sin remaineth." And again, "if I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they hapl not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. Now they have no cloke for their sin." That is, if they had not had those powers of mind, or those means of conviction that were neces sary, it is true they would not have been to blame, it would have been no sin in them, not to have believed in and received me as their Messiah. But now their understandings are good enough; and when means, powerful and sufficient external means, have been used with them; their unbelief and rejection of me, can be owing to nothing but the desperate wickedness of their hearts. It is knowledge and not ignorance of my character, that is the spring of their hatred. Or if any of them are ignorant, it is their own fault. There is light enough, only they hate it, and will not come to it.

4th Arg. That it is not owing to weakness of the understanding, or any natural defect, that sinners in general under the gospel are not saved, is evident from the inferior abilities of many of those who actually obtain salvation.

It is not men of the strongest and brightest genius, and they only, that understand and embrace the gospel; but they are persons of very ordinary powers of mind, as often, if not oftener than any. "Ye see your calling, brethren," says the apostle to the Corinthians, "how that not many wise men after the flesh-are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, and the weak things to confound the mighty," &c. And our Saviour says, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the 'wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed

good in thy sight." Though God bestows the special influences of his grace, just where and when he pleases, or as seemeth good in his sight, yet he has doubtless always a sufficient reason for fixing upon the particular object of his sovereign mercy, exactly as he does. We are not to conceive of it as a blind partiality, but a wise sovereignty that is exercised in this matter. The reason why not many of the noble and honourable are called, but rather the base and such as are despised, is, we are told, that no flesh should glory in his presence. And the reason why it seemeth good in the sight of God, to hide these things from the wise and prudent, and to reveal them unto babes, may be, and undoubtedly one reason of it is, that hereby it may be made evident, it is not owing to the superior strength of man's natural powers, that they discover the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto life; nor to their weakness, in respect of natural abilities, that they do not. If babes are able to see the suitableness and glory of the gospel way of salvation, unquestionably wise men might, were it not for something besides weakness of understanding, or any deficiency in the intellect merely. It is evident from hence that natural weakness can be no insuperable bar in the way of men's obtaining salvation, unless they are weaker than babes.

5th Arg. At least this will be undeniably evident, if we consider what is done for a person when these things are revealed unto him ; or when he is made to see "the things of the Spirit of God, as they are spiritually discerned."

God does not reveal any new truths, not contained in his written word; nor does he give any new faculties to persons, or enlarge their natural powers of body or of mind, when he enables them to obey and believe the gospel. But what he does for them is, to alter the

temper and disposition of their hearts. If we found all that became real christians, however weak before, were immediately afterwards persons of genius and abilities superior to all other men, we should, indeed, have reason to suspect, that the unregenerate wanted better understandings, rather than better hearts, in order to their being able truly to know Jesus Christ, and the way of life. But this is not the case. It is the heart, and not the head that is created anew, when one becomes a good man. We find the natural powers of men are the same after regeneration as before; and often far inferior to many of their neighbours, who have experienced no such change. It is true, the wisdom of good men runs in another channel; they are wise to do good, and apt to get divine knowledge; but that is only because they have a taste for these things, and are disposed to take pains about them. "The children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light." They prosecute their own schemes, and make proficiency in what they turn their hands to, and set their hearts upon, beyond what good men do in the things of virtue and religion. What makes good men see the glory of God, which others can perceive nothing of, is not their having more speculative knowledge about the divine character, than others have, or are capable of; but their being conformed to God in temper and in heart; conformed to him in righteousness and true holiness." This, indeed, makes divine things, and all things of a moral nature, appear in quite a new light; and hence they are said to be renewed in knowledge. He that is altogether unholy, let his head be ever so clear, and his speculative knowledge ever so great, cannot have all that perception of holiness, which the weakest saint has, who feels the operation and power of it in his own

heart. There is no knowledge like that we get by experience. A man that has never felt a particular kind of pain, we say, can have no idea of it; so of pa rental affection, one who has never experienced it, knows not what it is. The same may be said of all kinds of sensations and affections; the experiencing them gives a knowledge of them that can no otherwise be obtained. And this holds true with respect to holy exercises and affections as much as any other. Hence, those who are made "partakers of a divine nature," or who have "put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness," are capable of a kind of knowledge of God which is pecu liar to themselves. Accordingly the apostie John says, "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love." 1 John iv. 7, 8. He who is acquainted with the feelings of universal benevolence, in his own breast, has a different idea of him who is good unto all, and whose tender mercies are over all his works," than he whose heart is contracted, and who is truly good to none, has, or is capable of. Particularly he who is conformed in heart to God, sees a beauty in his character and government, which no one of an entirely opposite temper can possibly discern. The reason is, whatever any one regards and is zealous about, he is necessarily pleased to see others regard and be engaged in pros moting. Thus if a man values his own particular interest or reputation, as every one does, he is thence unavoidably pleased to see others tender of it, and disposed to promote it. And if a man is benevolently concerned for the public interest, he will in like manner be peculiarly delighted to see others public spirited and zealously aiming to secure and advance the general good. The entirely selfish soul feels as if his own

private happiness was the most valuable, yea, the only valuable thing in all the universe. Hence if he can

only believe, God has set his kindest love on him, from eternity; and sent his only Son from his bosom to die for his sake (whether necessary or unnecessary, wise or unwise, right or wrong, it matters not ;) this gives him the most exalted, the most glorious conception, of the parent and Lord of all worlds, that his narrow soul can possibly contain. But to him that is born of God, and assimilated in temper to his father who is in heaven, things will appear in a quite different light.To him who is made to be in any measure of a true, a God-like public spirit, an impartial, infinite disposi tion to maintain universal order, to promote universal good, is the grand, the infinite beauty.

To have the spirit of Christ, or the same mind that was in him, is, in like manner, the only thing which can enable a person to have that sense which all saints have, of the greatness and glory of his redeeming love. Hence it was the apostle Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, "that they being rooted and grounded in love, might be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." Eph. iii. 17, 18, 19.

And to have a heavenly, that is, a holy temper and spirit, is necessary in order to have a true understanding of any thing heavenly; any thing of "the inheritance of the saints in light," or what "God hath prepared for them that love him." This the apostle very particularly and largely takes notice of, in 1 Cor. ii. 11-15. "For what man," says he, "knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" The spirit of man; the narrowness, pride, and various corrupt affections by which mankind are actu