prefented them all to his Father at the reftoration of all things, when he fhall deliver up the kingdom, and wipe tears from every eye in the new heavens and the new earth, where the inhabitants fhall not fay they are fick: where there fhall be no more fighing, nor crying, nor groaning, nor curfe. So that, as far as a bruifed reed and the smoking flax may be true emblems representing the ftate of a gracious heart, they were as true of Enoch, Noah, Elijah, Daniel, and the Virgin Mary, in their days, and all their days, equally at one time as another, from the firft dawning of faith in their hearts till they finished their course with joy, as of any other heart' whatfoever, even of the weakest believer in whom the Holy Ghoft dwells at this day. So little ground is there for building your doctrine on the words of the prophet.

But if you leave the prophets, and come to the apoftles; alledging, that even Paul cries out fometimes fo pitiably, Rom. vii. 24. O wretched man

that I am! who fhall deliver me from the body of this death?' Obferve, he cries out alfo with the fame breath in answer to his own exclamation,

I thank God, through Jefus Chrift our Lord.'. Which fame emphatic queftion and anfwer are not to be underflood of fome particular frames of his, at particular and different times; but of the one even and uninterrupted echo of the heart of every one of those who have the firft fruits of the Spirit, groaning within themselves while in this tabernacle, being burdened, waiting for the adoption, namely, the redemp. tion of the body, when they fhall be delivered from this bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

If it be urged from Heb ii. 15. that there we read of fome weak and doubting believers, who through fear of death were all their life-time fub'ject to bondage, whom Chrift came to deliver.

Remark

Remark the answer to your last argument, and the connection of the prefent text, and then honeftly fay, if the perfons there faid to have been all their lifetime through fear of death subject to bondage, are not all those whom the Lord by his death delivered from fin, death, and the power of Satan, even all whom he fanctified in himself, who are all his brethren, of one father, with whom he partook in flesh and blood, Abraham, Samuel, and John the apostle, as much as any other perfon whatfoever of the blood of Adam, whom he loved and washed in his own blood; having found them all in the fame condemnation, that he might bring them all to the fame abfolution and glory in himself. Now, how oddly does your account of certain faints fearing death and damnation, being in bondage, agree with the apoftle's account of himself and all the called of God?

Ye have not received the fpirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We groan to have the earthly houfe of this tabernacle diffolved, that we may be clothed upon with our house from heaven; and in this we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are abfent from the Lord. And we wait for the Lord from heaven.'

Laftly, if you infift upon 2 Pet. i. 10. where believers are called upon to give all diligence to make their calling and election fure, that therefore-believ ers may be ignorant of their calling and election, and confequently in darkness as to their intereft in Chrift; it is afked of you, to whom is this calling and election to be made fure, according to your fenfe? To God? Abfurd! can worms of the earth have any influence upon the purpofe or knowledge of God? To themfelves? No; the addrefs to them came too late for that: for they were already defigned as Elect, and called according to the foreknow

ledge

ledge of God, &c. 1 Pet. i. 2. as being made partakers of the divine nature through the knowledge of their Lord and Saviour, &c. Now, if they are suppofed not to know their own character and defignation, the exhortation proceeding upon their knowledge of that character and defignation must go for nothing. To whom then are they called to fhew their calling and election; even to all who may be-" hold them; as the Lord faid to his difciples, John' xv. You have not chofen me, but I have chofen you, and ordained you, that ye fhould go and "bring forth fruit, and that your fruit fhould remain. -Hercin is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, fo fhall ye be,' that is, approve yourselves to be,

my difciples. And again, The foundation of God standeth fure, having this feal, The Lord knoweth them who are his. And, Let every "one that nameth the name of Jefus depart from iniquity. I know my flieep, and am known of them, and they know my voice, and they follow me.'-Shew your faith by your works: as your charity by your alms-giving. Make your calling and election fure. Prove them, manifeft them fure. Let' the Spirit of life within you have free scope in the direction of your life and motions, that it may appear you were not fealed to the day of redemption for nothing. Thus a man is declared juft by his works, even as God himself is juftified, or declared juft in his works. Thus children, fervants, wives, fubjects, foldiers, make fure their loyalty and love by their obedience according to the relation, election, and calling, as we may exprefs it, of their feveral refpective ftates. Thus good fruit makes fure the goodness of the mother-tree. Thus Ifaac made it fure that the Lord was true, and Sarah barren no more. Thus all witneffes of truth establish and make fure the facts which they only fhew, and not do. So do ye make your fure calling and election appeare

appear, as being God's workmanship, created in Chrift Jefus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that ye fhould walk in them; as dear. children, holy and beloved, walking worthy of God.· to all well-pleafing, as knowing your election of God.

Those spoken of 1 John ii. 13. are evidently the fame perfons confidered in different respects, and not believers of different ranks, or degrees in grace, as weaker and stronger: certain it is, the weakest of them, even in your view, are not defcribed as doubting of their intereft in Chrift, but affured of that; in. which point they are equal all of them. I write unto you, little children, because your fins are, forgiven you for his name's fake.I have not written to you, because you know not the truth, but becaufe you know it, and that no lie is of the " truth: for ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.' And again, Hereby, know we that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us. And we know that we are of God. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true: and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jefus Chrift. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep. yourselves from idols. Amen.'

It is now entreated of you, in the name of the Lord Jefus, that you excufe this freedom, and confider the answers which have been given to your arguments, whereby your principal weapons have been endeavoured to be wrefted out of your hands, that you might not for the future endeavour to abuse yourselves, and your hearers, by abusing the book of Pfalms, or any other portion of the book of God; and that, at least, one might be clear of the blood of all men. Beware, O beware of that judaizing spirit of yours, left thereby it come to pafs that Chrift pro

fit you and your followers nothing; and you be found guilty of undoing, to all intents and purpofes, before God and man, the doctrine of fanctification, which is by the Spirit of Christ; as the former set of men were found guilty of undoing by their doctrines (which you hated) the doctrine of justification, which is by the blood of Chrift.

There is a third fet of people whom it is not eafy to defcribe at full length, as being a mixture of many things, but who seem to be ftrongly characterized by their leading features in the writings of the apo files, as deceiving, and being deceived, fpoiled and fpoiling with philofophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments or elements of the world, and not after Chrift; being given up to profane and vain babblings, and oppofitions of fcience falfely fo called. One of thefe gentlemen will think nothing of reading you a text, for example, out of the iid, xvith, or lxxiid Pfalm; and then, without any ceremony, apply it to fome earthly conftitution, or establishment of human wifdom's devifing, which may have ftruck his fancy as a proper fubject for him to difplay his talents upon, as much (if the Holy Ghoft, Ads ii. and xiii. chap. may be allowed to know his own meaning) in the fpirit of the Pfalm, as if you had been entertained by the performer with a flory or two out of the Fairy Tales, or with a parcel of Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters from Conftantinople, inftructing you concerning the feraglios, cuftoms, and dreffes, that obtain among the Turks.

This way of doing puts one in mind of that precious creature who courted his miflrefs in the words of the Song of Solomon, and called her the Fair Circaffian; or that other, a minifter too, who, in a letter I lately faw, congratulated his friend on his havng married a wife with a portion, guage of the Lord Jefus, faying, fallen to me in pleafant places.

in the very lanThe lines have How terrible is