Him, as the expiring Israelites of old looked to the brazen serpent, lifted up to give them health and healing.

Such is the sole medium of salvation: the language of Scripture is express upon this point. God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."-" Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."-" In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Thus, My Brethren, no sooner does man come to Christ with sincerity, and with all his soul, than (O divine efficacy of faith!) the merits of Christ veil his transgressions, the righteousness of Christ becomes his righteousness, the immunities of Christ become his immunities; and, identifying himself in his wishes and hopes with his divine Saviour, he henceforth becomes "one" with him. From that time he is in a condition to "HAVE PEACE WITH GOD," to have communion with God.

This is that truth which you have never un

derstood; you, who venture to speak lightly, and almost with scorn, of the Christian Faith. Never having seriously reflected upon this subject, you entertain respecting it no clear and accurate notion. Το you the sublime word faith is either a word devoid of meaning, or else you attach to it I know not what vague and mysterious idea, which renders it repulsive to you. Do you now perceive that truth which forms the grand end and object of the Gospel, —that man, redeemed by the great sacrifice offered upon the cross, is saved by faith in the Redeemer? Do you now admit it? Do you feel an incipient conviction that you are guilty, obnoxious to condemnation, and in that state of peril which the Gospel declares? Are you contented to present yourselves before God as sinners unworthy of favour;-to weep at the Saviour's feet with the Magdalen? or do you feel anxious for a mode of reconciliation less humiliating, and not an absolutely free gift? Is that which is pleasing to God, pleasing to you? or do you find within an unconquerable repugnance to submit your will to the divine

will? Oh! be warned! The mercy of Heaven is ready to comply with all your necessities, but not to give way to your prejudices or your pride these you must either renounce, or else to you also will this complaint of the Saviour be applied: "And ye would not come unto me, that ye might have life!"

What is your reply? Is it too much for God to require of man, that, having neither within nor around him any means of salvation, he accept that mighty one provided for him, and seek for none besides! Is it too much for God, after sending him his Son, and giving up to him that which was most dear to himself, to require that he should become a party to that stupendous sacrifice; that he should consent to avail himself of it; that he should accept, as his sole title to salvation, a gift so costly and so indicative of love? Is it, lastly, too much for God to require of man, whom pride has undone, to renounce that pride with the acceptance of his grace; to strip off his pretended righteousness; to become sensible of what he owes to his Redeemer; to become obedient to him in mind

and will? Ah! at last acquaint yourselves with the faith to which you have done so much injustice, and with your own selves! Look back upon the multitude of your days gone by, of which not one has been unmarked by numberless offences, and so few have been signalized by works that can be truly called good. Descendants of a fallen original, acknowledge how much by your fault you have added to your ancestral guilt. You cannot achieve your own justification: put on, then, that lively faith, by means of which you may attain unto it.

II. You must understand, however, what it is, which that faith requires of you, and what are the sure marks by which it may be known.

Here also we, unhappily, labour under an equal delusion; we know as little about the nature of faith, as about its necessity; and they who expect to be saved by its means, are just as ignorant of it, as those who venture to presume that it may be dispensed with. They regard it in the light of a mere belief, like that

which applies to historical fact; at the utmost, as an assent of the reason: in a word, they regard it as an opinion, and not as a vital principle. A fatal error! and often no less pernicious to those who adopt it, than to those who see it persisted in! That it gives a handle to the scoffs of unbelievers, is little; it leads the children of the truth astray from the truth; it suggests to them, that man has only to "continue in sin, that grace may abound;" it leads them to imagine, that he is not made better by faith; thence to conclude that he must come to God barely by works: as if the faith, the justifying faith of Christianity, were not inseparable from works. Oh! if faith did but shine forth among Christians in its genuine lustre—if it were always to be found accompanied by sincere zeal, by elevation of soul, by holiness of life, it would not be thus misunderstood, nor would there be any longer found men desirous to throw off its empire. This was the faith of the early ages of Christianity. To BELIEVE then signified to LOVE, to OBEY. Thus, in order to our participation in the benefits of