there is evidently implied approbation of God the Father, and his holiness and glory. Otherwise we could not approve of Christ wherein he approves of the Father. And further, Christ has magnified the law, and made it honorable, both by his active obedience and his dying to sustain it. And to receive and acquiesce in such a Savior implies that we also have a heart to approve and honor and obey the same law. Thus faith in Christ implies a foundation in the heart for love to God, and also for love to his law and a cordial obedience thereto. And he that is the subject of true faith, has this foundation laid in him. So that justification by faith in Christ, so far from discouraging from obedience, necessarily secures it.

I might go on to mention several other virtues for which this way of salvation lays a foundation; particularly humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness and brotherly love. To be sensible that we are saved only through the righteousness of another, and are continually dependent on him, naturally tends to expel pride and inspire humility in the soul. To believe in a Savior who patiently endured such things as Christ did for us, naturally tends to inspire with patience. The consideration of the forgiveness of our sins through Christ, and of the fact that we are united in one mystical body with our christian brethren, has the like tendency, if our hearts are indeed right with God, to excite in us a forgiving spirit toward our enemies, and sincere brotherly love towards all the true disciples of the Savior. But these things I have only time to mention. The mere mention of them, however, is enough, I presume, to show that in these respects, as in the others that have been stated, the plan of the gospel has no tendency to discourage from obedience to the divine law, but on the contrary effectually secures that obedience in all who comply with it.

I have thus endeavored to show that the gospel is a glorious gospel, because in it every divine attribute, whether natural or moral, is most eminently displayed; and also because it renders the free pardon of sin consistent with the obligation of the law in those who comply with it, and at the same time secures in all such a holy life. In the improvement of the subject I remark,

1. If the gospel be indeed so glorious a gospel as appears from what has been said in the present discourse, then we may see how highly favored we are in enjoying the revelation of it. The revelation of the gospel is so familiar to multitudes that they seem to esteem it no favor, no privilege at all. But let such consider what their state would have been if they had lived under the dim light of the Old Testament dispensation, or in the deep

darkness of heathenism; or what it would have been if there had been no plan of reconciliation between God and man revealed. And by dwelling on these things, let them learn suitably to prize the gospel and all its privileges.

2. If the gospel be so glorious and excellent, then let us all be exhorted to make it the object of constant and close attention and study. You remember the good report which the noble Bereans obtained by this very thing. They are left on eternal record as praised of God for searching the scriptures daily. Let us then follow their example which is so strongly commended to our imitation. To do this we are also encouraged by the example of the angels themselves. They, as the apostle Peter expressly declares, desire to look into these things; they make them the object of their continual meditation and investigation. The study of the gospel is an angelic and heavenly study. And truly it is in every respect a most noble study, even to the bright and holy intelligences of heaven. Its subjects are the most noble and grand in the universe, and the most pleasing and delightful to those who have a taste for them. They afford constant delight and entertainment to all the hosts of heaven, both saints and angels, and will afford the same to all who shall be so happy as hereafter to arrive at that blessed world; and as Christ, through eternal ages, shall unfold their mysteries, and display their inexhaustible riches and glories, they shall be endless sources of instruction and delight, filling the soul with joys that are unspeakable and full of glory.

And not only is the study of the scriptures an entertaining and noble employment, but it is as useful as it is agreeable. It is useful for every class of men, both saints and sinners. It is one of the principal means of awakening, conviction and conversion to those who are careless and secure in their sins. What can have a more powerful tendency this way, than for sinners to peruse, and as in the very presence of God to meditate on the most solemn and interesting truths of the gospel? And though there be no absolute promise to the sinner while he remains such, yet the experience of all ages shows that while thus seriously perusing and attending to the solemn truths of the gospel, he is in the most likely way that he can be in, to obtain the saving grace of God. Therefore for sinners to neglect these means of grace, is to act most unwisely and presumptuously, and highly to provoke a gracious God.

