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SERMON IX.

FAITH AND WORKS.

JAMES ii. 24.

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

THESE words form the conclusion of an argument of the apostle James, on the effects of that faith which is constantly represented in scripture as the means of our justification before God and it is somewhat remarkable, that they have been often adduced as contradicting the positions of the apostle Paul, who, after a long and elaborate argument in his epistle to the Romans, arrives at this deduction: "therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Now, while of all questions it is the most important, how we shall attain acceptance with God, there is, at the same time, no question to which the human heart is less qualified to give a correct and satisfactory answer; inasmuch as, upon no other question are its passions and feel

ings likely to be so deeply influenced by those prejudices, which draw aside both the understanding from the perception of divine truth and the affections from an acquiescence with its claims. The pride of reason, the vanity of our fancied excellencies, the difficulty of ascertaining our own wants, and of acknowledging our own weaknesses, form so many obstacles to our reception of that plan of salvation which the gospel offers and present so many difficulties to our adoption of that teachable and humble spirit, of which God hath said, that "the meek he will guide in judgment, and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way." It becomes us then, when entering upon our meditations on that most important subject which these words involve, anxiously to examine our own hearts, lest any vain notions of our own merit, any pride of our own worthiness, should prevent our arriving at the truth, or our accordance with its statements; and above all, it becomes us to pray, in all humility, for that teachable and humble disposition of heart, which shall enable us to seek the truth, in reliance upon the assistance of divine wisdom, and to obey its dictates, in hope of the assistance of divine strength.

It will readily be confessed, that in order to understand the conclusion to which the apostle has arrived in the words of the text, it is necessary to examine the argument itself from which

this conclusion is deduced; and to endeavour to ascertain what was the intention of the writer, and to what his observations were especially directed. We find, then, that the apostle has been complaining of an evil practice which had begun to prevail in the christian church; the practice, namely, of showing partiality and favour in their assemblies and elsewhere, to the rich and powerful; while the poorer members of their community, those whom God had chosen rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them that love him, were despised and treated with contempt. This he calls "holding the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." As if the followers of the Lord of that glory which is from above, ought to regard the heavenly distinction of which they were all partakers, as inheritors of future glory, to be far superior to any earthly dignity; and that the ties of christian brotherhood constituted a greater claim to their love and esteem, than the gold ring, or the gay apparel, which outshone the vile raiment of the poorer members of the chuch. Thus to hold the faith with respect to persons, was an evidence that they had erroneous ideas of the nature of that faith. It showed that they little understood the value of their calling of God in Christ Jesus, and cared but little for those spiritual gifts of which all Christians were, in their

measure, alike partakers. And if their faith were thus erroneous, if they knew so little of that pure religion which he had just defined in the last verse of the first chapter, and whose prominent features he had so beautifully delineated; how could they expect that faith to be the means of their acceptance with God, and that their faith should save them? "Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father," he had thus described, "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Where was their adoption of this character, where was their exemplification of these properties, these effects of their faith, if in their feasts of charity the widow and the fatherless had an inferior share, and the poor was treated with contempt, because he possessed not the goods, the substance, the attractions, and the honours of that world, which their profession called on them to renounce? It was the apostle's endeavour, therefore, to show, that a faith which produced effects so inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, could not be the saving faith of the gospel that faith, without the corresponding works of holiness, was but like the body without the spirit, dead.

This conduct, then, which he strongly reproved, he declares to be inconsistent with the law of love, "the royal law, according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy

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self." That law is strict in its demands, and impartial in its estimate of transgression. Each of its precepts is alike the command of the supreme Lawgiver; and he who breaks one commandment, though he may observe another, still becomes a transgressor of the law; nay, 6 if any man shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." The violation of that law of love which was involved in thus showing respect to persons, plainly convicted these professors of the faith, as transgressors of the law and even though they were under the law of liberty; though the covenant of grace was effectual to the salvation of the believer in Christ; yet by that law of liberty they should be judged; and every principle of the christian revelation, every statement of christian doctrine, would show those to be unbelievers who should not conform to the spirit of the gospel ; nor adopt the mild, compassionate, and loving disposition which the faith of the gospel was calculated to promote in the hearts of those who believed in Christ. Judgment without mercy would be the portion of those who showed no mercy; and mercy would be exhibited in that kindness to their inferiors, and that affection to their brethren, which rigorous justice might not indeed demand, but which the love of God and of Christ would effectuate within their hearts.

What then, he asks, does it profit, though a