nothing else but sin. And yet, "every transgression and disobedience," is to receive a most dreadful "recompence of reward," the wrath of God being “revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." And no relief, no deliverance from wrath, is to be hoped for through the gospel, but upon impossible conditions: Such conditions as no natural men, no one who is dead in trespasses and sins ever did, ever will, or can comply with. And yet a non-compliance with these conditions exposes to an amazingly aggravated, additional condemnation; insomuch that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for those who enjoy the light of the gospel, and do not embrace the salvation it offers.

But how these things are consistent with reason; how they can ever be reconciled with the goodness or the justice of God, they are greatly at a loss. Such a view of the matter seems to them to make the most high indeed, what the slothful servant said, a hard master, "reaping where he has not sown, and gathering where he has not strewed." Or, like the cruel Egyptian task-masters, requiring the full tale of brick without allowing the necessary straw; requiring that of his creatures which he knows exceeds their utmost strength, and then they are beaten; yċa, must be punished with everlasting destruction, for not doing what they would do with all their hearts; but it is no more in their power, than it is to make a world.

Now, until this difficulty can be fairly got over in the minds of people, it seems impossible they should, in their consciences, justify God, or condemn themselves as he condemns them. Or that they should understand, either the justice of the divine law, or the grace of the gospel. It is therefore certainly highly necessary,

that what the scripture says upon this subject, should be set in a consistent light, so as to commend itself to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

There are several ways, in which this has been attempted. Some account for God's suspending our salvation upon impossible conditions, and condemning men for not doing what it is not in their power to do, by observing, that we lost our power by the fall. Our present weakness and blindness was brought upon us as a righteous punishment for the disobedience of Adam; and God, they say, has not lost his right to command, because man, by his own folly and sin, has lost his ability to obey. That is, we ought, it is our present real duty to exert, not only all the strength we actually have, but all we should have had, had it not been for the original apostacy.

But to this it will be objected, that we never reason and judge in this manner, in any other case. We do not think those who have lost their eyes, are still to blame for not seeing; or those who have lost their reason, for not understanding; or that it is the duty of those to labour with their lands, who have no hands to labour with. Not, though we suppose they were deprived of those faculties in a righteous manner, for their sins. Or, suppose a servant, by his own folly and bad conduct, has brought a fit of sickness upon himself, do we think it reasonable for his master still to require him to go out into the field every day, and do as much work as if he was well? And is the servant to blame, in not obeying such commands? Does he daily commit new sin, in not working, when perhaps he now wishes, with all his heart he was able to do it; but has not strength to go a step, or bear his weight?

It must, I think, be granted, that we do generally suppose a man's present duty cannot exceed his present strength, suppose it to have been impaired by what means it will. We never hear even a good man, pretend to repent or blame himself, that he has not seen the light of the sun all day, and resolve not to be guilty of the same sin to-morrow, when he has been stone blind for twenty years. I shall not therefore undertake the defence of this, as any solution of the dif ficulty to the apprehension of reason and common sense. Nor can I think that any one was ever convinced of the sin of unbelief in this way. However well meant it might probably be, by the inventors of it, it seems rather calculated to ease the consciences of men, by casting all real blame back upon the first sin only.

Others (and those who would not be thought, and are not suspected to lean in any measure towards Arminianism )` have supposed it necessary to soften matters a little, as to the sovereignty of grâce, and the helplessness of sinners, if we would avoid the above inconsistency, or reflection on divine justice. They would have it maintained, indeed, that sinners are unable to do much, if any thing, towards their salvation, merely of themselves. Nor do they suppose that any one is ever brought to true repentance and faith in Christ, without the bestowment of special grace. But then they apprehend, it may, and must be, admitted, that sinners are able, by the help of common grace, to do those things which are connected with, and may be considered as a sort of preliminary conditions of salvation; conditions upon which regeneration, and an ability to come up to the actual terms of the gospel, are promised, or however, will undoubtedly be bestowed.

That is, they suppose, if sinners will seek and pray, use the means of grace, and do the best that persons under their circumstances, and having such hearts as they have, may do; God will not be wanting on his part, or leave them to perish: That if they exert all the strength, and make a good improvement of all the assistance they have, they shall have more and more given them; till in the end they are enabled to obtain mercy, and to lay hold on eternal life. That although there are no absolute promises to such earnest and sincere, though feeble efforts of the unregenerate, yet certainly there are many very precious encouragements; which may indeed, securely enough be relied on. So that, on the whole no sinner is under any real impossibility, of any kind, of obtaining salvation. For every one, let his impotence be as great as it may, can certainly do what he can. And if upon his doing this, God will not fail to help, as to what he cannot do; then every one may be saved, whatever sin and weakness, or depravity he labours under, notwithstanding. Nor do they see how we can vindicate the divine justice, or fairly cast the blame of the sinner's perdition on himself, without supposing such a universal sufficiency of grace as this.

Now, if this can be made out to be really the case, that all are actually, and in every view, enabled to do those things which are certainly connected with eternal life, there will be no difficulty, perhaps with any one, to see that the ways of the Lord are equal. For according to this there seems to be no respect of persons with God, even in the distribution of his freest favours, any more than in his judicial proceedings. The difference between him that is saved, and him that perisheth, not originating from any inequality in the bestowment of divine grace; but solely from the better

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improvement one sinner makes of the same grace, than another does.

But, I am afraid, it will be as hard to reconcile this way of solving matters with the scriptures, and with the truth of fact, as it is the former, with reason. Certainly the scriptures seem to speak a language quite different from this. In them we are taught, "That it is God that maketh one man to differ from another, for the better, and not he himself. That it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy," and "that he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy; and whom he will he hardeneth." And in our text, our Saviour accounts for the murmuring and opposition of the unbelieving Jews, by making this observation to his disciples upon it; 66 no man can come unto me, except the Father who hath sent me, draw him." By which he evidently meant to intimate, that the conduct of his opposers, considering what human nature was, was not to be wondered at. That they acted no otherwise than all other men would, if left to themselves as they were. That those who now followed and obeyed him, would never have come to him, or become his disciples, had it not been for a gracious divine influence upon their minds, which was not granted to those murmurers and opposers; had they not been effectually drawn by him in whose hand are the hearts of men, and who turneth them as rivers of water are turned. We are plainly taught in this text, taken in the connection in which it stands, as we are also in a multitude of other places, that men do not first distinguish themselves, by hearkening to the calls of the gospel; but it is God that makes one to differ from another, in this respect, by his sovereign and distinguishing grace. The point of