IS THE PEACE.

Thou must flee to him and trust

him alone for it, and with all thy heart. Then guilt shall as surely be taken off from thee as it was laid upon him; as he bore it, and as he made an end of sin by his all-sufficient atonement. When guilt is gone, God's love will kindle thine. For "faith worketh by love." Then thy end and motive of duty will be the glory of God and the love of God. Then being one with Christ by faith, thou shalt share in his victory over the devil, the world, and the flesh.

OVER THE DEVIL. Thy shield of faith shall quench his fiery darts, and thou shalt be able to repel his temptations. OVER THE WORLD. The love of God shall shine to thee so sweet, so amiable, so soul-transforming, that thy affections shall be engaged to God, and deadened to this earth. Hence covetousness and earthly-mindedness shall be subdued, and in the school of Christ thou shalt learn the practice of charity, humility, and kindness to thy fellow-creatures. OVER THE FLESH. For the power of God's Holy Spirit shall crucify it with its affections and lusts. Self shall be dethroned, and Christ shall reign in thy heart, and bring thy thoughts into captivity to himself. Thus the Lord Christ will be thy strong hold. Let thy guilt be ever so dreadful, when thou really receivest him, he shall give thee peace. Let thy corruptions be ever so mighty, they shall fall down before the power of his grace.

But further: There must be a closing act of faith in Christ, in order to receive and enjoy all this salvation. "He knoweth them that trust in him." That is, he owns and takes notice of such, and will

surely give them the things they trust in him for. There is one of the collects of our church which very excellently illustrates the order of things in the plan of christian experience. Let us attend to it a little. "Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people, pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord." You will find this to be the collect for the one-and-twentieth Sunday after Trinity. Here we see how well acquainted our Reformers were with that vital religion from which we have so dreadfully apostatized. For the profession of it in our days seems a strange, whimsical, singular thing in the eye of the world.

First, here is faith in Jesus supposed-"thy faithful people" which is the same thing as what is called by the prophet "trusting in the Lord." Then here is " pardon" to the faithful, or believers, and pardon through the atonement alone of Jesus Christ. Then here is " peace," that is, the manifestation of this pardon sealed in heaven, to the believing soul, by suitable peace of conscience granted to the believer. For to the believer the Holy Spirit is granted, and the "fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, PEACE." Besides "PARDON and PEACE" being evidently two distinct things prayed for in this collect, and the meaning of the word pardon being doubtless the blotting out of all transgressions, as if they had never been committed, what could the composers of the prayer mean by PEACE, but the knowledge and sense of that pardon in the conscience; and so far were they from agreeing with those who describe good works as the cause instead of the fruits of faith, that they pray for this peace, to the end that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve God with a quiet mind: plainly showing that they would have people to look for the experience of this peace in the present life. Agreeable to this is the apostle's prayer for the believing Romans; "the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost."

By this time the precious effects of believing in Jesus are plain and evident. Here is " pardon, peace, cleansing from all sins, and serving God" in all holiness of living "with a quiet mind." Thus does the Lord "know them that trust in him."

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Since, then, O convinced sinner! "the Lord is good," and invites thee to come to him as a stronghold;" and since these are the precious effects of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou seest what thou hast to do, even to come to Christ without any delay. We set before you, brethren, Christ crucified as the sovereign remedy for all who are in spiritual trouble. We are warranted, by God, to exhort you to make use of him and to try him, and him alone, for the obtaining of true peace, joy, and holiness; of support in death, and in the end, everlasting life. There is no way of trying him and applying this Saviour but by believing, or depending on him; or to use the phrase of the text, by TRUSTING HIM. Receive him, then, O convinced sinners! Why tarry you? Arise, and wash away your guilt by faith in his blood. Do not put off this work of believing till to-morrow. Set yourselves earnestly to taste and see how gracious this Lord is immediately. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Jesus also said, " he that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

Yes: You who have tried this remedy of trusting in Jesus, know its effects. You know this alone has purged your consciences; subdued your hearts; given you true joy and peace, and liberty; and enabled you to walk in God's commands with love. It has broken the force of your evil habits, and taught you to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. It has made you to love and praise the Lord with all your souls.

I have now finished what I proposed. I have set forth the day of spiritual trouble; how GOOD the Lord is; what a " strong hold," and how he owns, and blesses, and sanctifies them that trust in him, and I have exhorted the convinced sinner to receive this Saviour without delay. But I fear there may be some here who despise this precious gift of faith in Christ; and the reason of their despising it is, because they are without spiritual feeling; they have no trouble nor care for their souls; they are dead in sin. If, however, there be any weight in the united testimony of the best and wisest in all ages, they should consider that the reality of such conviction and conversion as I have spoken of, has the sanction of the best witnesses. And to spare the mention of others at this time, I will only mention once more our Reformers, and repeat again that short collect of our church, to which they often say Amen "Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people, pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

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SERMON V.

THE SINFUL LUSTS OF THE FLESH OVERCOME BY FAITH.

2 Peter, i. 4.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

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זי

It is as true in spiritual as it is in worldly things, that the sense of want and necessity leads men to useful discoveries. In proportion as this sense increases, the soul is led on to acquire those advantages which may supply its wants, and in the natural progress of such exertion to obtain even blessings and conveniences, which were unexpected. Thus suppose (but I hope and trust it will one day be found to be more than a supposition) that there are persons here who, through the sense of guilt, and of bondage in sin, were led to Christ and the knowledge of his righteousness; that they, in wrestling with God, "obtained precious faith," whereby they received this righteousness; that they found "grace and peace multiplied on them through the knowledge of Christ;" had a soul-cheering view of " all things pertaining to life and godliness," being freely

!