only way in which it was to be obtained, through Jesus Christ. REPENT, saith he, and pray to God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. Our Saviour directed his disciples to pray for the Holy Spirit: but, surely, the prayer which they were encouraged to offer was to be sincere, and with an eye to the Saviour; that is, it was the prayer of faith, and, therefore, could not be a duty directed to be performed antecedently, and in order to the obtaining of it.

The mischief arising from this way of preaching is considerable. First: It gives up a very important question to the sinner, even that question which is at issue between God and conscience, on the one hand; and a self-righteous heart, on the other namely, whether he be obliged immediately to repent and believe the gospel? I could find nothing in the scriptures,' says he, that would give me any comfort in my present condition; nothing short of repent and believe, which are things I cannot comply with: but I have gained it from my good minister. Now my heart is at ease. I am not obliged immediately to repent, and sue for mercy in the name of Jesus. It is not, therefore, my sin that I do not. All I am obliged to is, to pray God to help me to do so; and that I do.' Thus, after a bitter conflict with scripture and conscience, which have pursued him through all his windings, and pressed upon him the call of the gospel, he finds a shelter in the house of God! Such counsel, instead of aiding the sinner's convictions, (which, as labourers with God, is our proper business,) has, many a time, been equal to a victory over them, or, at least, to the purchase of an armistice. Secondly: It deceives the soul. He understands it as a compromise, and so acts upon it. For though he be, in fact, as far from sincerely praying for repentance, as from repenting; and just as unable to desire faith in Christ, as to exercise it; yet he does not think so. He reckons himself very desirous of these things. The reason is, he takes that indirect desire after them, which consists in wishing to be converted, (or any thing, however disagreeable in itself,) that he may escape the wrath to come, to be the desire of grace; and, being conscious of possessing this, he considers himself in a fair way, at least, of being converted. Thus he deceives his soul; and thus he is helped forward in his delusion! Nor is this all: he feels himself set at liberty

from the hard requirement of returning immediately to God, by Jesus Christ, as utterly unworthy; and being told to pray that he may be enabled to do so, he supposes that such prayer will avail him, or that God will give him the power of repenting and believing, in answer to his prayers; prayers, be it observed, which must necessarily be offered up, with an impenitent, unbelieving heart. This just suits his self-righteous

spirit but, alas, all is delusion!

'You have no relief, then,' say some, for the sinner.' I answer, if the gospel, or any of its blessings, will relieve him, there is no want of relief. But, if there be nothing in Christ, or grace, or heaven, that will suit his inclination, it is not for me to furnish him with any thing else, or to encourage him to hope that things will come to a good issue. The only possible way of relieving a sinner, while his heart is averse from God, is by lowering the requirements of heaven to meet his inclination; or, in some way, to model the gospel to his mind. But, to relieve him in this manner, is at my peril! If I were commissioned to address a company of men who had engaged in an unprovoked rebellion against their king and country, what ought I to say to them? I might make use of authority, or entreaty, as occasion might require; I might caution, warn, threaten, or persuade them; but there would be a point from which I must not depart : Be ye reconciled to your rightful sovereign; lay down arms, and submit to mercy! To this I must inviolably adhere. They might allege, that they could not comply with such hard terms. Should I admit their plea, and direct them only to such conduct as might consist with a rebellious spirit, instead of recovering them from rebellion, I should go far towards denominating myself a rebel.

And, as Christ and his apostles never appear to have exhorted the unconverted to any thing which did not include or imply repentance and faith; so, in all their explications of the divine law, and preaching against particular sins, their object was, to bring the sinner to this issue. Though they directed them to no means, in order to get a penitent and believing heart, but to repentance and faith themselves; yet they used means with them, for that purpose. Thus our Lord expounded the law in his sermon on the mount, and concluded by enforcing such a hearing of his sayings, and doing them, as

should be equal to digging deep, and building one's house upon a rock. And thus the apostle Peter, having charged his countrymen with the murder of the Lord of glory, presently brings it to this issue: Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.*

Some years ago, I met with a passage in Dr. Owen, on this subject, which, at that time, sunk deep into my heart; and the more observation I have since made, the more just his remarks appear. "It is the duty of ministers," says he, "to plead with men about their sins; but always remember, that it be done with that which is the proper end of law and gospel: that is, that they make use of the sin they speak against to the discovery of the state and condition wherein the sinner is; otherwise, haply, they may work men to formality and hypocrisy, but little of the true end of preaching the gospel will be brought about. It will not avail to beat a man off from his drunkenness into a sober formality. A skilful master of the assemblies lays his axe at the root, drives still at the heart. To inveigh against particular sins of ignorant, unregenerate persons, such as the land is full of, is a good work but yet, though it may be done with great efficacy, vigour, and success; if this be all the effect of it, that they are set upon the most sedulous endeavours of mortifying their sins preached down; all that is done is but like the beating of an enemy in an open field, and driving him into an impregnable castle, not to be prevailed against. Get you, at any time, a sinner at the advantage on the account of any one sin whatever; have you any thing to take hold of him by, bring it to his state and condition: drive it up to the head, and there deal with him. To break men off from particular sins, and not to break their hearts, is to deprive ourselves of advantages of dealing with them."t

