astonishing; and affords an additional proof, to the many other evidences which lie before us, of the folly and perversity of the human mind, and of its readiness to embrace the most wild and glaring absurdities! If the leading train of sentiment which has been prosecuted in the preceding illustrations be admitted, there appears nothing else requisite in order to show the gross absurdity and the deadly malignity of the Antinomian system. If any system of religion be founded on the cancellation of every moral tie which connects man with man, and man with God-if its fundamental and distinguishing principles, when carried out to their legitimate consequences, would lead men to hate their Creator and to hate one anotherif it can be shown, that the operation of such principles constitutes the chief ingredient of the misery which arises from "the worm that never dies, and the fire which is never quenched;" and that, if universally acted upon, they would overthrow all order in the intelligent system, and banish every species of happiness from the universe -it necessarily follows, that such a system cannot be the religion prescribed by the All-wise and Benevolent Creator, nor any part of that revelation which proclaims 'peace on earth and good will among men," and which enjoins us to "love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves."

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The Antinomian, in following out his own principles, if no human laws or prudential considerations were to de ter him, might run to every excess of profligacy and debauchery-might indulge in impiety, falsehood, and profanity-might commit theft, robbery, adultery, fraud, cruelty, injustice, and even murder, without considering himself as acting contrary to the spirit of his religious system. On his principles, the idea of heaven, or a state of perfect happiness, is a physical and moral impossibility; and the idea of hell a mere bugbear to frighten children and fools. For, wherever the moral law is generally observed, there can be no great portion of misery experienced under the arrangements of a benevolent Creator; and if this law be set aside, or its observance considered as a matter of indifference, the foundation of all the happiness of saints and angels is necessarily subverted. A heaven without love pervading the breasts of all its in

habitants, would be a contradiction in terms; but love, as we have already seen, is the foundation of every moral precept.

I trust the moral conduct of the deluded mortals who have embraced this system is more respectable than that to which their principles naturally lead;-but the consideration, that such absurd and dangerous opinions have been deduced from the Christian revelation, should act as a powerful stimulus on the Christian world, for directing their attention to a more minute and comprehensive illustration than has hitherto been given, of the practical bearings of the Christian system, and of the eternal and immutable obligation of the law of God, which it is the great end of the gospel of Christ to enforce and demonstrate. For it is lamentable to reflect, how many thousands of religionists, both in North and in South Britain, even in the present day, have their minds tinctured, in a greater or less degree, with the poison of Antinomianism, in consequence of the general strain of many of the doctrinal sermons they are accustomed to hear, and of the injudicious sentiments they have imbibed from the writings of the supralapsarian divines of the seventeenth century.

VIII. Faith and repentance, as required in the Gospel, are absolutely necessary, in the present condition of man, in order to acceptable obedience to the divine law. "Without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him."-Faith, as the term is used in scripture, denotes confidence in the moral character of God, founded on the belief we attach to the declarations of his word. It is defined, by the Apostle Paul, in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, to be" the confident expectation of things hoped for," and "the conviction of things which are not seen."* Faith substantiates and realizes those objects which are invisible to the eye of sense, and which lie beyond the reach of our present comprehension. It recognises the existence and the omnipresence of an invisible Being, by whose agency the visible operations of nature are conduc

* Doddridge's translation of Heb. xi. 1.

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ted; and views him as possessed of infinite wisdom, power, benevolence, faithfulness, rectitude, and eternal duration. It realizes the scenes of an invisible and eternal world-the destruction of the present fabric of our globe, the resurrection of the dead, the solemnities of the last judgment, the new heavens, and the new earth, the innumerable company of angels, and the grandeur and felicity of the heavenly world. These invisible realities it recognises, on the testimony of God exhibited in his word; and without a recognition of such objects, religion can have no existence in the mind.-In a particular manner, faith recognises the declarations of God in relation to the character and the condition of men as violators of his law, and as exposed to misery; and the exhibition which is made of the way of reconciliation, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, who is "set forth as a propitiation to declare the righteousness of God in the remission of sins." The man in whose heart the principle of faith operates, convinced that he is guilty before God, and exposed to misery on account of sin, confides in the declarations of God respecting "the remission of sins through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ;"-he confides in the goodness, mercy, faithfulness, and power of God, which secure the accomplishment of his promises, and the supply of all requisite strength and consolation to support him amidst the dangers and afflictions of life; he confides in the wisdom and excellence of those precepts which are prescribed as the rule of his conduct, and which are fitted to guide him to the regions of happiness ;-and in the exercise of this confidence, he "adds to his faith, fortitude and resolution, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity ;" and prosecutes with courage this course of obedience, till at length an entrance is abundantly administered to him into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." But, without a recognition of such objects, and an unshaken confidence in the declarations of God respecting them, it is obvious, from the nature of things, that we cannot please God," nor yield to him an acceptable and "reasonable service."

