danger; yet he sets at nought the terrors of the Lord. He acts as if there was no day of judgment, and no place of eternal torments. He has no fear of God before his eyes. How can such a practical atheist as this have any faith?

Thirdly, The formalist has not true faith. He is content with the form of godliness, and denies the power of it. The veil of unbelief is upon his heart, and the pride of his own good works and duties is ever before his eyes, that he finds no want of the salvation of Jesus, and is averse to the grace of the gospel. All his hopes arise from what he is in himself, and from what he is able to do for himself. He neither believes God, speaking in the law nor in the gospel. If he believed his word in the law, it would convict him of sin, and forbid him to go about to establish a righteousness of his own; because by the works of the law shall no flesh living be justified; yet this he does not believe. If he believed the word of God in the gospel, it would convince him of righ-teousness, of an infinitely perfect righteous

ness, wrought out by the God-man Christ Jesus, and imputed to the sinner without any works of his own: "for unto him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is imputed for righteousness." To this he dare not trust wholly for his acceptance before God; therefore he has not true faith.

Fourthly, A man may be so far enlightened, as to understand the way of salvation, and yet have not true faith. This is a possible case. The apostle states it, 1 Cor. xiii. 2. Though I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, yet I may be nothing." And it is a dangerous case, as Heb. x. 26. "If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Here was such a knowledge of the truth, as left a man to perish without the benefit of Christ's sacrifice; therefore he wanted that faith, which whosoever hath, shall be saved.

What great numbers are there under these delusions? Reader, art thou one of them? Examine closely; for it is of eternal mo

ment. Prove thine own self, whether thou be in the faith. If thou askest how thou shalt know it, since there are so many errors about it; hear what God's word says, Whoever believes truly, has been first convinced of unbelief. This our Lord teaches, John xvi. 9. "When the Comforter is come, he will convince the world of sin, because they believe not on me." He convinces of sin, by enlightening the understanding to know the exceeding sinfulness of it, and by quickening the conscience to feel the guilt of it. He shows the misery threatened, and leaves sinners no false refuge to flee unto. He will not suffer them to sit down content with some sorrow, or a little outward reformation, or any supposed righteousness; but makes them feel, that, do whatever they will or can, still their guilt remains. Thus he puts them upon seeking out for salvation, and by the gospel he discovers it to them. He opens their understandings to know what they hear and read concerning the covenant of the eternal Trinity, and concerning what the God-man has done in the fulfilling of this

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covenant. The Holy Spirit teaches them the nature of the adorable person of ChristGod manifest in the flesh, and the infinitely precious and everlastingly meritorious righteousness, which he has wrought out by the obedience of his life and death; and he convinces them that this righteousness is sufficient for their salvation, and that nothing is required, except faith, for its being imputed unto them; and he works in them a sense of their being helpless, and without strength to rely upon this righteousness, and through faith in it, to have peace with God. He makes them see that they cannot, by any power of their own, in the least depend upon it for all their sufficiency is of God. It requires the same arm of the Lord, which wrought out this righteousness, to enable them with the heart to believe in it. They are made clearly sensible of this from the word and Spirit of God, and from their own daily experience, and thereby they are disposed to receive their whole salvation from the free grace of God, and to him to ascribe all the glory of it. These are the redeemed

of the Lord, to whom it is given to believe. They are quickened from a death in trespasses and sins; their consciences are awakened; their understandings are enlightened with the knowledge of Christ; they are enabled in their wills to choose him, and in their hearts to love him, and to rejoice in his salvation. This is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit : for faith is his gift, Eph. ii. 8. "Unto you it is given, says the apostle, Phil. i. 29. in the behalf of Christ to believe on him;" none can give it but the Spirit of God: because it is the faith of the operation of God, and requires the same almighty power to believe with the heart, as it did to raise Christ's body from the grave, Eph. i. 20. And this power he puts forth in the preaching of the word, and makes it the power of God unto salvation. The word is called, 2 Cor. iii. 8. the ministration of the Spirit, because by it the Spirit ministers his grace and strength. So Gal. iii. 2. "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" It was by hearing faith preached, that they received the Spirit: for