When a sinner is first seized with conviction, it is natural to suppose that he will abstain from many of his outward vices, though it be only for the quiet of his own mind: but it is not for us to administer comfort to him on this ground; as though, because he had broken off a few of his sins, he must needs have

* Matt. v. vi. vii. Acts iii. 14-19.
On the Mortification of Sin, Chap. VII.

broken them off by righteousness, and either be in the road to life, or, at least, in a fair way of getting into it. It is one of the devices of Satan to alarm the sinner, and fill him with anxiety for the healing of outward eruptions of sin, while the inward part is overlooked, though it be nothing but sin. But we must not be aiding and abetting in these deceptions, nor administer any other relief than that which is held out in the gospel to sinners, as sinners. And when we see such characters violating their promises, and falling anew into their old sins, (which is frequently the case,) instead of joining with them in lamenting the event, and assisting them in healing the wound by renewed efforts of watchfulness, it becomes us, rather, to probe the wound; to make use of that which has appeared for the detecting of that which has not appeared; and so to point them to the blood that cleanses from all sin. "Poor soul!" says the eminent writer just quoted, "it is not thy sore finger, but thy hectic fever, from whence thy life is in danger!" If the cause be removed, the effects will cease. If the spring be purified, the waters will be healed, and the barren ground become productive.

I conclude, with a few remarks on the order of addressing exhortations to the unconverted. There being an established order in the workings of the human mind, it has been made a question, Whether the same ought not to be preserved in addressing it? As for instance: we cannot be convinced of sin, without previous ideas of God and moral government; nor of the need of a Saviour, without being convinced of sin; nor of the importance of salvation, without suitable conceptions of its evil nature. Hence, it may be supposed we ought not to teach any one of these truths till the preceding one is well understood; or, at least, that we ought not to preach the gospel without prefacing it by representing the just requirements of the law, our state as sinners, and the impossibility of being justified by the works of our hands. Doubtless, such representations are proper and necessary; but not so necessary as to render it improper, on any occasion, to introduce the doctrine of the gospel without them; and much less to refrain from teaching it till they are understood and felt. In this case, a minister must be reduced to the greatest perplexity; never knowing when it was

safe to introduce the salvation of Christ, lest some of his hearers should not be sufficiently prepared to receive it. The truth is, it is never unsafe to introduce this doctrine. There is such a connexion in divine truth, that, if any one part of it reach the mind, and find a place in the heart, all others, which may precede it in the order of things, will come in along with it. In receiving a doctrine, we receive not only what is expressed, but what is implied by it; and thus the doctrine of the cross may itself be the means of convincing us of the evil of sin. An example of this lately occurred in the experience of a child of eleven years of age. Her minister, visiting her under a threatening affliction, and perceiving her to be unaffected with her sinful condition, suggested, that "It was no small matter that brought down the Lord of glory into this world, to suffer and die: there must be something very offensive in the nature of sin against a holy God." This remark appears to have sunk into her heart, and to have issued in a saving change.* Divine truths are like chain-shot: they go together, and we need not perplex ourselves which should enter first; if any one enter, it will draw the rest after it.

Remarks nearly similar may be made concerning duties. Though the scriptures know nothing of duties to be performed without faith, or which do not include or imply it; yet they do not wait for the sinner's being possessed of faith, before they exhort him to other spiritual exercises; such as seeking the Lord, loving him, serving him, &c. nor need we lay any such restraints upon ourselves. Such is the connexion of the duties, as well as the truths of religion, that, if any one be truly complied with, we need not fear that the others will be wanting. If God be sought, loved, or served, we may be sure that Jesus is embraced; and, if Jesus be embraced, that sin is abhorred. Or, should things first occur to the mind in another order; should sin be the immediate object of our thoughts; if this be abhorred, the God against whom it is committed must, at the same instant, be loved; and the Saviour who was made a sacrifice to deliver us from it, embraced. Let any part of truth or holiness but find place in the heart, and the rest will be with it. Those parts which, in the

**Dying Exercises of Susannah Wright, of Weekly, near Kettering