and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." Now, if this life be in the Lord Jesus Christ, how can we receive it, if we believe not on him ? We put it away from us : we do in fact say, ' I will not have life : if God will not save me in any other way, I will not be saved at all.' This is what our blessed Lord himself complained of: " Ye will not come unto me, that ye may have life." It is to no purpose to dispute against this. We cannot alter the Divine appointment. A Saviour is given us : a free offer of salvation through Him is sent us : not a creature in the universe is excepted : not any one who comes to God through Him shall be cast out. But, if this Saviour be rejected, " there is no other sacrifice for sin ;" no other foundation on which we can build;" " no other name whereby we can be saved." We ought to be fully aware of this : for if we persist in our unbelief, " there remains for us nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and of fiery indignation to consume us."]
Let us now view, in contrast with this,
II. The transcendent excellence of faith —
Faith is highly commended in the Scriptures of truth. And well it may be ; for,
1. It is associated with candour —
[" The just," is he who weighs with candour whatever is brought before him, and embraces truth wherever he can find it. This disposition of mind is called, in Scripture, " an honest and good heart:" and wherever that is, the seed of the Gospel which is sown on it will grow up, and bring forth its appointed fruit. The believer will not reject this or that declaration, saying, " This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ? " nor will he complain of " any commandment, that it is grievous." He will sit at the feet of Jesus, and hear his word : and, if he meet with any thing which strikes him as new, he will " search the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things be so :" and when any thing exceeds his comprehension, he will go to God in prayer, and implore the gift of his Holy Spirit to " open the eyes of his understanding," and to " guide him into all truth." In this way, his doubts are cleared ; his difficulties are removed; his perception of truth is quickened: his submission to it increased ; and his faith, which at first was only as a grain of mustard-seed, becomes a large tree, under the shadow of which he can safely repose, and by the fruits of which he is nourished unto life eternal. In a word, his faith unites him to the Lord, " in whom he finds both righteousness and strength." Thus, from his integrity of heart, he is enabled to discern what a jaundiced mind would reject : and, from a readiness to obey
b b2