cure the happiness of each individual, and of the system as one great whole-that the laws of God were almost directly contrary to the leading maxims of morality which prevailed in the world-and that they struck at the root of all those principles of pride, ambition, revenge, and inurity, which almost universally directed the conduct of individuals and of nations.

If, then, we find in a book which professes to be a revelation from heaven, a system of moral laws which can clearly be shown to be the basis of the moral order of the universe, and which are calculated to secure the eternal happiness of all intellectual beings-it forms a strong presumptive proof, if not an unanswerable argument, that the contents of that book are of a celestial origin, and were dictated by Him who gave birth to the whole system of created beings.

VII. From this subject we may learn the absurdity and pernicious tendency of Antinomian ism. Of all the absurdities and abominations which have assumed the name of Religion, I know none more pernicious and atheistical in its tendency, than the sentiment which is tenaciously maintained by modern Antinomians, "That Christians are set free from the law of God as a rule of conduct." That in the nineteenth century of the Christian era, amidst the rapid progress of physical and moral science, under the mask of a Christian profession, and with the moral precepts and injunctions of the prophets of Jesus Christ, and of his apostles, lying open before them, a set of men, calling themselves rational beings, should arise to maintain, that there is such a thing as "imputed sanctification," that the moral law is not obligatory upon Christians, and that "whoever talks of progressive sanctification is guilty of high treason against the majesty of heaven”*—is a moral phenomenon truly humbling and astonishing; and affords an additional proof, to the many other evidences which lie before us, of the folly and perversity of the human mind, and of its readiness to embrace the most wild and glaring absurdities! If the leading train of sentiment which has been prorecuted in the preceding illustrations be admittod, there appears nothing else requisite in order to show the gross absurdity and the deadly malignity of the Antinomian system. If any system of religion be founded on the cancelation of every moral tie which connects man with man, and man with God-if its fundamental and distinguishing principles, when carried out to their legitimate consequences, would lead men to hate their Creator and to hate one another-if it can be shown, that the operation of such principles constitutes the chief ingredient of the misery which arises from "the worm that never dies,

See Cottle's "Strictures on the Plymouth Antinemians."

and the fire which is never quenched;" and that, if universally acted upon, they would overthrow all order in the intelligent system, and banish every species of happiness from the universe-it necessarily follows, that such a system cannot be the religion prescribed by the All-wise and benevolent Creator, nor any part of that revelation which proclaims "peace on earth and goodwill among men," and which enjoins us to "love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves."

The Antinomian, in following out his own principles, if no human laws or prudential consi derations were to deter him, might run to every excess of profligacy and debauchery-might indulge in impiety, falsehood, and profanity-might commit theft, robbery, adultery, fraud, cruelty, injustice, and even murder, without considering himself as acting contrary to the spirit of his religious system. On his principles, the idea of heaven, or a state of perfect happiness, is a physical and moral impossibility; and the idea of hell a mere bugbear to frighten children and fools. For, wherever the moral law is generally observed, there can be no great portion of misery experienced under the arrangements of a benevolent Creator; and if this law be set aside, or its observance considered as a inatter of indifference, the foundation of all the happiness of saints and angels is necessarily subverted. A heaven without love pervading the breasts of all its inhabitants, would be a contradiction in terms; but love, as we have already seen, is the foundation of every moral precept.

I trust the moral conduct of the deluded mortals who have embraced this system is more respectable than that to which their principles naturally lead-but the consideration, that such absurd and dangerous opinions have been deduced from the Christian revelation, should act as a powerful stimulus on the Christian world, for directing their attention to a more minute and comprehensive illustration than has hitherto been given, of the practical bearings of the Christian system, and of the eternal and immutable obligation of the law of God, which it is the great end of the gospel of Christ to enforce and demonstrate. For it is lamentable to reflect how many thousands of religionists, both in North and in South Britain, even in the present day, have their minds tinctured, in a greater or less degree, with the poison of Antinomianism, in consequence of the general strain of many of the doctrinal sermons they are accustomed to hear, and of the injudicious sentiments they have imbibed from the writings of the supralapsarian divines of the seventeeth centuary.

VIII. Faith and repentance, as required in the Gospel, are absolutely necessary, in the present condition of man, in order to acceptable obedience to the divine law. "Without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh

