made true penitents and humble believers, through the influence of his Holy Spirit, may God delight in us, and continually bless us, in all our pilgrimage here below; may he comfort us and support us in all our trials; and finally may he receive us into his heavenly kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast.

THE dispensation of the Gospel may justly be called a dispensation of grace. It originated from the good pleasure and mercy of God, and is carried into effect by his gracious interposition. The salvation of mankind who were involved in guilt and sunk in misery, is the great end which it proposes to accomplish. Of this salvation the Bible bears testimony in almost every page, as pointing out either the necessity of it, in consequence of man's ruined

This and the following were preached in one Sermon, at Saint Mary's, before the University of Oxford, on All Saints' Day, 1813.

K

1

condition, or the means of affecting it, through the incarnation, death, resurrection, and intercession of the Son of God, and by the powerful agency of the Spirit of truth.

In the words of the Text, the Apostle comprises these doctrines of the Scriptures, which it is our interest and duty clearly to understand. We We may draw from the passage before us, three distinct propositions: First, that we are saved by grace: Secondly, that this salvation is through faith: Thirdly, that works are so excluded from this scheme of salvation, that no man has any ground to boast.

I. By grace are ye saved. The word grace is used in Scripture to denote the good pleasure, loving kindness, and tender mercy of God. It conveys the idea of unmerited bounty and favour towards mankind, who were become his enemies by wicked works. This grace springs freely from the goodness of the divine nature,the fountain of life,-and is communicated in various channels through the world, so that every child of Adam may look up with thankfulness to the Father of mercies. This grace is more especially manifested in "the kindness and love of God towards mankind," in the grand scheme of Redemption by Jesus Christ.

Our salvation is of grace, if we examine the first spring, and original moving cause of it, which is the love of God. To this source the Apostle directs our attention in the beginning of this Epistle to the Ephesian Church; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ," he says, "who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace" or "to the praise of his glorious grace," "wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved," that is, in his beloved Son. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him." In these verses, the Apostle clearly and beautifully delineates

the nature of divine grace, with respect to its origin, its exercise, and its end: its source is the good pleasure of God, it is free and spontaneous; it flows through the blood of Christ, and is rich and copious,―a stream which gives life to the world, and wherein the wisdom and prudence of God are wonderfully reflected ;its great design is, that we being his adopted children by Jesus Christ, may set forth the praise of his glorious grace, and may be united as one family with the heavenly host.

Our salvation is of grace, if we also consider the procuring and the efficient cause of it. The great author and finisher of our faith, the procuring cause of our eternal salvation, is the Son of God; and every thing which he did on earth, in behalf of mankind, was altogether gratuitous and of pure mercy. The gift of him to be the Saviour of the world, was a free gift, an undeserved favour, on the part of God, his heavenly Father. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting lise." a Not our merits, but our miseries brought down the Son of God from the regions of glory. His love and his pity, his mercy and his goodness, inclined him to undertake our

a John iii. 16.