obtained grace, to work much even at a late hour.

First, then, let us attend to the injunctions delivered by our blessed Lord himself, on this subject: If you love me, says he, keep my commandments. Now, these words plainly require this proof of our love to be the performance of our duty. Nor can we for a moment suppose, that Christ, who knew all things, who was God and man, would have proposed in general terms to the multitude, such a mark of their love for him, as he knew ONE portion of it could not avoid showing, and which it was impossible for the other to perform. Therefore, unless we allow a power of choice and action to exist in the mind, for the exercise of which, the creature is accountable; these words of Christ signify little or nothing, because it would have been superfluous to have given a precept, that his hearers had not the power to obey. Now, as all power to do good, we know, must come from God; therefore, in another place we find our blessed Lord affording a rule to the multitude which surely

* For, could it be supposed, that he only meant to address those who were positively ordained to eternal life; still, here is a condition evidently implied for their observance; which shows that none but those who gave this proof of their love to him, would be accepted by him,

was intended by him as an universal direction, viz. Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: a condition, which required but one previous quality to set them about the work in earnest, and that was, conviction of their wants, which no man in his senses could be without, who compared the motions of his natural heart and life, with the divine lessons he heard from Jesus Christ. And this I apprehend to be the true meaning of these words of our blessed Saviour, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear; and which may admit of this fuller and plainer explanation: "He who is so sensible of the weakness and depravity of his nature, that he needs help, his ears will be open to the words of him who offereth it: let all such give attention to my sayings, and use the means I propose to them to obtain power from on high."

No creature (as before observed) can have any thing but what is given it: thus, repentance is the gift of God; faith and grace are the gifts of God. And if Christ died for all, which is the chief article of our faith (that is, that his death or atonement was essentially necessary to procure the divine acceptance of the most pious saint on earth), then the power promised to all, to become the sons of God, may be obtained by all who use the means of grace, under the

conditions of the Gospel *, viz. that they should not live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for their sins, and rose again for their justification. And how can we live unto him, but by showing that we love him? and what only sign can we give that we do so, but by following his own rule, of keeping his commandments, the very article engaged for us, or PROMISED in our NAME, at our BAPTISM? When a certain ruler inquired of our blessed Lord, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? his answer was very short and explicit: If thou wilt enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS; what they are thou knowest-do not commit adulterydo not kill-do not steal-do not bear false witness-honour thy father and thy mother: and although all this was positively necessary to be done, yet, we may observe all plea for boasting, all idea of merit, was cut off by our Lord's previous rebuke of the flattering appellation of GOOD MASTER, to himself. The ruler gave the praise to our Lord, on the supposition of his being a mere natural man; our Lord therefore sets him right in this matter, and reminds

But why this invitation and command, if the larger portion of the multitude were arbitrarily withheld from attending to, or profiting by it? and which must be the case of all who are under a sentence of unconditional reprobation and election.

him, that there is none good but ONE, that is, GOD. He levels the same stroke against the intrusion of all spiritual pride, in the 10th verse of the 17th chapter of St. Luke; So likewise, when ye shall have done all things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do. But it nevertheless most clearly appears by this very verse, that we are under an indispensable obligation to do our duty; and that this duty plainly consists in fulfilling the commandments, is evidently implied in these words, When ye shall have done all that is commanded you. And very often, when the language of St. Paul seems to lower the value of the works of the law, it is by no means with a design to lessen the necessity of keeping God's commandments: he only means what his Master had said before him in Matt. xv. 9, But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. He only distinguished between the value of the sort of works, between a zeal for such traditions, and those more excellent works that are produced through faith in Christ, and in express obedience to his commands. And our blessed Lord further warns us, in Matt. v. 19, that whosoever shall break one of the least of the commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the

least in the kingdom of heaven

(that is, he

shall be accounted a very deficient servant in the exercise of the ministry of the Gospel). But whosoever shall DO and TEACH them, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven: in other words, such a disciple, or minister, hath obtained the true method of forwarding God's kingdom on earth, or of preaching and honouring the Gospel effectually. Again, John, xiv. 21, Christ saith, He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And what is the promise he affixes to this obedience? Why, He shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to him. And, in chap. xv. verse 10, he proposes himself as an example of this obedience: Keep my com

A most conclusive blow against the slightest abettors of antinomianism.

Here it evidently appears, that Christ makes obedience to the commandment a positive condition of receiving more grace; and it proves, that an inherent power of obedience hath been renewed; for, unless some work of Christ is wrought in us, we cannot be said to have any grace: : whereas this promise of manifesting himself appears to be made in consequence of our having and keeping the commandments; it answers, therefore, to the expression of the Apostle, from grace to grace. It cannot be denied to be the STRICT letter of Scripture, and fair reasoning upon it: and this text affords a weighty argument for the doctrine of an universal renewed ability in the creature, through the redemption and regeneration by Jesus Christ.