sonal sinfulness, were conclusive evidence of personal religion; every reprobate at the bar of judgment, and all the damned in hell, would be Christians. A sense of their corruption forms no small part of their wretchedness. We know, from the unequivocal declaration of Eternal Truth, that when the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all, he will cONVINCE all that are ungodly among them OF ALL THEIR UNGODLY DEEDS which they have ungodly committed. How then can the conviction of ungodliness, be the evidence of godliness?

In the minds of the unregenerate, the sense of personal sinfulness is always accompanied with the apprehension of danger. It cannot be otherwise. When a sense of sin is fastened upon the conscience of the sinner, it cannot fail to throw him into distress. In many cases, the distress

is great. The law work" is severe. The unhappy man sees the corruption of his own heart; and therefore gives up all hope from his own righteousness. He sees the corruption of his own heart; and therefore gives up all hope from the prospect of amendment. The law which he has broken, sweeps away at a stroke all his righteousness, and cuts up his hopes, root and branch.

All that is past is bad; all that is to come is no better. He sees that with his present disposition, sin will only revive and increase every hour that he lives. He is wretched and forlorn. He knows that he is the prisoner of justice, and fears that he is already bound over to the curse. He looks around for help, but no kind arm will interpose. He ventures to make a struggle to shake off his bondage; but every effort evinces his weakness, every struggle binds him faster in his chains. The arrows of the Almighty are within him, the poison whereof drinketh his spirits. He sees that he is actually going to hell. He knows that nothing he shall ever do, will prevent his going there. There is but a step between him and the eternal pit; while an invincibly obstinate heart cuts him off from every successful effort to escape it*. He is beyond the reach of help on

up

* The inability of the natural man to repent and believe the Gospel, lies in a heart so corrupt, that it is absolutely invincible, but by the Almighty power of God. It is an ina bility, the very essence of which consists in his moral turpitude. This the convinced sinner knows. He may not, in form, recognize the distinction between moral and natural inability, but every pang that shoots through his heart, is decisive testimony of its correctness. With the deep sense that he is in danger, is connected the deep conviction, that he is without excuse. He no longer casts the blame on God. The door of hope is open. Every obstacle, except that which arises from his own aversion to the way of life, is removed.

this side heaven.

No means, no motives can

afford him relief. hands of a Sovereign God, and that every thing without him, and every thing within him, is con

He sees that he is in the

All things are ready; he alone is unwilling. While he beholds himself trembling upon the verge of the pit, and hears the voice of the Great Deliverer," Sinner, lay down the "weapons of thy rebellion; repent of all your transgressions; "come unto me"-he will not come. At terms like these, every feeling of his heart revolts. Lay down the weapons of his rebellion! repent of all his transgressions! come unto Christ! he will not, he cannot. He spurns the offers of mercy, and had rather die than submit. Here is his inability; an inability that is all of his own cherishing, all confined within his own carnal heart.

It would be well if those who feel so uncharitably, and speak so unadvisedly concerning persons who are conscientiously constrained to maintain both the reality and importance of the distinction between natural and moral inability, understood either themselves, or the doctrine they condemn. In giving the sinner a natural power to become holy, we do not claim for him the self-determining power of the will. We do not say, that he can produce holiness by an act of the will that is antecedent to the first exercise of holiness. Neither do we challenge for a worm of the dust, the prerogative of independence. Eternal life hangs on the sovereign grace of God. The work of renewing and sanctifying the soul, and bearing it to heaven at last, rests on his Almighty arm. In giving the sinner a natural power to become holy, we design to give God the throne, and humble the sinner at his feet. Not until this important truth ceases to glorify God, and

spiring to increase his guilt, and aggravate his condemnation. And you will now ask, is there no religion in this? NONE. Does vital religion consist in the apprehension of danger, or in the fear

abase his enemies, let it be denounced as a doctrine either replete with error, or devoid of meaning.

Natural ability consists in possessing all those faculties that are necessary to constitute a moral agent. A moral agent is a being that is capable of actions that can be compared with law. To be capable of nothing that can be compared with "a rule of action, commanding what is right and "prohibiting what is wrong," is to be reduced to the level of the brutes that perish. To be capable of this, is to possess understanding, conscience, will, and affections. These faculties of the mind constitute a moral agent, and make any being capable of choosing or refusing, acting right or wrong as he pleases. Destitute of these, he would not be capable of moral action. He could be neither holy nor sinful. His character and conduct could be neither worthy of praise nor blame. But possessing these, he possesses all that is necessary to the exercise of holy and unholy affections. He possesses the power to perceive the objects of love and hatredto feel the obligation of loving that which is right, and hating that which is wrong-and to love or to hate in conformity with the dictates of his conscience and understanding, or in defiance to the dictates of both.

This is what we mean by natural ability to become holy. Take away these faculties, and there is a natural inability. Take away these, and it is absolutely impossible that any thing in the form of merit or demerit, should be attached to human character. This is the ability which we claim for the sinner. Strip him of those faculties which are necessa

that we shall never escape it? Where is the holi ness of being afraid of hell? What Christlike affection is there either in the horror of a guilty conscience, or the anticipation of the wrath to come?

ry to the exercise of volition, and you convert him to a mere animal. Invest the animal with these faculties, and you convert him into a moral agent; you make him the subject of moral government, and accountable for his conduct. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty has given him understanding. The sinner's claim must be acknowledged. He has all the natural faculties that are necessary to holiness; and if he were disposed to use them aright, he would be holy. You say a man has power to see and hear, if he has the faculties that are necessary to seeing and hearing. So has he power to be holy, if he has the faculties that are necessary to holiness.

But while we say that the sinner is under no natural inability to become holy, we also say that he is under a moral inability to become holy.

When we speak, of the moral inability of the sinner, we do not mean to deny that his inability is original, innate. We know it is. We use the word moral in contra-distinction from natural, to denote that which is comparable with a rule of moral action. Thus we speak of moral and natural good, moral and natural evil. There is much natural good in a seasonable shower of rain, but there is no moral good. There is much natural evil in an earthquake, but there is no moral evil. Natural good and evil cannot be compared with a rule of action; they bear no relation to praise or blame. With moral good and evil, it is otherwise. I hope to be understood therefore when I use the phrase moral inability