  their  angelic  conduct.  Their 
labours  are  crowned  with  gcuei  al  auccese^  JuJaigoQ  and  Heathenism 
are  every  where  struck  at,  and  fall  under  the  thunder  of  their  words 
of  faith,  and  the  shining  power  (might  I  not  say  the  lightning)  of 
their  works  of  love.  Thus  the  world  is  turned  upside  down  before 
faith  and  works  ;  the  times  of  refreshing  come  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord;  and  earth,  cursed  as  it  is,  becomes  a  paradise  for  obedient 
believers. 

HeH  trembles  at  the  revolution  ;  and  before  all  is  lost.  Satan  has- 
tens to  transform  himself  into  an  angel  of  light.  In  that  favourable 
disguise,  he  puts  his  usual  stratagem  in  execution  against  the  believ- 
ing, working,  and  suiTering  church.  He  instils  speculative  faith, 
pleads  for  relaxed  manners,  puts  the  badge  of  contempt  upon  the 
daily  cross,  and  gets  the  immense  body  of  the  Gnostics  and  Laodi- 
ceans  into  his  snare.  Sad  and  sure  is  the  consequence.  The  genuine 
works  of  faith  are  neglected  :  idle  vvorks  of  men's  invention  are  sub- 
stituted for  those  of  God's  commandments.  And  fallen  churches, 
through  the  smooth  way  of  Antinomianism,  return  to  the  covert  way 
of  Pharisaism,  or  to  the  broad  way  of  infidelity. 

Such  was  the  deplorable  condition  of  the  western  church  when 
Luther  appeared.  True  faith  was  dethroned  by  superstitious  fancy  : 
and  all  the  works  of  the  former  were  well  nigh  choked  by  the  thorns 
that  sprang  from  the  latter.     The  zealous  reformer,  with  his  sharp 

Vol.  U.  1G 


122  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    1. 

scythe,  justly  cuts  them  down  through  a  considerable  part  of  Germany- 
His  terribly  successful  weapon,  which  had  already  done  some  execu- 
tion in  the  Netherlands.  France,  and  Italy,  might  have  reached  Rone 
itself,  if  the  effects  of  his  unguarded  preaching  had  not  dreadfully 
broke  out  around  him  in  the  North. 

Thjre  the  balance  of  the  evangelical  precepts  was  lost.  Solifi- 
dians  openly  prevailed.  Our  Lord's  sermon  upon  the  mount,  and  St. 
James's  epistle,  were  either  explained  away,  ©r  wished  out  of  the 
Bible.  The  amiable,  practical  law  of  Christ,  was  perpetually  con- 
founded with  the  terrible,  impracticable  law  of  innocence :  and  the 
avoidable  penalties  of  the  former,  were  injudiciously  represented  as 
one  with  the  dreadful  curse  of  the  latter,  or  with  the  abrogated  cere- 
monies of  the  Mosaic  dispensations.  Then  the  law  was  publicly 
wedded  to  the  devil,  and  poor  Protestant  Solitidians  were  taught  to 
bid  equal  defiance  to  both. 

The  effect  soon  answered  the  cause.  Lawless  believers,  known 
under  the  name  of  Anabaptists,  arose  in  Germany.  They  fancied 
themselves  the  dear,  the  e'-ect  people  of  God  ;  they  were  complete 
in  Christ ;  their  election  was  absolutely  made  sure  ;  all  things  were 
theirs  :  and  they  went  about  in  religious  mobs  to  deliver  people  from 
legal  bondage,  and  brlns;  them  iuio  Gospel  liberty,  which,  in  their 
opinion,  was  a  liberty  to  despise  all  laws  divine  and  human,  and  to 
do,  every  one,  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes.  Luther  was  shocked, 
and  cried  out ;  but  the  mischief  was  done,  and  the  Reformation  dis- 
graced :  nor  did  he  perseveringly  apply  the  proper  remedy  pointed 
out  in  the  Minutes,  salvation  not  by  the  merit  of  works,  but  by  the  works 
of  faith  as  a  condition. 

Nevertheless  he  was  wise  enough  to  give  ap  the  root  of  the  mis- 
chief in  the  Lutheran  Articles  of  Religion,  presented  to  the  emperor 
Charles  the  Vth  at  Augsburg,  whence  they  were  called  the  .Augsburg 
Confession.  In  the  Xllth  of  those  articles,  which  treats  of  repentance, 
we  find  these  remarkable  words.  *'  We  teach  touching  repentance, 
that  those  who  have  sinned  after  baptism,  may  obtain  the  forgiveness 
of  their  sins  as  often  as  they  are  converted,"  &c.  Again,  "  We  con- 
demn the  Anabaptists,  who  say,  that  those  who  have  been  once  jus- 
tified can  no  more  lose  the  Holy  Spirit." 

This  doctrine,  clearly  opened,  and  frequently  enforced,  might  have 
stopped  the  progress  of  Antinomianism.  But  alas  !  Luther  did  not 
often  insist  upon  it,  and  sometimes  he  seemed  even  to  contradict  it. 
In  the  meantime  Calvin  came  up ;  and  though  I  must  do  him  the 
justice  to  acknowledge,  that  be  seldom  went  the  length  of  mooern 
Calvinists  in  speculative  Aotinomianism»  yet  he  made  the  matter 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  123 

worse  by  advancing  many  unguarded  propositions  about  absolute 
<lecrees,  and  the  necessary,  final  perseverance  of  back>liding  believers. 
This  doctrine,  which,  together  with  its  appendages,  so  nicely  re- 
conciles Baal  and  free  grace ;  a  little^  or  (if  the  backslider  is  so 
minded)  a  good  deal  of  the  world,  and  heaven  ;  this  flesh-pleasing 
doctrine,  which  slily  parts  faith  and  works,  while  it  decently  unites 
Christ  and  Belial,  could  not  but  be  acceptable  to  injudicious  and  car- 
nal Protestants:  and  to  make  it  pass  with  others,  it  was  pompously 
decorated  with  the  name  of  the  doctrine  of  grace  ;  and  free  grace 
preachers,  as  they  called  themselves,  insinuated  that  St.  James's  doc- 
trine oi  faith  being  dead  without  works,  was  a  doctrine  of  wrath,  an 
uncomfortable  antichristian  doctrine,  which  none  but  "  proud  justi- 
ciaries," and  rank  Papists,  could  maintain.  Time  would  fail  to  men- 
tion all  the  books  that  were  indirectly  written  against  it  ;  or  to  relate 
all  the  abuse  that  was  indirectly  thrown  upon  these  two  propositions 
of  St.  P«-uI,  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap,  and  If  ye 
live  after  the  flesh  ye  shall  die. 

Let  it  suffice  to  observe,  that  by  these  means  the  hellish  sower  of 
Antinomian  tares  prevailed.  Thousands  of  good  men  were  carried 
away  by  the  stream.  And,  what  is  more  surprising  still,  not  a  few  of 
the  wise  and  learned,  favoured,  embraced,  and  defended  the  Antino- 
mian delusion. 

Thus  what  Luther's  Solifidian  zeal  had  begun,  and  what  Calvin's 
predestinarian  mistakes  had  carried  on,  was  readily  completed  by  the 
Synod  of  Dort;  and  the  Antinomianism  of  many  Protestants  was  not 
less  confirmed  by  that  assembly  of  Calvinistic  divines,  than  the 
Pharisaism  of  rnany  Papists  had  been  before  by  the-  Council  of 
Trent 

It  is  true,  that  as  some  good  men  in  the  church  of  Rome  have 
boldly  withstood  Pharisaical  errors,  and  openly  pleaded  for  salvation 
by  grace  through  faith  ;  so  some  good  men  in  the  Protestant  churches 
have  also  steadily  resisted  Antinomian  delusions  and  publicly  defended 
the  doctrine  of  salvation,  not  by  the  proper  merit  of  works,  but  by 
the  works  of  faith  as  a  condition.  But  alas  !  as  the  Popes  of  Rome 
crushed,  or  excommunicated  the  former,  almost  as  fast  as  they  arose  ; 
so  have  petty  Protestant  Popes  blackened,  or  silenced  the  latter. 
The  true  (c^uakers,  from  their  first  appearance,  have  made  as  firm  a 
stand  against  the  Antinomians,  as  the  Valdenses  against  the  Papists  ; 
and  it  is  well  known  that  the  Antinomians,  who  went  from  England  to 
America  with  many  pious  Puritans,  whipped  the  Quakers,  men  and 
women,  cut  ofi"  their  ears,  made  against  them  a  law  of  banishment 
upon  pain  of  death,  and  upon  that  tyrannical  law  hanged  four  of  theii 


124  EQUAL    CHECK,  PART  I. 

preachers,  three  men  and  one  woman*  in  the  last  century,  for 
preaching  up  the  Christian  perfection  of  faith  and  obedience,  and  so 
disturbing  the  peace  of  the  elect,  who  were  at  ease  in  Sio7i,  or  rather 
in  Babel. 

I  need  not  mention  the  title  of  heretic,  with  which  that  learned  and 
good  man,  Arminius,  is  to  this  day  dignified,  for  having  made  a  firm 
and  noble  stand  against  wanton  Free  Grace.  The  banishment  or 
deprivation  of  Grotius,  Episcopius,  and  other  Dutch  divines,  is  no 
secret.  And  it  is  well  known  that  in  England  Mr.  Baxter,  Mr.  Wes- 
ley, and  Mr.  Sellon,  are  to  this  day  an  abhorrence  to  all  Antinomian 
Jlesh. 

I  am  sorry  to  say,  that,  all  things  considered,  these  good  men  have 
been  treated  with  as  much  severity  by  Protestant  Antinomians,  as 
ever  Luther,  Melancthon,  and  Calvin  were  by  Popish  Pharisees  : 
The  Antinomian  and  Pharisaic  spirit  run  as  much  into  one,  as  the 
two  arms  of  a  river  that  embraces  an  island.  If  they  divide  for  a 
lime,  it  is  only  to  meet  again,  and  increase  their  mutual  rapidity.  I 
beg  leave  to  speak  my  whole  mind.  It  is  equally  clear  from  Scrip- 
ture and  reason,  that  we  must  believe,  in  order  to  be  saved  con- 
sistently with  God's  mercy ;  and  that  we  must  obey,  in  order  to  be 
saved  consistently  with  his  holiness.  These  propositions  are  the 
immoveable  basis  of  the  two  Gospel  axioms.  Now  if  I  reject  either 
of  them,  it  little  matters  which.  If  1  blow  my  brains  out,  what 
signifies  it,  whether  I  do  it  by  clapping  the  mouth  of  a  pistol  to  my 
right  or  to  my  left  temple  ? 

Error  moves  in  a  circle  -  extremes  meet  in  one.  A  warm  Popish 
Pharisee,  and  a  zealous  Protestant  Antinomian,  are  nearer  each  other 
than  they  imagine.  The  one  will  tell  you,  that  by  going  to  mass 
and  confession,  he  can  get  a  fresh  absolution  from  the  priest  for  any 
sin  that  he  shall  commit :  the  other,  whose  mistake  is  still  more 
pleasing  to  flesh  and  blood,  assures  you  that  he  has  already  got  an 
eternal  absolution,  so  that  "  under  every  state  and  circumstance  he 
can  possibly  be  in,  he  is  justified  from  all  things,  his  sins  are  for  ever 
and  for  ever  cancelled." 

But  if  they  differ  a  little  in  the  idea  of  their  imaginary  privileges, 
they  have  the  honour  of  agreeing  in  the  main  point.  For,  although 
the  one  makes  a  great  noise  about  faitk  nndfree  grace,  and  the  other 
about  works  and  true  charity,  they  exactly  meet  in  narrow^race  and 
despairing  uncharitableness.     The  Pharisee  in  Jerusalem  asserts,  that 

*  Their  names  were  William  Leddra,  Marmaduke  Stephenson,  William  Robinson, 
and  Mary  Dyer.  See  The  History  of  the  Quakers,  by  Sewell ;  and  JVeu>  Englandjudgid, 
by  George  Bishoj/. 


i  HISTORICAL  ESSAY.  125 

*'  out  of  the  Jewish  church  there  can  be  no  salvation,"  and  his  com- 
panions in  self-election  heartily  say  Amen!  Tfie  Pharisee  in  Ronae 
declares,  that  ''  there  is  no  salvation  out  of  the  apostolic,  Romish 
church,"  and  all  the  Catholic  elect  set  their  seal  to  the  antichristian 
decree.  And  the  Antinomian  in  London  msinuates  (for  he  is  ashamed 
to  speak  quite  out  in  a  Protestant  country*  that  there  is  no  salvation 
out  of  the  Calvinistic  predestinarian  church.  Hence,  if  you  oppose 
his  principles  in  ever  so  rational  and  scriptural  a  manner,  he  sup- 
poses that  you  are  "  quite  dark,"  that  all  your  holiness  is  "  self- 
made,"  and  all  your  "  righteousness  a  cobweb  spun  by  a  poor  spider 
out  of  his  own  boivels  :"  and  if  he  allows  you  a  chance  for  youir  sal- 
vation, it  is  only  upon  a  supposition,  that  you  may  yet  repent  of  your 
opposition  to  his  errors,  and  turn  Calvinist  before  you  die.  But 
might  not  an  inquisitor  be  as  charitable  ?  Might  he  not  hope  that  the 
poor  heretic,  whom  he  has  condemned  to  the  flames,  may  yet  be 
saved,  if  he  cordially  kiss  a  crucifix,  and  say  Ave  Maria  at  the  stake  ? 

And  now,  candid  reader,  look  around,  and  see  what  these  seem- 
ingly opposite  errors  have  done  for  Christ's  church.  Before  the 
Reformation,  Christendom  was  overspread  with  superstition  and 
fanaticism  ;  and  since,  with  lukewarmness  and  infidelity.  But  let  us 
descend  to  particulars. 

What  has  Pharisaism  done  for  the  Church  of  Rome?  It  has  pub- 
licly rent  from  her  all  the  Protestant  kingdoms,  and  secretly  turned 
against  her  an  innumerable  multitude  of  Deists  :  for  while  bigots 
continue  ridiculous  bigots  still  ;  men  of  wit,  headed  by  ingenious 
infidels,  continually  pour  undeserved  contempt  upon  Christianity, 
through  the  deserved  wounds  which  they  give  to  Popery.  They 
represent  Christ's  rational  and  humane  religion  as  one  of  the  worst 
in  the  world,  unjustly  charging  it  with  the  persecuting  spirit,  and 
horrible  massacres  of  those  Catholics,  so  called,  who,  mangling  the 
truth,  and  running  away  with  one-half  of  the  body  of  Christian 
divinity,  disgrace  the  whole  by  childish  fooleries,  and  worse  than 
barbarian  uncharitableness. 

And  what  does  Pharisaism  for  the  Protestant  churches  ?  So  far  as 
it  prevails,  spreads  it  not  around  its  fatal  leaven,  a  general  indiffer- 
ence about  heartfelt  religion  ?  Turns  it  not  the  lively  oracles  of 
God  into  a  dead  letter,  the  sacraments  into  empty  ceremonies,  the 
means  of  grace  into  rattles  to  quiet  a  guilty  conscience  with,  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ  into  a  common  things  his  hallowed  cross  into 
an  inglorious  tree,  external  devotion  into  a  cloak  for  secret  hypo- 
crisy ;  and  some  acts  of  apparent  benevolence  into  the  rounds  of  a 
ladder,  the  bottom  of  which  reaches  bell,  and  behold,  spiritual  fiends 


126  EQUAL  CH^CK,  PART  I. 

(all  manner  of  diabolical  tempers)  are  seen  continually  ascending  and 
descending  on  it  ? 

Does  it  not  incline  us  to  despise  those  who  are  eminently  pious,  as 
if  they  were  out  of  their  senses  ;  to  despair  of  those  who  are  no- 
toriously wicked,  as  if  they  were  absolute  reprobates  :  and  to 
prefer  a  popular  imitator  of  Barabbas  to  a  meek  follower  of  Jesus  ? 
Does  it  not  prompt  us  to  lay  an  undue  stress  upon  trifles,  and  make 
an  endless  ado  about  some  frivolous  circumstance  of  external  wor- 
ship, while  we  pass  over  judgment,  mercy,  and  the  love  of  God?  And 
by  that  mean,  does  it  not  confirm  modern  Herodians  in  their  ^ntino- 
mianism,  and  modern  Sadducees  in  their  infidelity?  In  a  word,  does 
it  not  render  the  stiff  neck  stiffer,  the  blind  understanding  bhnder, 
the  hard  heart  stouter,  the  proud  spirit  more  rebellious,  more  in- 
different about  mercy,  more  averse  to  Gospel  grace,  more  satanical, 
readier  for  all  the  curses  of  the  law,  and  riper  for  all  the  woes  of  the 
Gospel  ? 

But  let  us  consider  the  other  extreme.  What  has  Calvinism  done 
for  Geneva  ?  Alas  !  it  has  in  a  great  degree  shocked  and  driven  it 
into  Arianism,  Socinianism,  and  infidelity.  See  the  account  lately  given 
of  it  in  the  French  Encyclopedia :  Article  Geneva.  "  Many  of  the 
clergy  of  Geneva  (says  judicious  Mr.  D'Alembert)  no  longer  believe 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  which  Calvin,  their  leader,  was  a 
zealous  defender,  and  for  which  he  had  Servetus  burned,  &c. — 
They  believe  that  there  are  punishments  in  another  world,  but  only 
for  a  limited  time  ;  thus  purgatory,  which  was  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  the  Reformation,  is  now  the  only  punishment  which  many 
Protestants  admit  after  death.  A  new  proof  this,  that  man  is  a  being 
full  of  contradictions.  To  sum  up  all  in  one  word,  the  religion  of 
many  pastors  at  Geneva  is  perfect  Socinianism.^^ 

What  good  has  Calvinism  done  in  England?  Alas!  very  little. 
When  a  bow  is  bent  bej'ond  its  proper  degree  of  tension,  does  it  not 
fly  to  pieces  ?  When  you  violently  pull  a  tree  towards  the  west,  if 
it  recover  itself,  does  it  not  violently  fly  to  the  east  ?  Has  not  this 
generally  been  the  case  with  respect  to  all  the  truths  of  God,  which 
have  been  forced  out  of  their  scriptural  place  one  way  or  another? 
Calvinism,  in  the  d^»ys  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  was  at  the  very  same 
height  of  splendour,  at  which  Popery  had  attained  in  the  days  of  king 
Henry  the  Vlllth,  and  they  share  the  same  downfal.  Mole  ruunt 
sua.  At  the  Reformation,  the  first  grand  doctrine  of  Christianity, 
(salvation  by  grace  through  faith)  which  had  been  forced  out  of  its 
place,  and  almost  broken  by  the  Papists,  flew  back  upon  them  with 
such  violence,  that  it  shook  the  holy  see,  frightened  the  Pope,  and 


HISTOKI€AL    ESSAlT.  127 

made  some  of  the  richest  jewels  fall  from  his  triple  crown.  In  like 
manner,  the  second  grand  doctrine  of  Christianity  salvation  not  by 
the  proper  merit  of  works,  but  by  the  works  of  faith  as  a  condition) 
which  had  been  served  by  the  Antinomians  just  as  the  first  Gospel 
axiom  by  the  Papists,  recovering  itself  out  of  their  hands,  flew  back 
upon  them  with  uncommon  violence  at  king  Charles's  restoration, 
by  an  indirect  blow  shook  two  thousand  Calvinistic  ministers  out  of 
their  pulpits  ;  and  getting  far  beyond  its  Scriptural  place,  began  to 
bear  hard  upon,  and  even  thrust  out  the  grand  doctrine  of  salvation 
by  grace.  Thus  the  absurdity  and  mischief  of  Antinomianism  began 
to  drive  again  the  generality  of  English  Protestants  into  Pharisaism, 
Arianism,  Socinianisni,  or  open  infidelity  ;  that  is,  into  the  state,  in 
which  most  of  the  learned  are  at  Rome  and  Geneva. 

I  grant  that  near  forty  years  ago,  some  clergymen  from  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford  returned  to  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  and 
zealously  contended  again  for  salvation  by  grace  and  for  universal  obe- 
dience.  By  the  divine  blessing  upon  their  indefatigable  endeavours, 
Faith  and  fVor'  s  met  again,  and  for  some  time  walked  undisturbed  to- 
gether. A  little  revolution  then  took  place  :  Practical  Christianity 
revived,  and  leaning  upon  her  fair  daughters,  Truth  and  Love,  took  a 
solemn  walk  through  the  kingdom,  and  gave  a  foretaste  of  heaven  to 
all  that  cordially  entertained  her. 

She  might,  by  this  time,  have  turned  this  favourite  isle  into  a  land 
flowing  with  spiritual  milk  and  honey,  if  Apollyon,  disguised  in  his  an- 
gelic robes,  had  not  played,  and  did  not  continue  to  play,  his  old  game. 
Nor  does  he  do  it  in  vain.  By  his  insinuations  men  of  a  contrary  turn 
rise  against  Practical  Christianity.  Many  of  the  devout -call  her  He- 
resy, and  many  of  the  gay  name  her  rank  Enthusiasm.  In  the  mean 
time  she  drops  a  tear  of  tender  pity,  prays  for  lier  mistaken  persecu- 
tors, and  quietly  retires  into  the  wilderness.  Lean  Obedience  is  soort 
driven  after  her  to  make  more  room  for  speculative  Faith,  who  is  so 
highly  fed  with  luscious  food  and  wild  honey,  that  she  is  quite  bloated, 
and  full  of  humours.  Nay,  in  some  she  is  degenerated  into  an  impa- 
tient quarrelsome  something,  which  calls  iUeK Orthodoxy,  or  the  Truth, 
and  must  be  treated  with  the  greatest  respect ;  whilst  Charity,  cold, 
sickly,  and  almost  starved  for  want  of  work,  is  hardly  used  with  com- 
mon good  manners. 

In  a  word,  Antinomian  Christianity  is  come,  and  makes  her  public 
entry  in  the  professing  church.  A  foolish  virgin,  who  assumes  the 
name  of  Free  Grace,  walks  before  her,  and  cries,  "  Bend  the  knee, 
bow  the  heart,  and  entertain  the  old,  the  pure,  the  only  Gospel."  An 
ugly  black  boy  called  Free  urath,  bears  her  enormous  train,  and  with 


128  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    t, 

wonderful  art  hides  himself  behind  it.  While  thousands  are  taken 
with  the  smiles  and  cheerfulness  of  Wanton  Free  Grace,  for  that  is  the 
virgin's  right  name)  and  for  her  sake  welcome  her  painted  mother;  a 
gray-headed  Seer  passes  by,  fixes  his  keen  eyes  upon  the  admired 
family,  sees  through  their  disguise,  and  warns  his  friends.  This  is 
highly  resented,  not  only  by  all  the  lovers  of  the  sprightly,  alluring 
maid,  but  by  some  excellent  people,  who,  in  the  simplicity  of  their 
hearts,  mistake  her  for  the  celestial  virgin  Astrea.  Mr.  H.  and  Mr. 
T.,  two  of  her  champions,  fall  upon  the  aged  Monitor;  and  to  the 
great  entertainment  of  the  Pharisaic  and  Antinomian  world,  do  their 
best  to  tread  down  his  honour  in  the  dust. 

While  they  are  thus  employed,  a  rough  countryman,  who  had  taken 
the  Seer's  warning,  throws  himself  full  in  the  way  of  Antinomian 
Christianity,  and  tries  to  stop  her  in  her  triumphal  march.  Wanton 
Free  Grace  is  a  little  disconcerted  at  his  rudeness,  she  reddens,  and 
soon  shows  herself  the  true  sister  of  Free  Wrath.  To  be  revenged 
of  the  clown,  she  charges  him  with — guess  what — A  rape  ?  No,  but 
with  being  great  with  the  scarlet  whore,  and  concerned  with  the  Romish 
man  of  sin.  If  he  is  acquitted  of  these  enormities,  they  say  that  she 
is  determined  to  indite  him  for  murder  or  ^^ forgery  ;'^  and  if  that  will 
not  do,  for  highway  robbery,  or  "  execrable  Szviss  slander.'''*  The 
Mountaineer,  who  counts  not  his  life  dear,  stands  his  ground,  and  in 
the  scuffle  discovers  the  black  boy,  lays  fast  hold  of  him,  and  (notwith- 
standing the  good  words  that  he  gives  one  moment,  and  the  floods  of 
invectives  which  he  pours  out  the  next;  he  drags  him  out  to  public 
view,  and  appeals  to  the  Christian  world.     Et  adhuc  subjudice  lis  est. 

But  leaving  England,  the  scene  of  the  present  controversy,  I  ask, 
Whdt  does  Calvinism  at  this  day  for  Scotland,  where  national  honours 
are  paid  to  it,  and  where  for  some  ages  it  has  passed  for  the  pure  Gos- 
pel ?  Alas!  not  much,  if  we  may  depend  upon  the  observations  of  a 
gentleman  of  piety  and  fortune,  who  went  last  year  with  an  eminent 
minister  of  Christ,  to  inspect  the  state  of  spiritual  Christianity  in  the 
north,  and  brought  back  this  melancholy  account :  *'  The  decay  of 
vital  religion  is  yet  more  visible  in  Scotland  than  in  England." 

Should,  by  this  time,  some  of  my  readers  be  ready  to  ask,  what 
Arminianism  has  done  for  Holland  and  England  ;  I  reply :  If  by  Ar- 
minianism  you  mean  the  pure  doctrine  of  Christ,  especially  the  doc- 
trine of  our  free  justification  through  Christ,  by  the  instrummtaliiy  of 
faith  i-n  the  day  of  a  sinner's  conversion,  and  by  the  evidence  of  the 
works  of  faith  afterward  :  if  you  mean,  as  I  do,  a  system  of  evangeli- 
cal truth,  in  which  the  two  Gospel  precepts,  believe  and  obey,  are  duly 
balanced,  and/aii/i  and  works  kept  in  their  scriptural  place  j  I  answer 


HISTORICAL    ESSAY.  120 

that,  under  Christ,  it  has  done  all  the  good  that  has  been  done,  not 
only  in  Holland  and  England,  but  in  all  Christendom. 

Be  not  then  mistaken  :  When  ministers,  leaning  towards  speculative 
Antinomiamsm,  have  done  good;  it  has  not  been  by preachiifg  wanton 
free  grace,  and  by  shackling  the  free  Gospel :  but  by  powerfully  en- 
forcing the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus;  by  crying  aloud,  ''  Believe,  thou  lost 
sinner,  and  be  saved  by  grace — Obey,  thou  happy  believer,  and  evi- 
dence thy  salvation  by  works — And  whosoever  will,  let  him  come  and 
take  of  the  water  of  life  freely,  for  all  things  are  now  ready." — So 
far  as  they  have  started  aside  from  this  guarded,  and  yet  encouraging 
Gospel,  they  have  pulled  down  with  one  hand  what  they  built  with 
the  other  ;  they  have  tried  to  make  up  the  Pharisaic,  by  widening  the 
Antinomian  gap  ;  they  have  departed  from  what  we  call  Christianity, 
and  what  you  are  at  full  liberty  to  call  Arminianism^  Baxter ianism,  or 
Wesleyanism. 

To  return  :  I  observed  just  now,  that  Antinomianism  drives  u«  into 
Pharisaism,  Sociniasm,  and  infidelity ;  but  might  I  not  have  added 
fatalism,  the  highest  degree  of  fashionable  infidelity?  And  after  all, 
what  is  fatalism,  in  which  the  greatest  infidels  unanimously  shelter 
themselves  in  our  day  ?  Is  it  not  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  high 
Calvinism,  whose  emblematical  representation  may  be  a  serpent 
forming  a  circle  while  it  bites  its  tail,  with  this  motto.  In  sese  volvitur 
error,  After  a  large  circuit  error  ends  where  it  began  ?  If  high  CaU 
vinism  is  the  head,  is  not  fatalism  the  tail  ? 

For  my  part,  I  shall  not  wonder,  if  some  of  our  high  predeetinari- 
ans  find  themselves,  before  they  are  aware,  even  at  Hobbs's  or  Vol- 
taire's feet,  humbly  learning  there  the  horrible  lessons  of  fatalism. 
Nay,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  they  perfectly  agree  with  the  French  phi- 
losopher in  the  capital  point.  One  might  think  that  they  have  con- 
verted him  to  their  orthodoxy,  or  that  he  has  perverted  them  to  his 
infidelity.  Candid  reader,  judge  of  it  by  the  following  extract  of  his 
lecture  on  Destiny. 

"  Homer  (says  he)  is  the  first  writer,  in  whose  works  we  find  the 
notion  oifate.  It  was  then  in  vogue  in  his  time.  Nor  was  it  adopted 
by  the  Pharisees,  till  many  years  after :  for  these  Pharisees  them- 
selves, who  were  the  first  men  of  letters  amonjg  the  Jews,  were  not 
very  ancient,  kc.  But  philosophers  needed  neither  the  help  of  Ho- 
mer, nor  that  of  the  Pharisees,  to  persuade  themselves,  that  all  things 
happen  by  immutable  decrees,  that  all  is  fixed,  that  all  is  necessary.'* 
Now  for  the  proof.  "  Bodies  (adds  he)  tend  to  the  centre,  peartrees 
can  never  bear  pineapples,  a  man  cannot  have  above  a  certain  num- 
ber of  teeth." — And  directly  flying  from  teeth  to  ideas^  he  would  have 

Vol.  II.  '  17 


ISO  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

US  infer,  that  we  can  no  more  arrange,  combine,  alter,  or  dismiss  our 
ideas,  than  our  grinders,  and  that  an  adulterer  defiles  his  neighbour's 
bed  as  necessarily  as  a  peartree  produces  pears.  He  even  adds,  "  If 
thou  couldst  alter  the  destiny  of  a  %,  thou  shouldst  be  mora  powerful 
than  God  himself."  See  Dictionaire  Philosopkique  portatifj  Londres, 
1764,  page  163,  164. 

This  ingenious  infidel  is  quite  as  orthodox  (in  the  Calvinistic  sense 
of  the  word)  in  his  article  on  Liberty.  *'  What  does  then  your  free 
Will  consist  in  (says  he)  if  it  is  not  in  a  power  to  do  willingly  what 
absolute  necessity  makes  you  choose  ?"  Nay  he  is  so  staunch  a  predes- 
tinarian,  so  complete  a  fatalist,  that  he  maintaius,  no  one  can  choose 
even  or  odds  without  an  irresistible  order  of  all-directing  fate.  And 
he  concludes  by  affirming,  that  all  "  liberty  of  indifference^''''  that  is, 
all  power  to  do  a  thing,  or  to  leave  it  undone  at  our  option,  without 
the  necessitating  agency  of  fate,  "  is  arrant  nonsense.^^  See  the  same 
book,  p.  243,  &c. 

Thus  the  most  subtle,  self-righteous  infidel  in  France,  by  going  full 
east ;  and  the  most  rigid,  thoroughpaced  Antinomian  in  England,  by 
going  full  west,  in  the  ways  of  error,  meet  at  last  face  to  face  in  the 
antipodes  of.  truth.  O  may  the  shock  caused  by  their  unexpected 
encounter,  wake  them  bothout  of  their  fatal  dreams,  to  call  upon 
him  who  takes  the  ^ise  in  their  ois^n  craftiness,  imparts  true  wisdom  to 
the  simple,  and  crowns  the  humble  with  grace  and  glory. 

As  high  Calvinism  on  the  left  hand  falls  in  with  fatalism^  so  on  the 
right  hand  it  runs  into  the  wildest  notions  of  some  deluded  mystics, 
and  ranting  perfectionists.  Judicious  reader,  you  will  be  convinced 
of  it  by  the  following  propositions,  advanced  by  Molinos,*  the  father 
of  the  mystics  and  perfectionists,  who  are  known  abroad  under  the 
name  of  Quietists.  These  positions,  among  many  others,  were  con- 
demned by  the  Pope  as  '*  rash,  offensive  to  pious  ears,  erroneous, 
scandalous,  &:c."  1  extract  them  from  the  Bull  of  his  Holiness,  given 
at  Rome,  1687,  and  published  by  the  archbishop  of  Cambray  at  the 
end  of  his  book,  called  Instruction  pastorale^  printed  at  Amsterdam, 
1698.  See  page  192,  &c. 

"  Velle  eperari  active  est  Deum  offender e^  qui  vult  esse  solus  agens,  &c. 
To  be  willing  to  be  active  and  work,  is  to  ofiend  God,  who  will  be 
the  sole  agent,  &c. — Our  natural  activity  stands  in  the  way  of  grace, 
and  hinders  the  divine  operation  and  true  perfection,  quia'Deus  vult 
operari  in  nobis  sine  nobis^  because  God  will  work  in  us  without  us. 

*  He  was  a  pious,  but  injudicious  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  who,  in  some 
of  his  works,  spoiled  the  doctrine  of  grace  by  Calvinistic  refinements ;  and  that  of 
Christian  j/erfeCCion  by  Antinomian  rani. 


HISTORICAL   ESSAY.  131 

The  soul  ought  not  to  think  upon  rewards  and  punishments.^— -We 
must  leave  to  God  the  caring  of  all  that  concerns  us,  that  he  may  do 
in  us,  without  us,  his  divine  will.  He  that  will  be  resigned  to  Go^'s 
will,  must  not  ask  him  any  thing,  because  petitions  savour  of  our  own 
will,  and  therefore  are  zmper/eci;**  (or,  to  speak  in  the  Calvinistic 
way,  sinful.) 

Again,  "  God,  to  humble  and  transform  us,  permits  and  wills,  that 
the  devil  should  do  violence  to  the  bodies  of  some  perfect  souls" 
[i.  e.  established  believers]  *'  and  should  make  them  commit  carnal 
actions  against  their  will. — God  now  sanctifies  his  saints  by  the  minis- 
try of  devils,  who,  by  causing  in  their  flesh  the  above-mentioned 
violent  impulses,  makes  them  despise  themselves  the  more.  See. — St, 
Paul  felt  such  violent  impulses  in  his  body :  hence  he  wrote,  The 
good  that  I  would^  I  do  7iot ;  and  the  evil  which  I  would  not^  I  do. 
These  violent  impulses  are  the  best  means  to  humble  the  soul  to 
nothing,  and  to  bring  it  to  true  holiness,  and  the  divine  union ;  there 
is  no  other  way,  et  hcec  est  via  facilior  et  tutior^  and  this  is  the  easier 
and  the  safer  way. — David,  &c.  suflered  such  violent  impulses  tg 
external  impure  actions,  &c." 

Who  does  not  see  here  some  of  the  most  absurd  tenets,  or  danger*' 
oas  consequences  of  Calvinism  !  Man  is  a  mere  machine  in  the  work 
of  salvation. — The  body  of  holy  Paul  is  sold  under  sin. — David  in 
Uriah's  bed  is  complete  and  perfect  in  Christ — Actual  adultery  hum- 
bles believers,  and  is  an  excellent  mean  of  sanctification,  &c. 

When  we  see  Antinomianism  thus  defiling  the  sounder  part  of  thc^ 
Romish  and  Protestant  churches  ;  when  the  god  of  this  world  avails 
himself  of  these  "  Antinomian  dotages"  to  confirm  myriads  of  stiff 
Pharisees  in  their  self-righteous  delusions  ;  and  when  the  bulk  of 
men,  shocked  at  the  glaring  errors  of  both,  run  for  shelter  to  Deism, 
and  gross  infidelity  ;  who  would  not  desire  to  see  the  doctrines  oi 
faith  and  works,  grace  and  obedience,  so  stated  and  reconciled,  that  meji 
of  reason  might  no  longer  be  offended  at  Christianity ;  nor  7n€?i  of 
religion  one  at  another  ? 

This  is  again  attempted  in  the  following  discourse,  the  substance  of 
which  was  committed  to  paper  many  years  ago,  to  convince  the 
Pharisees  and  Papists  of  my  parish,  that  there  is  no  salvation  by  the 
faithless  works  of  the  law,  but  by  a  living  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 
With  shame  I  confess,  that  I  did  not  then  see  the  need  of  guarding 
the  doctrine  of  faith,  against  the  despisers  of  works.  I  was  chiefly 
bent  upon  pulling  up  the  tares  of  Pharisaism  :  those  of  Antinomianism 
were  not  yet  sprung  up  in  the  field,  which  I  began  to  cultivate  :  or 


EaUAIt^  CHECK*  -PARI'    I. 

my  want  of  experience  hindered  me  from  discerniog  them.     But 
since,  what  a  crop  of  them  have  I  perceived  and  bewailed  ! 

Alas !  they  have  in  a  great  degree  ruined  the  success  of  my 
ministry.  I  have  seen  numbers  of  lazy  seekers,  enjoying  the  dull 
pleasure  of  sloth  on  the  couch  of  wilful  unbelief,  under  pretence 
that  God  was  to  do  all  in  them  without  them.  I  have  seen  some  lie 
flat  in  the  mire  of  siu,  absurdly  boasting  that  they  could  not  fall ;  and 
others  make  the  means  of  grace,  means  of  idle  gossiping  or  sly 
courtship.  I  have  seen  some  turn  their  religious  profession  into  a 
way  of  gratifying  covetousness  or  indolence  ;  and  others,  their  skill 
in  church-music,  their  knowledge,  and  their  zeal,  into  various  nets  to 
catch  esteem,  admiration,  and  praise.  Some  have  I  seen  making 
yesterday'' s  faith  a  reason  to  laugh  at  the  cross  to-day ;  and  others 
drawing  from  their  misapprehensions  of  the  atonement,  arguments  to 
be  less  importunate  in  secret  prayer,  and  more  conformable  to  this 
evil  world,  than  once  they  were.  Nay,  I  have  seen  some  professing 
behevers  backward  to  do  those  works  of  mercy,  which  I  have  some- 
times found  persons,  who  made  no  professions  of  godliness,  quite 
ready  to  perform.  And  oh !  tell  it  in  Sioo,  that  watchfulness  may 
not  be  neglected  by  believers,  that  fearfulness  may  seize  upon  back- 
sliders, and  that  trembling  may  break  the  bones  of  hypocrites  and 
apostates  ;  I  have  seen  those  who  had  equally  shined  by  their  gifts 
and  graces,  strike  the  moral  world  with  horror  by  the  grossest  Anti- 
nomianism ;  and  disgrace  the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  faith,  by 
the  deepest  plunges  into  scandalous  sin. 

Candid  Reader,  1  need  say  no  more,  to  make  thee  sensible  of  the 
necessity  of  the  additions  and  notes^  by  which  I  have  strengthened 
and  guarded  my  old  discourse,  that  it  might  be  an  equal  Check  to 
Pharisaism  and  Antinomianism,  an  equal  prop  to  faith  and  works.  If 
it  afiford  thee  any  edification,  give  God  the  glory,  and  pray  for  the 
despised  author.  Ask,  in  the  words  of  good  Bishop  Hopkins,  that  I 
may  so  believe,  so  rest  on  the  merits  of  Christy  as  if  I  had  never 
wrought  atfij  thing;  and  withal  so  work,  as  if  I  were  only  to  be  saved 
by  my  own  merits.  And  O !  ask  it  again  and  again,  for  I  tind  it 
a  difficult  thing,  to  give  to  each  of  these  its  due  in  my  practice.  It  is  the 
very  depth  and  height  of  Christian  perfection. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


Madeley,  Jan.  10,  1774. 

Above  fifteen  years  ago  I  looked  into  Baxters  Aphorisms  on  Jus- 
tification, and  through  prejudice  or  sloth  I  soon  laid  them  down,  as 
being  too  deep  for  me.  But  a  few  days  since  a  friend  having  brought 
me  Mr.  Wesley's  extract  of  them,  I  have  read  it  with  much  satis- 
faction, and  present  my  readers  with  a  compendium  of  my  discourse 
in  the  words  of  those  two  judicious  and  laborious  divines. 

*'  As  there  are  two  covenants,  with  their  distinct  conditions  ;  so  is 
there  a  twofold  righteousness,  and  both  of  them  absolutely  necessary 
to  salvation.— Our  righteousness  of  the  first  covenant;  is  not  personal, 
or  consisteth  not  in  any  actions  performed  by  us  ;  for  we  never  per- 
sonally  satisfied  the  law'  [of  innocence]  '  but  it  is  wholly  without 
us  in  Christ.  In  this  sense  every  Christian  disclairaeth  his  own 
righteousness,  or  his  own  works— Those  only  shall  be  in  Christ 
legally  righteous,  who  believe  and  obey  the  Gospel,  and  so  are  in 
themselves  evangeHcally  righteous.— Though  Christ  performed  the 
conditions  of  the  law'  [of  innocence]  *  and  satisfied  for  our  non-pef- 
formance,  yet  we  ourselves  must  perform  the  conditions  of  the 
Gospel.— These  two'  [last]  '  propositions  seem  to  me  so  clear,  that  I 
wonder  any  able  divines  should  deny  them.  Methinks  they  should 
be  Articles  of  our  Creed,  and  ia  part  of  children's  catechisms.  To 
afl&rm  that  our  evangelical  or  new-covenant  righteousness  is  in 
Christ,  and  not  in  ourselves;  or  performed  by  Christ,  and  not  by  our^ 
selves  ;  is  such  a  monstrous  piece  of  Antinomian  doctrine,  as  no  man 
who  knows  the  nature  and  difference  of  the  covenants  can  possibly 
entertain.'     Bax.  Jlphor.  Prop.  14,  15,  16,  17. 


Salvation  "by  U\e  tioveuavit  oU  GYace  •. 

ON  ROiMANS  XI.  5,  6. 


Even  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  :  But  if  it  he  of  works,  then  it  is  no 
more  grace  ;  otherwise  work  is  no  more  work.  *   «■ 

INTRODUCTION    AND   DIVISION. 

X  HE  Apostle  complains  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  Israel  was 
blinded,  and  did  not  see  the  way  of  salvation:  I  bear  them  record,  says 
he,  Rom.  x.  2,  that  they  have  a  zeal  for  God,  but  not  according  to 
knowledge ;  for  being  ignorant  of  God^s  righteousness,  i.  e.  of  God's 
way  of  saving  sinners*  merely  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  going  about 
to  establish  their  own   righteousness,    that  is,   endeavouring  to  save 

(1)  *  When  I  say  that  God  saves  sinners  "  merehf*  through  Jesus  Christ,  I  do  not 
exclude  our  faith,  the  instrumental  cause  of  our  salvation;  nor  our  works  oi  faith, 
the  evidencing  caw^eof  it;  anymore  than  I  exclude  divine  mercy.  I  only  mean,  that 
Christ  is  the  primary,  meritorious  cause  of  our  justification ;  and  that  from  him  all 
secondary,  instrumental  causes  receive  whatever  influence  they  have  towards  our 
eternal  salvation.  Nor  do  I  take  away  from  the  Redeemer's  glory,  when  I  affirm, 
with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Madan,  that  "we  are  justified  instrumentaUy  by  faith,  and  declara- 
tively  by  works .-"  or  that  faith  is  the  instrumental,  and  works  tlie  declarative  cause  of 
our  complete  justification.  For  as  I  speak  of  faith  in  Christ,  the  light  of  men  and  Saviour 
of  the  world;  and  as  I  mean  the  works  of  that  faith  ;  I  secure  his  mediatorial  honours ; 
such  works  being  all  wrought  through  his  influence,  perfumed  with  his  merits,  and  ac- 
cepted through  his  intercession.  Christ  is  then  all  in  all  still ;  the  primary  and  meritorious 
cause  passing  through  all  the  secondary,  and  instrumental  causes,  as  light  does  through 
our  windows  and  eyes  ;  food  through  our  mouths  and  stomachs  ;  and  vital  blood  through 
our  arteries  and  veins. 

N.  B.  The  parts  of  this  discourse,  which  are  enclosed  in  brackets,  []  are  the  additions 
that  guard  or  strengthen  the  old  sermon  which  my  opponent  calls  for;  and  the  parts  con- 
tained between  the  two  hands,  (fc^  are  the  passages,  which  he  has  extrax;ted  from  it,  and 
published  at  the  end  of  his  Finishing  Stroke. 


136  EQUAL  CHECK.  PART  if 

themselves  by  their  own  good  works  [so  called,  by  worlds,  which, 
strictly  speaking,  deserve  rather  to  be  named  Pharisaical  than  good;] 
they  have  not  submitted  to  the  righteousness  of  God — to  that  faith  in 
Christ,  which  makes  sinners  righteous  before  God  :  for  Christ,  adds 
he,  15  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth^ 
Rom.  X.  4  ;  That  is,  [since  the  fall]  it  is  the  very  design  of  the 
[Adamic]  law,  [the  law  of  innocence  given  to  sinless  Adam  ;  yea,  and 
of  the  Mosaic  law,  when  it  is  considered  as  written  in  stones^  and  de- 
corated with  shadows  or  types  of  good  things  to  come,]  to  bring  men 
to  believe  in  Christ  for  justification  and  salvation  ;  as  he  alone  gives 
that  pardon  and  life,  which  the  law  [of  innocence],  shows  the  want 
of,  [and  which  the  Mosaic  law,  abstracted  from  Gospel  promises, 
points  unto,]  but  cannot  possibly  bestow. 

The  apostle,  resuming  the  same  subject  in  the  chapter  out  of 
which  the  text  is  taken,  comforts  himself  by  considering,  that, 
although  Israel  in  general  were  blinded,  yet  all  were  not  lost.  Old 
Sidieon  and  Anna  had  seen  the  salvation  of  God^  and  had  departed  in 
peace.  Nicodemus,  a  doctor  in  Israel,  had  received  the  doctrine  of 
the  new  birth  and  salvation  by  faith.  Three  thousand  Jews  had  been 
pricked  to  the  heart  by  penitential  sorrow,  and  filled  with  peace  and 
joy  by  believing  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  even  at  this  present  time^  says 
the  Apostle,  there  is  a  remnant  [of  my  countrymen,  saved]  according 
to  the  election  of  grace  :  That  is.  There  are  some  of  them,  who  [like 
Nathanael  and  Nicodemus]  casting  away  their  dependence  on  their 
own  righteousness,  [and  trusting  only  in  Christ's  merits]  are  num- 
bered among  the  electa  according  to  that  gracious  decree  of  [election 
in  Christ,  which]  God  [has  so  clearly  revealed]  in  the  covenant  of 
grace.  He  thctt  believeth  shall  be  saved,  4*c.  Mark  xvi.  16.* 

From  thence  the  apostle  takes  occasion  to  show,  that  pardon  and 
salvation  are  not  in  whole  or  in  part,  attained  by  [the  covenant  of] 
works,  but  merely  by  [the  covenant  of]  grace.  A  remnant  of  those 
self-righteous  Pharisees  is  saved,  [not  indeed  by  their  self-righteous- 

(2)  *  My  sentiment  concerning  election,  is  thus  expressed  by  a  great  Calvinist  minister. 
'*  In  the  written  word  a  decree  of  God  is  found,  '•  which  shows  who  are  the  chosen  and 
the  saved  people :  He  that  helieveth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved.  The  chosen  people 
therefore  are  a  race  of  true  believers,  convinced  by  God's  Spirit  of  their  ruined  estate,  en- 
dowed with  divine  faith,  by  which  they  seek  to  Christ  for  help  ;  and  seeking  do  obtain  par- 
don, peace,  and  holiness."  Tfte  Christian  World  Unmasked,  Second  Edjt.  p.  186.  Ju- 
dicious Christians  will  probably  agree  here  with  this  pious  divine,  if  he  does  not  deny  :  1. 
That  in  the  divine  decree  of  election  the  word  believeth,  excludes  from  the  election 
those  who  have  cast  off  their  first  faith,  or  have  made  shipivreck  of  the  faith  :  And  2.  That 
the  word  IS  baptized,  imphes  professing  the  faith  in  word  and  work;  or  making  and 
•standing  to  the  baptismal  vow,  which  respects  not  only  believing  the  articles  of  the  Chris* 
tjan  faith,  but  also  keeping  God's  holy  will  and  coronaandmcnts. 


A   DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,   &€.  137 

cess,]  but  by  the  covenant  of  grace,  [according  to  which  we  must 
equally  part  with  our  self-righteousness  and  our  sins.]  And  if  by 
[the  covenant  of]  grace^  then  it  is  no  more  [by  that]  of  works-, 
whether  of  the  ceremonial  law  [of  Moses,]  or  of  the  moral  law  [of 
innocence  perverted  to  Pharisaic  purposes  ;]  else  [the]  grace  [of 
Christ]  is  no  longer  grace  [bestowed  upon  a  criminal :]  the  very 
uature  of  [Gospel*]  grace  is  lost.  And  if  it  be  [by  the  covenant]  of 
works,  then  it  is  no  more  [by  Gospel]  grace  ;  else  work  is  no  longer 
[the]  work  [of  a  sinless  creature,]  but  the  very  nature  of  it  is  de- 
stroyed [according  to  the  first  covenant,  which  requires  perfect  con- 
formity to  the  law  in  the  work,  and  perfect  innocence  in  the 
worker.] 

As  if  the  apostle  had  said.  There  is  something  so  absolutely  in- 
consistent between  being  saved  by  [the  covenant  of]  grace,  and 
being  saved  by  [that  ot']  works,  that  if  you  suppose  either,  you  of 
necessity  exclude  the  other :  for  what  is  given  to  works  [upon  the 
footing  of  the  first  covenant,]  is  [improperly  speaking]  the  payment 
of  a  debt  [which  God,  by  his  gracious  promise,  contracted  with  inno- 
cent mankind  without  the  interposition  of  a  Mediator  :]  whereas 
[Gospel]  grace  implies  [not  only]  a  favour  [strictly  speaking]  un- 
merited [by  us  ;  but  also  an  atoning  sacrifice  on  the  Redeemer's 
part,  and  a  damnable  demerit  on  our  own  :]  so  that  the  same  benefit 
cannot,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  be  derived  from  both  [co- 
venants.] 


(3)  f  I  say  Gospel  grace,  because  it  is  that  which  the  apostle  means.  It  may  with  pro* 
priety  be  distinguished  from  the  original  grace  which  Adam  had  before  the  fall,  and 
which  Deists  and  Pharisees  still  suppose  themselves  possessed  of.  Some  people  imagine, 
that  if  our  first  parents  had  well  acquitted  themselves  in  the  trial  of  their  faithfulness, 
their  reward  would  no/ have  been  o/" grace;  they  would  (strictly  speaking)  have  meri7e<i 
heaven.  But  his  is  a  mistake.  From  the  Creator  to  the  creature  all  blessings  are,  and 
must  for  ever  be,  of  grace,  of  mere  grace.  Gabriel  himself  enjoys  heaven  through  Jree 
grace.  Unless  some  gracious  promise  interposes,  God  may  this  instant  put  an  end,  without 
injustice,  not  only  to  his  glory,  but  to  his  very  existence.  Should  you  ask  what  difference 
there  is,  between  original  and  Gospel  grace,  I  answer,  that  original,  Adamic  grace 
naturaMy  flowed  from  God,  as  Creator  and  Preserver,  to  innocent,  happy  creatures.  But 
Goi^jeZ  grace,  that  for  which  St.  Paul  so  strenuously  contends  in  my  text,  supernaturally 
flows  from  God,  as  Redeemeer  and  Comforter  to  guilty,  wretched  mankind :  and  here  let 
us  take  notice  of  the  opposition  there  is,  between  Pharisaic  and  Evangelical  obedience, 
between  the  works  of  the  law  and  the  works  of  faith.  The  former  are  done  with  a  proud 
conceit  of  the  natural  strength,  which  man  lost  b}  the  fall ;  and  the  latter,  with  an  humble 
dependence  on  divine  mercy  through  the  Redeemer's  merits;  and  on  the  supernatural 
power  bestowed  upon  lost  mankind  for  his  sake.  When  Sl  Paul  decries  the  works  of  the 
law,  it  is  merely  to  recommend  the  works  of  faith :  and  yet,  O  the  dreadful  effects  of  con- 
fusion !  in  Babel  people  suppose,  that  he  pours  equal  contempt  upoa  both. 

Vol,  JI.  18 


J3ii  EQUAL    CHE€K.  PART    I. 

Having  thus  opened  the  context,  I  proceed  to  a  more  particular 
illustration  of  the  text ;  and  that  1  may  explain  it  as  fully,  as  the  time 
allotted  for  this  discourse  will  permit. 

First,  I  shall  premise  an  account  of  the  two  covenants  :  The 
covenant  of  works,  to  which  the  Pharisees  of  old  trusted,  and  [most 
of]  the  Roman  Catholics,  with  too  many  false  Protestants,  still  trust 
in  our  days  : — And  the  covenant  of  grace,  by  which  aloue  a  remnant 
was  saved  in  St.  Paul's  time,  and  will  be  saved  in  all  ages. 

Secondly,  I  shall  prove,  that  the  way  of  salvation  by  [obedient] 
fAiTH  ONLY,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  by  the  covenant  of  grace, 
is  the  only  way  that  leads  to  life,  according  to  the  Scriptures  and 
the  articles  of  our  church,  to  whose  holy  doctrine  1  shall  publicly 

set  my  seal. 

Th  RDLY,  I  shall  endeavour  to  show  the  unreasonableness  and  in- 
'  justice  of  those,  who  accuse  me  of  "  preaching  against  good  works" 
when  I  [decry  Pharisaic  works,  and]  preach  salvation  through  the 
covenant  of  grace  only. 

Fourthly  and  lastly,  after  having  informed  you,  why  [even]  good 
works  [truly  so  called]  cannot  *  [properly]  deserve  salvation  in 
whole  or  in  part ;  I  shall  answer  the  old  objection  of  [some  ignorant] 
Papists,    [and   Pharisaical  Protestants.]     ''  If  good    works   cannot! 

(4)  *  I  ^veiev properly  to  absolutely,  the  word  which  I  formerly  used,  because  abso- 
lutely bears  too  hard  upon  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  and  turns  out  of  the  Gospel  the  re- 
wardable  condecency,  that  our  whole  obedience,  even  according  to  Dr.  Owen,  hath  unto 
eternal  life,  through  God's  gracious  appointment. 

(5)  +  1  say  now  properly  merit  us  heaven,  and  not  save  us,  get  us  heaven,  or  procure  us 
fteaven,  expressions  which  occur  a  few  times  in  my  old  sermon :  because  [taking  the  word 
merit  in  its  full  and  proper  sense]  the  phrase  "  cannot  merit  us  heaven,''^  leaves  room  to  de- 
fend the  necessity  of  evangelical  obedience,  and  of  the  works  of  faith,  by  which  we  shall 
be  saved,  not  indeed  as  being  the  first  and  properly  meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation,  (for 
to  ascribe  to  them  that  honour  would  be  to  injure  free  grace,  and  place  them  on  the  Me- 
diator's throne)  but  as  being  the  secondary  instrumental  cause  of  our  justification  in  the 
great  day,  and  consequently  of  our  eternal  salvation. 

Nor  does  the  expression  properly  merit  us  heaven  clash  with  such  scriptures  as  these— 
When  the  wicked  man  turneth  from  his  iniquity,  he  shall  save  his  soul  alive — Save  som£ 
with  fear — Save  thy  husband — Save  thy  wife — JVe  are  saved  by  hope — Work  out  your  oivrt 
salvation. — He  that  converteth  a  sinner  shall  save  a  soul  from  death— Thy  faith  hath 
saved  thee— In  doing  this  thou  shalt  serve  thyself,  and  them  that  hear  thee.  A  preacher 
should  do  justice  to  every  part  of  the  Scripture.  Nor  should  he  blunt  one  edge  of  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  under  pretence  of  making  the  other  sharper.  This  I  inadvertently  did 
sometimes  in  the  year  1762.  May  God  endue  me  with  wisdom  that  I  may  not  do  it  in 
1774!  I  find  it  the  nicest  thing  in  practical,  as  well  as  in  polemical  divinity,  so  to  df'fend 
the  doctrine  of  God's  free  grace  as  not  to  wound  that  of  man's  faithful  obedience,  and 
vice  versa.  These  two  doctrines  support  the  two  Gospel  axioms,  and  may  be  called  the 
Hreasts  of  the  Church.  A  child  of  God,  instead  of  peevishly  biting  the  one  or  the  other, 
should  suck  them  alternately  ;  and  a  minister  of  Christ,  iustead  of  cutting  off  either,  shonla 
carefully  protect  them  both. 


A   DISCOURSE   ON   SALVATION,   SzC,  138 

[properly  merit   us  heaven,]  why  should  we  do  them?  There  is  no 
need  to  trouble  ourselves  about  any." 


Should  any  one  object,  that  if  Calvinism  is  supported  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Berridge's  dis- 
tinction between  If  and  If  [see  the  Fifth  Check,  2d  part :]  the  Cospel  axioms,  about  which 
we  make  so  much  ado.  have  not  a  better  foundation ;  since  they  depend  upon  a  distinctioii 
between  original  merit  and  derived  merit.  J  reply,  that  the  distinctioQ  between  legal  If 
and  evangelical  If,  is  unworthy  of  Christ,  and  not  less  contrary  to  Scripture,  than  to  reason 
and  morality.  On  the  contrary,  the  distinction  between  original  or  proper  merit,  and 
derived  or  improper  worthiness,  far  from  being  frivolous,  is  scriptural,  [see  Fourth  Check, 
p.  299,  &c.]  solid,  highly  honourable  to  Christ,  greatly  conducive  to  moraUty,  very 
rational,  and  lying  within  the  reach  of  the  meanest  capacity. 

This  will  appear  from  the  following  propositions,  which  contain  the  sum  of  our  doctrinft 
concerning  merit. — 1.  All  proper  worthiness,  merit,  or  desert  of  any  divine  reward,  is  in 
Christ,  the  overflowing  fountain  of  all  original  excellence. — 2-  If  any  of  the  living  water  of 
that  rich  spring  is  received  by  faith,  and  flows  through  the  believer's  heart  and  works,  it 
forms  m/)ro;jcr  worthiness,  or  derived  merit;  because,  properly  speaking,  it  is  Christ  s 
merit  still. — 3.  Original  merit  answers  to  the  Jirsf  Gospel  axiom,  and  derived  worthiness 
to  the  second. — 4.  According  to  the  first  covenant  we  ran  never  merit  a  reward,  because 
of  ourselves,  as  sinners,  we  deserve  nothing  but  hell ;  and  that  covenant  makes  no  provision 
of  merit  for  hell-deserving  sinners. — But,  5.  According  to  the  second  covenant,  by  God's 
gracious  appointment  and  merciful  promise,  we  can,  improperly  speaking,  be  worthy  of 
heaven,  through  the  blood  of  Christ  sprinkled  upon  our  hearts,  and  through  his  righteous- 
ness derived  to  us  and  to  our  works  by  faith. — 6.  Hence  it  is,  that  God  will  give  some, 
namely,  impenitent  murderers,  blood  to  drink,  for  they  are  worthy^  they  properly  deserve 
it;  while  others,  namely,  penitent  believers,  shall  walk  with  Christ  in  white,/br  they  are 
worthy,  they  iMt-KuiKKLV  merit  it.     Rev.  xvi.  6   and  iii.  4. 

An  illustration  taken  from  a  leaden  pipe  full  of  water,  may  show  how  it  is  possible,  that 
unworthy  man  should  become  ivorthy,  through  the  righteousness  which  Christ  supplies 
believers  with.  Strictly  speaking,  water  does  not  belong  to  a  pipe,  any  more  than  merit 
or  worthiness  to  a  believer;  for  a  pipe  is  only  a  number  of  dry  sheets  of  lead  soldered  to- 
o-ether  ;•  but  if  that  dry.  leaden  pipe  really  receive  some  of  the  water,  whi^h  a  river  sup- 
plies, I  make  myself  ridiculous  by  asserting,  that  the  man  who  hints  there  is  water  in 
the  pipe  confounds  the  elements,  seeks  to  dry  up  the  river,  and  is  guilty  of  a  dreadful  phi- 
losophical heresy. 

However,  if  our  prepossessed  brethren  feel  an  invincible  aversion  to  our  Lord's  word 
[ot|<ccl  meriting,  we  are  willing  to  become  all  things  to  them  for  his  sake.  If  it  may  be  a 
mean  of  restoring  tranquillity  to  their  minds,  we  cheerfully  consent  to  use  only  the  word  of 
our  translators,  worthy  ;  and  here  I  give  full  leave  to  my  readers,  whenever  they  meet  the 
noun  merit,  or  the  verb  to  merit,  in  my  Checks,  to  road  worthiness  instead  of  the  one,  and 
to  be  worthy  instead  of  the  other.  It  may  indeed  puzzle  unbiassed  persons  to  find  a  diflfer- 
ence  between  those  expressions  ;  but  no  matter.  If  others  will  expose  their  prejudice,  we 
ought  not  only  to  maintain  the  truth,  but  to  show  our  condescension.  The  word  Merit  is 
absolutely  nothing  to  Mr.  Wesley  and  me  ;  but  the  doctrine  of  faithful  obedience  in  Christ, 
and  of  the  gracious  rewards  with  which  it  shall  be  crowned  for  his  sake,  contains  all  our 
duty  on  earth,  and  draws  after  it  all  our  bliss  in  heaven.  Therefore,  only  grant  us  truly 
the  second  Gospel  axiom  : — grant  us,  that  God  has  not  appointed  his  creatures  to  endless 
punishments  and  heavenly  reivards  out  of  mere  caprice : — grant  us,  that,  while  the  wicked 
shall  PROPERLY  and  legally  deserve  their  own  [and  not  Adam's]  place  in  hell,  the  righ- 
teous shall  improperly  aud  evangelically  be  worthy  to  obtain  that  world,  where  they 
shall  be  equal  to  the  angels,  Luke  xx.  35  :— grant  us  that  man  is  in  a  state  of  probation,  and 
shall  be  recompensed  for,  and  according  to  what  he  has  done  in  th€  body,  whether  it  be 


146  E(iUAL    CHECK.  PART    li 

PART  FIRST. 

I  BEGIN  by  laying  before  you  an  account  of  the  two  [grand]  co- 
venants that  God  entered  into  with  man.  The  first  was  made  with 
Adam,  when  he  was  in  a  state  of  innocence  in  paradise.  The  condi- 
tion of  it,  which  is  excessively  hard,  [nay,  absolutely  impossible]  to 
fallen  man,  was  easy  before  the  fall.  It  runs  thus  :  Do  this  [thou 
sinless  man]  and  live :  The  [innocent]  man  that  does  these  things,  shall 
live  by  them,  Rom.  x.  5.  That  is,  "  If  thou  [who  art  now  a  guiltless, 
holy,  and  perfect  creature]  yield  a  constant,  universal,  and  perfect 
obedience  to  the  moral  law,"  now  summed  up  in  the  ten  command- 
ments, "  thou  shalt  be  rewarded  with  glory  in  heaven.  But  if  thou 
fail  in  any  one  particular,  whether  it  be  in  thought,  word,  or  deed, 
ihou  shalt  surely  die,  Gen.  ii.  17.  for  the  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die, 
Ezek.  xviii.  4.  The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  Rom.  vi.  23.  And  cursed  is 
every  one,  thnt  continueth  not  in  all  things  written  in  the  book  of  tfre 
law  to  do  them.^^     Gal.  iii.  10. 

Nor  does  this  covenant  make  any  allowance  for  deficiencies,  or  pass 
by  one  transgression,  great  or  little,  without  pronouncing  the  threat- 
ened curse ;  [for  it  made  no  provision  for  repentance,  neither  did  it 
offer  sinners  the  help  of  a  s^crifiring  priest,  or  interceding  mediator.] 
Whether  therefore  the  sin  be  murder  and  adultery,  or  only  eating 
some  forbidden  Iruit,  its  language  is,*  Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole 
law,  and  yet  pffend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all,  James  ii.  10.  That 
is.  All  the  curses  denounced  against  those,  who  break  the  covenant  of 
works,  hang  upon  his  gnilty  head,  [and  will  fall  upon  him  in  a  degree 
proportionable  to  the  aggravations  of  his  sin.] 

This  first  covenant  we  have  all  broken  in  our  first  parents,  for  [in 
Adam  all  dip] — By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by 
sin  ;  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned,  Rom. 
V.  12.  We  are\then  all  born  [or  co/icciTyed]  m  sin;  Psalm  Ii.  5.  and 
consequently  we  are  by  nature  children  of  wrath,  Eph.  ii.  3.  But  this 
is  not  all :  this  root  of  original  sin,  produces  in  every  man  many 

good  or  bad: — In  a  word,  grant  us  the  capital  doctrine  of  a  day  of  retribution,  in  which 
God  shall  judge  the  world  in  wisdom  and  righteousness,  not  in  solemn  folly  or  satanical  hy- 
pocrisy ;  and  we  ask  no  more. — This  Note  is  a  key  to  all  the  doctrines,  which  we  maintain 
in  the  Minutes,  and  explain  in  the  Checks. 

(6)  *  Whoever  reads  the  Scriptures  without  prejudice,  will  be  of  Mr.  Burgess's  mind 
concerning  this  awful  text.  [See  Fourth  Check,  p.  281.]  It  was  evidently  spoken  with 
Fsference  to  Christ's  law  of  liberty,  as  well  as  some  of  the  passages  quoted  in  the  preceding 
paragraph:  and  if  they  guard  even  that  law  :  how  tnuch  more  the  law  of  innocence,  wbichj 
though  it  cannot  be  kolierin  its  precepta,  is  yet  much  more  peremptory  in  its  curses  \ 


A    DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,    <SzC.  14l 

actual  iniquities,  whereby,  as  we  imitate  Adam's  rebellion,  so  we 
make  the  guilt  of  it  our  own,  and  fasten  the  curse  attending  that  guilt 
upon  our  own  souls.     Rom.  vii.  24. 

Therefore,  while  we  remain  in  our  natural  state,  [or,  to  speak 
more  intelligibly,  while  we  continue  in  sin,  guilt,  and  total  impeni- 
tency,  we  not  only  trample  the  covenant  of  grace  under  foot,  but] 
we  stand  upon  the  [broken]  covenant  of  works  ;  and  consequently 
lie  under  the  dreadful  curse,  which  is  already  denounced  against  every 
transgressor  of  the  law,  Gal.  iii.  10,  [as  well  as  against  every  despiser 
of  the  Gospel,  Heb.  x.  27.] 

Hence  it  is  that,  by  the  deeds  of  the  law^  i.  e.  by  the  [unsprinkled] 
good  works  commanded  in  the  law  [of  innocence ;  or  by  the  ceremo- 
nies prescribed  in  the  law  of  Moses,]  shall  nojlesh  living  [no  sinner] 
be  justified  :  for  as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  laWy  [as  it  stands  op- 
posed to  the  Gospel ;  yea,  as  many  also  as  rest,  like  the  impenitent 
Pharisees,  in  the  letter  of  the  Mosaic  law,]  are  under  the  curse ;  the 
Scripture  having  concluded  all  under  sin,  [i.  e.  testified  that  all  are  sin- 
ners by  conception  and  practice]  and  consequently  under  the  curse 
[of  the  first  covenant,]  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped^  and  all  the 
world  may  become  guilty^  [i.  e.  may  humbly  confess  their  fallen  and 
lost  estate]  before  God,  [and  gladly  accept  his  ofiers  of  mercy  in  the 
second  covenant.]   Rom.  iii.  19,  20. 

In  this  deplorable  state  of  guilt  and  danger,  we  [generally]  remain 
careless  and  insensible,  [when  we  have  once  taken  to  the  ways  of  va- 
nity] OCf"  making  what  we  call  "  the  mercy  of  God^^  a  pack-horse  [if 
I  may  use  so  coarse  an  expression]  to  carry  us  and  our  sins  to  heaven, 
upon  ihe  filthy  rags*  of  our  own  [Pharisaic]  righteousness.  =C0  Here 
we  continue,  till  divine  grace  awakens  us,  by  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel,  or  by  some  other  means.  Eph.  v.  14.  Being  then  roused 
to  a  serious  consideration  of  our  fallen  state  in  Adam,  and  to  a  sensi- 
bility of  the  curse  which  we  lie  under,  through  our  numerous  breaches 
of  [the  second,  as  well  as  of]  the  first  covenant;  after  many  fruitless 
attempts  to  remove  that  curse,  by  fulfilling  the  law  [of  innocence  ;1 
after  many  [faithless]  endeavours  to  save  ourselves  by  our  own  [antj^ 
evangelical]  works,  and  righteousness,  y^  we  despair  at  last  of  get- 
ting to  heaven,  by  building  a  babel  with  the  untempered  mortar  ofoMv 
own  [fancied]  sincerity,  and  the  bricks  of  our  wretched  good  works, 
[or  rather  of  our  splendid  sins.]=CO  And  leaving  the  impass-tble  road 
•f  the  covenant  of  works,  we  begin  to  seek  [as  condemne^i  criminals] 

(7)  *  Here  that  expreasion  is  used  in  the  scriptural  se^se, 


142  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

the  way,  which  God's  free  mprcy  has  opened  for  lost  sinners  in  Jesus 
Christ.     Acts  ii.  37.     Phil.  iii.  6,  &c. 

This  new  and  living  way,  [for  I  may  call  it  by  the  name  which  the 
apostle  emphatically  gives  to  the  last  dispensation  of  the  Gospel]  Heb. 
X.  19,  20.  is  the  new  covenant,  the  covenant  of  grace  [in  its  various 
editions  or  dispensations.  For,  if  the  Christian  edition  is  called  new 
in  opposition  to  the  Jewish,  all  the  editions  together  may  well  be] 
called  new,  in  opposition  to  the  old  covenant,  the  covenant  of  works 
[made  with  Adam  before  the  fall.]  It  is  also  termed  Gospel^  that  is, 
glad  tidings,  because  [*with  different  degrees  of  evidence]  it  brings 
comfortable  news  of  free  salvation  in  Christ,  to  all  that  see  they  are 
undone  in  themselves. 


(8)  *  This  and  the  preceding  clauses  are  added  to  guard  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel 
dispensations,  of  which  I  had  but  very  confused  views  eleven  years  ago.  See  Third  Check, 
Vol.  i.  p.  172,  &c.  Leaning  then  too  much  towards  Calvinism,  I  fancied,  at  times  at  least, 
that  the  Gospel  was  confined  within  the  narrow  channel  of  its  last  dispensation  ;  which  was 
as  absurd  as  if  I  had  imagined,  that  the  swell  of  our  rivers  at  high  water  is  all  the  ocean. 
But  turning  to  my  Bible,  and  "  reviewing  the  whole  aflair,"  1  clearly  see,  that  tiie  Jewish 
and  Christian  Gospel  are  not  the  everlasting  Gospel,  but  only  two  of  its  brightest  dispensa- 
tions. Should  the  reader  ask  me  what  I  mean  by  the  everlasting  Gospel,  when  I  consider 
It  in  its  full  latitude  :  I  answer,  that  1  mean  with  St.  Paul,  The  riches  of  God's  goodness, 
forbearance,  and  long-suffering  leading  men  to  repentance  for  Christ's  sake,  who  in  all  ages 
is  the  Saviour  of  the  world. — Yea,  and  the  severe  strokes  of  his  gracious  providence  driving 
them  to  it.  I  dare  not  insinuate,  that  Jonah,  one  of  the  most  successful  preachers  in  the 
world,  was  not  a  Gospel  preacher,  when  he  stirred  up  all  the  people  of  Nineveh  to  repent- 
ance, by  the  fear  of  impending  destruction  ;  and  thatSt.  John  the  divine  was  a  strangerto  true 
divinity,  when  he  gave  us  the  following  account  of  the  manner,  in  which  a  celestial  Evangel- 
ist preached  the  everlasting  Gospel.  I  saw  another  angel,  having  the  everlasting  gospel 
to  preach  unto  them  thai  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  [Here  is  free  grace  !]  saying  with  a  loud  voice:  Fear  God,  and  give  glory  to 
him,  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment,  as  well  as  of  his  mercy,  is  come :  and  worship  him  that 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of  waters.  Here  is,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, the  Gospel,  according  to  which  many  shall  come  from  the  east,  and  from  the  west,  and 
shall  sit  down  at  the  heavenly  feast  with  the  Father  of  the  faithful,  when  the  unloving  Pha- 
risees shall  be  thrust  ox  1 1  notwithstanding  their  great  ado  about  absolute  election.  This  note 
will  probably  touch  the  apple  of  my  reader's  eye,  if  he  be  a  rigid  predestinarian.  But  if 
he  be  offended,  I  entreat  him  to  consider,  whether  his  love  does  not  bear  some  resemblance 
t»  the  charity  of  those  strong  predestinarians  of  old,  those  monopolizers  of  God's  election, 
Who  despised  poor  sinners  of  the  Gentiles.  How  violent  was  their  prejudice  !  They  vastly 
adraVed  our  Lord's  sermon  at  Nazareth,  till  he  touched  the  sore  that  festered  in  their  strait- 
laced  i>east.  But  no  sooner  did  he  insinuate,  that  their  election  was  not  yet  made  sure, 
and  that  tie  poor  Pagan  widow  of  Sarepta,  and  Naaman  the  Syrian  were  not  absolute  re- 
probates ;  .han  they  wereflled  with  wrath,  and  rose  up,  and  thrust  him  out  ofthe  city,  and 
led  him  to  the  brow  of  the  hill,  that  they  might  cast  him  dmtm  headlong.  He  had  touched 
their  great  Diana,  and  therefore,  to  be  sure,  he  had  committed  the  unpardonable  sin ;  he 
had  spoken  treason,  heresy,  blasphemy.    See  Luke  iv.  28. 


A   DISCOURSE    ON   SALVATION,  &C.  143 

Q:^  The  second  covenant  then,  or  the  Gospel,  is  a  dispensation  of 
free  grace  and  mercy  [not  only  to  little  children,  of  whom  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  but  also]  to  poor,  lost,  helpless  sinners,  who, 
seeing  and  feeling  themselves  condemned  by  the  law  [of  innocence, 
and  utterly  unable  to  obtain  justification  upon  the  terms  of  the 
FIRST  covenant,  came  to  [a  merciful  God  through]  Jesus  Christ 
[the  light  of  men,  according  to  the  helps  afforded  them  in  the  dispen- 
sation which  they  are  under.]  so  to  seek  in  him  [and  from  him  tViose 
merits  and]  that  righteousness,  which  they  have  not  in  themselv<js- 
For  the  Son  of  God,  being  both  God  and  man  in  one  person  ;  and  by 
the  invaluable  sacrifice  of  himself  upon  the  cross,  having  suffered  the 
punishment  due  to  all  our  breaches  of  the  law  [of  works  ;]  and  by  his 
most  holy  life  having  answered  all  the  demands  of  the  *first  cove- 
nant, God  can  be  just,  and  the  justijier  of  him  that  believes  in  Jesus, 
Rom.  iii.  26. =00  Therefore,  if  a  sinner,  whose  mouth  is  stopped, 
and  who  has  nothing  to  pay,  pleads  from  the  heart  the  atoning  blood 
of  Christ  [and  supposing  he  never  heard  ^hat  precious  name,  if, 
according  to  his  light,  he  implores  divine  mercy,  for  the/rce  exercise 
of  which  Christ's  blood  has  made  way]  not  only  God  will  not  deliver 
him  to  the  tormentors^  but  will  frankly  forgive  him  all.     Luke  vii. 

41,  &c. 

0:^  Herein  then  consists  the  great  difference  between  the  first  and 
the  second  covenant.  Under  the  first,  an  absolute,  unsinning,  uni- 
versal obedience  in  our  own  persons  is  required  ;  and  such  obedience 


(9)  *  Although  there  were  some  reiy  unguarded  passages  in  my  origihal  sermon,  yet, 
what  was  unguarded  in  one  place,  was  in  a  great  degree  guarded  in  another.  Thus  even 
in  this  paragraph,  which  is  the  first  that  Mr.  Hill  produces  in  his  extract,  by  saying  that 
Christ  has  answered  all  the  demands  of  the  first  covenant  for  believers,  I  indirectly  assert, 
that  he  has  not  answered  the  demands  of  the  second;  and  that  according  to  the  Gospel,  we 
must  personally  repent,  believe,  and  obey,  to  he  finally  accepted :  the  covenant  ofgsace  in- 
sisting as  much  upon  the  works  offaith,  as  the  covenant  oi  works  did  upon  the  works  of  the 
law  of  innocence,  in  order  to  our  continuance  and  progress  in  the  divine  favour.  A  doc- 
trine this  which  is  the  ground  of  the  Minutes,  the  quintessence  of  the  Checks,  and  the  down- 
fal  of  Antinomianism.  It  was  only  with  respect  to  the  covenant  of  works,  and  to  the  law 
of  innocence,  that  I  said  in  the  next  paragraph,  transposed  by  Mr.  Hill,  "  This  obe- 
dience— when  we  are  united  to  Christ  by  a  faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  is  accepted  in- 
stead OF  OUR  OWN."  How  greatly  then  does  he  mistake  me,  when  he  supposes  I  asserted 
that  the  personal,  Adamic,  and  (in  one  sense)  anti-evangelical  obedience  of  Christ,  which 
sprang  neither  from  Gospel  faith  nor  from  Gospel  repentance,  is  accepted  instead  of  the 
personal,  penitential,  evangelical  obedience  of  believers !  It  is  just  here  that  the  Calvinists. 
turn  aside  from  the  truth,  to  make  void  the  law  of  Christ,  and  follow  Antinomian  dotages. 
Because  Christ  has  fulfilled  the  Adamic  law  of  innocence  for  us,  they  fancy  that  he  ha$ 
also  fulfilled  his  own  evangelical  law  of  Gospel  obedience,  according  to  which  we  must 
stand  or  fall,  vbtQ  by  our  words  we  shali  fee  .imtified,  and  by  our  loordi  we  shall  be  con- 


144  EQUAL  CHECK.  PART  Ic 

we,  [ill  our  fallen  state,]  can  never  perform. ^ — Under  the  second  co- 
venant, this  obedience  [to  the  law  of  innocence,  paid  by,  and]  in 
our  surety,  Christ  Jesus,  when  we  are  united  to  him  by  a  faith  of  the 
operation  of  God,  is  accepted  instead  of  our  own.=CO  For  [as  our 
sins  were  transferred  upon  the  Redeemer's  guiltless  head,  so  his 
merits  are  brought  home  to  our  guilty  souls  by  the  powerful  opera- 
tion of  divine  grace  through  faith,  and  being  thus  complete  in  Christ* 
[with  regard  to  the  fulfiUing  of  the  first  covenant,]  we  can  rejoice 
in  God,  who  has  made  him  unions  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctificationf 
and  redemption.  [1  say,  with  regard  to  the  fulfilling  of  the  first  cove- 
nant, to  guard  against  the  error  of  thousands,  who  vainly  imagine  that 
Christ  has  fulfilled  the  terms  of  the  second  covenant  for  us,  and  talk 
oi finished  salvation,  just  as  if  our  Lord  had  actually  repented  of  our 
sins,  believed  in  his  own  blood,  and  fulfilled  his  own  evangelical  law 
in  our  stead  ;  a  fatal  error  this,  which  makes  Christians  lawless, 
represents  Christ  as  the  minister  of  sin,  and  arms  the  Antinomian 
fiend  with  a  dreadful  axp,  to  fell  the  trees  of  righteousness,  and  cut 
down  the  very  pillars  of  the  house  of  God.] 

From  what  has  been  observed  it  follows,  that  before  any  one  can 
believe  [to  salvation]  in  the  Gospel  sense  of  the  word,  he  must  be 

(10)  *  If  I  say  that  penitent  believers  are  complete  in  Christ  with  respect  to  the  Jirsi 
covenant,  I  do  not  intimate  that  fallen  believers,  who  crucify  the  Son  of  God  afresh, 
may  even  commit  deliberate  murder,  and  remain  complete  in  him,  or  rather  (as  the 
original  means  also)  filed  with  him.  Far  be  the  horrid  insinuation  from  the  pen  and 
beai-t  of  a  Christian.  I  readily  grant  that  true  believers  are  not  less  dead  to  the 
Adamic  law  of  innocence,  than  to  the  ceremonial  law  of  Moses ;  and  that,  with  respect 
fo  it,  they  heartily  say  as  David,  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servants,  O  Lord, 
for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified.  But  mistake  me  not:  I  would  not 
insinuate  that  they  are  lawless,  or  only  under  a  rule  of  life,  which  they  may  break 
without  endangering  their  salvation.  No :  they  are  under  the  law  of  Christ,  the  law 
of  liberty,  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life,  the  Royal  law  of  Gospel  holiness ;  and  accord- 
ing to  this  law,  they  shall  all  be  rewarded  or  punished  in  the  day  of  judgment.  Al- 
though this  law  admits  of  repentance  after  a  fall,  at  least  during  the  day  of  salvation; 
and  although  it  does  not  condemn  us,  for  not  obeying  above  our  present  measure  of 
power;  yet  it  does  not  make  the  least  allowance  for  wilful  sin,  any  more  than  the 
Adamic  law ;  for  St.  James  informs  a  believer,  that  if  he  offend  in  one  point  he  is 
guilty  of  all.  And  indeed  our  Lord's  parable  confirms  this  awful  declaration.  The 
favoured  servant  who  had  the  immense  debt  of  ten  thousand  talents  forgiven  him,  sin- 
ned against  Christ's  law  only  in  one  point,  namely,  in  refusing  to  have  mercy  on  his 
fellow-servant,  as  his  Lord  had  had  compassion  upon  him ;  and  for  that  one  offence  he 
was  delivered  to  the  tormentors,  as  notoriously  guilty  of  breaking  the  whole  law  of 
liberty  and  love.  If  he  who  despised  the  law  of  Moses,  perished  under  Hwo  or  three 
witnesses,  of  hov)  much  sorer  punishment  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  despises 
the  law  of  Christ.  This  is  the  ground  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews;  but  who  con- 
siders it.''  Who  believes,  that  the  Son  of  God  will  command  even  the  unprofitable  sev' 
vant  to  be  cut  asunder.-'  When  the  »5»o?j  of  man  cornethf  ahvU  he  fipd  faith  itpon  the 
fPTth  ?    Lord !  help  my  nahol\(ff  ^ 


A    DISCOURSE   ON   SALVATION,   <Sfc.  145. 

convinced  of  sin  by  the  spirit  of  God,  John  xvi.  8.  He  must  feel  him-, 
self  a  guilty,  lost,  and  helpless  sinner,  unable  to  recover  the  favour 
and  image  of  God  by  his  own  strength  and  righteousness,  Acts  ii, 
37,  38. 

