go INWARD WITNESS TO CIIRTSTIANITY. entered into the scheme of their constitution, that they could not be raised so high above this world, and the things of this life, as, ohristians under the gospel : they could never have such a sense of forgiving grace, 'nor so sweet a satisfaction in drawing near to God, as christians now have ; nor were they so expressly com- manded, nor could, nor did they so gloriously practise theduties of love and forgiveness tomen, as the christian religionrequires, and works in the hearts of sincere believers, 2d remark. You learn here an excellent rule for self-exam- ination, whether you have true faithor no. Ifyouhave, it will be accompanied ìvith'this evidence : for this eternal life begun in the soul, does'not merely prove that christianity is a true doc- trine, but it proves also that the faith of that person is true, where this eternal life is begun. This is mentioned in the fore- going sermon, therefore I shall pass it over briefly, The apostle asserts this sufficiently, vet, 13. 'These things have I written to you who believe in the name of the Sonof God, that ye mayknow that ye have eternal lie, The dutiesof morality, both of the first and second table, will be written upon the heart, andwill, in some degree, he practised in the life, where the gospel is written in the heart, and where christianity is wrought in its power in the soul. But, on the other hand, those who neglect the dutiesof the first table, or indulgethemselves in a very careless perfor -' mance of them those who pass by the duties ofthe second table, and those relative engagements which they lie under to their neighbour by the law of God, can never have the evidence within themselves, neither of the truth of christianity, nor of the truth of their own faith ; They may be heathens, they may be heroes, they may be philosophers, they may be any thing but christians. 3d remark. Learn the tree method of confirmingyour souls in the christian faith > seek daily greater degrees of this divine life wrought in you. This advice is also . hinted by the apostle John, in the 13th verse, I have written these things toyou con- cerning thewitness of christianity, that consistsinhaving eternal life begun in you, not onlythat ye mayknow yehave haveit, but that ye may go on to believe on thename of theSon ofGod. We have need inour day to be well seasoned with arguments against the dangersof the times, and the temptations of the age in which we dwell. Christianity begins tobe a stumbling-block, and the doctrine ofthe gospel is called folly ; it isreproached to a very great and shameful degree, in a nation, which in public professes christianity. When we therefore shall be attacked with argu- ments to baffleour faith, and when the wind offalse doctrineshall grow strong, and shall carry away many i how shallwe be able to stand our ground, and hold fast our faith in Christ, ifwe have
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