St. Paul had the fame objection continually caft in his face. † Do we then make void the law thro' faith? fays he in his own defence, Rom. iii. 31: That is, by preaching falvation thro' faith do we hinder people from doing the good works commanded in the law? God forbid! yea we eftablish the law: i. e. Our preaching is fo far from fuperfeding good works, that it [inforces them by the greatest variety of motives, and] puts our hearers into [the best, not to fay] the only method of doing them : for it fhews them how, being Sprinkled from an evil confcience, and having their heart purified by faith, they shall naturally [i. e. fpontaneoufly] produce all forts of good works, instead of bringing forth a few counterfeit ones.

The apostle answers the fame objection, Rom. vi. I. fhall we then, who are faved by grace thro' faith, continue in fin that grace may abound? Shall we omit doing good works; fhall we do evil works, because salvation is not [by the covenant] of works, but [by that] of grace? God forbid! How shall we, that are dead to fin, live any longer therein! As if he had faid, Is not the faith which we preach, a faith of the operation of God? Is it not a powerful and active principle, G3

that

(23) The antinomians by fair Speeches undefignedly deceive the bearts of the fimple, Because St. Paul fully anfwers this objection, they make the injudicious believe, that he was of their fentiment; tho', upon their plan of doctrine, the objection which he starts is abfolutely unanswerable. They fay, "WE establish the law by preaching Chrift, who has kept it for us; and by extolling his imputed righteoufnefs, thro' which we are for ever compleat in juftifying obedience before God." Now, altho' we humbly and thankfully acknowledge with them, that our Lord has kept the Adamic law of innocence, and made it honourable for us.; yet we abfolutely deny, that he has kept the evangelical law of liberty for us. Perfonal obedience to it is indifpenfably required of every man, and if a believer does not fulfil it for himself, St. Paul and St. James inform us, that a forer punishment, and a more merciless judgment await his difobedience, than if he had never believed, Heb. x. 29. James ii. 13. Thus thofe holy apoftles fully make up the gap of antinomian free grace, which fome of our gofpel minifters make it their business to widen,

turns † the heart from all fin to all righteousness? Is it not a faith, by which we are made new creatures, and overcome the world? 1 John, v. 1, 4.

[When people lie in darkness, doing the works of darkness, which in the dark pafs either for good works that divine juftice will reward, or for trifling offences that divine mercy will overlook; then heart-felt repentance is totally neglected, and deep mourning for fin paffes for defpair. Few know what it is to look on Lim whom they have pierced and mourn. Very few, if any, can experimentally fay: Being juftified by faith we have peace with God thro our Lord Jefus Chrift, by whom we have now received the atonement.]

[Suppofe the lot of a minifter acquainted with the priviledges of the chriftian difpenfation, is caft in a place, where thefe pharifaic and common delufions generally prevail; the firft thing he has to do, is undoubtedly to uncover and shake the falfe foundations, on which his unawakened hearers build their hope. He must show them, that their partial, external, faithlefs obedience will never profit them. He must decry their imaginary good works, tear their filthy rags of fancied righteoufnefs, fweep away their refuges of lies, and fcourge their confciences with the curfe of the law, 'till they fee their nakedness, feel their guilt, and receive the fentence of death in themselves. Then, and not till then, will they ftand on a level with the poor contrite publican, and

Groan the finner's only plea,

"God be merciful to me"!]

[When a preacher is engaged in that important and thankless bufinefs, how natural is it for him, efpecially if he is yet young and unexperienced, or if

he

(24) † How could I have had the affurance of afking thefe qucftions, if I had believed as my late Opponent, that a man, who actually commits the greateft crimes, may actually have as true, juftifying faith as Abraham ever had! I should expect, that, if fuch a faith did not as I faid eleven years ago, turn the beart from all fin to all righteousness, it would at least turn it from deliberate adultery, murder,

and inceft.

he is heated by the oppofition of obftinate pharifees, and bigoted papifts, to drop fome unguarded expreffions againit good works; or at least not to make always a proper diftinction between the pharifaical works of unbelief, which Isaiah calls filthy rags, and the works of faith which our Lord calls good and ornamental works? And how glad are his adverfaries, to have fuch a plausible pretence for throwing an odium upon him, by affirming that he explodes all forts of works, even those for which our reward will be great in heaven!]

The Devil fought against our Reformers with fuch weapons. All the books that the Papifts wrote against them, rang with the charge of their turning good works out of christianity. Hear good Bishop Latimer, one of the best livers that ever were: You avill Jay now," Here is all faith, faith; but we hear nothing of good works:" for Some carnal people make fuch carnal objections like themselves, &c. Sermon on twelfth day.