This  conviction  and  sense  of  guilt  make  the  sinner  come  travelling 
and  heavy  laden  to  Christ,  earnestly  claiming  the  rest  which  he  offers 
to  weary  souls,  Matt.  xi.  28.  This  rest  the  mourner  seeks  with  the 
contrite  publican,  in  the  constant  use  of  all  the  means  of  grace; 
endeavouring  to  bring  forth  fruit  meet  for  repentance,  till  the  same 
Spirit  that  had  convinced  him  of  sin,  and  alarmed  his  drowsy  con- 
science, convinces  him  also  of  righteousness,  John  xvi.  8.  that  is,  shows 
him  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  Saviour's  [merits  or]  righteousness,  to 
swallow  up  his  [former*  sins,  and]  unrighteousness ;  and  the  infinite 
value  of  Christ's  meritorious  death,  to  atone  for  his  [past*]  unholy 
life  ;  enabling  him  (o  believe  with  the  heart,  and  consequently  to  feel 
that  he  has  an  interest  in  the  Redeemer's  blood  and  righteousness; 
[or,  that  he  is  savingly  interested  in  the  merit  of  all  that  the  Son  of 
God  suffered,  did,  and  continues  to  do  for  us.] 

This  lively  faith,  this  faith\  working  by  love,  is  that  which  is  imputed 

for  righteousness,  Rom.  iv.  3.  and  that  whereby  a  soul  is  born  of  God 

[according  to  the]:  Christian  dispensation  of  the  Gospel,  1  John  r.  1. 

(11)  *  Without  the  words  former  Q.nd  past,  the  sentence  leaned  towards  Antinomianism. 
It  ^ve  fallen  believers  room  to  conclude,  that  their  future  or  present  unholy  lives  were 
unconditionally  atoned  for ;  contrar}'  to  St.  Paul's  ungTiarded  Gospel,  God  has  sent  forth 
Christ  to  be  a  propitiation,  to  declare  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are 
VAST.  Here  is  no  pleasing  inuendo,  that  the  present,  or  future  sins  of  Laodicean  bacji- 
^liders-,  *'  are  for  ever  and  for  ever  cancelled." 

(12)  f  This  is  the  very  doctrine  of  the  Minutes  and  of  the  Checks.  Is  it  not  astonishing", 
that  Mr.  Hill  should  desire  me  to  publish  my  sermon,  as  "  the  best  confutation'^  of  both  ! 

(13)  I  The  judicious  reader  will  easily  perceive,  that  the  additions  made  to  this,  and 
some  other  paragraphs  of  my  old  sermon,  are  intended  to  guard  the  inferior  dispensations 
of  the  Gospel.  Are  there  not  degvees  of  saving  faith,  inferior  to  the  faith  of  the  Christian 
Gospel  ?  And  are  not  those  degrees  of  faith  consistent  with  the  most  profound  ignorance 
of  the  history  of  our  Lord's  sufferings,  and  consequently  of  any  explicit  knowledge  of  the 
atonement.  Although  mankind  in  general  had  some  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  a  confused 
idea  of  propitiatory  sacrifices;  and  although  all  the  Jewish  sacrifices  and  prophecies 
pointed  to  the  great  atonement ;  yet  how  few,  even  among  the  pious  Jews,  seem  to  have 
had  a  clear  belief  that  the  Messiah  would  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself!  How 
unreasonable  is  it  then  to  confine  the  Gospel  to  the  explicit  knowledge  of  Christ's  atonin*'- 
sufferings,  to  which  bolji  the  prophets  and  apostles  were  once  such  strangers  !  Does  not 
St.  Peter  intimate  that  the  prophets  searched  to  little  purpose,  what  the  Spirit  signifed, 
when  it  testified  beforehand  the  sxLjferings  of  Christ ;  since  it  wus  revealed  to  them,  that 
7iot  ujilo  themselves,  but  unto  us,  they  did  minister  the  things,  U'hich  are  now  reported  in 
the  Christian  Gospel  ?  1  Peter  i.  11,  12.  And  how  absurd  is  it  to  suppose,  that  nothing  is 
Gospel,  but  a  doctrine,  which  the  first  preachers  of  the  Christian  Gospel  knew  little  or 
nothing  of,  even  while  they  preached  the  GoFpel  under  our  Lord's  immediate  direction  r 
Did  not  John  the  Baptist  exceed  in  evangelical  knowledge,  all  that  v^ere  bom  of  vmmen  ^ 

voi.  n.  1-0 


14^  EttUAL    CHECK.  FART    i' 

By  this  faith  tire  [Christian]  believer  being  [strongly]  united  to 
Christ,  as  a  member  to  the  body,  becomes  entitled  to  [a  much  larger 
share  in]  the  benefit  of  all  that  our  Lord  did  and  suffered ;  and  in 
consequence  of  this  [strong]  vital  union  with  him,  who  is  the  source 
of  all  goodness,  he  derives  a  [degree  of]  power  till  then  unknown, 
to  do  good  works  truly  so  called :  as  a  grart,  which  is  [strongly] 
united  to  the  stock  that  bears  it,  draws  from  it  new  sap,  and  power  to 
bring  forth  fruit  in  [greater]  abundance. 

[O  thou  that  profesaest  the  Christian  faith,  especially,]  show  me  thy 
faith  by  thy  works,  says  an  apostle  :  that  is,  Show  me  that  thou  art 
grafted  in  Christ  [according  to  the  Christian  dispensation]  by  serving 
God  with  all  thy  strength  ;  by  doing  all  the  good  thou  canst  to  the 
souls  and  bodies  of  men  with  cheerfulness  ;  by  suffering  wrong  and 
contempt  with  meekness  ;  by  slighting  earthly  joys,  mortifying  fleshly 
5usts,  having  thy  conversation  in  heaven,  and  panting  every  hour  after 
a  closer  union  with  Christ,  the  life  of  all  believers.  If  thou  dost  not 
bring  forth  these  fruits,  thou  art  not  a  Christian  ;  thou  art  not  in 
Christ  a  new  creature^  2  Cor.  v.  17,     Thou  may  est  talk  of  faith,  and 

Were  the  apostks  much  inferior  to  him,  whea  they  had  been  three  years  in  Christ'? 
school  ?   Did  not  our  Lord  say  to  them,  Blessed  are  your  eyes^  for  they  see,  and  your  ears. 
for  they  hear ;  for  verily  many  prophets  and  righteous  men  have  desired  to  see  the  things 
that  ye  see,  mid  have  not  seen  them;  and  to  hear  the  things  that  ya  hear,  and  have  not 
heard  them?    Again,  did  he  not  testify,  that  in  general  they  had  justifying  faith,  i.  e.  faitb 
working  by  love  ?    Did  he  not  say,  JVow  are  ye  dean  throv.gh  the  xi^ord  which  I  have 
spoken  unto  you — The  Father  himself  loveih  you^  because  you  have  loved  me,  and  believed 
that  I  came  forth  from  God  ?    Nay,  did  he  not  send  them  two  and  two,  to  preach  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.    Repent  and  believe  thk  Gospkl?     And  would  he  have 
sent  them  to  preach  a  Gospel  to  which  they  were  utter  strangers  ?     But  were  they  not 
perfectly  strangei'S  to  what  passes  now  for  the  only  Gospel  ?     Had  they  the  least  idea  that 
their  Master's  blood  was  to  be  shed  for  them,  even'  after  he  had  said,   This  is  my  blood 
■of  the  JS''ew  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  you  and  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins  ? 
When  be  spoke  to  them  of  his  sufferings,  were  not  they  so  far  from  believing  in  the  atone- 
ment which  he  was  about  to  make,  that  they  were  elfended  at  the  yary  idea  ?     Is  not  this 
evident  from  the  words  of  Peter,  their  chief  speaker,  who  began  to  rebuke  him,  saying.  Be 
it  far  from  thee,  Lord :  this  shall  not  happen  unto  thee:  i.  e.  We  do  not  yet  see  the  need 
of  thy  blood  ?    Nay,  when  Christ  bad  actually  shed  it,  and  the  atoning  work  was  fnished  ,- 
far  from  having  the  least  notion  about  what  is  called  '■'■finished  salvation,"  and  "  Gospel'* 
in  our  day;  did  they  not  suppose  that  all  their  hopes  were  blasted,  saying,   TVe  trusted 
that  it  had  been  he  %oho  should  have  redeemed  Israel,  Luke  xxiv.  21.  ?     Thus  the  very  pa} - 
ment  of  their  ransom  m.ade  them  despair  of  redemption  ;  so  great  was  their  ignorance  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  atonement,  notwithstanding  their  Gospel  knowledge,  which  far  exceeded 
that  of  most  patriarchs  and  prophets !     From  these  observations  may  I,not  conclude 
1.  That  an  explicit  knowledge  of  Christ's  passion  and  atonement,  is  the  prerogative  of  tho^ 
Christian  Gospel  advancing  towards  perfection?     And  2.  That  those  who  make  it  essen 
tial  to  the  everlasting  Gospel,  most  di-eadfully  curtail  it,  and  indirectly  doom  to  hell,  not 
only  all  the  righteous  Jews,  Turks,  and  Heathens,  who  may  now  be  alive  ;  but  also  almos' 
all  the  believers,  who  died  before  our  Lord's  crucitixion,  and  some  of  the  disciples  therc  • 
r<?lv<js  after  his  resurrectioA  * 


A   DISCOURSE    ON   SALVATION,   &C.  14? 

^  suppose  that  thou  believest ;  but  give  rae  leave  to  tell  thee,  that 
[unless  thou  art  in  the  case  of  the  eunuch,  who  searched  the  Scrip- 
tures even  upon  a  journey ;  or  of  Cornelius,  who  sought  the  Lord 
in  alms-givings  and  prayer  ;]  if  thou  believest  at  all,  [I  fear]  it  is  with 
the  drunkard's  faith,  the  whoremonger's  faith,  the  devil's  faith,  James 
ii.  19. — From  such  a  faith,  may  God  deliver  us,  and  give  us,  instead 
of  this  counterfeit,  the  faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints^  the  mystery 
of  faith  kept  in  a  pure  conscience.'  Get  it,  O  sinner,  who  bearest  a 
Christian  name,  and  Christ  and  heaven  are  thine  :  [but  if  thou]  die 
without  it,  [whether  it  be  by  continuing  in  thy  present  sin  and  unbe- 
lief, or  by  making  shipwreck  of  thy  faith,]  thou  diest  the  second  death  ; 
thou  sinkest  in  the  bottomless  pit  for  evermore.  Mark  xvi.  16. 

Having  thus  given  3'ou  an  account  of  both  covenants,  and  laid 
before  you  the  condition  [or  term]  of  each  ;  namely,  for  the  first,  a 
sinless,  uninterrupted  obedience  to  all  the  commands  of  the  holy, 
spiritual,  [and  Adaraic]  law  of  God,  performed  by  ourselves  without 
the  least  [mediatorial  assistance  :]  and  for  the  second,  a  lively  faith  in 
Christ  [the  light  of  the  zvorld,  according  to  the  Gospel  dispensation  we 
are  under  ;]  by  which  faith,  the  virtue  of  Christ's  active  and  passive 
obedience  to  the  law  [of  innocence]  being  imputed -to  us,  and  applied 
to  our  hearts,  we  are  made  new  creatures^  born  again,  and  created  in, 
CJirist  Jesus  unto  good  works,  without  which  there  can  be  no  lively 
faith  [under  any  of  the  divine  dispensations  :]  and  having  [by  that 
important  distinction  of  the  two  grand  covenants]  removed  a  great 
deal  of  rubbish  out  of  the  way :  I  hope  it  will  not  be  difficult  to 
prov€  under  the 

SECOND  HEAD, 

That  the  way  of  salvation  by  such  a  lively  faith  only,  or,  which  is 
the  same,  by  the  covenant  of  grace  [alone,]  is  the  one  way  that  leads 
to  life,  according  to  the  Bible  and  our  articles  of  religion. 

If  you  ask  all  the  Pharisees,  all  the  self-righteous  Heathens,  Turks, 
Jews,  and  Papists,  in  the  world,  which  is  the  way  of  salvation  ?  [with 
too  many  ignorant  Protestants]  they  will  answer,  [without  making  the 
least  mention  of  repentance  and  faith]  "  through  doing  good  works, 
and  leading  a  good  life  :"  that  is,  "  through  the  covenant  of  works  ;" 
flatly  contrary  to  what  I  have  proved  in  the  first  part  of  this  dis- 
course, namely,  that  by  the  works  of  the  law,  by  the  first  covenant, 
shall  no  flesh  living  he  justified.  Gal.  ii.  16.  Or  if  they  have  \'et 
some  sense  of  modesty,  if  they  are  not  quite  lost  in  pride,  [supposing 
Miem  Christians]  they  will  varrish  over  the  blasphemy  [which  I  fear 


148  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  i:- 

is  indirectly  couched  under  their  boasting  speech,]  with  two  or  three 
words  about  God's  mercy.  "  Why,  (say  they)  it  is  to  be  hoped,  we 
shall  all -be  sared  by  endeavouring  to  lead  good  lives,  and  do  good 
works :  and  if  theit  will  not  do,  God's  mercy  in  Christ  will  do  the 
rest."  Which  means  neither  more  nor  less  than  this  :  "  We  are  still 
to  be  saved  by  the  covenant  of  works,  by  putting  on,  [sinful  and  guilty 
as  we  are,]  the  robe  of  our  own  [Pharisaic,  anti-evangelical,  Christ- 
less]  righteousness  ;  and  if  it  happen  to  be  too  short,  or  to  have  some 
holes,  Christ  [whom  we  are  willing  to  make  the  omega,  but  not  the 
alpha ;  the  last,  but  not  the  first,']  will,  in  mercy,  tear  his  spotless 
robe  [of  merits,]  to  patch  up  and  lengthen  oiirs."  [And  this,  they 
say,  it  is  to  be  feared,  without  the  least  degree  of  genuine  repentance 
towards  God,  and  heartfelt  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.]  O  how 
many  dream  of  getting  to  heaven  in  this  fool's  coat,  [this  absurd  dres& 
of  a  Christian  Pharisee  !]  How  many,  by  thus  blending  the  two  cove- 
nants, which  are  as  incompatible  as  fire  and  water,  try  to  make  for 
themselves  a  third  covenant,  that  never  existed  but  in  their  proud 
imagination !  In  a  word,  how  many  are  there,  who  say  or  think  : 
We  must  be  saved  partly  by  [the  covenant  of]  works,  and  partly  by 
[the  covenant  of]  grace  1  giving  the  lie  to  God  and  my  text !  over- 
turning at  once  the  Gospel  and  Protestantism  ! — No,  no  :  if  a  remnant 
is  saved,  it  is  by  the  covenant  of  grace  ;  and  if  by  grace,  then  it  is  «o 
more  [by  the  covenant]  of  works  ;  otherwise  grace  is  no  more 
[Gospel]  grace.  But  if  it  be  [by  the  covenant]  of  works,  then  it  is 
no  more  [Gospel]  grace  ;  otherwise  work  is  no  more  work  :  [for  the 
moment  obedience  is  the  work  of  faith,  it  can  no  more  be  opposed  to 
faith  and  Gospel  grace,  than  the  fruit  of  a  tree  can  be  opposed  to  the 
tree,  and  the  sap  by  which  it  is  produced.] 

But,  to  the  law  and  the  testimony!  Do  the  oracles  of  God,  or  the 
writings  of  our  Reformers,  direct  us  for  salvation  to  the  covenant  of 
works,  or  to  a  third  covenant  of  [anti-evangelical*]  works  and  [evan- 
gelical] grace  patched  up  together  ?  Do  they  not  entirely  and  inva- 
riably point  us  to  the  covenant  of  grace  alone  ? 

(14)  *  I  add  the  word  anti-evangelical,  tq  point  out  the  rise  of  the  mistake  of  some 
pious  Protestants,  who,  being  carried  awayjby  an  injudicious  zeal  for  the  first,Gospel  axiom, 
and  misled  by  the  conciseness  of  the  apostle's  style,  get  upon  the  pinnacle  of  the  Antino- 
mian  Babel,  and  thence  decry  all  works  in  general  \  unhappily  quoting  St»  Paul  in  con- 
firmation of  their  error.  Although  it  is  evident  that  the  apostle  never  excluded  from  the 
Gospel  plan  of  salvation  by  grace,  any  works  but  the  works  of  unbelief,  and  sometimes 
pleaded  for  the  works  of  faith,  and  for  the  immense  rewards,  with  which  they  shall  be 
crowned,  in  far  stronger  tern^s  than  St,  James  himself;  denouncing  indignation  andwrath, 
iribulation  qnd  angid^h  upon  every  soui  of  man  that  neglects  them,  or  dothlpjilv 


A    DISCOURSE    ON   SALVATION,  &:C.  149 

Hear  first  the  word  of  the  Lord.  He  that  believeth  07i  the  Son 
[according  to  the  light  of  the  dispensation  he  is  under]  hath  everlasting 
life:  He  that  believeth  not,  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him,  John  iii.  36. — When  the  trembhug  jailer  cries  out, 
What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  Paul  and  Silas  answer,  believe  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shall  be  saved.  Acts  xvi.  31. — God  so  loved 
the  world,  says  St.  John,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whoso- 
ever BELIEVETH  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life, 
John  iii.  16. — By  grace,  says  St.  Paul,i/e  are  [initially]  saved  through 
FAITH,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God :  not  [by  the 
covenant]  of  works,  [nor  yet  by  the  proper  merit  of  any  works,]  lest 
any  man  should  boast  [as  the  Pharisee ;  all  who  despise  the  way  of 
faith,  and  put  the  instrumental  causes  in  the  room  of  the  first  and 
properly  ;meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation,  being  no  better  than 
boasting  Pharisees.]  For  to  him  that  worketh  [without  applying  to 
the  throne  of  grace,  as  a  hell-deserving  sinner]  is  the  reward  not 
reckoned  of  [evangelical]  grace,  but  of  [legal]  debt :  but  to  him  that 
worketh  not  [upon  the  footing  of  the  first  covenant ;]  to  him  who  sees 
that  he  cannot  [escape  hell,  much  less]  get  heaven,  by  [setting]  his 
good  works,  [if  he  has  any,  on  the  Redeemer's  throne  ;]  but  believeth 
[as  a  lost  sinner,]  on  him  that  justifeth  the  ungodly ;  his  faith  is 
counted  for  righteousness :  he  is  saved  by  [obedient]  faith,  which  is 
the  CONDITION  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  Rom.  iv.  4. 

Thus  speak  the  Scriptures,  and  blessed  be  God  !  thus  speak  also 
our  Liturgy  and  Articles. 

In  the  absolution  the  priest  declares,  that  [in  the  day  of  conversion] 
God  pardoneth  and  absolveth,  that  is,  saveth,  not  those  QiCr'  [moralists] 
who  [being  ashamed  to  repent,  and  scorning  to  believe  the  Gospel, 
endeavour  to]  lead  a  good  life  to  get  a  pardon  [by  their  own 
merits  -^.J^  but  all  those  who  truly  repent,  and  unfeignedly  believe  in 
his  holy  Gospel ;  that  is,  all  those,  who,  by  true  repentance  renounce 
[together  with  their  sins]  all  dependence  upon  the  covenant  of  works  ; 
and  by  a  faith  unfeigned  flee  for  refuge  only  to  [God's  mercy  in 
Christ,  which  is  so  kindly  offered  to  sinners  in]  the  covenant  of 
grace.  Hence  it  is,  that  in  the  communion-service  we  are  com- 
manded to  pray.  That  by  the  merits  and  death  of  Christ,  and  through 
faith  in  his  blood,  we  and  all  the  whole  church,  may  obtain  remission  of 
sins,  and  all  other  benefits  of  Ids  passion. 

This  holy  doctrine  is  most  clearly  maintained,  and  strongly  esta- 
blished in  the  ixth,  xth,  xith,  xiith,  and  xiiitb,  of  our  Articles  of  reli- 
gion. And  upon  these  five  pillars,  it  will  remain  unshaken  as  long 
as  the  Church  of  England  shall  stand. 


150  S<=IUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

The  ixth  shows,  that  since  the  fall  of  Adam,  ''•  (he  corruption  of 
our  nature  deserves  God's  wrath  and  damnation;'^  so  that  [being  con- 
sidered without  the  free  gift,  that  came  upon  all  men  in  CHirist  unto 
justification  of  hfe,  Rora.  v.  18.]  we  are  of  ourselves,  evil  trees 
ready  for  the  axe  of  death,  and  the  fire  of  hell. 

The  xth  adds,  that  we  cannot  consequently  get  grace  and  glory,  that 
IS,  save  ourselves,  by  bearing  good  fruit  [through  our  original  powers, 
according  to  the  tirst  covenant]  because  an  evil  tree  can  only  produce 
evil  fruit : — [And  that  "  "^'e  have  no  power  to  do  works  acceptable  to 
God,  without  the  grace  of  God  by  Christ  preventing  ws,"  according  to 
the  second  covenant.] 

The  xith  affirms,  that  we  are  saved,  that  is,  accepted  of  God, 
changed,  and  made  good  trees,  trees  of  the  Lord's  planting,  only  for  the 
merit  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  and  not  for  our  own  works  and 
deservings :  0:^  as  we  can  do  no  good  works  before  we  are  [at  least] 
in  a  state  of  [initial]  salvation  .=£;:0  Make  the  tree  good,  says  our  Lord, 
and  its  fruit  shall  he  good.  [In  our  infancy  we  are  freely  blessed 
with  a  seed  of  light  from  Christ,  the  light  of  men ;  and  at  the  same  time 
we  are  freely  justified  from  the  damning  guilt  of  original  corruption. 
As  we  grow  up,  and  personally  repent  and  believe  in  the  light  after  a 
personal  fall,  we  are  again  freely  pardoned.  Thus,  so  long  at  least, 
as  the  accepted  time,  and  the  day  of  salvation  last]  God  has  first  respect 
to  our  persons  in  Christ,  and  then  to  oar  sacrifices  or  works  [of  faith.] 
Heb.  xi.  4.     Gen.  iv.  4,  6. 

The  xiith  declares,  that  good  works,  works  which  necessarily  follow 
free  justification,  do  not  serve  to  put  away  [or  atone  for]  sins ;  but  to 
declare  the  truth  of  our  faith  :  ^^  insomuch  that  by  them  a  lively  faith 
may  be  as  evidently  known  as  a  tree  discerned  by  the  fruit.'*''  A  tree  is 
first  planted,  *and  then  it  brings  forth  fruit:  0^  a  believer  is  first 
saved,  [i.  e.  freely  made  partaker  of  initial  salvation]  and  then  he  does 
good  works. =C0  [A  lively  faith  necessarily  produces  them,  though 
a  believer  does  not  necessarily  persevere  in  a  lively  faith  :  if  he  do 
them  not  his  f\iith  is  dead  ;  it  is  not  [jiow  a  living  and]  saving  faith,  he 
is  no  [longer  an  obedient]  believer  ;  [but  an  Antinomian  or  an  apostate, 
a  Demas  or  a  Judas.] 

The  xiiith  insists  upon  that  point  of  doctrine,  which  confounds  the 
Pharisees  in  all  ages,  and  lays  our  virtuous  pride  in  thej^ust  before 
God  :  namely  that,  [when  we  have  sinned  away  the  justification  *  of 

(15)  *  Those  who  start  at  every  expression  the)'  are  not  used  to,  will  ask  if  our  Church 
admits  the  justification  of  infants.  I  answer :  Undoubtedly,  since  her  clergy  by  her 
direction  say  over  myriads  of  infants,  "  We  yield  thee  hearty  thanks,  most  merciful  Father, 
that  it  has  pleased  (lice  to  regenerate  this  infant  with  thy  holy  Spirit,  to  receive  him  for  thy 


A   DISCOURSE  ON   SALVATION,   &C.  151 

infants]  0^  works  done  before  [that]  jiislijication  [is  restored,]  before 
faith  alone  has  put  us  [again]  into  a  state  of  [initial]  salvation,  not 
only  do  not  Jit  us  to  receive  grace,  but  have  in  themselves  the  nature  ^f 
sin,  [nay,  the  worst  of  sins,  spiritual  pride,  and  Pharisaic  hypocrisy:] 
and  consequently  deserve  death,  the  wages  of  sin,  so  far  [are  they] 
from  meriting  grace  and  glory. ^j^ 

This  is  agreeable  to  reason  as  well  as  to  Scripture  ;  for  if,  of  our- 
selves,.as  says  our  Church,  [i.  e.  before  any  degree  of  grace  is 
instilled  into  our  infant  hearts,  or  before  God  freely  visits  us  again 
when  we  have  personally  fallen  away  from  him,]  we  cannot  by  our 
good  works,  so  called,  prepare  ourselves  to  faith  :  If  we  are  such  crab- 
trees,  as  can  bring  forth  no  apples,  [without  the  grace  of  God  by  Christ 
preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and  working  with  us  when 
we  have  that  good  will,  it  is  plain  that]  by  producing  as  many  crabs, 
{i.  e.  as  many  works  of  unbelief]  as  [blaspheming]  Paul  before  his 
conversion ;  and  of  as  fine  a  colour,  and  as  large  a  size,  as  those 
which  the  self-righteous  Pharisee  bore  :  we  cannot  change  our  own 
nature,  nor  force  from  ourselves  the  sweet  fruit  of  one  [truly]  good 
work  :  *  Many  who  have  not  the  true  faith,'  says  our  Church,  ijei 
flourish  in  works  of  mercy.  But  they  that  shine  in  good  works  [so 
called]  without  faith ,  arc  like  dead  men,  who  have  goodly  and  precious 
tombs:  or,  to  carry  on  the  allegory  of  our  Reformers,  the  fine  crabs 
which  such  people  produce,  please  the  eye  of  the  spectator,  who 
thinks  them  good  apples  ;  but  God,  who  sees  their  hearts,  tastes  in 
the  deceitful  fruit,  nothing  but  the  sourness  of  a  crab.  Such  crabs 
are  the  alms  of  whoremongers,  the  prayers  of  unjust  persons,  the 
public  worship  of  swearers  and  drunkards,  the  tithes  and  fasts*  of 
Pharisees.     Isa.  i.   11,  &c. 

own  child,  &c.  And  in  her  catechism  she  teaches  all  children  to  say,  as  soon  as  they  can 
speak,  /  heartily  thank  oicr  heavenly  Father,  t/iat  he  hath  called  me  to  this  state  of  salvation. 
If  my  objector  urges,  that  our  Church  puts  those  words  only  in  the  mouth  of  baptized 
children ;  I  reply ;  Trup,  because  she  instructs  no  others.  But  why  does  she  admit  io 
baptism  all  the  childi'en  that  are  born  within  her  pale  ?  Does  she  not  vindicate  her  practice 
in  this  respect  by  an  appeal  to  our  Lord's  kind  command  ;  "  Let  little  children  come  unto 
wif,  and  forbid  them  not  ;for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven?''''  This  I  had  not  considered 
when  I  said  in  my  Appeal,  that  our  Church  returns  thanks  for  the  regeneration  of  baptized 
infants  only  [I  should  have  said  chiffly]  upon  a  charitable  supposition,  &ic.  For  it  is  evi- 
dent that  she  Joes  it  also  upon  Christ's  gracioiis  declaration,  Mark  x.  13,  &c.  the  precious 
Gospel  of  heV  office,  upon  wh^ch  she  comments  in  a  manner  most  favourable  to  children  , 
concluding  her  charge  on  the  occasion  bv  these  words ;  JFhcrefore,  we  being  thus  persuaded 
of  the  GOOD  \^iLL  of  our  heavenly  Father  towards  this  [unbaptized]  infant,  declared  by 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  nothing  doubting,  &c.  These  wordj  I  had  not  attended  to., 
when  I  wrote  my  Appeal.  I  take  this  first  opportunity  of  acknowledging  my  mistake, 
which  shall  be  rectified  in  the  next  edition. 

(16)  *  Here  is  a  short  enumeration  of  good  works,  so  called,  which  I  decry  in  thia  ser- 
mon.    Had  my  opponent  considei-ed  it,  he  would  never  have  suppoeed  that  my  discourse 


152  EQUAL    CHECK,  PART    t^ 

(^  Having  thus  shown  you,  how  self-righteous,  unawakened  sJn- 
ners  dream  of  salvation,  either  by  the  covenant  of  works,  or  by  a 
third  imaginary  covenant,  in  which  two  incompatible  things  [Phari- 
saical] works  and  [evangelical]  grace,  [antichristian]  merits  and 
mercy  [in  Christ]  are  jumbled  together  ;  and  having  proved  by  plain, 
unanswerable  passages,  and  by  the  39  Articles,  that  the  Gospel  and 
our  Church  show  us,  salvation  cannot  be  attained,  but  under  the 
second  covenant,  that  is,  by  [obedient]  faith  only,  and  not  by  [the 
covenant  of]  works  ;  1  beg  leave  to  recapitulate  the  whole  in  three 
articles,  which  contain  the  sum  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  doctrine 
that  I  have  constantly  preached  among  you,  and  am  determined  to 
preach,  God  being  my  helper,  till  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of 
my  mouth,*  [unless  a  flaw  can  be  found]  in  any  of  them,  by  the  word 
of  God  or  the  articles  of  our  Church. =dO0 

Upon  the  proofs  before  advanced,  I  solemnly  declare  and  publicly 
affirm  :  1.  That  there  is  no  salvation  to  be  attained  by  [the  covenant 
of]  works  since  the  fall.  The  best  man  having  broken  a  hundred 
times  the  first  covenant,  deserves  a  hundred  times  damnation  by  his 
works,  and  can  no  more  be  saved  from  hell  by  his  obedience  to  God's 
law  [of  innocence]  than  a  thief  can  be  saved  from  the  gallows,  by  the 
civil  law  which  condemns  him  to  be  hanged. 

2.  Respecting  the  primary  and  properly  meritorious  cause  of  our 
salvation,  [from  first. to  last]  "we  are  saved,  as  it  is  written  in  our 
eleventh  Article,  only  for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  faith, 
and  not  for  our  works  or  deservings  :  And  that  [in  the  day  of  conver- 
sion] we  are  justified  by  faith  only,  is  a  most  wholesome  doctrine,  and 
very  full  of  comfort :  yea  the  only  doctrine  that  can  melt  down  the 
hearts  of  sinners,  and  make  them  constantl}'  zealous  of  all  sorts  of 
good  works,  [if  it  be  not  made  to  supercede  the  justification  of  be- 
lievers by  the  evidence  of  works,  both  in  the  day  of  trial  and  in  the 
day  of  judgment.  A  doctrine  this,  which  few  Antinomians  are  daring 
enough  directly  to  oppose.] 

3.  As  all  mankind  are  condemned  by  the  covenant  of  works,  he 
that  believeth  not  [in  the  light  of  his  dispensation]  being  condemned 

Is  "  the  best  refutation"  of  wh«it  I  have  advanced  in  the  Checks,  in  favour  of  tlie  good 
works  naaintained  by  St.  James  and  Mr.  Wesloy. 

(17)  *  The  words  enclosed  in  brackets  are  in  my  manusctlpt,  and  were  written  several 
years  ago,  when,  looking  over  my  sermon,  I  thought  they  savoured  more  of  Christian  mo- 
desty than  those  which  Mr.  Hill  has  in  his  copy  :  [And  ha-e  I  give  a  public  challenge  to 
any  man  living  tofijid  a  Jlaw]  I  challenge  no  body  now,  but  I  promise,  that  if  any  man 
living  will  be  kind  enough  to  show  me  my  errors  by  p/am  Scripture,  and  soH(?  argument, 
he  shall  have  my  sincere  thanks.  For  if  I  know  my  heart,  pure  and  unmixed  truth  is  <h* 
object  of  my  desires,  and  controversial  pursuits. 


A    DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,    &€.  153 

already  '.  i\^  and  as  by  the  covenant  of  grace  there  is  no  salvation 
to  be  had  but  in  Christ  through  f^iith,  so  (here  is  no  mixing  those 
two  covenants  without  renouncing  Christ  and  his  Gospel.  He  that 
stands  with  one  foot  upon  the  covenant  of  works,  and  with  the 
other  foot  upon  the  covenant  of  grace  ;  [he  that  talks  of  divine 
mercy,  while  his  heart  continues  as  regardless  of  it  as  if  he  were 
sinless  ;  he  that  ends  his  prayers  by  the  name  of  Christ,  while  he 
remains  unconcerned  about  his  fallen  state,]  is  in  the  most  immi- 
nent danger  of  eternal  ruin..=£;;:o  He  that  says,  "  I  will  do  first  what 
I  can  to  merit  heaven  ;  I  will  do  my  best  ;  and  Christ,  I  hope,  will  do 
the  rest ;  and  God,  1  trust,  will  have  mercy  upon  me,"  is  yet  without 
God,  and  without  Christ  in  the  world  ;  he  knows  neither  the  nature 
of  God's  law,  nor  that  of  Christ's  Gospel. 

[This  is,  my  dear  hearers,  the  substance  of  the  three  articles^ 
which,  eleven  years  ago,  I  publicly  laid  down  in  this  Church,  as  the 
ground  of  the  doctrine  which  1  had  preached,  and  was  determined 
still  to  preach  among  you.  And  I  solemnly  declare,  that,  to  this  day, 
I  have  not  seen  the  least  cause  to  reject  any  one  of  them  as  erro- 
neous. Though  I  must  confess,  that  I  have  found  abundant  reason 
particularly  to  guard  the  second,  against  the  daring  attacks,  that  An- 
tinomians  in  principle,  or  in  practice,  make  upon  St.  James's  unde- 
filed  religion.     To  return  :] 

We  are  undoubtedly  obliged  to  do  what  we  can,  and  to  use  the 
means  of  grace  at  all  [proper]  times  and  in  all  [convenient]  places  ; 
but,  to  rest  in  those  means  [like  the  Pharisees  ;]  to  suppose  that  they 
will  save  us  ;  and  upon  this  supposition  to  be  easy  witho,ut  the  ex- 
perience of  [converting]  grace  in  our  hearts,  is  very  absurd.  It  is  a 
mistake  as  foolish  as  that  of  the  man,  who  supposes  that  his  garden 
will  be  the  more  fruitful  for  pipes  which  convey  no  water  ;  or  that 
his  body  can  be  refreshed  by  empty  cups. 

The  language  of  a  penitent  sinner  is,  "  Lord,  I  pray,  and  hear  [thy 
word  ;]  I  fast,  and  receive  the  commemorative  tokens  of  thy  pas- 
sion ;  I  give  alms,  and  keep  the  Sabbath  ;  but  after  all,  I  am  an  un- 
profitable servant. — [I  must  work  out  my  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
tremblings  and  yet]  without  thee  I  can  do  nothing ;  I  cannot  change  my 
heart ;  I  cannot  root  up  from  my  breast  the  desire  of  praise,  the 
thirst  of  pleasure,  and  the  hankering  after  gold,  vanity,  beauty,  or 
sensual  gratifications  which  I  continually  feel ;  I  cannot  force  my 
stubborn  heart  to  repent,  believe,  and  love  ;  to  be  meek  and  lowly, 
calm  and  devout.  Lord,  deliver  me  from  this  body  of  death  ;  Lord, 
save,  or  I  perish.'^ 

Vol.  IL  20 


154  E^UAL  check;  tart  I. 

Christ  will  have  all  the  glory  [worthy  of  him]  or  none.  We  must 
be*  wholly  saved  by  him,  or  lost  for  ever  ;  [for  although  we  must  be 
co-workers  with  him,  by  walking  religiously  in  good  works  ;  and  if  we 
are  not,  we  shall  have  our  portion  with  the  workers  of  iniquity ;  yet 
it  is  he  that  worketh  in  us,  as  in  moral  agents,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of 
his  good  pleasure.  It  is  he  that  appoints,  and  blesses  all  the  .inferior 
means  of  our  salvation,  therefore  all  the  glory  properly  and  origin- 
ally belongs  to  him  alone.] 

[All  our  pardons  flow  dotvn  to  us,  in  the  streams  of  his  precious 
blood.  All  our  life,  light,  and  power,  are  nothing  but  emanations 
from  him,  who  is  the  Fountain  of  life y  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  the  Wis- 
dom and  Power  of  God,  and  in  a  word,  Jehovah  our  righteousness. 
All  that  gracious  rewardableness  of  the  works  of  faith  ;  all  that  apti- 
tude of  our  sprinkled  obedience  unto  eternal  life;  all  that  being  wor- 
thy.  which  he  himself  condescends  to  speak  of,  Rev  iii.  4.  and  Luke 
xs.  35.  spring  not  on\y  from  his  gracious  appointment,  but  from  his 
overflowing  merits.     A  comparison  will  illustrate  my  meaning.] 

[You  see  the  cheerful  light  that  flows  in  upon  us  through  those 
windows,  and  renders  the  glass  as  bright  as  this  spring  day.  You 
know  that  this  brightness  in  the  glass  is  not  from  the  glass,  which 
was  totally  dark  some  hours  ago  ;  a  fit  emblem  then  of  the  works  of 
darkness^  the  works  of  unbelief:  such  works  being  as  much  devoid 
of  rewardableness,  as  those  panes  were  of  light  at  midnight.  Let  us 
not  forget  then,  that  if  our  works  are  graciously  rewarded  it  is  only 
when  they  ai*e  the  works  of  faith,  whose  peculiar  property  it  i^  freely 
to  admit  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  the  beams  of  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness ;  just  as  it  is  the  property  of  the  transparent  matter,  which  com- 
poses these  vvindows,  necessarily  to  admit  the  genial  warmth  and 
cheerful  rays  of  the  natural  sun.] 

[If  1  admire  a  poor  widow,  gladly  casting  her  last  mite  into  the 
treasury;  or  a  martyr,  generously  giving  his  body  to  blood-thirsty 
executioners  ;  it  is  only  because  their  lively  faith  receives,  and  their 
pure  charity  reflects,  the  light  of  him,  who  for  our  sake  became 
poor  ;  and  for  our  sake  joyfully  surrendered  to  his  bloody  murderers. 
But  although  this  image  of  our  Lord's  meritorious  hoUness  and  suffer- 
ings, does  great  honour  to  the  saints  who  reflect  it :  yet,  the  praise 
of  it  originally  and  properly  belongs  to  him  alone.] 

(18)  *  See  the  first  note  upon  the  word  merely. — N.  B.  Here  begins  the  greatest  ad- 
dition to  my  old  sermon.  It  is  in  favour  oifree  grace,  and  runs  through  fourt€en  para- 
graphs. 


A   DISCOURSE    ON   SALVATION,    (fec.  t^SS 

[An  illustration  will  make  you  sensible  of  it.  You  have  seen  a 
glass  perfectly  re6ecting  the  beauty  of  a  person  placed  over  against 
it ;  you  have  admired  the  elegant  proportion  of  features  which  com* 
posed  her  beauty :  but  did  you  ever  see  any  man  so  void  of  good 
aense,  as  to  suppose  that  the  beauty  was  originally  in  the  glass  which 
reflected  it ;  or  that  the  lovely  appearance  existed  without  depend- 
ing on  its  original ;  or  that  it  robbed  the  living  beauty  of  her  pecu- 
liar glory?  And  shall  any,  on  the  one  hand,  be  so  full  of  voluntary 
humility,  as  to  maintain,  that  Chris^t  is  dishonoured  by  the  derived 
worthiness  of  the  works  o(  faith,  whose  office  it  is  to  receive,  em- 
brace, and  trust  in  the  Redeemer's  original  and  proper  merit  ?  Shall 
any,  on  the  other  hand,  be  so  full  of  Pharisaic  pride  as  to  fancy,  that 
the  distinguishing  excellence  of  our  good  works,  if  we  have  any, 
springs  from,  or  terminates  in,  ourselves  ?  No,  my  brethren  :  as 
rivers  flow  back  to  the  sea,  and  lose  themselves  in  that  immense 
reservoir  of  waters,  whence  they  had  their  origin  ;  so  let  all  the 
"  rewardable  condecency"*  of  our  evangelical  obedience  flow  back 
to,  and  lose  itself  in,  the  boundless  and  bottomless  ocean  of  our 
Lord's  original  and  proper  merits.] 

He,  He  alone  is  worthy — properly  worthy  !  Worthy, — supremely 
worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  rvas  slain!  Let  us  then  always  say,  with  the 
humble  men  of  old,  Our  goods  are  nothing  unto  thee,  our  good  works 
cannot  po<5sibly  benetit  thee.  What  have  we,  great  God,  that  we  have 
not  received  from  thy  gracious  hand  ?  And  ishall  we  keep  back  part  of 
thy  incontestable  property,  and  impiously  wear  the  robes  of  praise  ! 
Far  be  the  spiritual  sacrilege  from  every  pious  breast !  As  thine  is 
all  the  kingdom  and  power ;  so  thine  be  all  tlw  glory  for  ever  and  ever  / 

[If  therefore,  my  brethren,  we  have  the  honour  of  ^filling  up  that 
which  is  behind  of  the  affiictions  of  Christ  in  our  flesh,  for  his  body''$ 
sake,  which  is  the  Church; — if  we  are  even  offered  upon  the  sacrifice 
q/'each  other's /a/7^  ;  let  us  dread  as  blasphemy  the  wild  thought  of 
completing,  and  perfecting  our  Lord's  infinitely  complete  and  per- 
fect atonement.  As  God,  who  is  intinite  in  himself,  was  not  made 
greater  by  the  immense  bulk  of  created  worlds  ;  nor  brighter  by  the 
shining  perfections  of  countless  myriads  of  angels  and  suns  :  so  the 
intinite  value  of  that  one  offering,  by  n'h'ch  CJirist  has  for  ever  per- 
fected  in  atoning  merits  them  that  are  sanctified,  is  not  augmented  by 

(19)  *  I  need  not  inform  my  judicious  readers,  that  I  use  the  uncouth,  barbarian  ex- 
pression of  Dr.  Owen,  "  rewardable  condecency"  to  convey  the  meaning  of  our  Lord, 
when  he  graciously  speaks  of  our  meriting  or  being  wortliy.  If  sick  persons  will  not 
take  a  draught  but  out  of  a  certain  cup,  made  in  the  height  of  a  queer  fashion,  we  nmst 
please  them  for  th«ir  good. 


150  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  f. 

the  works  of  all  the  saints,  and  the  blood  of  all  the  martyrs.  And  as 
the  heat  of  the  fire  adds  nothing  to  the  nature  of  the  fire,  or  the 
beams  of  the  sun  to  the  sun  ;  so  the  righteousness  of  the  saints  does 
not  increase  that  of  Christ,  nor  adds  their  holiness  any  thing  to  his 
personal  excellence.] 

[Keep  we  then  at  an  awful  distance  from  the  gulf,  which  self- 
righteous  Pharisees  set  between  themselves  and  the  Justifier  of 
those,  who,  like  the  contrite  publican,  are  spn«ible  of  their  ungod- 
liness. With  indignation  rise  we  against  the  delusions  of  the  Roman- 
ists, who  countenance  the  absurd  and  impious  doctrine  o^ indulgences^ 
by  the  worse  than  Pharisaic  doctrine  of  their  tiyorA;s  of  supererogation. 
Let  us  not  only  receive,  and  defend  in  a  scriptural  manner,  the  im- 
portant Articles  of  our  Church,  which  I  have  already  mentioned : 
but  with  undaunted  courage  before  men,  and  with  penitential  con- 
trition before  God,  let  us  stand  to  our  XlVth  article,  which  teaches 
us,  after  our  Lord,  to  say  before  the  throne  of  inflexible  justice, 
refulgent  holiness,  and  dazzling  glory.  We  are  unprofitable  servants, 
even  when  we  have  done  all  that  is  commanded  us.  In  point  of  strict 
equivalence,  our  best  works  of  faith,  our  holiest  duties,  cannot  properly 
merit  the  le<ist  heavenly  reward.  But,  O  !  may  the  humbling  truth 
keep  us  for  ever  in  the  dust !  in  point  of  strict  justice  our  every  bad 
work  properly  deserves  infernal  torments.] 

[Therefore,  while  we  earnestly  contend  for  practical,  pure,  unde- 
iiled  religion,  take  we  the  greatest  care,  not  to  obscure  the  genuine 
doctrines  of  grace.  With  meekness  let  us  maintain  unto  blood,  the 
honour  of  our  Saviour's  merits,  against  the  hypocritical  sons  of  vir- 
tuous pride,  who  cast  the  destructive  veil  of  unbelief  over  the  inva- 
luable sacrifice  of  his  body.  And  in  our  little  sphere,  let  every  one 
of  us  testify  with  the  beloved  disciple,  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 
gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  in  whom  he  is  well  pleased  with  us  ;  and  for 
whose  sake  he  works  in  us  to  repent,  beheve,  and  obey,  when  we 
yield  to  the  drawings  of  his  grace,  and  concur  with  his  Spirit  in  the 
work  of  our  salvation.] 

[Through  that  dear  Redeemer  then,  we  receive  all  the  favours 
which  the  Father  of  mercies  bestows  upon  us.  Are  our  hearts  soft- 
ened ?  It  is  through  the  influence  of  his  preventing  grace.  Are 
our  sins  blotted  out  ?  It  is  through  the  sprinkling  of  his  atoning 
blood.  Are  our  souls  renewed  ?  It  is  by  the  communications  of  his 
powerful  righteousness.  Are  we  numbered  among  God's  adopted 
children,  and  made  partakers  of  his  loving  Spirit?  It  is  through 
a  faith  that  receives  him  as  the  light  of  the  world,  and  the  life  of 
men.^ 


A    DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,   &€.  16"^ 

{The  very  graces,  which  the  Spirit  works  in  us  ;  and  the  fruits  of 
hoHness,  which  those  graces  produce  in  our  hearts  and  lives,  are 
accepted  only  for  Christ's  sake.  It  is  he,  who  presents  them  to. 
God,  sprinkled  with  his  precious  blood,  and  perfumed  with  his  me- 
ritorious intercession.  Nor  are  the  defects  of  our  holiest  things  any 
other  way  atoned  for,  than  by  the  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacri- 
fice, oblation,  and  satisfaction,  which  he  made  upon  the  cross  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.] 

[For  Christ's  sake  God  has  annexed  certain  rewards  of  grace  and 
glory,  to  the  works  of  faith  which  Christ's  Spirit  excites  us  to  ;  and, 
I  repeat  it,  (br  the  sake  of  Christ  only,  we  receive  the  rewards  pro- 
mised to  humble,  evangelical,  sprinkled  obedience.  All  Christian 
believers  say,  JVot  we,  but  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ :  so  far  as  their 
tempers  and  actions  have  been  good,  they  cry  out,  Thou  hast  wrought 
all  our  works  in  us.  They  all  shout,  Christ  for  «5,  and  Christ  in  w5, 
the  hope  of  glory.  They  all  ascribe  salvation  to  the  Lamb  ;  and  while 
they  cast  their  crowns  of  righteousness  and  glory  at  his  feet,  they  join 
in  the  grand  chorus  of  the  Church  :  To  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.  Thus  all  is  Christ  ;  nothing  without,  nothing  besides  him. 
In  a  word,  he  is  to  believers,  as  the  apostle  justly  calls  him,  all  in 

ALL  ] 

[Indeed,  in  maintaining  the  doctrine  of  free  grace,  I  cannot  but  go 
even  farther  than  our  mistaken  brethren,  who  suppose  themselves 
the  only  advocates  for  it.  They  must  forgive  me,  if  1  cannot  be  of 
their  sentiment,  when  they  insinuate,  that  they  shall  absolutely  and 
necessarily  be  saved.  For  as  reason  dictates,  that  absolute  necessity 
vanishes  before  free  grace  ;  so  Christ  charges  his  dearest  elect  to 
fear  God  as  a  righteous  Judge,  who  can  cast  body  and  soul  into  hell; 
yea,  who  can  do  it  justly.  No  gracious  promise  therefore  is  made 
them  whose  fulfilment  in  heaven,  as  well  as  upon  earth,  is  not  all  of 
grace  as  well  as  of  truth,  and  all  through  the  merits  of  Christ.] 

[O  ye  precious  merits  of  my  Saviour,  and  thou  free  grace  of  my 
God  !  1,  for  one,  shall  want  you  as  long  as  the  sun  or  moon  endureth. 
Nay,  when  those  luminaries  shall  cease  to  shine,  I  shall  wrap  myself 
in  you  ;  my  transported  soul  shall  grasp  you  ;  my  insatiate  spirit 
shall  plunge  into  your  unfathomable  depths  ;  and  while  I  shall  run 
the  never-ending  circle  of  my  blessed  existence,  my  overflowing  bliss 
shall  spring  from  you  ;  my  grateful  heart  shall  leap  through  your  im- 
pulse, my  exulting  tongue  shall  shout  your  praise,  and  I  shall  strike 
my  golden  harp  to  your  eternal  honour.] 


I 


T* 


158  EQUAL   CHECK.  PART   I. 

[Nay,  this  very  day,  I  publicly  set  ray  seal  again  to  the  important 
truths  contained  in  the  following  scriptures  :]  There  is  no  other  name 
[no  other  deserving  person]  under  heaven^  given  to  me/ij  whereby  we 
may  [properly]  be  saved^  in  whole  or  in  part,  but  only  the  name  [or 
person]  of  Jksus  Christ.  He  trod  the  winepress  ofGod^s  wrath  alone^ 
and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  him.  lie  alone  is  a  Saviour,  and 
(here  is  none  besides  him.  [If  he  that  converts  a  sinner,  is  said  to  save 
a  soul  from  death,  it  is  because  he  has  the  honour  of  being  the  Sa- 
viour's agent,  and  not  because  he  is  the  "  original  cause"  of  any 
man's  salvation.] 

0^  Wo  then  to  those,  who  teach  sinners  the  double  way,  the 
Pharisaic  way,  the*  [self-righteous]  way  of  salvation,  partly  by  man's 
[antichristian]  merits  [according  to  the  first  covenant,]  and  partly  by 
the  [proper]  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  [according  to  the  second.]  If 
we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  says  St.  Paul,  preach  any  other  Gospel 
unto  you,  than  that  which  we  have  preached,  namely,  that  we  are  saved 
[i.  e.  pardoned,  absolved,  and  sanctified]  by  grace,  through  faith 
[which  worketh  by  love]  and  that  not  of  ourselves,  [not  without  an 
atoning  Priest  and  the  Spirit  helping  our  infirmities,]  it  is  the  gift  of 
God — let  him  be  accursed,  Gal.  i.  8.]«=^^ 

0^  He  really  denies  his  Saviour,  and  tears  the  seamless  robe  of 
Christ's  righteousness,  who  patches  it  with  the  rags  of  his  own  [anti- 
evangelical  faithless]  righteousness.  [Or,  to  speak  without  metaphor, 
he  denies  our  Lord's  meritorious  fulfilling  of  the  law  of  innocence, 
he  despises  the  Saviour's  complete  observance  of  the  Adamic  law  of 
works,  who,  being  forgetful  of  his  aggravated  guilt,  and  regardless  of 
his  palpable  impotence,  refuses  to  submit  to  the  law  of  faith,  and  to 
embrace  the  covenant  of  grace  with  an  ardour  becoming  a  poor,  self- 
condemned,  lost,  and  undone  sinner.  Nay,  I  go  farther  still :]  he 
takes  away  [or  obstructs]  all  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  atoning  blood, 
who  pretends  to  mend  it  by  adding  thereto  the  filthy  drops  of  his  own 
[fancied]  goodness,  [in  order  to  make  a  more  complete  satisfaction  to 
divine  justice. ]«=d} 

It  is  mere  blasphemy  against  divine  mercy,  says  our  Church,  and 
great  derogation  from  the  blood- shedding  of  our  Saviour,   to  suppose 


(20)  *  Eleven  years  ago  I  said  the  Popish  way :  I  drop  the  expression  now  as  savouring- 
of  Protestant  bigotry.  Though  the  Papists  lean  in  general  to  that  extrenn?;  yet  many  of 
them  have  known  and  taught  the  way  of  salvation  by  a  faith  that  interests  us  in  the  Re- 
deemer's merits;  many  have  discovered  and  attacked  self- righteousness  in  its  most  deceit- 
ful appearances.  Many  have  lived  and  died  in  the  most  profound  humility.  I  would  no 
more  be  a  bitter  Protestant,  damning  all  the  Papists  in  a  lump:  than  a  bitter  Papist,  ana 
themat\7.ing  all  Protestants  without  exception. 


A   DISCOURSE   ON    SALVATION,   &C.  1 59 

that  our  works  can  deserve,  or  purchase  to  us  remission  of  sins,  and 
consequently  salvation.  No  :  it  is  bestowed  on  believers  of  the  free 
grace  and  mercy  of  God,  by  the  mediation  of  the  blood  of  his  Son  Jesus- 
Christy  without  merit  or  deserving  on  their  part,  [although  their  final 
justification  is  not  without  the  evangelical  worthiness,  which  their 
faith  derives  from  that  dear  Redeemer.]  Horn,  on  Fasting. 

To  conclude  :  by  the  covenant  of  works  man  has  all  the  glory  of 
his  own  salvation.  Faith  [in  a  Redeemer]  is  made  of  no  effect ; 
Christ  is  entirely  set  aside,  and  works  are  placed  in  the  Mediator's 
throne. — According  to  the  imaginary,  mixed  covenant  of  salvation  by 
our  own  good  works  [so  called,  or  to  speak  with  propriety,  by  our 
own  faithless,  hypocritical  works,]  mended,  [as  we  think,]  with  [some 
unscriptural  notions  and  expressions  about]  Christ's  merits  ;  man  has 
the  FIRST  share  of  the  glory  ;  Christ  has  only  man's  leavings  ;  [the 
Redeemer  is  allowed  to  be  the  last,  but  not  the  first ;  the  omega  but 
not  the  alpha :  the  two  covenants  are  confounded  ;]  works  and  faith 
[or  rather,  faithless  works  and  faith,  graceless  works  and  grace]  con- 
trary to  my  text,  and  indeed  to  common  sense,  come  in  together  for 
a  part  of  the  honour  [as  if  they  were  the  primary  meritorious  cause 
of  our  salvation;  whereas  the  good  works  of  faith  themselves  are  at 
best  only  the  secondary,  evidencing  cause  of  our  final  salvation.*] 


(21)  *  Should  a  prejudiced  Reader  charge  me  with  having  mixed  the  two  covenants  in 
my  Checks  in  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  this  discourse  :  should  he  say,  that  I  have  taught 
the  double  way  of  works  and  faith,  ;.  e.  oi  faithless  works  and  faith,  I  protest  against  the, 
groundless  assertion,  and  appeal  to  all  my  candid  Readers,  whether  I  have  not  constantly 
pointed  out  the  one  Gospel  way  to  heaven,  the  good  old  way  of  faith  which  worketh  by 
love.  An  unfeigned  faith  in  Christ,  according  to  the  light  of  our  dispensation,  a  faith 
shown  by  evangelical  works,  is  the  scriptural  condition  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  which  I 
have  all  along  insisted  upon  :  whereas  antievangelical  works,  helped  out  by  a  feigned  faitl), 
are  the  imaginary  condition  of  the  mixed,  fantastic  covenant,  against  which  I  so  justly  bore 
my  testimony  eleven  years  ago,  and  against  which  I  bear  it  now,  fully  designing  so  to  do, 
"God  being  my  helper,  till  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth." 

As  some  persons,  through  the  force  of  prejudice,  and  others  through  some  natural  defect 
in  their  understanding,  cannot  see  any  difference  between  the  way  of  faith  working  by 
obedient  love,  which  I  point  out  in  the  Checks ;  and  the  ivay  of  works  helped  out  by  feigned 
faith,  which  I  decry  in  this  discourse ;  !  shall,  by  a  plain  illustration,  endeavour  to  show 
them  the  amazing  diflerence.  A  good  king  pities  two  condemned  malefactors  just  turned 
off;  and,  at  the  prince's  request,  not  only  gets  them  cut  down  from  the  gallows,  but  after 
restoring  them  by  proper  assistance  to  a  degree  of  strengih,  he  sets  them  up  in  a  genteel 
business,  which  they  are  to  carry  on  under  the  constant  direction  of  the  prince.  One  of 
them,  who  is  a  publican,  deeply  conscious  of  his  crimes,  and  wondering  at  the  prince's 
condescension,  does  with  docility  and  diligence  whatsoever  he  is  commanded,  frequently 
complaining  that  he  does  so  little,  and  expressing  the  greatest  thankfulness,  not  only  for 
his  life,  but  for  the  health,  light,  tools,  and  skill  he  works  with.  The  other,  who  is  a  Pha- 
risee, foi^ets  that  he  has  been  reprieved  from  the  gallows.  He  is  full  of  self-importance 
»nd  ingratitude :  be  wonders  at  the  publican  for  making  so  much  ado  about  the  king's 


160  E^WAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

But  by  the  Gospel  all  is  set  in  a  most  beautiful  order  and  exquisite 
harmony.  The  merits  and  sufferings  of  Christ,  the  Redeemer  of  the 
world,  are  the  only  meritorious,  [or  as  says  our  Church,  "  original] 
cause'^  of  our  salvation.  The  glory  is  entirely  ascribed  to  him  ;  and 
he  alone  sits  upon  the  throne  as  a  Saviour  ;  while  proud  man  has  his 
mouth  stopped,  or  opens  it  only  in  the  dust  to  extol  redeeming  love. 
Faith,  whose  office  it  is  continually  to  borrow  the  merits  of  Christ, 
and  to  receive  the  quickening  poiver  of  his  Spirit :  (fc^  faith,  I  say, 
is  the  only  instrumental  cause  of  our  free  salvation  [in  the  day  of 
conversion.]  It  receives  Christ  and  salvation,  as  the  hand  of  a  beggar 
receives  an  alras.-^J^  And  as  for  good  works  [properly  so  called,]  so 
far  are  they  from  being  left  out  of  the  Gospel  plan,  that  they  have  a 
MOST  EMINENT  place  in  it :  (t^  they  are  the  declarative  cause*  of 
our  free  justification,  [both  in  the  day  of  trial  and  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment :]  a  constant  uniform  course  of  all  sorts  of  good  works,  with  a 
holy  an  heavenly-minded  conversation,  being  the  only  evidence  of  a 
lively  and  saving  faith,  [when  it  has  time  to  show  itself  by  external 
works.] 

Thus,  [to  sum  up  all  in  one  sentence,]  Christ  alone  [properly]  me- 
rits^  faith  alone  [properly]  apprehends^  and  good  works  alone  [pro- 
perly] evidence  salvation  :  yea,  they  are  the  fruit  of  salvation   [be- 

mercy,  and  the  prince's  favour.  He  pertly  tells  you  that  he  does  his  duty ;  and  that,  if  he 
has  been  guilty  of  some  faults,  he  thanks  God,  they  were  not  of  a  capital  nature.  He  per- 
petually boasts  of  his  diligence,  and  though  he  does  nothing,  or  only  spoils  his  work,  by 
.doing  it  entirely  against  the  prince's  directions,  he  says,  that  he  is  determined  to  maintain 
himself  by  his  own  industry  ;  and  that,  if  he  do  not  find  it  possible  to  get  his  living  with- 
out help,  he  will  condescend  to  accept  some  assistance  from  the  printe  to  make  both  ends 
meet ;  but  it  shall  be  as  little  as  he  can  help,  for  he  does  not  love  to  be  under  an  obligation 
to  any  body,  no  not  to  the  king  himself. — Now,  who  dues  not  see,  that,  while  the  king  gra- 
ciously rewards  the  humble  diligence  oi  ih*i  penitent  publican,  he  may  justly  punish  the 
proud  Pharisee  for  his  wretched,  hypocritical  obedience .''  and  that,  when  Mr.  Wesley  and 
I  hate  sometimes  contended  for  the  works  of  the  publican,  and  sometimes  decried  those  of 
the  Pharisee,  we  have  only  done  the  work  of  evangelists,  and  declared  with  the  prophets 
and  apostles  of  old,  that  God  resisteth  the  proud,  and  giveth  grace  to  the  humble :  and  that 
he  will  give  grace  and  glory,  and  no  good  thing  shall  he  withhold  from,  them  that  live  in  a 
godly  life?  If  this  be  an  error,  I  ask,  wherein  does  it  difler  from  that  frequent  and  awful 
declaration  of  our  Lord,  Whosoever  shall  exalt  himself,  shall  be  abased;  and  he  that  shall 
humble  himself,  shall  be  exalted. 

(22)  *  The  word  Cause,  left  out  by  my  opponent  in  his  quotation  of  this  part  of  my  old 
sermon,  evidently  shows,  that  even  formerly  I  did  not  so  far  lean  to  Antinomianism,  as  not  to 
assert  the  absolute  necessity  of  good  works,  in  order  to  the  eternal  salvation  of  adults.  For, 
if  works  are  the  secondary  cause  of  our  final  justification,  they  can  no  more  be  dispensed 
with  in  tlie  great  day,  than  faith  in  the  day  of  conversion,  an  efect  necessarily  supposing 
its  cause.  If  therefore  I  call  the  justification  of  adults  free,  it  is  not  to  exclude  faith  anfl 
works,  its  instrumental  causes,  in  the  day  of  conversion  and  judgment:  but  to  intimate,  that 
all  along  we  are  primarily  justified  by  Christ's  merits,  and  that  wre  newer  have  one  single 
grain  of  on^morworthincs?. 


A    DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,    SzC,  161 

gun  ;].=C0  ^or  [all  works  7neet  for  repentance  spring  from  the  free  jus* 
tification  and  initial  salvation,  in  which  we  are  put  in  our  infancy  ; 
and]  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  a  believer's  hearty  by  the  Holy  Gho}t 
given  unto  him,  is  salvation  itself;  this  love  being  the  tree  on  which 
all  [the  external]  good  works  [of  real  Christians]  grow,  and  making 
our  gracious  heaven  berow,  as  it  will  make  our  glorious  heaven  above. 

PART  THIRD. 

[SINCE  I  give  good  works,  as  I  have  just  observed,  a  most  eminent 
•place  in  the  Gospel  plan,  even  the  place  of  the  evidences  that  will,  un- 
der Christ,  CAUSE  our  eternal  salvation,  I  may  well]  proceed  to  show 
the  injustice  or  unreasonableness  of  those  who  accuse  me  of  preach- 
ing against  good  works.  For,  "//e  exclaims  against  good  works — he 
runs  doxtm  good  works,^'  is  an  objection  [which  is  still  at  times]  urged 
against  my  ministry. 

[Although  I  confess  with  sorrow,  that  some  years  ago,  when  I  had 
more  zeal  than  prudence,  I  dropped  among  you  some  unguarded  ex- 
pressions, and  did  not  always  clearly  distinguish  between  the  "  good 
works,"  so  called,  of  unhumbled  Pharisees  ;  and  the  genuine  obedi- 
ence of  penitent  believers  ;  yet  I  should  wrong  the  truth,  and  under- 
value my  character  as  your  minister,  if  I  did  not  observe,  that,  as  pro- 
fessed Antinomians  have  always  loathed  the  doctrine  of  a  believer^s 
justification  by  works;  so  the  Pharisaical  world  has  always  abhorred 
the  doctrine  of  a  sm/ier's  justification  by  faith.  Hence  it  is  that]  the 
above-mentioned  aspersion,  with  abundance  of  cruel  mockings,  and 
pitiful  false  reports,  have  been  in  all  ages  the  lot  of  all  those  who 
have  [steadily]  preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  that  is,  the  glad  news 
of  free  salvation  through  [obedient]  faith  in  his  blood. 

We  preach  Christ  crucified^  says  St.  Paul,  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling- 
block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness ;  but  to  them  that  believe,  Christ  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God,  1  Cor.  i.  23.  It  is  plain  from  this,  and 
several  other  passages  in  the  epistles,  that  the  primitive  Christians 
suffered  much  reproach  on  this  account.  St.  Peter  exhorts  them  thus  : 
Have  your  conversation  honest  among  the  Gentiles,  that  whereas  they 
speak  against  you  as  evil  doers,  they  may  glorify  God  by  your  good  works, 
which  they  shall  behold ;  for  it  is  his  will,  that  with  well  doing  ye  put  to 
silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men,  and  make  them  ashamed  that  falsely 
accuse  your  good  conversation  in  Christ.     1  Peter  ii.  12,  15.  and  iii.  16. 

St.  Paul  had  the  same  objection  continually  cast  in  his  face.*     Do 

(23)  ^  The  Antinomians  by  fair  speeches  deceive  the  hearts  of  the  simple.  Because  St. 
Paul  fully  answers  (his  obiection,  th^^v  make  the  im'udicious  hrVitive,  that  he  vras  of  th'>ir 

Vol.  II.  '       ei 


tGU  tQUAL   CUfiCK.  tART  Iv 

we  then  make  void  the  law  through  faith  ?  says  he  in  his  own  defence; 
Rom.  iii.  31.  That  is,  by  preaching  salvation  through  faith,  do  we  hin> 
der  people  from  doing  the  good  works  commanded  in  the  law  ?  God 
forbid !  yea,  we  establish  the  law :  i.  e.  our  preaching  is  so  far  from  su= 
perseding  good  works,  that  it  [enforces  them  by  the  greatest  variety 
of  motives,  and]  puts  our  hearers  into  [the  best,  not  to  say]  the  only 
method  of  doing  them  :  for  it  shows  them  how,  being  sprinkled  from 
an  evil  conscience,  and  having  their  heart  purified  by  faith,  they  shall 
naturally  [i.  e  spontaneously]  produce  all  sorts  of  good  works,  instead 
of  bringing  forth  a  few  counterfeit  ones. 

The  apostle  answers  the  same  objection,  Rom.  vi.  1.  Shall  we  then^ 
who  are  saved  by  grace  through  faith,  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may 
abound?  Shall  we  omit  doing  good  works  ?  shall  we  do  evil  works, 
because  salvation  is  not  [by  the  covenant]  of  works,  [but  by  that]  of 
grace  ?  God  forbid !  How  shall  we,  that  are  dead  to  sin,  live  any  longer 
therein!  As  if  he  had  said,  Is  not  the  faith  which  we  preach,  afaith 
of  the  operation  of  God?  Is  it  not  a  powerful  and  active  principle^ 
that  turns*  the  heart  from  all  sin  to  all  righteousness  ?  Is  it  not  a  faith; 
hy  which  we  are  made  new  creatures,  and  overcome  the  world  ?  1  John 
V.  1,  4. 

[When  people  lie  in  darkness,  doing  the  works  of  darkness,  which 
in  the  dark  pass  either  for  good  works  that  divine  justice  will  reward, 
or  for  trifling  offences  that  divine  mercy  will  overlook;  then  heart- 
felt repentance  is  tot;ilIy  neglected,  and  deep  mourning  for  sin  passe& 
for  despair.'  Few  know  what  it  is  to  look  on  him  whom  they  have 
pierced  and  mourn.  Very  few,  if  any,  can  experimentally  say,  Be- 
ing justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christy  by  whom  we  have  now  received  the  atonementcJi 

sentiment ;  though,  upon  their  plan  of  dcctrincj  the  objection  whicli  he  starts  is  absolutely 
unanswerable.  They  say,  "  We  establish  the  law  by  preaching  Christ,  who  has  kept  it  for 
us :  and  by  extollitig  his  imputed  righteousness,  through  which  we  are  for  ever  complete  in 
justifying  obedience  before  God  "  Now,  although  we  humbly  and  thankfully  acknowledge 
with  them,  that  our  Lord  has  kept  the  Adamic  law  of  innocence,  and  made  it  honourable 
for  us  yet  we  absolutely  deny,  that  he  has  kept  the  evangelical  law  of  liberty  for  us.  Per- 
sonal obedience  to  it  is  indispensably  required  of  every  man,  and  if  a  believer  do  not  fulfil 
it  for  himself,  St.  Paul  and  St.  James  inform  us,  that  a  sorer  punishment,  and  a  more  mer- 
ciless judg-vient  await  his  disobedience,  than  if  he  had  never  believed,  Heb.  x.  29.  Jame^' 
ii.  13.  Tlius  those  holy  apostles  fully  make  up  the  gap  of  Antinomian  free  grace,  whicli 
some  of  our  Gospel  ministers  make  it  their  business  to  widen. 

(24)  *  How  could  i  have  had  the  assurance  of  asking  these  questiotfs,  if  I  had  believed, 
as  my  late  opponent,  that  a  man  who  actually  commits  the  greatest  crimes,  may  actually 
have  as  true,  justifying  faith  as  Abraham  ever  had  .'  I  should  expect,  that,  if  such  a  faith 
did  not,  as  I  said  eleven  years  ago,  turn  the  heirtfrom  all  sin  to  all  righteousness,  it  would- 
at  least  turn  it  from  deliberate  adultery,  murder,  and  incest 


A   DISCOURSE   ON   SALVATION,    &;C.  163 

[Suppose  the  lot  of  a  minister,  acquainted  with  the  privileges  of 
the  Christian  dispensation,  is  cast  in  a  place,  where  these  Pharisaic 
and  common  delusions  generally  prevail ;  the  first  thing  he  has  to  dcr, 
is  undoubtedly  to  uncover  and  shake  the  false  foundations,  on  which 
his  unawakened  hearers  build  their  hope.  He  must  show  them,  that 
tiieir  partial,  external,  faithless  obedience  will  never  profit  them.  He 
must  decry  their  imaginary  good  works,  tear  ofif  their  tilthy  rags  of 
fancied  righteousness,  sweep  away  their  refuges  of  lies^  and  sc :)urge 
their  consciences  with  the  curse  of  the  law,  till  they  see  their  naked- 
ness, feel  their  guilt,  and  receive  the  sentence  of  death  in  themselves. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  they  stand  on  a  level  with  the  poor  con- 
trite publican,  and 

Groan  the  sinaer's  only  plea, 
"  God  be  merciful  to  me  !"] 

[When  a  preacher  is  engaged  in  that  important  and  thankful  busi- 
ness, how  natural  is  it  for  him,  especially  if  he  be  yet  young  and 
unexperienced,  or  if  he  be  heated  by  the  opposition  of  obstinate 
Pharisees,  and  bigoted  Papists,  to  drop  some  unguarded  expressions 
against  good  works  ;  or  at  least  not  to  make  always  a  proper  distinc- 
tion between  the  Pharisaical  works  of  unbelief,  which  Isaiah  calls 
JiUhy  rags,  and  the  works  of  faith  which  our  Lord  calls  good  and 
ornamental  works?  And  how  glad  are  his  adversaries,  to  have  such 
a  ph'.usible  pretence  for  throwing  an  odium  upon  him,  by  affirming 
that  he  explodes  all  sorts  of  works,  even  those  for  which  our  reward 
Tvill  be  great  in  heaven  /] 

0:^  The  devil  fought  against  our  Reformers  with  such  weapons. 
All  the  books  that  the  Papists  wrote  against  them,  rang  with  the 
charge  of  their  turning  good  works  out  of  Christianity.  =C0  Hear 
good  Bishop  Latimer,  one  of  the  best  livers  that  ever  were :  You  will 
say  now,  "  Here  is  all  faith,  faith ;  but  we  hear  nothing  of  good  works ;" 
for  some  carnal  people  make  such  carnal  objections  like  themselves j  i'C. 
Sermon  on  Twelfth  Day. 

Of  the  same  import  is  the  following  passage  out  of  the  Homily  on 
Fasting  :  Thus  much  is  said  of  good  works,  4*c.  <«  take  away  so  much 
as  may  be,  from  envious  minds,  and  slanderous  tongues,  all  just  occa- 
sion of  slanderous  speaking,  as  though  good  zvorks  were  rejected. 

Thus  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  our  Reformers  were  accused  of 
despising  good  works,  because  they  exalted  Christ,  [and  with  a  holy 
indignation  tram[)led  upon  the  works  of  unbelief,  which  are  the 
foundation  of  all  Pharisaic  hopes:]  And  [so  far  as  I   have  not,  by 


164  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

ungnarded  expressions,  given  a  just  cause  of  offence  to  those,  who 
are  glad  of  any  occasion  to  decry  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion by  faith  ;]  I  own  that  1  rejoice  to  be  counted  worthy  of  suffering 
the  same  reproach,  with  such  a  cloud  of  faithful  witnesses.  Never- 
theless as  the  Scriptures  say,  that  we  must  not  let  the  good  that  is  in 
us  be  evil  spoken  of,  I  shall  advance  some  arguments,  which,  by  God's 
blessing,  will  either  convince  or  shame  my  accusers. 

You  say,  [and  this  I  speak  particularly  to  you,  that  are  fully  set 
against  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith :]  you  say,  '« that  I  preach 
against  good  works — that  I  run  down  good  works,  &,c. :"  but  pray, 
do  you  know  what  good  works  are  ?  1  am  afraid  you  do  not,  or  else 
you  would*  [not  accuse  me  so  rashly :]  give  me  leave  therefore  to 
instruct  you  once  in  this  point. 

All  divines  agree,  that  good  works  are  of  three  sorts  : — 1.  Works 
of  pietij  towards  God  ;  2.  Works  of  charity  towards  our  neighbour ; 
and  3.  Works  of  self-denial  towards  ourselves. 

[To  say  nothing  now  of  the  good  works  of  the  heart,  such  as  good 
thoughts,  good  tempers,  and  internal  acts  of  repentance,  faith,  hope, 
and  love  ;]  in  the  first  class  [of  external  good  works,]  which  includes 
works  of  piety,  divines  rank  public  prayer  in  the  church,  family  prayer 
in  private  houses,  and  [meditation  and]  private  prayer  in  one's  closet : 
ringing  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs  :  reading  the  Bible  and 
other  good  books  :  hearing  the  word  preached  or  expounded  :  re- 
ceiving the  sacraments  :  keeping  the  Sabbath-day  and  festivals  holy  : 
confessing  Christ  before  a  wicked  world :  and  suffering  the  loss  of 
one's  estate,  of  one's  good  name,  or  life  itself,  for  the  Gospel's 
sake. 

Now  I  appeal  to  every  impartial  hearer,  yea,  and  to  thy  own  con- 
science, O  man,  who  accusest  me  of  preaching  against  good  works, 
whether  I  ever  taught,  directly  or  indirectly,  that  we  ought  not  con- 
stantly to  attend  public  worship  in  the  house  of  God,  as  well  as  pri- 
vate worship  in  our  own  houses,  and  to  perform  secret  worship  in 
our  closets  : — Whether  I  ever  spoke  against  singing  psalms,  hymns, 
and  spiritual  songs;  or  against  reading  the  Bible  and  other  good 
books: — Whether  I  ever  so  much  as  hinted,  that  we  ought  not  to 
endeavour  so  to  despatch  our  worldly  business,  as  to  hear  [if  possible] 
the  word  preached  or  expounded  both  on  Sundays  and  working  days. 

(25)  *  Instead  of  these  words  [not  accuse  me  so  rashly]  I  formerly  wrote  [be  ashamed 
to  accuse  me  so  falsely.]  I  reject  them  now,  because  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  should  not 
only  speak  the  truth,  but  endeavour  to  speak  it  in  the  most  acceptable  manner.  It  is 
enough  to  give  offence  when  it  cannot  be  avoided.  We  should  not  provoke  the  displeasure 
of  our  hearers  without  necessity. 


A   DISCOURSE    ON   SALAVTION,   &C.  165 

— Whether  i  ever  intimated*  that  we  can  live  in  the  neglect  of  God's 
ordinances,  and  break  his  Sabbaths,  without  bringing  upon  ourselves 
SWIFT  DESTRUCTION  : — And  lastly,  whether  at  any  time  I  cried  down~ 
suflfering  reproach  for  Christ,  and  parting  with  all  things,   even  Hfe 
itself,  to  follow  him  and  his  doctrine. 

Nay,  do  not  you  know  in  your  own  breasts,  that  my  insisting  upon 
these  good  works,  and  encouraging  all  I  can  to  do  them,  is  what  makes 
me  to  be  despised  and  rejected  by  many,  and  perhaps  by  yourself? 
How  can  you  then,  without  wounding!  [your  own  conscience]  accuse 
me  of  preaching  against  good  works  ?  Are  you  not  rather  the  person 
that  speaks  against  them  ?  Are  you  not  yourself  one  of  those  [loose 
moralists]  who  say,  that,  "  For  their  part  they  see  no  need  of  so  many 
"sermons,  lectures,  and  sacraments  in  the  Church  ;  no  need  of  so 
"  much  singing,  reading,  praying,  and  godly  conversation,  in  private 
''  houses  :  no  need  of  such  strictness  in  keeping  the  Sabbath-day 
''  holy,  &c.  ?" 

If  you  are  one  of  them,  you  add  [I  fear]  detraction  to  infidelity, 
and  bearing  false  testimony  to  open  profaneness  [or  Loadicean  luke- 
warmness.]  You  decry  good  works  yourself  by  your  words,  your 
practice,  and  your  example  ;  and  when  you  have  done,  you  lay  the 
sin  at  my  door  ;  you  say  that  I  preach  against  them !  O  how  will  you 
reconcile  this  conduct,  1  shall  not  say  to  Christianity,  but  to  good 
manners,  good  sense,  or  even  to  heathen  honesty  ! 

In  the  second  class  of  good  works,  divines  place  works  of  [justice 
and]  charity  ;  and  these  are  of  two  sorts,  such  as  are  done  to  the 
bodies,  and  such  as  are  done  to  the  souls  of  men.  The  former  are, 
[for  the  most  part]  enumerated  by  our  Lord,  Matt.  xxv.  They  con- 
sist in  being  true  and  just  in  all  our  dealings  ;  in  providing  things 
honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  for  us  and  ours  ;  in  paying  our  just 
debts  as  soon  as  possible,  in  protecting  widows  and  fatherless  children, 
in  giving  food  to  the  hungry,  and  drink  to  the  thirsty  ;  in  entertaining 
strangers,  easing  the  oppressed,  clothing  the  naked,  attending  the  sick, 
visiting  the  prisoners,  [and  burying  the  dead,  from  scriptural  and  not 
Pharisaical  motives.] 

(26)  *  My  opponent  has  not  only  done  this,  but  he  has  intimated  that  all  believers  may 
commit  adulterj-,  murder,  and  incest,  not  only  without  bringing  vpon  themselves  swifi 
destruction,  but  with  this  additional  advantage,  that  they  shall  infallibly  "  sing  louder"  in 
heaven  for  their  deepest  falls,  which  can  never  finally  hurt  them,  because  all  their  sins  are 
unconditionally  for  ever  and  for  ever  forgiven.  Had  I  ever  insinuated  such  loose  principles 
among  my  parishioners,  I  should  have  had  a  brazen  forehead  indeed,  to  look  them  in  the 
lace,  while  I  made  the  above-mentioned  appeal. 

(27)  f  Eleven  years  ago  I  said  [common  sen.se  and  fommon  honesty.]  I  now  discard  the 
expression  as  needlessly  offensive. 


16^  E^iCAL   CHECK.  PART    U 

Now  Will  any  one,  who  scruples  advancing  an  untruth,  dare  affirm, 
that  I  ever  spoke  a  word  against  doing  any  one  of  these  good  works  ? 
— Against  doing  them  at  improper  times^from  had  motives^  in  a  wrong 
manner,  and  to  wrong  ends,  I  have  often  spoken  ;  and  so  have  all  the 
preachers,  who  do  not  daub  the  wall  with  untempered  mortar:  Christ 
first,  Matt.  vi.  2.  St.  Paul  next,  1  Cor»  xiii.  I,  2,  3.  and  our  Church 
after  them ;  see  the  Homily  on  Fasting.  But  I  ask  it  again,  who 
ever  heard  me  speak  one  word  against  doing  them?  On  the  contrary, 
have  I  not  declared  again  and  again,  that  even  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
given  in  ChrisVs  name,  should  in  nowise  lose  its  reward — should  cer- 
tainly be  rewarded  in  eternal  life.  [And  do  not  some  of  you  know, 
that  within  these  two  years,  I  have  lost  many  of  my  religious 
friends,  by  making  a  stand  for  the  evangelical  worthiness  of  the  works 
of  faith  ?] 

