to him. The Scriptures speak of those to whom the Gospel comes, and say little of those to whom it does not go. It is not necessary, then, for me to speak of the state of those hereafter, who have not had the Scriptures; but of those who have the Scriptures, yet receiving them not, are offended with them; to such the Scriptures address themselves. Such is my proper object to night, in answering this question, and such is the proper business of the Scriptures. The Scriptures, then, declare, that whosoever doth not receive their testimony, concerning Christ, hath made God a liar, for not believing the record God gave of his Son. Can there be any doubt as to whether such a man can be a good man?

The questioner. Then I am to take it for granted, that though I am a good man, if I believe not in Christ, I shall be damned.

Dr. Bennett.-I scarcely think the gentleman could have understood my answer. I maintained that the question contained a contradiction. No man is a good man who does not receive the testimony of Christ, when brought to him; for that fact is the test of character. He shews the state of his heart, and proves that he is alienated from God. He makes God a liar, because he does not believe the testimony God gives of his Son, that is an "evil heart of unbelief." Then comes the question in another form; Whether we shall be judged for our faith or our works? I have already said, that, upon the principles of the Scriptures, a man is not a good man who does not believe in Christ. Now it must be

admitted, that there are some things, though mere matters of faith, which are, nevertheless, tests of character. Suppose a man were to say, Here am I and my wife; we have lived together forty or fifty years, and have borne the trials of life together; but I believe I have a right to cut her throat tomorrow. Would any man say that this, though a mere matter of faith, did not affect his moral character? Could a man be supposed to be a good man who believed it lawful to cut his wife's throat?

Questioner. I thought we should be judged by our actions; and that, if I do unto all men as I would they should do to me, I shall be saved. If I am to be damned for not believing in Christ, I shall be damned, for I shall remain an unbeliever to the day of my death.

Dr. Bennett. I am sorry to see the tone and spirit of the questioner's observations. It must be very manifest that no man should assert this of himself. Many have said the same as positively, and afterwards as positively unsaid it, and bitterly regretted that they ever said it: I pray God that it may be so with you. If your observation means strictly actions, it must be manifest that tempers and words are excluded. Suppose a man were to say, I was never in my life guilty of a wrong action towards my wife and children; at the same time it was manifest that he hated them; all his fault was in his temper. Though no action of his life could be fastened upon, yet would he be guilty, for we are accountable for our tempers. Also of words: if a man tell a lie, is it not apparent

that he is accountable to the Divine tribunal? Then if it be said, I did not mean to restrict the observation to overt actions: I meant all that may be called actions of the mind. Then, rejecting the testimony of Christ is an action of the mind, and thus you are amenable to the Divine tribunal. In civil society, if a man make another a liar, and tell him to his face, I don't believe you, I would not believe you on your word, though you should give it to me in writing; that would be regarded as a great offence, and might lead to what is called an affair of honour, which I should call an affair of murder, but what is commonly called a duel. Now if men regard this offence so severely; when God sends his Gospel to a man, and that man declares he won't believe it, and will not believe it as long as he lives, I ask whether that man is not guilty before the Divine tribunal, and whether he does not reject this testimony, at the peril of his own soul? May the Lord God deliver you from this doom. I have tasted the wormwood and the gall; I have been in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity, not believing in the Son of God; but I say of those days, "Let them be darkness; let not God regard them from above; let not the light shine upon them!'" But I did it ignorantly and in unbelief; howbeit for this cause obtained I mercy, that in me Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting. The Lord God grant that you may obtain like mercy, and like me preach the faith which once you despised. Amen.

A SUMMARY

OF THE

EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF REVELATION.

2 PETER i. 16.

We have not followed cunningly devised fables.

ROMANS i. 20.

So that they are without excuse.

THE external evidences of divine revelation are designed to rouse attention to the sacred volume, and to warn us that our Maker is speaking to us here. They are like an inscription in letters of gold, on the back of the Bible, "this is the book of God;" that they who know it not may be induced to open and to read it, and that they who were in danger of trampling on it, may be warned first to look within, and see whether its contents do not accord with the inscription.

The internal evidences are such as present themselves to the judgment and conscience, on the perusal of the volume; and are like the finger of God visibly writing in letters of light on these pages, as it once did on the walls of Belshazzar's palace. I have, therefore, given a double course of lectures; that the external evidences may assist to rouse attention to the internal.

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