ment of thy faith? For there thou seest whatever thou wantest is thine by believing. Thou mayest have it freely by grace. It is treasured up for thee in the fulness of thy dear Saviour, and thou canst not honour him more, than to make free use of it. What dost thou say to this? Hast thou any thing to object? Canst thou find any fault with the covenant of grace, or with the undertakings of the God-man in it? No, certainly; the covenant was well ordered in all things and sure; and what the surety of the covenant undertook, he has perfectly fulfilled. Salvation is finished on his part-he has glorified the law by his infinitely perfect obedience —he has made divine justice honourable by his sufferings and death-he has brought in everlasting righteousness for his people, and will bring them to everlasting glory: for he has already taken possession of it for them as the head of the body of the church; and he has all power in heaven and earth, to save them day by day, until he make them partakers of his eternal salvation. What can thy heart wish for more than such a Saviour, and such

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a salvation? O! be not faithless, then, but believing; and if thou hast any doubts left, endeavour to have them cleared up by reading and prayer, until thy faith be perfectly settled on the divinity of God thy Saviour, and the infinite sufficiency of his salvation. These two points lay at the very foundation of the christian religion. They must be supposed in all its principles, and built upon in all its practice; therefore, being of universal influence, if they be thoroughly established, thy faith will be steadfast, and thy life well ordered and comfortable. Examine then, and prove thyself here before thou readest any further. Dost thou believe Christ to be true and very God, in every perfection and attribute equal with the Father? And is his a full and a free salvation? All the following directions depend upon, and can only profit thee, so far as thou believest these two points. Look well then to thy establishment in them. If it be strong, the life of faith will be steady and prosperous; but if it be weak, thou wilt be liable to be tost about continually with errors, and overcome with temptations, es

pecially with those to which a legal spirit will expose thee, as I purposed to show under the

Third general head; in which is to be considered, how the little children in Christ, for want of being established in the belief of his Godhead, and of his full and free salvation, labour under many doubts; a legal spirit working with their unbelief, puts them upon reasoning continually against being saved freely by grace through faith.

He is of a legal spirit, who is under the law, and apprehends himself bound to keep it as the condition of life, requiring of him, "Do this, and thou shalt live." In his understanding he sees this, and no other way to life; in his will he is continually inclined to it, and in his heart he loves it; because he fancies it is in his own power to attain life in this way, and he can merit it by his own works, which mightily gratifies his self-love, and indulges his pride. This legal spirit reigns over all men in their natural state, but does not discover its tyranny, until it be opposed; and then so soon as the soul

is quickened from a death in trespasses and sins, it begins to fight, trying to keep the poor sinner in bondage by its legal workings and strivings, and putting him upon seeking for some good disposition or qualification in himself, on account of which God should love him. Thus the awakened soul under the spirit of bondage, always seeks deliverance by the works of that law which can do nothing more than bring him to the knowledge of sin, discover to him the exceeding sinfulness of it, and the exceeding great punishment which it deserves; by which means it is always nourishing the doubts and fears of unbelief. And after the Lord has in a measure removed them by a clear discovery of the salvation that is in Jesus, and by the gift of faith, yet still this legal spirit will be trying to bring the soul into bondage again to fear; and it too often prevails. Young believers find it the worst enemy they have to deal with. It is a sly, subtle foe, that seems to intend them a kindness, while it is always on the side of their greatest enemy. It would appear to

them to be actuated by a zeal for God, but it is to eclipse the glory of the Lord Christ, to take away the all-sufficiency of his salvation, and to rob them of their great joy and peace in believing.

If any one should ask, how this legal spirit comes to have such power over mankind? The scripture informs us,

First, that all men, being God's creatures, are under the law to him, bound to keep it; or bound, if they transgress, to suffer the threatened pains and penalties. In this state man was created, and in it all men are by nature; and therefore there is in us all a continual leaning to the law, and a desire to attain righteousness by the works of it. We are all wedded to this way of gaining God's favour. The apostle says, there is a marriage union between us and the law, and, like an husband, it has dominion over us as long as it liveth; so that we cannot be married to Christ, until that be dead wherein we were held. You may see this in the Jews. How does Moses labour to bring them off from an opinion of their own