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faith, and separate between Christ and your soul. By this means, this great affair will be no longer with you a matter of mere speculation, or empty opinion, but convincing experience; and nothing but your imperfections and temptations can ever make you hesitate about the truth of those things, which you sensibly and continually feel the influence of, upon all the powers and faculties of your mind. By this you will have the "witness in yourself," a transcript of the Gospel upon your heart, such a transcript as will answer to the original, like as the impress upon the wax to the signet, or as a welldrawn picture to the lineaments of the face from whence it was taken. By this have multitudes of souls been established in the faith, who have never been able critically to examine the external evidence upon which Christianity is founded. They have not been able to dispute for Christ; but they have dared to die for him. They have found the image of God imprinted on their souls, by the Gospel of God our Saviour; and therefore could not doubt the power of that cause which had produced so glorious an effect upon them. Make the experiment, Sir, and you will be forced to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to be indeed your Saviour, when you feel that he hath actually saved you.

Let me, therefore, set before you some of the marks given of a real Christian in the New Testament, that, when you come to discover the lineaments of this divine image upon your soul, you may know the cause from the effect. In doing this, I shall not descend into all the minute particulars of the Christian's character; but only set before you a few

of the most plain and intelligible marks, by which a Christian indeed may be distinguished from all others, and by which he may most clearly discern that Christ is a Saviour indeed.

And, first, the most general mark by which this may be known, is, that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away : behold, all things are become new." That he is "renewed in the spirit of his mind; and that he puts on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Here, you may see, is represented a very remarkable and distinguishing change of state a change which may be known by those who have had the blessed experience; and a change that has been felt by all those, and none but those, who are Christians indeed. Could you then find this blessed effect of your committing your soul and your eternal interests into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ; that all the powers, passions, and appetites of your soul are renewed, you could not doubt the author of the wonderful change. You must own it to be from him, that you are brought to hate what you before loved, and to love what you before hated. Can you help but acknowledging this, when you find that the thoughts and dispositions of your mind are new, and the chief subject of your care and meditation are the "things unseen and eternal;" that the desires and affections of

your soul are new, and placed upon "the things that are above, where Christ Jesus sits at the right hand of God;" that your views and apprehensions of yourself are new; and your haughty and selfish imaginations are changed to "an humble and con

trite spirit, that trembles at God's word:" that your confidence and dependence is new; and, instead of depending upon your good attainments, purposes, promises, reformations, or duties, you are endeavouring to be found in Christ Jesus; not having on your own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" that your joys and satisfactions are new; and, instead of rejoicing in your temporal and sensual acquisitions, you "rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" that the objects of your love and complacency are new; and, instead of loving the world and your idols, you esteem God's favour to be life, and his "loving-kindness to be better than life;" and, instead of loving the company of worldly and sensual persons, you have your only delight and complacency in men of serious vital piety; and have this evidence, that you are passed from death to life, that you love the brethren :" that your appetites and passions are new; and, instead of those boundless desires you were before acted by, you are brought into an humble subjection to the will of God; and, instead of those turbulent passions which before had the ascendant, you experience the blessed fruits of the Spirit, which are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;" and, to sum up all, that your conversation is new; and that you live a life of holiness towards God, and of righteousness, charity, and beneficence towards men; endeavouring to fill up every station, relation, and capacity of life with duty, and striving to have your whole conversation as becomes the Gospel of Christ.

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tian character.

This, Sir, is a brief summary of the true ChrisThis is the salvation (in its moral view) which our Lord Jesus Christ bestows in this world, upon all his sincere followers. No man ever failed of obtaining this, who, by faith unfeigned, brought his soul to Christ, and depended upon him for his sanctifying, renewing influences.

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Now, secondly, another thing which all true Christians experience, and none but they, is the spiritual warfare. They have a warfare with their remaining corruptions. "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." And they see another law in their members, warring against the law of their minds, in order to bring them into captivity to the law of sin and death." They have still so many imperfections remaining in their hearts, in their duties, and in their conversations, as make them groan, being burthened; and cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death!" When, therefore, you are heartily engaged in this war, and feel in yourself that you are continually led on to victory, can you doubt who it is that approves himself the Captain of your salvation? Can you doubt this, when you sensibly feel in yourself a hatred to all sin, without any reserve, even to those sins which by constitution, or custom, are so nearly and intimately united to your affections, as to become your members, even a right hand, a right foot, or a right eye? Can you doubt this, when you feel that you even hate vain thoughts; and that the irregularities of your heart and affections, as well as of your outward conduct, are matter of your continual grief and

burden; what you continually watch, and pray, and strive against? Can you doubt this, when it is your constant experience, that there is nothing more grievous to you, nothing more contrary to the governing desires of your soul, than the prevalence of these corruptions, and the deadness, formality, and distraction which accompany your holy duties; and when you experience that it is your most ardent and impatient pursuit, to gain further victory over the imperfections of your heart and life; and to obtain more uninterrupted communion with God, in your religious approaches to him? or, to sum up all in a word, can this be doubted, when (under the sharpest conflict you can meet with from this quarter) you are able sincerely to say, that though "when you would do good, evil is present with you," yet you "delight in the law of the Lord after the inward man?" You must, beside this intestine war, have the trial of another campaign. You will find the enemies from without, as well as within, to maintain a continual conflict with. "For we wrestle not

against flesh and blood only, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickednesses in high places." This was what you have probably had no experience of. A prisoner in the hands of his enemies, led captive by them at their pleasure, has no acquaintance with the progress of wars and conflicts, battles and sieges; makes no attempt for victory and triumph, but submits to the injunctions of his conquerors; and the more cheerful his submission, the more ease and comfort he will find. This you must acknowledge to be eminently true of

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