could see the day of Christ; and that kings and prophets could have desired to have seen those things, which in their time they were not permitted to see. But we have a most striking illustration of these passages in the reproof which our Saviour gave to the Jews, in the eighth chapter of Saint Matthew, for their unbelief, where, after contrasting the faith of the centurion, who was a heathen, with the unbelief of the Jews, he adds, at the eleventh verse, "And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth :" clearly intimating that the destruction of the latter would be in consequence of unbelief, from their not possessing that faith by which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obtained admission into the kingdom of heaven.

If we refer to the days of our Saviour, we shall also find that every blessing both of a temporal and a spiritual nature which Christ and his disciples either promised or bestowed

66

upon men, was in consequence of their faith. In the miracles of our Lord and his disciples, which may be considered as emblematical of spiritual blessings, wherever the instrumental cause is mentioned, we find it invariably ascribed to faith. I shall add a few examples. When the two blind men at Capernaum applied to our Saviour to be healed, as we find in the ninth chapter of St. Matthew; Jesus saith unto them, believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, according to your faith. be it unto you; and their eyes were opened." In the second chapter of St. Mark, when the man was healed of the palsy, it is written, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Again, in the eighth chapter of St. Luke, when our Saviour healed the woman who had had an issue of blood twelve years, we find him thus addressing her; "Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole : go in peace." In the same chapter, also, when he raised the daughter of Jairus, we hear him saying, "Fear not, believe only and she shall

be made whole." Again, in the tenth chapter of St. Mark, when Christ restored sight to Bartemeus, he said unto him, "Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole :" and at Lystra, when Paul healed the cripple, it was also in consequence of his faith; for we read in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, that Paul "stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, stand upright upon thy feet; and he leaped and walked."

To quote what our Saviour and his apostles have delivered respecting faith as the instrumental cause of spiritual, as well as temporal blessings, would be, in fact, to transcribe all that they have testified on the subject. A few passages, therefore, must suffice. Our Lord, discoursing with Nicodemus, in the third chapter of St. John, speaks directly to this point.

66

66

God," saith he, so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have

everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of

God abideth on him." Again he saith, in the sixth chapter, when disputing with the Jews,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." And to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, he saith, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." The testimony of St. Paul, in the eleventh chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians, is, "By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

Our limits will not admit of further quotations, but I may with confidence affirm, that any scriptural inquirer bearing in mind the propositions I have advanced, that Christ is the only procuring or meritorious cause; and that faith producing obedience, is the only instrumental cause of our salvation, will discover such a unity of design, such a wonderful harmony or agreement in the different books of scripture, as shall at once astonish and delight him; and what is of still greater importance,

shall afford him an anchor for his hopes both sure and stedfast, which shall enable him" to hold fast his confidence, and the rejoicing of his hope firm unto the end." Had our limits allowed, I should here have offered some remarks on the nature of that faith which is instrumental to our salvation; that it is a faith producing obedience: these will form the subject of another discourse. There are, however, two considerations which seem unavoidably to arise from the subject we have discussed.

First, The folly of trusting to the covenant of works, and

Secondly, The wisdom of trusting to the covenant of grace.

The folly of those who still trust in the covenant of works, the terms of which are, "Do this, and live," will appear from hence, that before they can ever think of claiming any blessing on the terms of this covenant, they must suppose themselves to be in his state with whom this covenant was made, which must be a vain supposition, because it was made with Adam in a state of innocence. How weak therefore must that building be which