As  for  works  of  mercy  done  to  the  soids  of  men,  such  as  [giving  a 
Christian  education  to  our  children  and  apprentices,  comforting  the 
afflicted,  encouraging  the  dejected,  strengthening  the  weak,  exhorting 
the  careless,  succouring  the  tempted,  instructing  the  ignorant,  [sym- 
pathizing with  mourners]  warning  the  stubborn,  [detecting  hypocrisy] 
reproving  sin,  stopping  immorality,  rebuking  profaneness,  and  help- 
ing each  other  in  the  narrow  way  ;  it  is  known  to  many,  that  my  name 
is  cast  out  as  evil  by  many  Sabbath- breakers,  swearers,  and  drunkards, 
for  endeavouring  to  walk  in  these  good  works  myself,  and  to  induce 
others  to  walk  in  them. 

And  yet  you,  [I  still  address  myself  to  the  inveterate  enemies  of 
salvation  by  faith]  you,  who  possibly  ridicule  all  those  good  works, 
and  dream  of  being  saved  without  them  ;  you,  who  do  perhaps  just 
the  reverse  of  them,  strengthening  one  another's  hands  in  licentious- 
ness, and  profaneness,  in  Sabbath-breaking,  swearing,  or  scoffing  at 
every  thing  that  looks  like  seriousness  ;  you  accuse  me  of  despising 
or  discountenancing  good  works  !  O  tell  it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not 
in  Askalon,  lest  the  very  Philistines  laugh  at  the  glaring  inconsistency 
of  your  words  and  conduct. 

Good  works  of  the  third  class,  relate  to  keeping  under  the  flesh, 
and  all  its  sinful  appetites.  The  chief  of  these  works,  are  a  mode- 
rate use  of  meat,  drink,  and  sleep  :  self-denial,  [in  apparel,  furniture, 
and  equipage  ;]  chastity  [in  all  its  branches  ;  subduing  our  slothful, 
rebellious  flesh  by]  early  rising,  abstinence,  fasting  :  [and  ui  a  word, 
by  taking  up  our  daily  cross,  and  following  our  abstemious,  and  yet 
glorious  Lord. 

[Permit  me  to  do  as  St.  Paul—^o  speak  as  it  were  foolishly  ii*>   his 
confidence  of  boasting.'^     Have  I  not  finfbrced  the  necessity  of  these 


A    DISCOURSE   ON   SALVATION,  &C,  167 

good  works  both  publicly^  and  from  house  to  house  ?  Have  you  not 
sometimes  even  gone  away  from  this  place  of  worship,  secretly  dis- 
pleased at  my  insistim^  so  much  upon  them;  complaining  perhaps,"" 
*'  that  I  went  too  far,  or  that  "nobody  could  live  up  to  what  I  preach  ;'* 
and  making  a  hundred  such  remarks,  instead  of  meditating  upon  these 
words  of  our  Lord  :  Wixh  man  indeed,  it  is  impossible,  but  -with  God 
all  things  are  possible  ?  And  yet  you  now  complain  that  I  do  not 
preach  up  good  works.— Pray,  my  brethren,  be  consistent  :  keep  to 
one  point,  and  do  not  say  and  unsay  :  I  can  no  more  be  too  strict, 
and  yet  make  too  little  of  good  works  ;  than  I  can  go  east  and  west 
at  the  same  time.  Only  tbink  ....  and  you  will  perceive  that  your 
complaints  justify  me,  that  your  sayings  overturn  one  another,  and 
that  your  oi^vn  mouths  prove  you  perverse. 

You  will  probably  say,  ''  Have  we  not  heard  you  affirm  more  than 
once,  that  nobody  can  be  skived  by  his  works  :  yea,  that  a  man  may  go 
as  constantly  to  church,  as  the  *  Pharisee  did  to  the  temple,  be  as  vir- 
tuous as  he  was,  pay  tithes  exactly  as  he  did,  and  be  damned  after 
all  ?     Can  you  deny  having  preached  this  doctrine  twenty  times  ? 

Deny  it !— by  no  means.  It  is  a  doctrine  for  which,  God  being  my 
helper,  I  am  ready  to  go  to  the  stake.  It  is  the  very  doctrine  that 
I  have  established  in  the  former  part  of  this  discourse  :  how  then  can 
I  deny  it  1 

Here  methinks  a  Pharisee  replies  in  triumph  :  "  Well  then,  you 
plead  guilty  to  the  charge  :  you  confess  that  you  have  preached 
twenty  times  against  good  works." 

I  deny  the  conclusion..  Have  you  not  understanding  enough  to 
see,  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  preaching!  against  the  [nroperl 
merit  of  good  works,  and  preaching  against  good  works  themselves  ? 
between  saying,  that  obedience  to  the  king  will  never  get  us  the 
crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  affirming  that  we  owe  the  kino-  no  obe- 
dience ?  In  a  word,  between  saying  that  good  works  will  never  pro- 
cure  us  heaven,  [as  the  primary,  and.  strictly  speaking,  meritorious 
cause  of  our  salvation]  and  declaring  .that  we  ought  not  to  do  good 
works  ?  Surely  your  rational  faculties  are  not  so  impaired,  but  you 
may  perceive  those  propositions  are  by  no  means  of  the  same  import. 

If  I  say,  that  eating  will  never  make  me  immortal,  that  drinking 
will  never  turn  me  into  an  angel,  and  that  doing  my  work  will  never 

(30)  »  From  this  objection  it  is  evident,  that  the  works  which  I  decried  eleven  years 
ago,  were  those  against  which  I  now  bearmy  testimony,  namely  Pharisaical  works. ' 

(31)  +  It  appears  to  me,  that  ray  sermon,  far  from  being  "  the  best  confutation  of  the 
Minutes,"  is  consonant  to  that  proposition  which  has  giren  such  offence  ;  JVot  by  the  meri*^ 
oT  works,  but  by  icorks  as  a  condition- 


n 


168  E-QUAL   CHECIC.  PART    U 

take  me  to  the  third  heaven  ;  do  I  so  much  as  hint  that  eating  is  ase- 
less,  drinking  of  no  service,  and  doing  my  business  unprofitable  ?  O 
how  does  prejudice  bUnd  even  men  of  sense  and  religion !  How 
bardly  does  truth  go  down  with  us,  when  we  do  not  love  it !  How 
gladly  do  we  dress  it  up  in  a  fool's  coat,  that  we  may  have  some  pre- 
tence to  despise  and  reject  it ! 

If  you  would  speak  according  to  strict  truth,  my  brethren,  you 
"would  not  say  that  I  *'  preach  against  good  works,  that  I  run  down 
good  works,  &c.'*  which  is  a  mistake,  as  I  showed  just  now  :  but 
you  would  say,  that  I  preach  against  the  [proper']  merit  of  good  works 
in  point  of  salvation :  this  is  very  true,  so  1  do,  and  so  I  am  deter- 
mined to  do  by  God's  grace  as  long  as  I  live.  So  did  Christ  and  his 
apostles  ;  so  do  our  Articles  and  Homilies  ;  and  so  the  children  of 
God  have  done  in  all  ages.  0^  Those  of  the  Old  Testament  *  [far 
from  mentioning  any  proper  merit  of  their  own,  cried  out :  JVow  mine 
eye  seeth  thee,  I  abhor  myself  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes, — Job  xlii.  5. 
— Wo  is  me,  for  I  am  undone,  because  I  am  by  nature,  and  have  been 
by  practice,  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  Isa.  vi.  6.  Those  of  the  New, 
prayed  to  be  found  in  Christ,  not  having  their  own  [Pharisaic]  righteous- 
ness which  is  of  the  law  of  works,  but  the  [evangelical]  righteousness 
which  is  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Phil.  iii.  9.  And  those  of  our 
Church  profess  that  they  are  not  worthy  to  gather  the  crumbs  under  the 
Lord^s  table,  and  that  they  do  not  come  to  it,  trusting  in  their  own  righte- 
ousness, or  good  works,  but  in  God^s  manifold  and  great  mercies  through 
Jesus  Christ :  so  far  are  they  from  thinking  that  they  [properly]  merit 
salvation  [either  in  whole  or  in  part.]     See  Com.  Service. 

0^  Yea,  I  declare  it  as  upon  tfie  housetop,  of  all  the  false  doctrines 
that  ever  came  out  of  the  pit  of  hell,  none  has  done  such  execution 
for  Satan  in  the  church  of  God  [as  the  Pharisaic  conceit  that  we  have, 
or  may  have  any  proper,  original  merit.]  Stealing,  drunkenness^ 
and  adultery,  have  slain  their  thousands ;  but  this  damnable  error, 
which  is  the  very  root  of  unbelief,  its  ten  thousands. '=P^  It  blinded 
the  Pharisees,  and  hardened  the  Jews  against  Christ.j     It  plunges 

(32)  *  Instead  of  this  addition,  eleven  years  ag'o,  I  said,  owned  ihatall  their  righteousness 
were  as  Jilthy  rags,  Isa.  Ixiv.  6.=^^  For  leaning  then  too  much  towards  Calvinism,  I 
supposed  that  the  prophet  in  this  passage  spoke  of  the  righteousness  of  faith .-  but  since 
I  have  dared  to  read  my  Bible  vtrithout  prejudice,  and  to  consult  the  context,  I  have  found 
that  text  is  spoken  only  of  the  hiipocritical  righteousness  of  the  wicked ;  and  in  the  Fourth 
Check,  Vol.  i.  p.  333.  I  have  tried  to  rescue  it  from  the  hands  of  the  Autinomians  who  had 
taught  me  to  wrest  it  from  its  proper  meaning. 

f  Here  I  leave  oat  those  words ;  '*  li  [the  Pharisaic  conceit  of  merit]  damned  the  foolish 
virgins,  and  the  man  who  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment."  And  I  do  it,  because  upoa 
«*>cond  thought?,  it  appear"  torn?,  (hat  the  boldness  of  the  foolish  virgins,  and  the  insolence 


A    DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,    &LC,  169 

»nto  everlasting  fire  all  nominal  Christians,  who  have  a  form  of  godlU 
nesSy  hut  deny  the  power  thereof. 

Yea,   strange  as  the  assertion  may  seem  to  some,  this  [pernicious 
error]  feeds  immoraUty,  and  secretly  nourishes  all  manner  of  vice. 

The  Scripture  tells  iis,   1  Cor.  vi.  9.  that  neither  fornicators  nor 
effeminate^  neither  thieves  nor  Covetous,  neither  dininkards  nor  revilers, 
neither  unrighteous  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Now  how  comes  it  to  pass,  that  so  many,  who  are  guilty  of  one  or 
another  of  those  abominations,  remain  as  easy  as  if  they  were  guilt- 
less?    Why,  this  damnable  notion,  that  the  merit  of  their  works  will 
atone  for  the  guilt  of  their  sins,  makes  them  think  that  they  shall  do 
well  enough  in  the  end.  "  I  get  drunk  now  and  then,"  says  one,  "  but  I 
am  honest." — "  I  oppress  or  cheat  my  neighbour,"  says  another,  "  but 
I  go  to  Church  and  Sacrament." — "  I  love  money  or  diversions  above 
all  thmgs,"  says  a  third,  "  but  I  bless  God,  I  am  neither  a  thief  nor  a 
drunkard." — "  I  am  passionate  and  swear  sometimes,"  says  a  fourth, 
"  but  my  heart  is  good,  and  I  never  keep  malice  in  my  breast ;  besides, 
I'll  repent  and  mend  sometime  or  other  before  I  die."     Now  the 
sum  of  all  those  pleas  amounts  to  this  :  "  I  do  the  devil's  works,  but 
I  do  good  works  too.     I  am  guilty  of  one  piece  of  wickedness,  but 
not  of  all :  and  I  hope,  that  through  the  merit  of  the  good  which  I  do, 
and  of  the  evil  which  I  have  left  undone  hitherto,  or  purpose  to  leave 
undone  by  and  by,  Christ  will  have  mercy  upon  me." 

OCT'  Thus  all  our  [Pharisaic*]  delays  of  conversion,  and  all  our 
[self-righteous]  remorseless  going  on  in  sin  and  wickedness,  are 
founded  upon  the  doctrine  of  [Pharisaic]  merits.  Well  thep  may  our 
church  call  it  *'  a  devilish  doctrine,  which  is  mere  blasphemy  against 
God's  mercy  :^^  a  doctrine  which  turns  Christ  out  of  his  throne  [by 
refusing  him  the  honour  of  being  the  primary  and  properly  meritori- 
ous cause  of  our  salvation  :]  a  doctrine  which  [by  crooked  ways] 
leads  first  to  [worldly-mindedoess  or]  licentiousness,  as  the  conduct 
of  many,  who  cry  up  the  [self-righteous]  merit  of  good  works  [so 
called]  too  plainly  shows ;  and  next  to  Pharisaic  morality  and  forma- 
lity :    and   from  both,  except   [a  timely  submission    to]  converting 

of  the  man,  who  pressed  io  the  marriao;e-feast  without  proper  dress,  exactly  represent  the 
vain  confidence,  with  which  immoral  Solifidians  cry,  Lord.'  Lord!  and  make  a  shining 
profession  in  the  robe  of  self- imputed  righteousness;  despising  the  evangelical  robes  of 
real  righteousness  and  true  hoUness,  and  caUing  tliera  cobwebs  spun  by  spiders  out  of  their 
own  bowels. 

*  I  add  the  words  Pharisaic  and  self-righteous,  to  come  at  Mr.  Fulsome  and  his  numer- 
ous fraternity,  whom  I  now  should  be  glad  to  convince  of  their  remorseless  going  on  in  sin. 
and  of  their  Jlntimmiian  delays  of  conversion. 
Vol.   II.  22 


]70  ECiUAL  CHECK.  PART  I. 

grace  prevent  it,  into  endless  misery  :  for,  JVo  doubt,  says  Bishop 
Latimer,  in  his  sermon  on  twelfth-day,  he  that  departeih  out  of  this 
world  in  that  opinion  [or,  as  he  expresses  it  in  the  same  paragraph, 
those  who  ''  think  to  be  saved  by  the  law,''  by  the  first  covenant]  '•  shall 
never  come  to  heaven  :=C0  [for  they  set  their  hearts  against  Christ ; 
and,  like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  not  only  mistake  the  works  of  unbehef 
for  sood  works  ;  but  give  them  also  the  place  of  the  primary,  meri- 
torious cause  of  eternal  salvation;  when,  if  they  were  the  works  of 
faith,  they  would  only  be  a  secondary  evidencing  cause  of  it.  Now  as 
such  men  cannot  possibly  do  this,  without  the  greatest  degree  of 
spiritual  pride,  impenitency,  and  unbelief;  it  is  plain,  that,  if  they 
die  confirmed  in  this  grand  antichristian  error,  they  cannot  be  saved  : 
for  St.  Paul  informs  us  that  pride  is  the  condemnation  of  the  devil; 
and  our  Lord  declares,  that  except  we  repent  we  shall  all  perishy  and 
that  he  who  believeth  not  shall  be  damned. 

FOURTH  PART. 

'HAVING  thus  laid  before  you  the  destructive  nature  of  self-righ- 
teousness,] it  is  time  to  come  to  the  last  thing  proposed,  which  was  to 
show,  why  good  works  cannot  [properly  speaking]  deserve  salvation 
in  whole  or  in  part ;  and  to  answer  the  old  cavil,  **  If  good  works 
cannot  save  us,*  why  should  we  trouble  ourselves  about  them  ?  [In 
doing  the  former,  I  shall  attempt  to  give  Pharisaism  a  finishing  stroke  : 
and  in  doin^  the  latter,  I  shall  endeavour  to  guard  the  scriptural  doc- 
trine of  grace  against  Antinomianism,  which  prevails  almost  as  much 
among  professed  believers  as  Pharisaism  does  among  professed 
moralists.] 

And  first,  that  good  works  cannot  [strictly  speaking]  merit  salva- 
tion in  part,  much  less  altogether,  1  prove  by  the  following  argu- 
ments. 

1.  We  must  be  wholly  saved  by  the  covenant  of  works,  or  by  the 
covenant  of  grace;  my  text  showing  most  clearly,  that  a  third  cove- 
venant,  made  up  of  [Christless]  merits  [according  to  the  first,]  and 
divine  mercy,  [according  to  the  second,]  is  as  imaginary  a  thing  in 

(33)  *  This  is  strictly  true ;  nevertheless  we  must  grant,  that  as  cold  water,  when  it  is 
put  over  the  fire  in  a  proper  vessel,  imbibes  fiery  heat,  and  boils  without  damping  the  fire  : 
so  our  works  of  faith,  when  they  are  laid  with  proper  humility  on  the  golden  altar  of  Christ's 
merits,  are  so  impregnated  with  his  diffusive  worth,  as  to  acquire  "  a  rewardable  condecen- 
cy  unto  eternal  Ufey  And  this  they  do  without  mixing  in  the  least  with  the  primary, 
or  properly  meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation ;  and  consequently  without  obscuring  the 
Redeemer's  glory. 


A    DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,    &€.  171 

divinity,  as  a  fifth  element  made  up  of  fire  and  water  would  be  in 
natural  philosophy.* 

2.  There  is  less  proportion  between  heavenly  glory  and  our  works, 
than  between  the  sun  and  a  mote  that  flies  in  the  air  :  therefore  to 
pretend,  that  they  will  avail  towards  [purchasing,  or  properly  merit- 
ing] heaven,  (see  the  5th  note)  argues  want  of  common  sense,  as  well 
as  want  of  humility. 

3.  God  has  wisely  determined  to  save  proud  man  in  a  way  that 
excludes  boasting.  God  is  just,  and  the  justijier  of  him  that  believes  in 
Jesus.  Where  is  boasting  then  ?  says  the  apostle  ;  It  is  excluded^  an- 
swers he  :  By  what  covenant,  does  he  ask  ?  Is  boasting  excluded  by 
the  covenant  of  works  ?  No,  but  by  the  law  of  faith,  by  the  covenant 
of  grace,  whose  condition  is  [penitential,  self-abasing,  obedient]  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ.  Therefore  we  conclude,  says  he,  that  a  man  is  justi- 
fied by  faith  without  the   works  of  the  law,   Rom.  iii.    27,   28.      If  our 

good  works  [properly  speaking]  deserve  the  least  part  of  our  salva- 
tion, we  may  justly  boast  that  our  own  arm  has  got  us  that  part  of  the 
victory  ;  and  we  have  reason  to  glory  in  ourselves,  contrary  to  the 
Scriptures,  which  say,  that  every  mouth  must  be  stopped,  that  boasting 
is  excluded,  and  that  he  who  glories  must  glory  in  the  Lord. 

[If  St.  Paul  glories  in  his  sufferings  and  labours,  it  is  not  then  with- 
out Christ  before  God,  but  with  Christ  before  the  Corinthians,  and 
under  peculiar  circumstances.  He  never  imagined  that  his  works 
were  meritorious  according  to  the  frst  covenant ;  much  less  did  he 
fancy  that  they  had  one  single  grain  of  proper  merit.  He  perfectly 
knew,  that  if  they  were  rewardable,  it  was  not  from  any  self- excel- 
lence, which  he  had  put  into  them  ;  but  merely  from  God's  gratuitous 
promise  in  the  second  covenant ;  from  Christ's  grace,  by  which  they 
were  wrought ;  from  his  atoning  blood,  in  which  they  were  washed; 
and  from  his  proper  merits,  with  which  they  were  perfumed.] 

[To  suppose  that  Adam  himself,  if  he  had  continued  upri<'ht, 
would  have  gloried  in  his  righteousness  as  a  Pharisee,  is  to  suppose 
him  deeply  fallen.  In  paradise  God  was  all  in  all ;  and  as  be  is  also 
all  in  all  in  heaven,  we  may  easily  conceive,  that,  with  respect  to 
self -exaltation,  the  mouth  of  Gabriel  is  not  less  shut  before  the  throne, 
than  that  of  Mary  Magdalen.  Therefore,  if  any  out  of  hell  Pharisai- 
cally glory  in  themselves,  it  is  only  those  self  righteous  sons  of  Luci- 
fer and  pride,  to  whom  our  Lord  says  still.  You  are  of  your  father  the 
devil,  whose  works  ye  do,  when  ye  seek  to  kill  me,  and  glory  in  your- 
selves.'] 

*  That  the  works  of  faith    save  us  by  the  covenant  of  grace  [next  to  Chiist  and 
Faith]  vi'ill  be  proved  in  the  Scriptural  Essay. 


172  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  f. 

4.  Our  evil  works  fur  overbalance  our  good  works,  both  in  quantity 
and  quality  :  let  us  first  then  pay  a  righteous  God  the  debt,  [the 
immense  debt  of  ten  thousand  talents  that]  we  owe  him  by  dying  the 
second  death,  which  is  the  wages  of  our  bad  works  ;  and  then  we  may 
talk  of  buying  heaven  with  our  good  works. 

6.  Our  best  works  have  such  a  mixture  of  imperfection,  that  they 
must  be  atoned  for,  and  made  acceptable  by  Christ's  blood  ;  so  far 
are  they  from  atoning  for  the  least  sin,*  [and  properly  meriting  our 
acceptance]  before  God  [even  according  to  the  second  covenant.] 

6.  If  ever  we  did  one  truly  good  work,  the  merit!  is  not  ours,  but 
God's,  who  by  his  free  grace  "  prevented,  accompanied,  and  followed 
us"  in  the  performance.  For  it  is  God,  who  of  his  good  pleasure 
rvorketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do,  Phil.  ii.  12.  Not  /,  says  the  apostle, 
after  mentioning  his  good  works,  but  the  grace  of  God  in  me,  1  Cor, 
XV.  10.  compared  with  James  i.  17. 

7.  We  perpetually  say  at  church  :  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  as  Crea- 
tor ;  and  to  the  Son,  as  Redeemer  ;  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  Sancti- 
fier.  Christ  is  then  to  have  all  the  glory  of  our  redemption:  but  if 
our  good  works  come  in  for  any  share  in  the  purchase  of  heaven,  we 
must  come  in  also  for  some  share  of  the  glory  of  our  [redemption. |] 
Thus  Christ  will  no  longer  be  the  only  Redeemer:  we  shall  be  co- 
redeemers  with  him,  and  consequently  ^ve  shall  have  a  share  in  tha 
doxology  ;  which  is  a  blasphemous  supposition. 

8.  Our  Lord  himself  decides  the  question  in  those  remarkable 
words,  Oi^When  you  have  done  all  that  is  commanded  you;  and 
where  is  the  man  that  [according  to  the  law  of  innocence§]  has  done, 

(34)  *  Eleven  years  ago  I  said  [and  making  us  accepted  f\  I  now  reject  the  expression  as 
unguarded  i  for  it  clashes  with  this  proposition  of  St.  Peter :  In  every  nation  he  that  work- 
ETH  righteousness  is  accepted  of  him.  We  should  take  care  so  to  secure  the  foundation, 
as  not  to  throw  down  the  building. 

(35)  +  This  is  the  very  doctrine  of  evangelical  rewardableness,  or  improper,  derived 
merit,  so  honourable  to  Christ,  so  humbling  to  man,  which  I  have  maintained  in  the  Vindi- 
cation, Vol.  ii.  p.  61,  iic.  Therefore,  if  I  am  a  merit-monger  and  a  heretic  now,  it  is 
evident  that  I  was  so  eleven  years  ago,  when  I  wrote  a  sermon,  which,  as  my  late  opponent 
is  pleased  to  say,  [Fin.  Stroke,  p.  44,]  "  does  me  much  credit,  and  plainly  shoxoSy  that  I 
was  once  zealously  attached  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England^ 

(36)  \  I  substitute  the  word  redemption  for  the  word  salvation,  that  I  formerly  used ; 
because  English  logic  demands  it.  By  the  same  reason  1  leave  out  in  the  end  of  the  para- 
graph the  words  ^*  Saviour,"  and  "joint-saviours,"  which  I  had  illogically  coupled  with 
*'  Redeemer,''''  and  co-redeemers."  For  although  it  is  strictly  true  that  no  man  can  redeem 
his  brother's  soul,  or  even  ransom  his  body  from  the  power  of  the  grave;  ^et,  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  secondary,  instrumental  causes,  it  is  absolutely  false  that  no  man  can 
save  his  neighbour;  for  In  doing  this,  says  St.  Paul,  thou  shall  both  save  thyself,  and  them 
that  hear  thee.     I  Tim.  iv.  16. 

(37)  5  I  say  [the  law  of  innocence]  to  defend  the  works  of  the  laiv  of  faith,  by  the  in- 
sitrumentality  of  which  we  shall  be  justified  or  saved  in  the  great  day.    For  these  works; 


A   DISCOURSE    ON    SALVATION,    &C.  173 

I  shall  not  say  all,  but  the  one  half  of  it?  say.  We  are  unprofitable 
servants."^  Now  it  is  plain,  that  unprofitable  servants  do  not  [pro- 
perly] merit  in  whole  or  in  part,  to  sit  down  at  their  master's  table, 
and  be  admitted  as  children  to  a  share  of  his  estate.  Therefore,  if 
God  gives  heaven  to  believers,  it  is  entirely  owing  to  his  free  mercy, 
through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  at  all  through  the  [proper] 
merits  of  our  own  works. 

9.  I  shall  close  these  observations  by  St.  Paul's  unanswerable 
argument.  If  righteousness  come  by  the  law.  If  salvation  come  by  [the 
covenant  of  works,]  then  Christ  died  in  vain.  Gal.  ii.  21.  Whence  it 
follows  that  if  it  come  in  part  by  the  works  of  the  law,  part  of 
Christ's  suflferings  were  vain,  a  supposition  which  ends  in  the  same 
blasphemy  against  the  Mediator. 

[10.  That  man  might  deserve  any  thing  of  God,  upon  the  footing 
of  proper  worthiness,  or  merit  of  equivalence,  God  should  stand  in 
need  of  something,  which  it  is  in  man's  power  to  bestow  :  but  this  is 
absolutely  impossible  :  for  God,  being  self- sufficient,  in  his  infinite  ful- 
ness, is  far  above  any  want :  and  man  being  a  dependent  creature, 
every  moment  supported  by  his  Maker  and  Preserver,  has  nothing 
to  which  God  has  not  a  far  greater  right  than  man  himself.  This  is 
what  the  apostle  asserts  where  he  says.  Who  has  given  him  first,  and 
it  shall  be  recompensed  unto  him  again?  But  much  more  in  this 
remarkable  passage  :  Who  maketh  thee  to  diff'er  from  another  ?  If  thou 
sayest.  The  number  of  my  talents  and  the  proper  use  1  have  made  of 
them  :  I  ask  again.  Who  gave  thee  those  talents  ?  And  who  super- 
added grace,  wisdom,  and  an  opportunity  to  improve  them  ? — Here 
we  must  all  give  glory  to  God,  and  say  with  St.  James,  Every  good 
gift  is  from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights. '\ 

[Upon  this  consideration,  the  apostle  proceeds  to  check  the  Chris- 
tian Pharisee  thus  :  What  hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ?  Now  if 
thou  didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst  not  received  it  ? 
—Whence  it  follows,  that  though  St.  Paul  himself  glories  in,  and 
boasts  of  his  disinterestedness,  yea,  solemnly  declares,  JVo  man  shall 
stop  me  of  this  boasting,  yet  he  did  not  glory  in  that  virtue  as  if  he  had 
not  received  it :  no,  he  gave  the  original  glory  of  it  to  Him  of  whom, 
through  whom,  and  to  whom,  are  all  things.  The  glory  of  bestowing 
original  gifts  upon  us  belongs  then  to  God  alone  ;  and  the  original 
glory  of  the  humility  with  which  we  receive,  and  of  the  faithfulness 
with  which  we  use  those  gifts,  belongs  also  to  him  alone  :  although^ 

flowing  from  Christ's  grace,  and  never  aspiring  at  any  higher  place  than  that  which  is  al. 
lotted  them,  viz.  the  iplacc  o(  justifying  evidences,  they  can-never  detract  from  the  Saviour's 
honour  or  his  grace. 


174  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

in  the  very  nature  of  things,  we  have  such  a  derived  share  of  that 
glory,  as  gives  room  to  the  reasonableness  of  divine  rewards.  For  why 
should  one  be  rewarded  more  than  another;  yea,  why  should  one  be 
rewarded  rather  than  punished,  if  derived  faithfulness  does  not  make 
him  more  rewardable  ?] 

[Observe  however,  that,  although  by  this  derived  faithfulness,  one 
roan  makes  himself  to  differ  enough  from  another,  for  God  to  reward 
him  reasonably  rather  than  another ;  yet  no  man  can  say  to  his  Maker, 
without  Satanic  arrogance,  "  1  have  made  myself  to  differ  from  such 
"  an  one,  therefore  I  make  a  lawful  demand  upon  thy  justice  :  thus 
"much  have  I  done  for  thee  ;  do  as  much  for  me  again."  For  while 
G 06  dispenses  punishments  according  to  the  rules  of  sind  justice  ; 
he  bestows  his  rewards  only  according  to  the  rules  of  moral  aptitude 
and  distributive  equity,  in  consequence  of  Christ's  proper  merits,  and 
of  his  own  gracious  promise  ;  all  men  on  earth,  and  all  angels  in  hea- 
ven, being  far  less  capable  of  properly  deserving  at  God's  hands,  than 
all  the  mites  and  ants  in  England  are,  of  properly  meriting  any  thing 
at  the  hands  of  the  king.] 

[Lastly,  what  slaves  earn  is  not  their  own,  but  the  master's  to  whom 
they  belong  ;  and  what  your  horses  get  is  your  property,  not  theirs  : 
Now  as  God  has  a  thousand  times  more  right  to  us,  than  masters  to 
their  slaves,  and  you  to  your  horses  ;  it  follows,  that,  supposing  we 
were  sinless,  and  could  properly  earn  any  thing,  our  profit  would  be 
God's,  not  ours.  So  true  it  is,  that,  from  the  creature  to  the  Creator, 
the  idea  of  proper  merit  is  as  contrary  to  justice  as  it  is  to  decency.] 

As  the  preceding  arguments  [against  the  proper  merit  of  works] 
will,  I  hope,  abundantly  satisfy  all  those  [modern  Pharisees,]  who 
have  not  entirely  cast  away  the  Christian  revelation,  I  pass  to  the  old 
objection  of  [some  ignorant]  Papists  [and  injudicious  Protestants.] 
*'  If  good  works  cannot  [merit  us  heaven,  (See  6th  note,)  or  pro- 
perly] save  us,  why  should  we  trouble  ourselves  about  them  ?"  [And 
in  answering  it,  I  shall  guard  the  doctrine  of  obedience  against  the 
Antinomians.] 

As  this  quibbling  argument  may  puzzle  the  simple,  and  make  the 
boasting  Pharisees,  that  use  it,  triumph  as  if  they  had  overturned  the 
Protestant  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  without  [the]  works  [decried 
by  St.  Paul ;]  I  beg  leave  to  show  its  weakness  by  a  comparison. 

Suppose  you  said  to  me,  "  Your  doing  the  work  of  a  parisli  priest 
will  never  [merit]  you  an  archbishopric ;"  and  I  answered  with  dis- 
content, '*  If  doing  my  office  will  never  [merit]  me  the  see  of  Canter- 
bury, why  should  I  do  it  at  all  ?  I  need  not  trouble  myself  about 
preaching  any  more ;"  would  you  not  ask  me  whether  a  clergyman 


A   DISCOURSE   ON    SALVATION,   &€.  175 

has  no  reason  (o  attend  his  flock,  but  the  wild  and  proud  conceit  that 
his  labour  must  [deserve*]  him  a  bishopric.  And  I  ask  in  my  turn  ; 
Do  you  suppose,  that  a  Christian  has  no  motive  to  do  good  works,  but 
the  wilder  and  prouder  notion,  that  his  good  works  must  [properly 
speaking  merit]  him  heaven  ?  (See  5th  note.) 

If  therefore  I  can  show,  that  he  has  the  strongest  motives,  and  in- 
ducements, to  abound  in  good  works  without  the  doctrine  of  [proper] 
merits  ;  1  hope  you  will  drop  your  objection.  You  say,  "  If  good 
works  will  never  [properly  merit  us  salvation,]  why  should  we  do 
them  ?"  I  answer,  For  six  good  reasons,  each  of  which  [in  some 
degree!]  overturns  your  objection. 

1.  0^  ^Ve  are  to  do  good  works,  to  show  our  obedience  to  our 
heavenly  Father. -=^0  As  a  child  obeys  his  parents,  not  to  purchase 
their  estate,  but  because  he  is  their  child,  [and  does  not  choose  to  be 
disinherited :]  so  believers  obey  God,  not  to  get  heaven  for  their 
wages ;  but  because  he  is  their  Father,  [and  they  would  not  provoke 
him  to  disinherit  them.|] 

2.  0:^  Wp  are  to  abound  in  all  good  works,  to  be  justified  before 
men  [now,  and  betbre  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  in  the  great  day  ;] 
and  to  show  that  our  faith  is  saving.  St.  James  strongly  insists  upon 
this.  Chap.  ii.  18.'=C0  Show  me  thy  faith  without  thy  works,  says  he, 
and  I  will  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works  :  That  is.  Thou  sayest  thou 
hast  faith,  [because  thou  wast  once  justified  by  faith  ;]  but  thou  doest 
not  the  works  of  a  believer  :  thou  canst  follow  vanity,  and  conform  to 
this  evil  world  :  thou  canst  swear  or  break  the  Sabbath ;  lie,  cheat, 
or  get  drunk  ;  rail  at  thy  neighbour,  or  live  in  uncleanness  :  in  a 
word,  thou  canst  do  one  or  another  of  the  devil's  works'.  Thy  works 
therefore,  give  thee  the  lie,  and  show  that  thy  faith  is  [now  like]  the 
devil's  faith  ;  for  if  faith  without  works  be   dead,  how  doubly  dead 

(38)  *  This  illustration  is  not  strictly  just.  If  the  king  had  millions  of  bishoprics  to 
give,  if  he  had  promised  to  bestow  one  upon  every  diligent  clergyman ;  solemnly  de- 
claring that  all  who  neglect  their  charge  should  not  only  miss  the  ecclesiastical  dignity  an- 
nexed to  diligence,  but  be  put  to  a  shameful  death  as  so  many  murderers  of  souls,  the  cases 
would  then  be  exactly  parallel.  Besides,  every  clergyman  is  not  a  candidate  for  a  bishop- 
ric, but  every  man  is  a  candidate  for  heaven.  Again,  a  clerg}-man  may  be  as  happy  in 
his  parsonage  as  a  bishop  in  his  palace :  but  if  a  man  miss  heaven,  he  sinks  into  hell.  These 
glaring  truths  I  overlooked  when  I  was  a  ''  late  evangelical  preacher  V 

f  Formerly  I  said  [entirely]  but  experience  has  taught  me  otherwise.  ' 

(39)  X  This  argument  is  weak  without  the  additions.  Our  Lord  informs  us,  that  when 
the  Father  in  the  Gospel  says  to  his  fair-spoken  child,  Son,  Go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard, 
he  answers,  I  go,  Sir,  and  goes  not.  And  God  himself  says,  I  have  nourished  and  brought 
up  CHILDREN,  but  they  have  rebelled  against  me.  Wo  to  the  parents,  who  have  such  chil- 
dren, and  have  no  power  to  cut  ofl"  an  entail ! 


176  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I 

must  faith  with  bad  works  be  !*  [And  how  absurd  is  it  to  suppose, 
that  thou  canst  be  instrumentally  justified  by  a  dead  faith,  or  dedara- 
^i're/y  justified  by  bad  works,  either  before  men,  or  in  the  sight  of 
God  !]  But  1  will  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works,  adds  the  apostle  : 
i.  e.  By  constantly  abstaining  from  all  evil  works,  and  steadily  walking 
in  all  sorts  of  good  works,  I  will  make  thee  confess,  that  1  am  really 
in  Christ  a  new  creature,  and  that  my  faith  is  living  and  genuine. 

3.  Our  Saviour  told  his  disciples,  that  they  were  to  OCT  do  good 
works,  not  to  purchase  heaven,  but  that  others  might  be  stirred  up 
to  serve  God.  You  then,  that  have  found  the  way  of  salvation  by 
Christ,  let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  even  they,  who  speak 
evil  of  the  doctrine  of  faith,  seeing  your  good  works,  may]  glorify  your 
Father  who  is  in  heaven.-^-C^  Matt.  v.  16. 

4.  0^  We  are  to  do  good  works  out  of  gratitude  and  love  to  our 
dear  Redeemer,  who  having  [conditionally]  purchased  heaven  for  us 
with  his  precious  bloodj^CO  asks  the  small  return  of  our  love  and 
obedience.  If  you  love  me,  says  he,  keep  my  commandments,  John 
xiv.  15.  [This  motive  is  noble,  and  continues  powerful  so  long  as 
we  keep  our  first  love.  But  alas  !  it  has  little  force  with  regard  to 
the  myriads  that  rather /ear  than  love  God  :  and  it  has  lost  its  force 
in  all  those,  who  have  denied  the  faith,  or  made  shipwreck  of  it,  or  cast 
qff^  their  first  faith,  and  consequently  their  ^rs? /ore,  and  their  first 
gratitude.  The  multitude  of  these,  in  all  ages,  has  been  innumera- 
ble. I  fear,  we  might  say  of  justified  believers,  what  our  Lord  did 
of  the  cleansed  lepers  :  Were  there  not  ten  cleansed  ?  but  where  are 
the  nine  ?  Alas  !  like  the  apostates  mentioned  by  St.  Paul,  they  art 
turned  aside  after  the  flesh,  after  the  world,  after  fables,  after  Anti- 
nomian  dotages,  after  vain  jangling,  after  Satan  himself,  1  Tim.  v.  15.] 

6.  We  are  to  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works,  [not  only  that  we 
may  not  lose  our  confidence  in  God,  1  John  iii.  19,  &;c.  but  also] 


(40)  *  If  this  single  clause  in  my  old  sermon  stand,  so  will  the  Minutes  and  the  Checks. 
But  the  whole  argument  is  a  mere  jest,  if  a  man  that  wallows  in  adultery,  murder,  or 
incest,  may  have  as  true,  justifying  faith,  as  David  had  when  he  killed  Goliah. 

(41)  f  This  argument  is  quite  frivolous,  if  my  late  opponent  is  right.  How  has  many  a 
poor  soul,  says  he,  who  has  been  faithless  through  the  fear  of  man,  even  blessed  God  for 
Peter^s  denial !  Five  Letters,  2d  edition  revised,  p.  40.  Hence  it  appears,  that  denying 
Christ  with  oaths  and  curses,  will  cause  **  many  a  poor  soul  to  bless  God  "  i.e.  to  glorify 
our  heavenly  Father.  Now  if  horrid  crimes  do  this  as  well  as  good  ivorks,  is  it^^iaot  absurd 
to  enforce  the  practice  of  good  works,  by  saying,  that  they  alone  have  that  blessed  eff<?ct  ? 
But  my  opponent  may  easily  get  over  this  difficulty  before  those  whose  battles  he  fights. 
He  needs  only  charge  me  with  disingmuity  for  not  quoting  the  3d  revised  edition  of  his 
book,  if  he  has  published  such  a  one. 


A    DISCOITRSE    ON    SALVATION,   &C-.  177 

that  we  may  nourish  and  increase  our  faith  or  spiritual  life  ;  [or  to 
use  the  language  of  St.  James,  that  faith  may  "ssork  with  our  works, 
and  that  by  works  our  faith  may  be  made  perfect.]  As  a  man  ^in 
health,  who  is*  threatened  by  no  danger]  does  not  walk  that  his 
walking  may  procure  him  life,  [or  save  his  life  from  destruction  :]  but 
that  he  may  preserve  his  health,  and  [add  to]  his  activity  :  so  a  be- 
liever does  not  walk  in  good  works  to  get  [an  initial  life  of  grace,  or 
a  primary  title  to  an]  eternal  life  [of  glory :]  but  to  keep  up  and 
increase  the  vigour  of  his  faith,  by  which  he  has  [already  a  title  to, 
and  the  earnest  of]  eternal  life.  For  as  the  best  health  without  any 
exercise  is  soon  destroyed,  so  the  strongest  faith  without  works  will 
soon  droop  and  die.  Hence  it  is  that  St.  Paul  exhorts  us  to  Hold 
faithf  and  a  good  conscience^  which  some  having  put  away^  by  refusing 
to  walk  in  good  works,  concerning  faith  have  made  shipwreck.] 

6.  0^  We  are  not  to  do  good  works  to  obtain  heaven  by  them, 
[as  if  they  were  the  properly  meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation.] 
This!  proud,  antichristian  motive  would  poison  the  best  doings  of  the 
greatest  saints,  if  saints  could  thus  trample  on  the  blood  of  their 
Saviour  :  such  a  wild  conceit  being  only  the  Pharisee's  cleaner  way 
to  hell.  But  we  are  to  do  them,  because  they  shall  be  rewarded  in 
heaven. |=C0  To  understand  this,  we  must  remember,  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  Oospf»l  and  our  liturgy,  God  opens  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to 
all  believers  :  [because  true  believers  are  always  true  workers ;  true 
faith  always  working  by  love  to  God's  commandments.  Next  to 
Christ  then,  to  speak  the  language  of  some  injudicious  divines,]  Faith 
alone,  when  it  works  by  love,  takes  us  to  heaven:  [Or  rather,  to 
avoid  an  apparent  contradiction,  Faith  audits  works  are-thewayto 
heaven  :]  But  as  there  are  stars  of  different  magnitude  in  the  ma- 
terial heaven,  so  also  in  the  spiritual.  Some  who,  like  St.  Paul, 
have  eminently  shined  by  the  works  of  faith,  the  patience  of  hope,  and 
the  labour  of  love,  shall  shine  like  the  brightest  stars,  [or  the  sun  :] 
and  05"  others,   who,  like  the  dying  thief  and  infants,  have  had 


(42)  *  Formerly  I  did  not  consider  that  as  Noah  walked  into  the  ark,  and  Lot  out  of 
Sodom,  to  save  their  lives;  so  sinners  are  called  to  turn  from  their  iniquity,  and  </o  that 
which  is  lawful  and  right  to  save  their  souls  alive.  Nor  did  I  observe,  that  saints  are 
-commanded  (o  ivalk  in  good  works,  lest  the  destroyer  overtake  them,  and  they  become 
sons  oj" perdition.     Hovpever,  in  Babel,  such  capital  oversights  diJ  me  '^^  much  credit.''* 

(43)  f  Here  I  leave  out  the  word  selfish,  as  being  ambiguous.  It  is  not  selfishness,  but 
*rue  wisdom  and  well-ordered  self-love,  evangelically  to  labour /or  the  meat  that  endureth 
io  everlasting  life.  Not  to  do  it  is  the  height  of  Laodireaii  stupidity,  or  Antinomian  conceif. 

(44)  J  Here  I  leave  out  although  not  vjithheaven,  for  the  reasons  assigned  in  the  Scri/i- 
tural  Essay. 

Vol.  II.  33 


% 


178  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    i 

[little*  or]  no  time  to  show  their  faith  [or  holiness]  by  their  works, 
Shall  enjoy  a  less  degree  of  glorious  bliss :  but  all  shall  ascribe  the 
whole  of  their  salvation  only  to  the  mercy  of  God,  the  merits  of 
Christ,  and  the  efficacy  of  his  blood  and  Spirit,-CO  according  to  St. 
John's  vision  :  Ibeheld^  and  lo  a  great  multitude  of  all  nations^  and 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  with  palms 
in  their  hands,  clothed  with  robes,  that  they  had  washed,  and  made  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  :  Arid  [while  our  Lord  said  to  them  by  his 
gracious  looks,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  secondary,  instrumental 
causes,  Walk  with  me  in  white,  for  you  are  worthy,  and  zn/icni  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you,  for  I  was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  meat, 
&c.]  they  cried  [according  to  the  doctrine  of  primary  and  properly- 
meritorious  causes]  not  "  Salvation  to  our  endeavours  and  good 
works ;  but  Salvation  to  our  God,  who  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto 
the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever. 

[Thus,  by  the  rules  of  celestial  courtesy,  to  which  our  Lord  vouch- 
safes to  submit  in  glory  ;  while  the  saints  justly  draw  a  veil  over  their 
works  of  faith,  to  extol  only  their  Saviour's  merits  ;  He  kindly  passes 
over  his  own  blood  and  righteousness,  to  make  mention  only  of  their 
works  and  obedience.  They,  setting  their  seal  to  the  first  Gospel 
aJwiom,  shout  with  great  truth,  ^^  Salvation  to  God  and  the  Lamb:'' 
And  He,  setting  his  seal  to  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  replies  with 
great  condescension.  Salvation  to  them  that  are  worthy!  Eternal 
salvation  to  all  that  obey  me.     Rev.  iii.  4.     Heb.  v.  9. 

(Therefore,  notwithstanding  the  perpetual  assaults  of  proud  Phari- 
sees, and  of  s^lf- humbled  Antinomians  ;  the  two  Gospel  axioms  stand 
unshaken  upon  the  two  fundamental,  inseparable  doctrines  of  faith 
and  works — of  proper  merit  in  Christ,  and  derived  worthiness  in  his 
members.  Penitent  believers  freely  receive  all  from  the  God  of 
grace  and  mercy,  through  Christ ;  and  humble  workers  freely  return 
all  to  the  God  of  holiness  and  glory,  through  the  same  adorable 


(45)  *  Here  Mr.  H.  triumphs  in  his  Finishing  Stroke,  p,  50,  last  note,  through  my 
emission  of  those  two  words.  But  without  having  recourse  to  "  magical  power,"  or  even 
to  '*  Logica  Helvetica,"  to  reconcile  my  sermon  with  my  Cheoks  ;  I  desire  unprejudiced 
Calvinists  to  mention  any  one  besides  the  dying  thie/,  that  ever  evidenced  his  faith  by  con- 
fessing Christ  when  Vis  very  apostles  denied  or  forsook  him ;  by  openly  praying  to  him, 
when  the  multitudes  retiled  him^  by  humbly  pleading  guilty  before  thousands;  by  pub- 
licly defending  injured  innocence;  by  boldly  reproving  blasphemy  ;  by  kindly  admonishing 
his  fellow-malefactor ;  and  by  fully  acknowledging  Christ's  kingly  office,  "when  he  was 
crowned  with  thorns,  and  hanging  on  the  cross  i*  Did  St.  John,  did  Mary  Magdalen,  did 
even  the  Virgin  Mary,  show  their  Jaith  by  such  glorious  works,  under  such  un favor, rab!i» 
circumstances  ?    O  ye  Solifidians;  where  is  your  attention  ^ 


A   DISCOURSE   ON    SALVATION,   &C.  179 

Mediator.  Thus  God  has  all  the  honour  of  freely  bestowing  upon  us  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  in  a  way  of  judicious  mercy  and  distributive 
justice  ;  while  we,  through  grace,  have*  all  the  honour  of  freely 
receiving  it,  in  a  way  of  penitential  faith  and  obedient  gratitude.  To 
him  therefore,  one  eternal  Jehovah,  in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
be  ascribed  all  the  merit,  honour,  praise,  and  dominion,  worthy  of  a 
God,  for  ever  and  ever.] 


(46)  *  Objection.  "We  have  all  the  honour  through  grace!  (says  a  friend  of 
voluntary  humility)  what  honour  can  you  possibly  ascribe  to  man  when  you  have  already 
ascribed  all  honour  to  God?  But  one,  who  begins  his  sermon  by  pleading  for  merit,  may 
well  conclude  it  by  taking  from  God  part  of  his  honour,  dominion,  and  praise.^* — < 

Answer^  I  plead  only  for  an  interest  in  Christ's  merits  through  faith  and  the  works 
of  faith.  This  interest  I  call  derived  worthiness,  which  would  be  as  dishonourable  to 
Christ,  as  it  is  honourable  to  believers.  I  confess  also,  that  I  aspire  at  the  honour  of 
shouting  in  heaven,  Allelujah  to  God  and  the  Lamb  !  In  the  mean  time  I  hope,  that  I  may 
pay  an  inferior  honour  to  all  men,  ascribe  derived  dominion  to  the  king,  bestow  deserved 
praise  upon  my  pious  opponents,  and  claim  the  honour  of  being  their  obedient  servant  in. 
^."hrist,  without  robbing  the  Lamb  of  bi?  peculiar  worthiness,  and  God  of  his  proper 


80  EQUAL   CHECK^  PART 


APPENDIX. 


X-  FLATTER  myself  that  the  preceding  discourse  shows,  1.  That 
it  is  very  possible  to  preach  free  grace,  without  directly  or  indirectly 
preaching  Calvinism  and  free  wrath :  and  2.  That  those  who  charge 
Mr.  Wesley  and  me  with  subverting  the  Articles  of  our  church, 
which  guard  the  doctrine  of  grace,  do  us  great  wrong.  Should  God 
spare  me,  I  shall  also  bear  my  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  doctrine 
of  conditional  Predestination  and  Election,  maintained  in  the  1 7th 
article,  to  which  I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  setting  my  seal  in 
this  work. 

As  I  have  honestly  laid  my  Helvetic  bluntness,  and  Antinomian 
mistakes  before  the  public  in  my  notes  ;  I  am  not  conscious  of  having 
misrepresented  my  old  sermon  in  my  enlarged  discourse.  Should 
however  the  keener  eyes  of  my  opponents  discover  any  real  mistake 
in  my  additions,  &,c.  upon  information  I  shall  be  glad  to  acknowledge 
and  rectify  it.  Two  or  three  sentences  I  have  left  out,  merely 
because  they  formed  vain  repetitions,  without  adding  any  thing  to  the 
sense.  But  whenever  I  have,  for  conscience  sake,  made  any  altera- 
tion, that  affects,  or  seems  to  affect  the  doctrine,  I  have  informed  the 
reader  of  it,  ancl  of  my  reason  for  it  in  a  note  ;  that  he  may  judge 
whether  I  was  right  twelve  years  ago,  or  whether  I  am  now  :  and 
where  there  is  no  such  note  at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  there  is  an 
addition  in  the  context,  directing  to  the  5th  note,  where  the  alteration 
is  acknowledged,  and  accounted  for  according  to  the  reasonable  con- 
dition which  I  have  made  in  the  preface. 

I  particularly  recommend  the  perusal  o^  that  note,  of  the^rs^,  and 
of  the  twenty -first,  to  those  who  do  not  yet  see  their  way  through  the 
straits  of  Pharisaism  and  Antinounrianism,  through  which  I  have  been 
obliged  to  steer  my  course  in  handling  a  text,  which,  of  all  others, 
seems  at  first  sight  best  calculated  to  countenance  the  mistakes  of  my 
opponents. 

Sharp-sighted  readers  will  see  by  my  sermon,  that  nothing-is  more 
difificult  than  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  God.  The  ways  of  Truth 
and  Error  lie  close  together,  though  they  never  coincide.  When 
some  preachers  say,  that  *'  The  road  to  heaven  passes  very  near 
the  mouth  of  hell,"  they  do  not  mean,  that  the  road  to  heaven  and 


^  A   DISCOURSE   ON  SALVATION,  &C.  181 

the  road  to  hell  are  one  and  the  same.  If  I  assert,  that  the  way  of 
Truth  runs  parallel  to  the  ditch  of  Error,  1  by  no  means  intend  to 
confound  them.  Let  Error  therefore  come,  in  some  things,  ever  so 
near  to  Truth,  yet  it  can  no  more  be  the  Truth,  than  a  filthy  ditch, 
that  runs  parallel  to  a  good  road,  can  be  the  road. 

You  wonder  at  the  athletic  strength  of  Milo,  that  brawny  man, 
^ho  stands  like  an  anvil  under  the  bruising  (ist  of  his  antagonist : 
i>  through  the  flowery  paths  of  youth  and  childhood  trace  him  back  to 
his  cradle  ;  and,  if  you  please,  consider  him  unborn  :  he  is  Milo  still. 
Nay  view  him  just  conceived  or  quickened,  and  though  your  naked 
eye  scarcely  discovers  the  punctum  saltens,  by  which  he  diflfers  from 
a  nonentity  or  a  lifeless  thing ;  yet  even  then  the  difference  between 
him  and  a  nonentity  is  not  only  real  but  prodigious ;  for  it  is  the  vast 
difference  between  something  and  nothing,  between  life  and  no  life — 
In  like  manner,  trace  back  truth  to  its  first  stamina ;  investigate  it  till 
you  find  its  punctum  saliens,  its  first  difference  from  error  ;  and  even 
then,  you  will  see  an  essential,  a  capital  difference  between  them, 
though  your  short-sighted  or  inattentive  neighbour  can  perceive 
none. 

It  is  often  a  thing  little  in  appearance,  that  turns  the  scale  of  truth ; 
nevertheless,  the  difference  between  a  scale  turned  or  not  turned,  is 
as  real  as  the  difference  between  a  just  and  a  false  weight,  between 
right  and  wrong.  I  make  this  observation  :  1.  To  show  that  although 
my  opponents  come  very  near  me  in  some  things,  and  1  go  very  near 
"T  them  in  others,  yet  the  difference  between  us  is  as  essential  as  the 
*  difference  between  light  and  darkness,  truth  and  error:  and  2.  To 
remind  them  and  myself,  that  we  ought  so  much  the  more  to  exercise 
Christian  forbearance  towards  each  other,  as  we  find  it  difficult, 
whenever  we  do  not  stand  upon  our  guard,  to  do  justice  to  every 
part  of  the  truth,  without  seeming  to  dissent  even  from  ourselves. 
However,  our  short-sightedness  and  twilight  knowledge  do  not  alter 
the  nature  of  things.  The  truth  of  the  Anti-Pharisaic  and  Anti- 
Crispian  Gospel  is  as  immutable  as  its  eternal  Author ;  and  whether 
I  have  marked  out  its  boundaries  with  a  tolerable  degree  of  justness 
or  not,  I  must  say  as  the  heathen  poet  -. 


Est  modus  in  rebus,  suntcerti  denique  hnes, 
Quos  ultra  citraque  nequit  consistere  rectum.* 

*  Truth  is  confined  within  her  firm  bounds,  nay,  there  is  a  middle  line  equally  distant 
from  all  extremes;  on  that  line  she  stands,  and  to  miss  her,  you  need  only  step  over 
it  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left. 


SCRIPTURAL  ESSAY 


ASTONISHING 

REWARD ABLEJ^ESS  OF  WORKS 

ACCORDING  TO  THE 


(^ir^ii^^  ^W  ©IM.®32 


CONTAINING, 

T.  A  VARIETY  OF  PLAIN  SCRIPTURES,  WHICH  SHOW  THAT  HEAVEN  ITSELF 
IS  THE  GRACIOUS  REWARD  OF  THE  WORKS  OF  FAITH,  AND  THAT  BE- 
LIEVERS MAY  LOSE  THAT  REWARD  BY  BAD  WORKS. 

II.  AN  ANSWER  TO  THE  MOST  PLAUSIBLE  OBJECTIONS  OF  THE  S'OLIFIDIANS 
AGAINST  THIS  DOCTRINE. 

III.  SOME  REFLECTIONS  UPON  THE  UNREASONABLENESS  OF  THOSE  WHO 
SCORN  TO  WORK  WITH  AN  EYE  TO  THE  REWARD  WHICH  GOD  OFFERS 
TO  EXCITE  US  TO  OBEDIENCE. 


r^»^<*'' ' 

To  the  lavi  and  to  the  testimony. — Isa.  vili.  8^ 


^ 


A 


SCKIPTURAL    ESSAY 

t)N     THE     ASTONISHING     REWARDABLENESS    OF     WORKS     ACCORDING     TO 
THE    COVENANT    OF    GRACE. 

PART  FIRST. 

XXAVING  particularly  guarded,  in  the  preceding  discourse,  the 
doctrine  of  Salvation  by  the  covenant  of  grace^  and  having  endea- 
voured to  secure  the  foundation  of  the  Gospel  against  the  unwearied 
attacks  of  the  Pharisees ;  I  shall  now  particularly  guard  the  Works  of 
the  covenant  of  grace,  and  by  that  mean  I  shall  secure  the  superstruc^ 
ture  against  the  perpetual  assaults  of  the  Antinomicns ;  a  part  of  my 
work  this,  which  is  so  much  the  more  important,  as  the  use  of  a  strong 
foundation  is  only  to  bear  up  a  useful  structure. 

None  but  fools  act  without  motive.  To  deprive  a  wise  man  of 
every  motive  to  act,  is  to  keep  him  in  total  inaction  :  and  to  rob  him 
of  some  grand  motive,  is  considerably  to  weaken  his  wilUngness  to 
act,  or  his  fervour  in  acting.  The  burning  love  of  God  is  undoubt- 
edly the  most  generous  motive  to  obedience  ;  but  alas  !  thousands  of 
good  men,  like  Cornelius,  are  yet  strangers  to  that  powerful  princi- 
ple shed  abroad  in  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost :  in  thousands  of 
weak  believers,  love  is  not  yet  properly  kindled  ;  it  is  rather  a 
smoking  flax  than  a  blazing  fire  :  in  thousands  of  Laodicean  profes- 
sors it  is  scarcely  lukewarm;  and  in  all  apostates  it  is  waxed  cold. 
Therefore,  in  the  present  sickly  state  of  the  church  militant,  it  is  as 
absurd  in  preachers  to  urge  no  motive  of  good  works  but  grateful 
love,  as  it  would  be  in  physicians  to  insist,  that  a  good  stomach  must 
be  the  only  motive,  from  which  their  patients  ought  to  take  either 
food  or  physic. 

Our  Lord,  far  from  countenancing  our  doctrinal  refinements  in  this 
respect,  perpetually  secures  the  practice  of  good  works,  by  promising 
heaven  to  all  that  persevere  in  doing  them  ;  while  he  deters  us  from 
sin,  by  threatening  destruction  to  all  that  persist  in  committing  it : 

Vol.  II.  ^\ 


186  •         EQUAL    CHECK,  PART  I. 

working  thus  alternately  tipon  our  hopes  and  fears,  those  powerful 
springs  of  action  in  the  human  breast. 

The  force  of  this  double  incentive  to  practical  religion,  I  greatly 
weakened  ;  when,  being  carried  away  by  the  stream  of  Solifidianisffij 
I  rashly  said  in  my  old  sermon,  after  some  of  our  Reformers,  that 
"  good  works  shall  be  rewarded  in  heaven  and  eternal  life,  although 
not  with  eternal  life  and  heaven."  An  Antinomian  error  this,  which 
I  again  publicly  renounce,  and  against  which  T  enter  the  following 
scriptural  protest. 

If  the  oracles  of  God  command  us  to  work  from  an  initial  life  of 
grace,  for  an  eternal  life  of  glory ;  frequently  annexing  the  promise 
of  heavenly  bliss  to  good  works,  and  threatening  all  workers  of  iniquity 
with  hell  torments  ;  it  follows,  that  heaven  will  be  the  gracious 
rexcard  of  good  works,  and  hell  the  jW  wages  of  bad  ones. 

I  readily  grant,  however,  that  if  we  consider  ourselves  merely  as 
sinners,  in  the  light  of  the  Jirst  Gospel  axiom,  and  according  to  the 
covenant  of  works,  which  we  have  so  frequently  broken ;  heaven  is 
MERELY  the  GIFT  of  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  for  according 
to  that  covenant,  destruction  is  the  wages  of  all  who  have  committed 
sin.  But  if  we  be  converted  sinners,  or  obedient  believers;  and  if  we 
consider  ourselves  in  the  light  of  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  and 
according  to  the  covenant  of  grace ;  every  unprejudiced  person,  who 
believes  the  Bible,  must  allow  that  heaven  is  the  gracious  reward 
of  our  works  of  faith. 

An  illustration  may  help  the  reader  to  see  the  justness  of  this  dis- 
tinction.— A  charitable  nobleman  discharges  the  debts  of  ten  insol- 
vent prisoners ;  sets  them  up  in  great  or  little  farms,  according  to 
their  respective  abilities ;  and  laying  down  a  thousand  pounds  before 
them,  he  says  :  *'  I  have  already  done  much  for  you,  but  I  will  do 
more  still.  I  freely  give  you  this  purse  to  encourage  your  industry. 
You  shall  share  this  gold  among  you,  if  you  manage  your  farms 
according  to  my  directions  :  but  if  3^ou  let  your  fields  be  overrun 
with  thorns,  you  shall  not  only  lose  the  bounty,  I  design  for  the  indus- 
trious, but  [forfeit  all  my  preceding  favours."  Now,  who  does  not 
«ee,  that  the  thousand  pounds  thus  laid  down  are  a  free  gift  of  the 
nobleman  ;  that  nevertheless,  upon  the  performance  of  the  condition 
or  terms  he  has  fixed,  they  become  a  gracious  reward  of  industry ; 
and  that,  consequently,  the  obtaining  of  this  reward  turns  now  entirely 
upon  the  works  of  industry  performed  by  the  fiirmers. 

Just  so  eternal  salvation  is  the  free  gift  of  God  through  Jesus 
Christ:  and  yet  the  obtaining  of  it  (on  the  part  of  adults)  turns 
entirely  upon  their  works  of  faith ;  that  is,  upon  their  works  as  well 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,   &C.  187 

as  upon  their  faith.     Hence  the  Scripture  says  indiiferently,  He  that 

BELIEVETH  is  NOT  CONDEMNED  ;    and  If  ihou  DOEST  WELL  shalt  thoU  llOt 

he  ACCEPTED  ?  All  that  believe  are  justified  ;  and  he  that  worketh 
righteousness  is  accepted. — Our  Lord.,  speaking  of  a  weeping  penitent, 
says  equally  :  Her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven ;  for  she  loved 
much;  and,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven,  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee. — As  for 
St.  Paul,  though  he  always  justly  excludes  the  works  of  unbelief,  and 
merely  ceremonial  works,  yet  he  so  joins  faith,  and  the  works  of 
faith,  as  to  show  us,  they  are  equally  necessary  to  eternal  salvation  : 
There  is  no  condemnation,  says  he,  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  by  faith : 
(Here  is  the  Pharisee's  portion)  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  but  after 
the  Spirit :  (Here  is  the  Antinomian's  portion.)  Hence  it  appears, 
that  living  faith,  now  and  always  works  righteousness  ;  and  that  the 
works  of  righteousness  now'^  and  always  accompany  faith,  so  long  as 
it  remains  living. 

*' I  know  this  is  the  doctrine,"  says  the  judicious  Mr.  Baxter 
"  that  will  have  the  loudest  outcries  raised  against  it ;  and  will  make 
some  cry  out  Heresy,  Popery,  Socinianism  !  and  what  not !  For  my 
own  part,  the  Searcher  of  hearts  knoweth,  that  not  singularity, 
nor  any  good  will  to  Popery,  provoketh  me  to  entertain  it :  but  that 
1  have  earnestly  sought  the  Lord's  direction  upon  my  knees,  before  I 
durst  adventure  on  it ;  and  that  I  resisted  the  light  of  thi§  conclusion 
as  long  as  I  was  able."  May  this  bright  testimony  make  way  for  an 
illuminated  cloud  of  prophets  and  apostles!  and  may  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  rising  behind  it,  so  scatter  the  shades  of  error,  that  we 
may  awake  out  of  our  Laodicean  sleep,  and  Antinomian  dreams,  and 
see  a  glorious  unclouded  Gospel  day  ! 

That  in  subordination  to  Christ,  our  eternal  salvation  depends  upon 
good  works,  i.  e.  upon  the  works  of  faith,  will,  I  think,  appear  indu- 
bitable to  them  that  believe  the  Bible,  and  candidly  consider  the  fol- 
lowing scriptures,  in  which  heaven  and  eternal  life  in  glory  are  sus- 
pended upon  works,  if  they  spring  from  a  sincere  belief  in  the  light 
of  our  dispensation  ;  I  say,  if  they  spring  from  true  faith,  it  being 
absolutely  impossible  for  a  heathen,  and  much  more  for  a  Christian, 
to  work  righteousness  without  believing,  in  some  degree,  that  God  is, 
and  that  he  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him,  as  well  as 
the  punisher  of  them  that  presumptuously  sin  against  him. — For  with- 
out faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God ;  all  faithless  works  springing 
merely  from  superstition,  like  those  of  Baal's  priests,  or  from  hypo- 

*  I  use  the  word  noio,  lo  stop  up  the  Antinomian  gap,  which  one  of  my  opponents  tries  to       A 
keep  open  by  insinuating,  that  though  a  true  behevcr  may  commit  adulteiT  and  murder 
71010,  yet  he  will  always  work  righteousness  before  he  die. 


IBS  EQUAL    CHECK. 


PARI    I. 


crisy,  like  'those  of  Ibe  Pharisees.  Having  thus  guarded  again  the 
doctrine  of  faith,  I  produce  some  of  the  many  scriptures  that 
directly  or  indirectly  annex  the  above-mentioned  reward  to  works  : 
And, 

1.  To  consideration,  conversion^  and  exercising  ourselves  to  godli- 
ness.— "  Because  he  considereth,  and  turnefh  away  from  his  transgres- 
sions, &LC.  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall  not  die.  When  the  wicked 
man  turneth  away  from  his  wickedness,  &,c.  he  shall  save  his  soul  alive. 
Wherefore  turn  yourselves  and  live  ye. — Exercise  thyself  unto  godli- 
ness, for  it  is  profitable  unto  all  things  ;  having  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  and  that  which  is  to  corne.''* 

2.  To  doing  the  will  of  God. — "  He  that  does  the  will  of  my  Father, 
shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. — He  that  does  the  will  of 
God  ahideth  for  ever. — Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the 
same  is  my  brother  and  sister — i.  e.  the  same  is  an  heir  of  God,  and  a 
joint-heir  with  Christ." 

3.  To  confessing  Christ,  and  calling  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord. — 
^'  With  the  mouth  confession  is  made  to  salvation. — Whosoever  there- 
fore shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also  before  my 
Father  :  But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  i  also 
deny  before  my  Father. — Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved." 

4.  To  self-denial — "  If  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off":  it  is  better 
to  enter  into  life  maimed,  than  having  two  hands  to  go  to  hell,  &c.  And 
if  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out :  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter 
Into  the  kingdom  of  God  with  one  eye,  than  having  two  eyes  to  be 
cast  into  hell  fire. — There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house  or  brethren, 
&c.  for  my  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundred-fold 
now,  and  in  the  world  to  come  eternal  life. — He  that  loseih  his  life  for 
my  sake  shall  find  it,  &c. — He  that  hnteth  his  life  in  this  world,  shall 
keep  it  unto  life  eternal." — And  our  Lord  supposes  that  by  ^^  gaining 
the  world"  a  man  may  "  lose  his  own  soul."  For,  according  to  the 
covenant  of  grace,  even  reprobates  are  not  totally  lost,  till  they  make 
themselves  sons  of  perdition,  like  Judas,  i.  e.  till  they  personally  and 
absolutely  lose  their  own  souls  and  heaven,  by  their  personal  and 
obstinate  pursuit  of  worldly  things. 

f}  To  diligent  labour  and  earnest  endeavours. — "  0  man  of  God,  lay 
hold  on  eternal  life. — Workout  your  own  salvation. — Labour  for  the 
meat  that  endureth  to  everlasting  life. — Keep  thy  heart  with  all  dili- 
gence, for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  Ufe. — In  so  doing  thou  shalt  save 
thyself — Narrow  is  the  gate  that  leads  to  life. — Strive  to  enter  in.— 
The  violent  press  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  take  it  by  force." 


A   SCRIPTURAL   ESSAY,  &C.  189 

6.  To  keeping  the  commandments. — "  Blessed  are  they  that  do  hig 
jcommandments,  &c.  that  they  may  enter  through  the  gates  into  the 
city,  (i.  e.  into  heaven.) — There  shall  in  nowise  enter  into  it  any  thing 
that  worketh  abomination. — If  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,^  keep  the 
commandments. — Thou  hast  answered  right :  This  do^  and  thou  shalt 
live. — There  is  one  Lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save  and  to  destroy  ;'* 
(some  of  whose  laws  run  thus  :)  '  Forgive,  and  ye  shall  be  forgiven. 
— Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy. — With  what 
judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall  he  judged. — For  he  shall  have  judgment 
without  mercy,  that  hath  showed  no  mercy. — Blessed  are  the  peace- 
makers, for  they  shall  he  called  the  children  of  God,"  (and  of  course, 
the  heirs  of  the  kingdom.) — "  The  King  shall  say  unto  them,  Come,  ye 
BLESSED  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you,  for  I 
was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  meat,  &c. — Whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it 
heartily,  as  to  the  Lord,  knowing  that  of  the  Lord  ye  shall  receive 
the  REWARD  of  the  inheritance  :  but  he  that  does  wrong,  shall  receive 
for  the  wrong  which  he  hath  done,  and  there  is  no  respect  of  per- 
sons.— Be  ye  therefore  followers  of  God  as  dear  children,  &c.  for 
this  ye  know,  that  no  whoremonger,  &c.  hath  any  inheritance  in  the 
kingdom  of  God. — The  works  of  the  fl|^h  are  manifest,  which  are 
these,  adultery,  &,c.  of  which  I  tell  you  (believers)  that  they  who 
do  such  things,  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 

7.  To  runnings  fighting,  faithfully  laying  up  treasure  in  heaven,  and 
feeding  the  flock  of  God, -^'■'-  They  who  run  in  a  race,  run  all ;  but  one 
receiveth  the  prize  :  So  run,  that  you  may  obtain.  Now  they  are 
temperate  in  all  things  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown;  but  we,  an  in- 
corruptible.  I  therefore  so  run— fight — and  bring  my  body  into  sub- 
jection, (that  1  may  obtain  :)  lest  I  myself  should  be  cast  away  ;"  i.  e. 
should  not  be  approved  of,  should  be  rejected,  and  lose  my  incor- 
ruptible crown. — '■'■Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life. — Lay  up  treasure  in  heaven. — Make  yourselves  friends  with  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that,  when  you  fail  on  earth,  they  may 
receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations. — Charge  them  who  are  rich, 
that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good  works,  laying  up  in  store 
for  themselves  a  good  foundation  against  the  time  to  come,  that  they 
may  lay  hold  on  eternal  life. — Peed  the  flock  of  God,  &c.  being  exam- 
ples to  the  flock,  and  when  the  chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  ye  shall 
receive  the  crown  of  glory,  that  fadeth  not  away." 

8.  To  love  and  charity. — "  Though  I  have  all  faith,  &c.  and  have  no 

*  See  the  excellent  comment  of  our  Church  upon  these  words  of  our  Lord,  Fourth  Check, 
Vol.  i. 


190         .'  EQUAL  CHECK.  PART  I. 

charity^  I  am  nothing. — She,  (the  woman)  shall  be  saved,  &c.  if 
they  (womankind)  continue  in  faith  and  charity. — Whosoever  hateih 
his  brother  hath  not  eternal  life, — He  that  loveth  not  his  brother  abi- 
deth  in  death. — We  know  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  because 
we  love  the  brethren. — If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus,  let  him 
be  anathema. — The  crown  of  life,  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to 
them  that  love  him." 

9.  To  a  godly  walk.  *'  There  is  no  condemnation  to  them,  &;c. 
that  walk  not  after  the  flesh.— As  many  as  walk  according  to  this  rule, 
mercy  (be,  or  will  be)  on  them. — If  we  walk  in  the  light  {of  good 
works,  Matt.  v.  15.)  the  blood  ot  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.— 
The  Lord  will  give  grace  and  glory,  and  no  good  thing  will  he  with- 
hold from  them  that  walk  uprightly — Many  {fallen  believers)  walk, 
kc.  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  whose  end  is  destruction." 

10.  To  persevering  watchfulness,  prayer,  kc.  "  He  that  endureih  unto 
the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved. — Be  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will 
give  thee  the  ci-ozvn  of  life. — Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth  tempta- 
tion, for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive  the  crown  of  life. — 
Because  thou  hast  kept^  the  word  of  my  patience,  I  will  also  keep 
thee,  &c. — To  him  that  ov^rcometh,  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  7ny 
throne. -^To  him  that  keepeth  my  words  unto  the  end,  &lc.  will  I  give 
the  morning  star.— Take  heed  to  yourselves,  &c.  zmtch  and  pray 
always,  that  ye.  may  be  counted  worthy  to  escape,  &c.  and  to  stand 
before  the  Son  of  man."     In  a  word, 

11.  To  patient  continuance  in  mortifying  the  deeds  of  the  body,  and  in 
well-doing. — "If  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die  ;  but  if  ye  through 
the  Spirit  mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live. — For  he  that 
soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  perdition ;  but  he  that 
soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  everlasting.  And  let 
us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing,  for  in  due  season  we  shall  reap  (not, 
if  we  faint  or  not,  but)  if  we  faint  not. — He  that  reapeth  receiveth 
wages,  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life  eternal. — Ye  have  your  fruit  unto 
holiness,  and  the  end  everlasting  life." — God,  at  the  revelation  of  his 
righteous  judgment,  "  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds  ; 
eternal  life  to  them,  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek 
for  glory. — Anguish  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  does  evil,  &,c.  but 
glory  to  every  man  that  worketh  good,  &:c.  for  there  is  no  respect  of 
persons  with  God." 

Is  it  not  astonishing,  that,  in  sight  of  so  many  plain  scriptures,  the 
Sohfidians  should  still  ridicule  the  passport  of  good  works,  and  give 
it  to  the  winds  as  a  *'  paper-kite  ?"  However,  if  the  preceding  texts 


A    SCRIPTURAL   ESSA\^;  191 

do  not  appear  sufficient,  I  can  send  another  rolley  of  Gospel  truths, 
to  show  that  the  initial  salvation  of  believers  themselves  may  be  lost 
through  bad  works. 

*"  I  know  thy  works,  kc.  so  then  because  thou  art  lukevirarm  I  will 
spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth. — What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  though 
a  man  (r/$,  any  one,  and  two  verses  below,  any  one  of  you,  James 
ii.  14,  16.)  '  say  he  hath  faith,  and  hath  not  works  (now?)  can 
faith  save  him?  &c.  Faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead,  being  alone. 
— ^jrrudge  not  one  against  another,  brethren,  lest  ye  be  condemned^ 
(in  the  original  it  is  the  same  word  which  is  rendered  damned,  Mark 
xvi.  16.) — '  If  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him  :  if  tie  (believ- 
ers) deny  him,  he  will  also  deny  us. — Add  to  your  faith  virtue,  &c. 
charity,  &c.  if  ye  do  these  things  ye  shall  never  fall,  for  so  an 
ENTRANCE  shall  be  ministered  unto  you  abundantly  into  the  everlasU 
ing  kingdom  of  our  Lord. — It  had  been  better  for  them,  that  have 
escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world  through  the  knowledge  of  our 
Saviour,  (i.  e.  for  believers)  not  to  have  known  the  way  of  righte- 
ousness, than  after  they  have  known  it,  to  turn  from  the  holy  com- 
mandment delivered  unto  them. — Every  tree,  that  bringeth  not  forth 
good  fruit  is  cut  down,  and  cast  into  ihe  fire. — Every  branch  in  met, 
that  beareth  not  fruit,  my  Father  taketh  away.  Abide  in  me,  kc.  If 
a  man  abide  not  in  me  (by  keeping  my  commandments  in  faith)  he  is 
cast  forth  as  a  branch,  and  is  withered  ;  and  (he  shall  share  the  fate 
of  the  branches  that  have  really  belonged  to  the  natural  vine,  and  now 
bear  no  more  fruit)  men  gather  them,  and  cast  them  into  the  fire, 
and  they  are  burned." — The  fig-tree  in  the  Lord's  moral  vineyard  is 
cut  down,  for  7iot  hearing  fruit. — "  Him  that  sinneth  I  ivill  blot  out 
of  my  book. — Some,  having  put  away  a  good  conscience,  concerning 
faith  have  made  shipwreck. — Such  as  turn  back  to  their  own  wicked- 
ness, the  Lord  shall  lead  them  forth  with  the  evil  doers. — Towards 
thee,  goodness,  if  (by  continuing  in  obedience)  thou  continue  in  his 
goodness,  otherwise  thou  shalt  be  cut  o^." 

Again,  "  For  the  wickedness  of  their  doings,  I  will  drive  them  out 
of  my  house,  I  will  love  them  no  more. — Some  are  already  turned 
aside  after  Satan  : — having  damnation,  because  they  have  cast  o^  their 
first  faith  ; — the  faith  that  works  by  love  ;  the  mystery  of  faith  kept 
in  ^  "pure  cfmscience ; — the  faith  unfeigned  (that  the  apostle  couples 
with)  a  good  conscience ; — the  faith  that  is  made  perfect  by  works  ;'^ 
— the  faith  that  cries  like  Rachel,  Give  me  children,  give  me  good 
works,  or  else  I  die; — the  faith  that  faints  without  obedience,  and 
actually  dies  by  bad  works  ;    the   following  scriptures  abundantly 


192  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    i 

proving  that  faith,  and  consequently  the  just  who  live  by  faith,  may 
die  by  bad  works. 

"  When  a  righteous  man*  doth  ^Mrn,  from  his  righteousness,  and 
commit  iniquity,  &c.  he  shall  die  in  his  sin,  and  his  righteousness, 
which  he  has  done,  shall  not  be  remembered."  Ezek.  iii.  20. — 
Again,  "  When  the  righteous,  &c.  does  according  to  all  the  abomina' 
tions  that  the  wicked  man  does,  shall  he  live  ?  All  his  righteousness 
that  he  has  done,  shall  not  be  mentioned  :  in  his  trespass  that  he  hath 
trespassed,  and  in  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  in  them  shall  he  die.**' 
Ezek.  xviii.  24.— -Once  more  :  "  The  righteousness  of  the  righteous 
shall  not  deliver  him  in  the  day  of  his  transgression,  &lc.  When  I  say 
to  the  righteous  that  he  shall  surely  tive  ;t  if  he  trust  to  his  righteous- 
ness, and  commit  iniquity,  he  shall  die  for  it.'*     Ezek.  xxxiii.  13. 

It  seems  that  God,  foreseeing  the  Solifidians  would  be  hard  of 
belief,  notwithstanding  the  great  ado  they  make  about  faith,  conde- 
scended to  their  infirmity,  and  kindly  spoke  the  same  thing  over  and 
over  ;  for,  setting  again  the  broad  seal  of  heaven  to  the  troth  that 
chiefly  guards  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  he  says  for  the  fourth  time, 
**  When  the  righteous  turneth  from  his  righteousness,  and  committeth 
iniquity,  he  shall  even  die  thereby :  But  if  the  wicked  turn  from  his 
wickedness,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  live 
thereby.'^''     Ezek.  xxxiii.  18,  19. 

If  Ezekiel  be  not  allowed  to  be  a  competent  judge,  let  Christ  him- 
self be  heard  :  "  Then  his  Lord  said  unto  him  :  O  thou  wicked  ser- 
vant, I  forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  &c.     Shouldest  not  thou  also  have 


*  That  this  Is  spoken  of  a  truly  righteous  man,  i.  e.  of  a  believer,  appears  from  the  fol- 
lowing reasons  :  1.  The  righteous  here  mentioned,  is  opposed  to  \he  wicked  mentioned  in 
the  context ;  as  surely  then  as  the  word  wicked  means  ihert  one  really  wicked,  so  does  the 
word  righteous  mean  here  one  truly  righteous.  2.  The  righteous  man's  turning  fi-om 
his  righteousness,  is  opposed  to  the  wicked  man's  turning  from  his  iniquity.  If  therefore  the 
righteous  man's  righteousness  is  to  be  understood  o( feigned  goodness,  so  the  w^icked  man's 
iniquity  must  be  understood  oi  feigned  iniquity.  3.  The  crime  of  the  righteous  man  here 
spoken  of  is  turning  from  his  righteousness :  but  if  his  righteousness  were  only  a  h3'po- 
critical  righteousness,  he  would  rather  deserve  to  be  commended  for  renouncing  it ;  a 
wicked,  sly  Pharisee,  being  more  odious  to  God  than  a  barefaced  sinner,  who  has  honesty 
enough  not  to  put  on  the  mask  of  religion,  Rev.  iii.  15.  4.  Part  of  this  apostate's /JwnzsA- 
vwnt  will  consist  in  not  having  the  righteousness  thai  he  has  done  remembered:  but  if  his 
righteousness  is  a  false  righteousness,  or  mere  hypocrisy,  the  divine  threatening  proves  a 
precious /»romi5C  /  for  you  cannot  please  a  hypocrite  better,  than  by  assuring  him,  that  his 
hypocrisy  shall  never  be  remembered.  What  a  pity  is  it,  that  to  defend  our  mistakes  we 
should  fix  egregious  nonsense,  and  gross  contradiction  upon  the  only  wise  God ! 

t  These  words  are  another  indubitable  proof,  that  f)ie  righteous  here  mentioned  is  a 
truly  righteous  person;  as  the  holj  and  true  God  would  never  say  to  a  wicked  Pharisee, 
that  he  sHaU  surely  live. 


