lated it, and deserved to suffer its penalties. Jehovah was inclined to mercy, but could not dishonour himself, could not pardon, to the impeachment of his justice, and to the abrogation of his contemned commandments.

Then Jesus suffered the penalty of the law, to the complete satisfaction of divine justice, and by obeying its precepts brought in such a righteousness as made the law still appear to be good, and God just, even in the very act of justifying the ungodly.

Having taken away all the objections to the exercise of pardoning love, and having paid the covenanted price of redemption, CHRIST must be an effectual Intercessor.

Is that eloquent pleading, which gains the attention? Christ is an eloquent advocate, for him the Father heareth alway." Is that effectual pleading which obtains the object sought? Christ pleads effectually; for as MEDIATOR he asks, and his requests are granted. He says, "Father forgive them," and Jehovah answers, "there is therefore, now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Should an intercessor, to be effectual, persevere? Jesus "because he continueth for ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, who come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Christian brethren, comfort yourselves with these things; for "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous," who will not suffer his friends to be ashamed in the judgment.

FINALLY. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, because

Jesus will judge the world in righteousness. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained." "We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." If faith is any matter of obloquy, then, it will be exposed, when the universe shall be assembled, and the secrets of every heart revealed. If it is any cause for reproach to profess faith in Christ before this assembly; how great will be our disgrace, when we stand in the presence of God, angels, and men, and say, "we trusted in Christ to save us?"

Shall we, poor, despised believers, in that day, find it necessary to search for our friend? Will Jesus be found among the tribes of Jews, despised by his countrymen, and the archdeceiver of mankind? Shall we say to the Deity, we hoped in Christ, but we know not where he is? Shall we seek him in the crowd, and request, since we were his disciples on earth, that he would answer to our names? If we have believed in an impostor, we shall

be ashamed; for he would not be able to defend himself in such a case; much less, to plead our cause.

But, we know in whom we have believed. We shall see our compassionate Saviour on the throne of judgment. We shall read our pardon in his eyes of love. His honour and the equity of law will engage him to justify us, for otherwise he would convict himself of breaking his covenant, and of rejecting a perfect righteousness, before the universe.

When he shall demand of us, "sinners what have you to plead?" we will answer, "Jesus died: we trusted in him, and had the promise of peace with God, through his precious blood."

Such an appeal to his justice, truth, and mercy he cannot disregard. If God lives, he will say, "come, ye blessed of come, ye blessed of my FATHER, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Sinners, be not deceived. Believe in Jesus, and he will never desert you. He will manifest the riches of his grace which mercifully ordered your conduct, in hating what is hateful, in loving what is lovely, and in believing the truth. You shall find him the Almighty God, the compassionate Saviour, the effectual Intercessor, the final Judge, worthy of your confidence, your exceeding joy, and everlasting salvation. AMEN.

SERMON IV.

WEAK FAITH.

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye.". ROMANS XIV. 1.

THE doctrine, that there are degrees in saving faith, is not only true, but essential to the consolation of many of the pious, and to the general prosperity of the Christian Church.

Long and short, high and low, strong and weak, are relative terms, and the construction of language, therefore, leads us to believe, that if faith is ever strong it may also be weak. The declaration of Christ, concerning a centurion, that he had not found so great faith as his in Israel, proves, that he had found a less, or more feeble belief in the divine testimony.

That the minds of my hearers may be enlightened in the knowledge of that truth which is contained in the text, their attention is solicited to the following considerations.

I. The analogy which is found to subsist between all the works of God would naturally lead us to expect that SAVING FAITH, in its incipient state, should be WEAK. By the

things which are seen, this eternal counsel seems to be revealed, that there shall be a progression in all things but the immutable God. The holy angels advance in knowledge. When God created the world they knew something which they knew not before. When he brought his only begotten Son into the world, a flood of new light burst in upon them, and they learned a new song; they entered on the delightful services of a new mode of worship. If they stoop down to pry into the mysteries of the incarnation, they must be excited by that desire of wisdom which has been previously indulged, and which they have reason to believe will be suitably gratified.

The work of God in forming and replenishing the earth was not immediate, but continued for six days. He causes the mighty Oaks, which sustain the blasts of centuries, to rise from the shells of acorns, and the mustard plant to spring from one of the smallest of all seeds. The Father of the rain visits the soil with repeated showers, before he clothes the face of nature with verdure; and before man reaps the fruit of his husbandry, he must beseech God to put forth the blade, the stalk, the bud, the blossom, and the unripe fruit. All the animal creation are produced in a weak state of infancy, and their strength accumulates gradually until they arrive at maturity. Even Sampson was a feeble