turning.--When the glorious God treats with us, as if he were a Partaker of human Affections and Paffions, this is in mere Condefcenfion to our Weaknefs; we being incapable to behold him as he is. Surely it is not to lead us into Apprehenfions, that he is altogether fuch an one as ourselves. Our Bufinefs therefore is, to come to Chrift, and learn of him, to bow our Necks to his Yoke, to do good Works from Faith in Christ, and out of Love and Obedience to him; and in that Way to hope in God for Mercy, for Chrift's Sake, and for his own Sake, and not for ours. We are to obey him as a gracious Sove reign; and to hope in him as the fovereign Author and Donor of his own Favours. We are to hope in his Mercy; not because we can allure him to the Exercife of it, or recommend ourselves to him by any Thing we can do; but because he is infinite in Goodness, and delighteth in Mercy. The Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance. Rom. xi. 29.

I may add, we are not to do good Works with a View to qualify us for our Reception of Chrift by Faith, or for our Interest in him.—Multitudes feem most dangerously to deceive their Souls in this Matter. It is but too common a Cafe for Men to quiet their Confciences, and to entertain Hopes of Salvation, from Apprehenfons, that they endeavour to be found in a Way of Duty, they endeavour to mortify their Lufts, and to live a holy Life; and therefore, though guilty of many Defects, both in their Duties and Converfations, they hope God will accept them upon Chrift's Account, that the Merits of Chrift will make up the Defects, of their Performances, and his Blood cleanse them from the Guilt of their Sins. If they should fall into fome more grofs and enormous Sin, or grow carelefs and remifs in Duty, they will then perhaps fall

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in to a Panic, and terrify themfelves with Apprehenfions, that Chrift will not accept fuch as they are; but when they have reformed their Conduct, their Fears blow over, and they revive their Hopes, that they shall yet obtain Mercy for Chrift's Sake. And what is the natural Language of all this, but that they shall obtain an Interest in Chrift by their good Works; and when they have done their Part, he will do the rest, will make up the Deeds of their Attainments, and give fuch a Value to their fincere (though imperfect) Obedience, that this fhall recommend them to the Favour and Acceptance of God?-As though the glorious Redeemer undertook our Ranfom, for no other End, than to render our deficient Duties meritorious, and our Sins innocent and inoffenfive.-This legal and felfrighteous Principle feems generally to obtain with the careless carnal World. And when Sinners come under Conviction of their Guilt and Danger, they are yet influenced by the fame legal Difpofition, though it appear in another Form.

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diftreffing Fears and Terrors do they ufually agonize under! How impoffible is it to give them any fenfible View of the Hope that is fet before them! But what stands in the Way? Their Sins are great, their Hearts are hard, their Duties formal and hypocritical, their Corruptions prevalent, that they cannot think Chrift will accept fuch as they are; and therefore they dare not venture their Souls and their eternal Interefts upon him.-Were the Cafe otherwife, could they fubdue these stubborn Hearts, could they get a Victory over thefe Corruptions, fanctify thefe depraved Affections, and be more fpiritual in their Duties; or, in other Words, could they themselves begin their own Salvation; then they could depend upon Chrift to carry on the Work in their Souls; and then they could hope,

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that God would accept them for Chrift's Sake.. But all this is to fubftitute our own Righteousness in the Place and Stead of the Righteousness of Chrift; or, at beft, to divide the Work of our Salvation between Chrift and ourselves.