A    SCRIPTURAL   ESSAY,   <fcc.  193 

had  compassion  on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  ? 
And  his  Lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the  tormentors.''^ 
Matt,  xviii.  26,  &c. 

All  the  preceding  scriptures  are  thus  summed  up  by  our  Lord, 
Matt.  XXV.  46.  These  (the  persons  who  have  not  finally  done  the 
works  of  faith)  shall  go. into  everlasting  punishment ;  but  the  righteous 
(those  who  have  done  them  to  the  end,  at  least  from  the  time  of 
their  reconversion,  if  they  were  backsliders)  shall  go  into  eternal  life. 
This  doctrine  agrees  perfectly  with  the  conclusion  of  the  sermon  on 
the  mount :  Whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  miney  and  doth 
THEM  ;  1  will  liken  him  to  a  wise  man,  who  built  his  house  upon  a  rock  : 
and  every  one  that  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doth  theji 
NOT,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man,  who  built  his  house  upon  the 
sand. — Nay,  this  is  Christ's  explicit  doctrine.  No  words  can  be 
plainer  than  these  :  They  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  his  voice, 
and  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
LIFE  ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  con- 
demnation, John  V.  29.  All  creeds,  therefore,  like  that  of  St. 
Athanasius,  and  all  faith,  must  end  in  practice.  This  is  a  grand  arti- 
cle of  what  might,  with  peculiar  propriety,  be  called  the  catholic 
faith — the  faith  that  is  common  to,  and  essential  under,  all  the  dispen- 
sations of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  in  all  countries  and  ages — "  the 
faith  which,  except  a  man  believe  faithfully,^''  i.  e.  so  as  to  work 
righteousness  like  the  good  and  faithful  servant,  "  he  cannot  be  saved.'' 

PART  SECOND. 

AS  some  difficulties  probably  rise  in  the  reader's  mind  against  the 
preceding  doctrine,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  produce  them  in  the  form 
of  objections,  and  to  answer  them  more  fully  than  I  have  yet  done. 

L  Objection.  "  All  the  Scriptures,  that  you  have  produced,  are 
nothing  but  descriptions  of  those  who  shall  be  saved  or  damned. 
You  have  therefore  no  ground  to  infer  from  such  texts,  that  io  the 
great  day  our  works  orf  faith  shall  be  rewarded  with  an  eternal  life  of 
glory,  and  our  bad  works  punished  with  eternal  death." 

ANSWER.  Of  all  the  paradoxes  advanced  by  mistaken  divines, 
your  assertion  is  perliaps  the  greatest.  You  have  no  more  ground 
for  it,  than  I  have  for  saying,  that  England  is  a  lawless  kingdom,  and 
that  all  the  promises  of  rewards,  and  threatenings  of  punishments, 
stamped  with  the  authority  of  the  legislative  power,  are  no  legal 
sanctions.  If  I  seriously  maintained,  that  the  bestowing  of  public 
bounties  upon  the  inventors  of  useful  arts  ; — that  the  discharge  of 

Vol.  n.  2» 


1^4  EQUAL  CHECKr  PART  I. 

some  prisoners,  and  the  condemnation  of  others,  according  to  the 
statutes  of  the  realm,  are  things  which  take  place  \vithout  any  respect 

to  law  ; that  the  acts  of  parliament  are  mere  descriptions  of  persons, 

which  the  government  rewards,  acquits,  or  punishes  without  any 
respect  to  worthiness,  innocence,  or  demerit — and  that  the  judges 
absolve  or  condemn  criminals  merely  out  of  free  grace  and  free 
wrath : — if  I  maintained  a  paradox  so  dishonourable  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  so  contrary  to  common  sense,  would  you  not  be  astonished  ? 
And  if  I  gave  the  name  of  Papist  to  all  that  did  not  receive  my  error 
as  Gospel,  would  you  not  recommend  me  to  a  dose  of  Dr.  Monro's 
hellebore  ? — And  are  they  much  wiser,  who  fix  the  foul  blot  upon 
the  divine  government,  and  make  the  Protestants  believe,  that  the 
sanctions  of  the  K'tng  oi  kings,  and  the  judicial  dictates  of  Him  who 
judges  the  world  in  righteousness,  are  not  laws  and  sentences,  but 
representations  and  descriptions  ? 

A  comparison  will  show  the  frivolousness  of  your  objection 
There  is,  if  I  mistake  not,  a  statute  that  condemns  a  highwayman 
to  be  hanged,  and  allows  a  reward  of  forty  pounds  to  the  person  that 
tcke«  him.  A  counsellor  observes,  that  this  statute  was  undoubtedly 
made  to  deter  people  from  going  upon  the  highway,  and  to  encourage 
the  taking  of  robber&.  **  Not  so,"  says  a  lawyer  from  Geneva  ; 
"  though  robbers  are  hanged  ac^rdirig  to  law,  yet  the  men  that  take 
them  are  not  legally  rewarded  ;  the  sum  mentioned  in  the  statute  i& 
given  them  of  free,  gratuitous,  undeserved,  unmerited,  distinguishing 
grace." — Nay,  says  the  counsellor,  if  they  do  not  deserve  the  forty 
pounds  more  than  other  people,  that  sum  might  as  well  be  bestowed 
•upon  the  highwaymen  themselves,  as  upon  those  who  take  them  at 
the  hazard  of  their  life. — '*  And  so  it  might,"  says  the  Geneva 
lawyer :  "for  although  poor,  blind  legalists  make  people  believe, 
that  the  promissory  part  of  the  law  was  made  to  excite  people  to 
exert  themselves  in  the  taking  of  robbers  ;  yet  we  know  better  at 
Geneva  ;  and  I  inform  you,  that  the  clause  you  speak  of  is  only  a 
description  of  certain  men,  for  whom  the  government  designs  the 
reward  of  forty  pounds  gratis.''^  The  admirers  of  Geneva  logic 
clap  their  hands,  and  cry  out,  "  Well  said !  down  with  legality  T^  but 
an  English  jury  smiles,  and  cries,  "  Down  with  absurdity!'''  See 
Fourth  Check,  Vol,  i.  p.  344. 

II.  Obj.  •*  You  confound  our  title  to,  with  our  mcetness  for,  heaven, 
two  things  which  we  carefully  distinguish.  Our  title  to  heaven  being 
solely  what  Christ  has  done  and  suffered  for  his  people,  has  nothing 
to  do  with  either  our  holiness  or  good  works  :  but,  our  meetness  for 
heaven  supposes  holiness,  if  not  good  works.     Therefore,  God'^ 


A   SCKIPTURAL   ESSAY,  &:C.  !  96 

'anconvsrted  sinful  people,  who  have  in  Christ  a  complete  title  to 
heaven  by  right  of  ^finished  salvation^  shall  all  be  made  meet  for 
heaven  in  the  day  of  his  power." 

Ans.  1.  I  understand  you,  and  so  does  Mr.  Fulsome.  You  insi- 
nuate that,  till  THE  DAY  you  speak  of  comes,  unconverted  sinners 
and  backsliders  may  iiadulge  themselves,  like  the  servant  mentioned  in 
the  Gospel,  who  said,  My  master  delay eth  his  coming,  and  began  to 
drink  "with  the  drunken;  but  alas  !  instead  of  "  a  day  of  power,"  he 
«aw  a  day  of  vengeance,  and  his  ^^  finished  salvation,^^  so  called,  ended 
in  weeping,  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

2.  Your  distinction  is  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  which  represent 
ALL  impenitent  workers  of  iniquity  as  having  a  full  title  to  hell  accord- 
ing to  both  law  and  Gospel ;  so  far  are  the  oracles  of  God  from  sup- 
posing, that  some  workers  of  iniquity  have  a  full  title  to  heaven,  abso- 
lutely independent  on  the  obedience  of  faith. 

3.  It  is  contrary  to  reason;  for  reason  dictates  that  whosoever  has 
a  full  TITLE  to  a  punishment,  or  to  a  rezeard,  is  fully  meet  for  it. 
Where  is  the  difference  between  saying,  that  a  murderer  is  fully  meet 
for^  or  that  he  has  a  full  title  to,  the  gallows  ?  If  a  palace  richly  fur- 
nished was  bestowed  upon  the  most  righteous  man  in  the  kingdom, 
and  you  were  the  person  ;  would  it  not  be  absurd  to  distinguish 
between  your  title  to,  and  your  meetness  for,  that  recompense  ?  Or,  if 
the  king,  in  consequence  of  a  valuable  consideration  received  from 
the  prince,  had  promised  a  coronet  to  every  swift  runner  in  England, 
next  to  the  prince's  interposition  and  his  majesty's  promise,  would 
not  your  running  well  be  at  once  your  title  to,  and  meetness  for,  that 
honour?  And  is  not  this  the  case,  with  respect  to  the  incorruptible 
crowns  reserved  in  heaven  for  those,  who  so  run  that  they  may 
obtain  ? 

4.  Your  distinction  draws  after  it  the  most  horrid  consequences : 
for  if  a  full  title  to  heaven  may  be  separated  from  a  meetness  for  the 
loxvest  place  in  heaven,  it  necessarily  follows,  that  Solomon  had  a 

full  title  to  heaven  when  he  worshipped  Ashtaroth  ;  and  the  incestu- 
ous Corinthian,  when  he  defiled  his  father's  bed  ;  in  flat  opposition  to 
the  dictates  of  every  man's  conscience  (If  you  except  Mr.  Fulsome 
and  his  fraternity.)  It  follows,  that  St.  Paul  told  a  gross  untruth,  when 
he  said,  Tfiis  ye  know,  that  no  idolater,  and  no  unclean  person,  hath 
ANY  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God. — In  a  word,  it 
follows,  that  believers,  sanctified  with  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  who 
draw  back  to  perdition,  (such  as  the  Apostates,  mentioned  Heb.  x.  29.) 
may  have  no  title  to  heaven  in  all  their  sanctifying  faith  ;  while  some 


196  EQHAL    CHECK.  fART    I, 

impenitent  murderers,  like  David  and  Manasses,  have  a  perfect  title 
to  it  in  all  their  crimes  and  unbelief. 

5.  This  is  not  all  :  Our  Lord's  mark,  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them,  is  absolutely  wrong  if  you  are  right :  for  your  distinction 
abolishes  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  children  of  God,  and  those 
of  the  devil,  which  consists  in  not  committing  or  committing  iniquity^ 
in  doing  or  not  doing  righteousness,  according  to  these  plain  words  of 
St.  John,  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil — in  this  the  children  of 
God  are  manifest,  and  the  children  of  the  devil :  m^hosoever  does  not 
righteousness,  is  not  of  God,  neither  he  that  loveth  not  (much  less  he 
that  murders)  his  brother,  1  John  iii.  8,  10. — Thus  the  Lord's  sacred 
enclosure  is  broken  down,  his  sheepfold  becomes  a  fold  for  goats,  a 
dog  kennel,  a  swine-sty. — Nay,  for  what  you  know,  all  bloody  adulter- 
ers may  be  sheep  in  woltes'  clothing ;  while  all  those  that  have  escaped 
the  pollution  that  is  in  the  world,  may  only  be  wolves  in  sheep's  cloth- 
ing;  it  mattering  not,  with  regard  to  the  goodness  of  our  title  to  hea- 
ven, whether  fllthiness  to  Belial,  or  holiness  to  the  Lord,  be  written 
upon  our  foreheads.  O  Sir,  how  much  more  dangerous  is  your 
scheme  than  that  of  the  primitive  Babel-bnilders!  They  only  brought 
on  a  confusion  of  the  original  language  ;  but  your  doctrine  confounds 
light  and  darkness,  promises  and  threatenings,  the  heirs  of  heaven  and 
those  of  hell,  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  that  of  the  serpent. 

6.  As  to  your  intimation,  that  holiness  is  secured  by  teaching,  that 
God's  people  shall  absolutely  be  made  willing  to  forsake  their  sins, 
and  to  become  righteous  in  the  day  of  God's  power,  that  so  they 
may  have  a  meetness  for,  as  well  as  a  title  to,  heaven  ;  it  drags  after  it 
this  horrid  consequence  :  The  devil's  people,  "  in  the  day  of  God's 
power,"  SHALL  absolutely  be  made  willing  to  forsake  their  righteous- 
ness, that  they  may  have  a  meetness  for,  as  well  as  a  title  to,  hell :  a 
bitter  reverse  this  of  your  "  sweet  Gospel  /" 

To  conclude :  If  by  your  distinction  you  only  want  to  insinuate, 
that  Christ  is  the  grand,  and  properly  meritorious  procurer  of  our 
salvation,  from  first  to  last ;  and  that  the  works  of  fafth  are  only  a 
secondary,  instrumental,  evidencing  cause  of  our  final  salvation,  you 
mean  just  as  I  do.  But  if  you  give  the  world  to  understand,  that 
election  to  eternal  glory  is  unconditional,  or,  which  comes  all  to  one, 
that  NO  SIN  can  invalidate  our  title  to  heaven ;  from  the  preceding 
observations  it  appears,  that  you  deceive  the  simple,  make  Christ  the 
minister  of  sin,  and  inadvertently  poison  the  church  with  the  rankest 
Antinomianism. 

HI.  Obj.  "  You  caU  the  works  of  Christ  the  primary  and  properly 
meritorious  cause,  and  our  works  of  faith  the  secondary  and  instru- 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,   &C.  197 

mental  cause  of  our  eternal  salvation.  But,  according  te  your  doc- 
trine, our  works  should  be  called  the  Jlrst  cause,  and  Chrisfs  work 
the  second :  for  you  make  the  final  success  of  ChrisVs  work,  to  de- 
pend upon  our  work  ;  which  is  manifestly  setting  our  performances 
above  those  of  the  Redeemer." 

Ans.  1.  When  a  gardener  affirms,  that  he  shall  have  no  crop 
unless  he  dig  and  set  his  garden,  does  he  manifestly  set  his  work 
above  that  of  the  God  of  nature  ?  And  when  we  say,  that  *'  we  shall 
not  re^^itial  salvation,  if  we  do  not  work  out  our  salvation,"  do  we 
exalt  ourselves  above  the  God  of  grace  ? 

2.  Whether  our  free  agency  turns  the  scale  for  life  or  death  to  all 
eternity,  Christ  shall  have  the  honour  of  having  died  to  bestow  an 
initial  life  of  grace  even  upon  those  who  choose  death  in  the  error 
of  their  ways,  and  to  have  made  them  gracious  and  sincere  offers  of  an 
eternal  life  of  glory.  In  this  sense,  then,  Christ's  work  cannot  be 
rendered  ineffectual ;  it  being  his  absolute  decree,  that  the  word  of 
his  grace  shall  be  the  savour  of  life  to  obedient  free  agents^  and  the 
savour  of  death  to  the  disobedient.  Therefore,  if  we  will  not  have 
the  eternal  benefit  of  his  redeeming  work,  we  cannot  take  from  him 
the  eternal  honour  of  having  shed  his  blood  even  for  those  who 
tread  it  under  foot,  and  who  bring  upon  themselves  swift  destruction 
by  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them. 

3.  Christ  is  not  dishonoured  by  the  doctrine,  that  represents  the 
effect  of  the  greater  wheel,  as  being  thus  in  part  suspended  upon  the 
turning  of  the  less.  The  light  of  the  sun  shines  in  vain  for  me,  if  I 
shut  my  eyes.  Life  is  a  far  nobler  gift  than /ooc?;  1  can  give  my 
starving  neighbour  bread,  but  I  cannot  give  him  life  :  nevertheless, 
the  higher  wheel  stops,  if  the  inferior  is  quite  at  a  stand :  he  must 
die  if  he  has  no  nourishment.  Thus,  by  God's  appointment,  the 
preservation  of  all  the  first-born  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  depended 
upon  the  sprinkling  of  a  lamb's  blood  ;  the  life  of  all  them  that  were 
bitten  by  the  fiery  serpents,  was  suspended  on  a  look  towards  the 
brazen  serpent ;  and  that  of  Rahab  and  her  friends  hung,  if  I  may 
so  speak,  on  a  scarlet  thread. — Now,  if  God  did  not  dishonour  his 
wisdom,  when  he  made  the  life  of  so  many  people  to  depend  upon 
those  seemingly  insignificant  works;  and  if  he  continues  to  mak«  the 
life  of  all  mankind  depend  upon  breathing;  is  it  reasonable  to  say, 
that  he  is  dishonoured  by  his  own  doctrine,  which  suspends  our 
eternal  salvation  upon  the  works  of  faith  ? 

4.  Your  objection  can  be  retorted.  Most  Calvinists  grant,  that  our 
justification  in  the  day  of  conversion  depends  upon  believing.  Thus 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Madan,  in  his  sermon  on  James  ii.   24,  p.   18.  says, 


1  98  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    !* 

**  Though  the  J.oril  Jesus  has  merited  our  justification  before  Godj 
yet  we  are  not  actually  justified,  till  he  be  received  into  the  heart  by 
faith,  and  rested  on,''  Szc.  Therefore,  in  the  day  of  conversion,  that 
great  minister  being  judge,  omv  justification  is  suspended  on  the  work 
which  he  calls  "  receiving  Christy^^  or  "  resting  on  him.^^  And  ho^v 
much  more  may  our  eternal  salvation  he.  suspended  on  faith  and 
works,  i.  e.  on  resting  upon  Qhriit,  and  working  righteousness ! 

5\  This  is  not  all:  both  Mr.  Madan  and  Mr.  Hill  call  faith  the 
instrumental  cause  of  our  justification,  and  every  body  kno^s  that 
the  effect  is  always  suspended  on  the  cause  :  now,  if  so  great  an 
effect  as  a  sinner's  present  justification  may  be  suspended  upon  the 
3i7tgle  CAVSE  of  faith,  why  may  not  a  believer's  eternal  justification 
be  suspended  upon  the  double  cause  of  faith  and  its  works?  In  a 
word,  why  must  Mr.  Wesley  be  represented  as  heterodox  for 
insinuating,  that  believing  and  workings  instrumentally  cause  our  eter- 
nal justification ;  when  Mr.  Madan  wears  the  badge  of  orthodoxy, 
although  he  insinuates,  that  believing  instrumentally  causes  oiir 
justification  ? 

If  Mr.  Madan  say,  that  he  allows  faith  to  be  an  instrumental  cause, 
on  account  of  its  being  the  gift  of  God  by  which  we  receive  Christ; 
I  answer,  that  we  allow  the  work  of  faith  to  be  an  instrumental  cause, 
because  it  springs  from  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  constitutes  our  like- 
ness to  Christ,  and  our  evangelical  righteousness ;  a  righteousness 
this,  which  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  promote.  For  God  sending 
his  Son,  ^c.  condemned  sin  in  the  fiesh,  that  the  Hghteousness  of  the 
law  might  be  fulfilled  in  its,  who  walk  not  after  the  fiesh,  but  after  the 
Spirit;  i.  e.  who  walk  in  good  zvorks. — If  it  is  asserted,  that  there 
ean  be  but  one  instrumental  cause  of  our  salvation,  that  is,  faith;  I 
appeal  to  reason,  which  dictates  that  Christian  faith  implies  a  variety 
of  causes,  such  as  preaching  Christ,  and  hearing  him  preached  :  for 
faith  Comes  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God.  This  argu- 
ment, therefore,  carries  its  own  answer  along  with  it. 

6.  To  conclude  :  Mr.  Madan,  in  the  above-quoted  sermon,  p.  16, 
says  with  great  truth  ;  "  Christ  and  faith  are  not  one  and  the  same 
thing ;  how  then  can  we  reconcile  the  apostle  with  himself,  when  he 
says  in  one  place,  We  arc  justified  by  Christ;  and  in  another,  we  are 
justified  by  faith?  This  can  only  be  done  by  having  recourse  to  the 
plain  distinction,  which  the  Scriptures  afford  us,  in  considering  Christ 
as  the  meritorious  cause,  and  faith  as  the  instrumental  cause,  or  that  by 
which  the  meritorious  cause  is  applied  unto  us,  so  that  we  are  benefited 
thereby." — Now  all  our  heresy  consists  in  applying  Mr.  M.'s  judi- 
cious reasoning  to  a^Z  the  scriptures,  that  guard  the  second  Gospel 


A   SCRIPTURAL   ESSAY,  (SiC.  '  109? 

axiom,  thus  :  "  How  can  we  reconcile  the  apostle  with  himself,  when 
he  says  in  one  place,  JVe  are  saved  by  Christ  ^Qnd  in  other  places,  We 
are  saved  by  faith,  we  are  saved  by  hope — Work  out  your  orvn  salvation 
— Confession  is  made  to  salvation,  &c.  for  Christ  and  faith,  Christ  and 
hope,  Christ  and  xn'orks,  Christ  and  making  confession^  are  not  one  and 
the  same  thing?  This  seeming  inconsistency  in  St.  Paul's  doctrine 
vanishes  by  admitting  a  plain  distinction,  which  the  Scriptures  afford 
us  :  that  is,  1.  By  considering  '■Christ,  from  first  to  last,  as  the  pro- 
perly meritorious  cause  of  our  present  and  eternal  salvation  :  2.  By 
considering  faith  as  the  instrumental  cause  of  our  salvation  from  the 
guilt  and  pollution  of  sin  on  earth  :  And  3.  by  considering  the  works 
of  faith,  not  only  as  the  evidencing  cause  of  our  justification  in  thr, 
great  day,  but  also  as  an  instrumental  cause  of  our  continuing  in  the 
life  of  lt\ith  ;  just  as  eating,  drinking,  breathing,  and  such  works,  that 
spring  from  natural  life,  are  instrumental  causes  of  our  continuing  in 
natural  life."  Thus  faith,  and  its  works,  are  two  inferior  causes, 
whereby  the  properly  meritorious  cause  is  so  completely  applied 
to  obedient,  persevering  believers,  that  they  are  now,  and  for  ever 
shall  be,  benefited  by  it.  As  I  flatter  myself  that  this  sixfold  answer 
satisfies  the  candid  reader,  I  pass  on  to  another  plausible  objec- 
tion. 

IV.  Obj.  *'  Though  you  assert,  that,  from  first  to  last,  the  works 
and  sufferings  of  Christ  are  the  grand,  and  properly  meritorious  cause. 
of  our  salvation ;  yet,  according  to  your  scheme,  man  having  a  life 
of  glory  upon  his  choice,  and  heaven  upon  working  out  his  salvation, 
the  honour  o{  free  grace  is  not  secured.  For,  after  all,  free  will  and 
humJan  faithfulness,  or  unfaithfulness,  turn  the  scale  for  eternal  salva- 
tion or  damnation.'* 

Ans.  1.  In  the  very  nature  of  things  we  are  free  agents,  or  the 
wise  and  righteous  God  would  act  inconsistently  with  his  wisdom  and 
equity  in  dispensing  rewards  and  punishments.  If,  through  the  saving 
grace  of  God,  which  has  appeared  to  all  men,  we  were  not  again 
endued  with  an  awful  power  to  choose  life,  and  to  be  faithful,  it  would 
be  as  injudicious  to  punish  or  recompense  mankind,  as  to  whip  a  dead 
horse  for  not  moving,  condemn  fire  for  burning,  or  grant  water  an 
eternal  reward  for  its  fluidity.  2.  Were  I  ashamed  of  my  moral  free 
agency,  I  should  be  ashamed  of  the  noble  power  that  distinguishes- 
me  from  the  brute  creation. — I  should  be  ashamed  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  of  Moses,  who  says  :  Behold,  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to 
record,  that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  blessing  and  cursing, 
therefore  choose  life. — I  should  be  ashamed  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  of  Christ,  who  complains,  You  will  not  come  unto  me  that  you. 


200  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  V 

might  have  life^  i.  e.  You  will  not  use  the  power,  which  my  prevent-; 
ing  grace  has  given  you,  that  you  might  live  here  a  life  of  faith  and 
holiness,  and  be  hereafter  rewarded  with  a  life  of  happiness  and  glory. 
■ — In  a  word,  I  should  give  up  the  second  Gospel  axiom,  and  tacitly 
reproach  my  Maker,  who  says  ;  Why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ? 
for  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth ;  wherefore  turn 
yourselves,  and  live  ye, 

3.  To  convince  you,  that  free  agency,  and  a  right  use  of  it,  are  by 
no  means  inconsistent  with  divine  grate  and  genuine  humility,  I  ask, 
Did  not  God  endue  our  tirst  parents  with  free  will?  Are  not  even 
some  rigid  Calvinists  ashamed  to  deny  it?  U free  will  in  man  is  a 
power  dishonourable  to  God,  did  not  our  wise  Creator  mistake  when 
he  pronounced  man  very  good,  at  the  very  time  man  was  a  free 
wilier?  For,  how  could  man  be  very  good,  if  he  had  within  him  a 
power  that  necessarily  militates  against  the  honour  of  God,  as  the 
Calvinists  insinuate  free  will  does  ? 

4.  I  go  one  step  farther,  and  ask,  Did  God  ever  endue  one  child  of 
Adam  with  power  to  avoid  one  sin  ? — If  you  say,  No  :  you  contradict 
the  Scriptures,  your  own  conscience,  and  the  consciences  of  all  man- 
kind :  you  fix  the  blot  of  folly  on  all  the  judges,  who  have  judicially 
punished  malefactors  with  death  ;  and,  when  you  insinuate,  that  the 
Lawgiver  of  the  universe  will  send  all  workers  of  iniquity  personally 
into  hell,  for  not  doing  what  is  lawful  and  right  to  save  their  souls,  alive  ; 
or  for  not  avoiding  sin,  when  he  never  gave  them  the  least  power  per- 
sonally so  to  do  ;  you  pour  almost  as  much  contempt  upon  bis  perfjc- 
tions  as  if  you  hinted,  that  he  will  one  day  raise  all  creeping  insects, 
to  judge  them  according  to  their  steps,  and  to  cast  into  a  place  of  tor- 
ment as  many  as  did  not  move  as  swiftly  as  a  race-horse. 

If  you  answer  in  the  affirmative,  and  grant,  that  God  has  graciously 
endued  one  child  of  Adam  with  power  to  avoid  ojie  sin,  so  far  you  hold 
free  will  as  well  as  Moses  and  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if  God  has  bestowed 
free  will  upon  owe  child  of  Adam  with  respect  to  the  avoiding  of  owe 
sin  ;  why  not  upon  two,  with  respect  to  the  avoiding  of  two  sins  ? 
Why  not  upon  all,  with  respect  to  the  avoiding  of  all  the  sins,  that 
are  incompatible  with  the  obedience  of  faith  ? 

5.  Again,  as  it  would  be  absurd  to  say,  that  God  gave  a  power  to 
avoid  one  sin,  only  to  one  child  of  Adam':  so  it  would  be  impious  to 
suppose,  God  gave  him  this  power,  that,  in  case  he  futhfuUy  used  it, 
he  should  necessarily  boast  of  it.  Pharisaic  boasting  is  then  by  no 
means  the  necessary  consequence  of  our  moral  liberty,  or  of  a  proper 
use  of  OUT  free  will.  Thus  it  appears,  that  your  specious  objection  is 
founded  upon  a  heap  of  paradoxes;  and  that  to  embrace /rce  wrath 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,    &€.  201 

lest  we  should  not  make  enough  oi  free  gracCy  and  to  jump  inio  fatal- 
ism lest  we  should  be  proud  of  our  free  will,  is  not  less  absurd  than 
to  prostrate  ourselves  before  a  traitor,  lest  we  should  not  honour  the 
king,  and  to  run  to  a  house  of  ill  fame,  lest  we  should  be  prond  of 
our  chastity. 

6.  Onr  doctrine  secures  the  honour  of  free  grace  as  well  as  Calvin- 
ism. You  will  be  convinced  of  it,  if  you  consider  the  following  ar- 
ticles of  our  creed  with  respect  to  free  grace.  1.  Before  the  fall,  the 
free  gtace  of  our  Creator  gave  us  in  Adam  hoHness,  happiness,  and  a 
power  to  continue  in  both. — 2.  Since  the  fall,  the  free  grace  of  our 
Redeemer  indulges  us  with  a  reprieve,  an  accepted  time,  a  day  of 
visitation  and  salvation  ;  in  a  word,  with  a  better  covenant,  and  a /rcc 
gift  that  is  come  upon  all  men  unto  (initial)  justification  of  life,  Rom. 
V.  18. — 3.  That  nothing  may  be  wanting  on  God's  [)art,  the  free  grace  of 
our  Sanctifier  excites  us  to  make  a  proper  use  of  the  free  gift,  part  of 
which  is  moral  liberty. — 4.  Thus  even  our  free  "will  to  good  is  all  of 
creating,  redeeming,  and  sanctifying  grace  :  therefore,  with  regard  to 
that  glorious  povver,  as  well  as  to  every  other  talent,  we  humbly  ask 
with  St.  Paul,  What  hast  thou^  that  thou  hast  not  received  ? — 5.  This  is 
not  all  :  We  are  commanded  to  account  the  long-suffering  of  God  (a 
degree  of)  salvation  ;  and  so  it  is  :  for,  without  forcing,  or  neces- 
sarily inclining,  our  will,  God^s  providential  free  grace  disposes  a  thou- 
sand circumstances  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  second  the  calls  of  the 
everlasting  Gospel.  The  gracious  Preserver  of  men  works  daily  a 
thousand  wonders  to  keep  us  out  of  the  grave,  and  out  of  hell.  A 
thousand  wheels  have  turned  ten  thousand  times,  in  and  out  of  the 
church,  to  bring  us  the  purest  streams  of  Gospel  truth.  Countless 
breathings  of  the  Spirit  of  grace  add  virtue  to  those  streams  ;  free 
grace  therefore  not  only  prevents,  but  also  in  numberless  ways  accom- 
panies, follows,  directs,  encourages,  and  assists  us  in  all  the  work  of 
our  salvation. 

And  yet,  while  God  thus  works  in  us,  as  the  God  of  all  grace,  both 
to  wil^and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure;  that  is,  while  he  thus  gives 
us  the  faculty  to  will,  and  the  power  to  do  ;  and  while  he  secretly  by 
his  Spirit,  and  publicly  by  his  ministers  and  providences,  excites  us  to 
make  a  proper  use  of  {\\.\\.  faculty  and  power  ';  yet,  as  the  God  of  wis- 
dom, holiness,  and  justice,  he  leaves  the  act  to  our  choice  ;  thus 
treating  us  as  rational  creatures,  whom  he  intends  wisely  to  reward, 
or  justly,  to  punish,  according  to  thlir  works,  and  not  according  to 
his  own. 

Hence  it  appears,  that  we  go  every  step  of  the  way  with  our  Cal- 
vinist  brethren,  while  they  exalt  Christ  and  free  grace  in  a  rational 

Vol.  II.  20 


^ 


202  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

and  scriptural  manner ;  and  that  we  refuse  to  follow  them  only  when 
they  set  Christ  at  nough't  as  a  Prophet,  a  Lawgiver,  a  Judge,  and  a 
King  ;  under  pretence  of  extolling  him  as  a  Priest  ;  or  when  they 
put  wanton  free  grace,  and  unrelenting/ree  wrath,  in  the  place  of  the 
genuine  free  grace  testified  of  in  the  Scriptures. 

V.  Obj.  *'  One  more  difficulty  remains  :  If  I  freely  obey  the  Gos- 
pel and  am  saved;  and  if  my  neighbour  freely  disobeys  it,  and  is 
damned,  what  makes  me  to  differ  from  him  ?  Is  it  not  my  free  obe- 
dience of  faith  ?"  * 

Ans.  Undoubtedly:  and  his  free  disobedience  makes  hirn  differ 
from  you:  or  it  would  be  very  absurd  judicially  to  acquit  and 
reward  you  rather  than  him,  according  to  your  works.  And  it  would 
be  strange  duplicity,  to  condemn  and  punish  him  rather  than  you  in 
n  day  of  judgment,  after  the  most  solemn  protestations,  that  equity 
and  impartiality  shall  dictate  the  Judge's  sentence. 

As  to  the  difficulty  arising  from  St.  Paul's  question,  1  Cor.  iv.  7. 
Who  maketh  thee  to  differ?  to  what  I  have  said  about  it  in  the  preceding 
sermon,  p.  173.  I  add  :  1.  According  to  the  covenant  of  works  aUfall 
short  of  the  glory  of  God  :  and  when  any  one  asks  with  respect  to  the 
law  of  innocence,  Who  makes  thee  to  dij^er  ?  the  proper  answer  is, 
^^  There  is  no  difference:  every  mouth  must  be  stopped :  all  the  world 
is  guilty  before  God. — Enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  O 
Lord.''^- — But  according  to  the  covenant  of  grace,  he  that  freely 
believes  and  obeys  in  the  strength  of  free  grace,  undoubtedly  makes 
hims.elj'to  differ  from  him  that,  bj'^  obstinate  disobedience,  does  despite 
to  the  'Spirit  of  grace.  If  this  point  be  given  up,  the  Diana  and  the 
Apollo  ;  or  rather  the  Apollyon  of  the  Antinomians  (I  mean  wan- 
Ion  Free  Grace,  and  merciless  Free  Wrath)  are  set  up  for  ever. 
However, 

2.  If  the  questi6n,  Who  maketh  thee  to  differ?  be  asked  with  re- 
spect to  the  NUMBER  of  our  talents,  the  proper  answer  is,  "  God's  dis- 
tinguishing grace  alone  maketh  us  to  differ."  And  that  this  is  the 
sense  which  the  apostle  had  in  view,  is  evident  from  the  coj^text. 
He  had  before  reproved  the  Corinthians  for  saying  every  one,  f  am 
of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos,  he.  and  now  he  adds,  These  things  Ihave  in 
a  figure  transferred  to  myself,  and  to  Apollos,  that  ye  might  learn  in  us 
not  to  think  (of  gifted  popular  men,  or  of  yourselves)  above  that  which 
is  written,  that  no  one  of  you  be  puffed  up  for  one  against  another  ;  for 
who  maketh  thee  to  differ  ?  Why  is  thy  person  graceful  ?  and  why  art 
thou  naturally  an  eloquent  man  like  Apollos,  whilst  thy  brother's 
speech  is  rude,  and  his  bodily  presence  weak  and  contemptible fjiike  mine  ? 
But,  .V 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,  &;C.  20S 

3.  If  you  ask,  Who  maketh  thee  to  differ^  with  respect  to  the 
improvement  or  non-improvement  of  our  gifts  and  graces  ?  If  you 
inquire,  Whether  God  necessitates  some  to  disbelieve,  that  they  may 
necessarily  sin  and  be  damned  ;  while  he  necessitates  others  to  believe, 
that  they  may  necessarily  work  righteousness  and  be  saved  ;  I  utterly 
deny  the  last  question,  and  in  this  sense  St.  Paul  answers  his  own 
misapplied  question  thus.  Be  not  deceived:  what  a  man  (not  what 
God)  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap,  perdition  if  he  sow  to  the  flesh, 
and  eternal  life  if  he  sow  to  the  Spirit.  Nor  am  I  either  afraid  or 
ashamed  to  second  him,  by  saying  upon  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  that 
in  the  last-mentioned  sense,  We  make  ourselves  to  differ.  And 
Scripture,  reason,  conscience,  the  divine  perfections,  and  the  trump 
of  God,  which  will  soon  summon  us  to  judgment,  testify  that  this 
reply  stands  as  6rm  as  one  half  of  the  Bible,  and  the  second  Gospel 
axiom  on  which  it  is  immoveably  founded. 

Nay,  there  is  not  a  promise  or  a  threatening  in  the  Bible,  that  is 
not  a  proof  of  our  Lawgiver's  want  of  wisdom,  or  of  our  Judge^s 
want  of  equity,  if  we  are  not  graciously  endued  with  a  capacity  to 
make  ourselves  differ  from  the  obstinate  violators  of  the  law,  and 
despisers  of  the  Gospel, — that  is,  if  we  are  not  free  agents.  There 
is  not  an  exhortation,  a  warning,  nor  an  entreaty  in  the  sacred  pages, 
that  is  not  a  demonstration  of  the  penman's /o%,  or  of  the  freedom 
of  our  will.  In  a  word,  there  is  not  a  sinner  justly  punished  in 
hell,  nor  a  believer  wisely  rewarded  in  heaven,  that  does  not  indi- 
rectly say  to  all  the  world  of  rationals,  "  Though  the  God  of  grace 
draws  thee  to  obedience,  yet  it  is  with  the  bands  of  a  man^  For  after 
all,  he  leaves  thee  in  the  hand  of  thy  counsel  to  keep  the  commandments, 
and  perform  acceptable  obedience,  if  thou  wilt.  Before  man  is  life 
and  death,  and  whether  him  liketh  shall  be  given  him,^*  Ecclus. 
xv.  14,  Lc. 

But,  although  your  obedience  of  faith  makes  you  to  differ  from 
your  condemned  neighbour,  you  have  no  reason  to  reject  the  first 
Gospel  axiom,  and  to  indulge  a  boasting'^  contrary  to  faith  and  free 

*  There  is  a  twofold  glorying:  the  one  Pharisaic,  and  contrary  to  faith;  of  this  St, 
Paul  speaks,  where  he  says,  Boasting  is  excluded,  &c.  by  the  law  of  faith,  Rom.  iii.  27. 
The  other  evangelical,  and  agreeable  to  faith  ;  since  it  is  a  believer's  holy  triumph  in  God, 
resulting  from  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience.  Concerning  it  the  apostle  says,  Let 
every  man  prove  his  own  work,  and  then  shall  he  have  rejoicing  |^eoasting]  in  himself 
akme,  and  not  in  another,  Gal.  vi.  4.  [The  word  in  the  original  is  Kxuyna-ti,  in  one 
passage,  and  x.a.v^»fjt.oLi  in  the  other.]  These  seemingly  contrary  doctrines  are  highly 
consistent;  their  opposition  answering  to  that  of  tile  Gospel  axioms.  The  first  axiom 
allows  of  no  glorying  but  in  Christ,  who  has  alone  fulfilled  the  law  of  works,  or  the  rerms 
of  the ^r5<  covenant;  but  the  second  axiom  allows  obedient  believers  an  humble  •AAuyjny-i*-', 


204  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

grace  :  for  your  Christian  Faith,  which  is  the  root  of  your  obe- 
dience, is  pecuharly  the  gift  of  God;  whether  you  consider  it  as  to 
its  precious  seed  (the  zi-ord  nigh:)  as  to  its  glorious  object  {Christ 
and  the  truth:)  as  to  the  means,  by  which  that  object  is  revealed, 
(such  as  preaching  and  hearing :)  as  to  the  opportun.ties  and  facul- 
ties of  using  those  means  (such  as  life,  reason,  kc.)  or  as  to  the 
Spirit  of  grace,  wTiose  assistance  in  this  case  is  so  important,  that 
he  is  called  the  Spirit  of  faith.— And  yet  that  Spirit  does  not  act  irre- 
sistibly ;  all  believers  unncessarily  and  freely  yielding  to  it,  and  all 
unbelievers  unnecessarily  and  freely  resisting  it  :  so  hr  only  does  the 
matter  turn  upon  free  will.  Thus  it  appears  that  although  the  act  of 
faith  is  ours,  we  are  so  much  indebted  io  free  grace  for  it,  that  believ- 
ers can  no  more  boast  of  being  their  own  saviours,  because  they 
daily  believe  and  work  in  order  to  their  final  salvation,  than  they 
can  boast  of  being  their  own  preservers,  because  they  daily  breathe 
and  eat  in  order  to  their  continued  preservation. 

On  the  other  hand,  although  your  condemned  neighbour's  dis- 
obedience makes  him  differ  from  you,  he  has  no  reason  to  reject  the 
second  Gospel  axiom,  and  to  exculpate  himself  by  charging  heaven 
with  capricious  partiality  and  horrid  free  wrath  :  because  God,  whose 
mercy  is  over  all  his  works,  and  who  is  no  respecter  of  persons, 
graciously  bestowed  a  talent  of  free  grace  upon  him  as  well  as  upon 
you,  according  to  one  or  another  of  the  divine  dispensations.  For 
the  royal  master,  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  gave  a  pound  to  the  ser- 
vant that  buried  it,  as  well  as  to  him  that  gained  ten  pounds  by  occu- 
pying till  his  Lord  came. 

"  But,  upon  that  footing,  what  becomes  of  distinguishing  grace  ?" 
If  by  distinguishing  grace  you  mean  Calvinisiic  partiality,  I  answer, 
It  must  undoubtedly  sink  together,  with  its  inseparable  partner,  un- 
conditional reprobation,  into  the  pit  of  error,  whence  they  ascended 
to  fill  the  church  with  contentions,  and  the  world  with  infidels.  But 
if  you  mean  scriptural  distinguishing  grace,  that  is,  the  manifold 
•wisdom  of  God,  which  makes  him  proceed  gradually,  and  admit  a 
pleasing  variety  in  the  works  of  grace,  as  well  as  in  the  productions 

glorying  or  rejoicing,  upon  their  personally  fulfilling  the  law  of  faith,  or  the  gracious 
terms  of  the  second  covenant,  2  Cor.  i-  12.  TJ.is  rrjoicing  answers  to  what  St.  Paul 
calls  the  witness  of  our  own  spirit,  or  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience  ;  j^rhich,  next  to 
the  witness  of  the  word  and  Spirit  concerning  God's  mercy,  and  Christ's  blood,  is  the 
ground  of  a  Christian's  connd'^nce.  Beloved,  if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  then  have  we 
confidence  tooDards  God,  &c.  because  we  keep  his  commandments.  1  John  iii.  21,  22.  And 
j'et  astonishing  I  this  blessed  rejoicing,  so  strongly  recommended  by  St.  Paul  and  St.  John, 
who,  one  would  think,  knew  something  of  the  Gospel,  is  now  represented  by  some  modern 
evangelists,  as  the  quintessence  of  Pharisaism ! 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,    (StC.  205 

of  nature  ; — if  you  mean  his  good  pleasure  to  give  the  Heathens  one 
talent,  the  Jews  two,  the  Papists  three,  the  Protestants  four ;  or  if 
you  mean  the  difl'erent  methods  which  he  uses  to  call  sinners  tl) 
repeniance,  such  as  his  familiar  expostulation  with  Cain — his  wonderful 
warning  of  Lot's  sons-in-law — his  rousing  king  Saul  by  the  voice  of 
Samuel,  and  Saul  of  Tarsus  by  the  voice  of  Christ;  (Samuel  and 
Christ  coming,  or  seeming  to  come  from  the  invisible  world  for  that 
awful  purpose) — his  audibly  inviting  Judas  and  the  rich  ruler  to 
follow  him,  promising  the  latter  heavenly  treasure,  if  he  would  give 
his  earthly  possessions  to  the  poor — his  shocking,  by  preternatural 
earthquakes,  the  consciences  of  the  Philippian  jailer,  and  the  two 
malefactors  that  suffered  with  him — his  awakening  Ananias,  Sap- 
phira,  and  thousands  more  by  the  uonders  of  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
when  Lydia  and  others  were  called  only  in  the  common  way  : — If 
you  mean  this  b}'  distinguishing  grace,  we  are  agreed.  For,  grace 
displayed  in  as  distinguishing  a  manner,  as  it  was  towards  Capernaum, 
Choraziu,  and  Bethsaida,  greatly  illustrates  our  Lord's  doctrine  : 
*'  Of  him  to  whom  little  is  given,  little  shall  be  required  ;  but  much 
shall  be  required  of  them  that  have  received  much  ;"  the  equality 
of  God's  ways  not  consisting  in  giving  to  all  men  a  like  number 
of  talents,  any  more  than  making  them  all  archangels ;  but  in 
treating  them  all  equally,  according  to  the  various  editions  of  the 
everlasting  Gospel,  or  law  of  liberty  ;  and  according  to  the  good  or 
bad  uses  they  have  made  of  their  talents,  whether  they  had  few  or 
many. 

To  return  to  your  grand  objection  :  You  suppose  (and  this  is  pro- 
bably the  ground  of  your  mistake)  that  when  a  deliverance,  or  a 
divine  favour,  turns  upon  something,  which  we  may  do.  or  leave 
undone  at  our  Oj^tion,  God  is  necessarily  robbed  of  his  glory.  But 
a  few  queries  will  easily  convince  you  of  your  mistake.  When  God 
had  been  merciful  to  Lot  and  his  family,  not  looking  back  made  aU 
the  difference  between  him  and  his  wife;  but  does  it  follow,  that  he 
claimed  the  honour  of  his  narrow  esrape  : — looking  at  the  brazen 
type  of  Christ  made  some  Israelites  differ  from  others,  that  died  of 
the  bite  of  the  fiery  serpents  ;  but  is  this  a  sufficient  reason  to  con- 
clude, that  the  healed  men  had  not  sense  to  distinguish  between  pri- 
mary and  secondary  causes,  and  that  they  ascribed  to  their  looks  the 
glory  due  to  God,  for  graciously  contriving  the  means  of  their  cure  ? 
— One  of  your  neighbours  has  hanged,  and  another  has  poisoned  him- 
self; so  that  not  hanging  yourself,  and  taking  wholesome  food,  has  so 
far  made  the  difference  between  you  and  them  :  but  can  you  reason- 
ably infer,   that  you  do  not  live  by  divine  bounty,  and  that  1  rob  the 


206  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    i. 

Preserver  of  men  of  his  glory,  when  I  affirm,  that  you  shall  surely 
die,  if  you  do  not  eat,  or  if  you  take  poison  ? 

Permit  me  to  make  you  sensible  of  your  mistake  hy  one  more  illus- 
tration. An  anli-calvinist,  who  observes  that  God  has  suspended 
many  of  his  blessings  upon  industry,  diligently  ploughs,  sows,  and 
weeds  his  field.  A  Fatalist  over  the  way,  lest  free  grace  should  not 
have  all  the  glory  of  his  crop,  does  not  turn*  one  clod,  and  expects 
seed  to  drop  from  the  clouds  into  furrows  made  by  an  invisible  plough 
on  a  certain  day,  which  he  calls  "  a  day  of  God's  power."  When 
harvest  comes,  the  one  has  a  crop  of  wheat,  and  the  other  a  crop  of 
weeds.  Now,  although  industry  alone  has  made  the  difference 
between  the  two  fields,  who  is  most  likely  to  give  God  the  glory  of 
a  crop,  the  Solifidian  farmer,  who  reaps  thistles  ?  or  the  laborious 
husbandman,  who  has  joined  works  to  his  faith  in  divine  providence, 
and  joyfully  brings  his  sheaves  home  ;  saying  as  St.  Paul,  By  divine 
bounty  I  have  planted,  and  Apolloshas  weeded,  but  God  has  given  the 
increase,  which  is  all  in  all  ? 

PAPtT  THIRD. 

Flattering  myself  that  the  preceding  answers  have  removed  the 
reader's  prejudices,  or  confirmed  him  in  his  attachment  to  genuine 
free  grace ;  I  shall  conclude  this  Essay  by  some  reflections  upon  the 
pride,  or  prejudices  of  those  who  scruple  working  with  an  eye  to  the 
rewards,  that  God  offers  with  a  view  to  promote  the  obedience  of 
faith. 

''  If  heaven,  (say  such  mistaken  persons)  if  the  enjoyment  of  God 
in  glory,  be  the  reward  of  obedience  ;  and  if  you  work  with  an  eye 
to  that  reward,  you  act  from  self  the  basest  of  all  motives.  Love, 
and  not  self-interest,  sets  ws,  true  behevers,  upon  action  :  we  work 

*  This  is  not  spoken  of  pio2is  Calvini^ts,  for  some  of  thera  are  remarkably  diligent  in 
good  works.  They  are  Solifidians  by  halves ; — in  principle,  but  not  in  practice.  Their 
works  outshine  their  errors.  I  lay  nothing  to  their  charge  but  inattention,  prejudice,  and 
glaring  inconsistency.  I  compare  them  to  diligent,  good-natured  druggists,  who  among 
many  excellent  remedies  sell  sometimes  arsenic.  They  would  not  for  the  world  take  it 
themselves,  or  poison  thfeir  neighbours;  but  yet  they  freely  retail  if,  ajid  in  so  doing  they 
are  inadvertently  the  cause  of  much  mischief  Mr.  i'ulsome,  for  example,  could  tell 
which  of  our  Gospel  ministers  taught  him  that  good  works  are  dung,  and  li_ave  nothing  to 
do  with  eternal  salvation.  He  could  inform  us,  who  lulled  him  asleep  in  his  sins  with  the 
siren  songs  of  ^'unconditional  election,"  and  ^'■finished  salvation,  in  the  full  extent  of  the 
words :"  that  is,  he  could  let  us  know  who  gave  him  his  killing  dose :  and  numbers  of 
deists  could  tell  us,  that  a  bare  taste  or  smell  of  Calvinism  has  made  them  loath  the  genu- 
ine doctrines  of  gmce,  just  as  tasting  or  smelling  a  tainted  partridge  has  for.erer  turned 
some  people's  stomachs  against  partridge. 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,    <^C.  207' 

from  gratitude^  and  not  for  profit ;  from  life*  and  not  for  life.  To  do 
good  with  an  eye  to  a  reward,  though  that  reward  should  be  a  crown 
of  life,  is  to  act  as  a  mercenary  wretch,  and  not  as  a  duteous  child,  or 
a  faithful  servant." 

This  specious  error,  zealously  propagated  by  Molinos,  Lady  Guion, 
and  her  illustrious  convert,  archbishop  Fenelon,  (though  afterward 
renounced  by  him)  put  a  stop  to  a  great  revival  of  the  power  of  god- 
liness abroad  in  the  last  century  ;  and  it  has  already  struck  a  fatal 
blow  at  the  late  revival  in  these  kingdoms.  I  reverence  and  love 
many  that  contend  for  this  sentiment ;  but,  my  regard  for  truth  over- 
balancing my  respect  for  them,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  oppose  their 
mistake,  as  a  pernicious  refinement  of  Sutan  transformed  into  an  angel 
of  light :  I  therefore  attack  it  by  the  following  arguments. 

1.  This  doctrine  makes  us  "wise  above  zvhat  is  written.  We  read, 
that  hunger,  and  want  of  bread,  brought  back  the  prodigal  son.  His 
father  knew  it,  but  instead  of  treating  him  as  a  hired  servant,  he 
entertained  him  as  a  beloved  child. 

2.  It  sets  aside  at  a  stroke  a  considerable  part  of  the  Bible,  which 
consists  in  thrcaienings  to  deter  evil  workers,  and  in  promises  to 
encourage  obedient  believers.  For  if  it  be  base  to  obey  in  order  to 
obtain  a  promised  reward,  it  is  baser  still  to  do  it  in  order  to  avoid  a 
threatened  punishment.  Thus  the  precious  grace  of  faith,  so  far  as 
it  is  exercised  about  divine  promises  and  threatenings,  is  indirectly 
made  void. 

.".  It  decries  godly  fear,  a  grand  spring  of  action,  and  preservative' 
of  holiness  in  all  free  agents,  that  are  in  a  state  ai  probation  ;  and 
by  this  mean  it  indirectly  charges  God  with  want  of  wisdom,  for  put- 
ting that  spring  in  the  breast  of  innocent  man  in  paradise,  and  for  per- 
petually working  upon  it  in  his  word  and  by  his  Spirit,  which  St.  Paul 
calls  the  Spirit  of  bondage  unto  fear  ;  because  it  h^Ips  us  to  believe 
the  threatenings  denounced  against  the  workers  of  iniquity,  and  to 
fear  lest  ruin  should  overtake  us,  if  we  continue  in  our  sins. 

If  ever  there  was  a  visible  church  without  spot  and  wrinkle,  it  was 
when  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed,  were  of  one  heart,  and  of  one 

*  The  reader  is  desired  to  observe,  that  we  recommend  working  yVom  life  and  grati- 
tude as  well  as  our  opponents.  Life  and  thankfulness  are  two  important  springs  of  action, 
which  we  use  as  well  as  they.  We  maintain,  that  even  those  who  have  a  name  to  live,  and 
are  DEAD  m  trespasses  and  sins,  cannot  he  saved  without  strengthening  the  things  that 
remain  and  are  ready  to  die;  and  that  thankfulness  for  being  out  of  hell,  and  for  having 
a  day  of  salvation  through  Christ,  should  be  strongly  recommended  to  the  chief  of  sinners. 
But  thankfulness  and  life  aie  not  all  the  springs  necessary,  in  our  imperfect  state,  to  move 
all  the  wheels  of  obedience ;  and  we  dare  no  more  exclude  the  other  springs,  because  we 
have  these  two;  than  we  dare  cut  off  three  of  o\\v  fingers,  because  we  have  a  little  finger 
and  a  thumb. 


208  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    f. 

soul.  The  worldly-mindeHne€s  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  was  the 
first  blemish  of  the  Christian,  as  Achan's  covetousness  had  been  of 
the  Jewish  Church  on  this  side  Jordan.  God  made  an  example  of 
them  as  he  had  done  of  Achan,  and  St.  Luke  observes,  that  upon  it, 
GREAT  FEAR  Came  upoTi  ALL  THE  CHURCH  ;  Gvcn  such  fear  as  kept 
them  from  falling  after  the  same  example  of  unbelief.  Now  were  all 
the  primitive  Christians  mean-spirited  people,  because  they  were 
filled  with  great  fear  of  being  punished,  as  the  first  backsliders  had 
been,  if  they  apostatized  ?  Is  it  a  reproach  to  righteous  Noah,  that 
Being  moved  with  fear  he  prepared  an  ark  for  the  saving  of  his  house? 
And  did  our  Lord  legalize  the  Gospel,  when  he  began  to  say  to  his 
disciples  first  of  all,  ^^c.  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends,  be  not  afraid  of 
them  that  kill  the  body,  4*c.  but  fear  Him,  rvho,  after  he  hath  killed, 
hath  ponder  to  east  into  hell;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  Him? — Does 
this  mean,  be  mercenary ;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  be  mercenary  ? 

4.  Hope  has  a  particular,  necessary  reference  to  promises,  and  good 
things  to  come.  Excellent  things  are  spoken  of  that  grace.  If  St. 
Paul  says,  Ye  are  saved  through  faith,  he  says  also,  M^e  are  saved  by 
HOPE.  Hence  St.  Peter  observes,  that  ^'^  exceeding  great  promises 
are  given  to  us,  that  zve  might  be  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature:  and 
St.  John  declares,  Every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him,  purifeih  him- 
self even  as  God  is  pure.  Now  hope  never  stirs,  but  in  order  to  obtain 
good  things  in  view  :  a  motive  this,  which  our  Gospel  refiners  repre- 
sent as  illiberal  and  base.  Their  scheme  therefore  directly  tends  to 
ridicule  and  suppress  the  capital  Christian  grace,  which  Faith  guards 
on  the  left  hand,  and  Charity  on  the  right. 

5.  Their  error  springs  from  a  false  conclusion.  Because  it  is 
mean  to  relieve  a  beggar  with  an  eye  to  a  reward  from  him,  they  in- 
fer, that  it  is  mean  to  do  a  good  work  with  an  eye  to  a  reward  from 
God  ;  not  considering  that  a  beggar  promises  nothing,  and  can  give 
nothing  valuable  ;  whereas  the  Parent  of  good  promises,  and  can  give 
eternal  life  to  them  that  obey  him :  their  inference  is  then  just  as  ab- 
surd as  the  following  argument :  "  I  oughf  not  to  set  my  heart  upon 
"an  earthly,  inferior,  transitory  good;  therefore  I  must  not  set  it 
"  upon  the  chief,  heavenly,  permanent  good. — It  is  foolish  to  shoot 
"  at  a  wrong  mark,  therefore  I  must  not  shoot  at  the  right ;  I  must 
"  not  aim  at  the  very  mark,  which  God  himself  has  set  up  for  me, 
"  ultimately  to  level  all  my  actions  at,  next  to  his  own  glory,  viz.  the 
"  enjoyment  of  himself,  the  light  of  his  countenance,  the  smiles  of 
"  his  open  face,  which  make  the  heaven  of  heavens." 

6.  God  says  to  Abraham,  and  in  him  to  all  believers,  /  am  thy 
exceeding  great  reward  :  hence,  it  follows,  that  the  higher  we  rise 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,    AlC.  2Q9 

in  holiness  and  obedience,  the  nearer  we  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
eternal  throne  ;  and  the  fuller  enjoyment  we  shall  have  of  our  God 
and  Saviour,  our  reward  and  rewarder.  Therefore,  to  overloolc 
divine  rewards,  is  to  overlook  God  himself,  who  is  our  great  reward  j 
and  to  slight  the  life  to  come,  o/"  which  godliness  has  the  promise. 

7.  The  error  I  oppose  can  be  put  in  a  still  stronger  light.  Not 
to  strive  to  obtain  our  great  re^ji'ard  in  full,  amounts  to  saying :  "  Lord, 
"  thou  art  beneath  my  aim  and  pursuit ;  I  can  do  without  thee,  or 
"  without  so  much  of  thee.  I  will  not  bestir  myself,  and  do  one  thing 
"  to  obtain  either  the  fruition,  or  a  fuller  enjoyment  of  thy  adorable 
"  self." — An  illustration  or  two,  short  as  they  fall  of  the  thing  illus- 
trated, may  help  us  to  see  the  great  impropriety  of  such  a  conduct. 
If  the  king  offered  to  give  all  officers,  who  would  distinguish  them- 
selves in  the  field,  his  hand  to  kiss,  and  a  commission  in  the  guards, 
that  he  might  have  them  near  his  person  ;  would  not  military  gentle- 
men defeat  the  intention  of  this  gracious  ofi'er,  and  betray  a  peculiar 
degree  of  indifference  for  his  majesty,  if  in  the  day  of  battle  they 
would  not  strike  one  blow  the  more,  on  account  of  the  royal  pro- 
mise ? 

Again  :  when  David  asked,  what  shall  be  done  to  him  that  killeth 
the  giant  ?  And  when  he  was  informed,  that  Saul  would  give  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage  ;  would  the  young  shepherd  have  showed  his 
regard  for  the  princess,  or  respect  for  the  monarch,  if  he  had  said, 
"I  am  above  minding  rewards  ;  what  I  do,  I  do  freely  ;  I  scorn 
acting  from  so  base  a  motive  as  a  desire  to  secure  the  hand  of  the 
princess,  and  the  honour  of  being  the  king's  son-ifi-law?"  Could 
any  thing  have  been  ruder,  and  more  haughty  than  such  a  speech  ? 
And  yet,  O  see  what  evangelical  refinements  have  done  for  us  I 
We,  who  are  infinitely  less  before  God,  than  David  was  before  king 
Saul — we,  worms  of  a  day,  are  so  blinded  by  prejudice,  as  to  think  it 
beneath  ns  to  mind  the  offers  of  the  King  of  kings,  or  to  strive  for 
the  rewards  of  the  Lord  of  lords  ! 

Wo  to  him  that  striveth  in  generosity  tt'iV/t  his  Maker !  Let  the  pot- 
sherd strive  thus  with  the  potsherds  of  the  earth  :  but  let  not  the  clay  say 
to  him  thatfashioneth  it,  "  What  doest  thou  when  thou  stirrest  me  up  to 
*'  good  works  by  the  promise  of  thy  rewards  ?  Surely,  Lord,  thou 
"  forgettest  that  the  nobleness  of  my  mind,  and  my  doctrine  o( finished 
**  salvation,  make  me  above  running  for  a  re-ward,  though  it  should 
"  be  for  a  life  of  glory,  and  Thyself.  Whatever  I  do  at  thy  command,, 
'*  I  am  determined  not  to  demean  myself;  1  will  do  it  as  Araunab, 
"  like  a  king.^^  What  depths  of  Aiitinomian  pride  may  be  hid  under 
the  coverixig  of  our  voluntary  humility  ! 
Vol.  H.  '27 


.^210  EQUAL    CHECKc  PART  i 

8.  The  Cainnlsts  of  the  last  century,  in  their  lucid  intervals,  saw 
the  absolute  necessity  of  working  for  heaven  and  heavenly  rewards. 
We  have  a  good  practical  discourse  of  J.  Bunyan  upon  these  words, 
So  run  that  you  may  obtain.     The  burden  of  it  is,  *'  If  you  will  have 
heaven  you  must  run  for  it.''^     Whence  he  calls  his  sermon   *'  The 
heavenly  footman^ — And  Matthew  Mead,*  a  staunch  Calvinist,  in  his 
treatise  on  The  good  of  early  obedience,  p.  429,  says  with  great  truth, 
"  Maintain  a  holy,  filial  fear  of  God  :  this  is  an  excellent  preservative 
'*  against  apostacy,  By  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  men  depart  from  evil,  says 
^'  Solomon,  and  he  tells  you.  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  fountain  of 
**  LIFE,  zi'hereby  men  depart  from  the  snares  o/ death  ;  and  backsliding 
**  from  Christ  is  one  of  the  great  snares  of  death.     Think  much  of 
"  the  day  of  recompense,  and  of  the  glorious  reward  of  perseverence 
*'  in  that  day  :  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown 
^^  of  life.     If  is  not  those  that  begin   well,  but  those  who  end  well, 

^' that  receive  the  crown.  It  is  not  mercenary  service  to  quicken 
-'  ourselves  to  bbedience  by  the  hope  of  a  recompense.  Omnis  amor 
^'  mercedis  non  est  mercenarius,  4*c.  David  said,  /  have  hoped  for  thy 
*'  salvation,  and  done  thy  commandments.  He  encouraged  himself  to 
*'  duty  by  the  hope  of  glory,  &c.  Hope  of  that  glorious  recompense 
**  is  of  great  service  to  quicken  us  to  perseverance.  And  to  the  same 
^'  end  does  the  apostle  urge  it :  Be  unmoveable,  always  abounding  in 
**  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not 
*'  in  vain  in  the  Lord.^^ 

9.  When  voluntary  humility  has  made  us  wise  above  v«?hat  is 
written  by  the  apostles,  and  by  our  forefathers,  it  will  make  us  look 
down  with  contempt,  from  the  top  of  our  fancied  orthodoxy,  upon 
the  motives,  by  which  the  prophets  took  up  their  cross,  to  serve  God 
and  their  generation.  When  St,  Paul  enumerates  the  works  of  Mo- 
ses, he  traces  them  back  to  their  noble  principle,  faith  working  by  a 

*  As  a  proof  of  liis  being  sound  in  the  doctrines  of  Calvinistic  grace  and  confusion,  I 
present  the  reader  with  the  following  passage,  taken  from  the  same  book,  printed  in  London 

1633 p.  307.     "  A  believer  is  under  the  law  for  condtict,  but  not  (or  judgment,  &c.     It  is 

*»  the  o-uide  of  his  path,  but  not  the  judge  of  his  state.  The  believer  is  bound  to  obey  it, 
->  but  not  to  stand  or  fall  by  it  "  [That  is,  in  plain  English,  He  should  obey,  but  his  dis- 
obedience will  never  bring  him  under  condemnation,  and  hinder  him  to  stand  in  judgment.] 
"  It  is  a  rule  of  life,  &c.  and  therefore  it  obliges  believers  as  much  as  others,  though  upon 
'*  other  motives,  &c.  For  they  are  not  to  expect  life  or  favour  from  it,  nor  fear  the  death 
"  and  rigour  that  comes  by  it.  The  law  has  no  power  to  justify  a  belierer,  or  condemn 
'*  him,  and  therefore  can  be  no  rule  to  try  his  state  by  :"— In  flat  opposition  to  the  general 
tenor  of  the  Scriptures,  thus  summed  up  by  St.  John,  In  this,  namely  committing  or  not 
committing  sin,  the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and  the  children  of  the  devil.  What 
Ibis  author  says  is  true,  if  it  be  understood  of  the  Adamic  Imv  of  innocence :  but  if  it  be 
♦extended  to  St.  Paul's  law  of  Christ,  and  to  St,  James's  law  of  liberty,  ii  is  one  of  the 
dangerous  tenets  that  support  the  chair  of  the  Antinomian  jnan  of  sin. 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,    &€.  *211 

vr ell-ordered  self-love  (a  love  this,  which  is  inseparable  from  the 
love  of  God  and  man  ;  the  law  of  liberty  binding  us  to  love  our  neigh- 
bour A9  ourselves,  and  God  above  ourselves.)  He  chose,  says  the  apos^- 
tle,  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God,  rather  than  to  enjoy  the 
pleasures  of  sin,  &c.  But  why  ?  Because  he  was  above  looking  at 
the  prize  ?  Just  the  reverse  :  because  he  had  respect  to  the  recom- 
pense bf  the  reward,  Heb.  xi.  26. 

10.  In  the  next  chapter,  the  apostle  bids  us  to  take  Christ  himself 
for  our  pattern  in  the  very  thing  which  our  Gospel  refiners  call 
mercenary  and  base  ;  Looking  to  Jesus,  says  he,  who^  for  the  joy 
that  was  set  before  him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is 
set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God :  the  noble  reward  this, 
with  which  his  mediatorial  obedience  was  crowned,  as  appears  from 
these  words,  He  became  obedient  unto  death;  wherefoke  God  also 
hath  highly  excdted  him.  If  the  scheme  of  those  who  refine  the 
ancient  Gospel  appear  to  rae  in  a  peculiarly  unfavourable  light,  it  is 
when  I  see  them  impose  upon  the  injudicious  admirers  of  unscrip- 
tural  humility,  and  make  the  simple  believe,  that  they  do  God  ser- 
vice when  they  indirectly  represent  Christ's  obedience  unto  death 
as  imperfect,  and  him  as  mercenary,  actuated  by  a  motive  unworthy 
of  a  child  of  God.  He  says,  Every  one  that  is  perfect,  shall  be  as 
his  master  :  but  we.  (such  is  our  consistency  !)  loudly  decry  perfec- 
tion, and  yet  pretend  to  a  higher  degree  of  it  than  our  Lord  and 
Master.  For  he  was  not  above  enduring  the  cross  for  the  joy  of 
sitting  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God:  but  we  are  so 
exquisitely  j5cr/ec^,  that  we  will  work  gratis.  It  is  mercenary,  it  is 
beneath  us  to  work  for  glory  ! 

11.  I  fear,  this  contempt  is  by  some  indirectly  poured  upon  the 
Lord  of  glory,  to  extol  the  spurious /ree  grace  which  is  sister  to  free 
zvrath ;  and  to  persuade  the  simple,  that  "  Works  have  nothing  to  do 
with  our  ,^7ia/ justification  and  eternal  salvation  before  God  :"  a  dogma 
this,  which  is  as  contrary  to  reason,  as  it  is  to  Scripture  and  morality  ; 
it  being  a  monstrous  imposition  upon  the  credulity  of  Protestants  to 
assert,  that  works  wbich  God  himself  will  reward  with  j?na^  justifi- 
cation and  eternal  salvation,  have  nothing  to  do  with  f/iai  justification 
and  that  salvation  before  Him.  Just  as  if  the  thing  rewarded  had 
nothing  to  do  with  its  reward  before  the  Rcwarder ! 

12.  The  most  rigid  Calvinists  allow,  that  St.  Paul  is  truly  evan- 
gelical:  but,  which  of  the  sacred  writers  ever  spoke  greater  things 
of  the  rewardableness  of  works  Ihnn  he  ?  What  can  be  plainer,  wlint 
stronger  than  these  word?,  which  1  must  quote  till  they  are  minded  : 


212  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I, 

Whatsoever  ye  do^  do  it  heartily  as  to  the  Lord,  ^c.  knowing  (i.  e.  con- 
sidering) that  of  the  Lord  ye  shall  receive  the  reward  of  the  inheri- 
tance. But  he  that  doth  wrong,  shall  receive  for  the  wrong  which  he 
hath  done  :  for  there  is  no  respect  of  persons,  Col.  iii.  23,  &,c.  Again  : 
Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap  :  for  he  that  soweth  to 
his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  perdition;  but  he  that  soweth  to  the 
Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  everlasting  life,  Gal.  vi.  7,  8. 

From  these  scriptures  it  is  evident,  that  doing  good  or  bad  works 
is  like  sowing  good  or  bad  seed  ;  and  that  going  to  heaven  or  to  hell, 
is  like  gathering  what  we  have  sown.  Now,  as  it  is  the  imadness  of 
unbelievers  to  sow  wickedness,  and  to  expect  a  crop  of  happiness 
and  glory  ;  so  it  is  the  wisdom  of  believers  to  sow  righteousness, 
expecting  to  reap  in  due  time  if  they  faint  not.  Nor  do  we  act  rea- 
sonably, if  we  do  not  sow  raore  or  less  with  an  eye  to  reaping  :  for  if 
reaping  be  quite  ou-t  of  the  question  with  Protestants,  they  may  as 
wisely  sow  chaff  on  a  fallow,  as  corn  in  a  ploughed  field.  Hence  I 
conclude,  that  a  believer  may  obey,  and  that,  if  he  he  judicious,  he 
will  obey,  looking  both  to  Jesus  and  to  the  rewards  of  obedience  ; 
and  that  the  more  he  can  fix  the  eye  of  his  faith  upon  his  exceeding 
great  reward,  and  his  great  recompense  of  reward,  (he  raore  he  will 
abound  in  the  work  of  faith,  the  patience  of  hope,  and  the  labour  of 
love. 

13.  St.  Paul's  conduct  with  respect  to  rewards,  was  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  his  doctrine.  I  have  already  observed,  he  wrote  to  the 
Corinthians,  that  he  so  ran  and  so  fought,  as  to  obtain  an  incorruptible 
crown ;  and  it  is  well  known,  that  in  the  Olympic  games,  to  which  he 
alludes,  all  ran  or  fought  with  an  eye  to  a  prize,  a  reward,  or  a 
crown.  But  in  his  epistle  to  the  PhiUppians,  he  goes  still  farther ; 
for  he  represents  his  running  for  a  crown  of  life,  his  pressing  after 
rewards  of  grace  and  glory,  as  the  whole  of  his  business.  His  words 
are  remarkable  :  This  one  thing  I  do  :  forgetting  those  things  which 
are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I 
PRESS  towards  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus.  And  when  he  had  just  run  his  race  out,  he  wrote  to 
Timothy,  I  have  finished  my  course  :  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me, 
as  for  a  conqueror,  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day — the  great  day  of  retribu- 
tion. As  for  St.  John,  when  he  was  perfected  in  love,  jve  find  him 
as  *'  mercenary""  as  St.  Paul  :  for  he  writes  to  the  elect  lady,  and  to 
her  believing  children.  Look  to  ijourselves,  that  we  lose  not  those 
ihinvs  which  wf,  iiavf.  wrought,  but  that  zve  receive  a  full  reward. 


A    SCRIPTURAL   ESSAY,   kc.  213 

14.  When  I  read  such  scriptures,  I  wonder  at  those,  who  are  so 
wrapt  up  in  the  pernicious  notion,  that  we  ought  not  to  work*  for  a 
life  of  glory,  as  to  overlook  even  the  crown  of  life,  with  which  God 
will  reward  those  who  are  faithful  unto  death.  And  I  am  astonished 
at  the  remains  of  my  own  unbelief,  which  prevent  my  being  always 
ravished  with  admiration  at  the  thought  of  the  rewards  offered  to  fire 
my  soul  into  seraphic  obedience.  An  idle  country  fellow,  who  runs 
at  the  wakes  for  a  wretched  prize,  labours  harder  in  his  sportive 
race  than,  I  fear,  I  do  yet  in  some  of  ray  prayers  and  sermons.  A 
sportsman,  for  the  pitiful  honour  of  coming  in  at  the  death  of  a  fox, 
toils  more  than  most  professors  do  in  the  pursuit  of  their  corruptions. 
How  ought  confusion  to  cover  our  faces  !  Let  those  that  refine  the 
Gospel  glory  in  their  shame  :  let  each  of  them  say,  "  1  thank  thee, 
*'  O  God,  that  I  am  not  like  a  Papist,  or  like  that  Arminian,  who 
"  looks  at  the  rewards  which  thou  hast  promised  :  I  deny  myself, 
*'  and  take  up  my  cross,  without  thinking  of  the  joy  and  rewards  set 
"  before  me,"  &c.  For  my  part,  I  desire  to  humble  myself  before 
God,  for  having  so  long  overlooked  the  exceeding  great  reward,  and 
the  crown  of  life,  promised  to  them  that  obey  him  :  and  my  thoughts 
shall  be  expressed  in  such  words  as  these  : 

"  Gracious  Lord,  if  he  that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a 
"  prophet  shall  have  a  prophefs  reward:  if  our  light  affliction,  when  it 
*'  is  patiently  endured,  worketh  for  ws  afar  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
•'  weight  of  glory :  if  thou  hast  said.  Do  good  and  lend,  hoping  for 
"  nothing  again  (from  man)  and  your  reward  shall  be  great,  and  ye 
"  shall  be  the  children  of  the  Highest :  if  thou  animatest  those,  who  are 
"  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake,  by  this  promissory  exhortation, 
*'  '  Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven  :' 
"  Nay,  if  a  cup  of  cold  water  only,  given  in  thy  name,  shall  in  nowisk 
"  lose  its  reward ;  and  if  the  least  of  thy  rewards  is  a  smile  of  appro- 

*  Truth  is  so  great  that  it  sometimes  prevails  over  those  that  are  prejudiced  against  it. 
I  have  observed  that  Dr.  Crisp  himself,  in  a  happy  moment,  bore  a  noble  testimony  to  unde- 
liled  religion.  Take  another  instance  of  it.  In  the  volume  of  the  Rev.  Mr,  Whitefield's 
sermons,  taken  in  short  hand,  and  published  by  Gurney,  p.  119,  that  great  preacher  say*, 
'•  First,  we  must  work  for  spiritual  life,  afterward  from  it." — And  page  l.'iS,  154,  he  de- 
clares :  *'  There  are  numbers  of  poor,  that  are  ready  to  perish;  and  if  you  drop  something 
*'  to  them  in  love,  God  will  take  care  to  repay  you  when  you  come  io  judgment.''''  I  find 
but  one  fault  with  this  doctririe.  The  first  of  those  propositions  docs  not  guard  free  grace 
so  well  as  Mr.  Wesley's  Minutes  do.  We  should  always  intimate,  that  there  is  no  working 
for  a  life  of  glory,  orybr  a  more  abundant  lift  of  grace,  hui  from  an  initial  life  of  grace, 
y*reeZt/ given  to  us  in  Christ  bf.fork  any  working  of  our  own.  This  I  mention,  not  to  pre- 
judice the  reader  against  Mr.  Whitefield,  but  to  show,  that  I  am  not  so  prejudiced  in  favour 
o(  works,  as  not  to  see  when  even  a  Whitefield,  in  an  unguarded  oxpressien,  leans  towards 
them  to  tlie  disparagement  oi  free  grace. 


214  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

"  bation  ;  let  me  be  ready  to  go  round  the  world,  shouldest  thou  call 
"4ne  to  it,  that  I  may  obtain  such  a  recompense. 

"  Since  thou  hast  so  closely  connected  hohness  and  happiness,  my 
"  duty  and  thy  favours  :  let  no  man  beguile  me  of  my  reward  in  a  vo- 
"  luntary  humility ;  nor  suffer  me  to  be  carried  about  with  every  wind 
"  of  doctrine  by  the  sleight  of  men,  and  cunning  craftiness,  whereby  they 
**  lie  in  wait  to  deceive.  And  whatsoever  my  hand  findeth  to  do,  help 
"  me  to  do  it  with  all  my  might ;  not  only  lest  I  lose  my  reward,  but 
*'  also  lest  I  have  not  a  full  reward ;  lest  1  lose  a  beam  of  the  light  of 
"  thy  countenance,  or  a  degree  of  that  peculiar  likeness  and  nearness 
*'  to  thee,  with  which  thou  wilt  recompense  those  who  excel  in  vir- 
"  tue.  So  shall  I  equally  avoid  the  delusion  of  the  Pharisees,  who 
*'  expect  heaven  through  their  faithless  works  ;  and  the  error  of  the 
"  Aniinomians,  who  hope  to  enter  into  thy  glory  without  the  passport 
"  of  the  works  of  faith, 

*'  And  now,  Lord,  if  thy  servant  has  found  favour  in  thy  sight,  per- 
"  mit  him  to  urge  another  request :  so  far  as  thy  wisdom,  and  the  laws 
"  by  which  ihj  free  grace  works  upon  free  agents,  will  permit ;  in- 
**  cline  the  minds  of  Papists  and  Protestants  to  receive  the  truth  as 
"  it  is  in  Jesus.  Let  not  especially  this  plain  testimony  borne  to  the 
"  many  great /;ro?mses  which  thou  hast  made,  and  to  the  astonishing  re- 
"  WARDS  which  thou  offerest  tliem  that  wor^:  righteousness,  be  rejected 
''  by  my  Calvinist  brethren.  Keep  them  from  fighting  against  %  good- 
"  ness,  and  despising  their  own  mercies,  under  pretence  of  fighting 
"  against '  ArminiaM  errors,"*  and  despising  *  Pelagian  Checks  to  the  Gos- 
"■  pel.^  And  make  them  sensible  that  it  is  absurd,  to  decry  in  word  the 
'*  Pope's  pretensions  to  infallibility,  if  by  an  obstinate  refusal  to  '  re- 
**  view  the  whole  affair,'  and  to  weigh  their  supposed  orthodoxy  in  the 
*'  balances  of  reason  and  revelation,  they  in  fact  pretend  to  be  infal- 
'*  lible  themselves  ;  and  thus,  instead  of  one  Catholic  Pontiff,  set  up 
''  ten  thousand  Protestant  Popes. 

*' Thou  knowest,  Lord,  that  many  of  them  love  thee;  and  that, 
**  though  they  disgrace  thy  Gospel  by  their  doctrinal  peculiarities, 
*'  they  adorn  it  by  their  godly  conversation.  O  endue  them  with 
*'  more  love  to  their  Remonstrant  brethren  !  Give  them  and  me  that 
"  charity  which  behavcth  not  itself  unseemly,  which  rejoiccth  not  in  a 
*'  favourite  error,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth,  even  when  it  is  advanced  by 
"  our  opponents.  Thou  seest,  that  if  they  decry  true  holiness  and 
**  good  works  as  '  dung  and  dross,'  it  is  chiefly  for  fear  thy  glory  should 
"  be  obscured  by  our  obedience.  Error  transformed  into  an  angel  of 
*'  light  has  deceived  them,  and  they  think  to  do  thee  seA'ice  by  pro- 
'*  pagating  the  deception.     O  gracious  God,  pardon  them  this  wrong. 


A    SCRIPTURAL   ESSAY,    &C.  215 

^'  They  do  it  ignoranily  in  unbelief;  therefore  seal  not  up  their  mistake 
**  jvith  the  seal  of  thy  wrath.  Let  them  yet  know  the  truths  and  let 
''  the  truth  enlarge  their  hearts,  and  make  them  fres  from  the  notion, 
**  that  thou  art  not  loving  to  every  man  during  the  day  of  salvation,  and 
'*  that  there  is  neither  mercy  nor  Saviour  for  the  most  of  th^ir  neigh- 
*'  hours,  even  during  the  accepted  time. 

*'  Above  all,  Lord,  if  they  cannot  defend  their  mistakes,  either  by 
**  argument  or  by  Scripture,  quoted  accordi'ng  to  the  context,  and  the 
*'  obvious  tenor  of  thy  sacred  Oracles  ;  give  them  more  wisdom,  than 
"  to  expose  any  longer  the  Protestant  religion,  which  they  think  to 
**  defend  ;  and  more  piety,  than  to  make  the  men  of  the  world  abhor 
"  thy  Gospel,  and  blaspheme  thy  name,  as  free-thinkers  are  daily 
"  tempted  to  do,  when  they  see  that  those  who  pretend  to  *  exalt 
"  thee'  most,  are  of  all  Protestants  the  most  ready  to  disarm  thy  Gos- 
**  pel  of  its  sanctions  ;  to  turn  thy  judicial  sentences  into  frivolous 
**  descriptions  ;  to  overlook  the  dictates  of  reason  and  good  nature  ; 
"  and  to  make  the  press  groan  under  illogical  assertions,  and  per- 
*'  sonal  abuse  ! 