Of the fame import is the following paffage out of the Homily on Faiting: "Thus much is faid of good works, c. to take away, so much as may be, from envious minds, and flanderous tongues, all just occasion of flanderous Speaking, as tho' good works were rejected."

Thus St. Peter, St. Paul, and our Reformers were accused of defpifing good works, because they exalted Chrift, [and with an holy indignation trampled upon the works of unbelief, which are the foundation of all pharifaic hopes:] And [fo far as I have not, by unguarded expreffions, given a just caufe of offence to thofe, who are glad of any occafion to decry the fundamental doctrine of falvation by faith;] I own that I rejoice to be counted worthy of fuffering the fame reproach, with fuch a cloud of faithful witneffes. Nevertheless as the fcriptures fay, that we must not let the good that is in us be evil spoken of, I fhall advance fome arguments, which, by God's bleffing, will either convince or fhame my accufers.

You

You fay, [and this I fpeak particularly to you, that are fully fet against the doctrine of Salvation by faith :] you fay that I preach against good works that I run down good works, &c:" but pray, do you know what good works are? I am afraid you do not, or elfe you would + [not accufe me fo rafhly:] Give me leave therefore to inftruct you once in this point.

All divines agree, that good works are of three forts (1) Works of piety towards God; (2) Works of charity towards our neighbour; and (3) Works of Jelf-denial towards ourselves.

[To fay nothing now of the good works of the heart, fuch as good thoughts, good tempers, and internal acts of repentance, faith, hope, and love;} in the first clafs [of external good works, which includes works of piety, divines rank public prayer in the church, family-prayer in private houses, and [meditation or] private prayer in one's clofet: Singing pfalms, hymns, and fpiritual fongs: Reading the bible and other good books: Hearing the word preached or expounded: Receiving the facraments: Keeping the fabbath day and festivals holy: Confeffing Chrift before a wicked world: And fuffering the loss of one's eftate, of one's good name, or life itself, for the gofpel's fake.

Now I appeal to every impartial hearer, yea and to thy own confcience, O man, who accufeft me of preaching against good works, whether I ever taught directly or indirectly, that we ought not conftantly to attend public worship in the houfe of God, as well as private worship in our own houses, and to perform fecret worship in our clofets :--Whether I ever fpoke against finging pfalms, hymns, and fpiritual fongs; or against reading the bible and other good books:Whether

(25) + Instead of these words [not accufe me fo rafhly] I formerly wrote [be ashamed to accufe me fo falfely.] I reject them now, becaufe a minifter of the gospel fhould not only speak the truth, but endeavour to speak it in the moft acceptable manner. It is enough to give offence when it cannot be avoided. We should not provoke the difpleasure of our hearers without neceffity.

Whether I ever fo much as hinted, that we ought not to endeavour fo to difpatch our worldly business, as to hear [if poffible] the word preached or expounded both on fundays and working days - Whether I ever intimated, † that we can live in the neglect of God's ordinances, and break his fabbaths, without bringing upon ourselves SWIFT DESTRUCTION: And lastly, whether at any time I cryed down fuffering reproach for Chrift, and parting with all things, even life itfelf, to follow him and his doctrine.

Nay, do not you know in your own, breaft, that my infifting upon these good works, and encouraging all I can to do them, is what makes me to be defpifed and rejected by many, and perhaps by yourself? How can you then, without wounding 1 [your own confcience] accufe me of preaching against good works? Are you not rather the perfon that fpeaks against them? Are you not yourself one of thofe [loofe moralifts] who fay, that, "For their part they fee no need of fo many fer"mon's, lectures, and facraments in the church: no "need of fo much finging, reading, praying, and godly converfation in private houfes no need of "fuch strictnefs in keeping the fabbath-day holy, " &c:"

6.6

If you are one of them, you add [I fear] detraction to infidelity, and bearing falfe teftimony to open prophaneness [or Laodicean lukewarmnefs.] You decry good works yourself by your words, your practice, and your example; and when you have done, you lay the fin at my door; you fay that I preach against them!

(26) † My opponent has not only done this, but he has intimated that all believers may commit adultery, murder, and inceft, not only without bringing upon themselves fwift deftruction, but with this additional advantage, that they fhall infallibly "fing louder" in heaven for: their deepest falls, which can never finally hurt them, because all their fins are unconditionally for ever and for ever forgiven. Had I ever infinuated fuch loofe principles among my parishioners, I fhould have had a brazen forehead indeed, to look them in the face, while I made the above-mentioned appeal.

(27) ↑ Eleven years ago I faid [common fenfe and common bonesty.] I now discard the expreffion as needlessly offenfive.