unbelief, its ten thousands. It blinded the pharifees, and hardened the Jews against Chrift. † It plunges into everlasting fire all nominal chriftians, who have a form of godlinefs but [to the laft] deny the power thereof. Yea, ftrange as the affertion may feem to fome, this [pernicious error] feeds immorality, and fecretly nourishes all manner of vice. The fcripture tells us, 1 Cor. vi. 9, that neither fornicators, nor effeminate, neither thieves, nor covetous, neither drunkards nor revilers, neither unrighteous nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now how comes it to pafs, that fo many, who are guilty of one or another of those abominations, remain as eafy as if they were guiltlefs? Why, this damnable notion, that the merit of their works atones for the guilt of their fins, makes them think, that they shall do well enough in the end. "I get drunk now and then, fays one, but I am honeft." -I opprefs or cheat my neighbour, fay's another, but I go to church and facrament." "I love money or diverfions above all things, fays a third, but I blefs God, I am neither a thief nor a drunkard." —“ I am paffionate and swear fometimes, fays a fourth, but my heart is good, and I never keep malice in my breaft; befides, I'll repent and mend fome time or other before I die." -Now the fum 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, thro' 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, Chrift will have mercy upon me." H 2 Thus + Here I leave out those words: "It [the pharifaic conceit of merit] damned the foolish virgins, and the man who had not on a wedding garment. And I do it, because, upon fecond thoughts, it appears to me, that the boldness of the foolish virgins, and the infolence of the man, who preffed to the marriage-feaft without a proper drefs, exactly represent the vain confidence, with which immoral Solifidians cry Lord! Lord! and make a fhining profeffion in the robe of selfimputed righteoufnefs; defpifing the evangelical robes of real righteoufnefs and true holiness, and calling them cobwebs fpun by fpiders out of their own bowels. Thus all our [pharifaic +] delays of converfion, and all our [felf-righteous +] remorfelefs going on in fin and wickednefs, are founded upon the doctrine of [pharifaic] merits. Well then may our Church call it" a devilifh doctrine, which is mere blafphemy against God's 's mercy: a doctrine, which turns Chrift out of his throne [by refusing him the honour of being the primary and properly meritorious caufe of our falvation: a doctrine which [by crooked ways] leads firft to [worldly-mindedness or] licentioufnefs, as the conduct of many, who cry up the [felf-righteous] merit of good works [fo called] too plainly fhews; and next to pharifaic morality and formality; and from both, except [a timely fubmiflion to] converting grace prevent it, into endlefs mifery: for, No doubt, fays Bishop Latimer in his fermon on twelfth day, he that departesh out of this world in that opinion [or, as he expreffes it in the fame paragraph, those who " think to be saved by the law," by the first covenant] "fhall never come to heaven:" [For they fet their hearts against Chrift; and, like the obftinate pharifees of old, not only mistake the works of unbelief for good works; but give them alfo the place of the primary, meritorions caufe of eternal falvation; when, if they were the works of faith, they would only be a fecondary evidencing cause of it. Now, as fuch men cannot poffibl ydo this, without the greatest degree of fpiritual pride, impenitency, and unbelief; it is plain, that, if they die confirmed in this grand antichriftian error, they cannot be faved: for St. Paul informs us that pride is the condemnation of the devil; and our Lord declares, that except we repent we shall all perish, and that he who believeth not shall be damned.] I add the words pharifaic and felf-righteous, to come at Mr. Fulfome and his numerous fraternity, whom I now fhould be glad to convince of their remorseless going on in fin, and of their antinomian delays of converfion. FOURTH FOURTH PART. [Having thus laid before you the deftructive nature of felf-righteoufnefs,] it is time to come to the last thing propofed, which was to fhow, why good works cannot [properly speaking] deserve falvation in whole or in part; and to answer the old cavil, "If good works cannot fave us, [by the + covenant of works] why should we trouble ourselves about them." [In doing the former, I fhall attempt to give pharifaifm a finishing ftroke: and in doing the latter, I fhall endeavour to guard the fcriptural doctrine of grace against antinomianifm, which prevails almost as much among profeffed believers, as pharifaifm does among profeffed moralifts.] And first, that good works cannot [ftrictly speaking] merit falvation in part, much leis altogether, I prove by the following arguments. (1) We must be wholly faved by the covenant of works, or by the covenant of grace; my text fhewing moft clearly, that a third covenant made up of [Chriftlefs] merits [according to the firft,] and divine mercy [according to the fecond,] is as imaginary a thing in divinity, as a fifth element made up of fire and water would be in natural philofophy. ‡ (2) There is lefs proportion between heavenly glory and our works, than between the fun and a mote that Alies in the air: therefore to pretend, that they will avail towards [purchafing or properly meriting] heaven, [fee the 5th note] argues want of common sense as well as want of humility. H 3 (3) God (33) † This is ftrictly true; nevertheless we must grant, that as cold water, when it is put over the fire in a proper veffel, imbibes fiery heat, and boils without damping the fire: fo our works of faith, when they are laid with proper humility on the golden altar of Chrift's merits, are fo impregnated with his diffufive worth, as to acquire "a rewardable condecency unto eternal life:" And this they do without mixing in the leaft with the primary, or properly meritorious caufe of our falvation and confequently without obfcuring the Redeemer's glory." That the works of faith fave us by the covenant of grace [next to Chrift and Faith] will be proved in the Scriptural Essay. (3) God has wifely de in a way that excludes [ juft, and the juftifier of hin is boafing then? fays th fwers he: By what cove faic] boafting excluded No, but by the law of fai whofe condition is [per cnt] faith in Jefus Chrif he, that a man is juftified the law. Rom. iii. 27, 2 perly speaking] deferve we may juftly boaft tha part of the victory; and ly] to glory in ourselve which fay, that every mo ing is excluded, and tha the Lord. t [If St. Paul glories i it is not then without Chrift before the Cori. circumftances. He nev were meritorious accor much less did he fancy of proper merit. He per rewardable, it was not fr he had put into them; tous promife in the fe grace, by which they we blood, in which they we per merits, with which t To fuppofe that Ac nued upright, would ha nefs as a pharifee, is to 1 paradife God was all in in heaven, we may easily to felf-exaltation, the me See a note in the Scriptural which St. Paul excites believing. sarved faithfr enough from INGS, 100 TRENDA v rather than 22 25 Maker without are made vid to differ from a lawful demand must have I done for thee; ." For while God dif and according to the rules of frict marzow, his "swaras only according to the moca aptitude and distributive equity, in resence of Carik's proper merits, and of his own preme; all men on earth, and all angels in Brant c.ag tar leis capable of properly deferving at sands, than all the mites and ants in England meriting any thing at the hands of ......... », what flaves earn is not their own, but the om they belong; and what your horfes Property, not theirs: Now as God has a es more right to us, than mafters to their to your horfes; it follows, that, fupwe were inlets, and could properly earn would be God's, not ours. So true it any ae creature to the Creator, the idea of as contrary to ja fice as it is to decency.] arang argaments (against the proper ***, l'hope, abundantly fatisfy all Carees, who have not entirely caft evelation, i pais to the old objec arent parts and injudicious proA works comit (aerit us heaven, roperiv lave as, why thould 5 2out dem?” (Åse in anfwer ing, ang it, I fhall guard the doctrine of obedience against Me antinomians.] As this quibbling argument may puzzle the fimple, and make the boasting pharifees, that ufe it, triumph as if they had overturned the proteftant doctrine of alvation by faith without [the] works [decried by t. Paul;] I beg leave to fhew its weakness by a com marifon. Suppofe you faid to me, "Your doing the work of a parish-prieft will never [merit] you an archbihoprick;" and I anfwered with difcontent, "If doing my office will never [merit] me the fee of Canerbury, why fhould I do it at all? I need not trouble nyfelf about preaching any more; would you not fk me whether a clergyman has no reafon to attend his flock, but the wild and proud conceit that his labour mutt [deferve +] him a bishoprick. And I ask in my turn: Do you fuppofe, that a christian has no motive to do good works, but the wilder and prouder notion, that his good works muft [properly fpeaking merit] him heaven? [fee the 5th note.] If therefore I can fhew, that he has the ftrongest motives, and inducements, to abound in good works without the doctrine of [proper] merits; I hope you will drop your objection. You say," If good works will never properly merit us falvation, fee the 5th note] why should we do them?" I answer, For fix good reasons, each of which [in fome degree ‡] overturns your objection. (1) We (38) + This illustration is not strictly juft. If the king had millions of bishopricks to give, and if he had promised to bestow one upon very diligent clergyman; folemnly declaring that all who neglect their harge, fhould not only miss the ecclefiaftical dignity annexed to dilience, but be put to a fhameful death as fo many murderers of fouls, e cafes would then be exactly parallel. Befides, every clergyman not a candidate for a bishoprick, but every man is a candidate for eaven. Again, a clergyman may be as happy in his parfonage as a hop in his palace: but if a man miffes heaven, he finks into hell, hefe glaring truths I overlooked when I was a LATE evangelical racher." ↑ Formerly I faid [entirely] but experience has taught me otherwife, |