demption of Christ Jesus, his atoning sufferings are the sole and absolute ground; as believers obtain the pardon of their sins, wholly on Christ's account.

If a man be said to be justified by faith, that vital union by which he becomes united to Christ, is to be understood as the sole means of his justification. A living, operative faith is the great stipulated term by which he receives the glorious benefits of redemption. Faith, which worketh by love, is an essential qualification on the part of man, before he can be justified.

As it respects the way of salvation and the ground of pardon for sin, Christ is indeed all in all for justification in the sight of God. There can be no part, no claim, no merit whatever from any other quarter, in this view of the present subject.

Still, without evangelical faith, a man cannot become interested in the redemption of Christ Jesus. He must have the qualifications prescribed in the gospel, as a pre-requisite on his part, or he can never be admitted into the kingdom of heaven. Unless a man, in a moral sense become a new creature, all that Christ has done and suffered, cannot avail, cannot profit him. He must have the terms, specified in the gospel, in his own person; must have Christ formed in the soul, the hope of glory, by the renewing of the Holy Spirit, or he cannot be justified by Christ, by faith, nor by works. Except the soul be renewed and sanctified by the Divine Spirit, while in the body, and rendered perfectly holy before it be ushered into the immediate presence of its Judge, there will be no atonement and no intercessions of the Son of God, to deliver or prevent it from departing into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Thus we may see, that the atonement of Christ, and the obedience of believers, have no intermixture in justification. The one forms no part of the other. Both the nature and end of each are en

tirely separate and distinct. The one is the foundation, the sole ground of pardon, and claims the glory of eternal salvation. The other consists in the mere qualification, or preparedness of the soul for the favour of God, and the employments of heaven; and ascribes to him all the praise for the unspeakably gracious and glorious blessings of the gospel. The one is an invaluable ransom offered, and most glorious consequent blessings included; the other flows from their acceptance.

If professed Christians would form distinct views of the term justification, as it is used in its several senses, in the word of God, conversation on this subject, for edification, would take the place of painful disputes, calculated to darken the understanding and increase prejudice. If the subject be clearly understood in its various relations and uses, why cannot the Methodists and Presbyterians be at peace in regard to this point? Must it not be their misconceptions, or misunderstanding of each other, that can at any time, set them at variance?

When

ever they discourse or argue about the glorious doctrine of gospel justification, let it be in the spirit of meekness, and for mutual benefit; but not a striving for the mastery. Let them regard their glorious and divine Redeemer and the salvation of the redeemed, as subjects too valuable to be the theme of bitter and hostile reproaches.

6th. This subject, with light and force, presents itself to the understanding and conscience of every ungodly impenitent sinner, that he repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Every soul of man is so polluted with sin, as to be an infinite debtor to the grace of God, if ever saved with an everlasting salvation. And who has not already committed sins of a nature so odious, and to that extent, as to need the atoning blood of the Son of God for pardon? But in addition to the divine law being every way violated, will a Saviour set at nought, despised, and rejected,

deliver from perdition impenitent, unbelieving, Christless sinners No; Such a dishonour, a reproach so unparalleled, no intelligent in heaven could endure! Reader, the inconceivable and eternal glories of the gospel must be yours, must be cordially embraced in your heart by faith, or all its curses will be poured out upon you as your inevitable doom. God is not mocking you in the declarations of his holy word; in the terms of acceptance and justification, neither in his promises, nor his threatenings. Christ must be your Saviour from sin and eternal death, or he will be your Judge to sentence you to everlasting punishment. Then may you and I duly reflect how happy, what blessed beings, we shall be for eternity! if we believe in him to the saving of our souls. By faith, then, may we embrace him as our God and Saviour, our divine and glorious Redeemer. Amen.

SERMON XXII.

DEATH AND THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.

Ecclesiastes xii. 7.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.

IN the beginning of this chapter, Solomon enforces upon the young the importance of an early remembrance of their Creator, by a consideration of the evils incident to old age. The gloom, feebleness, and despondency of this period of life, are arrayed before the mind in a series of images, of remarkable elegance and expressiveness. In old age, the relish for the pleasures of life, is lost; and men grow indifferent even to those objects, which once occasioned the most agreeable sensations. Hence, the sun with its pleasant light, the fair moon and radiant stars, are as it were, obscured to them: or the imagination, memory, and judgement, the lights of the mind, are so impaired, that they seem darkened. One affliction or pain, succeeds another, as clouds return after showers in a rainy season. The hands and arms,

with which a man defends himself from assaults and accidents, as watchmen keep the house, grow feeble, tremble, and falter when their help is requisite. The legs and thighs which as strong men support the body, seem in old age, to bend under its weight. The teeth which used to grind the food, are most of them gone; and the few that remain, become useless. The eyes, by which the soul looked as it were, out at the windows, grow dim. In such a melancholy state, men have no inclination to eat; as they cannot grind or chew their food without pain and difficulty. And

they keep at home, retired, having their doors shut towards the street. Their rest is so easily disturbed, that they awake and rise up uneasy and alarmed at the least noise, even at the singing of a bird. The voice and the ear, those daughters of musick, are no longer capable of performing their functions; or the spirits are too languid to attend with satisfaction. Every ascent in the way terrifies them, on account of the labour of climbing; and they shun every high place, through fear of falling. Their heads covered with silver locks, seem to blossom like the almond tree: And every little inconvenience, though but the weight or chirping of a grass-hopper, is a burden to them. They are bowed down, and draw nigh to the end of their journey, and to the house appointed for all the living.

When these things take place, then the silver cord will be loosed, which may mean the inexplicable bond of union between the soul and body; or the spinal marrow, which continues sensation by the nerves, from the brain to every part of the body. Or the whole verse may be a description of the functions of life, taken from a well, where is a cord to the bowl or bucket, with which the water is drawn; a wheel, by which it is the more easily raised; a cistern, into which it may be poured; and a pitcher, or vessel, with which it is carried away but now all are broken, or loosened and become useless. Thus at death, the lungs no more play; the heart ceases to beat, and the blood to circulate. Every vessel becomes useless: The whole surprising machinery for forming and communicating the blood, which is the life, from the fountain of the heart to every extremity of the body, is now entirely deranged. The silver cord is loosed; the golden bowl broken; the pitcher and the wheel are marred at once.

Thus, when animal life shall cease, and the mysterious union of soul and body shall be dissolved, then shall the dust, or the material frame, return unto the