In stating our views on this important point, we rejoice always to adopt the very language, as well as the sentiments, of the great apostle Paul. But we are not less partial either to the language or the sentiments of the other sacred writers: Hence, with St. John, we say, that the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin.2 And, when enamoured with the glory and beauty of the celestial inhabitants, viewing the spotless purity of their holy vestments, as seen in the Apocalyptic vision, we never can, we never wish to forget, that these are they who came up out of great tribulation, and washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.3

Methodism moreover teaches, that as this blood brings pardon to the conscience, when it is sought unto and applied by faith for that purpose, (and not otherwise,) so it brings entire purity of heart when it is sought unto and applied by faith for that purpose, (and not otherwise,) and that, only so long as it is thus applied, can this purity of heart be enjoyed; it is lost again, if the eye turn

(2) John i, 7. (3) Rev. vii. 14.

from that blood for a single day. This is an important point, a very vital consideration, and deserves a much more ample discussion than can be given to it in the present place. I will just, however, further observe upon it, that the need of the perpetual application of the blood of sprinkling, in order to complete and perpetuate sanctity of heart and life, was strikingly adumbrated, under the Jewish dispensation, by the perpetual morning and evening sacrifices, and the blood of them which was sprinkled, and constantly to be seen, upon the altar, and in the temple of God. Not a single moment was this to be out of sight: And if any thing ever interrupted its regular effusion and application, the nation and the people for whom this typical blood was continually flowing and applied, were considered as polluted and unclean, till it was resorted to again. Of these things, and of their meaning under the gospel dispensation, the apostle treats at large in his Epistle to the Hebrews, some of whose remarks are as follow: "Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always [or daily] into the first tabernacle, (4) Compare chap. ix. 6 with x. 11.

accomplishing the service of God." In the same chapter he tells us, that "when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you." "It was therefore necessary,"

says he, "that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." And that by these "better sacrifices," he intends the blood of Christ, is evident from verse the fourteenth, where he says, that the "blood of Christ purges the conscience from dead works, to serve the living God." As, therefore, the typical blood was perpetually applied in order to effect a perpetual sanctity in the patterns of heavenly things, it follows of course that the great antitypical blood must be perpetually applied to produce perpetual holiness in the heavenly things themselves, that is, the people of God. From the whole of

(5) Heb. ix. 23.

which, it is very clear and evident, at least to the writer of these brief observations, that a state of entire sanctification is preserved, and can only be preserved, by a daily application to our heart of the atoning blood by faith.

Now this faith, on which, as a condition, the very life and salvation of our souls depend, when we view it with reference to the subject under consideration, has, at least, two qualities, each of which requires to be distinctly noticed in this place. For, in the first instance, it has respect to the blood of Christ as sufficient to cleanse us from all sin, as being shed for this express purpose, and as being able to do it for me both this and every moment. In the second place, this faith' must be kept in constant exercise,—it must be ever looking up to God, and believing it receiveth the benefit divine. Thus much with regard to the properties of this faith.

And here I may just observe, once for all, that this state of grace is what is styled in Methodism, "Christian Perfection." As to absolute perfection, and I know not what other kinds of perfection, which some persons, being grossly ignorant of the scriptural correctness and excellence of the Wesleyan doc

trines, have attributed to Methodism, we utterly disclaim them, we never knew them. Neither do we teach, that Christian Perfection excludes either a growth in knowledge, or a growth in grace: On the contrary, we teach that, when the heart is purified by grace, we shall grow much more rapidly, both in Christian knowledge and in all the Christian graces, than we can possibly do while this is not the case. The oak, in the unsightly and unnatural embraces of the killing ivy, or the fragrant rose-bush, whose roots are encircled by worms, is not likely to flourish and bloom so richly as when these unnatural incumbrances and pestiferous vermin are all removed.

Neither does Methodism teach, that those who are thus sanctified cannot fall away. As the furrowed field, cleared from thorns and thistles, may again be the recipient of noxious seeds, blown about by the wind, or scattered by the hand of some mortal foe; so the heart that is cleansed from corruption, may become, a second time, the recipient of moral evil, and perish in sin at last. The truth of these doctrines it builds upon the unerring testimony of God. Adopting the