indeed, and drink indeed." Look at the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, and see the effect of this doctrine upon thems. Look at the Ethiopian Eunuch, and at the whole city of Samaria, when Philip had preached it to them1; and then you will see the proper tendency of the doctrine, and the sure effect of it wherever it is received. If any works of ours were required to purchase salvation, that doctrine might well drive men to despair : for, it would be like telling the wounded Israelites, when they were in the very article of death, to per- form some arduous feats in order to procure their restoration to health ; or rather, like telling the dead to raise themselves in order to their enjoyment of life. But the erection of the brazen serpent, that the dying might look unto it and live, is a lively emblem of that salvation which is offered to the world through faith in a crucified Redeemer : and the more pun- gent is the grief which any feel on account of their guilt and helplessness, the richer is the consolation which will flow into their souls the very instant they believe the glad tidings of the Gospel.]
4. How far it is from being a licentious doctrine —
[There is no end to the calumnies raised against this doctrine, and against all who maintain it. The preachers of it, even those who are most sober, and most guarded, and most practical, are always represented as saying, that, if only men will believe, they may live as they please. But there is nothing more contrary to truth than such a representation as this. We always affirm, that though works are excluded from the office of justifying the soul, they are indispensably necessary to prove the sincerity of our faith ; and that the faith which is not pro- ductive of good works, is no better than the faith of devils. And then, as to the actual effects which are produced by this doctrine, look back to our reformers : look back to St. Paul, the great champion of this doctrine : look back to David, and to Abraham, and to all the saints recorded in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews : or if you wish for living examples, look to thousands who maintain and glory in this blessed doc- trine. We will appeal to matter of fact : who are the persons that in every place are spoken of as precise, and righteous overmuch, and as making the way to heaven so strait that nobody can walk in it? Are not these the very persons, even these who maintain salvation by faith alone ? That there are some who do not adorn this doctrine, is true enough : and so there were in the apostolic age. But do we not bear our testimony against them, as well as against the self-righteous contemners of the Gospel, yea, with far greater severity than
s Acts ii. 46, 47. * Acts viii. 8, 39.