In like manner, it might be shown, that repentance is essentially requisite in order to acceptable obedience.

Sin is directly opposed to the character of God, and is the great nuisance of the moral universe. While the love of it predominates in any mind, it leads to every species of moral turpitude and depravity; and, consequently, completely unfits such a mind for yielding a cheerful obedience to the divine law. But repentance, which consists in hatred of sin, and sorrow for having committed it, naturally fits and prepares the mind for the practice of universal holiness. It tends to withdraw the soul from the practice of sin, and warns it of the danger of turning again to folly. It is the commencement of every course of virtuous conduct, and the avenue which ultimately leads to solid peace and tranquillity of mind. It is intimately connected with humility and self-denial, and is directly opposed to pride, vanity, and self-gratulation. It must, therefore, be indispensably requisite to prepare us for conformity to the moral character of God, for universal obedience to his law, and for the enjoyment of substantial and never-ending felicity. Hence the importance which is attached to the exercise of repentance by our Saviour and his Apostles. In connection with faith, it is uniformly represented as the first duty of a sinner, and the commencement of the Christian life. Repentance was the great duty to which the forerunner of the Messiah called the multitudes who flocked to his baptism, and on which the Messiah himself expatiated during the period of his public ministry. "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And the apostles, in their instructions to every nation, and to every class of men, laid down the following positions as the foundation of every moral duty. pentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. "

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IX. From the preceding illustrations we may learn, that no merit, in the sense in which that term is sometimes used, can be attached to human actions in the sight of God; and that the salvation, or ultimate happiness of sinners, is the effect of the grace or benevolence of God.That the good works of men are meritorious in the sight of God, is a notion, as unphilosophical and absurd, as it is impious and unscriptural. They are requisite, and indispensably requisite, as qualifications, or preparations

for the enjoyment of felicity, without which the attainment of true happiness either here or hereafter, is an absolute impossibility; but the actions of no created being, not even the sublimest services and adorations of the angelic hosts, can have the least merit in the eyes of the Creator. "( Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art, and thy righteousness may profit the son of man;" but "if thou sinnest, what dost thou against God; or if thou be righteous, what givest thou him? and what receiveth he of thine hand ?"* "Thy goodness extendeth not unto` him," and "he that sinneth against him wrongeth his own soul."-What merit can there be in the exercise of love, and in the cultivation of benevolent affections, when we consider, that these affections are essentially requisite to our happiness, and that the very exercise of them is a privilege conferred by God, and one of the principal ingredients of bliss? What merit can be attached, in the presence of the Most High, to the noblest services we can perform, when we reflect, that we derived all the corporeal and intellectual faculties by which we perform these services, and all the means by which they are excited and directed, from our bountiful Creator? What merit can there be in obedience to his law, when disobedience must infallibly lead to destruction and misery? Is it considered as meritorious in a traveller, when he is properly directed, furnished with strength of body and mind, and provided with every necessary for his journey,-to move forward to the place of his wished-for destination? Our benevolent affections, and the active services to which they lead, may be meritorious in the eyes of our fellow-men, in so far as they are the means of contributing to their enjoyment; but in the presence of Him who sits on the throne of the universe, dispensing blessings to all his offspring, we shall always have to acknowledge, that "we are unprofitable servants." It is probable, that, if the great object of religion were represented in its native simplicity, if the nature of salvation were clearly understood, and if less were said on the subject of human merit in sermons, and systems of divinity, the idea which I am now combating, would sel

* Job xxxv. 6, 8. Psalm xvi. 2, &c.