*'  Let  thy  servant  speak  once  more  :  Thou  knowest,  O  Lord,  that 
*'  thy  power  being  my  helper,  I  would  choose  to  die  rather  than  wil- 
"  fully  to  depreciate  that  grace,  that  free  grace  of  thine,  which  has 
"  so  long  kept  me  out  of  hell,  and  daily  gives  me  sweet  foretastes  of 
•'  heaven.  And  now,  Lord,  let  not  readers  of  a  Pharisaic  turn  mis- 
*'  take  what  I  have  advanced  in  honour  of  the  works  of  faith,  and  by 
'•  that  mean  build  themselves  up  in  their  self-righteous  delusion,  and 
'*  destructive  contempt  of  thy  merits  :  help  them  to  consider,  that  if 
"  our  works  are  rewardable,  it  is  because  thy  free  grace  makes  them 
'*  so ;  thy  Father  having  mercifully  accepted  our  persons  for  thy 
'*  sake,  thy  Holy  Spirit  having  gently  helped  our  infirmities,  thy  pre- 
"  cious  blood  having  fully  atoned  for  our  sins  and  imperfections,  ihy 
"  incessant  intercession  still  keeping  the  way  to  the  throne  of  grace 
"  open  for  us,  and  our  poor  performances.  Suffer  not  one  of  the 
'*  sons  of  virtuous  pride,  into  whose  hands  these  sheets  may  fall,  to 
"  forget  that  thou  hast  annexed  the  reward  of  the  inheritance  to  the 
"  assemblage  of  the  works  of  faith,  or  to  patient  continuance  in  well 
"  doing,  and  not  to  one  or  two  splendid  works  of  hypocrisy,  done  just 
"  to  serve  a  worldly  turn,  or  to  bribe  a  disturbed  clamorous  con= 
"  science  :  and  enable  them  so  to  feel  the  need  of  thy  pardon  for 
"  past  transgressions,  and  of  thy  ponder  for  future  obedience,  that,  as 
*'  the  chased  hart  panteth  after  the  water-brooks,  so  their  awakened 
'*  souls  may  long  after  Christ,  in  whom  the  penitent  find  inexhaustible 


216  E^UAL  CHECK.  PART  I. 

"  springs  of  righteousness  and  strength;  and  to  whom  with  thee, 
**  and  thy  eternal  Spirit,  be  for  ever  ascribed  praise,  honour,  apd 
^^  glory,  both  in  heaven  and  upon  earth — praise,  for  the  wondeFs  of 
^^  general  redemption,  and  for  the  innumerable  displays  of  thy  free 
"  grace  unstained  by  free  wrath — honour,  for  bestowing  the  gracious 
"  reward  of  a  heavenly  salvation  upon  all  believers,  that  make  their 
''election  sure  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing — and  glory  for 
*'  inflicting  the  just  punishment  of  infernal  damnation  upon  all  that 
"  neglect  so  great  salvation,  and  to  the  end  of  the  accepted  time  darr 
^'  thy  vengeance  hy  obstinate  continuance  in  ill  doing." 


A   SCRIPTURAL   ESSAY,   &C  217 


^rrEJVDix. 


— -^^^\i<^- 


Madeley,  March  11,  1774. 

X  ESTERDAY  a  friend  lent  me  Mr.  Baxter's  Confession  of  Faith, 
printed  in  London  1655.  The  third  part  of  this  valuable  book 
extends  through  above  140  large  pages,  and  the  title  of  that  long 
section  runs  thus  :  The  testimony •'tf  reformed  divines  ascribing  as  much 
to  WORKS  as  I:  and  many  of*1hem  delivering  the  same  doctrine.  He 
produces  a  hundred  witnesses,  some  of  whom  are  collective  bodies, 
such  as  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  the  compilers  of  the  Homilies  of 
the  Church  of  England,  and  even  the  Synod  of  Dort.  As  the  Anti- 
nomian  spirit  which  flamed  against  Baxter's  works  in  the  last  century, 
will  probably  sparkle  ngwinot  tho  preceding  Essay,  I  beg  leave  to  take  * 
shelter  behind  that  great  man,  and  a  few  of  his  numerous  quotations. 
1  shall  cite  only  Baxter's  page,  to  which  I  refer  those  who  desire  to 
see  the  original  of  his  Latin  quotations,  together  with  the  books, 
chapters,  and  pages  of  the  various  authors. 

Page  322,  he  quotes  the  following  words  from  Bishop  Davenant, 
"  As  no  man  receiveth  that  general  justification  which  dischargeth  from 
'•'  the  guilt  of  all  foregoing  sins,  but  on  the  concurrence  of  repent- 
•*  ance,  faith,  a  purpose  of  a  new  life,  and  other  actions  of  the  same 
*'  kind ;  so  no  man  retaineth  a  state  free  from  guilt  in  respect  of  fol- 
"  lowing  sins,  but  by  means  of  the  same  actions  of  believing  in  God, 
"  calling  on  God,  mortifying  the  flesh,  daily  repenting  and  sorrowing 
"  for  sins  daily  committed.  The  reason  why  all  these  are  required 
'*  on  our  part,  is  this  :  because  these  cannot  be  still  absent,  but  their 
*'  opposites  will  be  present,  which  are  contrary  to  the  nature  of  a 
"justified  man. — As  therefore  to  the  conservation  of  natural  life  it  is 
"  necessarily  required,  that  a  man  carefully  avoid  fire,  water,  pre- 
"  cipioes,  poisons,  and  other  things  destructive  to  the  health  of  the 
"  body ;  so  to  the  conserving  of  spiritual  life,  it  is  necessarily 
"  required  that  a  man  avoid  incredulity,  impenitency,  and  other 
t'  things  that  are  destructive  and  contrary  to  the  salvation  of  souls  ; 
•'  which  cannot  be  avoided  unless  the  opposite  and  contrary  actions 

Vol.  IL  28 


218  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

"  be  exercised.  And  these  actions  do  not  conserve  the  life  of  grace 
**  properljf  and  of  themselves,  by  touching  the  very  effect  of  conser- 
"  vation  ;  but  improperly  and  by  accident,  by  excluding  and  remov- 
**  ing  the  cause  of  destruction." 

Page  324,  Baxter  produces  these  words  of  the  same  pious  Bishop, 
*'  We  do  therefore  fight  against,  not  the  bare  name  of  merit,  in  a 
*'  harmless  sense  frequently  used  of  old  by  the  fathers,  but  the  proud 
*'  and  false  opinion  of  merit  of  condignity,  brought  lately  by  the  Pa- 
"  pists  into  the  Church  of  God." 

And  again,  page  325,  "  The  works  of  the  regenerate  have  an 
*'  ordination  to  the  rewards  of  this  life  and  that  to  come.  1.  Because 
*'  God  hath  freely  promised  (according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his 
*'  will)  the  rewards  of  this  life  and  that  to  come,  to  the  good  works 
"  of  the  faithful  and  regenerate,  1  Tim.  iv.  8.  Gal.  vi.  8.  Matt. 
"  XX.  8."  ^ 

Page  328  he  quotes  the  following  pasigage  from  Dr.  Twiss,  "  It 
"  lieth  on  all  the  elect  to  seek  salvation,  not  only  by  faith,  but  by 
**  works  also,  in  that  without  doubt  salvation  is  to  be  given  by  way  of 
"reward,  whereby  God  will  reward  not  only  our  faith,  but  also  all 
"  our  good  works." 

Page  S30  and  331,  he  quotes  Molnnrthnn  fVina  :  "  New  obedience 
"  is  necessary  hy  nccpcoity  of  order  of  the  cause  and  effecf,  also  by 
"  necessity  of  duty  or  command,  also  by  necessity  of  retaining  faith, 
"  and  avoiding  punishments  temporal  and  eternal — Cordatus  stirreth 
"  up  against  me  the  city,  and  also  the  neighbour  countries,  and  also 
*'  the  court  itself,  because  in  explaining  the  controversy  of  justifica- 
"  tion  I  said,  that  new  obedience  is  necessary  to  salvation." 

Page  360,  361,  he  quotes  these  words  of  Zanchius  :  "  Works  are 
"necessary:  1.  To  justify  our  faith  [coram  Deo]  before  God,  &c. 
"  2.  They  are  necessary  to  the  obtaining  eternal  life,  kc.  3.  They 
*'  are  necessary  to  inherit  justification  as  causes,  he.  4.  They  are 
*'  profitable  to  conserve  the  increase  of  faith  :  also  to  promerit  of 
*'  God,  and  obtain  many  good  things  both  spiritual  and  corporal,  both 
"  in  this  life  and  in  another."  The  words  of  Zanchius  are,  "  Opera 
"  utilia  stmt,  ^c.  ad  multa  bona  turn  spiritualia  turn  corporalia,  turn  in 
*'  hac  vita  turn  in  alia  a  Deo  promerenda  et  obtijienda.^'  Zanch.  Tom. 
8.  p.  787.  loc :  de  just,  fidei.  How  much  more  tenderly  did  Mr. 
Wesley  speak  of  inerit  than  the  orthodox  Zanchius,  whona  Mr.  Top- 
lady  has  lately  rendered  famous  among  us  !  I  hope,  that  if  this  gen- 
tleman ever  open  his  favourite  book  to  the  above-quoted  page,  he 
will  drop  his  prejudices,  and  confess,  that  his  dear  Zanchius  himself 
nobly  contends  for  the  Wesley  an  *'  heresy." 


A    SCRIPTURAL    ESSAY,    &€.  219 

Page  462,  Baxter  concludes  his  book  by  praying  for  those, 
who  had  misrepresented  him  to  the  world,  and  obliged  him  to  spend 
so  much  time  in  vindicating  his  doctrine.  I  most  heartily  join  him  m 
the  last  paragraph  of  his  prayer,  in  which  I  beg  the  reader  would 
join  us  both.  "  The  Lord  illuminate  and  send  forth  some  messenger, 
*'  that  may  acquaint  the  churches  with  that  true^  middle y  reconciling 
"  method  of  theological  verities^  which  must  he  the  mean  of  healing  our 
*'  divisions.  Let  men  be  raised  of  greater  sufficiency  for  this  work, 
"  and  of  such  blessed  accomplishments  as  shall  be  fit  to  cope  with 
"  the  power  of  prejudice  :  and  let  the  fury  of  blind  contradiction  be 
*'  so  calmed,  that  Truth  may  have  opportunity  to  do  its  work." 


t 


AN 


l^H  (£)^  «1PIB\2?^II1 


BEING  A 


RATIONAL  VINDICATION 


OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF 


.<i 


WITH  A 


JDEDICATORV  EPISTLE 


TO 


THE  RIGHT  HON. 

THE  COUNTESS    OF    HUNTINGDON. 

WithoMt  Faith  it  is  impostihlt  to  please  Ood.     Heb.  xi.  6. 
Whatsoever  is  not  oj"  Faith  is  tin,     Rom.  xiv.  23. 
Faith,  if  it  hath  not  viorks,  is  dead,  being  alone.     Jamej  ii.    17. 
Good  works  spring  out  necessarily  of  a  true  and  lively  faith.     XII.  Art. 
In  Christ  Jesus,  Sf-c.  nothing  availeth  but  faith,  -ahich  worketh  6y  love.    Gal.  v.  (J 
\ 


4i 


.v! 


DEDICATORY  EPISTLE 

TO    THE 

RIGHT  HON.  THE  COUNTESS  OF  HUNTINGDON. 

MY  LADY, 

JiSeCAUSE  I  think  it  my  duty  to  defend  the  ri^orks  of  faith  against 
the  triumphant  errors  of  the  Solifidians,  some  of  your  Ladyship's 
friends  conclude,  that  I  am  an  enemy  to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by 
faith,  and  their  conclusion  amounts  to  such  exclamations  as  these  : 
How  could  a  Lady,  so  zealous  for  God's  glory  and  the  Redeemer's 
grace,  commit  the  superintendency  of  a  seminary  of  pious  learning 
to  a  man,  that  opposes  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  Protestantism ! 
How  could  she  put  her  sheep  under  the  care  of  such  a  wolf  in  sheep's 
clothing  !  This  conclusion,  my  Lady,  has  grieved  me  for  your  sake  ; 
and  to  remove  the  blot  that  it  indirectly  fixes  upon  you,  as  well  as  to 
balance  my  Scriptural  Essay  on  the  Rewardableness  of  the  Works  of 
Faith,  I  publish,  and  humbly  dedicate  to  your  Ladyship,  this  piece  of 
my  Equal  Check  to  Pharisaism  and  Antinomianism.  May  the  kind- 
ness, which  enabled  you  to  bear  for  years  with  the  coarseness  of  my 
ministrations,  incline  you  favourably  to  receive  this  little  token  of  my 
unfeigned  attachment  to  Protestantism,  and  of  my  lasting  respect  for 
your  Ladyship ! 

Your  aversion  to  all  that  looks  like  controversy,  can  never  make 
you  think,  that  an  Equal  Check  to  the  two  grand  delusions,  which  have 
crept  into  the  churchy  is  needless  in  our  days.  I  flatter  myself  there- 
fore, that  though  you  may  blame  my  performance,  yo\i  will  appove  of 
my  design.  And  indeed  what  true  Christian  can  be  absolutely  neuter 
in  this  controversy  ?  If  God  has  a  controversy  with  all  Pharisees  and 
Antinomians,  have  not  all  God's  children  a  controversy  with  Pharisa- 
ism and  Antinomianism  ?  Have  you  not  for  one,  my  Lady  ?  Do  you 
not  check  in  private,  what  I  attempt  to  check  in  public  ?   Does  not 


224  A    DEDICATORY    EPISTLE,   6lC. 

the  religious  world  know  that  you  abhor,  attack,  and  pursue  PhmHsa- 
ism  in  its  most  artful  disguises  ?  And  have  I  not  frequently  heard  you 
express  in  the  strongest  terms  your  detestation  of  Antinomianism^  and 
lament  the  number  of  sleeping  professors  whom  that  Delilah  robs  of 
their  strength  ?  Nor  would  you,  I  am  persuaded,  my  Lady,  have 
countenanced  the  oppojiilion  which  was  made  against  the  Minutes,  if 
your  commendable,  tliough  (as  it  appears  to  me)  at  that  time  too  pre- 
cipitate zeal  against  Pharisaism,  had  not  prevented  your  seeing,  that 
they  contain  the  scripture  truths,  which  are  most  fit  to  stop  the  rapid 
progress  of  Antinomiunism, 

However,  if  you  still  think,  my  Lady,  that  I  mistake  with  respect 
to  the  importance  of  those  propositions  ;  you  know,  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, when  1  de-lare  before  the  world,  that  a  powerful^  practical, 
actually  saving  faith,  is  the  only  faith  1  ever  heard  your  Ladyship 
recommend  as  worthy  to  be  contended  for.  And  so  long  as  you 
plead  only  for  such  a  faith  :  so  long  as  you  abhor  the  winter-faith  that 
saves  the  Solifidians  in  their  own  conceit,  while  they  commit  adultery, 
murder,  and  incest,  if  they  choose  to  carry  Antinomianism  to  such  a 
dreadful  length  ;  so  long  as  you  are  afraid  to  maintain,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  that  the  evidence  and  comfort  of  justifying  faith  may 
indeed  be  suspended  by  sin  ;  but  that  the  righteousness  of  faith,  and 
the  justification  which  it  instrumentally  procures,  can  never  be  lost, 
no  not  by  the  most  enormous  and  complicated  crimes ;  whatever  diver- 
sity there  may  be  between  your  Ladyship's  sentiments  and  mine,  it 
can  never  be  fundamental.  I  preach  salvation  by  a  faith,  that  actually 
works  by  obedient  love  :  and  your  Ladyship  witnesses  salvation  by 
an  actxially  operative  faith  :  nor  can  I,  to  this  day,  see  any  material 
difference  between  tho^e  phrases  :  for  if  I  profess  a  faith  that  is 
actually  operative,  I  cannot  with  propriety  find  fault  with  a  faith 
that  actually  operates  :  I  cannot  with  decency  sacrifice  its  works  to 
*'  Antinomian  dotages."* 

Permit  me  also  to  observe,  that  the  grand  questions  debated  between 
nay  opponents  and  me,  are  not  (as  I  fear  your  Ladyship  apprehends) 
whether  Pharisaic  merit  shall  eclipse  the  Redeemer's  worthiness  ;  or, 
whether  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  a  lively  faith  shall  be  given  up  to 
mere  moralists  :  I  no  more  plead  either  for  "the  one  or  the  other, 
than  I  do  for  placing  the  Pretender  upon  the  British  throne,  and  for 
sacrificing  the  great  charter  to  arbitrary  power.  No,  my  Lady — 
What  we  contend  about  is  :  1.  Whether  Christ's  law  is  not  perfectly 
consistent  with  his  blood :  2.  Whether  we  are  to  set  him  at  nought  as 

*  The  name  which  Flayel  gives  to  Dr,  Crisp's  modish  tenets. 


A    DEDICATORY    EPfSTLE,    &€.  225 

a  Prophet,  a  King,  and  a  Judge  ;  under  pretence  ot  exalting  him  as 
a  Priest,  an  Advocate,  and  a  Surety  of  the  better  covenant^  that 
threatens  fallen  believers  with  a  sorer  punishment  than  that  which  vva^ 
inflicted  upon  the  despisers  of  the  Mosaic  covenant :  3.  Whether  the 
evangelical  worthiness,  which  a  true  believer  really  derives  from 
Christ,  is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation  :  4.  Whether  such  a 
worthiness  is  not  as  consistent  with  Christ's  original  and  paramount 
merit,  as  the  light  that  shines  in  your  apartment  is  consistent  with 
the  original  and  transcendent  brightness  of  the  sun  :  5.  Whether  that 
faith  is  living,  which  evidences  itself  by  gross  immoralities :  6. 
Whether  it  is  not  rnther  the  "  (had  faith"  that  St.  James  exclaims 
against  :  And  7.  Whether  the  Solifidians  do  not  set  up  the  abomination 
of  desolation  in  the  holy  place,  when  they  directly  or  indirectly* 
teach,  that  all  believers  may  go  any  length  in  sin  without  losing  their 
heavenly  thrones,  or  the  divine  favour  :  that  a  man  may  have  the 
justifying,  saving,  operative  faith,  which  your  Ladyship  pleads  for, 
while  he  adds  idolatry  to  incontinence,  murder  to  adultery,  and  curses 
to  the  repeated  denial  of  Jesus  Christ:  that  fallen  believers,  who 
have  returned  to  their  sins  as  a  sow  that  is  zvashed  does  to  her  walloW' 
ing  in  the  mire,  stand  immaculate  before  God  in  a  robe  of  imputed 
righteousness,  even  while  they  turn  God^s  grace  into  lasciviousness, 
and  commit  all  unclennness  with  greediness  :  that  they  shall  all  infallibly 
sing  in  heaven,  in  consequence  of  their  most  grievous  falls  on  earth; 
and  that  a  kind  of  hypocritical,  lying  free  grace,  is  to  be  preached  to 
all  sinners,  which  necessarily  shuts  up  most  of  them  under  the  abso- 
lute free  wrath  of  a  God  ever  merciless  towards  the  majority  of 
mankind. 

Now,  my  Lady,  as  I  am  persuaded  that  you  do  not  admire  such  an 
immoral  and  narrow  Gospel  ;  as  I  believe,  that  if  at  any  time  it 
creeps  into  your  chapels,  it  is  without  your  approbation,  under  the 
mask  of  decency,  and  only  by  the  means  of  the  specious  phrases  of 
free  Gospel,  electing,  everlasting  love,  finished  salvation,  and  free,  dis' 
tinguishing  grace,  which,  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  modish 
faith,  sweetly  make  way  for  the  inseparable  and  bitter  doctrines 
of  a  confined  Gospel,  of  everlasting  hate,  reprobating  umnercifulness , 
finished  damnation,  and  yVee,  distinguishing  wrath ;  and  as  I  do  your 
Ladyship  the  justice  to  acknowledge,  that  your  most  earnest  desire  is 
to  support  what  appears  to  you  a  free  and  holy  Gospel  at  the  expense 
of  your  fortune,  life,  and  character  ;  I  beg,  my  Lady,  you  will  also 


*  Mr.  Hill  has  done  it  directly  in  the  fourth  of  the  Five  Letters  which  he  has  inscribed 
to  me,  and  all  the  Solifidians  do  it  indirectly. 

Vol.  H.  29 


226  A    DEDICATORY    EPISTLE,    &C. 

do  me  the  justice  to  believe,  that  if  I  oppose  the  Solifidian  Gospel  of 
the  day,  it  is  only  because  it  appears  to  me  a  confined  and  unholy 
Gospel,  calculated  to  foster  the  Antinomianism  of  Laodicean  believ- 
ers, and  to  render  Christ's  undefiled  religion  contemptible  to  the  ra- 
tional, and  execrable  to  the  moral  world.  If  you  grant  me  this 
request,  I  shall  only  trouble  you  with  one  more,  which  is  to  believe, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  part  I  have  taken  in  the  present  controversy, 
!  remain  with  my  former  respect  and  devotedness, 

My  Lady, 

Your  Ladyship^' 

Most  obliged  and  obedient 

Servant  in  the  Gospel^ 

J.  FLETCHER. 

Madelev,  March  12,  1774. 


AN 

ESSAY  ON  TRUTH,  ^c. 

— -*JW5i^>'- — 
INTRODUCTION 

il<XCEEDINGLY  sorry  should  I  be,  if  the  testimony  which  I  have 
borne  to  the  necessity  of  good  works,  caused  any  of  my  readers  to 
do  the  worst  of  bad  works,  that  is,  to  neglect  believing^  and  to  depend 
upon  some  of  the  external,  faithless  performances,  which  conceited 
Pharisees  call  "  good  works;"  and  by  which  they  absurdly  think  to 
make  amends  for  their  sins,  to  purchase  the  Divine  favour,  to  set 
aside  God's  mercy,  and  to  supersede  Christ's  atoning  blood.  There- 
fore, lest  some  unwary  souls,  going  from  one  extreme  to  the  other, 
should  so  unfortunately  avoid  Antinomianism,  as  to  run  upon  the 
rocks  which  are  rendered  famous  by  the  destruction  of  the  Phari- 
sees, 1  shall  once  more  vindicate  the  fundamental,  anti-pharisaic  doc- 
trine of  salvation  by. faith:  I  say  once  more,  because  I  have  already 
done  it  in  my  guarded  Sermon.  And  to  the  Scriptures,  Articles, 
and  Arguments  produced  in  that  piece,  I  shall  now  add  rational,  and 
yet  scriptural  observations,  which,  together  with  appeals  to  matter  of 
fact,  will,  I  hope,  soften  the  prejudices  of  judicious  moralists  against 
the  doctrine  of  faith,  and  reconcile  considerate  Solifidians  to  the  doc- 
trine of  works.  In  order  to  this,  I  design  in  general  to  prove,  that 
true  faith  is  the  only  plant  which  can  possibly  bear  good  works  ;  that 
it  loses  its  operative  nature,  and  dies  when  it  produces  them  not ;  and 
that  it  as  much  surpasses  good  works  in  importance,  as  the  motion  of 
the  heart  does  all  other  bodily  motions.  Inquire  we  first  into  the 
nature  and  ground  of  saving  faith. 

SECTION  I. 

A  plain  definition  of  Saving  Faith,  how  believing  is  the  gift  of  Gody  and 
whether  it  is  in  our  power  to  believe. 

What  is  Faith  ?  It  is  believing  heartily, — What  is  saving  faith  ?  I 
dare  not  say  that  it  is  "believing  heartily,  my  sins  are  forgiven  me 


328  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I, 

for  Christ's  sake  ;"  for  if  I  live  in  sin,  that  belief  is  a  destructive 
conceit,  and  not  saving  faith.  Neither  dare  T  say,  that  "  saving  faith 
is  only  a  sure  trust  and  confidence,  that  Christ  loved  me,  and  gave 
himself  for  me  ;"*  for,  if  I  did,  I  should  damn  almost  all  mankind 
for  4000  years.  Such  definitions  of  saving  faith  are,  I  fear,  too  nar- 
row to  be  just,  and  too  unguarded  to  keep  out  Solifidianism.  A  com- 
parison may  convince  my  readers  of  it.  If  they  desired  roe  to  define 
inan^  and  I  said,  "  Ma7i  is  a  rational  animal  that  lives  in  France  in 
the  year  1774  ;"  would  they  not  ask  me,  whether  I  suppose,  all  the 
rational  animals,  that  lived  on  this  siiie  the  English  Channel  in  1773, 
were  brutes?  And  if  you  desired  to  know  what  I  mean  by  saving  faith, 
and  I  replied.  It  is  a  supernatural  belief,  that  Christ  has  actually 
atoned  for  my  sins  upon  the  cross;  would  you  not  ask  me,  whether 
Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  who  would  have  believed  a  lie 
if  he  had  believed  this,  had  only  damning  faith  ? 

To  avoid  therefore  such  mistakes  ;  to  contradict  no  scriptures  ;  to 
put  no  black  mark  of  damnation  upon  any  man,  that  in  any  nation 
fears  God  and  works  righteousness  ;  to  leave  no  room  for  Solifidianism  ; 
and  to  present  the  reader  with  a  definition  of  faith  adequate  to  the 
everlasting  Gospel^  I  would  choose  to  say,  that  "justifying  or  saving 
faith  is  believing  the  saving  truth  with  the  heart  unto  internal,  and  (as 
we  have  opportunity)  unto  external  righteousness,  according  to  our 
light  and  dispensation."  To  St.  Paul's  words,  Rom.  x.  10.  I  add 
the  epithets  internal  and  external,  in  order  to  exclude,  according  to 
1  John  iii.  7,  8.  the  filthy  imputation,  under  which  fallen  believers 
may,  if  we  credit  the  Antinomians,  commit  internal  and  external 
adultery,  mental  and  bodily  murder,  without  the  least  reasonable  fear 
of  endangering  their  faith,  their  interest  in  God's  favour,  and  their 
inamissible  title  to  a  throne  of  glory. 

But,  '*  How  is  failh  the  gift  of  God  ?" — Some  persons  think,  that 
faith  is  as  much  out  of  our  power,  as  the  lightning  that  shoots  from  a 
distant  cloud  :  they  suppose,  that  God  drives  sinners  to  the  fountain 
of  Christ's  blood,  as  irresistibly  as  the  infernal  Legion  drove  the  herd 
of  swine  into  the  sea  of  Galilee;  and  that  a  man  is  as  passive  in  the 
first  act  of  faith,  as  Jonah  was  in  the  act  of  the  fish,  which  cast  him 
upon  the  shore.     Hence,  the  absurd  plea  of  many,  who  lay  fast  hold 

*  When  the  Church  of  England  and  Mr.  Wesley  give  us  particular  definitions  of 
faith,  it  is  plain,  that  they  consider  it  according  to  the  Christian  dispensation ;  the  privi- 
leges of  which  must  be  principally  insisted  upon  among  Christians  ;  and  that  our  Church 
and  Mr.  Wesley  guard  faith  against  Antinomianism,  is  evident  from  their  maintaining, 
as  well  as  St.  Paul,  that  by  bad  works  we  lose  a  good  conscience,  and  make  shipwreck  of 
(he  faith.  '• 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  229 

on  the  horns  of  the  devil's  altar,  unbelief,  and  cry  out,  "  We  caa 
no  more  believe  than  we  can  make  a  world." 

I  call  this  an  absurd  plea  for  several  reasons  :  1.  It  supposes,  that 
when  God  commands  all  men  every  -where  to  repent^  and  to  believe  the 
Gospel^  he  commands  them  to  do  what  is  as  impossible  to  them  as  the 
making  of  a  new  world. — 2.  It  supposes,  that  the  terms  of  the  cove- 
nant oi  grace  are  much  harder  than  the  terms  of  the  covenant  of 
works.  For  the  old  covenant  required  only  perfect  human  obedience  : 
but  the  new  covenant  requires  of  us  the  work  of  an  Almighty  God, 
i.  e.  believing;  a  work  this,  which,  upon  the  scheme  I  oppose,  is  as 
impossible  to  us  as  the  creation  of  a  world,  in  which  we  can  never 
have  a  hand. — 2.  It  supposes,  that  the  promise  of  salvation  being 
suspended  upon  believing,  a  thing  as  impracticable  to  us  as  the  making 
of  a  new  world,  we  shall  as  infallibly  be  damned,  if  God  do  not  be- 
lieve for  us,  as  we  should  be,  if  we  were  required  to  make  a  world 
on  pain  of  damnation,  and  God  would  not  make  it  in  our  place. — 4.  It 
supposes,  that  believing  is  a  work  which  belongs  to  God  alone  :  for 
no  man  in  his  senses  can  doubt  but  creating  a  world,  or  its  tanta- 
mount, believing,  is  a  work  which  none  but  God  can  manage. — 6.  It 
supposes,  that  (if  he,  who  believeth  not  the  divine  record,  makes  God  a 
liar,  and  shall  be  damned)  whenever  unbelievers  are  called  upon  to 
believe,  and  God  refuses  them  the  power  to  do  it,  he  as  much  forces 
them  to  make  him  a  liar  and  to  be  damned,  as  the  king  would  force 
me  to  give  him  the  lie,  and  to  be  hanged,  if  he  put  me  in  circum- 
stances where  I  could  have  no  chance  of  avoiding  that  crime  and 
punishment,  but  by  submitting  to  the  alternative  of  creating  a  world. 
— 6.  It  supposes,  that  when  Christ  marvelled  at  the  unbelief  of  the 
Jews,  he  showed  as  little  wisdom  as  I  should,  were  I  to  marvel  at  a 
man  for  not  creating  three  worlds  as  quickly  as  a  believer  can  say 
the  three  creeds. — 7.  That  when  Christ  reproved  his  disciples  for 
their  unbelief,  he  acted  more  unreasonably,  than  if  he  had  rebuked 
them  for  not  adding  a  new  star  to  every  constellation  in  heaven. — 
8.  That  to  exhort  people  to  continue  in  the  faith,  is  to  exhort  them 
to  something  as  difficult,  as  to  continue  creating  worlds. — And  lastly, 
that  when  Christ  fixes  our  damnation  upon  unbelief,  (see  Mark  xvi. 
16.  and  John  iii.  18.)  he  acts  far  more  tyrannically  than  the  king 
would  do,  if  he  issued  out  a  proclamntion  informing  all  his  subjects, 
that  whosoever  shall  not,  by  such  a  time,  raise  a  new  island  within 
the  British  seas,  shall  be  infallibly  put  to  the  most  painful  and 
lingering  death. 

Having  thus  exposed   the  erroneous  sense,  in  which  gome  people 
iuppose  that/ai//i  is  the  gift  of  God;  I  beg  leave  to  mention  in  what 


230  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I, 

sense  it  appears  to  me  to  be  so.  Believing  is  the  gift  of  God^s  grace^ 
as  cultivating  the  root  of  a  rare  flower  given  you,  or  raising  a  crop 
of  corn  in  your  field,  is  the  gift  of  GocTs  providence.— ^Believing  is  the 
gift  of  the  God  o/"  grace,  as  breathing,  moving,  and  eating,  are  the 
gifts  of  the  God  o/*  nature.  He  gives  me  lungs  and  air,  that  I  may 
breathe  ;  he  gives  me  life  and  muscles,  that  I  may  move  ;  he  bestows 
upon  me  food  and  a  mouth,  that  I  may  eat ;  and  when  I  have  no 
stomach,  he  gives  me  common  sense  to  see,  I  must  die  or  force 
myself  to  take  some  nourishment  or  some  medicine  :  but  he  neither 
breathes,  moves,  nor  eats  for  me  ;  nay,  when  I  think  proper,  I  can 
accelerate  my  breathing,  motion,  and  eating ;  and  if  I  please,  I  may 
even  fast,  lie  down,  or  hang  myself,  and  by  that  mean  put  an  end  to 
my  eating,  moving,  and  breathing. — Once  more,  Faith  is  the  gift  of 
God  to  believers,  as  sight  is  to  you.  The  Parent  of  good  freely  gives 
you  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  organs  proper  to  receive  it :  he  places 
you  in  a  world  where  that  light  visits  you  daily  :  he  apprizes  you, 
that  sight  is  conducive  to  your  safety,  pleasure,  and  profit :  and 
every  thing  around  you  bids  you  use  your  eyes  and  see  :  neverthe- 
less you  may  not  only 'drop  your  curtains,  and  extinguish  your  can- 
dle, but  close  your  eyes  also.  This  is  exactly  the  case  with  regard 
to  faith.  Free  grace  removes  (in  part)  the  total  blindness,  which 
Adam's  fall  brought  upon  us  :  free  grace  gently  sends  us  some  beams 
of  truth,  which  is  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness ;  it  disposes  the 
eyes  of  our  understanding  to  see  those  beams  ;  it  excites  us  various 
ways  to  \yelcome  them  ;  it  blesses  us  with  many,  perhaps  with  all 
the  means  of  faith,  such  as  opportunities  to  hear,  read,  inquire  ;  and 
power  to  consider,  assent,  consent,  resolve,  and  reresolve  to  believe 
the  truth.  But,  after  all,  believing  is  as  much  our  own  act  as  seeing. 
We  may,  nay,  in  general  do,  suspend,  or  omit  the  act  of  faith  ;  espe- 
cially when  that  act  is  not  yet  become  habitual,  and  when  the  glaring 
light,  that  sometimes  accompanies  the  revelation  of  the  truth,  is 
abated.  Nay,  we  may  imitate  Pharaoh,  Judas,  and  all  reprobrates  : 
we  may  do  by  the  eye  of  our  faith,  what  some  report  that  Democri- 
tus  did  by  his  bodily  eyes.  Being  tired  of  seeing  the  follies  of  man- 
kind, to  rid  himself  of  that  disagreeable  sight  he  put  his  eyes  out.  We 
may  be  so  averse  from  the  light,  which  lightens  every  man  that  comes 
into  the  world;  we  may  so  dread  it  because  our  works  are  evil,  as  to 
exemplify,  like  the  Pharisees,  such  awful  declarations  'as  these  : 
Their  eyes  have  they  closed,  lest  they  should  see,  &c. — Wherefore  God 
gave  them  up  to  a  reprobate  mind,  and  they  were  blinded. 

When  St.  Paul  says,  that  Christians  believe  according  to  the  working 
of  God'' s  mighty  power,  which,  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him 


AN    ESSAY   ON    TRUTH.  231 

from  the  dead ;  he  chiefly  alludes  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and 
the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;   the  former  of  these  wonders 
being  the  great  ground  and  object  of  the  Oirisiian  faith,  and  the  latter 
displaying  the  great  privilege  of  the  Christian  dispensation.     To  sup- 
pose therefore,  that  nobody  savingly  believes,  who  does  not  believe 
according  to   an    actual^   overwhelming   display   of  God's    almighty 
power,  is  as  unscriptural  as  to  maintain  that  God's  people  no  longer 
believe,  than  he  actually  repeats  the  wonders  of  Easter-day,  and  of 
the  day  of  Pentecost.     Is  it  not  clear,  that  the  apostle  had  no  such 
notions  when  he  wrote  to  the   Corinthians  ?     /  declare  unto  you  the 
Gospel^  which  I  preached  unto  you,  which  you  have  received^  wherein  ye 
stand  ;  by  which  also  ye  are  saved,  if  ye  keep  in  memory — {if  ye  hold 
fast,  as  the  original  means)  what  I  preached  unto  yon,  unless  ye  have 
.BELIEVED  in  vain.     For  I  declared  unto  you,  &c.   that  Christ  died  for 
our  sins,  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  &c.  so  we  preach,  and  so  ye  believed.     Again,  how  plain  is 
the  account,  that  our  Lord  and  his  forerunner  give  us  of  faith  and 
unbelief!     Verily  we  speak  what  we  do  know,  and  testify  what  we  have 
seen,  and  ye  receive  not  our  witness — What  he  (Christ)  hath  seen  and 
heard,  that  he  testifieth,  and  no  man  (comparatively)  receiveth  his  testi- 
mony: but  he   that  hath  received  his  testimony,  hath  set  to  his  seal  that 
God  is  true. 

Two  things  have  chiefly  given  room  to  our  mistakes  respecting  the 
strange  impossibility  of  heViev'ing.  The frst  is,  our  confounding  the 
truths  which  characterize  the  several  Gospel  dispensations.  We  see, 
for  example,  that  a  poor  besotted  drunkard,  an  over-reaching  greedy 
tradesman,  a  rich  sceptical  epicure,  and  a  proud  ambitious  courtier, 
have  no  more  taste  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  than  a  horse  and  a  mule 
have  for  the  high-seasoned  dishes  that  crown  a  royal  table.  An  im- 
mense gulf  is  fixed  between  them  and  the  Christian  faith.  In  their 
present  state  they  can  no  more  believe  with  their  heart  unto  righteous-^ 
ness  in  Christ,  than  an  unborn  infant  can  become  a  man  without 
passing  through  infancy  and  youth.  But,  although  they  cannot  yet 
believe  savingly  in  Christ,  may  they  not  believe  in  God  according  to 
the  import  of  our  Lord's  words.  Ye  believe  in  GoD^believe  also  in  Me  ? 
If  the  Pharisees  could  not  believe  in  Chrjst,  it  was  not  because  God 
never  gave  them  a  power  equal  to  that  which  created  the  world ; 
but,  because  they  were  practical  Atheists,  who  actually  rejected  the 
morning  light  of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  and  by  that  mean  absolutely 
unfitted  themselves  for  the  meridian  light  of  .the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion. This  is  evident  from  our  Lord's  own  words  :  I  know  you,  thai 
ye  have  not  the  love  of  God,  or  a  regard  for  God,  in  you.     I  come  in 


232  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

my  Father^s  name,  and  ye  receive  me  not,  though  you  mififht  do  it ; 
for,  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye  -mil  receive.  Hozv 
can  YE  B^:LIEVE,  who  receive  honour  one  of  another  ?  &.C.  Tfiere  is  one 
that  accuseth  you,  even  Moses,  in  whom  ye  trust.  For,  had  ye  believed 
Moses,  and  submitted  to  his  dispensntion,  ye  would  have  believed  me, 
and  submitted  to  my  Gospel.  But  if  ye  believe  not  his  writings,  how 
'shall  ye  believe  my  words  ? 

The  second  C3^use  of  our  mistake  about  the  impossibility  of  believing 
now,  is  the  confounding  of  faith  with  its  fruits  and  rewards  :  which 
naturally  leads  us  to  think,  that  we  cannot  believe,  or  that  our  faith 
is  vain,  till  those  rewards  and  fruits  appear.  But  is  not  this  being 
ingenious  to  make  the  worst  of  things  ?  Had  Abraham  no  faith  in 
God's  promise,  till  Isaac  was  born  ?  Was  Sarah  a  damnable  unbe- 
liever, till  she  felt  the  long-expected  fruit  of  her  womb  stir  there  ?, 
Had  the  woman  of  Canaan  no  faith  till  our  Lord  granted  her  request, 
and  cried  out,  0  woman,  great  is  thy  faith,  let  it  be  done  unto  thee  even 
as  thou  wilt  ?  Was  the  centurion  an  infidel,  till  Christ  marvelled  at 
his  faith,  and  declared  he  had  not  found  such  faith,  no  not  in  Israel  ? 
Was  Peter  faithless,  till  his  Master  said,  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  bar 
Jonah  ?  &c.  Did  the  weeping  penitent  begin  to  believe  only  when 
Christ  said  to  her.  Go  in  peace,  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee  ?  And  had 
the  apostles  no  faith  in  the  promise  of  the  Father,  till  their  heads  were 
actually  crowned  with  celestial  tire  ?  Should  we  not  distinguish  be- 
tween OUR  sealing  the  truth  of  our  dispensation  with  the  seal  of  our 
faith,  according  to  our  present  light  and  ability ;  and  God's  sealing 
the  truth  of  our  faith  with  the  seal  of  his  power,  or  actually  rewarding 
us  by  the  grant  of  some  eminent  and  uncommon  blessing  ? — To  be- 
lieve is  OUR  part ;  to  make  signs  follow  them  that  believe  is  God's 
part;  and  because  we  can  no  more  do  God's  part  than  we  can  make 
a  world,  is  it  agreeable  either  to  Scripture  or  reason  to  conclude, 
that  doing  our  part  is  equally  difficult  ?  Can  you  find  one  single 
instance  in  the  Scriptures  of  a  soul  willing  to  believe,  and  absolutely 
unable  to  do  it  ?  From  these  two  scriptures,  Lord,  increase  our 
faith  : — Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  my  unbelief,  can  you  justly  infer, 
that  the  praying  disciples  and  the  distressed  father  had  no  power  to 
believe  ?  Do  not  their  words  evidence  just  the  contrary  ?  That  we 
eannot  believe,  any  more  than  we  can  eat,  without  the  help  and 
poiver  of  God,  is  what  we  are  all  agreed  upon  ;  but,  does -this  in  the 
least  prove,  that  the  help  and  power,  by  which  we  believe,  is  as  far 
out  of  the  reach  of  willing  souls,  as  the  help  and  power  to  make  a 
world  ? 


A5I   ESSAY   ON   TRUTH.  233 

Such  scriptures  as  these,  Unto  you  it  is  given  to  believe — A  man  can 
receive  nothing,  except  it  be  given  him  from  above — Ab  man  can  come 
unto  me  except  the  Father  draw  him — Every  good  gift^  and  of  course 
that  of  faith,  comethfrom  the  Father  of  lights. — Such  scriptures,  I  say, 
secure  indeed  the  honour  of  free  grace,  but  do  not  destroy  the  power 
of  free  agency.  To  us,  that  freely  believe  in  a  holy,  righteous  God, 
it  is  given  freely  to  believe  in  a  gracious  bleeding  Saviour ;  because 
the  sick  alone  have  need  of  a  physician;  and  none  but  those  who  be- 
lieFe  in  God  can  see  the  need  of  an  advocate  with  him.  But  ought 
we  from  hence  to  conclude,  that  our  unbelieving  neighbours  are 
necessarily  debarred  from  believing  in  God  ?  When  our  Lord  said 
to  the  unbelieving  Jews,  that  they  could  not  believe  in  him,  did  he 
not  speak  of  a  moral  impotency — an  impotency  of  their  own  making? 
I  ask  it  again,  If  they  obstinately  resisted  the  light  of  their  inferior 
dispensation  ;  if  they  were  none  of  Christ's  Jewish  sheep,  how  could 
they  be  his  Christian  sheep  ?  If  an  obstinate  boy  sets  himself  against 
learning  the  letters,  how  can  he  ever  learn  to  read  ?  If  a  stubbora 
Jew  stiffly  opposes  the  law  of  Moses,  how  can  he  submit  to  the  law  of 
Christ  ?  Is  it  not  strange  that  some  good  people  should  leap  into 
reprobation,  rather  than  admit  so  obvious  a  solution  of  this  little 
difficulty  ! 

From  the  above-mentioned  texts  we  have  then  no  more  reason  to 
infer,  that  God  forces  believers  to  believe,  or  that  he  believes  for 
them,  than  to  conclude  that  God  constrains  diligent  tradesmen  to  get 
money,  or  gets  it  for  them,  because  it  is  said.  We  are  not  siifficient  to 
THINK  ANY  thing  as  of  ourselves,  but  our  sufficiency  is  of  God^-WHO 
GIVES  us  ALL  things  richly  to  enjoy. — Remember  tJie  Lord  thy  God,  for 
it  is  HE  that  GivETH  THEE  powcr  to  get  wealth. 

From  the  whole  I  conclude,  that  so  long  as  the  accepted  time  and 
the  day  of  salvation  continue,  all  sinners,  who  have  not  yet  finally 
hardened  themselves,  may  day  and  night  (through  the  help  and 
power  of  the  general  light  of  Christ's  saving  grace,  mentioned  John 
T.  9.  and  Tit.  ii.  11.)  receive  some  truth  belonging  to  the  everlasting 
Gospel ;  though  it  should  be  only  this  :  "  There  is  a  God,  who  will 
call  us  to  an  account  for  our  sins,  and  who  spares  us  to  break  them 
off  by  repentance."  And  their  cordial  believing  of  this  truth  would 
make  way  for  their  receiving  the  higher  truths,  that  stand  between 
them  and  the  top  of  the  naysterious  ladder  of  truth.  I  grant,  it  is 
impossible  they  should  leap  at  once  to  the  middle,  much  less  to  the 
highest  round  of  th  t  ladder  :  but  if  the  foot  of  it  is  upon  earth,  in 
the  very  nature  of  things,  the  lowest  step  is  within  their  reach,  and 
by  laying  hold  on  it,  they  may  jjo  on  from  faith  to  faith,  till  they 

Vol.  II.  "  30 


234  EdXJAh    CHECK.  PART  I. 

stand  firm  even  in  the  Christian  faith  ;  if  distinguishing  grace  ha* 
elected  them  to  hear  the  Christian  Gospel.  The  most  sudden  con- 
versions imply  this  gradual  transition.  As  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  caught  away  Philip  from  the  Eu- 
nuch, and  transported  him  to  Azotus,  he  made  Philip's  body  rapidly 
measure  all  the  distance  between  the  wilderness  of  Gaza  and  Azotus  : 
so,  when  he  helped  the  Philippian  jailer  from  the  gates  of  hell  to  the 
gates  of  heaven  in  one  night,  he  made  him  rapidly  pass  through  the 
fear  of  God,  the  dread  of  his  justice,  and  the  pangs  of  penitential 
desires  after  salvation,  before  he  entered  into  the  joyous  rest,  that 
remains  for  those  that  heartily  believe  in  Christ.  Nor  is  this  quick, 
though  gradual,  transition  from  midnight  darkness  to  noonday  light, 
an  unintelligible  mystery  ;  since  we  are  witnesses  of  a  similar  event 
every  revolving  day.  The  vegetable  and  the  animal  world  help  us 
likewise  to  understand  the  nature  of  sudden  conversions.  Every 
philosopher  knows,  that  a  mushroom  passes  through  almost  as  many^ 
stages  of  the  vegetative  life  in  six  hours,  as  an  oak  does  in  two  hun- 
dred years :  and  those  animalcula  that  frisk  into  life  in  the  morning 
of  a  summer's  day,  propagate  their  species  at  noon,  are  old  at  four 
o'clock,  and  dead  at  six,  measure  the  length  of  animal  life  as  really 
as  Methuselah  did  in  his  millennium. 

SECTION  II. 

Saving  Truth  is  the  object  of  Saving  Faith :  what  Truth  is^  and  what 
great  things  are  spoken  of  it.     Our  salvation  turns  upon  it. 

It  appears  by  the  preceding  section,  that  saving  Truth  is  the 
ground  and  object  of  saving  Faith  :  but  "  What  is  Truth  ?"-^This 
is  the  awful  question  that  Pilate  once  asked  of  him  who  was  best 
able  to  answer  it.  But  alas  !  Pilate  was  in  such  haste  through  the 
lying  fear  of  man,  that  he  did  not  stay  for  an  answer.  May  I  ven- 
ture to  give  one. — Truth  is  spiritual  substance ;  and  a  Lie,  spi- 
ritual shadow.  Truth  is  spiritual  light ;  and  a  Lie,  spiritual  dark- 
ness. Truth  is  the  root  of  all  virtue,  and  a  Lie  is  the  root  of  all 
vice.  Truth  is  the  celestial  tincture,  that  makes  spirits  good  ;  and 
a  Lie,  the  infernal  tincture  that  makes  them  evil.  A  Lie  is  nearly 
related  to  the  devil,  as  infection  to  one  that  has  the  plague,  or  opacity 
to  the  earth  :  and  Truth  is  as  nearly  related  to  God,  as  fragrancy  to 
burning  incense,  and  light  to  the  unclouded  sun. 

According  to  this  definition  of  Truth  and  Error,  may  we  not  give 
j^lain  and  scriptural  answers  to  some  of  the  deepest  questions  in  the 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  23^ 

world  ?  What  is  God  ?  The  reverse  of  the  prince  of  darkness,  and  of 
the  father  of  lies  :  He  is  the  Father  of  lights^  and  the  God  of  Truth  : 
He  is  Light,  and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all. — What  is  Christ  ?  He  i« 
the  bright?iess  of  his  Father'' s  glory  ;  a  light :  a  great  light  to  them  that 
dwell  in  the  shadow  of  death.  He  is  the  Truth  ;  the  truk  Witness  ; 
the  Truth  itself  ;  Emmanuel,  God  with  us,  full  of  grace  and  Trvth, 
—What  is  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  The  Spirit  of  Truth  :  Yea,  says  St. 
John,  The  Spirit  is  Truth,  and  leads  into  all  Truth. — What  is  Satan  ? 
The  Spirit  of  Error,  that  abode  not  in  the  Truth  ;  in  whom  there  is 
no  Truth,  and  who  deceives  the  nations,  which  are  in  the  four  quarters 
of  the  earth. 

Again,  What  is  the  Gospel  ?  The  word  of  Truth,  the  word  of  Gody 
the  word  of  faith,  the  word  of  the  kingdom,  the  word  of  life,  and  the 
word  of  salvation. — What  are  Gospel  ministers  ?  Men  that  bear 
zvittiess  to  the  Truth  ;  that  rightly  divide  the  word  of  Truth  ;  that 
are  fellow-helpers  to  the  Truth  ;  that  speak  forth  the  words  of  Truth  ; 
and  are  valiant  for  the  Truth  upon  the  earth. — What  is  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  ?  The  manifestation  of  the  Truth. — What  is  it  to 
believe  the  Gospel  ?  It  is  to  receive  the  k.>  owledge  of  the  Truth  ; 
to  receive  the  love  of  the  Truth  ;  and  to  obey  the  Truth. — What  is 
it  to  mistake  the  Gospel  ?  It  is  to  err  from  the  Truth  ;  to  turn  after 
fables ;  and  to  give  heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils.--- 
What  is  the  Church  ?  The  pillar  and  ground  o/*  Truth,  against  which 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail. — What  is  the  first  fruit  of  sincere 
repentance?  The  acknowledging  of  the  Truth. — What  are  believers? 
Persons  that  are  chosen  to  salvation  through  the  unnecessitated  belief  of 
the  Truth  ;  that  are  of  the  Truth  ;  that  know  the  Truth';  that  have 
the  Truth  in  their  inward  parts ;  that  have  a  good  report  of  the 
Truth  ;  in  whom  dwells  the  Truth  ;  who  have  been  taught  the  Truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus ;  in  whom  is  the  Truth  of  Christ  ;  who  have  purified 
their  souls  by  obeying  the  Truth  ;  and  walk  in  the  Truth. — What  are 
unstable  souls  ?  People  ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Truth,  with  whom  the  Truth  of  tfie  Gospel  does  not 
continue,  and  who  are  wilfully  bewitched,  that  they  should  not  obey  the 
Truth. — What  are  obstinate  unbelievers  ?  Men  of  corrupt  minds, 
destitute  of  the  Truth  ;  unreasonable  men,  that  resist  the  Truth  ;  that 
glory  and  lie  against  the  Truth  ;  that  walk  in  darkness,  and  do  not  the 
Truth. — What  are  apostates  ?  Men  that  sin  wilfully  after  they  have 
received  the  knowledge  of  the  Truth,  and,  instead  of  repenting,  count 
the  blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  they  were  sanctified  an  unholy 
thing. — What  are  perfect  men  in  Christ  ?  Men  that  are  established  in 
the  present  Truth,  i.  e.  in  the  Truth  revealed  under  the   Christian 


236  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

^dispensation,  and  that  can  do  nothing  against  the  Truth,  hut  for  the 
Truth. 

If  all  turns  thus  upon  Truth,  and  if  Truth  is  at  once  spiritual 
light,  and  the  object  of  saving  faith,  it  follows  :  1.  That  to  walk  in 
the  Truth,  to  walk  in  the  Light,  and  to  walkhy  Faith,  are  phrases  of 
the  same  import.  2.  That  to  be  converted  is  to  be  turned  from  dark- 
ness to  Light,  that  is,  from  the  practical  belief  of  a  lie  to  the  practical 
helief  of  the  Truth  ;  or,  as  St.  Paul  expresses  it,  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God :  And  3.  That  the  chief  business  of  the  tempter,  is 
to  take  the  word  of  truth  out  of  our  hearts^  lest  we  should  believe  and  be 
saved :  or,  in  other  terms,  to  blind  our  mindsy  lest  the  light  of  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  Christ  should  shine  unto  us. 

If  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Truth,  the  Light,  the  Life,  and  the  Word, 
that  was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  and  was  God ;  the  Word,  by  which 
all  things  were  made,  and  are  preserved — If  he  is  the  Light  that  shineth 
in  darkness,  even  when  the  darkness  comprehendeth  it  not — If  he  is  the 
true  Light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world,  while  the 
day  of  salvation  lasts — If  he  is  the  archetyppi,  the  eternal,  living  pat- 
tern of  all  saving  truth — If  he  is  the  essential,  almighty  Word,  from 
whom  revealed  Truth,  and  the  Word  of  our  salvation,  flow  as  con- 
stantly as  light  and  heat  from  the  sun  ;  do  we  not  slight  him,  and 
despise  eternal  life,  when  we  slight  the  Truth,  and  despise  the 
Word  ?  And  may  not  the  great  things  spoken  of  the  Word  confirm 
what  has  been  said  of  the  Truth,  and  help  us  to  answer  the  questions 
already  proposed  in  a  manner  equally  Scriptural  and  conclusive  ? 

Not  forgetting  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  Word  nigh,  the  Word 
behind  us,  the  still  small  voice,  and  the  word  of  that  grace,  which  has 
appeared  unto  all  men,  teaching  them  to  deny  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live 
soberly,  &c.  I  ask.  What  are  evangelists  ?  Men,  who  bear  record  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  bear  witness  of  the  light,  that  all  men  may 
believe :  sowers  that  sow  the  Word  of  the  kingdom ;  holding  forth  the 
Word  of  life.  What  are  false  apostles  ?  Men  that  corrupt  the  Word 
of  God,  that  handle  the  word  of  God  deceitfully,  and  preach  another 
Gospel ;  whose  words  eat  as  does  a  canker, — What  are  believers  ? 
People  that  hear  the  Word  of  God  and  keep  it ;  that  are  begotten  of 
God  by  the  Word  of  Truth ;  that  are  born  again  by  the  Word  of  God  ; 
that  hear  the  sayings  of  Christ,  and  do  them;  in  whose  hearts  the  Word 
of  Christ  dwells  richly;  who  receive  it  not  as  the  word  of  men,  but  as 
it  is  in  truth,  the  Word  of  God,  which  worketh  effectually  in  them  that 
believe  it  :  they  are  persons  that  receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted 
Word  ;  which  is  able  to  save  their  souls ;  that  have  tasted  the  good 
Word  of  God;  that  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word,  that  they  m(»y 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  Si37 

grow  thereby  :  that  gladly  receive  the  Word  ;  have  God^s  Word  abiding 
in  them  ;  are  made  clean  through  the  Word,  which  Christ  speaks^  by 
his  ministers,  his  Scriptures,  his  Spirit,  his  works,  or  his  rod  ;  and 
in  whom  the  seed  of  that  Word  produces  thirty-fold,  sixty-fold,  or  a 
hundred-fold,  according  to  their  hght,  faithfulness,  and  opportunity. 

Again,  What  are  unbelievers  ?  Antinomian  hypocrites  that  hear  the 
SAYINGS  of  Christ,  and  do  them  not ;  or  Pharisaic  despisers  that  stumble 
at  the  Word,  speak  against  those  things  which  are  spoken  by  God's 
messengers  ;  contradicting  and  blaspheming  ;  and  who,  by  putting  the 
Word  of  God  from  them,  judge  themselves  unworthy  of  eternal  life. — 
What  are  martyrs  ?  Witnesses  of  the  truth,  slain  for  the  Word  of  God, 
— And  what  are  apostates  ?  Persons  in  whom  the  Word  is  choaked  by 
the  cares  of  this  world,  or  the  deceitfulness  of  riches ;  who  fall  away 
when  persecution  ariseth  because  of  the  Word  ;  by  reason  of  whom  the 
way  of  Truth  is  evil  spoken  of;  and  in  whom  the  seed  of  the  Word 
becometh  unfruitful — Thus  all  turns  still  upon  Truth  and  the  Word 
of  God. 

SECTION  III. 

That  according  to  Reason  and  Scripture,  there  is  a  saving  almighty 
power  in  Truth,  and  the  Word  of  God. 

Should  the  Reader  ask  here,  how  it  is  possible,  the  Word  and 
the  Truth  should  be  so  nearly  related  to  our  Saviour,  that  to  receive 
them  is  to  receive  Him,  and  to  reject  them  is  to  reject  Him,  and  his 
salvation  :  I  answer,  that  in  the  spiritual,  as  well  as  in  the  political 
and  mercantile  world,  sig?is  are  necessary  by  which  to  convey  our 
thoughts  and  resolutions.  Hence  the  use  of  Letters,  Notes,  Bonds, 
and  Charters  ;  of  Revelations,  Traditions,  Scriptures,  and  Sacraments. 
Now  an  honest  man's  word  is  as  good  as  his  bond  or  pledge,  and  as 
true  as  his  heart;  his  word  or  bond  being  nothing  but  his  mind  or 
determination  fairly  conveyed  to  others  by  the  means  of  his  tongue  or 
of  his  hand.  Therefore,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  to  receive  the 
Word  of  Christ,  is  to  receive  Christ,  who  dwells  in  our  hearts  bt 
FAITH  ;  whom  believers  know  now  after  the  flesh  no  more  ;  who  com- 
missioned his  favourite  apostle  to  say.  He  that  abideth  in  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  hath  both  the  Father  and  the  Son;  and  who  personally 
declares.  My  mother  and  my  brothers  are  these,  that  hear  the  word  of 
God  and  keep  it. 

As  the  legislative  power  has  appointed,  that  pure  gold  duly  stamp- 
ed, and  Bank-notes  properly  drawn  up,  shall  represent  the  value. 


238  EQUAL  CHECK.  PART  I. 

and  procure  the  possession  of  all  the  necessaries  and  conveniences  of 
life,  which  can  be  bought  with  money  ;  so  our  heavenly  Lawgiver  has 
fixed  that  the  Word  of  Truth  shall  answer  in  his  spiritual  kingdom, 
the  end  of  gold  and  letters  of  exchange  in  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  : 
and  this  spiritual  gold,  this  Word  tried  to  the  uttermost,  he  offers  to  all 
that  are  poor,  and  blind^  and  naked,  that  they  may  he  rich  in  faith,  "  / 
counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich.^^ 

Again  :  as  a  Will  conveys  an  immense  fortune  ;  and  a  Death-war- 
rant a  capital  punishment :  so  does  the  Word  of  God  convey  the  uti- 
searchable  riches  of  Christ  to  obedient  believers,  and  the  dreadful  pun- 
ishments of  the  damned  to  obstinate  unbelievers.  I  readily  grant 
that  a  Bank-note  is  not  gold,  that  a  Will  is  not  an  estate,  and  that  a 
Death-warrant  is  not  the  gollows :  nevertheless,  so  strong  is  the  con- 
nexibn  between  those  seemingly  insignificant  signs,  and  the  important 
things  which  thej'^  signify,  that  none  but  fools  will  throw  away  their 
bank-notes,  or  the  wills  of  their  friends,  as  waste-paper  ;  none  but 
madmen  will  sport  with  their  death-warrant  as  with  a  play-bill.  Now 
if  the  written  rvord  of  men,  who,  through  forgetfulness,  fickleness, 
impotence,  or  unfaithfulness,  often  break  their  engagements,  can 
nevertheless  have  sucb  force  ;  how  excessively  foolhardy  are  sin- 
ners, that  disregard  the  Word  of  the  King  of  kings,  who  cannot  lie  / 
the  proclamations  of  the  God  of  Truth,  with  whom  no  word  is  impos- 
sible !  the  promises  and  threatenings,  the  will  and  testament  of  the 
Almighty,  who  says.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  word 
shall  not  pass  away  ! 

Once  more  :  Althongh  no  man  knows  the  Father  immediately  hut  the 
Son,  yet  the  Father  may  be  immediately  known  by  his  Works,  his 
Word,  and  his  Son.  For,  leaving  room  for  the  liberty  of  moral  agents 
and  their  works,  God's  Works  are  always  as  his  Word.  Hence  we 
read,  God  said.  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light:  Cursed  be  the 
frroundfor  man''s  sake,  and  the  ground  was  cursed  :  For  he  spake,  and 
it  was  DONE  ;  he  commanded,  and  it  stood  fast.  As  God's  Works 
are  the  express  image  of  his  Word  uttered  without, — of  his  out-going 
Word  (if  I  may  so  speak  :)  so  his  put-going  Word  is  the  express 
ima^e  of  his  immanent,  essential  Word,  which  is  his  eternal  mind,  and 
which  the  Scriptures  call  indifferently,  the  Word,  t^ie  Wisdom,  the 
Son  of  God,  or  the  express  Image  of  his  Father's  glory.  Hence  it  ap- 
pears, that  as  the  essential  Word,  Christ,  is  one  with  the -Father  ;  so 
the  word  of  Sawng  Truth  is  one  with  the  Son  :  and  that  David,  Solo- 
mon, and  St.  Paul,  spoke  noble  truths  when  they  said  :  "  Whoso  despi- 
seth  the  Wqrd  shall  bedestroyed— By  the  Word  of  thy  lips  1  have  kept 
me  from  the  ways  of  the  destroyer.™ The  Law,  or  Word  of  the  Lor<? 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH,   ^C.  239^ 

is  an  undefiled  Word :  it  is  sure  and  giveth  wisdom  to  tbe  simple  :  it 
is  right  and  rejoiceth  the  heart,  it  is  pure  and  giveth  light :  it  is  true 
and  righteous  altogether;  more  to  be  desired  than  gold,  yea,  thaa 
much  fine  gold  ; — better  to  me  than  thousands  of  gold  and  silver  ; — - 
sweeter  also  than  honey,  and  the  honeycomb  : — It  is  a  lamp  unto  my 
feet,  and  a  light  unto  my  path  :  by  it  is  thy  servant  taught  and  made 
wise  to  salvation  ;  and  in  keeping  of  it  there  is  great  reward,  even  the 
reward  of  the  inheritance,"  a  kingdom  of  grace  here,  and  a  kingdom 
of  glory  hereafter. 

But  let  our  Lord  himself  be  heard,  and  he  will  join  himself  in  mys- 
tic trinity  to  the  Word,  and  to  the  Truth  of  God.  He  promiscuously 
nses  the  expressions  Truth  and  Word.,  which  make  the  burden  of  the 
last  section.  When  he  recommends  his  disciples  to  his  Father,  he 
says,  Sanctify  them  through  thy  Truth,  thy  Word  is  Truth.  Hence  it 
appears,  that  the  Truth  and  the  Word  are  terms  of  the  same  import  ; 
that  the  Word  of  Truth  is  a  sanctifying  emanation  from  God,  and  the 
ordinary  vehicle  of  the  divine  power  ;  and  that  our  Lord  uttered  a 
rational  mystery  when  he  said.  He  that  receiveth  you  (the  witnesses  of 
7/17/  Truth  and  the  sowers  of  my  word)  receiveth  me :  and  he  that  re- 
ceiveth me  receiveth  him  that  sent  me.  But,  Whosoever  shall  be  ashamed 
of  ME  and  of  my  words,  of  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed,  when 
he  Cometh  in  the  glory  of  his  Father.  And  imperfect  believers  he  en- 
couraged thus  :  If  ye  continue  in  my  Word,  &c.  ye  shall  know  the  Truth^ 
and  the  Truth  shall  make  you  free,  &lc.  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free, 
ye  shall  be  free  indeed. — Important  scriptures  these^  which  show  the 
connexion  of  the  Truth  with  the  Son  of  God !  Blessed  scriptures, 
which  St.  Paul  sums  tip  in  the  following  words  !  Say  not  in  thy  heart. 
Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven  ?  [that  is,  to  bring  Christ  down  from 
above)  Or,  who  shall  descend  into  the  deep  ?  (that  is,  to  bring  up  Christ 
again  from  the  dead.)  But  what  saith  the  righteousness  which  is  of 
faith  7  The  Word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart :  that 
is,  the  Word  of  faith  which  we  preach. 

Nor  is  this  doctrine  of  the  apostle  contrary  to  what  he  says  on 
another  occasion  :  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power, 
i.  e.  true  religion  does  not  consist  in  fine  talking,  but  in  powerful 
believing  and  holy  living :  for  what  is  more  powerful  than  Truth  ? 
"  Truth  is  great,  and  will  prevail  :"  Truth  is  the  strongest  thing  in  the 
world  :  it  overturns  the  thrones  of  tyrants,  and  supports  God's  ever- 
lasting throne. 

Again,  the  word  of  man  brings  strange  things  to  pass.  Let  but  a 
general  speak,  and  an  army  of  Russians  marches  up  through  clouds 
of  smoke,  flames  of  fire,  and  volleys  of  iron  balls,  to  form  heaps  of 


240  ^  EQUAL   CHECK*  PAKt   h 

dead  or  dying  bodies  before  the  intrenchments  of  the  Turks.  Ad 
admiral  gives  the  word  of  command,  it  may  be  only  by  hoisting  a  flag ; 
and  a  fleet  is  under  sail ;  artificial  clouds  and  thunders  are  formed 
oyer  the  sea  :  the  billows  seem  to  be  mingled  with  fire  ;  and  the  king 
of  terrors  flies  from  deck  to  deck  in  his  most  dreadful  and  bloody 
forms . 

If  such  is  the  power  of  the  word  of  a  man,  who  is  but  a  worm  ; 
how  almighty  must  be  the  word  of  God !  By  the  word  of  the  Lord 
were  the  heavens  made^  saith  David  :  The  "worlds  were  framed  by  the 
WORD  of  God,  adds  St.  Paul,  and  he  upholdeth  all  things  by  the  word 
of  his  power.  That  word,  no  necessary  agents  can  resist.  It  rolls 
the  planets  with  as  much  ease  as  hurricanes  whirl  the  dust.  If  free 
agents  can  resist  his  word  of  command,  it  is  only  because  he  permits 
it  for  their  trial.  But,  wo  to  them  that  resist  it  to  the  end  of  their 
day  of  probation  :  for  they  shall  feel  the  resistless  force  of  his 
WORD  of  punishment  :  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire. 
And  who  is  the  god  that  shall  break  the  adamantine,  infernal  chains, 
which  that  dreadful  word  will  rivet  upon  them  ? 

We  read  in  the  Gospel,  that  our  Lord  marvelled  at  the  centurion's 
faith  as  greater  faith  than  he  had  found  in  Israel.  But  wherein  con- 
sisted the  peculiar  greatness  of  that  man's  faith  ?  Is  it  not  evident 
from  the  context,  that  it  was  in  the  noble  and  lively  apprehension, 
which  he  had  of  the  force  and  energy  of  Christ's  word,  Lord,  said 
he,  /  am  a  man  under  the  authority  of  my  colonel  and  general,  and  yet 
having  soldiers  under  me,  I  say  to  one,  Go ;  and  he  goeth :  and  to 
another.  Come;  and  he  cometh,  4*c.  Now,  Lord,  if  my  word  has  such 
power,  what  cannot  thine  do  ?  Speak  the  word  only,  and  my  servant 
shall  be  healed. 

Why  is  Abraham  called  The  father  of  the  faithful?  Is  it  not 
because  judging  him  faithful  and  almighty  that  had  promised,  against 
hope  he  believed  in  hope,  that  he  should  become  the  father  of  many 
nations ;  according  to  that  which  was  spoken  :  So  shall  thy  seed  be  ?  Is 
it  not  because  he  staggered  not  at  the  promise,  or  word  of  God,  through 
unbelief;  but  was  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God ;  and  being  fully 
persuaded,  that  what  he  had  promised,  he  was  able  also  to  perform  ;  and 
therefore  it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness?  And  shall  not  the 
like  faith  be  imputed  to  us  also,  if  we  believe  the  saving  truth  revealed, 
dr  the  divine  record  given  under  the  present  dispensation  of  the 
Gospel :  viz.  that  God  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  who 
was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and  raised  again  for  our  justification  ? 

Oh  I  who  can  ilescribe  the  needless  perplexities  of  those  wilful 
unbelievers,  that  have  the  truth  of  their  dispensation  clearly  brought 


AN   ESSAY  ON    TRUTH.  241 

to  thera,  and  yet,  like  Thomas,  resolutely  set  themselves  against  it, 
saying,  I  will  not  believe?  And  who  can  enumerate  the  blessings  which 
those  childlike  souls  inherit,  who,  instead  of  quarrelling  with,  cor- 
dially embrace,  the  word  of  God,  and  set  to  their  seal  that  God  is 
true  ?  They  seal  God's  truth,  and  God  seals  their  hearts :  Their 
faith  is  imputed  to  them  for  righteousness  ;  their  faith  saves  them ;  it  is 
done  to  them  according  to  their  faith  ;  the  God  of  hepe  Jills  them  "with 
all  JOY  and  peace  in  believing.  Thus,  ihrovgh  faith,  they  not  only 
subdue  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  but  inherit  the  present  kingdom  of 
God,  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  received  by  the 
hearing  of  faith.  Well-disposed  reader,  if  thou  doubtest  the  truth  of 
those  scriptures,  try  it  by  believing  now  what  appears  to  thee  to  be 
the  saving  truth  of  thy  dispensation  :  believe  it  with  all  thy  present 
might,  be  it  little  or  be  it  much  ;  and  if,  in  a  little  time  thou  dost  not 
find  thyself  more  settled  and  free,  more  able  to  tight  against  sin  and 
to  take  up  thy  cross,  let  me  bear  the  blame  for  ever. 

Did  the  success  of  God's  word  depend  only  upon  him,  the  truth 
would  always  operate  in  a  saving  mduuer.  If  men  were  not  to  work 
out  their  owrt  salvation,  Dy  freely  repenting,  believing,  and  obeying, 
with  the  power  to  will  and  to  do,  which  God  gives  them  of  his  good 
pleasure  ;  all  mankind  would  repent,  believe,  and  obey,  as  passively 
as  clocks  go,  and  as  regularly  as  the  sun  rises.  But,  we  are  moral 
agents  ;  and  works  morally  good  depend  as  much  upon  the  concur- 
rence of  God's  free  grace,  and  of  our  free  obedience  of  faith,  as  the 
birth  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  did  upon  the  marriage  of  the  King  and 
Queen.  Hence  we  read,  To  whom  sware  he^  that  they  should  not  enter 
into  his  rest,  but  to  them  that  believed  not?  For  the  Word  preached  did 
not  profit  them,  not  because  the  seed  was  bad,  or  because  they  had  no 
power  to  receive  it ;  but,  because  it  was  not  mixed  with  faith  in  them 
that  heard  it. — Wherefore,  says  the  apostle,  to-day  if  you  will  hear  his 
voice,  harden  not  your  hearts.  4'C.  Take  heed  lest  there  be  in  any  of 
you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  ^c.  and  Exhort  one  another  daily 
to  believe. 

The  genuine  seed  of  the  word  is  then  always  good,  always  full  of 
divine  energy.  If  it  does  not  spring  up,  or  if  after  it  has  sprung  up, 
it  does  not  bring  forth  fruit  to  perfection,  it  is  entirely  the  fault  of  the 
ground.  The  words  that  I  speak,  says  our  Lord,  though  it  should  be 
only  by  the  mouth  of  my  servants,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life  to 
BELIEVING  hearts.  For  Christ  gave  himself  for  the  Church,  that  he 
might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  Word  : — 
IF  it  contimie  in  the  faith: — holding  fast  the  faithful  Word: — the 
Word  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  come  in  all  the  world,  and 

Vol.  II.  ^  SI 


242  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I, 

bringeth  forth  fruit  since  the  day  it  is  heard  in  faith  ;  it  being  the  grand 
office  of  the  Spirit,  to  make  the  word  of  God,  when  it  is  mixed  with 
faith  on  our  part,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to 
the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  to  the  discerning  and 
destroying  of  the  bad  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart. 

Nothing,  therefore,  can  be  more  certain  than  the  connexioc 
between  the  power  of  God  and  the  Truth  of  the  Gospel. — "  Truth 
(says  a  divine  of  the  last  century)  is  that  eternal  word  of  the  Father, 
which,  in  the  Son,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  revealed  to  us,  to  be  our 
guide  back  again  to  that  bosom,  whence  it  and  we  first  came  :  it  is 
that  Jacobus  ladder,  let  down  to  us  from  heaven  to  earth,  whereby 
his  angels  (his  messengers)  lead  up  from  earth  to  heaven  :  it  is  that 
Rahab^s  scarlet  thread,  let  down  from  the  window  of  heaven,  to  wind 
us  up  by  :  the  apostle  calls  it  a  girdle,  the  girdle  o/*  Truth, — a  girdle 
thnt,  by  many  several  links,  ending  where  it  began,  returning  whence 
it  first  proceeded,  clasps  itself  again  in  the  bosom  of  its  author,  God." 
According  to  this  noble  description  of  Truth,  is  it  not  evident,  that  all 
the  righteous  power,  which  works  m  the  spiritual  world,  is  the  power 
of  God  and  of  Truth?  and  therefore,  that  our  Lord  answered  like 
divine  wisdom  manifest  in  the  flesh,  when  he  asserted,  that  to  believe 
on  Him,  is  to  work  the  work  of  God, — that  he  who  believeth  hath  ever- 
lasting life, — that  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live, — that  he  that 
liveth  and  believeth  on  him  (which  implies  a  continuance  of  the  action) 
shall  never  die : — that  rivers  of  living  water  (streams  of  comfort  and 
power)  shalLflow  out  of  his  belly  (i.  e.  spring  from  his  inmost  soul) — 
and  that  he  shall  do  great  works ;  the  Gospel  being  the  power  of  God 
to  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth  ;  and  all  things  being  possible 
to  him  that  believeth,  because  his  faith  apprehends  the  Word,  Truth, 
and  Power,  of  the  Almighty. 

SECTION  IV. 

There  are  various  sorts  of  Truths.  Idolatry  and  Formality  consist  in 
putting  INFERIOR  in  the  room  of  superior  Truths.  Evangelical  and 
moral,  i.  e.  religious  Truths  alone  change  the  heart. 

When  I  said  that  living  faith  has  saving  truth  for  its  object,  I  did 
not  use  the  word  saving  without  reason  :  for,  as  every'stone  is  not 
precious,  so  every  truth  is  not  saving.  There  are  then  various  sorts 
of  truths.  "  There  is  a  sun,"  is  a  physical  or  natural  truth  : — "  Our 
ideas  of  the  sun  are  mental  pictures  of  the  sun,"  is  a  metaphysical 
truth  : — "  All  the  points  of  a  circle  are  equally  distant  from  the 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  243 

centre,"  is  r  mathematical  truth  : — "  No  just  conclusion  can  be  drawn 
from  false  premises,"  is  a  logical  truth  : — "  Alexander  conquered 
Persia,"  is  a  historical  truth  : — "  There  is  a  God,  and  this  God  is  ta 
be  worshipped  according  to  the  different  manifestations  of  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,"  are  two  religious  truths,  the  first  of  which 
belongs  to  natural,  and  the  second  to  revealed  religion. — "  Every  man 
is  to  love  his  neighbour  as  himself,"  is  a  moral  truth. — "  A  spiritual 
Jew  is  circumcised  in  heart,  and  a  spiritual  Christian  is  baptized  with 
the  Spirit,"  is  an  evangelical  truth,  typified  by  the  outward  signs  of 
circumcision  and  of  baptism. 

When  natural  and  inferior  truths  raise  our  minds  to  the  God  of 
nature  and  of  grace,  they  answer  their  spiritual  ends  :  but  if  they 
are  put  in  the  place  of  their  archetypes  and  antitypes,  the  truth  of 
God  is  changed  into  a  lie.  Take  some  instances  of  it :  The  invisible 
things  of  God,  says  St.  Paul,  are  understood  by  the  things  that  are  made^ 
or  visible  ;  but,  who  considers  the  profound  truth  couched  under  his 
words  ?  Certainly  not  those  heathen,  who  worship  the  material,  in- 
stead of  the  immaterial  sun  :  nor  those  Jews,  who  are  regardless  of 
the  circumcision  of  the  heart,  and  rest  satisfied  with  an  external  cir- 
cumcision :  nor  those  Papists,  who  pay  divine  honours  to  a  bit  of 
typical  bread,  which  their  fancy  has  turned  into  the  identical  body  of 
our  Lord  ;  nor  yet  those  Protestants,  who,  being  unmindful  of  the 
baptism  of  the  Spirit,  exert  themselves  only  in  sprinkling  infants  with, 
or  dipping  adults  in,  material  water  :  for  they  all  equally  forget,  that 
the  letter  of  natural  and  typical  things  alone  projiteih  little,  or  nothing 
comparatively  ;  and  that  it  killeth,  when  it  is  opposed  to  the  Spirit, 
and  made  to  supersede  the  invisible  and  heavenly  archetypes,  which 
2;m6/e  and  earthly  things  shadow  out ;  or  when  it  causes  us  to  set 
aside  the  precious  antitypes,  which  typical  things  point  unto. 

Thus  thousands  of  sinners,  like  the  rich  glutton  in  the  Gospel,  are 
spiritually,  if  not  corporally,  killed  by  meats  and  drinks,  which  should 
raise  them  to  their  invisible  archetypes,  the  heavenly  manna,  and 
the  wine  of  God's  kingdom — Thus,  conjugal  love,  which  should  raise 
married  persons  to  a  more  lively  contemplation  of  the  mystical  union 
between  the  heavenly  bridegroom  and  his  faithful  spouse,  has  a  quite 
contrary  effect  upon  numbers  :  absurdly  resting  in  the  fading  type, 
they  think  that,  "  I  have  married  a  'wife'*'*  is  a  sufficient  reason  to  give 
Christ  a  bill  of  divorce,  or  to  show  him  the  greatest  indifference. — 
Thus  also  the  Jews  committed  the  deadly  sins  of  idolatry  and  murder, 
through  their  regard  for  their  brazen  serpent  and  the  temple  ;  an 
extravagant  regard  this,  which  caused  them  to  neglect,  and  at  last  to 


244  ,EQOAL  CHECK.  FART  I. 

crucify  Christ,  the  invaluable  antitype  of  both  the  brazen  serpent 
and  of  the  temple. 

Hence  it  appears,  that  the  sin  o(  formalists  is  not  unlike  that  of 
idolaters.  As  God  has  blessed  his  Church  with  various  forms  of 
worship,  and  literal  manifestations  of  his  truth,  that  they  might  lead 
us  to  the  power  of  godliness,  and  to  the  truth  in  the  Spirit:  so  he 
has  filled  the  natural  world  with  a  variety  of  creatures,  which  bears 
some  signatures  of  his  own  unseen  excellencies.  But  alas !  if  we 
are  only  formal  and  letter-learned  professors,  we  absurdly  set  up  our 
forms  and  the  letter  against  the  power  and  spiritual  operations,  which 
they  shadow  out  :  and  if  we  are  idolaters,  we  love  arid  serve  the  crea- 
ture more  than  the  Creator,  who  has  given  us  the  outlines  of  his  invi- 
sible glories  in  the  visible  creation,  that  in  and  through  every  thing, 
we  might  feel  after  him  and  find  him.  Thus  formality  and  idolatry 
equally  defeat  God's  gracious  designs  towards  mankind,  the  one  by 
opposing  forms^  and  the  other  by  opposing  creatures  to  God. 

To  return  :  All  sorts  of  truths,  if  they  are  kept  in  their  proper 
places,  may  improve  the  understanding  :  but  religious  truths  only 
have  a  direct  tendency  to  improve  the  will,  which  is  the  spring  of 
our  tempers  and  actions  :  Therefore,  although  I  have  all  knowledge 
but  that  which  is  productive  of  charity,  I  am  nothing:  the  faith 
of  God's  elect  being  only  the  cordial,  practical  acknowledging  of 
the  TRUTH,  which  is  after  godliness— of  the  saving  Truth,  as  it  is 
in  Jesus. 

A  total  inattention  to  every  kind  of  truth  makes  a  man  brutish. 
An  eager  pursuit  of  natural,. mathematical,  logical,  historical  truths, 
&;c.  attended  with  a  neglect  of  religious  truths,  tends  to  make  a  man 
an  infidel :  and  this  neglect,  grown  up  into  an  obstinate,  practical  op- 
position to  moral,  as  well  as  to  evangelical,  truths,  turns  him  into  an 
enemy  of  all  righteousness,  and  a  persecutor. 

But,  when  candour,  a  degree  of  which  we  may  have  through  the 
light  that  enlightens  every  man  ;  when  free  agency,  assisted  by  the 
spirit  of  power,  that  accompanies  the  word  of  truth  ;  when  candour^ 
I  say,  and  free  agency  thus  assisted,  attend  and  submit  to  the  reli- 
gious truths  revealed  under  our  dispensation ;  then  the  divine  seed 
falls  into  good  ground:  Christ  begins  to  be  formed  in  our  hearts  : 
and,  according  to  our  dispensation,  we  receive  power  to  become  sons 
of  God :  For  we  (even  as  many  as  receive  with  meekness  the  engrafted 
word)  are  all  the  children  of  God  through  faith  in  the  light  of  the  worlds 
— through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  all  men,  but  es- 
pecially of  them  that  believe  unto  righteousness ;  whether  they  do  it 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  246 

with  meridian  light  and  intense  fervour,  as  true  Christians  ;  with 
morning  light  and  growing  vigour,  as  pious  Jews  ;  or  only  with 
dawning  light  and  timorous  sincerity,  as  converted  Heathens. 