to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him."Faith, as the term is used in scripture, denotes confidence in the moral character of God, founded on the belief we attach to the declarations of his word. It is defined, by the Apostle Paul, in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, to be" the confident expectation of things hoped for," and "the conviction of things which are not seen.'" ."* Faith substantiates and realizes those objects which are invisible to the eye of sense, and which lie beyond the reach of our present comprehension. It recognises the existence and the omnipresence of an invisible Being, by whose agency the visible operations of nature are conducted; and views him as possessed of infinite wisdom, power, benevolence, faithfulness, rectitude, and eternal duration. It realizes the scenes of an invisible and eternal world-the destruction of the present fabric of our globe, the resurrection of the dead, the solemnities of the last judgment, the new heavens, and the new earth, the innumerable company of angels, and the grandeur and felicity of the heavenly world. These invisible realities it recognises, on the testimony of God exhibited in his word; and without a recognition of such objects, religion can have no existence in the mind.-In a particular manner, faith recognises the declarations of God in relation to the character and the condition of men as violators of his law, and as exposed to misery; and the exhibition which is made of the way of reconciliation, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, who is "set forth as a propitiation to declare the righteousness of God in the remission of sins." The man in whose heart the principle of faith operates, convinced that he is guilty before God, and exposed to misery on account of sin, confides in the declarations of God respecting "the remission of sins through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;"-he confides in the goodness, mercy, faithfulness, and power of God, which secure the accomplishment of his promises, and the supply of all requisite strength and consolation to support him amidst the dangers and afflictions of life; he confides in the wisdom and excellence of those precepts which are prescribed as the rule of his conduct, and which are fitted to guide him to the regions of happiness;-and in the exercise of this confidence, he "adds to his faith, fortitude and resolution, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity ;" and prosecutes with courage this course of obedience, till at length 66 an entrance is abundantly administered to him into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." But, without a recognition of such objects, and an unshaken confidence in the declarations of God respecting shem, it is obvious, from the nature of things,

• Doddridge's translation of Heb. xi 1.

that we "cannot please God," nor yield to him an acceptable and "reasonable service."

In like manner it might be shown, that repentance is essentially requisite in order to acceptable obedience. Sin is directly opposed to the cha racter of God, and is the great nuisance of the moral universe. While the love of it predominates in any mind, it leads to every species of moral turpitude and depravity; and, consequently, completely unfits such a mind for yielding a cheerful obedience to the divine law. But repentance, which consists in hatred of sin, and sorrow for having committed it, naturally fits and prepares the mind for the practice of universal holiness. It tends to withdraw the soul from the practice of sin, and warns it of the danger o turning again to folly. It is the commencement of every course of virtuous conduct, and the avenue which ultimately leads to solid peace and tranquility of mind. It is intimately connected with humility and self-denial, and is directly opposed to pride, vanity, and self-gratulation. It must, therefore, be indispensably requisite to prepare us for conformity to the moral character of God, for universal obedience to his law, and for the enjoyment of substantial and never-ending felicity. Hence the importance which is attached to the exercise of repentance by our Saviour and his Apostles. In connexion with faith, it is uniformly represented as the first duty of a sinner, and the commencement of the Christian life. Repentance was the great duty to which the forerunner of the Messiah called the multitudes who flocked to his baptism, and on which the Messiah himself expatiated during the period of his public ministry. "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And the apostles, in their instructions to every nation and to every class of men, laid down the following positions as the foundation of every moral duty. "Repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ."

IX. From the preceding illustrations we may learn, that no merit, in the sense in which that term is sometimes used, can be attached to human actions in the sight of God; and that the salvation, or ultimate happiness of sinners, is the effect of the grace or benevolence of God.— That the good works of men are meritorious in the sight of God, is a notion, as unphilosophicai and absurd, as it is impious and unscriptural. They are requisite, and indispensably requisite, as qualifications, or preparations for the enjoy ment of felicity, without which the attainment of true happiness either here or hereafter, is an absolute impossibility; but the actions of no created being, not even the sublimest services and adorations of the angelic hosts, can have the least merit in the eyes of the Creator. "Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art, and thy righteousness may profit the sou of man" but "it thou

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sinnest, what dost thou against God; or, if thou be righteous, what givest thou him? and what receiveth he of thine hand?"'* Thy goodness extendeth not unto him," and he that sinneth against him wronge h his own soul."-What merit can there be in the exercise of love, and in the cultivation of benevolent affections, when we consider, that these affections are essentially requisite to our happiness, and that the very exercise of them is a privilege conferred by God, and one of the principal ingredients of bliss? What merit can be attached, in the presence of the Most High, to the noblest services we can perform, when we reflect, that we derived all the corporeal and intellectual faculties by which we perform these services, and all the means by which they are excited and directed, from our bountiful Creator? What merit can there be in obedience to his law, when disobedience must infallibly lead to destruction and misery? Is it considered as meritorious in a traveller, when he is properly directed, furnished with strength of body ani mind, and provided with every necessary for his journey,-to move forward to the place of his wished for destination? Our benevolent affections, and the active services to which they lead, may be meritorious in the eves of our fellow-men, in so far as they are the means of contributing to their enjoyment; but in the sence of Him who sits on the throne of the universe, dispensing blessings to all his offspring, we shall always have to acknowledge, that "we are unprofitable servants." It is probable, that, if the great object of religion were represented in its native simplicity, if the nature of salvation were clearly understood, and if less were said on the subject of human merit in sermons, and systems of divinity, the idea which I am now combating, would seldom be entertained by any mind possessed of the least share of Christian know ledge, or of common sense.

pre

That the eternal salvation of men, is the effect of the love and the grace of God, is also a necessary consequence from what has been now stated.

• Job xxxv. 6. 8. Psalm xvi. 2 &c.

