means with them for their salvation, must be utterly in vain, and can answer no valuable end. I have seen this objection insisted upon in the following strong terms. "The necessary consequence of this doctrine is, that it is to no more purpose to urge gospel truths and motives on unconverted men, to persuade them to be reconciled to God, than it is to reason with a madman with a view to cure him of his distraction; and that the gospel ministry, as it respects the unconverted, is the vainest, foolishest, and absurdest thing in the whole world."

But to this, though strongly urged, the answer is easy. For,

(1.) The means appointed to be used with sinners, have a proper tendency to do some things which are necessary in order to their salvation; though they cannot renew them in the spirit of their minds, nor reconcile them to God before they are renewed. Sinners must have some knowledge and convictions of certain truths, or they cannot be saved in the gospel way and the word of truth, if rightly divided, is well adapted to give them this knowledge, and these convictions. By the law is the knowledge of sin:" by the gospel is the knowledge of salvation for sinners. The law is necessary to kill the self-righteous hopes of natural men; the gospel, to keep them from sinking in utter despair. Both are very useful for discovering to sinners their utter inexcusableness, and at the same time their total helplessness in themselves; and thus to make them sensible of their perishing need of a Saviour, and of a Sanctifier. In this view it is of importance that the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, should be revealed from heaven, and be clearly set before their eyes; as this will have a tendency to put some check upon them in their careless, sinful courses, and to awaken their attention to the things which belong to their peace.

In this view it is of importance that duty should be urged upon them, in all its various branches, external and internal: that the commandment, in all its breadth and length, should be clearly illustrated to them as holy, just, and good. In this view it is of importance that the gospel of peace should be truly explained; that the reasonableness of its terms, and the riches of its grace, should be fully evinced, and that sinners should be earnestly exhorted and entreated, in this way, to be reconciled to God. The natural tendency of all this, under only the impressive influence of the Holy Spirit, is to bring the unconverted to a conviction of their sin and danger; of their duty and impotency; and so to prepare them for the grace of God which bringeth salvation. By these means the sinner's refuges of lies and hid ing places of falsehood are swept away. By these means the vain imaginations of the unregenerate, respecting their own goodness or their ability to become good, are cast down; which is one thing needful in order to their building upon the sure foundation laid in Zion. By means of the moral power of gospel truth, sinners are also actually reconciled to God, through repentance and faith in Christ, when their recovery to a right spirit, by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, is once begun.

Now, since the awakening, the conviction, and the actual conversion of men, is thus effected by the proper influence of light and truth; we can see good reason why the forementioned means were appoint. ed, and ought to be used. But,

(2.) If we could see no tendency in the instituted means of grace, to do any thing relative to the salvation of the unconverted; yet God who is wonderful in counsel and incomprehensible in working, might well be supposed to have sufficient reasons for their institution and use. He had reasons, undoubtedly, for employing men and prescribing means,

when he would work those wonders of old which all christians allow to have been entirely supernatural. If changing the dispositions of men were all that was necessary for their salvation, still, consistently with the doctrine now maintained, we could understand why God would have the law and gospel preached to them, as well as we can why he ordered that the priests, bearing the ark, and blowing with trumpets, should go round the city of Jericho seven days, when he would break down the walls of that strong fortification. And as well as we can why the Syrian nobleman was directed to wash seven times in the river Jordan, for the miraculous cure of his leprosy. Naaman objected, indeed, and thought this prescription of the prophet, no doubt, one of the foolishest, vainest, and absurdest things in the world. He said, "Are Abana and Parphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage." Nevertheless, upon being better advised, he tried the experiment, and found a cure.

The propriety of our using means divinely ordained, depends not upon their having in them any power or virtue adequate to the end proposed. Whether the expected effect be natural, or supernatural, alters nothing: in either case, a divine efficiency is required; and our encouragement, is the intimation of His good pleasure who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. If we have a commission and charge from Him, to urge gospel truths and duties on unconverted men, as the means of their salvation, although we consider them, in regard to spiritual life, as fitly represented by a valley of dry bones, it is not irrational for us to do as we are commanded; to tell them what must be believed and done by them, and to call upon them to hear the word of the Lord: because He who quickeneth the dead, can give them a hearing ear, and an understanding heart; and because we have more reason

to hope that he will do this, when these means are used with them, than when they are neglected.

5. There is one more objection, which, though it often occurs, and has often been answered, ought not perhaps to be wholly passed over in this place. It may be objected that God's treatment of the unregenerate in his word, is not consistent with the doctrine of their being incapable of good works, until, by his supernatural power and sovereign grace, they are created anew. He not only calls upon them to awake out of sleep, and arise from the dead, as our Saviour called to Lazarus to come forth out of his grave; but he seriously exhorts, and authoritatively commands all men to repent and believe; yea, to be perfect; and threatens to punish them eternally for every failure of obedience to the law of sinless perfection, as well as for non-compliance with the terms of the gospel. But how can such exhortations, commands, and threatenings, be reasonable or just, provided the unregenerate are under a real inability to do any good works?

This some have attempted to answer one way and some another; and some have frankly confest that there is a mystery in it which they know not how to solve. The most common answer has formerly been, that we were disabled for holy obedience by the fall, which was our own fault; and that God has not lost his right to command, because man hath thus lost his ability to obey. A late writer of no inconsiderable genius or learning, whose books are circulating among us, seems still rather inclined to adopt this old solution; though he is not altogether satisfied with it, excepting as applied to the first man, who was created perfect originally unto all good works, and lost this power by his own personal fault. He says, "It is because man has disabled himself from doing his duty, that we argue the inexcusableness, and sinfulness of his moral inability."

And he quotes a worthy ancient divine as saying; "If any way could have been supposed, how Adam could have been bereft of that holiness he was created in, without a precedaneous act of sinning as the cause, then indeed we might have said that privation of holiness should not have been reckoned sin either to himself or his posterity in that case." That is, if Adam had not sinned before he was unholy, his being unholy would have been no sin! But, after this quotation, our modern author adds; "That Adam should be subject to an habitual inability with respect to his duty, and yet be held bound to the performance of it, is not so hard to conceive. But that this inability and corruption should be propagated to his posterity, and have the same effects and consequences in them, is a point of vast difficulty; and is perhaps the Gordian-knot in revealed religion. And yet the experience of the world in all ages has extorted a general acknowledgment of the depravity of human nature : and the scriptures plainly assert and constantly suppose it. They represent man in his natural state as destitute of both a will and power for such acts as are spiritually good that he is unable to will and do duties in a holy manner, until by supernatural and special grace he is enabled and persuaded thereto; and yet charge him with sin and guilt for every deviation from that perfection which the divine law requires. Upon the testimony of God in his word, my faith rests satisfied, without pretending to see through those difficulties, which the sacred writers have not, that I remember, once attempted to solve."

Such modesty undoubtedly becomes us, in regard to those mysteries of revealed religion which we cannot comprehend. We had much better suspect the inadequateness of our shallow reason, than disbelieve plain revelation, because we cannot see its consistency. Were all hearers of the gospel as modest as this, they would not censure and ridicule preachers,