CONTENTS OF VOL. It. Page 22. General Remarks on Renovation of Character...... 149 25. Thoughts on the Reasoning of James, on the Jus. tification of Abraham................................. 197 26. On the Manner in which the Scriptures introduce LETTERS, PRACTICAL AND CONSOLATORY. LETTER XVI. HINTS ON THE PROPER METHOD OF INSTRUCTING INQUIRERS. Importance of declaring fully the demands of the Law-Not necessary to defer stating the Gospel till the mind appear to be awakened-All instruction to be connected with the doctrine of the Cross-Christ the centre of all Divine truth-The importance of stating correctly the ground of human obligation. MY DEAR FRIEND, You will remember the conversation we had on the best method of introducing the truths of Scripture to an inquirer. This is a matter of very great importance: and, with a view to assist you in your endeavours to do good, I shall now, agreeably to my promise, suggest to you some hints on the subject. I feel it difficult to descend to minute particulars on it, because much must depend on the circumstances of individuals-on the way in which they have been accustomed to think on religious subjects, and on the kind of observations they may make on what is said to them ; I shall therefore confine myself to general topics. If we follow, as we ought, the examples of Scripture, we shall begin our instructions by directing the attention of an inquirer to those parts of the word of God which treat most directly of the character of God, the state and character of man, and the Gospel of peace. Men cannot be convinced of sin without some idea of the character and law of God; nor of their need of deliverance, without a conviction of guilt and a sense of danger; nor of the importance of salvation, without a sense of the evil and demerit of transgression. It is therefore proper to state, at the very commencement of our instructions, the righteous demands of the divine law, the condition of man as a sinner, and the utter impossibility of his being justified by deeds of his own. Such subjects, even when the inquirer is already acquainted with them, ought to be pressed on the conscience with the greatest seriousness; and the solemn language of Scripture regarding them ought to be employed, to awaken to a due sense of their importance. It is not necessary, however, to refrain from stating the Gospel till such statements as these appear to be clearly understood, and powerfully felt. The fact is, that scarcely is there an unbeliever in a country where the Gospel has been preached, who is altogether destitute of a consciousness of guilt, and at all times free from distress of mind. There are remaining traces of the divine law in every man's heart, and there is a voice there which witnesses for God. Men may, and often do, make strong endeavours to obliterate all impressions of sin and of danger, and to silence the clamours of conscience; but, in defiance of all their efforts, conscience is not completely quieted, but at times causes no small concern and distress. Now, in this state of mind, that Gospel which brings the salvation of Godnear to the guilty, is, when its glory is discerned, most acceptable to man. If then such is the experience of men in general, it is not necessary to refrain from stating the Gospel to them till a certain preparatory process has been gone through, subsequent to our admonitions. The apostles did not thus limit themselves. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, after he had charged his hearers with the guilt of murdering the promised Messiah, stated the sum of the Gospel before they discovered that they felt the force of the charge. Acts ii. In the following history, we find him addressing the people of Israel on their sin in crucifying the Prince of Life, and, before any discovery had been made of this having been felt, preaching to them salvation through Jesus. Acts iii. 12-26, and iv. 11, 12. Paul followed the same course in Antioch in Pisidia. Acts xiii. 25-41. To withhold the invitations of the Gospel till we think a person sufficiently convinced of sin, and then to introduce them as something to which he is entitled, is to act very unscripturally. The Gospel may be freely declared at all times; for there is such a connection between one part of truth and all other parts of it, that if one part is understood and embraced, all others which are implied in it, even such as, in the order of nature, go before it, will follow it. None, it is true, will believe the Gospel without seeing that they stand in need of it; for without a conviction of sin and of danger, that evidence of its truth, which consists in its perfect suitableness to the guilty and'ruined circumstances of man, and to the character and government of God, cannot be discerned. But it is only in connection with the declarations of the Gospel, that the law of God produces genuine penitence. All the agony which a conviction of guilt may occasion, will, while a sinner is unacquainted with the Gospel, only lead him to despair, or to some self-righteous course. If he come to Christ under the notion that his alarm and penitence qualify him for the benefit of the atonement, he is blind to the import and the glory of the saving truth. Such is the tendency of the preparatory schemes to which I advert. It ought to remembered, that, in the Gospel itself, the guilt and the lost state of sinners are revealed; so that, if the more particular statements of these by themselves should have been without much or any effect, the view given of them in the Gospel may, along with those statements, produce all that is necessary. It is impossible indeed to give a just exhibition of the Gospel as a scheme of deliverance without, at the same time, declaring the guilt and condemnation of man, from which it is designed to save. On this principle, it is easy to see why Philip began with preaching Jesus, Acts viii. 35, and why the apostles dwelt in all cases on the doctrines of Christ and him crucified. 1 Cor. i. 22-24, and xv. 1—4. 2 Cor. v. 18-21. Not that they did so without exhibiting the divine law; but that they stated the law and the Gospel together. I mean not that contrition is produced by nothing else than the revelation of mercy; or that conviction of guilt is not produced by the law. By the law, certainly, is the knowledge of sin; but the death of the beloved Son of God is the strongest demonstration that its awful curse cannot be dispensed with. It deserves parti,cular notice, too, that, till a man believe the Gospel, convictions of sin are forced upon him. Till then, he is afraid to take the law into close and proper consideration; but having seen the glory of the work of Christ, he says, "Search me, O God, and show me the errors of my way, and lead me in the way everlasting." One man is led to see his guilt by a strong view of the law of God, as was the case with the jailer of Philippi: Another, in hearing or reading of the cross of |