And as the study of the gospel is thus useful for sinners, so it is also for saints. As it is a means of awakening and conviction to the former, so it is of comfort, establishment and edification to the latter. By attending to the gospel, they will learn more of

God and his sovereignty, of Jesus Christ and his wonderful grace and love to men, of their own vileness in themselves and their dependence on the Holy Spirit. And these views will have a powerful tendency to fill their hearts with adoration and thankfulness for the grace of the gospel, and with humility and selfabasement for their own sinfulness and short-comings, and will lead them to place less dependence on themselves, and more on Jesus Christ. Attention to the gospel is also a powerful means of weaning the heart from the world and the things of it, and of fixing the affections on things that are above. It makes the way of duty plain, and unfolds the dangers of temptation, and arrays before the individual every motive to walk in the one and guard against the other. It continually points to eternal realities, so as to make them, as it were, present, and thus leads us to live as "seeing things invisible," having "our conversation in heaven." And, in short, in every respect it is a most powerful means of promoting the sanctification of the saints, and their growth in grace. Those, therefore, who neglect this noble and divine employment of attending diligently to the gospel of Christ, are wholly inexcusable, and so they will find it in the last great day.

3. Let us take occasion from this subject to inquire whether we have complied with this glorious gospel? To comply with the gospel is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now many have something which they suppose to be faith, and yet which falls far short of the reality. Let us then examine as to our faith. And in so doing we may try it by the following signs:

(1) If our faith be genuine we shall receive Christ with a cordial approbation of the holiness of his character, as well as of his grace and mercy. We shall esteem him as a Savior from the influence as well as from the condemnation of sin, and as much desire to be saved by him from the former as the latter. To do otherwise to approve of his grace and mercy, and not of his holiness, is to divide those things that in their nature are inseparable, and thus to prove that our faith is spurious.

(2) If our faith is genuine, we shall receive and approve of Christ in every part of his character, and in all his relations to us. We shall approve of him as our prophet to instruct us, and shall delight in all his instructions. We shall approve of him as our priest, expecting and desiring salvation only through the blood of his atonement. We shall approve of him as our king, and delight in all his laws and commands, endeavoring to live faithfully according to them.

(3) If our faith be genuine, we shall bring forth fruits meet for it. It will be our delight to live a life of holiness, and also

the object of our constant endeavor. And our profiting herein will doubtless in a greater or less degree appear unto all men. Thus we shall show our faith by our works; which if we do not, in vain shall we flatter ourselves with the imagination, that we are believers; in vain shall we expect a share in the charity of men here, or the divine favor hereafter. It is forever true that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

4. If the gospel be so glorious, how inexcusable will be all those who comply not with it. The greater its glory, the greater the obligation on all to accept its offers. And how justly will God be provoked with those who finally refuse to comply with its demands and accept its grace! Such a refusal implies a contempt not only of the gospel but of the law, not only of Christ our Savior but of God the father, a contempt on the one hand of the mercy of eternal life, and on the other of the woes of eternal death. It implies the basest ingratitude, and the darkest guilt. It will but prepare those who are chargeable with it, to hear at last from God, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you." Therefore let all repent of this their impenitence and unbelief, and pray God if perhaps the thought of their heart may be forgiven." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

SERMON XXVII.

THE BROAD WAY.*

MATTHEW 7: 13.-"Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat."

THESE words were uttered by our Lord in his sermon on the mount. They contain an exhortation, with an enforcement. The exhortation is "to enter in at the strait gate;" this is what he would have all his hearers do. What the strait gate is, appears by the next verse, viz. the gate which openeth into life; "strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life." The argument which our Savior uses to enforce this exhortation is this: "for wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." This argument or enforcement has a double force; lying partly in what is implied and plainly understood, and partly in what is expressed.

The thing implied is this, that there is no middle passage between the strait gate with its narrow way, and the wide gate with its broad way; and that if men do not enter in through the former into life, they must unavoidably enter through the latter into the broad way which leadeth to destruction. So that our Lord virtually tells his hearers that as they would avoid destruction, and as they value their immortal souls and eternal life, they must enter in at the strait gate.

What is expressed in this enforcement, is what our Lord observes of the gate and way that lead to destruction; that the gate is wide, and the way broad. By this he would let us know the danger there is that we shall enter in at this gate, and walk in this way. For whenever there are two gates, the one so wide as to admit of an easy entrance, and the other so small and strait that it cannot be entered without great toil and labor, men are strongly tempted and much exposed to enter the former and pass by the latter. So also when there are two ways or roads, the one broad and plain and well beaten, the other narrow and ob

* First preached in 1768.