Some  sorts  of  truth,  like  some  kinds  of  food,  are  richer  than  others. 
Infants  in  grace  must  be  fed  with  the  plainest  truths,  which  the 
apostle  calls  milk;  but  stronger  souls  may  feast  upon  what  would  give 
a  surfeit  to  babes  in  Christ :  For  every  one  that  useth  milk  is  unskilful  in 
the  WORD  of  righteousness.  But  strong  meat  belongeth  to  them  that  are 
of  full  age,  even  those  who,  by  reason  of  use,  have  their  spiritual  senses 
exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil,  truth  and  error,  as  quickly  and 
as  surely  as  our  bodily  senses  distinguish  sweet  from  bitter,  and  light 
from  darkness.  Truth  is  spiritual  light;  too  much  of  it  might  daz- 
zle the  weak  eyes  of  our  understanding.  A  parabolical  blind  is  of 
great  service  in  such  a  case.  When  the  apostles  were  yet  carnal, 
our  Lord  said  to  them,  I  have  many  things  to  say  to  you,  but  ye  cannot 
bear  them  nozv  :  no,  not  in  parables.  Howbeit  -when  the  Spirit  of  truth 
is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  evangelical  truth.  A  sure  proof  this, 
that  truth  is  the  light,  the  food,  the  way  of  souls  ;  and  that  the  grand 
business  of  the  Spirit  is  to  lead  us  into  the  Truth,  as  we  can  bear  it, 
and  as  we  choose  to  walk  in  it. 

SECTION  V. 

Truth,  cordially  embraced  by  Faith,  saves  under  every  dispensation  of 
Divine  grace,  though  in  different  degrees.  A  short  view  of  the  truths 
that  characterize  the  four  grand  dispensations  of  the  everlasting 
Gospel. 

I  HAVE  signified  that  faith  is  more  or  less  operative  according  to 
the  quality  of  the  truths  which  it  embraces.  This  observation  recom- 
mends itself  to  reason  :  for,  as  some  wines  are  more  generous,  and 
some  remedies  more  powerful  ;  so  some  truths  are  more  reviving  and 
sanctifying  than  others.  But  every  evangelical  truth,  being  a  beam 
of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  risen  upon  us  with  healing  in  his  wings,  is 
of  a  SAVING  nature.  Thus  I  am  saved  from  Atheism,  by  heartily 
believing,  there  is  a  God  who  will  judge  the  world  : — from  Pharisaism, 
by  firmly  believing,  that  1  am  a  miserable  sinner,  and  that  without 
Christ  1  can  do  nothing  : — from  Sadduceism,  by  truly  believing,  that 
the  Spirit  itself  helpeth  my  infirmities :  from  Antinomianism,  by 
cordially  believing,  that  God  is  not  a  respecter  of  persons,  hut  a  Re- 
warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him,  and  a  Punisher  of  all  that 
presumptuously  break  his  commandments  ;— and  from  despair,  by 


246  EQUAL    CHECK.  FART  I. 

steadily  believing  that  God  is  love,  that  he  sent  his  only-hegotten  Son  into 
the  world  to  save  that  which  was  lost,  and  that  I  have  an  Advocate  with 
the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous. 

Hence  it  appears  :  1.  That  every  religious  truth,  suitable  to  our 
present  circumstances,  (when  it  is  kindly  represented  by  tree  grace, 
and  affectionately  embraced  by  prevented  free  will)  instantly  forms, 
according  to  its  degree,  the  saving,  operative  faith,  that  converts, 
transforms,  and  renews  the  soul.  And  2.  That  this  faith  is  more  or 
less  operative  according  to  the  quality  of  the  truth  presented  to  us  ; 
according  to  the  power,  with  which  the  Spirit  of  grace  impresses  it 
upon  our  hearts  ;  and  according  to  the  earnestness,  with  which  we 
receive,  espouse,  and  welcome  it  to  our  inmost  souls. 

When  God  fixed  the  bounds  of  the  habitation  of  mankind,  he  placed 
some  nations  in  warm  climates  and  fruitful  countries,  where  the  juice 
of  the  grape  is  plentiful  next  to  water.  And  to  others  he  assigned  a 
barren  rocky  soil,  covered  with  snow  half  the  year :  water  is  their 
cordial,  nor  have  they  any  more  idea  of  their  want  of  wine,  than 
St.  Peter  had  of  his  want  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  when  be  made  the 
noble  confession  upon  which  the  Christian  church  is  founded.  O, 
says  a  Predestinarian  geographer,  the  God  of  providence  has  abso- 
lutely reprobated  those  "  poor  creatures."  Not  so,  replies  an 
unprejudiced  philosopher  ;  they  may  be  as  healthy  and  happy  over 
their  cup  of  cold  water,  as  som^i  of  our  men  of  fortune  are  over  the 
bottles  of  Claret  and  Madeira  that  load  their  festive  tables.  And  some 
of  those  "  popr  creatures,"  as  you  call  them,  may  come  from  the  east 
and  from  the  west,  to  drink  the  wine  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  with 
Abraham,  when  the  children  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  thrust  out. 

What  I  have  said  of  water  and  wine,  may  illustrate  what  the  Scrip- 
tures say  of  the  truths  peculiar  to  the  Gospel  dispensation.  God  for- 
bid, that  an  antichristian  zeal  for  the  Christian  Gospel  should  m^.ke 
me  drive  into  the  burning  lake,  Christ's  sheep,  which  are  big  with 
young  :  1  mean  the  sincere  worshippers,  that  wait  like  pious  Melchi- 
sedec,  devout  Lydia,  and  charitable  Cornelius,  for  brighter  displays  of 
Gospel  grace  :  for,  there  are  faithful  souls  that  follow  their  light 
under  every  (dispensation,  concerning  whom  our  Lord  kindly  said, 
Other  sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  Jewish  fold.  Them  also  I 
must  bring  into  marvellous  light,  ajid  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one 
Shepherd.  Those  feeble  sheep  and  tender  lambs  I  mu«t  take  into 
my  bosom  ;  and  to  give  them  their  portion  of  meat  in  due  season, 
I  venture  upon  the  following  remark  : 

If  free  will  prevented  by  free  grace  ardently  receives  the  truths 
oi  ihQ  Christian  Gospe\,  Christian  faith  is  eonceiyed.     If  the  heart 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  247 

fervently  embraces  the  truths  of  the  Jewish  or  Gentile  Gospel  ;  (those 
which  are  pecuHar  to  the  Christian  Gospel  remaining  as  yet  veilpd) 
the  faith  of  a  Jew,  or  of  a  Heathen,  is  begotten  Nevertheless  if  this 
faith,  let  it  be  ever  so  assaulted  by  doubts,  impregnates  the  soul  with 
truth,  and  works  by  love,  it  is  saving  in  its  degree. 

I  say  in  its  degree ;  for  as  there  are  in  the  earth  various  rich  tinc- 
tures, some  of  which  form  diamonds,  while  others  form  only  rubies, 
emeralds,  or  agates ;  so  there  are  in  the  universal  church  of 
Christ  various  tinctures  of  Gospel  truth,  which  form  various  orders 
of  spiritual  jewels,  as  appears  from  such  scriptures  as  these.  They 
that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another ;  and  they  shall  be  mine, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  in  that  day  when  J  make  up  my  jewels, — For  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted 
of  him,  according  to  the  dispensation  he  is  under,  and  the  progress 
he  has  made  in  practical  religion. 

This  Gospel,  for  example,  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men,  that  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  as  the  gracious  author  of  their 
being,  and  love  one  another  as  brothers -^ — this  everlasting  Gospel,  I 
say,  has  in  all  countries  leavened  the  hearts  of  pious  heathens  with 
tincerity  and  truth.  This  doctrine,  "  Messiah  will  come  to  point 
out  clearly  the  way  of  salvation,"  added  to  the  Gospel  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, has  tinctured  with  superior  goodness  the  hearts  of  all  believing 
Jews.  This  truth,  '♦  Messiah  is  come  in  the  flesh,"  superadded  to 
the  Jewish  Gospel,  has  enlarged  the  hearts  of  all  the  disciples  of 
John,  or  the  babes  in  Christ.  And  these  truths,  "  Christ  died  for  my 
sins,. and  rose  again  for  my  justification  :  he  is  ascended  upon  high  ; 
he  has  received  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  for  men — for  me.  I  believe 
on  him  by  the  power  of  that  Spirit.  He  dwells  in  my  heart  by  faith. 
He  is  in  me  the  hope  of  glory.  The  promise  of  the  Father  is  ful- 
filled ;  the  kingdom  of  God,  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is  come  with  power :"  these  richer  truths,  I  say,  super- 
added to  those  which  are  essential  to  the  inferior  dispensations,  tinc- 
ture the  hearts  of  all  adult  Christia7is,  and  make  them  more  or  less 
intimately  one  with  Christ,  according  to  the  degree  of  their  faith,  and 
the  influences  of  his  Spirit. 

The  field  of  Truth  is  as  boundless  as  the  Divine  perfections  :  and 
the  treasures  it  contains  are  as  unsearchable  as  the  riches  of  Christ. 
Here  we  may  literally  say,  Deep  calleth  unto  deep — Canst  thou  by 
searching  find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfection  ?  It  is  as  high  as  heaven, 
what  can^  thou  do?  deeper  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know?  These 
three  capital  truths  only,  God  is — God  is  love — God  is  mine  in  Christ, 
are  more  than  sufficient  to  replace  my  soul  in  Paradise.     I  know  but 


248  EQl/AL    CHECK.  PART,    l^ 

little  of  them  ;  and  yet,  thanks  be  to  God  !  I  know  enough  to  make 
me  anticipate  heavenly  bliss  ;  nor  is  it  the  least  part  of  my  present 
happiness,  to  rejoice  that  there  is  an  eternity  before  me  to  unfold  the 
wonders  of  truth,  and  to  explore  the  mystery  of  God.  Now  I  see 
through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face.  Now  I  know  but  in  part^ 
hut  then  I  shall  know,  even  as  also  I  am  known. 

SECTION  VI. 

Saving  Faith  is  more  particularly  described  by  its  rise  and  operations ; 
and  distinguished  from  the  faith  of  trembling  devils,  immoral  Anti' 
nomians,  Penitents  sold  under  sin,  and  modish  Professors,  who  believe 
without  frame  or  feeling. 

If  we  assent  to  a  religious  truth,  merely  because  we  cannot  resist 
its  evidence  : — if  we  hate  it ;  wanting  to  shake  it  off,  wishing  it 
were  a  lie,  and  fretting  because  we  cannot  make  it  so  ;  we  have  the 
faith  of  devils  :  for  devils  believe  and  tremble  ;  the  force  of  the  awful 
truths  which  they  cannot  deny,  giving  them  a  foretaste  of  infernal 
torments.  Of  this  sort,  it  seems,  was  the  faith  of  Felix,  when  St. 
Paul  reasoned  before  him  of  justice,  temperance,  and  judgment  to  come. 
This  alarming  doctrine,  supported  by  the  suffrage  of  conscience,  and 
impressed  by  the  Spirit  of  truth,  made  the  noble  Heathen  tremble  :  but, 
soon  recovering  himself,  he  fought  against  the  Truth,  that  had  laid 
hold  on  him  upawares  ;  and  kept  it  at  arms  length,  till  he  could  shake 
it  off,  as  the  apostle  did  the  viper  that  fastened  on  his  hand  ;  or,  at 
least,  till  he  could  run  away  from  it,  by  plunging  as  desperately  into  a 
sea  of  sensual  delights,  as  the  devils  in  the  swine  did  into  the  sea  of 
Galilee. 

The  faith  of  immoral  professors  is  not  much  better  than  the  faith  of 
Felix  and  Satan.  They  believe  some  glorious  truths,  but  not  with  the 
heart  to  righteousness.  Two  or  three  comparisons  may  help  us  to 
understand  this  mystery  of  iniquity.  When  a  person  visits  you,  you 
may  either  receive  him  with  cold  civility,  as  a  stranger  ;  or  embrace 
him  with  warm  affection,  as  a  bosom  friend.  From  secret  motives  you 
may  show  a  peculiar  regard  to  a  man,  whom  you  secretly  despise  or 
detest.  He  has  a  good  voice,  you  love  music,  and  he  ministers  to 
your  amusement :  perhaps  you  want  him  to  cloak  the  sm  of- his  Bath- 
sheba ;  ptrhaps  you  are  a  part}'  man  ;  he  is  a  proper  tool  for  you  ; 
and  therefore  you  make  much  of  him.  But  while  your  regard  for  him 
springs  merely  from  such  external  circumstances,  can  it  e\er  be  per- 
irenal or  sincere  ?     Equally  ungenerous  however  is  the  regard  that 


AN  ESSAY  ON  TRUTH.  249 

Gallio  and  Fulsome  have  for  the  Truth.  Gallic  holds  fast  the  doctrine 
of  general  redemption,  because  he  fondly  supposes,  that  he  has  only 
to  avoid  robbery  and  murder  to  go  to  heaven  :  Fulsome  extols  '  ever; 
lasting  love,-' — but  it  is  because  he  thinks,  that  it  gives  him  the 
liberty  of  loving  the  world,  without  the  least  danger  of  losing  God's 
eternal  favour.  He  embraces  '*  justification  by  faith  alone  ;"  but  it  is 
because  he  confounds  ihe  works  of  faith  and  the  works  of  the  law, 
and  vainly  hopes  to  be  finally  justified  without  either.  He  shouts 
"  free  grace"  for  ever,  because  it  ensures,  as  he  thinks,  his  eternal 
salvation,  whatever  length  he  may  go  in  sin.  He  is  a  partial  anato- 
mist :  he  dissects  the  body  of  truth,  throws  away  the  vitals,  and  only 
preserves  those  parts  which  seem  to  countenance  his  immoral  scheme. 
I  question  if  an  Indian  warrior  is  more  fond  of  the  scalp  of  an  Eng- 
lishman, than  Gallio  is  of  the  doctrine  of  "  God's  mercy,"  separated 
from  God's  holiness  and  justice  ;  or  Fulsome,  of  the  doctrine  of 
**  Christ's  merits,"  torn  away  from  the  evangelical  worthiness  of  sin- 
cere obedience. 

Nay,  a  judicious  Gnostic  may  admlr©  and  ptjponse  a  well-connected 
system  of  religions  Truth,  just  as  a  virtuoso  admires  and  purchases 
a  good  collection  of  shells.  The  virtuoso  contends  for  the  beauty 
and  rarity  of  his  marine  toys,  with  as  much  passionateness  as  if  they 
were  parts  of  himself;  but  they  only  lie  upon  cotton  in  his  drawers, 
far  enough  from  his  breast :  and  the  Gnostic  disputes  for  the  truths 
he  has  taken  a  fancy  to,  with  as  much  warmth  as  if  they  tvere  incor- 
porated with  himself;  but  he  contrives  that  they  shall  pass  like  fly- 
ing clouds  over  his  understanding,  without  descending  in  fruitful 
showers  upon  his  heart. 

Truth  is  the  wholesome  food  of  souls  :  hence  it  is  said,  The  just 
shall  live  by  his  faith,  by  his  receiving  Christ  in  the  word  of  truth, 
and  by  mystically  feeding  upon  him,  according  to  these  deep  words  : 
Except  ye  eat  my  flesh,  and  drink  my  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you; 
or  as  St.  John  expresses  it,  TTie  Truth  is  not  in  you.  Now,  as  food 
must  be  inwardly  taken,  and  properly  digested,  before  it  can  nourish 
us  ;  so  must  truth.  If  men,  therefore,  who  buy  the  truth  in  theory, 
and  sell  it  in  practice,  who  profess  it  in  words,  and  deny  it  in  works, 
have  not  power  to  take  up  their  cross,  and  to  follow  Christ,  we 
ought  no  more  on  that  account  to  conclude,  that  the  Truth  is  ineffi- 
cacious to  our  solvation,  than  to  suppose  that  good  food  is  improper 
for  our  nourishment,  because  men,  that  spend  their  time  in  preparing 
it  for  others,  in  drawing  up  bills  of  fare,  in  placing  dishes  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  in  inviting  others  to  eat  heartily,  while  they  live  upon 
trash  themselves,  have  not  strength  to  go  through  a  hard  day's  work. 

Vol.  II.  32 


250  EQUAL   CHECK.  PART  1. 

Again,  from  such  scriptures  as  these,  /  will  heal  their  hackslidings 
' — Heal  my  soul,  for  I  have  sinned  against  thee— God  shall  send  forth 
his  MERCY  and  his  truth— Ac  sent  his  word  and  healed  them,  &c.  it 
is  evident,  that  evangelical  truth  is,  next  to  Christ,  the  medicine  as 
well  as  the  food  of  souls.  Now  as  it  is  absurd  to  suppose,  that 
speculatinjsj  upon  a  nnedicine,  instead  of  taking  it,  can  conduce  to  the 
recovery  of  our  bodily  health  ;  so  it  is  unreasonable  to  fancy,  that 
bare  speculations  upon  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  can  be  produc- 
tive of  saving  health  ;  cordial  believing  having  no  less  necessary  a 
reference  to  truth,  than  real  drinking  to  a  potion.  Hence  appears 
the  necessity  of  clearly  di?tingnishing  between  saving  faith  and  Anti- 
nomian  fancy  : — between  the  faith,  by  which  a  man  affectionately 
believes  with  an  humbled  heart  unto  righteousness  ;  and  its  counter- 
feit, by  which  a  man  idly  believes  with  a  conceited  mind  to  practical 
Anlinomianism,  whether  he  be  a  follower  of  Mr.  Wesley  or  of  Mr. 
Romaine. 

The  soaring  faith  of  an  immoral  Antinomian  is  far  inferior  to  the 
abortive  faith  of  an  imperfect  penitent,  and  even  to  doubting.  When 
truth  and  error  present  themselves  to  our  minds  together  (as  they 
always  do  in  every  trial  of  faith)  so  long  as  we  remain  in  suspense 
between  them,  we  continue  in  the  uneasy  state,  between  faith  and 
unbelief,  which  we  call  doubting.  But  when  truth  appears  more 
beautiful  than  error  to  the  eye  of  our  understanding,  without  appear- 
ing goorf  enough  prevalently  to  engage  our  o^ec^ions ;  we  are  in  the 
uncomfortable  state  of  the  carnal  penitent,  whom  St.  Paul  describes 
in  his  own  person,  Rom.  vii.  We  approve  the  revealed  will  of  God, 
and  delight  in  his  law  after  the  inward  man.  If  the  celestial  rose 
were  not  beset  with  thorns,  we  would  instantly  gather  it.  If  we  had 
no  bodily  appetites  to  resist,  no  ignominious  cross  to  take  up,  no  false 
wisdom  to  part  with,  we  would  heartily  believe,  and  work  the  work  of 
God.  But  we  cannot  yet  give  up  our  bosom  sin  ;  carnal  reason  and 
the  flesh  prevail  still  against  the  Spirit,  though  not  without  a  struggle  ; 
unbelief  and  abortive  faith  (if  I  may  use  the  expression)  wrestling  in 
our  distracted  breasts,  as  Esau  and  Jacob  did  in  Rebekah's  womb; 
and  making  us  complain.  The  good  that  I  would  do,  if  it  cost  me 
nothing,  /  do  not :  but  the  evil  I  would  not  that  I  do,  because  it  gratifies 
my  fallen  nature.  Thus  with  his  mind  his  rational  powers,  the 
carnal  penitent  serves  the  law  of  God,  by  good,  though  ineffectual 
resolutions  ;  but  with  his  flesh,  his  carnal  appetites,  he  serves  the  law  of 
sm,  by  bad,  though  lamented  performances. 

Here  I  beg  leave  to  account  for  the  famous  confession  of  the  prin- 
cess,  who   cries   out  in  Ovid  :   Video  meliora  prohoque^- — Deteriora 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  251 

s^quor  ;*  which  may  be  thus  paraphrased:  *' I  stand  between  the 
"rough,  steep,  ascending  path  of  virtue  (honum  honestum;)  and  the 
*' plain,  flowery,  downward  road  of  vice  (bonum  jucundum.)  Con- 
"  science  says,  that  the  one  is  far  more  commendable ;  passion 
"  declares,  that  the  other  is  far  more  pleasing.  I  madly  give  the 
"  casting  vote  to  hurrying  passion  ;  it  decides,  that  the  pleasure  of  a 
*'  present,  certain  gratification,  be  it  ever  so  sinful,  overbalances  the 
"  fear  of  a  future,  uncertain  punishment,  be  it  ever  so  terrible  ;  and, 
**  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  my  conscience,  I  submit  to 
**the  hazardous  decision  of  my  appetite  ;  secretly  hoping,  that  God 
''  does  not  regard  my  crimes,  or  that  a  day  of  retribution  is  a 
'*  chimera." 

To  return  :  Faith  does  not  struggle  into  birth  without  her  coeval 
child  and  constant  partner,  Hope.  When  Faith  fails,  Despair  groans, 
O  ivretched  man  that  lam!  who  shall  deliver 'me ?  But  when  Faith 
revives,  Hope  lifts  up  her  head,  and  cries,  [thank  God,  there  is  deli- 
verance through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Thus  we  go  on  falling  and 
rising,  dying  and  reviving,  till  we  are  quite  tired  of  the  sins  which 
hinder  us  from  welcoming  the  saving  truth  with  a  more  cordial 
embrace  ;  and  when  we  do  this,  our  faith  is  unfeigned  ;  the  Lord 
sets  to  it  the  broad  seal  of  his  power;  it  proves  victorious  ;  we  enter 
into  Gospel  liberty,  and  instead  of  the  old  note,  Who  shall  deliver  me  ? 
we  sing,  (under  the  Christian  dispensation)  Christ  hath  delivered  us 
from  the  curse  of  the  law  of  sin,  as  well  as  from  the  curse  of  the  law 
of  innocence,  and  of  the  ceremonial  law.  There  is  no  condemnation 
to  them  that  believe,  and  walk  not  after  the.  flesh,  but  after  the 
Spirit, 

The  manner  in  which  this  deliverance  is  generally  wrought,  may 
be  more  particularly  described  thus.  Free  grace,  at  sundry  times 
and  in  divers  manners,  speaks  to  our  consciences  ;  recommending  and 
enforcing  the  word  nigh,  the  commandment  that  is  everlasting  life,  the 
Truth  that  contains  the  regenerating  power  of  God.  If  it  be  the  day 
of  provocation,  we  unnecessarily  begin  to  make  excuse:  We  cannot 
come  to  the  marriage  feast :  We  are  either  too  good,  too  bad,  or  too 
busy  to  entertain  the  truth  ;  and  we  say  as  civilly  as  Felix,  Go  thy 
way  Jor  this  time,  when  I  shall  be  more  fit,  or  when  I  shall  have  a  more 
convenient  season,  I  will  call  for  thee.  Perhaps  we  perversely  harden 
our  hearts,  contradicting,  blaspheming,  and  saying  as  the  Pharisees, 
We  will  not  have  this  Truth  to  reign  over  us ;  away  with  it !  But  if  it 
be  the  day  of  conversion,  if  our  free  willing  soul  know  the  time  of  her 

*  I  see  what  is  right  and  approve  it,  but  do  what  is  wrong. 


258  EQUAL    CHECK,  PART    1. 

visitation;  humbly  bowing  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  saying  as  the 
Virgin  Mary,  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  let  it  be  done  unto  me 
according  to  thy  word  ;  I  am  a  lo?t  sinner,  but  there  is  mercy  with  thee 
that  thou  mayest  be  feared:  then  the  seed  of  the  kingdom,  the  word  of 
God,  is  received  in  an  honest  and  good  heart ;  for  nothing  is  wanting  to 
render  the  heart  initially  good  and  honest,  but  the  sincere  submission 
of  our  free  will  to  that  free  grace,  which  courts  us  and  says  :  Behold! 
I  stand  at  the  door  of  every  heart,  and  knock:  if  any  man  hear  my 
voice  and  open^  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me.  He 
shall  taste  how  good  the  Lord  i5,  he  shall  taste  the  good  word  of  Gody 
and  the  powers  of  truth,  which  are  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come: 
and  so  shall  he  rise  superior  to  shadows  and  lies,  which  are  the 
powers  of  this  present  evil  world. 

Thus  opens  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  believing  soul :  thus  is 
Christ,  the  truth  and  the  life,  formed  in  the  heart  by  faith  :  thus 
grape  begins  to  ueign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  by  Jesus 
Christ. 

1  call  that  faith  saving  and  operative,  because,  so  long  as  it  lives, 
it  saves;  and  so  long  as  it  saves,  it  works  righteousness — it  works  by 
a  righteous  fear  of  the  evil  denounced  against  sin  ;  by  a  righteous 
opposition  to  every  known  sin  ;  by  a  righteous  hope  of  the  good 
promised  to  obedience  ;  and  by  a  righteous  love  of  the  truth  that  has 
produced  it,  and  of  the  Father  of  lights  from  whom  that  truth  pro- 
ceeds ;  it  being  scarcely  possible  to  welcome  heartily  a  beam  of  the 
sun  for  its  brightness,  without  indirectly  welcoming  the  sun  itself. 
Therefore,  when  living  faith  ceases  to  work,  it  dies  away,  as  the  heart 
that  ceases  lo  beat;  ii  gues  uui,  as  a  candle  that  ceases  to  shine. 

*'  But,  upon  this  footing,  what  becomes  of  the  modish  doctrine  of 
a  faith  without  frame  and  feeling." — If  the  ministers,  who  recom- 
mend such  a  faith,  mean  that  we  must  set  our  heart,  as  a  seal,  to  the 
Gospel  truths  adapted  to  our  present  state,  and  stamp  them  with  all 
our  might  ;  not  considering  whether  our  fallen  nature  and  carnal 
reason  rehsh  them,  and  steadily  following  the  poet's  direction  : 

Tu  ne  cede  malis ;  sed  contra  audentior  ito, 
QuSim  mala  te  natura  sinit : 

they  maintain  a  truth,  a  great  truth,  which  cannot  be  too  much  urged 
upon  tempted,  desponding,  and  despairing  souls. — But  if  they  mean, 
that  we  must  believe  ourselves  unconditionally  elected  to  glory,  be 
the  frame  of  our  minds  ever  so  carnal,  and  the  feelings  of  our  hearts 
ever  so  worldly,  they  destroy  the  health  of  the  daughter  of  God'' s  peo- 
ple y  with  as  rank  poison  as  ever  grew  in  spiritual  Egypt.     I  am  no 


AN   ESSAY   ON   TRUTH.  253 

judge  of  what  passes  in  the  breasts  of  those  gentlemen  ;  but,  for  ray 
part,  I  never  feel  faith  more  strongly  at  work  than  when  I  wrestle, 
not  only  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  with  the  banded  powers  of 
darkness. 

None  but  a  dead  oaan  is  quite  destitute  of  "  frame  and  feeling." 
It  is  not  a  real  flame  that  neither  warms  in  winter,  nor  shines  in  the 
dark.  The  moment  a  light  is  not,  in  its  degree,  able  to  triumph 
over  darkness,  and  even  to  turn  it  into  light,  it  ceases  to  be  a  true 
light.  You  may  see  in  Windsor  castle  a  candle  most  exquisitely 
painted  ;  it  shines  as  steadfastly  as  Mr.  Fulsome  believes.  Was  the 
coloured  canvass  as  loquacious  as  that  Antinomian  hero,  it  might  say, 
"  I  shine  without  feeling,  though  not  without  a  frame  ;"  but  even 
then,  Mr.  Fulsome's  faith  would  have  the  pre-eminence  ;  for,  if  we 
credit  him,  it  shines  without  either  "  frame  or  feeling."  How 
absurd  is  Solifidianism!  how  dangerous  !  If  any  man  can  show  me  a 
true  light,  that  actually  emits  no  beams,  I  will  repent  of  the  ridicule 
I  cast  upon  the  dotages,  which  make  way  for  a  "justifying  faith" 
that  works  by  adultery  and  murder  ;  an  ill-smelling  candle  this,  which 
burns  in  the  breasts  of  apostates,  to  the  honour  of  him  that  kindled  it 
at  the  fire  of  Tophet — an  infernal  candle,  sending  forth  darkness 
instead  of  light,  and  so  far  benighting  the  good  men  who  follow  it, 
that  they  look  upon  it  as  the  inextinguishable  candle  of  the  Lord,  and 
upon  "  sincere  obedience"  as  a  ^^  jack  o''  lantern.'*^ 

The  preceding  pages  represent  Truth  as  the  remedy  and  nourish- 
ment of  our  souls  ;  and  I  have  already  observed,  that,  as  we  cannot 
take  food  without  the  continual  help  of  the  God  of  nature,  so  we 
cannot  receive  the  truth  without  the  continual  assistance  of  the  God 
of  grace  ;  it  being  the  first  axiom  of  the  Gospel,  that  all  our  suf- 
ficiency and  ability  to  do  any  good  are  of  God.  Nevertheless,  lest 
those  who  seek  occasion  against  the  truth,  which  they  do  not  relish, 
should  call  ihe  free  grace  I  hold  forth  Pelagianism ;  I  shall  conclude 
this  section  by  asserting,  that  if  Christ  were  not  the  Saviour  of  all 
men,  and  if  we  were  entirely  destitute  of  the  gracious,  evangelical 
light,  that  enlightens  every  man,  and  helps  our  infirmities,  we  should 
be,  with  respect  to  saving  truths,  like  people,  who  either  have  no 
kind  of  food,  or  no  appetite  at  all  to  their  food  ;  nny,  like  sick  peo- 
ple, that  have  an  insurmountable  aversion  to  a  medicine,  and  an  irre- 
sistible longing  for  poison.  But,  the  saving  grace  of  God  having  ap- 
peared to  all  men,  and  having  mercifully  given  us  an  evangelical 
capacity  to  receive  the  truth,  as  it  is  revealed  to  us  in  the  dispensa- 
tion we  are  under  ;  we  may  either  put  that  truth  from  us,  as  the 
unbelieving  Jews  did,  or  welcome  it  as  Job  and  his  friends  ;  although 


254  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  1. 

not  without  difficulty. — Yea,  such  difficulty  as  forms  the  trial  of  our 
faith,  and  makes  it  reasonable  in  God,  to  bid  us  choose  life  rather  than 
death,  when  truth  and  error,  blessing  and  cursing,  are  set  before  us. 

SECTION  VII. 

The  operative  belief  of  the  Truth,  and  the  operative  belief  of  a  Lie,  are 
the  two  roots  that  produce  all  our  good  and  all  our  bad  actions.  An 
appeal  to  reason  and  matter  of  fact. 

No  plant  can  grow  without  its  root,  and  no  moral  action  can  spring 
into  existence  without  its  principle.  When  we  do  not  dissemble,  our 
principle  of  action  is  our  prevalent  persuasion — our  predominant  be- 
lief; a  cordial,  practical  belief  of  the  truth  and  rejection  of  a  lie,  being 
always  the  principle  of  a  good  action  ;  and  a  cordial,  practical  belief 
of  a  lie,  and  rejection  of  the  truth,  being  always  the  principle  of  a 
bad  action. 

Tiiat  good  works  can  have  no  origin  but  the  belief  of  the  truth,  will 
appear  indubitable,  if  we  trace  them  back  to  their  sources.  To  fear, 
love,  and  obey  God,  are  undoubtedly  good  works  ;  but  can  I  do  them, 
without  BELIEVING  the  TRUTH. — 1.  e.  without  believing  that  God  is^ 
that  he  is  to  be  feared,  loved,  and  obeyed ;  and  that  it  is  my  duty  or 
privilege  so  to  do  ?  Again,  that  bad  works  can  have  no  other  origin 
but  the  belief  of  a  lie,  will  also  appear  evident,  if  we  follow  them  to 
their  spring.  To  neglect  and  disobey  God  are  certainly  bad  works  ; 
but  can  we  d6  them  without  believing  a  lie  ?  Without  being  more  or 
less  persuaded,  that,  although  it  may  not  be  our  duty,  yet,  upon  the 
whole,  in  our  present  circumstances,  it  will  be  for  our  advantage  or 
credit,  to  neglect  God,  and  to  swim  with  the  stream  ? 

May  not  the  preceding  argument  concerning  the  importance  of 
faith,  be  confirmed  by  appeals  to  reason,  experience,  and  matter  of 
fact  ?  Did  not  Eve  stand  in  paradise  so  long  as  she  forbore  eating  of 
the  forbidden  fruit  ?  Did  she  not  forbear  eating  so  long  as  she  be- 
lieved the  truth— i.  e.  so  long  as  she  believed  she  should  die  if  she 
ate  of  that  fruit  ?  Would  she  have  sinned  if  she  had  not  first  be- 
lieved a  lie,  yea,  swallowed  down  a  cluster  of  lies  ?  "  That  she 
"  should  not  die  :— the  fruit  was  as  good  as  it  was  fair : — it  was  to 
"  be  desired  to  make  one  wise : — she  should  be  as  God,  &c.''' — 
Were  not  these  untruths,  freely  entertained  in  her  heart,  the  causes 
of  her  committing  the  direful  deed  ? 

Why  did  Judas  once  forsake  all  to  follow  the  indigent  Jesus  ?   Was 
it  not  because  he  believed  it  bis  real  advantage  so  to  do  ?     And  did 


AN   BSSAY    OH   TRUTH.  255 

he  not,  so  far,  believe  the  truth,  and  show  his  faith  by  his  corres- 
ponding works  ?  By  and  by  the  spirit  of  error  suggested,  that  he 
should  be  a  loser  by  following,  and  a  gainer  by  betraying  his  Master. 
Was  not  this  an  infamous  lie  ?  When  he  had  believed  it,  did  not  his 
heart  become  a  nest  for  the  old  serpent,  a  throne  for  the  father  of 
lies  ?  And  did  not  our  Lord  speak  the  words  of  soberness  and  troth, 
when  he  said  to  his  disciples,  One  of  you  hath  a  devil? 

Why  did  Peter  deny  his  dear  Lord  ?  Undoubtedly  because  in  that 
fatal  hour  he  believed  that  the  Jews  were  more  able  and  ready  to  fall 
upon  and  destroy  him,  than  Christ  was  to  save  and  defend  him.  And 
was  not  this  believing  an  untruth?  When  h<?  had  completed  his 
crime,  why  did  he  go  out  to  weep,  and  n^^  to  hang  himself  like  Ju- 
das ?  Was  it  not  because  he  admitted  the  truth  again  ;  believing, 
that  where  sin  had  abounded,  gr.-jce  might  yet  superabound  ;  and  that 
great  as  his  crimes  were,  God's  mercy  and  Christ's  love  were  yet 
greater  ? — Saving  truths  these,  which  Judas  could  no  longer  believe, 
having  done  FiNAt  despite  to  the  Spirit  o/"  truth  who  leads^  not  drags, 
into  the  truth. 

Why  did  David  attack  Goliah  with  undaunted  courage  ?  Was  it 
not  because  he  heartily  believed,  that  the  Lord  would  not  be  insulted 
by  that  blaspheming  monster,  and  would  stand  by  any  one  that 
attacked  him  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Israel  ?  A  great  truth  this, 
through  which  he  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  killed  his  gigantic  adversary, 
and  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens. — Why  did  he  afterward 
stain  his  righteous  soul  with  atrocious  crimes  ?  Was  it  not  because 
he  practically,  and  therefore  most  cordially,  believed  a  horrid  un- 
truth :  namely,  that  the  company  of  his  neighbour's  ev^e-lamb  was 
preferable  to  the  delights  afforded  by  the  Lamb  of  God  ? — Why  did 
he  afterward  repent  ?  Was  it  not  because  he  received  the  truth 
again  ;  heartily  believing,  that  he  had  committed  dreadful  sins,  and 
that  he  must  repent  or  perish  ? 

Again  :  Why  are  men  lovers  of  the  world  more  than  lovers  of  God? 
Is  it  not  because  they  really  believe,  that  the  world  can  make  them 
happier  than  God  ? — If  I  say,  "  I  believe  that  God  is  preferable  to 
the  world,"  and  do  not  seek  my  chief  happiness  in  him,  do  not  I 
deceive  myself,  and  tell  a  gross  untruth  ?  And  while  St.  James 
charges  me  to  show  my  faith  by  my  works,  does  not  St.  John  show 
himself  a  rational  divine,  when  he  protests,  that  the  truth  is  not  in 
me  ?  Ouce  more  :  Why  did  Saul  of  Tarsus  breathe  threatenings  and 
slaughter  against  Christ's  members  ?  Was  it  not  because  he  believed 
the  grand  lie  of  his  day,  i.  e.  that  Christ  was  an  impostor  ?  And 
why  did  he  afterward  breathe  nothing  but  fervent  love  to  Christiani, 


^56  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

and  unextinguishable  zeal  for  Christ's  glory  ?  Was  it  not  because  his 
inmost  soul  was  penetrated  with  the  force  of  this  almighty  truth, 
Christ  is  the  true  Messiah  ;  he  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me  ? 
From  these,  and  a  thousand  such  observations  upon  the  conversion 
of  sinners,  and  the  perversion  of  saints,  I  draw  the  following  conse- 
quences, which,  I  trust,  will  recommend  themselves  to  the  reason  of 
every  calm  inquirer  after  truth. 

1.  To  convert  or  pervert  a  man,  you  need  only  change  his  princi- 
ple of  action,  his  predominant  practical  belief  of  a  damnable  lie,  or  of 
a  saving  truth.  For  if  the  spring  be  new,  so  undoubtedly  will  be  the 
streams.  If  you  have  a  new  tree,  you  will  infallibly  have  new  fruit.  If 
the  rudder  be  truly  turntd,  the  ship  will  certainly  take  a  new  course. 

2.  Truth  is  the  heavenly  setd  that  produces  living  faith  ;  and  living 
faith  is  the  heavenly  root  that  produces  good  works.    Truth  and  faiths 

therefore,  are  at  the  bottom  of  every  gcK^d  work.  To  suppose  them 
absent  from  a  good  work,  is  to  suppose  that  ^  good  work  can  be  void 
of  sincerity  and  truth,  and  of  course  void  of  goodness.  And  is  not 
this  supposing  a  glaring  absurdity  ?  On  the  other  hand,  a  lie  is  the 
hellish  seed  that  produces  unbelief;  and  unbelief  is  the  hellish  root 
that  produces  bad  works.  A  lie  and  unbelief  are  then  at  the  bottom 
of  every  bad  work.  To  suppose  them  absent  from  a  bad  work,  is  to 
suppose  that  a  bad  work  can  be  wrought  in  faith  and  in  truth,  which 
is  as  impossible  as  to  do  a  good  work  in  malice  and  wickedness. 

3.  As  the  rise  and  fall  of  a  good  weather-glass  infallibly  shows  the 
real,  though  as  yet  invisible,  alterations  of  the  atmosphere :  so  our 
rising  from  sin  and  our  falling  into  sin  surely  evidence  the  secret, 
and  perhaps  unnoticed,  changes  that  happen  in  our  faith  for  the  better 
or  for  the  worse.  For  the  whole  of  our  words  and  actions,  taken  in 
connexion  with  our  views  and  tempers,  are  the  certain  result  of  our 
present  fiiith  or  unbelief,  and  consequently  the  best  marks  that  we 
please  or  displease  God,  according  to  the  last  and  capital  proposition 
of  the  Minutes. 

4.  When  there  is  Truth  in  the  inward  parts,  there  is  Faith  also  ; 
it  being  as  impossible  to  admit  religious  truths  any  other  way  but  bj 
faith,  as  it  is  to   partake  of  the   light  any  other  way  but  by   sight. 

Truth  and  Faith  tincture  with  goodness  the  most  extraordinary 
actions.  Thus  Samuel  cuts  Agag  in  pieces  before  the  Lord ;  St.  Paul 
strikes  Elymas  with  blindness  ;  St.  Peter  strikes  Ananias  with  sudden 
death  ;  Phinehas  runs  Zimri  and  Cosbi  through  the  body  ;  Abraham 
oflfers  I«aac  in  truth  and  faith;  and  God  counts  these  actions  to  them/or 
righteousness  to  all  generations  for  evermore.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
actions  that  do  not  spring  frooa  Truth  t.n6  Faith,  be  they  ever  so  good 


AA'    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  257 

in  the  eyes  of  men,  are  ah  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God,  who 
requires  truth  in  the  inward  parts  :  Thus  king  Saul  offers  a  sacrifice  ; 
Judas  pleads  for  the  poor  ;  the  Pharisees  make  long  prayers ;  Pilate 
washes  his  hands  from  the  blood  of  Christ ;  and  God  reckons  these 
works  to  them  for  sin  to  all  generations  for  evermore. 

5.  Some  actions,  such  as  the  commission  of  adultery  and  of  mur- 
der, can  never  be  tinctured  by  trvik  and  faith,  because  they  have 
for  their  principle  triumphant  impurity,  gross  injustice,  and  flagrant 
unbelief;  and  whenever  such  sins  prevail  in  the  soul,  the  contrary 
virtues,  holiness,  truth,  and  faith,  are  gone  ;  just  as  when  racking 
pains  and  a  putrid  fever  prevail  in  the  body,  ease  and  health  are 
there  no  more.  To  suppose,  therefore,  that  living  faith  lurked  in 
David's  heart  during  his  grievous  apostacy,  is  as  absurd  as  to  suppose 
that  health  lurks  in  a  body  infected  by  the  plague,  and  life  in  a 
corpse.  "  Ay,  but  David's  faith,  like  that  of  Peter,  was  raised  up 
again  :"  true  ;  and  so  was  the  body  of  Lazarus,  that  of  our  Lord,  and 
that  of  the  Ruler's  daughter  ;  but  is  this  a  proof  that  Lazarus,  Christ, 
and  ihe  damsel,  did  not  undergo  a  real  death  ?  A  concession  however 
1  cheerfully  make  to  my  objector  ;  wishing  that  it  may  be  a  mean  of 
reconciling  him  as  much  to  the  faith  of  St.  James  as  I  am  reconciled 
to  that  of  St.  Paul.  If  he  grant  me  that  Peter's  and  David^s  faith 
went  out  as  really  as  a  candle,  which  is  put  under  an  extinguisher, 
I  will  grant  him,  that,  through  the  long  suffering  of  God,  who  never 
seals  the  absolute  reprobation  of  sinners  so  long  as  their  day  of  visita- 

'tion  lasts,  the  extinct  faith  of  those  fallen  saints  was  as  an  extinguished 
light,  that  continues  to  smoke,  and  can  the  sooner  be  lighted  again. 
Their  falls,  great  as  they  were,  did  not  amount  to  complete  obduracy, 
and  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.     He  u-ill  not  quench  the  smoking 

jiax^  was  a  promise  in  which  they  were  still  interested,  with  all  those 
who  have  not  yet  done  final  despite  to  the  spirit  of  grace.  Free  grace, 
therefore,  visited  them  again  ;  and  when  she  put  her  candle  to  their 
hearts,  they  again  knew  their  day;  they  welcomed  the  light ;  the 
smoking  flax  once  more  caught  the  pure  flame  of  truth  ;  and  living 
faith,  with  her  luminous  train,  was  rekindled  in  their  breasts.  Thus, 
by  improving  what  remained  of  the  accepted  time,  they  escaped  the 
fate  of  Judas,  who  so  hardened  himself,  that  his  candle  was  put  out 
in  final  darkness  ;  they  avoided  the  doom  of  the  foolish  virgins,  who 
10  procrastinated  repentance,  that  their  extinguished  lamps  were 
never  lighted  again.     To  return  : 

6.  As  our  pulses  all  over  the  body  exactly  answer  to  the  beating  of 
our  heart ;  so  our  inward  works,  that  is,  our  thoughts,  desires, 
schemes,  and  tempers,  exactly  answer  to  our  faith  or  principle  of 

Vol.  H.  33 


25&  *  E^UAL,   CHECK,  PART    I. 

actionr  I  say  our  inwar.d  works^  because  hypocrites  can  mimick  all 
external  works.  How  improperly  then  is  St.  Paul  quoted  against  the 
works  of  faith !  Does  he  not  assure  us  himself,  that  saving  faith 
worketh  by  love  ?  And  is  it  not  as  absurd  to  oppose  the  iscorks  of  faith 
to  faith,  as  to  oppose  the  pulses  to  the  beating  of  the  heart ;  no  two 
things  in  the  world  being  more  strongly  connected  ?  However,  as 
the  heart  always  beats  before  the  arteries  5  and  as  a  cannon  is  always 
fired  before  the  explosion  can  be  heard,  the  ball  felt,  or  the  flame 
perceived,  so  faith  always  moves  before  it  can  set  fear,  hope,  desire, 
or  love  in  motion.  And  if  godly  fear,  hope,  desire,  and  love,  which 
are  our  internal  good  works,  always  spring  from  faith  ;  our  external 
good  works,  such  as  publicly  worshipping  God,  doing  good  to  our 
neighbour,  &c.  from  a  right  principle,  and  in  a  right  manner,  always 
flow  from  FAITH  also :  for  our  external  works  are  nothing  but  the 
efiects  of  the  works  which  we  have  already  wrought  in  our  hearts  ; 
just  as  the  rapid  motion  of  a  ball  out  of  the  cannon,  is  nothing  but 
the  effect  of  the  motion  that  was  communicated  to  it,  while  it  was  yet 
IN  the  cannon. 

7.  If  every  internal  good  work  (suppose  a  sincere  operative  desire 
to  love  my  enemy  for  God's  sake)  necessarily  springs  from  a  good 
principle,  that  is,  from  true  faith ;  it  follows,  that  so  long  as  I  con- 
sistently continue  in  the  same  disposition,  my  principle  of  action  is 
good,  and  I  am  (so  far)  a  good  man,  according  to  the  standard  of  one 
or  another  of  the  Gospel  dispensations.  On  the  other  hand,  if  any 
one  inward,  bad  work,  (suppose  a  malicious  desire  to  hurt  my  neigh- 
bour) springs  from  a  bad  principle,  it  follows  also,  that  so  long  as  I 
continue  in  that  bad  disposition,  whatever  degree  of  sanctity  I  may 
pretend  to,  my  principle  of  action  is  bad,  I  am  a  wicked  man,  of  the 
Pharisaic  or  of  the  Antinomian  order. — To  conclude  : 

8.  As  by  suppressing  the  beating  of  the  heart  you  may  stop  all 
the  pulses  ;  so  by  suppressing  the  act  of  faith  you  may  put  a  stop  to 
all  good  works.  On  the  other  hand,  as  by  cutting  the  main  arteries 
you  may  put  an  end  to  the  motion  of  the  heart ;  so  b}'  suppressing 
the  good  motions  caused  by  faith,  you  may  put  an  end  to  the  life  of 
faith,  and  destroy  the  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesu5, 


AN    ESSAY   ON    TRUTH.  ^9 

SECTION  VIII. 

The  REASONABLENESS  of  the  doctrine  of  Salvation  by  Faith  is  farthez 
evinced  by  a  variety  of  arguments. — How  much  we  are  indebted  to 
the  Solifidians,  for  having  firmly  stood  up  in  defence  of  faith  :  How 
dearly  they  have  made  us  pay  for  that  service,  when  they  have  so 
mforced  our  Xlth  Article,  which  guards  salvation  by  faith,  as  to  make 
void  the  Xllth,  which  guards  morality. — And  why  the  overpowering 
splendour  of  Truth  is  qualified  by  some  shades. 

Should  some  readers  still  think,  that  it  is  unreasonable  to  dwell 
first  upon  faith,  and  to  insist  more  upon  it  than  upon  the  other  works 
and  graces  which  adorn  the  life  and  character  of  a  Christian ;  to 
remove  their  scruples,  and  to  vindicate  more  fully  the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith,  I  present  them  with  the  following 
remarks. 

1.  If  true  Faith  is  the  root  that  produces  hope,  charity,  and  sincere 
obedience,  as  the  preceding  section  evinces,  is  it  not  reasonable  prin- 
cipally to  urge  the  necessity  of  believing  aright?  The  end  of  all 
preaching  is  undoubtedly  to  plant  the  tree  of  evangelical  obedience  ; 
and  how  can  that  tree  be  planted  but  by  its  root  ?  Was  a  gardener 
ever  charged  with  unreasonableness,  for  not  setting  a  tree  by  the 
branches  ? 

2.  \i  faith  working  by  love  is  the  heart  of  true  religion,  should  we 
not  bestow  our  chief  attention  and  care  upon  it  ?  Suppose  you  were 
a  physician,  and  attended  a  patient  who  had  an  imposthume  in  his 
stomach,  and  another  on  his  hand  ;  would  you  do  honour  to  your 
skill,  if  overlooking  the  internal  mischief,  you  confined  your  attention 
to  the  external  ulcer  ? 

3.  The  most  excellent  gift  of  God  to  man,  next  to  the  invaluable 
gifts  of  his  Son  and  Spirit,  is  that  of  saving  Truth.  Nay,  the  Son  of  God, 
in  his  prophetic  character,  came  only  to  display  the  Truth,  He  was 
manifested  in  the  flesh  to  be  its  herald  among  men.  St.  Paul  tells  us, 
that  Christ  witnessed  a  good  confession  before  Pilate;  and  St.  John  informs 
us,  that  part  of  this  good  confession  ran  thus  :  To  this  end  was  I  born^ 
and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness 
unto  the  Truth.  Now,  if  bearing  witness  to  the  Truth  was  a  great 
cause,  and  a  peculiar  end  of  our  Lord's  coming  into  the  world  ;  if  the 
Spirit  itself  is  called  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  because  his  grand  office  is  to 
reveal  and  seal  the  truth ;  if  truth  is  no  better  than  error  to  us  till 
we  receive  it  by  faith ;  and  if  the  Scripture  declares  four  time^,  that 
The  just  shall  live  by  his  faith,  a  declaration  this,  which  St.  Paul 
confirms  by  his  own  experience,  when  he  says,  /  live  by  faith  ;  is  it 


26@  E(iUAL    CHECK.  PART  T. 

not  evident,  that  when  we  practically  reject  the  doctrine  of  faith,  we 
reject  life,  together  with  all  the  blessings  which  are  brought  to  light 
by  the  Gospel:    a   Gospel    disbelieved   hQing  undoubtedly   a  Gospel 

REJECTED. 

4.  Our  feelings  and  conduct  greatly  depend  upon  our  apprehen- 
sions of  things.  A  false  report  that  your  son  is  dead  reaches  your 
ears ;  you  believe  it,  and  pangs  of  grief  distract  3'our  breast.  Soon 
after  a  true  account  of  his  being  drowned  is  brought  to  you  ;  you  dis- 
believe it,  and  you  remain  unafifected. — A  diamond  by  moon-light  glit- 
ters at  your  feet ;  you  think  it  is  only  a  glow-worm,  and  this  mistake 
prevents  3'our  stooping  to  pick  it  up.  A  glow-worm  shines  at  some 
distance  ;  you  fancy  that  it  is  a  diamond,  and  you  run  to  it  with  a 
degree  of  hope  and  joy  proportionable  to  the  degree  of  your  vain 
confidence.  The  God  of  truth  is  an  infinite,  spiritual  diamond,  if  I 
may  use  the  expression  ;  and  yet,  so  faint  are  our  ideas  of  his  excel- 
lence, that  we  overlook  him,  and  madly  run  after  deceitful  objects, 
the  brightest  of  which  are  but  glow-worms  to  the  Father  of  lights. 
Nothing,  therefore,  but  a  firm  belief  of  the  truth,  stamping  our  souls 
with  just  apprehensions  of  things,  and  fixing  in  us  a  strong  persuasion 
of  their  intrinsic  worth  or  vanity,  can  rectify  our  judgment,  and  make 
us  regulate  our  conduct  according  to  the  dictates  of  God's  word,  which 
are  invariably  one  with  the  truth,  and  with  the  nature  of  things. 

5.  When  St.  Paul  exhorts  his  converts  to  the  pursuit  of  things 
honest,  just,  pure,  lovely,  (^c.  he  mentions  first  with  great  propriety, 
whatsoever  things  are  true.  For,  as  soon  as  obedient  faith  allows 
Truth  to  sit  upon  the  throne,  there  is  an  end  of  mental  anarchy :  all 
things  resume  their  proper  ranks  and  places.  Creatures  in  a  great 
degree  disappear  before  their  Creator ;  earth,  before  heaven  ;  and 
time,  before  eternity.  I'hus  Satan's  charm  is  broken,  God  begins  to 
be  to  us,  what  he  is  in  himself,  all  in  all ;  and  when  we  see  him  such, 
if  our  faith  be  lively  and  practical,  we  treat  him  as  such ;  we  answer 
the  end  of  our  creation  ;  truth  prevails  :  Satan  falls  as  lightning  from 
heaven:  man  is  man  ;  and  God  is  God. 

6.  l{  truth,  next  to  God,  is  the  most  powerful  thing  in  the  world  : 
if  we  have  no  communion  with  God,  but  by  the  medium  of  truth:  if 

falsehood  is  the  rankest  poison  in  hell ;  and  if  we  take  a  draught  of 
this  poison,  as  often  as  we  take  in  a  capital  religious  error;  can  you 
reasonably  explode  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith,  sinc^  the  office 
of  living  faith  is  to  expel  the  poison  of  destructive  error,  and  to 
receive  the  reviving,  healing,  strengthening  cordial  of  Gospel  truth 
7. 'If  an  unfeigned  faith  in  the  Truths,  which  God  reveals  under 
one  or  another  of  his  evangelical  dispensations,  is  the  instrumental 


AN   ESSAY    ON   TRUTH.  261 

tause  of  all  our  good  works  ;  whilst  a  cordial  consent  to  one  or  more  of 
Satan's  lies,  is  the  parent  of  all  our  bad  actions  ; — if  these  two  spring*^ 
move  every  wheel  of  righteousness  and  of  iniquity  in  the  world  ; 
is  it  not  highly  consistent  with  reason  to  mind  them  ^rsf.^  Would 
you  not  pity  your  watchmaker,  if  he  so  regarded  the  hand  and 
dial-plate  of  your  watch,  as  to  forget  the  wheel-work  and  spring? 
And  can  you  approve  the  method  of  Honestus,  who  insists  upon  good 
works,  without  ever  touching  upon  the  principles  of  sincere  obe- 
dience, and  apon  faith,  which  is  the  spring  that  sets  all  in  motion. 

8.  Again,  If  Abraham,  by  not  staggering  at  the  promise  of  God 
through  UNBELIEF,  and  by  be{7ig  strong  in  faith,  gave  glory  to  God^ 
and  set  to  his  seal  that  God  is  true : — if  you  cannot  honour  a  superior 
more  than  by  receiving  his  every  word  with  respectful  confidence, 
and  moving  at  his  every  beck  with  obedient  alacrity : — and  \^  faith 
thus  honours  God,  why  should  you  refuse  it  the  first  place  among 
the  graces  which  support  and  adorn  the  church  militant?  Espe- 
cially since  the  Lord  declares,  that  the  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God. 
and  that  our  hearts  are  purified  by  faith  ? — And  since  the  Scrip- 
tures testify,  that  "xithout  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord^  and  that 
we  are  sanctified  through  faith  that  is  in  him? 

9.  All  fulness  dwells  in  God  ;  creatures  abstracted  from  the  divine 
plenitude  are  mere  emptiness.  Rational  creatures,  in  their  most  per- 
fect state,  are  only  moral  vessels,  filled  with  the  grace  of  God,  and 
reflecting  the  light  of  divine  Truth.  Now  if  we  can  be  saved  by 
any  other  way  than  by  grace  through  obedient  faith,  i.  e.  by  freely 
receiving  the  grace  and  light  of  God,  through  the  practical  belief  of 
the  Truth  proposed  to  us  : — if  we  are  in  any  degree  S^aved  by  our 
proper  merit  through  faithless  works  ;  we  may  indulge  Pharisaic 
boasting.  But,  God  does  not  so  give  his  glory  to  human  worms  : 
therefore  such  a  boasting  is  excluded  by  the  law  of  faith;  and  the  apos- 
tle wisely  observes,  that  salvation  is  of  faith,  that  it  may  be  by 
GRACE  ;  the  justifying  faith  of  sinners  always  implying  a  cordial 
acknowledgment  of  their  sin  and  misery,  and  a  hearty  recourse  to 
the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  whereby  the  Dayspring  from  07i  high  ha^ 
visited  us  more  or  less  clearly,  according  to  the  dispensation  we  are 
under.* 

*  To  establish  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  dispensations ;  to  show  that  saving  truth,  m  itv 
various  mauifestalions,  is  the  object  of  saving  faith  ;  I  n«ed  only  prove  that  a  man,  in  order 
to  his  salvation,  i*  bound  to  believe  at  one  time,  what  he  was  not  bound  to  believe  at  another 
Take  one  instance  out  of  many.  If  St.  Peter  had  died  just  after  he  had  been  pronounced 
blessed,  for  acknowleds^ing-  that  our  Lord  was  the  Son  of  God,  he  could  not  have  been  cursed 
with  a  "  Depart  from  mc,''''  &c.     He  would  have  been  saved :  and,  in  that  case,  he  would 


262  E^HAL    CHEftK.  PART    I. 

10.  The  manner  in  which  faith  and  its  works  exclude  boastings  may 
be  illustrated  by  a  comparison.  A  beggar  lies  dying  at  your  door, 
you  offer  him  a  cordial,  he  takes  it,  revives,  and  works. — A  deserter 
is  going  to  be  shot,  you  bring  him  a  pardon  from  the  king,  if  he  will 
receive  it  with  grateful  humility,  he  does  so,  joins  his  regiment,  and 
fights  with  such  courage  that  he  is  promoted.  Now  in  these  cases  it 
is  evident  that  Pharisaic  boasting  *  is  excluded.  If  the  beggar  live 
ever  so  long,  and  work  ever  so  hard — if  the  deserter  fight  ever  so 
manfully,  and  raised  ever  so  high  ;  yet  they  can  never  say,  that  their 
doings  have  procured  them  the  life  which  they  enjoy  ;  for,  before 
they  did  such  works,  that  life  was  graciously  given,  or  restored  to 
them  upon  the  easy  terms  of  confidently  taking  a  remedy,  and  hum- 
bly accepting  a  pardon  offered.  The  application  is  easy  :  by  our 
fallen  nature  we  are  conceived  in  sin,  and  children  of  wrath ;  God 
freely  gives  us  the  light  of  life  in  Jesus  Christ ;  faith  without  neces- 
sity humbly  receives  it,  and  works  by  it :  the  believer,  therefore, 
can  never  be  so  unreasonable  and  ungrateful,  as  to  suppose  that  his 
working  merited  him  the  light  of  life,  by  which  he  began  to  work 
righteousness  ;  so  long  as  he  deserves  the  name  of  a  believer,  he 
knows,  he  feels  that  bis  faith  is  in  the  first  place  a  mere  receiver, 

have  obtained  salvation  without  believing  one  tittle  about  our  Lord's  resurrection,  and  might  I 
not  also  say,  about  his  crucifixion?  And  nevertheless,  St.  Paul,  a  few  years  after,  justly  repre- 
sented that  article  as  essential  to  the  salvation  of  those  to  whom  it  is  revealed  :  If  thou 
shalt  BELIEVE  withthy  heart,  that  God  hath  raised  the  Lord  Jesus frmn  the  dead,  thou  shalt 
he  saved,  Rom.  x.  9. — Few  people,  I  think,  can  read  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  without  see- 
ing, that  the  numerous  conversions  wrought  by  St.  Peter's  preaching,  were  wrought  by  the 
force  of  this  truth,  "  God  has  raised  up  that  Jesus,  whom  you  have  crucified:^"  A  victo- 
rious truth  this,  which  w«uld  have  been  a  gross  untruth  three  months  before  the  day  of 
pentecost. — Nay,  what  is  atone  time  an  article  o( saving  faith,  may  at  another  time  become 
an  article  of  the  most  confirmed  unbelief:  thus,  the  expectation  of  the  Messiah,  which  was 
a  capital  article  of  (he  faith  of  the  ancient  Israelites,  is  now  the  buttress  of  the  Babel  of 
mordern  Jews.  The  property  of  faith  then  is  to  make  our  hearts  bow  to  the  truth,  as  it 
is  manifestt^d  to  us;  it  being  evident  that  God  never  blamed  the  children  of  men  for  not 
believing  what  was  never  revealed  to  them. 

Memorandum.]  In  page  241,  I  have  said  "  That  the  genuine  seed  of  the  word  is  always 
good,  always  full  of  divine  energy."  I  desire  the  candid  reader  to  read  the  following  lines 
IS  more  particularly  expressive  of  my  meaning  . 

The  word  is  Truth ;  and  Truth,  like  the  sun,  is  always  efficacious  where  its  light  pene- 
trates. But  I  would  by  no  means  insinuate,  that  the  truth  may  not,  like  the  sun,  shine  more 
brightly  and  powerfully  at  one  time  than  at  another;  the  word  of  truth,  however,  always 
performs  (though  more  or  less  sensibly)  that  whereunto  God  sends  it;  beinj^  always  « 
savov.r  of  life  unto  life  to  them  that  believe,  or  of  death  unto  death  to  wilful  unbelievers, 
according  to  the  grand  decree  of  conditional  election  and  reprobation.  Me  that  believeth, 
SfC.  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned. 

*  There  is  an  evangeUcal  boasting,  which  St.  Paul  recorameDds  to  others,  and  indulge? 
himself.   See  the  note,  page  205. 


AN   ESSAY   ON   TRUTH,  263 

What  kast  thoUf  that  thou  hast  not  received^  roars  like  thunder  in  the 
ears  of  a  lively  faith,  and  like  lightning  strikes  dead  the  Pharisaic 
boast. 

11.  I   say   that  faith  is  in  the  first   place  a  mere  receiver:    this 
deserves  attention.     If  we  consider  faith  as  a  conduit-pipe,  which 
at  one  end  receives  the  truth  and  power  of  God,  and  at  the  other 
end  refunds  those  living  streams  to  water  the  garden  of  the  Lord  ; 
we  may  with  propriety  compare  that  mother-grace  to  the  pipe  of 
a  watering  pot,  which,  at  the  internal,   unseen    opening,   receives 
the  water  that  is  in  the  pot ;  and  at  the  external,  visible  perfora- 
tions, returns  it,  and  forms   artificial    showers    over    the   drooping 
plants.     According  to  the  doctrine  of  grace^  maintained  by  the  Soli- 
fidians,  faith  does  nothing   but  receive  the   grace  of  God,   through 
Christ ;  and  according  to  the  doctrine  of  works,  maintained  by  the 
moralists,  faith  is  a  mere   bestower:    but,  according  to  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  which  embraces  and  connects  the  two  extremes  of  truth, 
Faith  is  first  an  humble,  passive  receiver,  and  then  a  cheerful,  active 
bestower :  it   receives  grace  and   truth,  and  returns  love  and  good 
works.     In  that  respect  it  resembles  the  heart,  which  continually 
receives  the  blood  from  the  veins,  and  returns  it  into  the  arteries. 
If  the  heart  cease  either  to  receive,  or  to  return  the  blood  (no  matter 
which)  its  motion  and  our  animal  life  are  soon  at  an  end  t  and  if 
faith  cease  either  to  receive  grace  or  to  return  good  works,  its  motion 
and  its  life  soon  terminate  in  spiritual  death,  according  to  the  doctrine 
of  St.  James.     If  the    Solifidians  and  moralists   candidly  looked   at 
faith  in  this  rational  and  scriptural  light,  they  would  soon  embrace 
the    whole  Gospel,    and   one   another.      By  considering /aif/i  as   a 
RECEIVER,  according  to  the  first  Gospel  axiom,  Honestus  would  avoid 
the  Pharisaic  extreme  ;  and   by  viewing  it  as  a  bestower,  according 
to  the   second  Gospel  axiom,  Zelotes  would  avoid   the  Antinomian 
ilelusion :  and  both  would  jointly  recommend  the  humble,  cheerful, 
consistent  passiveness  and  activity  of  Bible  believers. 

12.  If  we  receive  the  witness  of  men,  says  St.  John,  the  witness  of 
God  is  greater:  for  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  this  is  the  wit- 
ness of  God,  which  he  hath  testified  of  his  Son :  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  of  God,  hath  the  testimony  in  himself;  hut  he  that  believeth  not  God 
hath  MADE  II I M  A  LIAR,  bccause  he  believeth  not  the  record  that  God 
gave  of  his  Son.  Upon  these  awful  words  I  raise  the  following  argu- 
ment. If  a  state  of  absolute  doubt  is  quite  unnatural  : — if  it  i» 
almost  impossible  to  keep  the  balance  of  our  judgment  unturned  for 
one  hour  with  respect  to  all  saving  truths  and  destructive  lies  : — if 


264  £^UAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

the  stre^tm  of  life,  which  hurries  us  along,  calls  us  every  moment  to 
action: — if  we  continually  do  good  or  bad  works:  —  if  good  works 
certainly  spring  from  saving  faith,  and  bad  works  from  destructive 
unbelief: — if  sceptics  are  only  so  in  imagination,  theory,  and  profes- 
sion : — if  our  daily  conduct  demonstrates  whether  our  heart  inclines 
MOST  to  the  lies  of  Satan,  or  to  the  truths  of  God  : — and  if  the 
moment  we  practically  reject  God's  truths,  we  embrace  the  lies  of 
the  god  of  this  world,  and  by  that  mean  take  him  for  our  god  : — if,  I 
say,  this  is  the  case,  what  reasonable  man  can  be  surprised  to  hear 
the  mild  Jesus  say,  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned?  Can  there 
be  a  greater  sin — a  sin  more  productive  of  all  iniquity,  and  more 
horrid,  than  to  make  the  lying  devil  a  god,  and  the  true  God  a  liar?' 
Nevertheless,  dreadful  t©  say  !  this  double  crime  is  actually  committed 
by  all  that  live  in  wilful,  practical  unbelief  ;  and  the  commission  of 
it  is  indirectly  recommended  by  all  those  who  decry  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  by  faith. 

Lastly  :  If  our  first  parents  fell  by  believing  the  gross  lies  told 
them  by  the  serpent ;  is  God  unreasonable  to  raise  us  by  making  us 
BELIEVE  the  great  truths  peculiar  to  our  dispensation,  that  the  divine 
leak)en  of  sincerity  and  truth  may  counterwork,  and  at  last  expel  the 
Satanic  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness?  Who  ever  thought  it  absurd 
m  a  physician  to  proportion  the  remedy  to  the  disease  ;  the  antidote 
to  the  poison  ?  And  why  should  even  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God  appear  a  mean  too  wonderful  for  an  end  so  important?  Why 
should  it  be  thought  incredible,  that  the  Son  of  God,  who,  as  our 
Creator,  is  far  more  nearly  related  to  us  than  our  natural  parents, 
should  have  graciously  stooped  as  low  as  the  human  nature  to  redeem 
us ;  when  Satan  wantonly  stooped  as  low  as  the  beastly  nature  to 
tempt  us  ?  On  the  contrary,  is  it  not  absurd  to  suppose,  that  hellish, 
wanton  malice  has  done  more  to  destroy,  than  heavenly,  creating 
love  to  save  the  children  of  men  ?  For  my  part,  the  more  I  com- 
pare the  genuine  Gospel  with  the  nature  of  things,  the  more  I 
admire  their  harmony  ;  wondering  equally  at  the  prejudices  of  those 
hasty  professors,  who  pour  perpetual  contempt  upon  reason,  to  keep 
their  irrational  opinions  in  countenance  ;  and  at  the  unreasonableness 
«f  those  pretended  votaries  of  reason,  who  suppose,  that  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  faith  is  incompatible  with  good  sense. 

*'  But,"  says  an  objector,  "  if  unfeigned  faith  or  a  cordial  belief  of 
♦*  the  truth  instrumentally  turns  us  from  the  power  of  Satan  to  God ; 
"  why  have  you  published  tracts  against  theSolifidians,  whose  favour- 
*  ite  doctrine  is.  Believe  :  he  that  helioi)eth  hath  everlasting  life?'''' 


AN  ESSAY   ON    TRUTH.  265 

Ans.  By  the  preceding  pages  it  is  evident  that  we  do  not  differ 
from  the  SoHfidians  when  they  preach  salvation  by  faith  in  a  rational 
and  Scriptural  manner.  So  long  as  they  do  tliis,  we  mish  them  good 
luck  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Nay,  I  publicly  return  them  my  sin- 
cere thanks  for  the  bold  stand  they  have  made  for  faith,  when  the 
floods  of  Pharisaic  ungodliness  lifted  up  their  voice  against  that 
mother-grace,  and  threatened  to  destroy  her  witii  all  her  offspring. 
But  alas  !  how  dear  have  they  made  us  pay  for  that  service,  when 
they  have  asserted,  or  insinuated,  that  true  faith  is  inamissible,  that 
it  can  live  in  a  heart  totally  depraved,  that  a  man's  faith  can  be  good 
when  his  actions  are  bad,  detestable,  diabolical  :  in  a  word,  that  true 
Christians  may  go  any  length  in  sin,  may  plunge  into  adultery,  mur- 
der, or  incest,  and  even  proceed  to  the  onen  worship  of  devils,  like 
Solomon,  without  losing  their  title  to  a  throne  of  glory,  and  their 
justifying,  sanctifying,  saving  faith. 

This  they  have  done  in  flat  opposition  to  our  Lord's  doctrine  :  A 
good  tree  bringeth  not  forth  corrupt  fruit;  neither  does  a  corrupt  tree 
bring  forth  good  fruit :  for  every  tree  is  known  by  its  oxn'n  fruity  Luke 
vi.  43. — And  this,  some  of  them  seem  determined  to  do,  to  the 
stumbling  of  the  judicious,  the  deceiving  of  the  simple,  and  the 
hardening  of  infidels  ;  notwithstanding  our  Xdth  article,  which 
strongly  guards  the  doctrine  of  faith  against  their  Solitidian  error. — 
"  Good  works,"  says  our  church  in  that  truly  anti-calvinistic  article, 
•'  do"  at  this  present  time,  "  spring  out  necessarily  «  f  a  true  and 
lively  faith,"  and  consequently  bad  works,  of  a  false  and  dead  faith  : 
"  insomuch  that  by  them  a  lively,"  and  by  bad  works  a  opAn,  "  faith 
may  be  as  evidently  known,  as  a  tree  is  discerned  by  the  fruit." 

But,  in  the  mean  time,  how  do  they  evade  the  force  of  that  article  ? 
Why  thus,  David  bears  this  year  the  fruit  of  adultery,  hypocrisy, 
treachery,  and  murder,  before  all  his  kingdom  :  last  year  he  bore 
the  fruit  of  chastity,  sincerity,  truth,  and  brotherly  love.  However, 
according  to  the  Crispian  doctrines  of  grace,  David  must  be  a  tree  of 
righteousness  now,  as  much  as  when  he  bore  the  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness. If  this  be  not  the  case,  Mr.  Fulsome's  Gospel  will  be  false  : 
Kow  this  must  not  be.  That  Gospel  must  stand. — "  But  if  it  stand, 
our  Xllth  article  falls  to  the  ground." — Oh  !  we  can  prop  it  by  say- 
ing, that  though  a  child  of  God,  a  tree  of  righteousness,  may  now 
produce  adultery,  &c.  &c.  kc.  yet  he  will  certainly  produce  good 
fruit  again  by  and  by.  To  this  salvo  I  answer,  that  the  article  has 
only  two  grand  designs  :  the  one  inseparably  to  connect  a  lively  faith 
and  good  works  ;  and  the  other,  to  indicate  the  manner  in  which  1 

Vol.  II.  '  34 


266  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I, 

may  know  whether  I  have  a  lively  or  a  dead  faith.  Now,  if  I  may 
have  a  lively  faith  while  I  commit  adultery,  &c.  kc.  &c.  it  evidently 
follows  :  1.  That  the  necessary  connexion  between  a  lively  faith  and 
good  works  is  totally  lost.  2.  That  adultery  and  murder  may  denote 
a  lively  faith  as  well  as  purity  and  love. — And,  3.  That  our  Xllth 
article  has  not  even  the  worth  of  a  nose  of  wax,  and  may  be  burned 
with  St.  James's  Epistle,  as  an  article  of  "  straw."  And  yet  these 
gentlemen  are  the  persons,  that  represent  themselves  as  the  only 
fair  subscribers  to  our  articles,  and  charge  us  with  prevarication  for 
taking  the  XVIIth  article  in  connexion  with  the  Vlth,  the  XUth,  the 
XVIth,  and  the  XXXIst,  as  well  as  with  the  latter  part  of  that  article 
itself,  which  demands  that  the  election  it  speaks  of  be  understood  of 
conditional  election ! 

To  return  :  Should  the  reader  object,  that  "  if  God  had  suspended 
our  salvation  upon  our  practical  belief  of  the  truths  he  would  have  put 
so  conspicuous  a  badge  upon  the  saving  truth  peculiar  to  each  dis- 
pensation, tha.t  nobody  could  have  mistaken  it  for  error,  enthusiasm, 
priestcraft,  or  nonsense."     I  answer  : 

1.  God  having  decreed  to  prove  the  loyalty  and  moral  sagacity  of 
his  rational  creatures,  could  not  but  place  them  in  circumstances  in 
which  they  might  have  an  opportunity  of  exerting  themselves.  If 
hares  were  chained  at  the  doors  of  dog-kennels,  what  sagacity  could 
hounds  manifest  above  mastiffs  ?  And  if  the  deepest  truths  always 
lay  within  the  reach  of  the  most  besotted  souls,  what  advantage 
would  candid;,  diligent  inquirers  have  over  those,  who  wrap  their 
minds  in  the  vail  of  prejudice,  and  stupidly  compose  themselves  to 
sleep  in  the  arms  of  ignorance  and  sloth? 

2.  God  will  reward  us  according  to  our  works  of  faith  ;  but  if  the 
truth  were  attended  with  an  irresistible  energy,  if  it  shone  always 
upon  our  minds  as  transcendently  bright,  as  the  dazzling  sun  does 
sometimes  upon  our  faces,  would  God  display  his  wisdom  in  reward- 
ino^  us  for  confessing  it  ?  Did  he — did  any  man  in  his  senses  ever 
c-ffer  to  reward  us  for  believing,  that  a  bright  luminary  rules  the  day, 
when  its  meridian  glory  overpowers  our  sight  ? 

3.  Pearls  are  found  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea  :  gold  and  diamond? 
lie  o-enerally  deep  in  the  earth  :  we  sink  pits  to  a  prodigious  depth., 
only  to  come  at  the  black  mineral  which  we  burn.  Thousands  of 
men  go  as  far  as  the  East  and  West  Indies,  to  fill  our  canisters  with 
tea  and  sugar.  Our  meanest  tradesmen  sip  the  dews  of  both  hemis- 
pheres at  a  breakfast.  And  yet,  it  may  be,  with  a  dish  of  tea  in  our 
hand,  and  a  gold  ring  on  our  tinger,  we  gravely  complain  that  saving 


AN   ESSAY    ON   TRUTH.  267 

truth  lies  a  great  way  off,  and  that  God  is  unjust  in  placing  it  in 
obscure  mines,  which  cannot  be  worked  without  some  trouble  and 
industry. 

4.  But  although  nobody  can  be  established  in  the  truth  without 
LABOURING  JoT  the  meat  that  endureth  to  everlasting  life ;  yet  God's 
terms  of  salvation  are  not  so  hard  as  some  prejudiced  people  con- 
ceive. Nor  do  I  scruple  to  assert,  that  if  we  could  read  the  hearts 
of  all  men,  we  would  see  that,  for  a  time,  unbelievers  take  as  much 
pains  to  exclude  the  light  of  truth,  as  believers  do  to  welcome  it  ;  and 
that  wicked  men  work  as  intensely,  though  not  as  intentionally,  to 
make  their  reprobation  and  damnation  certain,  as  good  men  do  to 
make  their  calling  and  election  sure :  For,  the  wicked  is  snared  in  the 
WORK  of  HIS  OWN  hauds : — the  reward  of  his  hands  shall  be  given 
him : — the  wages  of  his  sin  is  death,  and  he  frequently  toils  like  a 
horse  for  his  wages,  drawing  iniquity  with  cords  of  vanity,  and  sin 
as  with  a  cart  rope,  to  hale  himself  and  others  into  the  burning  lake. 

From  the  preceding  answers  I  conclude,  that  God,  who  makes  the 
golden  light  of  the  sun,  and  the  silver  light  of  the  moon  succeed  each 
other,  and  who  wisely  tempers  the  blaze  of  a  summer's  day,  by  the 
mildness  of  the  starry  night,  with  equal  wisdom  qualifies  the  blaze  of 
the  day  of  truth  by  the  mild  obscurity  of  a  night  of  probation ;  not 
only  that  i\\e  flaming  truth  may  be  more  delightful  at  its  return,  but 
also,  that  there  may  be  room  left  for  a  gentle  trial  of  our  faith,  and 
for  the  reasonable  rewardableness  of  our  works  of  faith. 

SECTION  IX. 

INFERENCES. 

1.  \f  faith  be  so  closely  connected  with  Truth  ;  present  salvation 
\\'\ih  faith;  and  eternal  salvation  with  the  works  of  faith;  how  inju- 
dicious are  those  gentlemen,  who  assert,  that  principles  are  nothing ; 
and  that  it  little  matters  what  doctrines  we  hold,  provided  our  actions 
be  good  !  Alas  !  if  our  leading  principles  be  wrong,  how  can  our 
actions  be  right  ?  If  we  be  men  of  no  principles,  or  of  bad  princi- 
ples, and  do  seemingly  good  actions  ;  do  we  not  do  them  from  bady 
Pharisaical  motives  ?  Even  when  such  actions  appear  good  to  man, 
who  judges  according  to  appearance  ;  are  they  not  evil  before  the 
Searcher  of  hearts  ?  Are  they  not  detestable  before  the  Examinator 
of  principles  ?  Undoubtedly  ;  hypocrisy  being  the  most  odious  sort 
of  iniquity  in  the  sight  of  him  who  requires  truth  in  the  inward, 
parts. 


268  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

2.  If  the  effects  o(  Truth  be  so  wonderful  ;  and  if  the  pure  word 
of  God  be  essentially  one  with  Truth;  how  fatal  is  the  mistake  of  the 
laymen,  who  slight  the  Gospel  word  !  who  listen  to  a  sermon  with 
less  attention  than  they  do  to  a  play !  and  who  read  the  Scriptures 
with  less  eagerness  than  they  do  the  newspapers  !  And  how  culpa- 
ble are  those  clergymen,  who  preach  the  first  sermon  they  set  their 
hand  upon,  without  examining  whether  it  contain  truth,  or  error,  or 
a  mixture  of  both  : — at  least,  without  considering  whether  it  be 
adapted  to  the  capacity  and  circumstances  of  their  hearers  ! 

3.  Can  we  decry  prejudice  too'  much,  if  it  unfit  our  souls  for 
receiving  the  truth,  as  trash  unfits  our  stomachs  for  receiving  proper 
food  ?  Should  not  a  narrow,  bigoted  spirit,  that  collects  itself  like  a 
hedgehog  in  its  own  fancied  orthodoxy,  and  bristles  up  assertions  and 
invectives  instead  of  arguments,  be  firmly  opposed  by  every  generous 
inquirer  after  Truth  ?  Can  we  deplore  too  much  the  case  of  those 
sanguine  persons,  who  judge  of  the  strength  of  their  faith  by  the 
force  of  their  prepossession  ;  and  who  fancy,  that  a  hundred  plaia 
scriptures,  and  as  many  cogent  arguments,  have  no  weight,  if  they  do 
not  countenance  their  favourite  sentiments,  and  misunderstood  feel- 
ings ?  And  can  we  too  warmly  recommend  a  candid,  sober,  fearless 
turn  of  mind,  which  lays  us  open  to  information,  and  disposes  us 
publicly  to  espouse  the  cause  of  Truth  ;  even  when  destruction 
threatens  her,  and  her  despised  adherents  ? 