Will you bear with me, Sir, if I am forced to exprefs my Fears, that you are yet under too great Remainders of this unhappy Difpofition.-I rejoice in your Recovery from your late dangerous Miftake. I cannot but hope, that you have chofen the good Part, which shall not be taken from you.— But what mean the frequent Returns of your defponding Hours? Whence do your Hopes and Fears bear Proportion to your prefent Frames? What occafions thofe many dark Apprehenfions, not only that you have not yet an Interest in Chrift; but that you fhall never attain to it ?-I intreat you to confider, that Chrift came to fave Sinners; and that we must come to him and truft in him as Sinners, having no valuable Qualification of our own to intitle us to his Favour, nothing but our Guilt and Pollution and his Sufficiency to plead for our Acceptance with and Interest in him.-In proportion as you look to your own Qualifications to recommend you to Chrift, fo far you practically make a Saviour of your good Works and reject the Terms of Salvation by Jefus Chrift.-As it is certain, that you can have no good Works which are acceptable to God for any faving Purposes, till you have Faith in Chrift; fo it is alfo certain, that you need not feek for any in order to your chearful Truft in him and Dependence upon him, to juftify you by his Righteoufnefs, to fanctify you by his Spirit, and to make you an Heir according to the Hope of eternal Life.The Gospel brings glorious Tidings of Salvation to perifhing Sinners. It exempts and excludes none who will come to Chrift

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for Life, who will come to him as loft Sinners, under a Sense of their Guilt and Unworthiness; who will buy of him Wine and Milk, without Money and without Price; and who will take the Water of Life freely; be their Sins ever fo great, his Blond will cleanse them from all their Sins; be their Hearts ever fo hard, he will take away their Hearts of Stone, and give them Hearts of Flesh; be they ever fo deftituteof any gracious Qualification, of his Fulness they shall receive, even Grace for Grace. Whatever their Cafe be, they may fafely truft in him, as the Author of eternal Salvation.—But this, alas! is the Mifery and Ruin of Multitudes, who are pretending to feek Salvation by Chrift, that they are for dividing the Work of their Salvation between him and them; and by fubftracting the Honour of their Salvation from him, who will do all or nothing for them, though they follow after the Law of Righteousness, they don't obtain it; because they feek it, not by Faith, but as it were by the Works of the Law.Here then you fee, that good Works have no Place at all. We are to look after no recommending Qualifications for an Interest in Chrift; but to come to him guilty and miferable as we are, that he may be all and in all, be all to us, and do all in us and for us. came not to call the Righteous, but Sinners to Repentance, Mat. ix. 13.

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I must further add, that we are not to do good Works, in Expectation that we shall by them obtain a Title to the future Inheritance.-Heaven is a purchafed Poffeffion. Our Title to it, our Qualification for it, our Perfeverance in the Way that leads thither, and our eternal Enjoyment of the glorious Inheritance, are all purchafed by the Blood of Chrift. In all these Respects Chrift Jefus is our Hope; and when werejoice in Hope of the Glory of God, we muft rejoice in Chrift Jefus, having no Confidence in the Flesh

Flesh. It cannot be too deeply impreffed upon our Hearts, that it is not by Works of Righteoufnefs which we have done, but of his Mercy that God faveth us. It is mere Mercy in the eternal Contrivance of our Salvation by Christ; mere Mercy in his Incarnation, Humiliation, Obedience and Safferings for us; mere Mercy in the Application of his Redemption to our Souls; mere Mercy, that we are kept by the Power of God, through Faith to Salvation; and mere Mercy, that Chrift will at laft prefent us faultlefs before the Throne of God, with exceeding Joy. It is to the Praife of the Glory of his Grace, wherein we are made accepted in the Beloved.Our good Works cannot have any Share in purchasing our Title to this Salvation They cannot make Atonement for our Sins; because the Iniquity of our most holy Things ftands in Need of Atonement: They cannot give us a Covenant-right to Mercy; because we are antecedently Sinners, and obnoxious to the Curfes of the broken Law: They cannot make us meet for Salvation; because by their Imperfections they ftill leave us open to the Curfe, and because they cannot fanctify our Nature, and give us new Hearts : Nor can they give us any Claim to the special Influences of the Spirit of God; because then our Sanctification would be of Debt, and not of Grace. What then can they do? No more, than to bring us to the Foot of a fovereign God; to wait upon him in the Way of his Appointments, that he would work in us both to will and to do of his good Pleasure.

You will remember, that I am here fpeaking of our being intitled to Salvation by our good Works, and not of their Usefulness to our spiritual and eternal Welfare. In the former Senfe, they must be ut terly disclaimed; and all our Righteoufnesses efteemed but as filthy Rags; as I have particularly fhewn

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