all that submit; and as he has made no exception against any, but says, Whosoever will lay down his arms shall be forgiven, I believe that there is mercy for me." Thus far faith goes; and even before he reaches the scene of pardon, or takes a step towards it, his mind is at rest; the proclamation itself, as soon as it is understood and believed, gives him comfort he has no doubt of his being accepted. He goes and lays down his arms, and now he is assured he is safe; he is conscious he has done what the monarch required, and he feels he has what the monarch promised. In his case, however, you perceive that there would not be much solicitude about assurance. Faith, and compliance with the monarch's demand, would be all that he would concern himself about. Assurance would follow upon faith and action. So should it be with anxious inquirers after salvation: their business is to believe, what ?—that they are christians? No; for a belief that I am a christian, is not faith, but assurance; but to believe the gospel, which is God's proclamation of mercy and pardon to his rebel subjects they are to feel persuaded that God has loved them in common with other sinners; invited them; has promised to receive them, and take the comfort of this revelation of mercy; and then, from the pacifying effect of this upon their conscience, and the purifying effect of it upon their hearts, to be assured they have believed, and have passed from death unto life. Faith then is not assurance, but the cause of it.

Now, inquirer, are you not aware that you have confounded these two; and have been consequently walking in great perplexity? You are dejected, and cannot be comforted. Why? "Oh," you say,

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my

faith is so weak; indeed, I am afraid I have no faith." Now, what do you mean by having no faith?

"I am afraid I am not a christian. I fear I do not believe. I am full of unbelief." And let me tell you, that you never can be delivered from distress in this way; for you are wanting to know you are a christian before you are one; you are striving to know you are a believer before you believe; you wish to be assured you are accepted of Christ, in order that you may go to him for acceptance. Faith is not believing that you are a christian, but believing that Christ died for sinners; and unbelief is not doubting that you are a christian, but doubting Christ's willingness to save you. My advice to you then is, to leave assurance as a first matter out of consideration; to talk nothing, and think nothing about it. Your business, at present, is with faith: you are to believe; you are to commit your soul to the atonement of Christ; you are to be persuaded that he died for sinners, died for you, and is willing to save you. This is the assurance you are to seek; and this is what the apostle means by the full assurance of faith; an unhesitating confidence that the Lord Jesus is able and willing to save to the uttermost; and, therefore, able and willing to save you. Get your mind full of conviction of the truth of this; let your soul be thrown, as it were, wide open, to admit this delightful persuasion, that Christ is mighty to save; delighted to save; waiting to save all-you among the rest; you as willingly as any of the rest; and then this truth will give you such peace, and exert such a power over your heart, as to prove to you the existence and reality of your faith. The assurance which the scriptures speak of, is the assurance of God's love to you in Christ; and this, I again say, is the only assurance which you have to do with at present.

I

CHAPTER VII.

PERPLEXITIES WHICH ARE OFTEN FELT BY

INQUIRERS.

1. MANY are exceedingly perplexed and distressed on the subject of their personal election to eternal life. I have nothing to do now with those careless or profane persons, who make this awful doctrine an excuse, or rather profess to make it an excuse, for the entire neglect of religion; and who, with a wicked indifference, exclaim, "If I am elected to be saved, I shall be saved, without any concern of mine; but if I am not elected, no effort of mine will or can save me." The fact is, that such persons do not believe in the doctrine of election at all; nor, indeed, care any thing about salvation, but are utterly ignorant and careless, and refer to this solemn truth, either to quiet their own conscience, or to silence and turn away the voice of faithful admonition. But there are others who do feel, especially in the early stages of religious inquiry, no small degree of perplexity on this subject. Now, here let me at once inform you, that you, who are inquiring after salvation, have nothing to do with the doctrine of election; nor, indeed, has any one aught to do with the secret purposes of God, as a rule of conduct. The sublime truth of God's sovereignty in the salvation of his people, is introduced in scripture, not to discourage the approach of the sinner to Christ for salvation, but to remind those who have come to him, that their salvation is all of grace; to take away

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from them all ground of boasting; to confirm their faith in the accomplishment of the Divine promises; to promote their comfort; to inculcate the necessity of personal holiness; and to encourage christians amidst the afflictions of life, Rom. viii. 9; Ephes. i. 4, 5, 9, 11; 1 Peter i. 2. But it was never designed to be a source of discouragement to penitents. The rule of your conduct is the invitation and promise of Christ, not the secret purposes of God :—" The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law," Deut. xxix. 29. The mercy of God is infinite the merit of Christ's atonement is infinite; the power of the Spirit is infinite; and the invitations of the gospel are universal. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," Matt. xi. 28. And thus saith the Lord, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked," Ezek. xxxiii. 11. "The Lord is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance," 2 Peter iii. 9. "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out,' John vi. 37. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," Rev. xxii. 17. Now, these are the words of scripture, and must, therefore, be true; and here is the rule of your conduct. You can understand this, but you know nothing about the secret purposes of God. Besides, if you knew you were elected, you

would not be received and saved because of this knowledge, but because you believed in Christ, who invites men, not as elected to life, but as lost sinners condemned to death. If you had been permitted to read the decrees of Heaven, and had seen your name in the Lamb's book of life, you would not be one whit more welcome to Christ than you are now that you know

nothing about the matter. You are invited; and if you neglect the invitation which you do know, because of a decree which you do not know, the blame of perishing will lie at your own door; and you will find at last that you were lost, not in consequence of any purpose of God determining you to be lost, but in consequence of your own unbelief.

Why should the purpose of God, in reference to salvation, be that only view of the Divine decree that perplexes you? Do you not believe there is also a purpose which refers to the events of your natural life and death? But do you, on this account, hesitate in sickness to take the medicine prescribed for you by a skilful physician, lest you should not be ordained to life? No. You say, and with reason, “I know nothing about the Divine purpose; my business is with plain rules of duty, and with instituted means; for if I am to live, I can expect recovery only by these means." Act thus in reference to souls; your leave the decrees out of consideration, for you know nothing about them, and have nothing to do with them. You are invited to use the means of life; if you are decreed to be saved, you must be saved by these; and if you use them aright, you certainly will be saved. If any use at all is to be made, by an inquirer, of the doctrine of election, it is a use in his own favour. You know not that you are not elected, and the very solicitude of your mind about salvation, is a presumption that you are, since that solicitude is the way in which God carries his decree into execution. Besides, if you get away from the invitation, and, instead of making that the rule of your conduct, trouble your head with other views and subjects, you will find as much perplexity in God's foreknowledge, as you do in his decree. Even those who deny the purposes of God, have just