4.  Charity  rejoiceth  in  the  Truth  ;  and  though  I  speak  with  the 
tongues  of  angels,  says  St.  Paul,  if  I  have  not  charity,  i.  e»  if  I  do  not 
rejoice  in  the  truth,  whether  it  makes  for  or  against  my  prejudices, 
1  am  become  as  sounding  bi-ass.  Upon  this  footing,  what  can  we  say 
of  those  warm  moralists,  who,  in  their  zeal  for  works,  are  ready  to 
burn  against  the  doctrine  of  faith?  What  of  those  rash  Solifidians, 
who,  in  their  zeal  ior  faith,  are  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  against 
the  doctrine  of  works  ?  Alas !  like  St.  Paul  in  the  days  of  his  igno- 
rance, they  court,  and  yet  persecute  the  Truth  ;  they  embrace,  and 
yet  stab  the  divine  stranger.  These  false  martyrs  may  give  their 
body  to  be  burnt  for  one  truth  against  another ;  but  God  will  say  to 
them,  Who  required  this  at  your  hands?  and  they  themselves  will  say, 
It  prqfiteth  us  nothing, 

5.  If  there  be  various  forms  in  the  school  of  Truth,  how  unrea- 
sonable is  it  to  say,  that  none  have  any  acquaintance  with  her,  but 
such  as  are  in  one  of  the  highest  forms  !  And  if  the  temple  of  Truth 
has  various  divisions  to  which  we  advance,  as  we  go  on  from  faith  to 
faith ;  how  cruel  is  it  to  consign  over  to  damnation  the  sincere  souls 

who  have  yet  got  no  farther  than  the  porch  ! 


AN    ESSAY   ON    TRUTH.  269 

6.  If  there  are  as  many  sorts  of  religious  truths  as  there  are  of 
nourishing  food,  how  irrational  is  it  to  despise  those  truths,  which 
the  apostle  compares  to  milk,  merely  because  they  are  not  the  truths 
which  he  cdHh  strong  meat!  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  cannot  yet 
receive  those  strong  truths,  how  rash  are  we,  if  we  represent  them 
as  chaff  or  poison  ?  And  what  mischief  is  done  in  the  church  of 
Christ  by  those  who  deal  in  palpable  absurdities,  and  in  errors  demon- 
strated to  be  of  a  stupifying  or  intoxicating  nature  ;  especially  if  they 
retail  such  errors  to  an  injudicious,  credulous  populace,  under  the 
name  of  rich  honey  and  Gospel  marrow  ! 

7.  If  divine  Truth  is  one,  through  its  various  appearances ;  and  if 
the  light  of  the  righteous^  who  holds  on  his  way,  shines  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day ;  what  shall  we  say  of  those  prejudiced  men,  who 
oppose  the  Truth  with  all  their  might,  merely  because  it  does  not 
Gome  up  to  their  false  standard,  or  because  it  appears  in  a  dress  to 
which  they  are  not  accustomed  ?  Did  a  Persian  ever  refuse  to  admire 
the  rising  sun,  because  it  was  not  the  meridian  sun  ;  or  laugh  at  it,  as 
being  an  insignificant  meteor,  because  it  rose  under  a  cloud?  If 
Christ  is  not  ashamed  to  call  himself  the  Light  and  the  Truth,  should 
we  be  ashamed  to  confess  him  in  his  lowest  appearances  ?  If  Christ, 
exalted  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  is  one  with  Christ  transfigured  on 
the  mount, — bleeding  on  Calvary, — lying  in  the  manger, — confined, 
a  helpless  embryo  in  the  virgin's  womb  ;  may  not  the  triumphant 
Truth,  that  shines  like  the  sun  in  the  heart  o(  a  father  in  Christ,  have 
some  affinity  with  the  spark,  that  glows  in  the  heart  of  an  infant  in 
grace  under  the  dispensation  of  Noah  ?  Ought  we  to  give  up  the 
greatest  part  of  our  neighbours,  as  men  that  "  never'  had  grace,^^ 
when  the  Scripture  expressly  declares,  that  the  saving  grace  of  God 
has  appeared  unto  all  men^  and  that  Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world, 
that  enlightens  every  man?  Let  mystical  Herods  seek  the  young  child's 
life  ;  but  thou,  man  of  God,  leap  for  joy  like  the  unborn  Baptist, 
before  the  least  and  feeblest  appearance  of  thy  Lord.  Instead  of 
calling  it  "  common  grace,''"'  that  thou  mayest  cut  it  off  the  next  mo- 
ment as  "  no  grace,^^  cherish  it  as  saving  grace  in  thy  own  breast,  and 
in  the  hearts  of  all  that  are  around  thee. 

8.  If  the  most  powerful  displays  of  Truth  improve  its  feeblest 
appearances,  without  ever  contradicting  them  ;  how  mistaken  are  the 
men  who  impose  upon  us  the  immoral  doctrines  of  the  Antinomians, 
and  the  unevangelical  doctrines  of  the  Pharisees!  When  we  have 
once  admitted,  that  *'  There  is  a  holy  God,  \vho  makes  a  difference 
between  the  just  and  the  unjust ;"  can  we,  without  renouncing  that 
truth,  become  Antinomians,  and  think  that  a  man,  who  actually  defiles 


270  EQ,UAL    CHECK. 


PART    i, 


his  neighbour's  wife,  can  be  a  man  after  God^s  own  heart  ? — And 
when  we  hai^e  been  taught  our  second  gracious  lesson  ;  namely, 
that  ''  We  are  miserable  sinners  ;"  can  we,  without  renouncing  this 
principle,  suppose  that  we  can  be  saved  any  other  way  than  by  the 
corenaut  of  grace  and  mercy?  Away  then,  for  ever  away  with  Anii- 
nornian  and  Pharisaic  delusions,  which  are  built  upon  the  ruins  of 
those  two  capital  truths,  God  is  holy,  and  Man  is  sinful! 

SECTION  X. 

An  Address  to  Baptized  Heathens. 

Here  I  would  take  leave  of  my  readers ;  but  they  have  consciences 
as  well  as  reason ;  and  therefore  I  beg  leave  to  address  the  former  of 
those  powers,  as  bluntly  as  I  have  done  the  latter ;  diversifying  my 
expostulations,  according  to  the  different  cases  of  the  persons  into 
whose  hands  Providence  may  direct  these  sheets. 

I.  If  you  do  not  make  the  bulk  of  my  readers,  I  fear  you  make  the 
bulk  of  the  nation,  O  ye  that  regard  pleasure,  profit,  and  honour, 
more  than  justice,  mercy,  and  the  fear  of  God  : — Ye,  that  far  from 
embracing  divine  Truth  at  the  hazard  of  your  character,  spread 
abroad  scandalous  untruths,  to  the  ruin  of  other.people's  reputations  : 
— Ye,  who  try  to  persuade  yourselves,  that  religion  is  nothing  but  a 
monstrous  compound  of  superstition,  enthusiasm,  and  priestcraft : 
Ye,  who  can  violate  the  laws  of  temperance  or  honesty  without  one 
painful  remorse  ;  breaking  through  promises,  oaths,  and  matrimonial 
or  sacramental  engagements,  as  if  there  were  no  future  state,  no 
supreme  Judge,  no  day  of  retribution,  no  divine  law  enacting,  that 
whosoever  loveth,  or  maketh  a  lie,  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  ^  that 
the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  with  all  the  people  that  forget  God  : 
— Ye  are  the  persons,  that  I  beg  leave  to  call  Baptized  Heathens. 
Baptismal  water  was  applied  to  your  bodies,  as  a  figure  of  the  grace 
which  purifies  believing  souls.  Ye  received,  and  continue  to  bear  a 
Christian  name,  that  binds  upon  you  the  strongest  obligations  you  can 
possibly  be  under,  to  partake  of  Chrisfs  holiness,  and  to  lead  a  sober, 
Christian  life  :  but  how  opposite  is  your  conduct  to  that  of  Christ  ? 
Alas !  conscientious  heathens  would  disown  you ;  and  shall  God  own 
you  ?  Shall  the  Searcher  of  hearts  forgive  your  immorality, An  consi- 
deration of  your  hypocrisy  F  Will  you  live  and  die  with  such  a  lie  in 
your  right  hand,  and  upon  your  forehead  ?  God  forbid  ! — If  you  have 
nGt  sold  yourselves  to  the  father  ©f  deceits  for  ever  :  pay  yet  some 


AN    ESSA.Y    ON    TRUTH.  271 

attention  to  natural,  moral,  and  evangelical  truths  :  they  recommend 
themselves  to  your  senses,  your  reason,  and  your  conscience. 

1.  Regard  naii«raZ  Truths.  Earthly  joys  vanish  hke  dreams.  Life 
flies  like  an  arrow.  Your  friends  or  neighbours  are  daily  seized  by 
sickness,  and  dragged  into  eternity.  Death  comes  to  terminate  your 
delusions,  and  set  his  black  seal  upon  your  false  lips,  your  wanton 
eyes,  your  rapacious  hands,  your  luxurious  palates,  your  sinful, 
treacherous  breasts.  Ere  long  the  king  of  terrors  will  screw  you  down 
in  his  hard  couch,  a  coffin :  he  will  convey  you  away  in  his  black 
carriage,  a  hearse:  he  will  confine  you  to  his  loathsome  dungeon,  a 
grave;  and  there  he  will  keep  you  in  chains  of  darkness  and  corrup- 
tion, till  the  trump  of  God  summon  you  to  judgment. 

2.  And  say  not  that  the  doctrine  of  a  day  of  judgment  is  a  fable. 
If  you  do,  I  appeal  to  moral  Truths.  Is  there  not  an  essential  differ- 
ence between  truth  and  falsehood,  between  mercy  and  cruelty, 
between  honesty  and  villany  ?  Have  you,  with  all  the  pains  you  have 
taken  about  it,  been  able  to  erase  from  your  breasts  the  law  of  truth 
and  mercy,  which  the  righteous  God  has  deeply  engraven  there  ?  Is 
there  not  something  within  you,  that,  bad  as  you  are,  forbids  you  to 
wish  your  father  dead,  that  you  may  have  his  estate  ;  and  your  wife 
poisoned,  that  you  may  marry  the  woman  you  love  ?  If  you  say,  tha< 
these  are  only  prejudices  of  education  ;  1  ask.  How  came  these  pre-j 
judices  to  be  universal?  Why  are  they  the  same,  even  where  the 
methods  of  education  are  most  contrary  ?  Why  do  they  reign  in  the 
very  countries  where  there  are  neither  magistrates  nor  priests;  and 
where,  oC  course,  politics  aud  priestcraft  never  bore  the  sway  ?  If  your 
consciences  would  condemn  you  for  the  above-mentioned  crimes  ;  how 
much  more  will  God  do  it,  who  is  the  Author  and  Judge  of  your  con- 
sciences ?  Does  not  your  good  sense  tell  you,  that,  so  sure  as  the 
wonderful  machine  of  this  world  did  not  make,  and  does  not  preserve 
itself,  there  is  a  God,  who  made  and  preserves  it?  and  that  this  God 
is  possessed  of  ten  thousand  times  more  truth,  equity,  impartiality, 
justice,  and  power,  than  all  the  righteous  rulers  in  the  world  were 
ever  endued  with?  And  to  say  nothing  of  the  gracious  checks,  and 
sad  forebodings  of  your  guilty  consciences  ;  does  not  your  reason 
discover,  that  as  certainly  as  this  great  God  is  possessed  of  infinite 
wisdom,  power,  and  justice ;  and  has  given  us  a  moral  law,  he  will 
call  us  to  an  account  for  our  breaches  of  it ;  and  that,  as  he  does 
not  in  general  do  it  in  this  world,  he  will  infallibly  do  it  in  a  future 
state  ? 

3.  If  reason  and  conscience  thus  lead  you  to  religion ;  regard 
religious  truths  :  they  are  supported  by  so  great  a  variety  of  well- 


272  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

attested  facts,  by  such  clouds  of  righteous  witnesses,  by  so  many 
astonishing  miracles,  and  accomplished  prophecies  : — they  so  per- 
fectly agree  with  the  glory  of  our  Creator,  the  interests  of  mankind, 
the  laws  of  our  nature,  and  the  native  desire  we  have  for  immortality  : 
—they  so  exactly  coincide  with  our  present,  as  well  as  future  happi- 
ness ;  that  you  cannot  expose  your  unreasonableness  more,  and  do 
yourselves  a  greater  injury,  than  by  rejecting  them. 

What  reasonable  objection  can  you  make  to  these  scriptural  direc- 
tions I  Cease  to  do  evil.  Learn  to  do  good.  Speak  the  truth  in  love. 
Return  to  the  Lord.  Call  upon  his  name.  Say,  *'  Grant  to  us  in  this 
world  the  knowledge  of  thy  Truth,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life 
everlasting."  Confess  yourselves  sinners,  great  sinners  :  spread  this 
melancholy  truth  before  the  throne  of  divine  mercy  ; — spread  it  with 
tears  of  undissembled  repentance.  Except  you  repent,  you  shall  all 
perish :  but,  if  you  sow  in  tears,  you  shall  reap  in  joy. 

And  suppose  not,  that  1  want  to  drive  you  to  despair.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  declare,  that  dangerous  as  your  case  is,  it  is  not  absolutel}' 
desperate.  The  Gospel  offers  you  a  remedy.  You  have  dealt  with 
lying  shadows,  but  you  may  yet  embrace  the  eternal  substance.  You 
have  wounded  the  truth  ;  but  Christ,  from  whom  you  have  the  name 
of  Christian^— Chnst,  who  say  a,  I  am  the  Truth,  has  been  wounded 
for  you.  You  have  crucified  revealed  Truth,  and  the  Prince  of  Life 
has  been  crucified  in  your  place.  I  point  you  to«his  cross,  and  declare 
in  the  name  of  unprejudiced  reason,  that  few  histories  are  supported 
by  such  a  variety  of  indisputable  evidences  as  the  wonders  that 
redeeming  love  wrought  on  Calvary  for  you. 

Let  not  the  scandalous  falls  of  apostates,  and  the  bad  lives  of 
hypocritical  Christians,  frighten  you  from  the  Gospel.  Immoral  and 
unloving  men,  high  as  their  pretensions  to  faith  may  be,  are  no  more 
Christians  than  you.  Suffer  not  the  disputes  of  professors  to  keep 
you  in  infidelity  ;  for  they  prove  the  truth,  and  not  the  falsehood  of 
Christianity;  being  expressly  foretold  ;  Acts  xx.  30.  1  Cor.  xi.  19. 
Jude  4.  1  Tim.  iv.  1.  Nor  stupidly  wonder  that  the  serpent  should 
most  spitefully  bruise  the  heel  of  the  Truth  that  most  powerfully 
bruises  his  head.  Above  all,  be  candid  ;  be  inquisitive  ;  apply  to  the 
Father  of  lights  for  direction;  and  his  invisible  hand  will  conduct 
you  over  every  rock  of  offence,  and  lead  you  to  the  sure  foundation, 
the  Rock  of  ages,  the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesiis. 

How  near  is  that  Trwf^  to  you!  It  always  embraces  Mercy,  and 
mercy  now  embraces  yoii.  O  the  length  and  breadth,  the  depth 
and  height  of  redeeming  mercy  !  It  spares  you  to  believe — to  repent 
— to  live.     The  arms  of  divine  patience  still  encircle  your  guilty 


r 


i  i 


AN   ESSAY   0!^   TRUTH.  273 

souls,  and  bear  up  your  mortal  bodies  above  the  terrors  of  the  grave. 
Crying  as  your  sins  are,  the  cries  of  your  Saviour's  blood  are  yet 
heard  above  them.  Provoking  as  your  unbelief  is,  it  has  not  yet 
provoked  God  to  set  upon  you  the  seal  of  absolute  reprobation. 
Unspotted  Holiness,  glorious  Majesty,  flaming  Power,  thundering  Jus- 
tice, weeping  Mercy,  bleeding  Love  ; — all  the  divine  attributes  join 
yet  in  a  concert  of  grace  and  truth.  You  are  the  objects  of  it ;  and 
the  burden  of  their  terrifying,  melting  accents  is,  Turn  ye,  turn  ye : 
Why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  Why  should  iniquity  be  your  ruin  ? 
Turn !  for  I  have  redeemed  you.  Turn  !  and  the  second  death  shall  have 
no  power  over  you.     Turn  !  and  you  shall  have  a  crown  of  life. 

Thus,  my  dear  fellow-sinners,  and  far  more  earnestly  than  I  can 
describe,  Mercy  and  Truth  exert  themselves  in  your  belvalf ;  waiting 
only  for  your  consent  to  diffuse  their  divine  perfumes  through  your 
converted  souls.  This  is  the  day  of  God"* s  power — Your  Gospel  day  : 
— This  is  a  day  of  salvation,  a  day  of  spiritual  jubilee,  a  day  of  the 
year  of  release :  know  it :  improve  it.  Break  your  bonds :  claim 
your  liberty  :  change  your  service  :  scorn  to  be  the  devil's  drudges  : 
become  the  servants  of  the  Most  High.  Regard  neither  the  husks 
nor  the  grunts  of  the  swine  :  the  heavenly  feast  is  before  you.  The 
Father  of  the  prodigal  son  runs  to  meet,  to  forgive,  to  Vvelcome,  to 
embrace  you  ;  and  to  raise  your  doubting  hearts,  he  bids  me  impress 
these  gracious  promises  upon  your  yielding  breasts.  When  the  wicked 
man  turneth  away  from  his  wickedness,  and  does  that  which  is  lawful 
and  right,  (and  what  is  more  lawful  and  right  for  sinners,  than  to 
repent,  believe,  and  obey  the  Gospel  ?)  he  shall  save  his  $oul  alive. — 
Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts ; 
and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  is  merciftd  ;  and  fo  our 
God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon. 

SECTION  XL 

An  Address  to  Christianized  Jews. 

And  ye.  Christianized  Jews,  will  ye  still  be  offended  at  our  sin- 
cerely preaching  free  grace  to  ali  our  fellow-Gentiles  ?  Will  ye  stil! 
stop  your  ears  and  cry  out,  The  children  of  Abraham,  the  temple  of  the 
Lord  are  ive?  Or,  in  other  terms,  We  are  the  little  flock  necessariU 
contradistinguished  from  the  immense  herd  of  absolute  reprobates '' 
Will  ye  still  assert  ?  "  Reprobos  ideo  in  banc  pravilatem  addictos, 
'  quia  juste  et  inscrutabili  Dei  judicio  susrit^7ti  sunt  ad  gloriam  ejus 
Vol,  IL  ?5 


274  EliUAt    CHECK*  PART    I, 

^'  sua  darnnatione  illustrandam  :"*  *'  That  the  reprobates  are  devoted  to 
''  wickedness,  because  through  the  just  and  unsearchable  judgment  of 
''  God,  they  were  raised  up  to  illustrate  his  glory  by  their  damnation?''^ 
— Will  ye  still  add  ?  "  Q,nos  vero  damnation!  addicit,  his  justo  quidem 
"  et  irreprehensibili,  sed  incomprehensibili  ejus  judicio  vitae  aditum 
'*  praecludi  :"*  "  That  by  God^sjust  and  irreprehensible ,  though  incom- 
"  prehensible  judgment,  the  way  to  life  is  blocked  up  for  those  whom  he 
**  has  devoted  to  damnation?''^ — Will  ye  never  blush  to  intimate? 
*  Q,uos  ergo  Deus  prseterit,  reprobat :  neque  alia  causa,  nisi  quod 
"  ab  haereditate,  quam  iiliis  suis  praedestinat,  illos  vult  excludere.'"^ 
*' Therefore  those  whom  God  passes  by,  he  reprobates;  for  no  other 
'^reason  but  this;  he  will  exclude  them  from  the  inheritance  which  he 
^'predestinates  for  his  sons?'''' — Will  ye  still  call  "blind"  all  who 
think,  that  God  is  sincerely  \ov'm^  to  every  man,  without  any  exception 
in  the  day  of  salvation  ?  Will  ye  still  monopolize  the  light  that 
enlightens  every  man  who  comes  into  the  world  ?  Will  ye  still  sound 
the  bottomless  abyss  of  divine  mercy  with  your  short  line,  and  judge 
of  the  Almighty's  enlarged  heart  by  the  narrovvness  of  your  own  ? 
O  learn  to  know  the  God  of  Love,  the  God  of  Truth,  better.  He  is 
not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repent- 
ance.— He  commands  all  men  every  where  to  repent.  And  he  bids  us 
account  his  long-siiff^ering,  salvation ;  assuring  us,  that  the  riches  of  his 
goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long- suffer 'mg,  lead  to  repentance  even 
those  wretches,  who,  after  their  hardness  and  impenitent  heart,  trea- 
sure up  unto  themselves  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  revelatioit 
of  his  righteous  judgment. 

If  you  will  not  credit  God's  word,  pay  at  least  some  regard  to  his 
OATH.  As  I  LIVE,  says  he,  /  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked,  but  that  he  turn  from  his  way  and  live. — Just  as  if  he  said  :. 
"  By  myself  I  swear,  that  I  have  absolutely  reprobated  no  man.  If 
*'  any  perish,  their  destruction  is  of  themselves,  and  not  of  mer- 
"  ciless  decrees  rashly  imputed  to  my  sovereignty.  Free  agency  irs 
*'  man,  and  not  free  wrath  in  me,  sinks  those  who  make  their  con- 
"  ditional  rejection  and  reprobation  sure  by  their  unnecessary  unbe- 
"  lief,  and  avoidable  impenitency.  Far  from  delighting  absolutely  in 
'  the  reprobation  of  any  one  sinner,  I  solemnly  protest,  that  1  would 
*'  qff'er  violence  to  the  liberty  of  the  most  obstinate,  and  force  them  all 
"  into  heaven  by  the  exertion  of  my  omnipotence,  if  my  Truth  as  a 
•'  Lawgiver,  my  Justice  as  a  Judge,  my  Veracity  as  the  Inspirer  of 

*  These  three  quotations  are  taken  from  Calvin's  Institutes.    Third  Book.    Chap.  24- 
<rf>.  14.— Chap.  21.  Sec.  7.— Chap.  23.  Sec.  1. 


AN    ESSAY   ON    TRUTH.  2'75 

^^  ray  prophets,  my  Wisdom  as  a  Revvarder,  and  my  Equity  as  a 
'  Punisher,  did  not  absolutely  forbid  it." 

Come  then,  my  prepossessed  brethren,  show  yourselves  the 
children  of  Abraham  :  return  to  the  God  of  your  Father — the  God  by 
whom  ALL  the  families  of  the  earth  may  be  blessed  in  the  seed  of  Abra- 
ham. Think  not  that  the  Lord  is  only  jealous  of  his  supreme 
dominion  ;  nor  make  him  graceless  and  merciless  towards  countless 
myriads  of  reprobated  infants,  to  extol  the  grim  sovereignty  which 
your  imagination  has  set  up. 

"  Set  not  at  odds  heaven's  jarring  attributes  ; 
"  Nor,  with  one  excellence,  another  wound." 
Allow  God  to  be  "  all  o'er,  consummate,  absolute, 
"  Full  orb'd,  in  his  whole  round  of  rays  complete," 

merciful  in  the  day  of  salvation,  and  just  in  the  day  of  judgment,  to 
every  individual  of  the  human  race.  What  can  you  possibly  object  to 
a  doctrine  so  rational,  so  scriptural,  so  worthy  of  God  ? 

If  you  complain  that  we  make  the  way  to  heaven  too  broad^  I  ask, 
Ought  we  not  to  represent  it  as  broad  as  the  Scriptures  make  it  ?  Do 
we  make  it  wider  than  St.  Peter  did,  when  truth  and  love  made  him 
divest  himself  of  his  Jewish  prejudices,  and  cry  out  with  pleasing 
amaze  :  Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  ;  but 
in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh  righteousness ,  is  accepted 
efhim?  Or,  do  we  make  it  narrower  than  St.  Paul,  when  he 
wrote.  If  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  shall  die :  no  adulterer,  ^c.  hath 
ANY.  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  God? 

For  your  own  credit  do  not  ask  :  "  If  all  men  may  be  saved 
'•  through  Christ,  by  following  the  light  of  the  Gospel  dispensation, 
''  which  they  are  under,  what  advantage  hath  the  Christian  ?  and 
•'  what  profit  is  there  of  baptism  and  Christianity  ?"  If  you  make 
such  an  objection,  you  "  show  yourselves  to  be  christianized 
jews"  indeed.  The  apostle  has  just  said.  If  the  uncircumcision,  i.  e. 
if  uncircumcised  heathens  (like  Melchisedec  or  Job,  Cornelius  or  the 
Canaanitish  woman)  keep  the  righteousness  of  the  law  according  to  their 
light,  shall  not  their  uncircumcision  be  counted  for  circumcision  ?  that 
is,  shall  they  not  be  saved,  as  well  as  if  they  were  circumcised  Jews  ? 
St.  Paul  saw,  that  the  partial  hearts  of  the  Jews  would  take  fright  at 
his  doctrine  ;  and  would  start  an  objection,  capable  of  demolishing,  if 
possible,  the  impartiality  of  God,  and  the  freeness  of  the  everlasting 
Gospel.  He  therefore  produces  this  formidable  objection  thus :  If 
the  Gentiles  may  be  saved  by  following  their  light,  what  advantage 
hath  the  Jew?  or  what  pro/it  is  there  of  circumcision  ?  Rom.   iii.    1. 


276  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I, 

The  answer  which  he  gives,  stops  the  mouths  of  all  Jews,  whether 
they  Hve  in  London,  Rome,  or  Jerusalem  :  TJie  Jews,  says  he,  (and 
much  more  the  Christians)  have  much  advantage  every  waif^  chiefly 
because  that  unto  them  were  committed  the  Oracles  of  God.  The  Hea- 
thens have  only  the  light  of  God's  works^  the  light  of  God's  providence, 
the  light  of  reason,  the  light  of  conscience,  and  the  light  of  that  saving 
grace,  which  has  appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  them  to  live  soberly, 
&c.  and  reproving  them  when  they  do  not.  But  the  Jews,  fto  say 
nothing  of  the  light  of  tradition,  which  is  far  brighter  among  them 
than  among  the  heathens)  over  and  above  this  fivefold  light,  have 
the  light  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  Christians  the  light  of  the  J^ew. 

Come  then,  my  prejudiced  brethren,  let  St.  Paul's  answer  satisfy 
you.  Get  from  under  your  parched  gourd  of  reprobation  :  Let  not 
your  eye  be  evil  because  God  is  good ;  nor  fret,  like  Jonah,  because 
the  Father  of  mercies  extends  his  compassion  even  to  all  the  hum- 
bled heathens  in  the  great  city  of  Nineveh.  Jls  the  elect  of  God, 
put  071  bowels  of  mercy,  and  show  yourselves  the  genuine  children 
of  him  who  is  loving  to  every  man,  and  whose  mercy  is  over  all  his 
works:  so  shall  your  mistakes  no  longer  straiten  your  minds,  sour 
your  tempers,  and  shut  your  hearts  against  your  "  non- elected''''  neigh- 
bours. 

And  supposing  you  are  of  the  happy  fevf,  in  whose  souls  the 
impartial  grace  of  God  overrules  the  ordinary  consequences  of  your 
partial  doctrines  : — Supposing  you  are  loving  to  every  man,  and  have 
more  bowels  of  mercy  than  the  God  whom  you  extol  : — Supposing 
you  are  true  to  all  men,  and  surpass  in  sincerity  the  God  whom  you 
recommend,  who  calls  all  men  every  where  to  repent,  and  all  the  day 
long  stretches  out  his  hands  in  token  of  his  compassionate  love  to 
people,  on  whom  he  absolutely  fixed  his  immortal  hatred  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world  : — Supposing,  I  say,  you  have  the  happiness 
of  being  so  much  better  than  your  principles,  so  much  holier  than 
the  god  of  your  opinions  ;  [Note  :  I  say  not  the  God  of  your  salva- 
Tio%] — Yet,  by  renouncing  those  opinions,  you  will  no  longer  coun- 
tenance Antinomianism,  deceive  the  simple,  contradict  yourselves, 
shock  moralists,  and  render  Christianity  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of 
all,  that  confound  it  with  your  doctrines  of  forcible  grace  to  hundreds, 
and  of  forcible  wrath  to  thousands. 

"  '^  Should  you  countenance  your  Jewish  notions  by  saying,  "  We 
are  Christians :  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  heathens  ;"  I  answer  : 

*  Should  (he  persons  whom  I  now  address,  say,  that  I  falsify  my  subscriptions  to  the 
XVIIIth  Article  of  our  Church,  by  asserting  that  even  the  heathens,  who  fear  God  and 
•vork  righteousness  by  the  g-cncrrtHight  of  Christ's  grace,  are  accepted  through  Christ's 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  277 

I.  You  have  far  too  much  to  do  with  them,  when,  by  the  "  doctrine 
of  grace,"  which  you  so  zealously  inculcate,  you  indirectly  send 
them,  one  and  all,  to  the  pit,  unless  they  are  brought  under  the 
Christian  dispensation.  2.  You  renounce  the  Church  of  England,  if 
you  disregard  them  :  for  on  Good  Friday  (the  day  on  wljich  Christ 
tasted  death  for  every  man)  she  enjoins  us.  to  pray  thus  for  them: 
"  O  merciful  God,  who  hatest  nothing  that  thou  hast  made,  nor 
*'  wouldest  the  death  of  a  sinner^  but  rather  that  he  should  be  con- 
"  verted  and  live,  have  mercy  upon  all  Jews,  Turks,  Infidels,  and 
''  Heretics."  3.  You  indirectly  sacritice  the  feelings  of  humanity, 
and  the  honour  of  God's  perfections,  to  your  unscriptural  doctrine  of 
grace,  when  you  embrace  the  horrid  idea  of  the  ensured  damnation 
of  the  heathens,  for  the  injudicious  pleasure  of  saying,  "  Why  mel 
Why  me  !"  and  of  teaching  the  "  poor  reprobated  creatures,"  while 
they  sink  into  the  bottomless  pit,  to  say,  "  Why  me  !  W^hy  me  !" — 
A  dreadful  Why  me  this,  which  is  not  less  offensive  to  God's  justice, 
impartiality,  goodness,  and  truth  ;  than  your  Why  me  is  odious  to  his 
wisdom,  equity,  veracity,  and  holiness.  4.  If  Cain  was  culpable  for 
intimating,  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  brother,  when  he  had 
just  knocked  him  on  the  head  ;  are  they  praiseworthy,  who  enjoy 
with  peculiar  delight,  and  recommend  with  uncommon  glee,  "  doc^ 
trines  of  grace,"  so  called,  which  absolutely  fix  the  unavoidable 
damnation  of  perhaps  as  many  millions  of  their  unborn  fellow-crea- 
tures, as  Abel  had  hairs  upon  his  head  ?  And  do  they  mend  the 
matter,  when,  to  vindicate  their  severe  opinions,  they  calmly  wipe 
their  mouth,  and  say,  "  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  heathens." _ 
That  is,  in  plain  English,  "  Our  orthodoxy  demands,  that  they  should 
inevitably  perish,  if  they  do  not  explicitly  believe  in  Christ  crucified, 
of  whom  they  never  heard  :  nor  do  we  care  what  becomes  of  them. 
Let  them  sink,  provided  our  doctrines  of  grace  stand." 

O  my  dear  brethren,  my  heart  is  enlarged  towards  you,  though 
yours  is  straitened  towards  the  heathens,  and  those  who  do  not 
engross  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  Suffer  the  word  pC 
expostulation  one  moment  more.  Do  not  you  detest  the  character 
of  a  stiff  Pharisee  ?  I  know  you  do  in  the  circumcised  progeny  :  and 
why  should  you  admire  it  in  the  baptized  race  ?  I  am  persuaded  that 
you  abhor  the  damnatory  bull  of  those  self-elected  men  of  old,  who 
from  the  height  of  their  conceited  orthodoxy,  looked  down  upon  their 
neighbours,  and  said,  "  This  people  who  know  not  (what  we  call)  the 
larvy  are  cursed.^''     And  will  you  exemplify  their  uncharitable  posi- 

unknovyrt  merits;   I  refer  them  to  the   VindicatioB  of  Mr.  Wesley's  Minutes,    Vol.  i. 
pp.  50,  51,  wh^re  that  objection  is  answered. 


278  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

tiveness  by  indirectly  saying,  This  people  these  myriads  of  men,  tsoho 
know  not  (what  we  call)  the  gospel,  are  cursed  ?  Will  ye  become 
Christianized  Pharisees,  to  countenance  abandoned  Antinomians  ? — 
No  :  the  spark  of  candour  in  your  breast  is  stirred,  and  almost  sets 
fire  to  ^'OHF  prejudices.  You  are  staggered,  you  are  ready  to  yield 
to  the  force  of  truth  ?  Some  of  you  would  do  it  even  now,  if  you 
were  not  afraid  that  our  doctrine  o^  free  grace  obscures  the  Christian 
dispensation,  and  encourages  the  pernicious  delusion  of  antichristian 
Moralists.  To  convince  you  that  your  fear  is  groundless,  permit 
me  to  expostulate  with  them  before  you. 

SECTION  XII. 

An  Address  to  Antichristian  Moralists. 

Moral  men,  who  ridicule  the  Oiristian  faith  ;  you  suppose  that 
your  honesty  counterbalances  your  sins,  which  by  a  soft  name  you 
£,d\\  foibles ;  and  for  which  you  hope,  that  God  will  never  punish  you 
with  hell  torments.  I  do  not  desire  to  make  the  worst  of  things.  I 
wish  you  were  as  good  as  you  fancy  yourselves  to  be.  I  wish  you 
may  have  been  as  exact  in  all  the  branches  of  j^our  duty  as  you  pre- 
tend. I  would  rejoice,  if  the  law  of  respectful  obedience  to  your 
superiors,  of  courteous  love  to  your  equals,  and  of  brotherly  kind- 
ness to  your  inferio|s,  had  alwaj^s  been  fulfilled  in  your  words  and 
actions,  in  your  looks#and  tempers.  I  am  ready  to  congratulate  you, 
if  in  all  cases  you  have  done  to  your  fellow- creatures  exactly  as  you 
would  be  done  to,  and  never  plunged  once  into  the  gulf  of  intem- 
perance :  but  permit  me  to  ask,  If  yon  Ymve  fellow- creatures,  have 
you  not  a  Creator  ?  And  if  you  have  a  Creator,  do  not  reason  and 
conscience  command  you  to  render  him  warm  gratitude,  cheerful 
praise,  humble  adoration,  and  constant  obedience.  But  have  you 
done  this  one  year,  one  month,  one  day,  one  hour  in  all  your  Jives  ? 

Although  you  are  so  ready  to  make  us  understand  that  you  are  not 
as  other  men,  adulterers,  unjust,  uncharitable,  hypocrites,  &c.  are 
you  entirely  satisfied  with  your  own  goodness  ?  Nay,  if  ever  you 
looked  into  the  perfect  law  of  liberty^  and  searched  your  breasts  ^vith 
the  candle  of  the  Lord^  can  you  say  before  the  omniscient  Searcher  of 
hearts  and  spirits,  that  there  is  one  of  the  commandments  which  you 
never  broke  in  its  spiritual  meaning  ? 

If  upon  second  thoughts  you  cannot  acquit  yourselves  ;  and  if  God's 
^iignity  as  a  Creator,  his  veracity  as  a  Lawgiver,  his  wisdom  as  a 
Governor,  his  justice  as  a  Judge,  his  holiness  as  a  God,  forbid  him  to 


AN  ESSAY  ON   TRUTH.  279 

hold  the  guilty  guiltless  ;  or  to  forgive  them  in  a  manner  inconsistent 
with  any  one  of  his  infinite  perfections  ;  are  you  wise  to  despise  an 
Advocate  with  Him, — a  divine  Prophet — an  atoning  Mediator  ?  ~Is 
it  prudent  in  you  to  run  from  the  city  of  refuge,  to  which  you  should 
flee  with  unahated  swiftness  ?  Do  you  act  a  reasonable  part  when  you 
take  shelter  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Heathens,  from  the  bless- 
ings that  pursue,  and  from  the  light  that  surrounds  you,  in  this  Chris- 
tian land  ?  If  I  may  allude  to  the  mysterious  divisions  of  Solomon's 
temple  :  will  ye  obstinately  remain  in  the  court  of  the  Gentiles,  when 
you  are  graciously  invited  to  enter  into  the  Holy  place,  with  sincere 
Jews  :  yea,  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  with  true  Christians  ?  Think  ye 
that  because  righteous  Heathens  are  saved  without  the  explicit 
knowledge  of  Christ,  ye  may  be  saved  upon  their  plan  ?  If  ye  do, 
may  the  following  remarks  help  you  to  see  the  unreasonableness  of 
this  conclusion  ! 

1.  Not  to  repeat  the  hints  already  given  to  baptized  Heathens,  I 
ask  :  Is  not  a  grain  of  sincere  love  to  truth  the  very  beginning  of  a 
true  conversion  ?  Is  that  man  a  sincere  lover  of  light,  who  runs  away 
from  the  light  of  the  sun  and  moon,  under  pretence  that  he  has  the 
light  of  a  star  ?  Do  those  people  sincerely  love  money,  who,  when 
they  are  presented  with  gold  and  silver,  throw  it  back  to  the  face  of 
their  benefactor,  because  they  have  some  brass?  And  is  that  moralist 
a  sincere  lover  of  truth,  who  contemptuously  rejects  the  silver  truths 
of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  and  the  golden  truths  of  the  Christian 
Gospel,  under  pretence  that  he  is  an  adept  in  "  the  religion  of 
nature,"  and  has,  what  I  beg  leave  to  call,  the  brass  of  heathenism  ? 

2.  You  talk  much  of  the  religion  of  nature  :  but,  should  you  not 
distinguish  between  the  religion  natural  to  man  in  his  unfallen  state, 
and  that  which  is  natural  to  him  in  his  fallen  condition  ?  Is  not  the 
regimen  which  is  natural  to  the  healthy,  unnatural,  and  frequently 
destructive,  to  the  sick  ?  If  upright,  innocent  man  needed  not  a  spi- 
ritual physician,  does  it  follow  that  depraved,  guilty  man  can  do 
without  one  ?  Does  not  Heathenism  allow  the  fall  and  degeneracy  of 
man  ?  Have  not  some  of  the  wisest  Pagans  seen,  though  darkly,  their 
need  both  of  a  mediator  and  of  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  ?  Do  you 
think  it  prudent,  so  to  depend  upon  your  self -righteousness,  as  to  tram- 
ple under  foot  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Revelations,  together  with 
the  discoveries  of  considerate  Heathens  ?  Does  your  zcisdom  show 
itself  to  advantage,  when  it  thus  makes  you  sink  below  heathenism 
itself? 

3.  No  adult  heathen  was  ever  saved  without  the  repentance  of  the 
contrite  publican.     "  I  am  a  guilty,  helpless  sinner,  totally  undone 


280  E€lUAL    CHECK.  PART   I. 

if  the  mercy  of  hmi  that  made  me  do  not  extend  itself  to  me  :  Great 
Author  of  my  existence,  pity,  pardon,  and  save  me  for  thy  mercy's 
sake."  Now,  if  you  were  brought  to  this  genuine  repentance, 
would  you  despise  the  light  of  revelation  that  recommends  it,  and 
leads  on  to  farther  attainments  ?  Think  ye,  that  those,  who  sincerely 
rejoice  in  the  dawn  of  day,  will  readily  decry  morning  light  ?  Is  it  not 
therefore  much  to  be  feared,  that  Pharisaism  and  impenitency,  stand 
in  your  way  to  Christianity,  more  than  a  mistaken  respect  for  reason 
and  truth  ?  Nay,  does  not  reason  bid  you  to  assent  to  well-attested 
matters  of  fact  ?  And  are  not  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Revelations 
so  inseparably  connected  with  notorious  events,  that  it  is  less  absurd 
to  doubt  the  exploits  of  Alexander  and  Cesar,  than  to  disbelieve  the 
miracles  of  Moses  and  Jesus  Christ  ? 

4.  The  Heathens,  who  were  saved  without  the  explicit  knowledge 
of  Christ,  far  from  despising  it  as  you  do,  implicitly  desired  it ;  and 
those  that  were  blessed  with  a  ray  of  it,  rejoiced  in  it,  like  Abraham. 

That  precious  knowledge  is  offered  to  you  ;  and,  shocking  to  say ! 
you  reject  it!  you  make  sport  with  it!  you  pass  jests  upon  it!  you 
call  it  imposture  !  enthusiasm  !— Oh !  how  much  more  tolerable  will 
it  be  for  Pharisaic  Heathens  ;  yea,  for  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  than  for  you,  if  you  die  under  so  fatal  an  error ! 
And  how  can  ye  flatter  yourselves,  that  because  righteous  Heathens, 
who  have  but  one  talent,  shall  be  saved  in  the  faithful  improvement 
of  it ;  you,  who  have  Jive,  shall  be  saved,  though  you  bury  four  of 
them  ? 

"  Oh!  but  I,  for  one,  improve  the  fifth  :  I  am  moral.'''' — God  for- 
bid I  should  discountenance  morality !  1  value  it  next  to  piety  :  nay^ 
true  morality  is  the  second  branch  of  true  piety.  Nevertheless,  this 
you  must  permit  me  to  say  :  Your  morality  hath  either  pride,  impe- 
nitency, and  hypocrisy  at  the  bottom  ;,  or  humility,  sincerity,  and 
truth.  If  the  former ;  your  morality,  like  Jonah's  gourd,  has  a 
worm  at  its  root.  When  the  sun  of  temptation  shall  shine  warmly 
upon  you,  or  when  death  shall  lay  his  cold  hand  upan  you,  your 
morahty  will  wither,  and  afford  you  neither  safety  nor  comfort : 
but  if  it  has  sincerity  and  truth  at  the  bottom  ;  and  if  you  are  faith- 
ful ;  your  little  light  will  increase,  the  clouds  raised  by  your  preju- 
dices will  break,  and  you  shall  see  the  glory  of  God  shining  in  the  face 
of  Jesus  Christy  because,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  you  do  not  o'ppose  the 
truth  maliciously,  but  ignorantly  in  unbelief.  And  Oh  !  may  these 
paaes  convey  to  you  the  accents  of  that  Truths  which  shall  make  you 
free !  and  may  the  gracious  voice,  which  formerly  thundered  in  the 
ears  of  the  great  Jewish  moralist,  the  fierce  opposer  of  the  Christian 


AX  ESSAY  ON  TRUTH.  2S1 

Gospel,  Said  !  Saul !  why  persecutest  thou  me  ? — May  that  voice,  I  say, 
whisper  to  each  of  you,  "  Honestus  !  Honestus  !  why  neglectest  thou 
me  ?  /  a??i  Jesus  whofu  thou  persecutest — Jesus,  who  yet  act  a  medi- 
ator's part  hetween  my  righteous  Father  and  thy  self-righteous  soul. 
It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks  of  my  truth,  and  the  stings 
of  thy  conscience. —  I  am  a  Sun  of  rii'hteousness  and  truth  :  wrap 
thyself  in  unbelief  no  more  :  let  the  beams  of  my  grace  penetrate  thy 
prejudiced  soul,  and  kindle  redeeming  love  in  thy  frozen  breast. 
Nor  force  me  by  an  obstinate  and  Jinal  denial  of  me  before  men,  to 
fulfil  upon  thee  the  most  terrible  of  all  my  threatenings,  by  denying 
thee  also  before  my  Father  and  his  angels  ;  for.  if  ve,  to  whom  my  Gos- 
pel is  FULLY  preached,   believe  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your 


SECTION  XIII. 

An  Address  to  a  penitent  Mourner. 

Thou  deniest  that  loving  Redeemer  no  longer,  O  thou  poor,  mourn:- 
ING  PENITENT,  who  art  ready  to  sink  under  the  burden  of  thy  sins, 
and  longest  to  find  rest  for  thy  soul.  The  Lord,  who  pronounces  thee 
blessed^  says,  Confort  ye,  Comfort  ye  my  mourning  people.  By  whom 
shall  I  comfort  thee  F — O  that  it  were  by  me!  O  that  I  were  so  hap- 
py as  to  administer  one  drop  of  Gospel  cordial  to  thy  fainting  spirit ! 
Though  1  am  less  than  the  least  of  my  Lord's  servants,  he  sends 
thee  by  me  a  Benjamin's  portion  :  be  not  above  acceptin^^  it.  Thou 
hast  humbly  received  the  wounding  truths  of  the  Gospel  ;  why  shouldest 
thou  obstinately  reject  the  healing  ones  ?  Thou  hast  eaten  the  bitter 
herbs  of  repentance  :  yea,  thou  feedest  upon  them  daily,  and  pre- 
ferrest  them  to  all  the  sweets  of  sin  :  why  tken,  O  why  should 
thy  heart  rise  against  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  true  paschal  Lamb  ? 
Why  shouldest  thou  starve,  when  all  things  are  now  ready?  Why 
shouldest  thou  not  believe  the  whole  truth,  as  well  as  one  part  of  it  ? 
Will  the  word  of  God''s  grace  be  more  true  ten  years  hence  than 
it  is  now  ?  Is  not  Christ  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever?  If 
thy  dull  believing  in  God  has  already  saved  thee  from  thy  vain  conver- 
sation, and  thy  outward  sins  ;  how  much  more  will  a  cheerful  believing 
in  the  Lord  Jestis  save  thee  into  Christian  righteoiisness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost ! 

Do  not  begin  to  make  excuse  and  say,  "  I  must  not  believe  the  joy- 
ous truths  of  the  Gospel,  till  they  are  first  powerfully  applied  to  my 
soul.     It  is  right,  very  right  for  thee,  for  all,  never  to  rest  short  of 

Vol.  IL  36 


282  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    U 

such  an  application.  But  how  art  thou  to  wait  for  it  ?  In  the  way  of 
duty,  or  out  of  it  ?  Surely  in  the  way  of  duty.  And  is  it  not  thy 
duty  no  longer  to  make  God  a  liar  ?  Is  it  not  thy  bounden  duty,  as  it 
is  thy  glorious  privilege,  to  sei  thy  seal,  as  thou  canst,  to  the  word  of 
God's  grace^  as  well  as  to  the  declaration  of  his  justice  ?  Does  he  not 
charge  thee  to  believe,  though  it  should  be  in  hope  against  hope,  the 
reviving  record  which  he  has  given  of  his  Son?  Is  not  this  the  record  : 
That  God  has  given  to  its  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son  J'-^— That  to 
as  many  as  receive  him — that  is,  to  as  many  as  believe  on  his  name,  he 
gives  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God  ? — That  God  commendeth  his  love 
towards  us,  in  that  when  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us  "  men, 
and  for  our  salvation  ?" — That  his  blood,  through  faith  on  our  part, 
cleanseth  from  all  sin  ? — That  he  was  deliveredfor  our  q^ences,  and  rose 
again  for  our  justification  ? — And  that  he  even  now  maketh  intercession 
for  us;  bearing  us  up  in  the  arms  of  his  mercy  ;  that  we  sink  not  into 
hell,  and  drawing  to  him,  who  justifieth  the  ungodly,  all  men,  that  re- 
nounce their  ungodliness  as  thou  hast  done,  and  believe  in  Jesus  as  I 
want  thee  to  do. 

If  it  is  a  saying  worthy  of  all  men  to  be  received,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  even  the  chief  of  sinners,  upon  Gospel  terms  ; 
he  undoubtedly  came  to  receive  me  and  thee.  Do  not  thou  then 
foolishly  excommunicate  thyself  from  redeeming  love.  Away  with 
thy  unchristian,  discouraging  notions  about  absolute  reprobation, 
praeterition,  non-election,  &lc.  &c.  Doubt  not  but  thou  art  condition- 
ally elected,  (hat  is,  chosen  in  Christ  to  eternal  salvation  ;  yea,  pecu- 
liarly chosen  of  God  explicitly  to  believe  in  that  Just  One,  who  gave 
himself  a  ransom  for  all,  and  by  his  one  oblation  of  himself  once 
offered,  made  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacritice,  oblation,  and 
satisfaction,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. — Believe  then  thy 
election,  and  that  of  God.  As  certainly  as  Christ  hung  upon  the 
cross,  flesh  of  thy  flesh,  and  bone  of  thy  bone,  thou  art  chosen  to 
eternal  salvation  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the 
truth.  Wilt  thou  then  be  powerfully  saved  here,  and  eternally  saved 
hereafter  ?  Only  make  thy  calling  and  election  sure,  through  sancti- 
fication of  the  spirit ;    and   make  sanctification  of  the  spirit  sure, 

THROUGH  belief  of  the  TRUTH. 

Believe,  as  well  as  thou  canst,  this  comfortable,  this  sanctifying 
truth,  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that 
WHOSOEVER  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 
Be  not  afraid  to  conclude  upon  the  divine  record,  that  God  loves  thee, 
that  Christ  gave  himself  for  thee,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  will  glo- 
riously witness  the  Saviour's  love  to  thy  soul.     And  calmly,  yet  earn- 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  283 

eslly  wait  for  a  divine  token,  and  an  abiding  sense  of  this  love  upon 
thy  heart. 

But,  I  repeat  it,  wait  in  faith  : — wait,  believing  the  truth  : — wait, 
doing  thy  work  ;  and  Christ  will  surely  finish  his  own.  He  will  save 
thee  to  the  uttermost  from  sin  and  hell,  into  holiness  and  heaven. 
Remember,  that  as  he  once  bled  for  thee,  so  he  now  worketh  in  thee 
both  to  will  and  to  do. — Up,  then,  and  be  doing.  Work  out  thy  ow7i 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  Thou  canst  never  do  God's  part, 
and  he  will  never  do  thine :  do  not  expect  it ;  nor  let  the  song  of 
"  finished  salvation"  make  thee  conclude,  that  thou  hast  nothing  to 
do.  Even  John  Burryan,  in  his  '-  Heavenly  Footman,^''  cries  out  to 
the  slothful,  "  If  thou  wilt  have  heaven,  thou  must  run  for  it."  And 
if  thou  dost  not  believe  him,  believe  the  Christians  of  the  Lock-chapel, 
and  of  the  THbernncle,  who,  when  they  do  justice  to  the  second  Gos- 
pel axiom,  agree  to  ''  complain  of  spiritual  sloth  in  the  following  well- 
known  hymn. 

"  Our  drowsy  powVs,  why  sleep  ya  so  : 
Awake,  each  slvggish  soul. 
Nothing  has  half  thy  work  to  do^ 
Yet  nothing's  half;©  dull,  &c.*' 

The  God  of  truth  will  warm  thy  heart  in  a  rational  manner^  by  the' 
truth,  which  is  the  divine  cordial  generally  used  by  the  Comforter 
for  that  purpose.     Thou  must  therefore  take  that  cordial  first.     If 
thou  art  of  Utile  faith,  there  is  no  need  that  thou  shouldst  be  of  little 
sense  also.     Some' absurdly  refuse  to  believe  the  Gospel -till  they  can 
feel  it,  if  I  may  so  speak,  with  their  finger  and  thumb  :  so  gross,  so 
carnal  are  their  ideas  of  truth  !     And  others  think  it  their  duty  just 
to  look  at,  or  hear  about  the  Gospel  feast ;  supinely  waiting  till  all 
its  rich  blessings  are  forcibly  thrust  into  their  hearts,  or  at  least  con- 
veyed there,  without  any  endeavour  of  their  own.     "  When  the  truth 
shall  be  powerfully  applied  to  my  soul,"  says  a  modern  Thomas,  "  I 
will  believe,  and  not  before."     Avoid  this  common  mistake.     If  thou 
wert  invited  to  a  feast,  and  one  said,  "  You  must  not  eat  this  rich 
food,  unless  it  is  first  powerfully  applied  to  your  stomach;"  wouldst 
thou  not  reply,  that  thou  must  first  eat  it,  in  order  to  such  an  appli- 
cation ?     Be  as  wise  in  spiritual  things  ;  and  remember  that  the  wa}^ 
of  relishing  the  Gospel,  and  feeling  it  to  be   the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  is  actually  to  believe  it  as  we  can,  till  the  Spirit  of  truth 
makes  us  feel  its  full  efiicacy. 

To  eat  or  drink  spiritually,  and  to  believe  or  receive  the  truth,  are 
Gospel  terms  of  the  same  import.     Come  then,  leave  all  thy  excuses 


^84  EfiUAii    CHECK.  PART    1. 

to  those,  who  have  learned  the  lessons  of  voluntary  hnmility.  If 
the  king  offered  thee  a  present,  would  it  not  be  impertinent  to 
make  him  stretch  out  his  hand  for  one  hour,  under  pretence  that  thou 
art  not  yet  worthy  of  his  bounty  ?  And  thinkest  (hou,  that  a  similar 
conduct  is  not  highly  provoking  to  the  King  of  kings  ?  Does  he 
not  complain,  /  called^  and  ye  refused  : — I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock : 
. — All  the  day  long  have  I  stretched  my  hands  to  a  gainsaying  and  dis- 
obedient people?  Come  then,  know  thy  distance;  know  thy  place; 
know  thy  God  :  send  thy  absurd  ceremoniousness  back  to  Geneva : 
crucify  thy  guilty  fears  on  Calvary  ;  and  make  the  best  of  thy  way 
to  Sion,  the  mountain,  where  God  has  made  unto  all  people  a  feast 
of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  wines,  of  fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of  wines 
well  refined. 

There  is  room,  says  the  Lord  :  draw  them  with  the  bands  of  a  man  ; 
with  arguments,  threatenings,  promises,  expostulations,  &c.  compel 
them  to  come  in.  There  is  balm  enough  in  Gilead,  bread  enough  in 
my  house,  love  enough  in  my  heart,  blood  enough  in  the  fountain 
that  my  Son  has  opened  for  sin,  grace  enough  in  the  river  that  flows 
from  my  throne,  truth  enough  in  the  Gospel  of  my  grace,  to  heal, 
nourish,  delight,  tran>;port  a  world  of  prodigal  sons  and  daughters. 
And  is  there  not  enough  for  thee,  who  fearest  God?  for  thee,  to  whom 
the  word  of  this  Christian,  this^ great  salvation  is  sent?  Did  not  Christ 
himself  break  the  bread  of  consolation  for  thee,  when  he  said.  Take, 
eat,  this  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you  ?  Did  he  not  offer  thee 
the  cup  of  salvation  when  he  added,  Tliis  is  the  cup  of  the  new  testa- 
ment in  my  blood  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins ;  drink  ye  all  of  it,  and 
carry  it  into  all  nations — preach  it,  offer  it,  to  every  creature.  I  bring 
thee  this  bread  ;  it  came  down  from  heaven  to  give  life  to  the  world : 
it  was  surely  consecrated  in  Gethsemane,  and  broken  on  Calvary, 
for  THEE,  man,f)r  thee,  tyo/naw,  and  for  thy  salvation  Oh  !  if  the 
fragments  of  perishing  barley-bread  were  so  to  be  gathered,  that 
none  of  them  might  be  lost ;  with  what  thankfulness  shouldst  thou 
receive  the  morsel  which  I  set  before  thee!  With  what  hunger 
after  righteousness  shouldst  thou  feast  upon  it !  How  shouldst  thou 
try  to  relish  every  crumb,  every  particle  of  Gospel  truth ; — of  the 
meat  that  cndureth  to  everlasting  life ; — of  the  word  of  the  Lord  that 
ahidethfor  ever. 

Wonder  at  our  Lord's  condescension.  Lest  thou  shouldst  think 
th^t  the  word  of  his  servants  is  insigniticant,  although  it  is  the  word  of 
truth  ;  he  prays  particularly /or  them  that  shall  believe  on  him  through 
their  word;  and  he  asks.  How  is  it  that  ye  do  not  discern  this  time  of 
love  ?     Fed,  and  why  e-)en  of  yourselves ,  judge  ye  not  what  is  rights  and 


AN    ESSAY    ftN    TRUTH.  285 

makes  for  your  peace  ? — O  ye,  that  have  no  monetj^  come,  buy,  and 
eat.  buy  wine  and  milk :  yea,  eat  and  drink  abundantly,  O  beloved, 
Tvithout  money  and  zvithout  price.  Hearken  diligently  unto  me  :  Eat 
ye  that  which  is  good :  Let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness,  in  the 
richest  Gospel  truths.  Whosoever  will,  let  him  come  and  take  of  the 
breafl  and  water  of  life  freely  Thus  the  Water  and  the  Blood,  the 
Spirit  and  the  Word,  sweetly  ajjree  to  invite  thee,  to  chide  thy  delays, 
to  bid  thee  come  and  welcome  to  Christ,  and  to  all  the  unsearchabk 
riches  of  his  grace. 

If  thou  refnsest  thi?  drop  of  Gospel  cordial,  this  crumb  of  the 
bread  of  life  ;  or  if,  after  a  fiint  attempt  to  take  it,  thou  sinkest  back 
into  thy  stupid  unbelief,  I  beg  leave  to  inquire  into  the  reason,  1. 
Is  it  the  hour  and  power  of  darkness  ?  Is  thy  mind  so  confused,  and 
thy  heart  so  distracted,  that  in  this  moment  thou  canst  neither  con- 
sider nor  welcome  the  truth  I  In  this  case,  wait  groaning:  if  thou 
canst  not  wail  in  hope,  believing  against  hope,  endeavour  at  least  not 
to  yield  to  despair.  This  storm  will  soon  blow  over;  the  time  of 
refreshing  will  come ;  and  the  Lord,  who  permits  thee  to  have  fellow- 
ship with  him  in  Gethsemane,  will  soon  enable  thee  ts  triumph  with 
him  upon  the  mount. 

Hast  thou  little  or  no  appetite  for  the  truth  ?  In  this  case,  I  fear, 
thou  still  feedest  upon  husks  and  ashes,  which  spoil  thy  spiritual 
digestion  ;  and  I  advise  thee  to  exercise  repentance  ;  remembering 
that  to  be  carnally  minded  is  death,  and  that  the  promise  is  not  made 
to  the  slothful  ;  but  to  them  who,  through  faith,  and  patient  cuntinu- 
anctin  well  doing,  seek  for  glory — to  them  who,  in  takjng  up  their 
cross,  and  denying  themselves,  inherit  the  Gospel  promises. 

8.  Hast  thou  made  an  absurd  covenant  with  unbelief,  as  Thomas? 
Art  thou  determined  not  to  credit  God's  record,  unless  he  come  down 
to  thy  terms  I  Dost  thou  still  confound  faith  with  its  first  fruits,  and 
God's  work  with  thine  own  ? — If  this  be  thy  case,  how  justly  may 
the  Lord  suffer  thee  to  go  on  moping,  not  only  for  a  week,  as  the 
obstitjate  apostle  did  ;  but  for  years  !  And  after  all,  when  thou  hast 
long  dishonoured  God,  and  tormented  thyself  by  thv  wiltul  unbelief- 
thou  wilt  be  glad  to  do  upon  a  death-bed  what  1  want  thee  to  do  now. 
Being  then  surrounded  by  threatening  billows,  driven  from  thy  carnal 
moorings,  and  tossed  into  true  wisdom,  thou  wilt,  without  ceremony, 
venture  upon  the  merits  and  blood  of  thy  Saviour,  and  strive  to  enter, 
by  wrestling  faith,  and  agonizing  prayer,  mio  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Happy  would  it  be  for  thee,  in  the  mean 
time  if  thou  wert  not  wispr  in  thy  own  conceit  than  seven  men  that 
ean  render  a  reason  ;  if  thou  wert  not  obstinately  bent  upon  nursing 


w 


286  EQUAL    t;HECK.  PART  I. 

thy  curse ;  if  thou  didst  confer  with  flesh  and  blood  no  more  ;  and  if, 
regarding  the  Gospel  passport  more  than  Solifidian  embargoes,  and 
the  word  of  God  more  than  the  dispiriting  speeches  of  faint-hearted 
spies,  thou  becamest  one  of  the  babes  to  whom  it  is  our  heavenly 
Father  s  good  pleasure  to  give  the  kingdom;  one  of  the  violent  who 
take  it  by  force.  Thou  wouldst  soon  lind,  that  these  two  dispositions 
are  as  compatible  as  the  two  Gospel  axioms  ;  and,  receiving  the  end 
of  thy  faith,  thou  wouldst  soon,  perhaps  to-day,  experience  the 
astonishing  force  of  Truth,  and  taste  the  ravishing  powers  of  the 
world  to  come. 

SECTION  XIV. 

All  Address  to  Christian  Believers. 

Ye  taste  those  powers,  happy  believers,  who  see  that  God  is  love, 
boundless,  free,  redeeming,  pardoning,  comforting,  sanctifying  love  in 
Jesus  Christ.  The  more  you  believe  it,  the  more  you  feel  it. 
Do  then  alwa3S  the  work  of  faith,  and  you  shall  always  abound  in  the 
patience  of  hope,  and  in  the  labour  of  love.  You  have  believed  the 
Truth,  and  it  has  made  you  free  :  Rejoice  then  in  the  Truth:  Worship 
the  God  of  Truth :  Triumph  in  Christ,  the  living  Truth :  and  be  daily 
baptized  with  the  Spirit  of  Truth ;  Beware  of  enthusiasm  ;  speak  the 
words  of  soberness  and  Truth  :  God  is  not  the  author  of  nonsense. 

Sail  with  all  possible  care  through  the  straits  of  Pharisaism  and 
Antinomianism.  Many,  by  deviating  from  the  word,  have  almost 
made  shipwreck  of  the  faith.  While  some  rest  in  high,  Pharisaic 
forms,  others  catch  at  empty  Solifidian  shadows  ;  or  slide  into  the 
peculiarities  of  a  censorious  mysticism,  harden  themselves  against  the 
gentleness  of  Christ,  and  oppose  a  part  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  : 
Embrace  ye  the  whole :  be  valiant  for  the  whole :  recommend  the 
whole:  but,  above  all,  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  zvhole. 

Be  steady  :  many  who  believed  once  as  firmly  as  you  do,  that 
Christ  was  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  consider  him  now  only  as  a  martyr  for 
the  truth.  And  some,  who  were  fully  persuaded,  that  God  is  loving 
to  every  man  while  the  day  of  salvation  lasts,  now  can  bear,  yea,  per- 
haps delight  to  hear  it  insinuated,  that  he  is  graceless  and  merciless  to 
myriads  of  his  unborn  creatures.  Be  not  thus  carried  about  by  a 
blast  of  vain  doctrine,  in  opposition  to  the  full  tide  of  Scripture  and 
Reason.  Honour  all  men,  and  give  double  honour  to  those  to  whom  it 
is  due  ;  but  be  not  moved  from  your  steadfastness  either  by  names, 
or  numbers.     To  judge  of  truth  by  popularity  is  absurd.     Warrn, 


AiJ    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  237 

zealous  men,  who  can  draw  the  attention,  and  work  upon  the  pas- 
sions of  the  populace,  will  always  be  popular ;  but  popularity,  you 
know,  is  no  proof  that  any  man's  principles  are  unexceptionable. 
Go  not  then  by  that  deceitful  rule.  When  Truth  is  at  stake,  mind 
popular  applause  as  little  as  a  siren's  song ;  and  regard  a  Bonner's 
rack  as  little  as  a  Nebuchadnezzar's  dulcimer.  Be  cast  into  the  fur- 
nace of  persecution  with  two  companions,  rather  than  bow  with 
thousands  to  the  most  shining,  the  most  celebrated,  and  the  richest 
image  of  error.  If  your  two  companions  forsake  you,  Oh !  do  not 
forsake  the  Truth.  Turn  not  your  back  upon  her,  when  she  wants 
you  most.  Run  not  away  from  her  colours,  when  the  enemy  pours 
in  like  v  flood.  If  she  be  driven  out  of  the  professing  church,  follow 
her  to  the  wilderness, — and,  if  need  be,  to  the  den  of  lions.  There 
the  God  of  Daniel  will  be  with  you  :  and  from  thence  he  will  bring 
you  out:  for  God  will  stand  by  the  Truth,  and  she  will  prevail  at 
last.  Buy  her  therefore  at  any  rate  ;  buy  her,  though  you  should  give 
your  last  mite  of  wealth,  and  your  last  scrap  of  reputation  for  her  : 
and  sell  her  not,  though  you  should  gain  the  whole  world  by  the 
unhappy  bargain. 

These  thmgs,  O  men  of  God,  have  I  zaritten  itnto  you  concerning 
them  that,  by  fair  shows  ef  spirituality  and  voluntary  humility,  seduce 
you  into  Pharisaism  or  Antinomianism.  But  the  anointing,  which  you 
have  received  of  God,  abidethin  you.  (since  3'ou  have  not  been  seduced) 
•  and  it  is  truth,  and  is  no  lie ;  abide  in  it  therefore.  Err  not  from  the 
Truth.  Walk  in  the  Truth.  Do  nothing  against  the  Truth,  but  for  the 
Truth.  And,  as  you  have  purified  your  souls  by  obeying  the  Truth, 
through  the  Spirit,  unto  unfeigned  love  of  the  brethren,  see  that  his  love 
extend  itself  particularly  to  your  opponents  :  love  them,  love  one  ano- 
ther xs)ith  a  pure  heart  fervently.  You  will  often  be  obliged  to  part 
with  peace  in  order  to  maintain  truth ;  but  you  never  need  part  with 
love.  Be  you  herein  followers  of  Christ  and  St.  Paul.  You  know 
that  the  Pharisees,  the  Herodians,  the  Sadducees,  and  the  devil  him- 
self, would  gladly  have  made  peace  with  those  two  champions  of  the 
truth,  upon  the  scandalous  terms  of  betraying  and  giving  her  up. 
But  St.  Paul  had  not  so  learned  Christ,  and  our  Lord  scorned  to  deny 
himself  the  Truth,  and  to  worship  the  father  of  lies.  See  how 
Qalmly,  how  lovingly,  how  resolutely  they  fight  this  good,  this 
bloody  fight  of  faith.  VoUies  of  invectives  and  calumnies  have 
already  been  thrown  out  against  them  :  and  now,  reproving  their 
persecutors,  and  yet  praying  for  them,  they  go  and  meet  bonds  and 
prisons,  stocks  and  scourges,  the  provoking  taunt  and  the  cruel  mock- 
ing, the  bloody  sword  and  the  ignominious  cross.     And  how  many 


288  EQUAL  CHECK,  PART  I.. 

Stand  by  them  in  their  extremity  .'  Hfive  ye  forscotten  the  amnzing 
number?  They  all  forsook  him  and  Jled. —  All  men  forsook  me,  1 
proy  God  it  may  not  be  laid  to  their  charge.  And,  astonishinj^  !  Judas, 
Peter,  and  Demas,  led  the  van. — O  Jesus,  stand  by  our  weakness,  and 
we  will  stand  by  thy  truth.  Thou  sayst,  rssill  ye  also  ^o  azaay  ?  And 
to  whom  should  we  go,  gracious  Lord  ?  Hast  thou  not  the  words  of 
Truth,  the  words  of  everlasting  life  ?  Art  thou  not  the  light  of  the  world 
and  the  light  of  men  ?  Our  hght  and  our  hfe  ?  Could  all  the  ignes  fatui 
in  the  professing  world  ;  could  even  all  the  stars  in  thy  church,  supply 
the  want  of  th}'  light  to  our  souls  ?  No,  Lord  ;  be  then  our  sun  and 
shield  for  ever.  Visit  the  earth  again,  thou  uncreated  Sun  of  Righ- 
teousness and  truth  :  hasten  thy  second  advent :  Thy  kingdom  come  ! 
Shine  without  a  cloud!  Scatter  the  last  remains  of  error's  night! 
Kindle  our  minds  into  pure  truth!  our  hearts  into  perfect  love!  our 
tongues  into  ardent  praise  !  our  lives  into  flaming  obedience  ! 

Bold  may  we  wax,  exceeding  bold, 

No  more  to  Erroj-'s  ways  conform, 
Nor  shrink  the  hardest  Truths  t'  unfold, 

But  more  than  meet  the  gathering  storm. 

Adverse  to  earth's  erroneous  throng, 

Rlay  each  now  turn  his  fearless  face  : 
Stand  as  an  iron  pillar  strong, 

And  steadfast  as  a  wall  of  brass. 

Give  us  thy  might,  thou  God  of  power, 

Then  let  or  men,  or  fiends  assail ; 
Strong  in  thy  strength,  we'll  stand  a  towet'. 

Impregnable  to  earth  or  hell. 


•.  (  AN   ESSAY  ON   TRUTH.  289 

AN  APPENDIX 

To  prevent  Objections. 

A  O  plead  for  Error  in  an  Essay  on  Truth  would  be  preposterous. 
If  I  have  done  it,  it  has  been  inadvertently  ;  and  I  shall  be  thankful 
to  any  of  my  readers,  who  will  be  at  the  trouble  to  set  me  right. 
But  I  once  more  beg  forward  disputants  not  to  produce  assertions 
and  invectives,  instead  of  arguments  and  well-applied  scriptures  ;  and 
not  to  wiredraw  the  controversy  by  still  urging  objections,  which  I 
have  already  directly  or  indirectly  answered  ;  unless  they  show,  that 
such  answers  are  insufficient ;  that  my  arguments  are  inconclusive  ; 
and  the  scriptures  I  quote  misapplied.  Two  of  those  objections, 
however,  deserve  a  more  direct  and  full  answer. 

I.  Should  it  be  said,  "  I  puzzle  people  by  asserting  that  there  can 
"  be  any  other  saving  faith  but  the  Christian  faith ;  and  any  other 
'^object  of  saving  faith  but  Christ  crucified;''^  I  reply,  that  though 
Christ  crucified  is  the  capital  object  of  my  faith,  1  dare  not  admit  the 
contracted  notions  that  the  Solifidians  have  of  faith  :  because  if  1  did, 
I  should  subscribe  to  the  necessary  damnation  of  three  parts  of  my 
fellow-sinners  out  of  four  ;  and  reject  Christ's  word,  under  pretence 
of  exalting  his  person.    Take  a  few  more  instances  of  it^ 

Did  not  our  Lord  himself  say  to  his  disciples.  Have  faith  in  God ; 
distinguishing  that  faith  from  faith  in  himself  as  mediator,  John 
xvii.  3.  ?  Does  not  St.  Paul  declare,  that  as  believing  God  rsoas  im- 
puted to  Abraham  for  righteousness ;  so  it  shall  be  imputed  to  ws,  if  we 
believe  on  Him  that  raised  up  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead?  D^  I 
*'  forge"  the  following  scriptures  ?  The  righteousness  of  God  is  revealed 
from  FAITH  to  FAITH — According  to  the  proportion  of  faith — Accord- 
ing as  God  hath  dealt  the  measure  of  faith. — If  I  have  told  you  of 
EARTHLY  things,  and  ye  believe  not ;  how  shall  ye  believe,  if  I  tell 
you  of  HEAVENLY  things  ? — And  can  we  read  Heb.  xi.  without  seeing 
that  the  faith  there  described  is  more  general  than  the  faith  which 
characterizes  the  Christian  dispensation  ?  By  what  art  can  we  make 
it  appear,  that  Christ  crucified  was  the  object  of  the  faith  of  those 
believers,  of  whom  the  apostle  says,  By  faith  Noah^  moved  with  fear ^ 
built  an  ark: — By  faith  Isaac  blessed  Jacob  and  Esau  (the  supposed 
reprobate)  concerning  things  to  come  : — By  faith  Jacob  blessed  th^  sons 

Vol.  1L  37 


'290  EQUAL  CHECK.  PART  I, 

of  Joseph  : — By  faith  Joseph  gave  commandment  concerning  his  bones : — 
By  faith  the  harlot  Rahah  perished  not  with  them  that  believed  not  when 
she  had  received  the  spies F  If  you  insinuate  with  respect  to  Rahab, 
that  Joshua  sent  the  spies  whom  she  entertained,  and  that  they 
informed  her  that  Joshua  was  a  type  of  Christ  crucified  ;  will  you 
not  render  your  "  orthodoxy"  as  ridiculous,  as  if  you  rested  it  upon 
the  frivolous  difference  there  is  between  if  and  if?  Mr.  B.  cannot 
show,  that  the  apostle  ever  distinguished  between  a  Jewish  if  and  a 
Christian  if  ;  but  I  can  quote  chapter  and  verse,  when  I  assert,  thai 
he  clearly  distinguishes  between  Jewish  and  Christian /mV/i.  For. 
not  to  transcribe  Heb.  viii.  and  x.  does  he  not  say,  Gal.  iii.  23. 
Before  faith  (i.  e.  before  Christian  faith)  came^  we  were  kept  under 
the  law,  i.  e.  under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  and  the  obscurer  faith 
peculiar  to  it :  nor  was  this  a  damnable  state  ;  for  St.  Paul  begins  the 
next  chapter  by  telling  us,  that  The  heir,  as  long  as  he  is  a  child, 
differeth  nothing  from  a  servant,  though  he  be  Lord  of  all  ;  but  is 
under  tutors  and  governors,  till  the  time  appointed  of  the  Father:  Even 
so  we,  when  we  were  children  (when  we  were  under  the  Jewish  dis- 
pensation) were  in  bondage  under  the  elements  of  this  world.  But 
when  the  fulness  of  time  was  came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a 
woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law, 
that  we  [children  differing  nothing  from  servants']  might  receive  the 
adoption  of  sons,  i.  e.  the  privileges  of  sons  that  are  of  age,  and  are 
no  longer  under  tutors  and  governors.— For  after  that  (Christian) 
faith  is  come,'we  are  no  longer  under  a  schoolmaster,  for  zve  are  all  the 
(emancipated;  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  Gal.  iii. 
25,  26.  Is  it  not  evident,  from  the  comparing  of  these  passages,  that 
the  faith  of  Jews  constituted  them  children  of  God,  but  such  children 
as,  in  general,  differed  nothing  from  servants, — such  children  as  were 
in  a  state  of  nonage  and  bondage?  Whereas  Christian  fbith  (emphati- 
caily  c:illed  faith)  by  its  superior  privileges,  introduces  true  Christians 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  adult  sojis  of  God  !  Before  we  can 
overthrow  this  doctrine,  must  we  not,  to  use  St.  Peter's  words, 
wrest  our  beloved  bruther  PaaVs  words,  so  as  to  overthrow  the  faith 
of  some,  yea,  of  all  the  Jews  that  lived  before  faith  came,  i.  e.  before 
Christ  brought  believers  from  mount  Sinai  to  mount  Sion  ;  from  the 
ear* hi V  Jerusalem,  whicJi.  is  in  bondage  with  her  children,  to  the  new 
JerusalejA,  which  is  free,  and  is  the  mother  of  us  all — that  standfast  in 
the  liberty,  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free,  and  are  not  entangled 
again  with  the  yoke  of  bondage  ? 

The  difference  between  the  privileges  of  the  Jewish,  and  those  of 
the  Christian  faith  and  dispensation,  is  still  more  clearly  described, 


AN  ESSAY   ON   TRUTH.  291 

2  Cor.  iii.  There,  (he  Christian  dispensation  (called  the  ministration 
of  the  Spirit^  because  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  is  its  great  privilege, 
see  John  vii.  39.)  is  opposed  to  the  Jewish  dispensation,  which  the 
apostle  calls  the  ministration  of  condemnation,  because  it  appointed  no 
particular  sacrifices  Tor  penitents  guilty  of  adultery,  idolatry,  murder, 
blasphemy,  kc.  and  absolutely  doomed  them  to  die.  This  severe 
dispensation,  says  St.  Paul,  -was  glorious,  though  it  is  dene  away  :  much 
more  that  which  remaineth  (the  Christian  dispensation)  exceedeth  in 
glory. — Again,  Moses  put  a  typical  vail  over  his  face,  that  the  children 
of  Israel  could  not  steadfastly  look  to  the  end,  ^c.  But  we  (Christians) 
all,  with  open  face  behoJding,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are 
changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory.  What  a  privilege  I 
And  how  many  nominal  Christians  live  below  it ;  yea,  below  the 
privileges  of  the  very  Heathens ! 

This,  however,  is  the  one  faith  of  true  Christians,  who  have  the  same 
spirit  of  faith.  It  is  one,  in  its  great  object,  God  manifest  in  thejlesh — 
one,  in  its  great  promise,  the  promise  of  the  Father,  or  the  kingdom  in 
the  Holy  Ghost — one,  in  its  new  commandment,  brotherly,  universal 
love,  that  perfects  believers  in  one,  and  makes  them  partakers  of  so 
great  salvation. — This  is  the  faith,  which  St.  Paul  calls  the  faith  of 
God^s  elect,  i.  e.  the  faith  of  Christians,  who  are  chosen  above  Jewish 
believers  to  see  the  glory  of  the  Lord  with  open  face,  when  Jewish  be- 
lievers see  it  only  darkly  through  a  vail :  This  very  faith  he  calls,  im- 
mediately after,  the  faith  common  to  all  Christians,  To  Titus,  my  own 
son  after  the  common  faith,  Tit.  i.  1,  4.  With  an  eye  to  this  faith  he 
likewise  names  Timothy,  his  own  son  in  the  faith, — which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  A  faith  this,  whereby  Timothy,  who  was  a  Jewish  believer 
from  a  child,  was  made  a  partaker  of  Christ  the  great  (i.  e.  the  Chris- 
tian) saZuaiion : — A  faith,  which  St.  Peter  calls  precious  faith,  and 
St.  Jude,  most  holy  faith;  indirectly  comparing  it  to  the  most  holy 
place  in  the  temple : — A  faith,  which  Christ  calls  my  faith,  Rev. 
ii.  13.  and  faith  that  is  in  me,  Acts  xxvi.  18. — A  faith  this,  far  supe- 
rior to  the  faith  of  the  noble  Jewish  believers  in  Berea,  who  so  can- 
didly searched  the  Scriptures,  when  they  had  heard  St.  Panl^^reach, 
— and  very  far  exceeding  the  candid  disposition  of  those  sincere 
Heathens  at  Corinth,  concerning  whom  our  Lord  said  to  St.  Paul,* 
/  have  much  people  in  this  city.     If  the  reader  divests  himself  of  pre- 

*  I  prefer  this  sense  to  that  of  the  Calvinists,  not  only  because  unconditional  election  to 
eternal  glorj-  appears  to  me  an  unscriptural  doctrine ;  but  because  the  apostle,  having 
named  the  sins  in  which  all  wicktd  Heathens  lived,  says  to  the  Corinthians,  x\ot  such  were 
you  ALT.,  hut $uch  were  bome  of  you ;  intimating  iiiaiothers  were  of  those  righteous  people, 
oonceming  whom  our  Lord  speaks  when  he  says,  Inquire  u-ho  is  uvrif*y     Let  it  be  ob- 


292  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART  I. 

judices,  I  hope  that,  instead  of  calling  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel 
dispensations,  and  the  degrees  of  faith  belonging  to  (beno»  a  '*  novel 
chimera,^''  he  will  embrace,  receive  it  as  a  truths  which  leads  to  a 
thousand  others. 

II.  Some  of  ray  opponents,  who  find  it  easier  to  pass  a  jest  than 
to  answer  an  argument,  will  probably  think,  that  to  beat  me  and  the 
doctrine  of  dispensations  out  of  the  field  of  truth,  they  need  only 
laugh  at  my  "  inventing''''  different  sorts  of  faith  ''  hy  the  dozen.^* 

To  nip  this  witticism  in  the  bud,  I  declare  once  more  :  That  I 
make  no  more  difference  between  the  faith  of  a  righteous  Heathen, 
and  the  faith  of  a  father  in  Christ,  than  I  do  between  daybreak  and 
meridian  light :  that  the  light  of  a  sincere  Jew  is  as  much  one  with 
the  light  of  a  sincere  Christian,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  in  a  cold,  cloudy 
day  in  March,  is  one  with  the  light  of  the  sun  in  a  fine  day  in 
May  ; — And  that  the  difference  between  the  saving  faith  peculiar  to 
the  sincere  disciples  of  Noah,  Moses,  John  the  Baptist,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  consists  in  a  variety  of  degrees^  and  not  in  a  diversity  of 
species ;  saving  faith  under  all  dispensations  agreeing  in  the  following 
essentials:  1.  It  is  begotten  by  the  revelation  of  some  saving  truth 
presented  by  free  grace,  impressed  by  the  Spirit,  and  received  by 
the  believer's  prevented  free  agency :  2.  It  has  the  same  original 
cause  in  all,  that  is,  the  mercy  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ :  3.  It  actually 
saves  all,  though  in  various  degrees  :  4.  It  sets  all  upon  working 
righteousness ;  some  bearing  frvit  thirty^  some  sixty^  and  some  a  hun- 
dred fold :  And  6.  Through  Christ  it  will  bring  all  that  do  not  make 
shipwreck  of  it,  to  one  or  another  of  the  many  mansions  which  our 
Lord  is  gone  to  prepare  in  heaven  for  his  believingy  obedient 
people. 

III.  Should  it  be  objected,  that  "  The  doctrine  of  this  Essay  con- 
founds faith  and  ^vorks  ;"  to  >'chat  I  have  said  on  this  head  in  the 
preceding  Checks,  I  add  :  1.  There  is  an  essential  difference  between 
the  holy  faith  of  Adam  in  a  state  of  innocence,  and  the  justifying, 
sanctifying  faith  of  a  penitent  sinner  :  for  Adam  only  stood  and 
worked  by  faith  in  God  as  Creator ;  but  we  rise,  stand,  and  work, 
chiejlif  by  faith  in  God  as  Redeemer  and  Sancti/ier.  2.  Adam  worked 
upon  the  terms  of  the  Jlrst  covenant,  which  requires  innocence  and 
perfect  obedience  ;  and  we  work  upon  the  terms  of  the  second^  which, 
for  Christ's  sake,  admits  the  sincere  obedience  of  penitential  faith. 
Here  is  then  no  mixing  of  the  covenants,  no  confounding  of  faith  and 

served,  however,  that  we  do  not  rest  our  doctrine  of  free  grace  upon  this  or  upon  any  one 
scripture  brought  in  by  the  bye,  and  rather  by  way  ef  illustration  than  of  proof.  We  hare 
passages  in  abundance  that  ^lvJuU  to  the  point. 


