A man may profess to believe the gospel of Christ, and may imagine that he believes it, when, in reality, he does not understand its import. He may believe all that his mind discerns in the announcements of the gospel; but there may be so much in those announcements which he does not discern, that it cannot justly be said, he understands it; and not comprehending its import, it cannot justly be said that he believes it. The impression and the persuasion of his mind do not correspond with the whole, but only with a part, and with a very small part, of the truth designed to be conveyed; and therefore the persuasion cherished in his mind falls radically short of being the Faith which the gospel requires. Take, for an example, that concise but comprehensive summary of the gospel, given by the Apostle Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy;

"It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." This faithful saying has reference to two points of unspeakable importance; the one regards the character of man as a sinner, guilty, depraved, and wretched; the other regards the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a Saviour able and willing "to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him." Now no man can possibly understand aright the latter, without entertaining just views of the

former. No man can, by any possibility, believe on Christ, because no man can, by any possibility, comprehend the character of Christ as a Saviour, who has not right views of the character of man as a sinner. But it is not a vague and speculative view of the nature of sin, or of man as a sinner, which amounts to the requisite perception. Never can I form right views of the evil and danger of sin, till I see, till I feel, myself to be a sinner -a sinner odious in the sight of the God of holiness--a sinner ready to perish-a sinner deserving to perish-a sinner absolutely without hope, unless hope dawn upon the mind, from some intimations of unmerited favour and sovereign mercy. Immeasurable is the difference between a man coldly speculating on the abstract nature of sin, and a man entering, with lowliest abasement and contrition, into the views of him who exclaimed, "God be merciful to me a sinner." In the former there is not only the absence of right feelings, but there is equally the absence of right views. He does not view his character, or his offences, as a sinner ought to view them, or as they really are. He does not understand, and therefore he does not believe, that part of the testimony of God, which regards the nature and evil of sin. How, then, can he believe the other part of the testimony, which regards the character and work of Him, who came into the world to

save sinners? He may read of the Saviour's tender compassion, and atoning blood, and perfect righteousness; but he receives from such statements no such ideas, no such impressions, as they were intended to produce. He feels not the absolute necessity of interposing mercy. He discerns not the glory of the gift unspeakable. He yields not to the urgency of the divine beseechings to be reconciled to God. The glad tidings of salvation, however familiar to his ear, excite no correspondent ideas in his mind, no correspondent emotions in his heart. He may verbally declare an assent to the truths contained in the testimony of God; but it would be a perversion of language, to represent him as actually believing those truths, of which there is no correct impression, either on his understanding, his memory, his conscience, or his heart. Be it, then, our immediate and anxious concern to ascertain, of what character are our own ideas and impressions, on these momentous subjects, in order that we may examine and de-. termine" whether we be in the faith."

2. There may be the belief of many things which have relation to the gospel, when there is not a belief of the gospel itself.

A man may admit the force of the evidences of the divine origin of christianity, and may believe the bible to contain a divine revelation, and

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yet not possess the faith of the gospel. He may be much occupied with studying, and with exhibiting, the proofs of the genuineness and authenticity of the books of scripture, while he may be habitually unmindful of their invaluable contents. He may even flatter himself into a persuasion, that he well understands, and cordially believes, the truths which they inculcate, while his mind continues unenlightened, and his heart impenitent and unrenewed.

Again; a man may believe the leading facts recorded in the Scriptures, respecting the Son of God, and yet not possess the faith of the gospel. When importance is attached by the sacred writers to the facts concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, it is because they connected together in their minds, and require us to associate in ours, the facts and the doctrines built upon those facts. If the facts be taken alone, detached from their proper bearings upon sentiment and doctrine, they are as the body without the soul. They are inoperative and inefficient. In vain shall I believe that Jesus died and rose again, if my mind imbibe no just views of the character of Him who died, and of the design of his death and resurrection, and of the declarations and promises, in reference to these glorious events, which form an essential part of the testimony contained in the gospel.

"It is possible," observes Mr. Erskine,

"to

One man

believe, not only in the facts, but also in the system of christianity as a philosophical theory, and yet be destitute of faith in the truth. may be occupied with the metaphysics of religion, as another is occupied with the ceremonies of religion." But the former, no less than the latter, may retain a heart unmoved, unconverted, and unbelieving. The same able writer has observed, that a man may receive many powerful impressions from the poetry, as well as from the philosophy of the bible, without believing its substantial truths. There is in the poetry of the bible sublimity unrivalled, tenderness and pathos irresistible. The delight arising from these sources, "is of the same kind as that which a finely strung mind derives from the treasures of Milton's genius; but the truth of the gospel is not in this case the object of belief. The love and justice of God manifested in the cross have not impressed the mind--for their impression could only be joy and gratitude and awe." He, whose admiration is called forth, forgets that he is standing on the verge of an eternal world, and that the word he is admiring for the high qualities of its style, is that by which he must be judged at the last day. He is unimpressed by the testimony of the God of love, and unaffected by the compassionate Redeemer's most tender intreaties. Surely he does not believe, he does not embrace the gospel, as a