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For every power, capacity, and privilege we possess, was derived from God. "What have we that we have not received?" Even our very existence in the world of life, is an act of grure. We exerted no power in ushering ourselves into existence: We had no control over the events which determined that we should be born in Britain, and not in Africa; which determined the particular family with which we should be connected; the education we should receive; the particular objects towards which our minds should be directed, and the privileges we should enjoy. And, when we arrive at the close of our earthly career, when the spirit is hovering on the verge of life, and about to take its flight from this mortal scene, can it direct its course, by its own energies, through the world unknown? can it wing its way over a region it has never explored, to its kindred spirits in the mansions of bliss? can it furnish these mansions with the scenes and objects from which its happiness is to be derived? can it re-animate the body after it has long mouldered in the dust? can it re-unite itself with its long-lost partner? can it transport the resurrection-body, to that distant world where it is destined to spend an endless existence? or can it create those scenes of glory and magnificence, and those ecstatic joys which will fill it with transport while eternity endures? If it cannot be supposed to accomplish such glorious objects by its own inherent powers, then, it must be indebted for every entertainment in the future world to the unbounded and unmerited love and mercy of God. To Him, therefore, who sits upon the throne of the heavens, and to the Lamb who was slain and hath redeemed us to God by his blood, let all praise, honour, dominion, and power, be ascribed now and forever. Amen.

Having now finished what I proposed in the illustration of the principles of love to God and to man, and of the precepts of the Decalogue,-in the following chapter, I shall take a bird's eye view of the moral state of the world; and endeavour to ascertain, to what extent these principles and laws have been recognised and observed by the inhabitants of our globe.

THE discoveries of modern astronomy have led us infallibly to conclude, that the universe consists of an immense number of systeins and worlds dispersed, at immeasurable distances from each other, throughout the regions of infinite space. When we take into consideration the Benevolence of the Deity, and that the happiness of the intelligent creation is the great object which his Wisdom and Omnipotence are employed to accomplish-it appears highly probable, that the inhabitants of the whole, or at least of the greater part, of those worlds whose suns we behold twinkling from afar, are in a state of moral perfection, and consequently, in a state of happiness. At any rate, it is reasonable to conclude, that the exceptions which exist are not numerous. Perhaps this earth is the only material world where physical evil exists, where misery prevails, and where moral order is subverted; and these dismal effects may have been permitted to happen, under the government of God, in order to exhibit to other intelligences, a specimen of the terrible and destructive consequences of moral evil, as a warning of the danger of infringing, in the least degree, on those moral principles which form the bond of union among the intelligent system.

Could we trace the series of events which have occurred, in any one of those happy worlds, where moral perfection prevails, ever since the period when it was replenished with inhabitants, and the objects to which their physical and rational powers have been directed, we should, doubtless, be highly delighted and enraptured with the moral scenery which the history of such a world would display. Its annals would uniformly record the transactions of benevolence. We should hear nothing of the pomp of hostile armies, of the shouts of victory, of the exploits of heroes, of the conflagration of cities, of the storming of fortifications, of the avarice of merchants and courtiers, of the burning of heretics, or of the ambition of princes. The train of events, presented to our view, would be directly opposed to every object of this description, and to every thing which forms a prominent feature in the history of mankind. To beautify and adorn the scenery of nature around them, to extend their views of the operations of the Almighty, to explore the depths of his wisdom and intelligence, to admire the exuverance of his goodness, to celebrate, in unison

the praises of the "King Eternal," the Author of all their enjoyments, to make progressive advances in moral and intellectual attainments, to circulate joy from heart to heart, to exert their ingenuity in the invention of instruments by which their physical powers may be improved, and the wonders of creation more minutely explored; to widen the range of delightful contemplation, to expand their views of the Divine perfections, and to increase the sum of happiness among all their fellow-intelligences, will doubtless form a part of the employments of the inhabitants of a world where moral purity universally prevails. One circumstance which may probably diversify the annals of such a world, and form so many eras in its history, may be the occasional visits of angelic or other messengers, from distant regions of creation, to announce the will of the Almighty on particular emergencies, to relate the progress of new creations in other parts of the Divine Empire, and to convey intelligence respecting the physical aspects, the moral arrangements, and the history of other worlds, and of other orders of intellectual beings. Such visits and occasional intercourses with celestial beings, would, undoubtedly, have been more frequent in our world, had not man rendered himself unqualified for such associations, by his grovelling affections, and by the moral pollutions with which his character is now stained.

When we turn our eyes from the transactions of such a world, to the world in which we live, how very different a scene is presented to the view! The history of all nations embraces little more than

A RECORD OF THE OPERATIONS OF MALEVO LENCE.

Every occurrence has been considered as tame and insipid, and scarcely worthy of being recorded, unles it has been associated with the confused noise of warriors, the shouts of conquerors, the plunder of provinces, the devastation of empires, the groans of mangled victims, the cries of widows and orphans, and with garments rolled in blood. When such malevolent operations cease for a little, in any part of the world, and the tumultuous passions which produced them, subside into a temporary calm, the historian is presented with a blank in the annals of the human race, the short interlude of peace and of apparent