AN   ESSAY    ON   TRtTII.  293 

works  ;  but  only  a  vindication  of  the  works  of  faith,  and  defending 
the  faith  that  works  by  love.  3.  St.  Augustine,  the  favourite  father 
of  the  Solifidians,  wrote  a  Treatise  {Dejide  et  operihus)  upon  faith 
and  works,  in  the  21st  chapter  of  which  he  has  these  words  :  "  By 
"  believing  in  God  with  a  right  faith,  by  worshipping  and  knowing 
**  him,  we  are  so  far  benefited  (ut  et  bene  vivsndi  ah  illo  sit  nobis 
**  auxilium^  et  si peccaverimus  ab  illo  indulgentiam  mereamur)  as  to  be 
*'  assisted  by  him  to  live  well,  and  to  obtain  of  him"  (for  I  must  not 
literally  translate  the  heretical  work  mereamur)  *'  a  pardon,  if  we 
"  have  sinned."— And  chap.  23,  he  adds,  *'  Inseparabilis  est  bona 
"  vita  a  Jide  quce  per  dilectionem  operatur  :  imo  vera  ea  ipsa  est  bona 
"  vita :  A  good  life  is  inseparable  from  the  faith  which  works  by 
**  love  ;  nay,  that  faith  itself  is  a  good  life."  Had  I  spoken  se  un- 
guardedly, there  would  be  just  room  for  raising  the  objection  which 
I  prevent ;  but  I  have  carefully  distinguished  between  faith  and 
works  ;  representing  faith  as  the  beating  of  the  heart,  and  works  as 
the  ptdses  caused  thereby ;  and  holding  forth  faith  as  the  root,  and 
works  as  ihe  fruit  of  evangelical  obedience. 

IV.  If  some  readers  think  that  my  views  of  Truth  are  singular,  I 
reply,  that  when  I  have  Reason  and  Scripture  on  my  side,  I  am  not 
afraid  of  singularity.  However,  as  I  should  be  glad  to  obviate  even 
this  objection,  I  shall  present  the  reader  with  the  sentiments  of  two 
of  the  most  judicious  divines  of  the  last  century,  Mr.  Flavel  and  Mr. 
Goodwin. 

Mr.  Flavel  says  in  his  Discourse  on  Mental  Errors,  *'  Truth*  is 
the  proper  object,  the  natural  and  pleasant  food  of  the  understanding. 
Doth  not  the  ear  (that  is,  the  understanding  by  the  ear)  try  words,  as 
(he  mouth  tasteth  meat? — The  minds  of  all  that  are  not  wholly  im- 
mersed in  sensuality,  spend  their  strength  in  the  laborious  search 
and  pursuit  of  Truth. — Answerable  to  the  sharpness  of  the  mind's 
appetite,  is  the  fine  edge  of  pleasure  and  delight  which  it  feels  in  the 
discovery  and  acquisition  of  Truth. — If  Archemedes,  upon  the  dis- 
covery of  a  mathematical  truth,  was  so  ravished,  that  he  cried  out, 
tvftjKcc,  evpijKce,  I  have  found  it,  I  have  found  it;  what  pleasure  must 
the  discovery  of  a  divine  Truth  give  to  a  sanctified  soul !  Thy  words 
were  found  of  me,  says^eremiah,  and  I  did  eat  them;  and  thy  word 
was  to  me  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  my  heart. — Truth  lies  deep,"' 
Veritas  in  puteo,  "  as  the  rich  veins  of  gold  do  ;  if  we  will  get  the 
treasure,  we  must  not  only  beg  but  dig  also. — We  are  not  to  take  up 
with  what  lies  uppermost,  and  next  at  hand  upon  the  surface.— Sc 

*  I  produce  this  as  an  Eztbact,  and  n«t  as  a  ctniinuei  qnttation. 


294  EQUAL   CHECK.  PART    I. 

ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  you  may  prove  what 

is  that  good,  acceptable,  and  perfect  will  of  God It  is  a  very  great 

judgment  of  God  to  be  given  over  to  an  erroneous  mind.  For  the 
understanding  being  the  leading  faculty,  as  that  guides,  the  other 
powers  of  the  soul  follow  ;  as  horses  in  a  team  follow  the  fore- 
horse.  Now  hov?  sad  and  dangerous  a  thing  is  this,  for  Satan  to  ride 
the  forehorse,  and  guide  that  which  is  to  guide  the  life  of  man  ! 
That  is  a  dreadful,  spiritual,  judicial  stroke  of  God,  which  we  read 
of  Rom.  i.  2G: — 2  Thess.  ii.  13.  Because  they  recetved  not  the  love  of 
the  Truth,  God  gave  them  ujj  to  strong  delusions.  They  are  justly 
plagued  with  error,  that  slight  truth. — Besides,  what  shame  and 
trouble  must  it  be  to  the  zealou?  promoters  of  errors,  not  only  to  cast 
away  their  own  time  and  strength,  but  also  to  ensnare  and  alhire  the 
souls  of  others  into  the  same,  or  worse  mischief!  for  though  God 
may  save  and  recover  you,  those  that  have  been  misled  by  you,  may 
perish." 

Mr.  Goodwin  thus  confirms  Mr.  Flavel's  noble  testimony,  in  the 
preface  to  his  Redemption  Redeemed,  "  Truth  is  for  the  understand- 
ing,* and  the  understanding  for  Trnth — Truth  especially  in  things  of 
a  supernatural  concernment,  the  knowledge  whereof  faceth  eternit}'', 
&c.  being  nothing  else   (interpretatively)  but  God  himself  prepared, 
of  and  by  himself,   for  a  beatifical  union  with  the  understanding,  and 
from  hence,  wiUi  the  heart  and  affections  of  men  ;  Error,  in  things 
of  high  import,  can  be  nothing  else  but  Satan,  contriving  and  dis- 
tilling himself  into  a  notion,  or  impression  hkely  to  be  admitted  by 
the  understanding,  under  the  appearance,  and  in  the  name  of  Truth, 
into  union   with  itself,  and  by  mt^ans   hereof,  into  union   with  the 
hearts  of  nien. — All  error  (of  that  kind  I  now  speak  of)  being  seated 
in  the  understanding,  secretly  and  by  degrees  infuseth  a  proportion- 
able  malignity  into  the  will  and  afi'ections,   and  occasioneth  unholy 
dispositions.     Error  is  the  great  troubler  of  the  world.     It  is  that 
fount. lin  of  death,  that  sendeth  out  all  those  streams  of  sin,  which 
overflow  the  earth. — Why  do  men  so  universally  walk  in  ways  of 
oppression,  deceit,  drunkenness,  uncleanness,  envy,  pride,  &c.  but 
because  they  judge  such  ways  as  these,  (all  circumstances  considered) 
more  desirable  to  them,  than  ways  of  a  contrary  import  ?     And  what 
is  this,  but  a  most  horrid  error  and  mistake,  the  result  of  those  lying 
apprehensions  concerning  God,  wherewith  men  willingly  sufier  their 
minds  to  be  corrupted  even  to  spiritual  putrefaction  ? — Neither  could 
the  devil  have   touched  Adam  or  Eve  but  by  the  mediation  of  some 
erroneous  notion  or  other,  concerning  God." — And  in  his  dedicatory 
epistle  to  the  University  of  Cambridge  he  hath  this  fine  thought, 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  295 

which  I  address  to  my  readers  :  '*  If  you  condemn,  who  will  justify  ? 
Only  God's  eldest  daughter.  Truth,  has  one  mightier  than  i/ou  on 
her  side,  who  will  justify  in  due  time,  though  you  should  condemn 
her  ;  and  will  raise  her  up  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  in  case  you 
shall  slay  her." 

V.  *'  By  granting,  that  people,  who  are  under  dispensations  infe- 
"  rior  to  Christianity  in  its  state  of  perfection,  may  have  a  degree 
"  of  saving  faith,  although  they  have  not  yet  the  luminous  faith  of 
'*  Christian  believers,  you  damp  the  exertions  of  seekers ;  and  invite 
"  them  to  settle,  as  most  dissenters  do,  in  a  lukewarm,  Laodicean 
'*  state,  short  of  assurance  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  consists 
"  not  only  in  righteousness,  but  in  peace  and  joy  "by  the  Holy  Ghost.^^ 

If  this  objection  could  not  be  answered,  I  would  burn  my  Essay  ; 
for  I  had  much  rather  it  should  feed  my  fire,  than  the  Laodicean 
spirit,  which  is  already  so  predominant  in  the  Church.  But,  that  this 
new  difficulty  is  by  no  means  unanswerable,  will  appear,  I  hope,  by 
the  following  observations.  '* 

1.  Judicious  Mr.  Baxter,  by  a  variety  of  strong  arguments,  sho\|s, 
that  to  represent  assurance,  or  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  as  essential  to  all  true  faith  ;  and  promiscuously  to  shut  up, 
in  a  state  of  damnation,  all  those  to  whom  th^  kingdom  is  not  yet 
come  with  porscer,  is  both  cruel  and  unscriptural.  See  the  arguments 
in  his  Confession  of  Faith y  from  p.  189  to  214. 

2.  Ought  we  to  keep  from  those,  who  sincerely  seek  the  kingdom 
oi  God,  the  comfort  that  the  Gospel  allows  them  ?  Are  not  they  that 
seek  the  Lord  commanded  to  rejoice?  And  how  can  they  do  it,  if  ^^e 
narath  of  God  abideth  ori  them,  as  it  certainly  does  on  all  absolute 
unbelievers  ?  Did  not  our  Lord  and  St.  Peter  speak  in  a  more  evan- 
gelical strain,  when  they  said  to  sincere  seekers,  Fear  not,  little  flock, 

for  it  is  your  Fathers  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom  of  grace, 
as  well  as  that  of  glory? — TIic  promise  of  the  kingdom  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  is  unto  you  and  to  your  children,  and  to  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  call  to  believe  exphcitly  in  Jesus  Christ  ? 

3.  When  Joshua  ura;pd  the  Israelites  to  cross  Jordan,  would  be 
have  done  right,  if  he  had  made  them  believe  that  they  were  still  in 
Egypt,  and  had  not  yet  taken  one  true  step  towards  Canaan  ?  Did 
he  not  encourage  them  to  go  up,  and  to  possess  the  good  land  by  the 
very  consideration,  whicli  my  objector  supposes  tvotild  have  made 
them  sit  down  in  the  wilderness?  Nay,  did  not  those,  who  had 
already  taken  possession  of  the  kingdoms  of  Og  and  Sihon,  on  the 
other  side  Jordan,  cross  that  river  first,  and  nobly  lead  the  van,  when 
their   brethren  went  on  from  conquering  to  conquer  '^     And  why 


2%"  EQUAL    CHECK*  PART  i« 

should  not  spiritual  Israelites,  who  turn  their  back  upon  spiritual 
Egypt,  and  seek  the  kingdom  of  God,  be  led  on  from  faith  to  faiths 
in  the  same  comfortable  manner  ? 

4.  It  is  trifling  to  say,  "  Dead  Dissenters,  and  the  formal  Scotch 
clergy,  preach  up  a  faith  short  of  Christian  assurance,  and  therefore 
such  a  faith  is  a  dangerous  chimera  ;"  for  if  they  preach  it  in  an 
unguarded,  or  in  a  careless  manner,  to  set  aside,  and  not  to  illustrate 
the  doctrine  of  Christian  faith,  they  do  the  devil's  work,  and  not  the 
works  of  evangelists  ;  what  wonder  is  it  then,  that  such  preaching 
should  lull  their  congregations  asleep  ? — Again,  if  we  ought  not  to 
give  up  the  doctrine  of  sincere  obedience  and  good  works,  though  our 
opponents  cry  out  perpetually,  "  It  is  the  doctrine  of  all  the  carnal 
clergy  in  the  kingdom  :" — and  if  it  be  our  duty  to  maintain  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  though  Dr.  Priestley  and  all  the  Unitarians  say 
with  great  truth,  "  It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  superstitious  Papists  ;" 
how  absurd  is  it  to  urge,  that  our  doctrine,  concerning  a  faith 
inferior  to  the  faith  of  assurance,  is  false,  merely  because  the 
oj^ector  says,  that  this  part  of  our  doctrine  is  held  by  all  the  sleepy 
Dissenters  ?  Might  we  not,  at  this  rate,  be  also  ashamed  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  divine  Unity,  which  the  Socinians,  the  Jews,  and  evee 
the  Turks,  hold  as  \yell  as  we  ? 

5.  Are  there  not  many  pious  and  judicious  ministers  in  the 
churches  of  England  and  Scotland,  as  well  as  among  the  Dissenters, 
who  dare  not  countenance  the  present  revival  of  the  power  of  godli- 
ness, chiefly  because  they  hear  us  sometimes  unguardedly  assert  that 
none  have  any  faith,  but  such  as  have  the  faith  of  assurance  ;  and 
that  the  wrath  of  God  actually  abides  on  all  those  who  have  not  that 
faith  ?  If  we  warily  allowed  the  faith  of  the  inferior  dispeusationSy 
which  such  divines  clearly  see  in  the  Scriptures,  and  feel  in  them- 
selves, would  not  their  prejudices  be  softened,  and  ttieir  minds  pre- 
pared to  receive  what  we  advance  in  defence  of  the  faith  of  assur- 
ance ? 

6.  If  it  be  urged,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  witnesses  to  all  sincere 
seekers  of  the  kingdom  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  they  are  in  a  damnable 
state,  till  ihey  feel  the>  pardoning  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  their 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ffiven  unto  them;  I  demand  proof;  I  deny  the 
fact,  and  as^sert,  that  the  divine  Spirit  can  no  more  bear  witness  to  an 
accepted,  mourning  Cornelius,  that  he  is  not  accepted  in  any  sense, 
than  it  can  give  testimony  to  a  palpable  contradiction.  The  truth  is, 
our  unbehcvino;  fears  and  awakened  heprts  are  very  prone  to  sur- 
misi  th«  worst,  and  we  are  very  apt  to  take  their  suimisings  for 
divine  impressions,  even  when  we  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of  repent- 


AN    ESSAY    0N    TRUTH.  297 

ance.  I  doubt  not  but  St.  Paul  himself,  in  his  asony  of  penitential 
grief,  when  he  spent  three  days  and  three  nights  in  fasting;  and 
prayer,  had  many  such  gloomy,  despairing  thoughts  :  but  they 
were  certainly  lying  thoughts,  as  well  as  those  which  David  wisely 
checks  in  some  of  his  Psalms.  Who  will  dare  to  say,  that  Ananias 
found  the  apostle  in  a  damnable  state,  though  he  found  him  without  a 
sense  of  sin  forgiven,  as  appears  from  the  direction  which  he  gave 
him.  Arise,  why  tarriest  thou  ?  Wash  azvay  thy  sins  calling  upon,  and 
consequently  believing  in,  the  name  of  the  Lord? 

7.  My  objector's  argument  is  as  much  levelled  at  St.  Paul's  doc- 
trine as  at  my  Essay,  Men  and  Brethren,  &c.  said  he  to  his  audience 
at  Antioch,  whosoever  among  you  feareth  God,  to  you  is  the  word  of 
THIS  SALVATION  scut,  Acts  xiii.  26.  But  none  of  the  pious  hearers, 
whom  he  thus  addressed,  were  unwise  enough  to  reply,  *'  Thou 
"  acknowledgest  that  we  fear  God;  and  David  says,  Blessed  is  the 
"  man  that  feareth  the  Lord  :  now,  if  we  fear  him,  and  are  blessed, 
"  we  are  already  in  a  state  of  salvation,  and  therefore  need  not  '  this 
''  salvation'  which  thou  preachest.  If  we  see  our  way  by  the 
"  candle  of  Moses,  as  thou  intiraatest,  what  need  is  there  that  the  Sun 
"  of  righteQtiS7iess  should  arise  upon  us  with  healing  in  his  wings  .^" 
I  demand  proof  therefore,  that  men,  who /ear  God  in  our  day,  are 
more  ready  to  draw  pernicious  inferences  from  the  doctrine  of  the 
dispensations,  than  they  were  in  St.  Paul's  time. 

8.  The  objections  which  I  answer,  may  with  equal  propriety  be 
urged  against  St.  Peter's  doctrine.  Acts  ii.  5.  and  x.  7.  we  read  of 
DEVOUT  men  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven,  and  of  a  devout  soldier^ 
that  waited  continually  on  Cornelius,  who  himself  feared  God,  wrought 
righteousness,  and  was  accepted — with  all  his  house.  By  Acts  xi.  9,  14. 
it  evidently  appears,  that  though  Cornelius  was  cleansed  by  God  him- 
self, yet  he  must  send  for  Peter,  who  was  to  tell  him  words,  whereby  fie 
and  all  his  house  should  be  saved,  i.  e.  should  become  partakers  of 
the  oreat  salvation  revealed  by  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  But 
although  St.  Peter  began  his  discourse  by  acknowledging  that  his  pious 
hearers  were  accepted  with  God,  none  of  the  congregation  said,  Well, 
if  we  are  accepted,  we  are  already  in  a  state  of  salvation,  and  there- 
fore we  need  not  hear  words  whereby  we  shall  be  saved.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  all  believed  the  word  of  this  fuller  salvation ;  for  the 
Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  that  heard  the  word,  and  St.  Paul  informs 
us,  that  we  receive  the  Spirit  by  the  hearing  of  faith.  Compare 
Acts  X.  44  with  Gal.  iii.  2.  and  John  vii.  39.  It  is  plain,  from  this 
account,  that  no  preaching  was  ever  attended  with  a  more  universal 
blessing,  and  that  no  discourse  was  ever  more  instrumental  in  convey- 

VoL.  II.  38 


298  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    1. 

ing  to  all  the  power  of  the  faith  of  assurance,  than  that  very  sermon 
which  the  apostle  began  by  intimating,  that  his  hearers  were  already 
accepted^  according  to  an  inferior  dispensation.  Hence  it  is  evident, 
that  the  doctrine  we  maintain,  if  it  be  properly  guarded,  far  from 
having  a  necessary  tendency  to  lull  people  asleep,  is  admirably  calcu- 
lated to  excite  every  penitent  to  faith,  prayer,  the  improvement  of 
their  talents,  and  ihe. perfecting  of  holiness. 

9.  May  we  not  sufficiently  guard  the  Christian  dispensation,  by 
constantly  affirming :  (1.)  That  all  Christian  believers /larc  now  the 
i^itness  in  themselves  : — (2.)  That  those,  who  have  it  not,  either  never 
had  Christian  faith,  which  is  emphatically  called  faith  in  the  Gospel, 
(see  Acts  xiv.  27.)  or,  that  they  know  only  the  baptism  of  John;  or. 
that,  with  the  unsettled  Galatians,  they  are  actually /a//en,/rom  grace, 
i.  e.  from  the  Christian  dispensation  :  and  now  live  under  the  la-as, 
i.  e.  in  the  darkness  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  ;  supposing  they 
are  not  quite  departed  from  God  by  indulging  known  sin. — (3.)  That 
if  they  do  not  press  after  the  faith  of  assurance,  they  are  in  the 
utmost  danger  of  losing  their  talent  of  grace  ;  like  the  young  man 
whom  Jesus  loved,  and  who,  nevertheless,  went  away  sorrowful,  when 
he  was  unwilling  to  give  up  all,  and  follow  Jesus  without  reserve  ; 
or  like  those  thousands  of  Israelites,  whom  the  Lord  saved  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  and  whom  he  afterzvard  destroyed,  when  they 
believed  notihe  word,  by  which  they  were  to  be  saved  into  the  land 
of  promise  ?  Jude  6. 

10.  Not  to  mention  all  the  arguments,  by  which  the  zealous  Puri- 
tans defended  the  doctrine  of  assurance  in  the  last  century,  and  those 
by  which  the  Methodists  prove  its  necessity  in  our  days;  is  not  the 
first  argument  used  in  my  address  to  the  antichristian  moralist,  p. 
278,  sufficient,  if  it  be  properly  managed,  to  enforce  the  absolute 
necessity  of  rising  to  higher  dispensations,  when  God  calls  us  to  it  ? 
If  queen  Vashti  lost  her  crown  for  refusing  to  come  to  the  royal  ban- 
quet at  the  king's  commandment : — If  those,  who  begged  to  be  excused 
when  they  were  invited  to  the  Gospel  feast,  were  at  last  dreadfully 
punished : — If  St.  Paul  says  to  loitering  believers  who  are  backward 
to  go  on  to  perfection,  Hozv  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation,  which  at  first  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord: — Nay,  if 
Christ  himself  threatens  to  spue  lukewarm,  slothful  Laodiceans  out  of 
his  mouth;  do  we  want  even  terrifying  arguments  to  lash'the  con- 
sciences of  those  carnal  professors,  who,  hoping  they  are  perfectly 
safe  in  their  low  attainments,  despise  higher  dispensations,  and  bury 
their  talent  of  grace,  till  it  be  taken  from  them,  and  given  to  those  who 
best  improve  their  own  ?  To  conclude, 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  299 

II.  You  are  afraid  that  the  doctrine  of  this  Essay  will  make 
"'  Seekers'"  rest  in  Laodicean  lukewarmness  ;  but  permit  me  to 
observe,  that  the  Seekers  you  speak  of  are  either  forward  hypocrites, 
or  sincere  penitents  : — If  they  are  forward  hypocrites,  preaching  to 
tbem  the  faith  of  assurance  will  never  make  them  either  humble  or  sin- 
cere. On  the  contrary,  they  will  probably  catch  at  an  election,  and  then 
at  an  assurance  of  their  own  making ;  and  so  they  will  profess  to  have 
the  faith  for  which  you  contend,  when  in  fact  they  have  only  the 
name  and  notion  of  it.  The  religious  world  swarms  with  instances  of 
this  kind, — If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  seekers  for  whom  you  seem 
concerned,  are  sincere  penitents ;  far  from  being  hurt,  they  will  be 
greatly  benefited  by  our  doctrine  :  for  it  will  at  once  keep  them 
from  chilling,  despairing  fears  ;  and  from  false  Crispian  comforts ; 
the  two  opposite  extremes,  into  which  upright,  unwary  mourners 
are  most  apt  to  run.  Thus  our  doctrine,  instead  of  being  dangerous 
to  sincere  seekers,  will  prove  a  scriptural  clew,  in  following  which 
they  will  happily  avoid  the  gloomy  haunts  of  Pharisaic  despair,  and 
the  enchanted  ground  of  Antinomian  presumption. 


SECOND  APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING, 

1.  Ten  more  arguments  to  prove,  that  all  men  universally,  in 
the  day  of  3heir  visitation,  have  some  gracious  power  to 
believe  some  saving  truth. — and, 

2.  Ak    ANSWER    TO    THREE    MORE    OBJECTIONS. 

JLJEING  conscious  that  I  cannot  be  too  careful,  and  guarded,  ia 
writing  upon  so  important  and  delicate  a  subject  as  that  of  the  pre- 
ceding Essay  ;  I  once  more  take  up  the  pen  to  explain,  strengthen, 
and  guard  the  doctrine  that  it  contains. 

I.  I  have  said,  p.  227,  \h?tt  Faith  (considered  in  general)  is  believing 
heartily ;  I  add,  and  sometimes  it  may  sig7iify  a  power  to  believe  heartily. 
For,  as  God  gives  to  all  the  heathens  in  the  dny  of  their  visitation,  a 
power  to  believe  heartily  that  God  zs,  &c.  indulging  them  with  gracious 
calls  and  opportunities  to  use  that  power ;  we  may  say,  that  he  gives 
them  the  faith  of  their  dispensation.  Nevertheless  all  the  heathens 
have  not  that  faith  :  for  many  obstinately  bury  their  talent,  till  at  last 
it  is  taken  from  them. 

As  this  doctrine  of  faith  entirely  subverts  the  doctrine  o(  finished 
damnation,  whicji  is  so  closoly  connected  with  the  doctrines  of  abso- 
lute election,  and  finished  salvation  :  and  as  a  Calvinist  clergyman,  who 
has  seen  part  of  this  Essay,  assures  me  that  it  shall  be  taken  notice 
of;  I  beg  leave  to  add  the  following  arguments  to  those  which  I  have 
produced.  Section  1st.  to  prove,  that  faith  is  not  the  work  of  God  in 
the  sense  of  our  adversaries,  and  that  in  the  day  of  salvation,  through 
the  free  gift  which  is  come  upon  all  men,  we  have  all  some  gracious 
power  to  believe  some  saving  truth. 

1.  If  faith  be  the  work  of  God  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the 
creation  is  his  performance,  when  Christ  marvelled  at  the  Centurion^s 

faith,  he  marvelled,  that  God  should  be  able  to  do  what  he  pleases, 
or  that  a  man  should  do  what  he  can  no  more  help  doing,  than  he  can 
binder  the  world  from  existing.  That  is,  he  marvelled  at  what  was 
not  at  all  marvellous :  and  he  might  as  well  have  wondered  tlTat  a  ton 
should  outwt^igh  an  ounce. 

2.  When  God  invites  every  creature  in  all  the  u'or/c?  to  believe, 
(Mark  xvi.  15. )  if  he  denies  most  of  them  power  so  to  do,  he  insults 
over  their  wretched  impotence,  and  acts  a  part  which  can  hardly  be 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  3@1 

reconciled  with  sincerity.  What  would  the  world  think  of  the  king, 
if  he  perpetually  invited  all  the  Irish  poor  over  to  England  to  partake 
of  his  royal  charity,  and  took  care  that  most  of  them  should  never 
meet  with  any  vessels  to  bring  them  over,  but  such  as  would  be  sure 
to  founder  in  the  passage  ? 

3.  When  our  Lord  endeavoured  to  shame  the  Pharisees  for  their 
unbelief,  he  said,  John  came  to  you^  &c.  and  ye  believed  him  not^  but 
the  publicans  aud  harlots  believed  him:  and  ye,  when  ye  had  seen  it, 
repented  not  afterward,  that  ye  might  believe.  But  if  faith  is  the 
work  of  God  in  the  sense  of  our  adversaries,  was  it  any  shame  to  the 
Pharisees,  that  God  would  not  do  his  own  work  ?  Had  they  any  more 
reason  to  blush  at  it,  than  we  have  to  redden,  because  God  does  not 
give  us  wings  and  fins,  as  he  does  to  birds  and  fishes  ? 

4.  To  suppose  that  Christ  assiduously  preached  the  Gospel  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Capernaum,  whilst  all  the  time  he  withheld  from  them 
power  to  believe  it,  and  that  afterward  he  appointed  them  a  rnore 
intolerable  damnation  for  not  believing  : — To  suppose  this,  I  say,  is  to 
cast  the  most  horrible  reflection  upon  the  Lamb  of^  God.  But  if  it 
be  allowed,  that  those  obstinate  unbelievers  will  justly  be  sent  into  a 
more  dreadful  hell,  for  having  buried  to  the  end  their  talent  of  power 
to  believe  in  their  stronger  light ;  is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose,  that 
those  who  shall  go  to  a  less  intolerable  hell,  will  also  be  sent  there 
for  having  finally  refused  to  use  their  talent  of  power  to  believe  in 
their  weaker  light  ? 

5.  Although  Christ  positively  says,  that  men  shall  be  damned  for 
their  unbelief:  (See  John  iii.  18.  Mark  xvi.  16.)  yet,  some  of  our 
adversaries  deny  it  ;  being  deservedly  ashamed  of  representing  our 
Lord  as  damning  myriads  of  men  for  not  doing  what  is  absolutely 
impossible.  Hence  they  tell  us  that  reprobates  shall  be  damned  only 
for  their  sins.  But  this  unscriptural  contrivance  does  not  mend  the 
matter  ;  for  I  have  shown,  Section  vii.  that  bad  works,  or  sins,  7ieces- 
sarily  flow  from  unbelief.  Now,  unbelief  being  nothing  but  the 
absence  of  faith  ;  God,  by  absolutely  withholding  all  saving  faith, 
necessarily  C2MSGS  all  unbelief;  and  unbelief,  by  necessanVy  causing  all 
sin,  necessarily  causes  also  all  damnation.  For  he  that  absolutely 
withholds  all  light,  necessarily  causes  all  darkness,  and  of  course  all 
the  works  of  darkness.  Thus  "  the  doctrines  of  grace'*''  (so  called) 
that  seem  to  rear  their  graceful  h^ad  to  heaven,  end  in  the  grace- 
less, venomous  tail  of  finished  damnation.  "  Desinet  in  piscem  mulier 
formosa  superne .'" 

6.  The  design  of  the  Gospel  with  regard  to  God,  is  evidently  to 
extol  his  grace,    and  clear  his  justice.     Now,  if  an  absolute  decree 


302  EQUAL   CHECK.  PART  i. 

of  pretention,  or  limited  redemption,  hinders  a  vast  majority  of  man- 
kind from  believing  to  salvation,  both  those  ends  of  the  Gospel  are 
entirely  defeated  in  all  that  perish  :  for  God,  by  passing  by  the 
reprobated  culprits  thousands  of  years  before  they  were  born,  and 
b}'  withholding  every  dram  of  saving  grace  from  them,  shows  himself 
an  absolutely  graceless  Creator  to  them  all.  Nor  does  this  opinion  less 
horribly  impeach  God's  Justice  than  his  Grace ;  for  it  represents  him 
as  judicially  sentencing  men  to  eternal  torments,  merely  for  the  sin  of 
a  man  whom  most  of  them  never  heard  of;  or,  which  is  all  one,  for 
the  necessary^  unavoidable^  pre-ordained  consequences  of  that  sin. 

7.  St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  takes  particular  care  to 
clear  God's  justice  with  respect  to  the  condemnation  of  the  wicked, 
that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped — and  (e/s  ro  etvxi)  that  they  may  be 
without  excuse.  But  the  scheme  which  I  oppose,  instead  of  leaving 
men  otvct^o My tiTa^  without  excuse,  opens  their  mouths,  and  fills  them 
with  the  best  apology  in  the  world,  "  Absolute  necessity,  and  complete 
impossibility,  caused  by  another  before  we  were  born  :"  an  apology 
this,  which  no  candid  person  can  ever  object  to. 

8.  Agreeably  to  St.  Paul's  doctrine  our  Lord  observes,  that  the 
man  sentenced  to  be  cast  into  outer  darkness  for  not  having  on  a 
wedding  garment,  was  speechless.  But  if  the  Crispian  doctrines  of 
grace  be  true,  might  not  that  man  with  the  greatest  propriety,  have 
said  to  the  Master  of  the  feast,  while  the  executioners  bound  him 
hand  and  foot,  "  To  all  eternity  I  shall  impeach  thy  justice,  O  thou 
partial  judge  ;  thou  appointest  me  the  hell  of  hypocrites,  merely 
because  /  have  not  on  a  wedding  garment,  which  thou  hast  from  all 
eternity  purposely  kept  from  me,  under  the  strong  lock  and  key  of 
thine  irreversible  decrees  ?  Is  this  the  manner  in  which  thou  judgest 
the  world  in  righteousness  /"' 

9.  The  parable  of  the  talents,  and  that  of  the  pounds,  decide  the 
question.  The  wicked  and  slothful  servants,  whose  destruction  they 
inform  us  of,  are  not  condemned  because  their  master  was  "  hard  and 
austere,"  but  because  the  one  had  buried  his  talent  of  power  in  the 
earth,  and  the  other  had  hid  his  pound  of  grace  in  a  napkin  manufac- 
tured at  Laodicea. 

10.  If  salvation  depends  upon  faith,  and  if  God  never  gives  repro- 
bates power  to  believe  in  the  light  that  enlightens  every  man,  and  a 
sufficiency  of  means  so  to  do ;  it  follows,  that  he  never  grves  them 
any  personal  ability  to  escape  damnation ;  but  only  to  secure  and 
increase  their  damnation  ;  and  thus  he  deals  far  more  hardly  with 
them  than  he  did  with  devils.  For  Satan  and  his  angels  were  all 
personally  put  in  a  state  of  initial  salvation,  and  endued  with  sl  personal 


AN   ESSAY   ON    TRUTHi  303 

ability  to  do  that,  on  which  their  eternal  salvation  depended.  To 
suppose  therefore,  that  a  majority  of  the  children  of  Adam,  who 
are  born  sinful  without  any  personal  fault  of  their  own,  and  who  can 
say  to  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  Thou  art  flesh  of  our  flesh,  blood 
of  our  blood,  and  bone  of  our  bone  ; — to  suppose,  I  say,  that  a  vast 
naajority  of  these  favoured  creatures  have  far  less  favour  shown 
them,  than  Beelzebub  himself  had,  is  so  graceless,  so  unevangelical  a 
doctrine,  that  one  might  be  tempted  to  think,  it  is  ironically  called 
the  doctrine  of  grace ;  and  to  suspect,  that  its  defenders  are  styled 
"  evangelical  ministers"  by  way  of  burlesque. 

From  the  preceding  arguments  I  conclude,  that,  when  it  is  said  in 
the  Scriptures,  people  could  not  believe,  this  is  to  be  understood, 
either  of  persons  whose  day  of  grace  was  over,  and  who  of  course 
were  justly  given  up  to  a  reprobate  mind,  as  the  men  mentioned  in 
Rom.  i.  21,  28.  or  of  persons  who,  by  not  ufing  their  one  talent 
of  power  to  believe  the  obvious  truths  belonging  to  a  lower  dispen- 
sation, absolutely  incapacitated  themselves  to  believe  the  deep  truths 
belonging  to  Christianity. 

II.  Although  I  flatter  myself  that  the  preceding  arguments  guard 
the  doctrine  of  free  grace  against  the  attacks  of  those  who  indirectly 
contend  for  free  wrath;  I  dare  not  yet  conclude  this  Appendix. 
Still  fearful  lest  some  diflicnity  unremoved  should  prejudice  the  can- 
did reader  against  what  appears  to  me  to  be  the  truth,  I  beg  leave  to 
intrude  upon  his  patience,  by  answering  three  more  plausible  objec- 
tions to  the  doctrine  of  this  Essa}'. 

Obj.  VI.  ''  If  faith  be  the  gift  of  the  God  of  grace  to  us,  as  sight. 
"  is  the  gift  of  the  God  of  nature,  according  to  your  assertion,  p. 
''  230  ;  does  it  not  follow,  that  as  we  may  see  when  we  will,  so  we 
"  may  believe  in  Christ — believe  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins;  and, 
"  by  that  means,  fill  ourselves  with  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost 
*'  when  we  have  a  mind  ?  But  is  not  this  contrary  to  experience  ? 
"  Do  not  the  best  Christians  remember  a  time,  when  they  could  no 
"  more  believe  than  they  could  make  a  world,  though  they  prayed 
"  for  faith  with  all  the  ardour  they  were  capable  of?" 

Ans.  1.  You  still  seem  to  take  it  for  granted,  that  there  is  no  true 
faith,  but  an  explicit /aiV/^  in  Christ  ;  and  no  explicit  faith  in  Christ, 
but  the  faith  of  full  assurance.  But  I  hope,  that  I  have  ftlready 
proved  the  contrary  in  my  answer  to  the  Vth  objection,  p.  295. 
There  are  two  extremes  in  the  doctrine  of  faith  which  should  be 
carefully  avoided  by  every  Christian  :  the  one  is  that  of  the  author 
of  Pietas  Oxoniensis,  who  thinks,  that  an  adulterous  murderer  may 


304  EQUAL    GHECK.  PART    I. 

have  true  saving  faith  in  the  height  of  his  complicated  crimes  :  and 
the  other  is  that  of  those  who  assert,  there  is  no  saving  faith  but  that 
which  actually  cleanses  us  from  all  inbred  sin,  and  opens  a  present 
heaven  in  our  breasts.  The  middle  path  of  truth  lies  exactly 
between  those  opposite  mistakes,  and  that  path  I  endeavour  to 
point  out. 

As,  on  the  one  hand,  it  never  came  into  my  mind,  that  an  impenitent 
murderer  can  have  even  the  saving  faith  of  a  heathen  :  so  on  the  other 
hand,  it  never  entered-my  thoughts,  that  a  penitent  can  believe  with 
the  faith  of  full  assurance  when  he  will  ;  for  this  faith  depends  not 
only  upon  our  general  belief  of  the  truth  revealed  to  us,  but  also  upon 
a  peculiar*  operation  of  God,  or  revelation  of  his  powerful  arm.     It 

*  Mr.  Wesley  exactly  describes  this  faith  in  his  sermon  on  Scriptural  Christianity,  of 
which  you  have  here  an  extract.  "By  this  Jaith  of  the  operation  of  God,  which  was  the 
"  very  substance  or  subsistence  of  things  hoped  for,  the  demonstrative  evidence  of  invisi- 
"  bU  things,''''  he,  (the  penitent  pricked  to  the  heart,  and  expecting;  the  promise  of  the  Fa- 
ther) "  instantly  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  he  now  cried  Abba,  Father  !  Now 
*'  first  it  was  that  he  could  call  Je^is  Lord  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  itself  bearing  wit- 
"  ness  with  his  spirit  thai  he  was  a  child  of  God.  Now  it  was  that  he  could  truly  say, 
"  /  live  not,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  &c. — His  soul  magnified  the  Lord,  and  his  Spirit 
"  rejoiced  in  God  his  Saviour.  He  rejoiced  in  him  with  joy  i'nspeaknble,  who  had  recon- 
'*  died  him  to  God,  even  the  Father :  in  whom  he  had  redemption  through  his  blood,  the 
^^forgiveness  of  sins.  He  rejoiced  in  that  witness  of  God^s  Sjnrit  with  his  spirit,  that  he 
• '  was  a  child  of  God :  and  more  abundantly  in  the  hope  of  the  glory  of  God,  &c.  The  love 
*'  of  God  was  also  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was  given  to  him. 
*'  Because  he  ioas  a  son,  God  had  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son,  crying  Abba,  Father  ! 
*'  And  that  filial  love  of  God  was  continually  increased  by  the  witness  he  had  in  himself,  of 
*'  God's  pardoning  love  to  him,  &c.  so  that  God  was  the  desire  of  his  eyes,  and  the  joy  of 
"his  heart;  his  portion  in  time  and  eternity,  &c.  He  that  thus  loved  God,  could  not  but 
'•  love  his  brother  also,  i&c.  This  lover  of  God  embraced  all  mankind  for  his  sake,  &c. 
**  not  excepting  the  evil,  and  unthankful,  and  least  of  all,  his  enemies,  &c.  These  had  a 
"  peculiar  pluce  both  in  his  heart  and  his  prayers.  He  loved  them  even  as  Christ  loved  us, 
"  &c.  By  the  same  almighty  love  was  he  saved,  both  from  passion  and  pride,  from  lust 
*'  and  vanity,  from  ambition  and  covetousness,  and  from  every  temper  which  was  not  in 
*'  Christ,  &c.  He  spake  evil  of  tio  man  ;  nor  did  an  unkind  word  ever  come  out  of  his  lips, 
"  &c.  He  daily  grew  in  grace,  increasing  in  strength,  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God, 
*'&c.  He  visited  and  assisted  them  that  were  sick  or  in  prison,  &c.  He  gave  all  his 
"  goods  to  feed  the  poor.  He  rejoiced  to  labour  or  suffer  for  them :  and  lyhereinsoever 
"he  might  profit  another,  there  especially  to  deny  himself — Such  was  C/jm/?am7y  in  it§,.. 
"  rise,"  [i.  e.  Christianity  contradistinguished  from  the  dispensation  called  the  baptism  of 
John.]  "Such  was  a  Christian  in  ancient  days,"  [i.e.  a  Christian  .contradistingtiished 
from  a  disciple  of  John  or  of  Christ  before  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  took  place.] 
Such  was  every  one  of  "  those,  wht>,  when  they  heard  the  threatenings  of  the  chief  priests 
*'  and  elSers,  lifted  up  their  voice  to  God  with  one  accord,  and  toere  allftUed  witfi  the  Holy 
''Ghost.''  ^/  {  '^        '_    O 

I  here  set  my  seal  to  this  scriptural  description  of  spiritual  Chi:i^x&iify ;  being  fully 
persuaded  of  two  things :  1.  That  till  a  man  be  thus  born  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  see  the 
Christian  kingdom  of  God:  he  cannot  be  under  that  glorious  dispensation  of  divine  grace, 
u'hjch  Christ  and  the  apostles  spake  of,  when  they  prtSiched^J^epenf,  and  believe  the  Gos- 


AN   ESSAY  ON   TRUTH.     .  *  305 

is  always  attended  with  a  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  of  adoption^  wit' 
nessing  zvith  our  spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of  God :  and  soch  a 
manifestation,  God  in  general  grants  to  none  but  them,  that  groan 
deeply  under  the  spirit  of  bondage  unto  fear^  as  Paul  did  while  he 
remained  blind  at  Damascus ; — or  them  that  are  peculiarly  faithful  to 
the  grace  of  their  inferior  dispensation,  and  pray  as  earnestly  for 
power  from  on  high,  as  the  «postles  did  after  our  Lord's  ascension. 

Therefore,  from  my  asse]?!ing,  p.  233,  that  "  So  long  as  the  day  of 
*'  salvation  continue^  all  sinners  who  have  not  yet  finally  hardened  them' 
**  selves^  may,  day  and  night,  [through  the  help  and  power  of  the  general 
^'  light  of  Chrisfs  gk ACE^nentioned  John  i.  9.  and  Tit.  ii.  11.]  receive 
"  SOME  truth  belonging  to  the  everlasting  Gospel,''''  which  takes  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  heathens  ;  from  my  asserting  this,  I  say,  you 
have  no  reason  to  infer  that  I  maintain,  any  man  may,  day  and 
night,  believe  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  and  the  deep  truths  of  the 
Gospel  OF  Christ  ;  especially  since  I  mentioned,  immediately  what 
truth  it  is.  which  all  may  believe,  if  they  improve  their  talent,  namely 
this  :  "  There  is  a  God,  who  will  call  us  to  an  account  for  our  si?is,  and 
**  who  spares  us  to  break  them  off" by  repentance. ^^ 

2.  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose,  thSt  you  c^n  believe  with  the 
luminous  faith  of  assurance,  when  God  is  casting  your  soul  into  the 
dark  prison  of  your  own  guilt,  to  bring  down  your  Pharisaic  looks, 
and  make  you  feel  the  chains  of  your  sins.  But  even  then,  may 
you  not  believe  that  God  is  just,  holy,  and  patient  ?  May  you  not 
acknowledge,  that  you  deserve  your  spiritual  imprisonment  far  more 
than  Joseph's  brethren  deserved  to  be  put  altogether  into  ward  three 
days  b}'  their  loving,  forgiving  brother  ?  May  you  not  believe 
that,  although  heaviness  may  endure  for  a  night,  yet  joy  cometh 
in  the  morning?  And  when  you  have  humbly  groaned  with  David,  I 
am  so  fast  in  prison  that  I  cannot  get  forth;  may  you  not  pray  in 
faith,  Bring  my  soul  out  of  prison,  that  I  may  praise  thy  name:  Let  the 
bones  which  thou  hast  broken  rejoice :  Give  me  the  garment  of  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  heaviness :  Convince  me  as  powerfully  of  righteousness,  as 
thou  hast  of  sin:  And  let  thy  Spirit,  which  now  acts  upon  me  as  a 
spirit  of  bondage  unto  fear,  begin  to  act  as. a  spirit  of  adoption,  and 
liberty ;  of  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  ? — May  you  not  even  add, 
*'  O  God,  /  believe  thy  promise  concerning  the  coming  of  the  Cora- 

pel,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  2.  That  whosoever  has  not  in  his  breast  the 
above  described  kingdom,  i.  e.  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  does 
not  bring  forth  its  excellent  fruits  in  his  life,  either  never  was  a  spiritual  Christian,  or  is 
fallen  back  from  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit  into  the  dispensation  of  the  letter,  or  fbe  bare 
from  of  godliness,  if  not  into  open  wickedness.     See  the  next  note. 

Vol.  II.  39 


306  '  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

*'  forter  ;  help  thou  my  unbelief,  and  grant  me  such  a  faith  as  thou 
"  wilt  vouchsafe  to  seal  with  that  holy  Spirit  of  promise.  Thou  shakest 
"  before  me  the  rod  of  infernal  vengeance  :  I  deserve  it  a  thousand 
'*  times  ;  but,  O  Father  of  mercies,  O  my  Father,  if,  for  the  sake  of 
"  thine  oAly-begotten  Son,  then  wilt  yet  permit  such  a  wretch  as  I 
"  am  to  call  thee  Father,  give  me  the  spirit  of  adoption  ;  and  witness 
*'  to  my  spirit  that  I  am  a  child  of  thine.  But  if  thou  will  still  hide 
"  thy  face  from  me,  never  suffer  me  to  entertain  one  dishonourable 
*'  thought  of  thee  ;  never  let  me  think  thee  a  Moloch.  Though  thy 
"justice  slay  me,  let  me  still  trust  in  thee,  and  believe,  that  for 
"  Christ's  sake  thy  mercy  will  revive  my  soul  ?"  Is  it  scriptural  to 
rank  among  absolute  unbelievers  a  penitent  who  thus  humbly  and 
obediently  waits  for  the  faith  of  full  assurance — the  faith  of  Chris- 
tianity in  its  state  of-  perfection  ?  If  our  Lord  pronounces  such 
moumers  blessed,  does  it  become  us  to  pronounce  them  accursed? 
but  I  return  to  your  objection. 

3.  The  latter  part  of  ii  confirms,  instead  of  overturning  my  doc- 
trine ;  it  being  evident,  that  if  the  persons  you  speak  of,  prayed  with 
ardour  for  the  faith  of  assuraifce,  they  had  already  some  degree  of 
faith :  lor  praying  rs  calling  upon  the  Lord,  and  St.  Paul  speaks  the 
words  of  soberness,  wbere  he  says,  How  shall  they  call  on  him  in 
whom  they  have  not  believed  ? 

4.  I  am  so  far  from  thinking  our  power  to  believe  is  absolute,  that 
I  have  asserted,  p.  233,  it  is  impossible  heartily  to  believe  the  truths 
which  do  not  suit  our  present  state  : — And  p.  245,  246,  &c.  I  have 
observed,  that  we  savingly  believe  the  "  truth  suitable  to  o\(,r  present 
"  circumstances,  when  it  is  kindly  presented  by  free  grace,  and  affec- 
*'  tionately  embraced  by  prevented /ree  will;''''  adding  that,  when  we 
believe,  our  '■''faith  is  more  or  less  operative,''^  not  only  "  according 
*'  to  the  EARNESTNESS  with  which  we  welcome  the  truth  to  our  inmost 
*'  souls;''''  but  also,  "  according  to  the  power  with  which  the  Spirit  of 
"  grace  impresses  it  upon  our  hearts.''^ — Nay,  I  have  ascribed  so  much 
to  the  power  of  the  free  grace,  bj'  which  saving  faith  is  "  instantly 

formed,''^  as  to  insinuate  that  sometimes  (as  at  St.  Paul's  conversion) 
this  power  for  awhile  b§ars  all  down  before  it.  This  at  least  was 
my  meaning,  when  I  said.  Section  1st.  "  We  may  in  general  suspend 
the  act  of  faith,  especially  when  the  glaring  light''''  (i.  e.  the  luminous 
power)  '*  that  sometimes  accompanies  the  revelation  of  truth,  is  abated.'^ 
Consider  the  force  of  the  words,  "  m  general,''^  and  ^^  especially  ;^^ 
advert  to  the  exceptions  for:  which  they  make  room ;  and  you  will 
see,  I  allow,  that  free  grace,  at  times,  acts  with  almost  as  much 
irresistibility  as  some  moderate  ^alvinists  contend  for. 


AxN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  307 

o.  With  respect  to  my  comparison  between  our  power  to  believe, 
and  our  power  to  see,  far  from  showing  that  all  men  may  at  any~time 
believe  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  it  intimates,  nay,  it  proves  the  very 
reverse.  Can  you  see  when  you  will,  and  what  you  will?  Can  you 
see  in  a  dark  night  without  a  light  ?  Can  you  see  in  a  bright  day, 
when  a  thick  vail  covers  your  face  ?  Can  you  see,  if  you  place  an 
opaque  body  full  in  your  light  ?  Can  you  see  what  is  out  of  the 
reach  of  your  eyes  ?  Can  you  see  the  rising  sun,  when  you  look  full 
west^  or  the  stars  when  you  pore  upon  a  dunghill  ?  Can  you  see 
when  you  obstinately  shut  your  eyes  ?  Or  when  you  have  let  a 
wicked  man  put  them  out,  lest  you  should  not  live  in  idleness  ? 
Apply  to  faith  these  queries  about  sight ;  recollect  the  preceding 
observations,  and  you  will  perceive,  1.  That  our  power  to  believe 
is  various  ways  circumscribed ;  it  being  impossible,  that  he  who  has 
but  one  talent,  perhaps  unimproved,  should  carry  on  as  extensive  a 
trade,  as  the  man  who  diligently  improves  his  five  or  ten  talents  : 
2.  That  nevertheless,  supposing  we  have  still  a  ray  of  the  light  of 
truth,  and  have  not  yet  been  given  up  to  judicial  blindness,  or  to  final 
hardness,  we  may,  day  and  night  (if  we  do  not  still  bury  our  talent) 
believe,  by  the  above-mentioned  helps,  some  obvious  truth  belonging 
to  the  lowest  dispensation  of  divine  grace,  and  begiji  to  follow  our 
Lord's  direction  :.  While  ye  have  ike  light,  believe  in  the  light,  that  ye 
may  be  the  children  of  the  light :  And,  3.  That  if  vve  oppose  this  doc- 
trine, we  begin  to  follow  our  Calvinist  brethren  into  Crispianity ;  and 
are  just  ready  to  bow  at  the  shrine  of  the  great  Diana  of  the  day,  and 
to  kiss  her  iron-clay  feet,  Finished  Salvation  and  Finished  Damnation. 

Obj.  VII.  "  Your  doctrine  concerning  the  school  of  Faith,  and  its 
'*  several ybrms — concerning  the  temple  of  Faith,  and  its  capital  par- 
*'  <i<ion5,  is/ entirely  founded  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  dispensations 
"  of  divine  grace  ;  a  doctrine  this,  which  many  people  will  rank  with 
"  what  they  call  The  novel  Chimeras  of  your  Checks.'''' 

I  hope  that  I  have  proved  what  I  have  advanced  concerning  the 
•  dispensations,  by  arguments  founded  upon  Scripture,  Reason,  and 
Conscience.  However,  that  the  idea  of' novelty  may  not  stand  in  the 
way  of  any  of  my  readers,  out  of  fifty  authors,  whom  I  may  quote  in 
support  of  this  important  doctrine,  1  shall  produce  two,  a  Calvinist 
and  an  Anti-calvinist  ;  not  doubling  but  their  consentaneous  testimony 
will  sufficiently  break  the  force  of  your  objection.  The  first  is  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Green,  late  curate  of  Thurns^coe  in  Yorkshire,  and  once  an 
assistant  to  Mr.  Whitefield.  In  his  book,  called  Grace  and  Truth 
vindicated,  p.  IIG,  you  will  find  the  following  just  remarks : 


30S  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    U 

*'  It  appears  to  me  from  Scripture,  as  well  as  Experience^  that  there 
'*  are  divers  dispensations,  but  the  same  spirit :  The  kingdom  of 
"  heaven  consists  of  various  degrees,  and.  different  mansions.  This  is 
"  true,  whether  by  the  kingdom  of  heaven  we  understand  the  out- 
"  ward  professors  of  religion  and  their  privileges,  the  inward  king- 
"  dom  of  grace,  or  the  kingdom  of  glory :  (in  all  which  senses  the 
"  words  in  Scripture  are  frequently  used.) — As  face  answers  to  fice 
*"  in  a  glass,  so  do  these  respectively  answer  each  other.  Thus  the 
'•  outward  privileges  of  religion  from  Adam  to  Moses  were  least; 
"  from  Moses  to  Christ  greater,  and  from  Christ  to  the  restitution  of 
'*  all  things,  greatest. — Again,  to  be  a  spiritual  or  enlightened  UEXTUENf 
"as  Socrates,  Plato,  or  Cornelius,  before  he  heard  Peter,  is  one 
"  degree  or  dispensation  of  grace.  To  be  a  spiritual  or  enlightened 
"  Jew  ;  and  with  Peter  and  the  other  disciples  before  the  day  of 
*'  pentecost,  to  believe  and  acknowledge,  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah, 
"  though  not  spiritually  come,  is  a  greater.  But  to  be  a  spiritual 
"  Christian,  to  have  Christ,  the  exalted  God-man,  revealed  in  us 
'•  from  heaven,  and  to  be  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  unto 
"  the  day  of  the  redemption  of  this  vile  body,  is  the  last  and  most 
"  perfect  dispensation  of  grace.  He  that  is  feeble  here,  shall  be  as 
"  David,  and  he  that  is  strong,  &ic.  shall  be,  &c.  as  the  angel  of  the 
**  Lord,  kc.  For  it  may  be  observed,  that  every  dispensation  admits 
"  of  a  growth  therein  ;  and  moreover,  that  each  of  them  is  in  some 
"  sort  and  degree  experienced  by  a  spiritual  Christian,"  &c. 

My  second  witness  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  J.  Wesley,  who  even  in  his 
first  sermon  on  Salvation  by  faith,  preached  near  forty  years  ago,  clearly 
distinguishes  Christian  faith,  properly  so  called,  or  faith  in  Christ 
glorified,  not  only  from  the  faith  of  a  heathen,  but  also  from  the  faith 
of  initial  Christianity,  i.  e.  "  the  faith  which  the  apostles  had  while  our 
Lord  was  upon  earth.^^ 

"  And  tirst,"  says  he,  *'  it,"  the  faith  that  saves  us  into  the  great  salva- 
tion described  in  the  second  part  of  the  sermon,  ''  is  not  barely  the  faith 
*'  of  a  heathen.  Now  God  requires  of  a  heathen  to  believe.  That 
'*  God  is,  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him,  &c.  by 
^^  glorifying  him  as  God,  &c.  and  by  a  careful  practice  of  moral  virtue, 
"&c.  A  Greek  or  Roman,  therefore,  yea,  a  Scythian  or  Indian,  was 
*'  without  excuse,  if  he  did  not  believe  thus  much  ; — The  being  and 
"  attributes  of  God,  a  future  state  of  reward  and  punishmei.t,  &c. 
"For  this  is  burely  the  faith  of  a  heathen.'*^ — Soon  after  he  adds: 
"  And  herein  does  it  (^thir,  faith  in  Christ  glorified)  differ  from 
''that  faith,  which  the  apostles  themselves  had  while  our  Lord  was 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  309 

*'  upon  earth,   that  it  acknowledges  the  necessity  and  merit  of  his 
"death,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection." 

The  doctrine  of  Christian  perfection  is  entirely  founded  on  the 
privileges  of  the  Christian  dispensation  in  its  fulness  :  privileges  these, 
which  far  exceed  tliose  of  the  Jewish  economy,  and  the  hapiism  of 
John.  Accordingly  Mr.  Wesley,  in  his  sermons  on  Christian  Perfec- 
tion, makes  the  following  just  and  scriptural  distinction  between  those 
dispensations.  "  It  may  be  granted,  1.  That  David,  in  the  general 
**  course  of  his  life,  was  one  of  the  holiest  men  among  the  Jews. 
"  And,  2,  That  the  holiest  men  among  the  Jews  did  sometimes  commit 
"  sin.  But  if  you  would  hence  infer  that  all  Christians  do,  and  must 
"  commit  sin,  as  long  as  they  live  ;  this  consequence  we  utterly  deny. 
*'  It  will  never  follow  from  those  premises.  Those  who  argue  thus, 
*'  seem  never  to  have  considered  that  declaration  of  o<ir  Lord,  Matt. 
*'  xi,  11.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  among  them  that  are  born  of  women, 
"  there  hath  not  Mrisen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.  JVotwith- 
"  standing,  he  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he. 
"  I  fear  indeed,  there  are  some,  who  have  imagined  the  kingdom  of 
*'  heaven  here  to  mean  the  kingdom  of  glory  :'  as  if  the  S(^i  of  God 
"  had  just  discovered  to  us,  that  the  least  glorified  saint  in  heaven  is 
**  greater  than  any  man  upon  earth.  To  mention  this  is  sufficiently 
"  to  refute  it.  There  can,  therefore,  no  doubt  be  made,  but  the 
*'  kingdom  of  heaven,  here,  (as  in  the  following  verse,  where  it  is  said 
'*  to  be  taken  by  force)  or  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  St.  Luke  expresses 
"it,  is  that  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  whereunto  all  true  believers  in 
"  Christ,  all  real  Christians,  belong.  In  these  words  then  our  Lord 
"  declares  two  thinirs.  1.  That  before  his  coming  in  the  flesh, 
*'  among  all  the  children  of  men,  there  had  not  been  one  greater 
'*  than  John  the  Baptist :  whence  it  evidently  follows,  that  neither 
"  Abraham,  David,  nor  any  Jew,  was  greater  than  John.  2.  That 
"  he  who  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  God  (in  that  kingdom  which  he 
"  came  to  set  up  on  earth,  and  which  the  violent  now  began  to  take 
"  by  force)  is  greater  than  he.  Not  a  greater  prophet  (as  some  have 
"  interpreted  the  word)  for  this  is  palpably  false  in  fact :  but  greater 
*'  in  the  grace  cf  God,  and  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jei^us  Christ. 
''Therefore  we  cannot  measure  the  privileges  of  real  Chri  tians  by 
*'  those  formerly  given  to  the  Jews.  Their  tninistralion  (or  dispen- 
*'  sation)  we  allow  zvas  glorious;  but  ours  exceeds  in  glory.  So  that 
"whosoever  would  bring  down  the  Chrislifin  dispensation  to  the 
"  Jewish  standard,  &c.  (ioih  greatly  err,  neither  knowing  the  Scriptures 
*'  nor  the  power  of  God. ^^ — From  these  excellent  quotations  therefore, 


/S^ 


310  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I* 

it  appears  that  you  Jo  me  an  honour  altogether  undeserved,  if  you 
suppose  that  I  first  set  forth  the  doctrine  of  the  dispensations. 

Obj.  VIII.  "  I  cannot  help  thinking,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  faith 
*'  proper  to  all  those  dispensations  is  above  the  capacity  of  plaift 
*'  ChristianSy  and  should  never  be  mentioned,  lest  it  should  puzzlC; 
*'  instead  of  edifying  the  Church." 

If  your  fears  be  well  grounded,  even  the  apostles'  creed  is  above 
the  capacity  of  plain  Christians  ;  for  that  creed,  the  simplest  of  all 
those  which  the  primitive  church  has  handed  down  to  us,  evidently 
distinguishes  three  degrees  of  faith :  1.  Faith  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,  who  made  heaven  and  earthy  which  is  the  faith  of  the  hea- 
thens :  2.  Faith  in  the  Messiah,  or  m  Jesus  Christ  his  only-begotten  Son 
our  Lord;  which  is  the  faith  of  pious  Jews,  of  John's  disciples,  and 
of  imperfect  Christians,  who,  like  the  apostles  before  the  day  of  pen- 
tecost,  are  yet  strangers  to  the  *  great  outpouring  of  the  Spirit :  and 

*  I  beg  the  reader  will  not  mistake  me.  When  I  say  that  pious  Jews,  and  our  Lord's 
disciples  before  the  daj  of  pentecost,  were  strangers  to  the  great  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
I  do  not  mean  that  they  were  strangers  to  his  directing,  sanctify  ing,  and  enlivening  influ- 
ences, accoriing  to  their  dispensation.  For  David  had  prayed.  Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit 
from,  me:  John  the  Baptist  had  been  visited  by  his  exhilarating  power,  even  in  his  mother's 
womb.  Our  Lord  had  breathed  upon  his  disciples,  saying,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and 
had  imparted  him  to  them  as  a  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplication,  to  help  them  to  wait  in 
faith  and  unceasing  prayer,  till  they  were  endued  with  power  from  on  high.  Besides,  they 
had  called  him  Lord  in  truth  ;  and  no  man  can  do  this,  but  by  the  Spirit  offaith^  which 
helps  our  unbelief  and  infirmities  under  all  the  divine  dispensations.  Nevertheless  they 
were  not  fully  baptized.  The  Comforter,  that  visited  them,  did  not  properly  dwell  in  them. 
Although  they  had  already  wrought  miracles  by  his  power,  the  promise  of  the  Father  wa3 
not  yet  fulfilled  to  them.  They  had  not  yet  been  made  perfect  in  one,  by  the  assimilating 
power  of  the  heavenly  fire.  They  would  have  been  puzzled  by  such  questions  as  these : 
Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed?  Acts  xix.  2. — Is  he  fallen  upon  you? 
Acts  X.  44. — Is  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  your  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given  unt& 
you?  Rom.  v.  5. — Is  the  fountain  springing  vp  into  everlasting  life  opened  in  your 
breast?  Joh,n  iv.  14. — After  that  ye  believed,  loere  ye  sealed  with  that  holy  Spirit  of  pro- 
mise ? .  Eph.  i.  18. — That  Spirit^  which  forms  those  rivers  of  living  ioater,  that  flow  out  of 
the  belly,  the  inmost  soul  of  believers  ? — That  Spirit  which  was  not  given  before  Christ 
was  glorified?  JoTin  vii  39. — That  Comforter,  which  it  is  more  expedient  for  us  to  receive, 
than  even  to  have  Christ's  bodily  presence  and  constant  instructions.'^  John  xvi.  7. — If 
these,  and  the  like  questions,  would  have  perplexed  the  apostles  before  Christ  had  opened 
his  spiritual  baptism,  and  set  up  his  kingdom  with  power  in  their  hearts  ;  we  ou<iht  not  to 
be  surprised  that  professors,  who  know  only  the  baptism  of  Joh?i,  .«hould  ingenuoufly  con- 
fess, they  never  heard  there  icas  a  Holy  Ghost  [to  be  received]  since  they  believed.  Acts 
xix.  2.  Nor  should  we  wonder  if  devout  Jews,  and  easy  Laodiceans,  should  evetimock  and 
say,  You  would  have  us  to  he  filled  with  new  vjine:  but  we  are  rivh  and  increased  v'ith 
goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing.  The  water  of  our  old  cistern?  is  preferable  to  the  Tieio 
wine  of  your  enthusiastic  doctrine,  and  our  uapIi^mal  ponds  to  your  ba})tismal  flames. 

This,  however,  was  not  Mr.  Whitefield's  languag.-  when  he  ;.d;aittt;d^  rt!^?/^  person  fo 
baptism :  (and  he  knowingly  admitted  none  but  believers.)    He  knew  then  how  to  pray  for 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  311 

3.  Faith  in  the  Holy  Ghost — Faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  by  which 
Christians  complete  in  Christ  believe  according  to  the  working  of  God''s 
almighty  power y  and  dive  filled  with  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in 
THUS  believing. 

And  here  honesty  obliges  me  to  lay  before  the  public  an  objection, 
which  f  have  had  for  some  time  against  the  appendages  of  the  Atha- 
nasian  Creed-  I  admire  the  scriptural  manner  in  which  it  sets  forth 
the  divine  Unity  in  Trinity,  and  the  divine  Trinity  in  Unity  :  but  I 
can  no  longer  indiscriminately  use  its  damnatory  clauses.  It  abruptly 
takes  us  to  the  very  top  of  the  Christian  dispensation  (considered  in 
a  doctrinal  light.)  This  dispensation  it  calls  the  Catholic  Faith:  and, 
without  mentioning  the  faith  of  the  inferior  dispensations,  as  our 
other  Creeds  do,  it  makes  us  declare,  that,  "  except  '  every  one' 
*'  keep  thai  faith  (the  faith  of  the  highest  dispensation)  whole  and 
"  undefiled — he  cannot  he  saved  : — without  doubt  he  shall  perish  ever- 
"  lastingly.''^  This  dreadful  denunciation  is  true  with  regard  to  proud, 
ungodly  infidels,  who,  in  the  midet  of  nil  the  means  of  Christian 
faith,  obstinately,  maliciously,  and  finally  set  their  hearts  against  the 
doctrine  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost;  equally  despising  the 
Son's  atonement,  and  the  Spirit's  inspiration.  But  I  will  no  more 
invade  Christ's  tribunal,  and  pronounce,  that  the  fearful  punishment 
of  damnation  shall  "  without  doubV  be  inflicted  upon  "  every^* 
Unitarian,  Arian,  Jew,  Turk,  and  Heathen,  that  fears  God  and 
works  righteousness,  though  he  does  not  hold  the  faith  of  the  Athanasian 
Creed  whole.  For,  if  you  except  the  last  article,  thousands,  yea 
millions,  are  never  called  to  hold  it  at  all  ;  and  therefore  shall 
never  perish  for  not  holding  it  whole.  See  the  notes,  p.  145,  and 
261.     At  all  hazards  then,  I  hope  I  shall  never  use  again  those  dam- 

the  ProJnise  of  the  Father,  and  how  to  point  the  disciple  of  John  to  the  perfection  of 
Christ's  dispensation.  As  a  proof  of  it,  take  part  of  tlic  truly  Christian  h)  rnn  which  he 
sung  on  that  occasion  : 

Anoint  with  holy  fire, 

Baptize  with  purging  flames 
This  soul,  and  with  thy  grace  inspire  , 

In  CEASELESS,  LIVING   STREAMS. 

Thy  HEAVENLY  Unction  give, 

THY  Promise,  Lord,  fulfil, 
'Give  Power  [i.  e.  faith]  thy  spirit  to  receive,' 

And  STRENGTH  to  do  thy  will. 

This  good  old  Gospel  is  far  more  clearly  set  forth  in  Mr.  Wesley's  sermon,  called  Scrtp' 
tural  Christianity,  and  in  his  Hymns  for  IVhitsrunday,  which  1  earnestly  recommend,  a; 
pointing  out  the  one  thing  needful  for  all  carnal  professors. 


312  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

natory  clauses,  without  taking  the  hberty  of  guarding  them  agreeably 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  dispensations.  And  if  Zelotes  presses  me  with 
my  Subscriptions,  1  reply  beforehand,  that  the  same  Church,  which 
required  me  to  subscribe  to  St.  Atbanasius's  Creed,  enjoins  me  also 
to  biUf'VH  this  clause  of  St.  Peter's  Creed,  In  every  nation  he  that 
fcareth  God^  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  of  him  :  and  if  those 
two  creeds  are  irreconcileable,  1  think  it  more  reasonable,  that 
Athanasius  should  bow  to  Peter,  warmed  by  the  Spirit  of  love  ;  than 
th.>t  Peter  should  bow  to  Athanasius,  heated  by  controversial  oppo- 
sition. 

To  return  :  That  the  distinction  of  the  three  degrees  of  saving 
faith,  omitted  in  the  Alhanasian  Creed,  but  expressed  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  and  in  the  Nicene  Creed  ; — That  this  distinction,  I  say,  is 
neither  chimerical  nor  enthusif^stical,  may  be  proved  by  a  variety  of 
arguments,  two  or  three  of  which,  I  hope,  will  not  intrude  too  long 
upon  the  reader's  patience. 

1.  The  first  !3  tf»k<;«n  from  tho  tlorfrlnc  expressly  laid  dowu  in  the 
New  Testament.  To  what  I  have  said  on  this  head,  p.  289,  &,c.  I 
add  here  what  Christ  said  to  his  disciples.  Ye  believe  in  God,  believe 
also  in  me.  Here  the  most  prejudiced  may  see,  that  faith  in  the 
Father  is  clearly  contradistinguished  from  faith  in  the  Son.  As  for 
faith  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  see  in  what  manner  our  blessed  Lord  sowed 
the  seed  of  it  in  the  hearts  of  his  disciples.  When  the  Comforter  is 
come,  whom  I  H'iU  send,  unto  you  from,  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit 
of  truth,  he  shall  testify  of  me. — It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away : 

for  if  I  go  not -away  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you;  but  if  I 
depart  I  will  send  him  unto  you. — Behold,  I  send  the  promise  of  my 
Father  upon  you :  hut  tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  until  ye  be 
endued  with  power  from  on  high.  Nor  was  this  great  promise  made 
to  the  apostles  alone  ;  for,  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast, 
Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying.  If  any  man  (not  if  an  apostle)  thirst,  let 
him  come  to  me  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  on  me,  as  the  Scripture 
hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water.  But  this 
he  spake  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believed  on  him  should  receive,  for 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given  ;  (his  dispensation,  which  is  the 
highest  of  all,  was  not  yet  opened)  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet 
glorified.  And  the  opening  of  this  dispensation  in  our  heart-s  requires 
on  our  part,  not  only  f  ;ith  in  Christ,  but  a  peculiar  faith  in  the  pro- 
mise of  the  Father ;  a  promise  this,  which  has  the  Holy  Ghost  for  its 
great  object. 

2.  My  second  argument  is  taken  from  the  experiences  of  those 
•who,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  made  partakers  of  Christ  glorified, 


AN   ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  313 

either  on  the  day  of  pentecost,  or  after  it ;  and  could  feelingly  con- 
fess Christ  dying  for  W5,  and  Christ  living  in  us^  the  hope  of  glorify 
Acts  ii.  6.  we  read  of  devout  men  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven, 
who  were  come  to  worship  at  Jerusalem.  But  how  could  they  have 
been  devout  men,  if  they  had  not  believed  in  God  ?  What  could  have 
brought  them  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  keep  a  feast  to  the  Lord, 
if  they  had  been  mere  Atheists  ?  And  yet  it  is  evident,  that,  through 
prejudice  many  of  them  rejected  our  Lord  ;  putting  him  to  open 
shame  and  a  bloody  death  :  but  when  Peter  preached  Christ  on  the 
day  of  pentecost,  they  at  first  believed  on  him  with  a  true,  though 
not  with  a  luminous  faith.  This  appears  from  the  anguish  which 
they  felt  upon  being  charged  with  having  slain  the  Prince  of  life.  No 
man  in  his  senses  can  be  pricked  to  the  heart  merely  for  having  had  a 
hand  in  the  just  punishment  of  an  impostor  and  a  blasphemer,  who 
makes  himself  equal  with  God.  If  therefore  keen  remorse  pierced  the 
hearts  of  those  penitent  Jews,  it  is  evident,  that  they  looked  no  more 
upon  Christ  as  an  impostor,  but  already  believed  in  him  as  the  true 
Messiah. 

No  sooner  had  they  thus  passed  from  faith  in  the  Father  to  an 
explicit  faith  in  the  Son,  but  they  cried  out,  Wliat  shall  we  do?  And 
Peter  directed  them  to  make  by  baptism  an  open,  solemn  profession 
of  their  faith  in  Christ,  and  to  believe  the  great  promise  concerning 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  promise  is  unto  you,  said  he  :  Be  baptized, 
EVERY  ONE  OF  YOU,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission  of 
sins:  and  ye  (every  one  of  you)  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  upon  their  gladly  receiving  the  word ;  i.  e.  upon  their  heartily 
believing  the  gladdening  promise  relating  to  pardon  and  to  the  Com- 
forter ;  and,  no  doubt,  upon  their  fervently  praying  that  it  tnight  be 
fulfilled  in  them  ;  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Spirit :  all  their  hearts 
overflowed  with  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

St.   PetP.r,  sjipakiiij^  (^At.ts  xi  y  uC  a  aiuiilar  outpouring  of  the  ^irit, 

says.  The  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them  (Gentiles)  as  on  us  (Jews)  at  the 
beginning.  Then  remembered  I  the  word  of  the  Lord,  how  tliat  he  said, 
John  indeed  baptized  with  water,  them  that  entered  his  dispensation,' 
but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  when  you  shall  enter  the 
full  dispensation  of  my  Spirit  : — Gcd,  adds  Peter,  gave  them  the  like 
gift  as  he  did  unto  us,  who  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. — And 
when  the  apostles  heard  these  things  they  glorified  God;  not  indeed  by 
shouting,  "  Then  hath  God  given  the  Gentiles  power  to  speak  Arabic  ;" 
but  by  saying,  Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance 
nnto  life,  according  to  the  fulness  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 
Vol.  IL  40 


314  EQUAL    CHECK.  PART    I. 

That  this  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  this  coming  of  Christ's 
spiritual  kingdom  with  power ^  is  attended  with  an  uncomnnon  degree 
of  sanctifying  grace,  is  acknowledged  by  all :  and  that  the  gift  of 
tongues,  &c.  which  at  first,  on  some  occasions,  and  in  some  persons, 
accompanied  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  for  a  sign  to  bigoted  Jews,  or 
to  stupid  Heathens  ; — that  such  a  gift,  1  say,  was  a  temporary  append- 
age^ and  by  no  means  an  essential  part  of  Christ's  spiritual  baptism,  is 
evident  from  the  merely  spiritual  effect,  which  the  receiving  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  had  upon  the  penitent  Jews,  who,  being  horn  of  water 
and  the  Spirit,  pressed  after  the  apostles  into  the  kingdom  on  the  day 
of  pentecost. 

**  Even  in  the  infancy  of  the  church,'*  (says  an  eminent  Divine) 
**  God  divided  those  (miraculous)  gifts  with  a  sparing  hand.  Were 
''  all  even  then  prophets?  Were  all  workers  of  miracles  ?  Had  all  the 
** gifts  of  healing?  Did  all  speak  with  tongues?  No,  in  nowise.  Per- 
*'  haps  not  one  in  a  thousand.  Probably  none  but  the  teachers  of 
*'  the  church,  and  only  some  of  them.  It  was  therefore  for  a  more 
"  excellent  purpose  than  this,  that  they  (the  brethren  ^nd  apostles) 
*'  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  to  give  them  (what  none 
"  can  deny  to  be  essential  to  all  Christians  in  all  ages)  the  mind  which 
'*  was  in  Christ,  those  holy  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  which,  whosoever  has 
'*  not,  is  none  of  his  :  to  fill  them  with  love,  joy,  peace,  long- suffering, 
^*  gentleness,  goodness^ 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  although  3000  converts  received  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  memorable  day  in  which  Christ  opened  the 
dispensation  of  his  Spirit,  no  mention  is  made  of  so  much  as  one  of 
them  working  a  single  miracle,  or  speaking  with  one  new  tongue.  But 
the  greatest,  and  most  beneficial  of  miracles  was  wrought  upon  them 
all:  For,  All  that  believed,  says  St.  Luke,  were  together:  continuing 
daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  breaking  bread  from  house  to  house  ^ 
eating  their  meat  ze-'tih  gladness  and  singleness  of  hprtrt^  praising  God, 
and  having  favour  with  all  the  people,  by  their  humble,  affectionate, 
angelical  behaviour.  Or,  as  the  same  historian  expresses  it,  Acts  iv. 
32.  The  multitude  of  them  that  believed — spoke  Greek  and  Latin  ?  No, 
but — were  of  one  heart,  and  of  one  soul;  neither  said  any  of  them 
that  aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own ;  but  that  they 
had  all  things  common ;  having  been  made  perfect  in  one,  -agreeably 
to  our  Lord's  deep  prayer,  recorded  by  St.  John  :  Neither  pray  I 
for  these  (my  disciples)  alone,  but  for  them  also,  who  shall  believe  ot) 
me  through  their  word.  That  they  may  be  one  ; — I  in  them,  by  my  Spirit. 
and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one. 


AN    ESSAY    ON    TRUTH.  31£> 

3.  To  this  argument,  taken  from  the  experiences  of  the  primitive 
t^hristians,  I  may  add,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  dispensations  is  indi- 
rectly taught  by  our  Church  even  to  children  in  her  catechism, 
where  she  instructs  them  to  say  :  "  By  the  articles  of  my  belief  ]  learn, 
FIRST,  to  believe  in  God  the  Father,  who  made  me,  &lc.  secondly,  in 
Ood  the  Sun,  rvho  redeemed  me,  k.c.  And,  thirdly,  in  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  sanctifieth  me  :  for  these  three  distinctions  are  expressive 
of  the  three  grand  degrees  of  the  faith,  whereby  we  inherit  all  the 
promises  of  God,  and  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature  :  they 
are  not  descriptive  of  faith  in  three  Gods,  but  of  the  capital  manifest- 
ations of  the  Triune  God,  in  whose  name  we  are  baptized  ;  and  of  the 
three  great  dispensations  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  namely,  that 
of  the  Heathens,  that  of  the  Jews,  and  that  oC  spiritual  Christians;  the 
dispensation  of  Abraham  being  only  a  link  between  Heathenism  and 
Judaism  ;  and  the  dispensation  of  John  the  Baptist,  or  of  Christianity 
begun,  being  only  a  transition  between  Judaism  and  Christianity  per-, 
fected. 

Our  Church  catechism  brings  to  my  remembrance  the  o£6ce  of 
confirmation  ;  it  was,  it  seems,  originally  intended  to  lead  young  be- 
lievers to  the  fulness  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  agreeably  to  what 
we  read,  Acts  viii.  12,  &c.  Peter  and  John  went  from  Jerusalem  to 
Samaria  to  lay  their  bands  on  the  believers  who  had  not  yet  been 
baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  pray  that  they  might  receive 
him  :  For  as  yet  he  was  fallen  upon  none  of  .them :  only  they  were  bap- 
tized by  Philip  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. — When  the  Son  of  man 
com^eth,  shall  he  find  faith  upon  the  earth  ?  I  fear,  but  little  of  the 
faith  peculiar  to  his/w//  dispensation.  Most  professors  seem  satisfied 
with  John's  baptism  :  or  Philip's  baptism.  The  Lord  raise  us  apos- 
tolic Pastors  to  pray  in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power : 
"  Strengthen  thy  servants,  O  Lord,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Com- 
*'  forter  ;  and  daily  increase  in  them  thy  manifold  gifts  of  grace  ;  the 
*'  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding  ;  the  spirit  of  counsel  and 
"  ghostly  strength  ;  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  true  godliness  ;  and 
*'  fill  them  with  the  spirit  of  thy  holy  fear  now  and  for  ever."  Order 
of  Confirmation.  Can  it  be  said  that  those,  in  whom  that  prayer  is 
not  now  answered,  live  under  the  dispensation  of  Christianity  per- 
fected ?  Are  they  either  established  Christians,  or  spiritual  church- 
men ?  How  Ions  shall  the  mystery  of  iniquity  prevail !  How  long 
shall  a  Pharisaic  Deistical  world  destroy  the  faith  of  the  Son,  under 
colour  of  contending  for  fiith  in  the  Father  !  And  how  long  shall  a 
world  of  Antinomian  Solifidian  professors  destroy  faith  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  under  pretence  of  recommending  faith  in  the  Son!    0  Lord, 


316  EQUAL  CHECK.  PVRT  I. 

exert  thy  power  :  Pour  out  of  thy  Spirit  upon  alljleshy  and  give  wisdom 
to  all  thy  ministers  to  divide  the  word  of  truth  aright,  and  to  feed  thy 
people  according  to  their  states  and  thy  dispensations  ! 

If  these  answers  give  my  objector  no  satisfaction,  and  he  still  think 
it  his  duty  to  attack  my  Essay,  I  beg  leave  to  address  him  in  the 
words  of  a  judicious  divine  of  the  last  century.  "  1  shall  not  need 
^'  (I  presume)  to  desire  you,  that  in  your  answer  you  will  not  rise 
"  up  in  your  might  against  the  weaker,  looser,  or  less  considerate 
'«  passages  or  expressions  (of  which  kind  you  may  very  possibly 
"  meet  more  than  enow :)  but  that  you  will  rather  bend  the  strength 
"  of  your  reply  against  the  strength  of  what  you  shall  oppose.  You 
-'  well  know  that  a  field  may  be  won,  though  many  soldiers  of  the 
"  conquering  side  should  fall  in  the  battle :  and  that  a  tree  may 
''  flourish  and  retain  both  its  beauty  and  firmness  of  standing  in  the 
^'  earth,  though  many  of  the  smaller  twigs  and  lesser  branches  should 
"  prove  dry,  and  so  be  easily  broken  off.  So  may  a  mountain  remain 
"  unmoved,  yea  immoveable,  though  many  handfuls  of  the  lighter 
"  and  looser  earth  about  the  sides  of  it  should  be  taken  up  and  scat- 
"  tered  into  the  air  like  dust.  In  like  manner,  the  body  of  a  discourse 
"  may  stand  entire  in  its  solidity,  weight,  and  strength,  though  many 
"  particular  expressions,  sayings,  and  reasonings  therein,  that  are 
"  more  remote  from  the  centre,  should  be  detected  either  of  incon- 
''  siderateness,  weakness,  or  untruth." 


K3f»  QFVOL.  H.