Reader, how do these truths appear to thee? Has the law of God arraigned thee in thy conscience? Hast thou been there brought in guilty, and has the Spirit of God deeply convinced thee by the law, of sin, and of unbelief, and of thy helplessness, so as to leave thee no false resting-place short of Christ? Has he swept away every refuge of lies? and thus put thee upon inquiring what thou must do to be saved? If not, may the Lord the Spirit convince thee, and in his own good time bring thee to the knowledge of thyself, and to the saving knowledge of and belief in Christ Jesus, without which this book can profit thee nothing. But if thou hast been thus convinced, and the Lord has shone into thy understanding, and enlightened it with the knowledge of the way of salvation, then read on. May the Lord make what thou readest profitable to thine establishment in the faith which is in Christ Jesus!

There are two things spoken of faith in Scripture, which highly deserve the attention of every true believer. The first is, the state of safety in which he is placed by Christ, and is delivered from every evil and danger in time and eternity, to which sin had justly exposed him; and the second is, the happiness of this state, consisting in an abundant supply of all spiritual blessings, freely given to him in Christ, and received as they are wanted, by the hand of faith, out of the fulness of Christ. By which means, whoever has obtained this precious faith, ought to have a quiet conscience, at peace with God, and need not fear any manner of evil, how much soever it be deserved; and thereby he may at all times come boldly to the throne of grace to receive whatever is neces

sary for his comfortable walk heavenwards. Every grace, every blessing promised in Scripture, is his; and he may and does enjoy them, so far as he lives by faith upon the Son of God; so far as his life and conversation are well ordered, his walk is even, his spiritual enemies are conquered, the old man is mortified with his affections and lusts, and the new man is renewed day by day, after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness. And from what he already enjoys by faith, and from the hopes of a speedy and perfect enjoyment, the Scripture warrants him to rejoice in the Lord with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

It is much to be lamented, that few live up to these two privileges of faith. Many persons who are truly concerned about the salvation of their souls, live for years together full of doubts and fears, and are not established in the faith that is in Christ Jesus; and several who are in a good measure established, yet do not walk happily in an even course, nor experience the continual blessedness of receiving, by faith, a supply of every want, out of the Saviour's fulness. These things I have long observed, and what I have been taught of them from the Scripture, and from the good hand of God upon me, I have put together, and throw it as a mite into the treasury. I am sure it was never more wanted than at present. May the good Lord accept the poor offering, and bless it to the hearts of his dear people, to the praise of the glory of his own grace.

For the clearer understanding of what shall be spoken upon the Life of Faith, it will be needful to consider, first, what faith is,-for a man must have

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faith before he can make use of it. He must be in Christ, before he can live upon Christ. faith signifies the believing the truth of the word of God: so says Christ-" Thy word is truth:" it relates to some word spoken, or to some promise made by him; and it expresses the belief which a person who hears it has of its being true: he assents to it, relies upon it, and acts accordingly. This is faith. And the whole word of God, which is the ground of faith, may be reduced to two points; namely, to what the law reveals concerning the justification of a righteous man, and to what the gospel reveals concerning the salvation of a sinner. An examination of these points will discover to us a great number of persons who have no faith at all in the word of God.

First, Every man in his natural state, before the grace of Christ, and the inspiration of his Spirit, has no faith. The Scripture says, God hath shut up all that are in this state in unbelief; and when the Holy Spirit awakens any one of them, he convinces him of sin, and of unbelief in particular. When the Comforter is come, says Christ, he shall convince the world of sin, because they believe not on me.

Secondly, A man who lives careless in sin, has no faith; he does not believe one word that God says in his law let it warn him of his guilt, and show him his great danger, yet he sets at nought the terrors of the Lord; he acts as if there was no day of judgment, and no place of eternal torments; he has no fear of God before his eyes. How can such a practical atheist as this have any faith? Thirdly, The formalist has not true faith. is content with the form of godliness, and denies the

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power of it. The veil of unbelief is upon his heart, and the pride of his own good works is ever before his eyes, that he finds no want of the salvation of Jesus, and is averse to the grace of the gospel. All his hopes arise from what he is in himself, and from what he is able to do for himself; he neither believes God speaking in the law, nor in the gospel. If he believed his word in the law, it would convict him of sin, and forbid him to go about to establish a righteousness of his own; because by the works of the law shall no flesh living be justified—yet this he does not believe. If he believes the word of God in the gospel, it would convince him of righteousness, of an infinitely perfect righteousness, wrought out by the God-man Christ Jesus, and imputed to the sinner without any works of his own; for unto him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is imputed for righteousness. To this he dare not trust wholly for his acceptance before God; therefore, he has not true faith.

Fourthly, A man may be so far enlightened as to understand the way of salvation, and yet have not true faith. This is a possible case. The apostle states it, 1 Cor. xiii. 2." Though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, yet I may be nothing." And it is a dangerous case, as Heb. x. 26. "If we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Here was such a knowledge of the truth, as left a man to perish without the benefit of Christ's sacrifice; therefore, he wanted that faith, which whosoever hath shall be saved.

What great numbers are there under these de

lusions! Reader, art thou one of them? Examine closely; for it is of eternal moment. Prove thine ownself, whether thou be in the faith. If thou askest how thou shalt know it, since there are so many errors about it: hear what God's word says, Whoever believes truly, has been first convinced of unbelief. This our Lord teaches, John xvi. 9. "When the Comforter is come, he will convince the world of sin, because they believe not on me.” He convinces of sin, by enlightening the understanding to know the exceeding sinfulness of it, and by quickening the conscience to feel the guilt of it, he shows the misery threatened, and leaves sinners no false refuge to flee unto: he will not suffer them to sit down content with some sorrow, or a little outward reformation, or any supposed righteousness, but makes them feel, that, do whatever they will or can, still their guilt remains. Thus he puts them upon seeking out for salvation, and by the gospel he discovers it to them. He opens their understandings, to know what they hear and read concerning the covenant of the eternal Trinity, and concerning what the Godman has done in the fulfilling of this covenant. The Holy Spirit teaches them the nature of the adorable person of Christ, God manifest in the flesh, and the infinitely precious and everlasting meritorious righteousness which he has wrought out by the obedience of his life and death; and he convinces them, that his righteousness is sufficient for their salvation, and that nothing is required, except faith, for its being imputed unto them; and he works in them a sense of their being helpless, and without strength to rely upon this righteousness, and through faith in it, to