The third thing I proposed to shew was, that our works have no merit in themselves, and consequently all confidence in them, absolutely considered, is vain and presumptuous. But this I shall make the subject of a future discourse. SERMON SERMON XXXI. EPHESIANS ii. 8, 9. By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. IN my former discourse upon these words, I endeavoured to shew, first, that faith in Christ is the only mean through which we can hope for salvation; and secondly, that true Christian faith cannot be attained without the assistance of God's holy spirit. To prove the former of these two heads, I shewed you from the Holy Scriptures, that by the fall of Adam sin entered into the world, and corruption overspread the face of the whole earth; that this corruption called loudly upon the justice of God for satisfaction; which it was not in the power of man to give; that the only methods of atonement, which the wit of man could possibly think of, were repentance and sacrifice, and that both these were totally insufficient to procure salvation that God, however, of his infinite mercy provided us with an effectual remedy, by sending his blessed Son from heaven, to make a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and consequently, that faith and confidence in his merits is the only medium, through which we can hope to obtain everlasting life. To prove the latter of these heads, I shewed you, that as the heart of man is originally corrupt, and the will inclined unto evil continually, Christ must have died for us in yain, without some farther assistance; since it could have been of little service to us to be reinstated in God's favour, unless we were at the same time enabled to preserve that favour: that this assistance God has afforded to all Christians, by giving us his holy Spirit; to correct the wrong bias of our wills, to instruct and enlighten our hearts, to dispose them to faith and obedience, to strengthen them against the force of temptations, and to carry all these purposes into execution by co-ope rating with our prayers, and interceding for their acceptance at the throne of grace. I now I now proceed, thirdly, to shew, that our works have no merit in themselves, and therefore all confidence in them, absolutely considered, is vain and presumptuous; agreeably to the doctrine of the text, " by grace are ye saved, through "faith: not of works, lest any man should "boast." Now to clear up this point, let us consider what is to be understood by the merit of an action: for an action to be meritorious, that is, to have a right to demand a reward from the hands of any being, it must be such an one as is not strictly due to that being; it must be of some service to him; it must be as profitable to him, as the expected reward is to us; or, at least, it must be a perfect work. If therefore we can make it appear, that our best works are due unto God, are of no manner of service to him, and of consequence bear not the least proportion to the reward proposed, and are too in themselves at best imperfect, then must all merit be absolutely excluded from the actions of men towards God. Now all of these particulars are as manifest from the light of nature, as they are from the declarations of Scripture itself. ১ As for the first; our Blessed Saviour instructs us, "when we have done all those things which " are commanded us, to say, we are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our "duty |