cord itself, which could not be corrupted without the most impious sacrilege; secondly, from the infinity of copies and translations, continually and carefully perused by all the churches; and thirdly, but more especially, from the perpetual appeals to this record, made in all ages, by the different sects of Christians, each intensely watchful over all the rest, and over all their copies or translations, and ever recalling them, in case of material deviations, to a collation with the original.

Could such reasonings as these be fairly offered for the divinity of a religion, only not absurd, superstitious, or hurtful in its nature and tendency, they must prove satisfactory, or reason itself must be given up. But when they are brought in their full force for a religious system, as evidently and confessedly divine in the wisdom, utility, nay, necessity of its doctrines and ordinances, as it is here proved to be in its miraculous attestations, how is it possible for wickedness itself, though abetted by prejudice, to withstand their force? Could philosophy with her utmost efforts, have found out a system, capable, in any tolerable degree, of clearing up the doubts, rectifying the corruptions, or ensuring the happiness of mankind, though vouched by no divine interpositions, a slight pretence for resting in that philosophy might with some colour have been set up. But when it is found, as it really is, that the true wisdom can be obtained, the true righteousness promoted, and the true, the temporal and eternal happiness of all men established, on the principles of Christian faith alone; and farther, that God hath incontestibly proved these principles, as is really the case, to be his own immediate dictates, by his own immediate miraculous interpositions; what room is left for infidelity? None in reason; none any where, but in wilful blindness and wickedness. A report made by innumerable witnesses, sealed with their blood, and established on unanswerable demonstrations, deduced from indisputable axioms, is evidence, or there is no such thing among mankind. The matter of our faith in the gospel, no less, I will be bold to say, even more, than in the assassination of Cæsar is matter of certainty; and so are our hopes founded on that faith. The expression therefore, sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life;' is more strictly pro

DISCOURSE XLVI.

THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF FAITH.

ROM. I. 17.

Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

THE light of the natural day is so ordered by Providence as not to fall on the eye, all at once, in its full lustre, but rises and increases by insensible degrees, lest that organ of sight should either be forced to shut itself up in voluntary darkness, or be exposed to the danger of losing its power of vision. In like manner, he who is stiled the East, the Light, and Righteousness, breaks not forth on us, at first in all his brightness, but discovers himself, here a little, and there a little,' and so, shineth more and more unto the perfect day' of that evangelical knowledge, which lays open too deep and too glorious a mystery of wisdom, power, and love, to be endured by the human mind, were it not gradually dispensed. Reason, weak reason, must have fled from, or been lost in, a light so over-powering, had it burst at the first moment in its full noon of brightness, on that naturally benighted and enfeebled faculty. From the beginning, therefore, it did but dawn on the world through an obscure, but consolatory prophecy; shone somewhat more clearly through the promise made to Abraham; emitted a still more distinguishable and steady ray through the typical institutions, and vicarious sacrifices of the Mosaical law; became more characteristical in the prophecies of David, Isaiah, and others; marked out the time of its own meridian in those of Daniel; grew more diffusive, in the repeated captivities of the Jews; and being preceded by its 'morning star' the Baptist, had its 'day-spring' in the birth, and arose to its full height in the miracles, preachings, sufferings, and resurrection of Christ. Even in this fullest display of itself, a singular simplicity and plainness of dress, allaying its heat, and veiling its brightness, presents it to the mind through a Chili sky, so tempered as neither to scorch nor glare.

Thus was the gospel intoduced; and thus in that gospel, was the righteousness of God revealed in Christ,' whereby not only the rectitude, but the mercy also, of his dealings with men, is fully justified to us, and we to him. Here we see, how from the lowest degree of faith, excited by the least striking lights or proofs, a yet higher and stronger is produced, as the lights advance in number and force.

Parallel to this progress of faith among mankind in general, is another, made in the breast of every individual Christian, who first believes in the gospel history, as he does in any other, on the strength of the testimony afforded by its witnesses; then resigning his heart to that which his judgment had pronounced so true, and so replete at the same time with God's infinite goodness to him, he soon finds his rational or human, improved into divine faith by the demonstration of the spirit.' He, like the church of God, is trained by dimmer lights to bear the more vivid; and as the eye of his mind is more and more familiarised to the light, that light pours on him in a stronger beam, and opens to his view the incomprehensible wonders of that original righteousness, which interposing between the divine and human nature, justifies God to the reason of man, and man to the mercy of God.

