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concerned, the main point to be ascertained is the conformity of the doctrine with that which has the sanction of Divine authority. Whatever springs from that root is adapted to bear fruits acceptable to God. Whatever is of an opposite character, however specious in appearance, will prove delusive and unsound. "A good tree," one that is planted by our heavenly Father, "cannot bring forth “evil fruit;" it is contrary to its nature so to do. "Neither can a corrupt tree," one not planted by a Divine hand, but the offspring of human vanity and presumption, "bring "forth good fruit." It has directly evil tendencies, from the very circumstance of its contrariety to the Divine will. Not only all false pretensions to Divine authority, but all practical deviation from that authority, are denounced by our Lord as excluding men from the favour of God;-"Not every one "that saith unto me, Lord, Lord;"— not every one who uses my name or authority to give currency to his own devices ;-" shall "enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he "that doeth the will of my Father which is " in heaven;"-he who, from the pure motive of obedience to God's will, frames both his creed and his conduct according to that unerring standard.

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At the end of this discourse it is added by the Evangelist, that our Lord "spake as one having authority, and not as the Scribes." This throws additional light on the subject before us. The mighty works which had been done by him in the presence of his hearers, gave him an irresistible claim to their entire reception of his doctrine. In this discourse he had clearly laid down the nature of that spiritual kingdom which he came to establish, and the dispositions requisite for their admission into it. He assumed to himself the character of the "Light of "the world," and taught men to look to his authority and his example for a rule of faith and practice. Thenceforward, every instructor of religious truth might be justly called upon either to produce equal authority for preaching other doctrines, or to mould his instructions in strict conformity with the heavenly pattern set before him.

To those who now enjoy the light of the Gospel, the application of this test can be a matter of little difficulty. The Sacred Volume is the only infallible guide to truth. They who are in possession of it must "be "no more children, tossed to and fro, and "carried about with every wind of doctrine," but "in understanding be men;" resolute in

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"holding fast the form of sound words which they have received," and "ready always to give a reason of the hope that is in them;"a reason grounded on the irrefragable claims of Holy Writ to their unqualified acceptance. This rule, it is obvious, includes every point of faith, as well as of practice. Whatever doctrine is set forth, under the semblance of Christianity, having a tendency to depreciate the value of the Redemption wrought for us, by encouraging a reliance upon our own merits rather than on the only true ground of acceptance, the Atonement made for our transgressions by the blood of Christ, is a doctrine productive of corrupt fruits. Equally so is that which either denies the necessity, or disparages the efficacy, of the Holy Spirit, in enabling men to work out their salvation; not only because this, as well as the undervaluing of our Lord's Atonement, is directly at variance with the express declarations of Holy Writ; but also because both the one and the other cannot fail to generate an arrogant self-sufficiency, vicious in itself, unbecoming the creature towards his Creator, still more unbecoming a guilty offender towards his Omnipotent and Omniscient Judge, and subversive of every one of those characteristic qualities and dispositions to which

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our Lord annexed especial blessings at the very commencement of his public ministry. In like manner, whatever tends to lessen men's apprehensions of the danger of “continuing in sin, that grace may abound," or to weaken their conviction of the necessity of practical obedience, by magnifying the efficacy of Faith, so as to hold out an assurance of salvation without regard to these necessary evidences of its internal influence, is no less delusive and pernicious. If any may be called "evil fruits," surely they may be called so which tend to depreciate, if not to annihilate, so essential a part of the Christian Covenant as that which comprises the whole circle of Christian duty, the "living soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present "world."

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These observations may suffice to shew that the maxim, "Ye shall know them by "their fruits," cannot but include the obvious tendency of the opinions to produce those inward dispositions, together with the outward conduct, which are expressly denominated "the fruits of the Spirit," in contradistinction to "the works of the flesh;" and which are, throughout the New Testament, represented as essential to Christian perfection. And not only are these requisite to

enable us to distinguish "false prophets" from true, among the teachers who profess to instruct men in Gospel truth; but they are no less requisite to enable us personally to judge ourselves, on that all-important and most searching question, whether “we are not "of them who draw back unto perdition, but "of them that believe to the saving of the "soul."

Nevertheless, it has long been a favourite notion with a certain description of reasoners, that no man's faith can be essentially wrong, whose life is in the right; that sincerity alone is indispensable; and that God may be acceptably served by persons of the most opposite persuasions, if their lives and actions correspond with their professions. In these positions, there is a certain portion of truth mixed with error, which renders it so much the more necessary to examine on what foundation they are built.

That a good life is the fit criterion of a sound faith, may be admitted, if the expression be taken in its largest and most comprehensive signification. But we must consider well what is meant by a good life. A good life properly denotes that which is regulated by one and the same sound principle in all points of duty; in duty towards God, as well

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