If the faith of a Christian can be vindicated as rational, and well founded in the first step of its progress, and, in the second, as productive of real goodness and solid happiness, wherever it takes place; I hope, it will be amply vindicated at the same time against the cavils of those infidels, who, to run down Christian faith, treat faith in general as a weak credulity, vilify both as not founded on argument, and endeavour to represent the former as rather a vice, if not supported by evidence; at least as no virtue, if countenanced by that which is sufficient.

This good design, together with another, namely, to make faith somewhat more intelligible, than it is at present, among the professors of Christianity, will be attempted in a short series of discourses on that subject, which I intend, with God's permission, to deliver from this place. Whether the one or the other of these designs is of the greater consequence to truth, will not be known, till it is determined, which of the two, our senseless controversies about faith, or

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per and logical, than hath been commonly imagined. must either believe, or do violence to our own reason, which tells us, that, if there is any such thing as truth, it must be found in a religion, so very agreeable to reason, so absolutely necessary to the virtue and happiness of mankind, and so vouched as a record of facts, that all history must be false, all countries, persons, transactions, which have not fallen immediately under the cognizance of our senses, must have no being. We must therefore either be Christians, or divest ourselves of reason, and be brutes. We must believe, or renounce, the immortality of our souls. We must be Christians, or nothing.

It is true, there are many things delivered to our faith in the record mentioned, which are not only miraculous, but highly mysterious also. This, however, is no reason why they should be thought impossible, or even improbable, by a mind wholly mysterious to itself, clothed in a body, and surrounded with a world, altogether mysterious and miraculous, both in their origin and formation. Infidelity, in the face of such evidence as hath been here sketched out, is no less mysterious, and would seem as miraculous, were it not universally known, that men have a power of turning away their attention from evidence, when they do not relish either it or its consequences; that weak arguments are sufficient to make a man-judge as he is previously inclined to do; and that the strongest, cannot bring his reluctant understanding to a determination in spight of him.

Having said what time would allow on the evidence of Christian faith, as purely rational, human, and historical; I shall now proceed to take a short view of that faith as efficacious and divine, that you may understand, how, 'from faith to faith the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.'

This method, pointed out by the text, appeared highly proper to me, because we must freely believe as men and rational creatures, whose faith God will not force, ere we can believe as Christians. The spirit will not inspire that which it is the peculiar office of right reason to inculcate; but will improve, by grace, that which we have already acquired in a due use of the natural faculties, and revealed instructions afforded us.

So far as our faith in Christ is founded on rational evidence only, it is merely human and historical. So far as its assent is rendered strong and powerful in the understanding by the evidence of the spirit, and impressed effectually on the heart and will by the grace of God, it is called a lively, operative, saving, or divine faith, which never takes place in any man, before the human or historical faith hath laid a foundation for it. Christianity, or the faith of Christians, considered as the basis, is founded on reason only; but Christianity, considered as the superstructure, is not founded on argument, but on the grace of God. The affecting to overlook this distinction, gave occasion to one of the shrewdest pieces of sophistry ever levelled against our religion.

That this distinction is neither notional nor chimerical, appears plainly from experience, which supplies us with frequent instances of men, equally and thoroughly satisfied, on rational grounds, with the arguments for Christian faith, who nevertheless differ widely in their lives and conversations; and of others, who differ almost as much in their degrees of assent, though all assenting on the same arguments, and equally strangers to doubting. St. James was well aware of all this distinction, when he mentioned the faith of devils, who probably believe on as rational and convincing evidence of a judgment to come, as the immediate disciples of our Saviour did; yet only fear and tremble in consequence of their faith, because their forced unsanctified faith hath no effect on their wills, nor of course on their morals.

It is one thing barely to believe, and another to believe in a lively manner. Reason alone can guide us to the former; God's Holy Spirit only can lead us up to the latter. In like manner, there is a wide difference between speculatively believing with the understanding only, and practically believing with that and the heart also. This we owe to the grace of God, that to a due use of our rational faculties. He who believes historically as a rational creature, hath entered the porch of faith; but cannot pass into the temple, nor warm himself at the altar, without believing with all his heart, without feeling his will and affections engaged. So infinitely sweet are the promises, so infinitely dreadful the