precious promises which convey every ground of lasting and satisfying comfort to them; by which they are made very joyful in the God of their salvation.-Eph. iv. 12, &c.; Rom. xvi. 25; 1 Thess. iii. 11, &c.; Rom. xv. 4; 1 Thess. iii. 2, &c.; Is. xl. 1, 2.

Agreeably to Scripture, we are here informed, that the instru ment by which the Spirit makes these means effectual for build ing up the saints in holiness and comfort, is faith. And the instrumentality which faith has, in the hand of the Spirit, in accomplishing this, is, that it rests on the faithful Word of their God for the promoting of both these ends.-1 Thess. ii. 13; Ps. cxxxviii. 8.

The end for which all this is done, is the complete and eternal salvation of the saints. And hence the gospel is called "the power of God unto salvation," that is, deliverance from sin and from wrath-from the guilt and punishment, and the power and pollution of sin-from the curse of the law-and from the power of death and of the grave,

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. The value of the Bible. 2 The necessity of the Word of life. 3. That the minisuy is an arduous work, and most important in its consequences. 4. The necessity of the reading and preaching of the Word. 5. The danger of despising or omitting it. 6. That the Spirit is most necessary to make the Word effectual. 7. The necessity of faith, without which the Word read or preached cannot profit. 8. The necessity of using the means of salvation; and that without this we are not in the way to obtain the blessing.

Proper use of the Word of God.

G. 90.-How is the TWord to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to Salvation?

That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love; lay it up in our hearts, and practise it in our lives.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,

1. That the Word of God must be attended to, and understood. Acts viii. 30.-" Understandest thou what thou readest?" 2. That the Word of God must be attended to with diligence. Acts xvii. 11.-" And searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so." See also Prov. viii. 34.

3. That the Word of God must be attended to with preparation. James i. 21.-" Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of

naughtiness, and receive with meekness the ingrafted Word, which is able to save your souls." See also Luke viii. 18.

4. That the Word of God must be attended to with prayer. Ps. cxix. 18.-" Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

5. That the Word of God must be received with faith. 1 Thess. ii. 13.-"For this cause also thank we God, without ceasing, because when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." See also Heb. iv. 2.

6. That the Word of God must be received with love. Ps. exix. 97. O how love I thy law!" See also 2 Thess. ii. 10. 7. That the Word of God must be meditated upon. Col. iii. 16." Let the Word of Christ dwell in you ichly in all wisdom."

8. That the Word of God must be laid up in the heart. Deut. xi. 18.-" Ye shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul." See also Ps. cxix. 11.

9. That the truths of the Word of God must be reduced to practice in our lives. James i. 22.-" Be ye doers of the Word, deceiving your own selves."

and not hearers only,

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 302.-That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend to it with diligence, preparation, and prayer.

When it is said that we must attend to the Word, it intimates that the Word must become our chief study while we live; and that it must be deeply engraven on the heart; and that for this good reason, that it contains that good part which shall never be taken away.

1. We must attend to the Word with diligence. Every opportunity of reading the Word, and of hearing it read and preached, must be embraced.

2. We must attend to the Word with preparation. This includes various things. We must consider well-(1.) The autho. rity of God stamped upon the Word.-Acts x. 33; Ps. lxxxix. 6, 7. (2.) That the preaching of the Word is the ordinance of God for our salvation. (3.) That the preaching of the Word will be to us either the savour of death or the savour of life.2 Cor. ii. 15, 16; Luke viii. 18. (4.). The necessity of laying aside all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.-Gen. xxxv. 2, 3; I Pet. ii. 1, 2. (5.) The necessity of banishing from the heart the cares of the world, when we hear the Word.-Matt. xiii. 22 (6.) The necessity of being washed in the blood of Christ, when we hear the Word; for an unholy so can hold no communion with God in the ordinances of his gra.-Ps. xxvi. 6. (7.) Our

own peculiar circumstances, when we hear the Word read or preached.-1 Kings viii. 38.

3. We must attend to the Word with prayer. This is necessary, because God alone can dispose our hearts to perform aright the exercises of his worship; and, consequently, it is our duty to address him for this very purpose, that our exercises may not be in vain as to ourselves.-Ps. cxix. 18; 2 Thess. iii. 1. Before reading or hearing the Word, we should pray that it may become the power of God to our salvation; or an effectual means in his hand for convincing, converting, and edifying our souls.—Rom. 1. 16; John vi: 63.

But notwithstanding all our preparation that the Word may become effectual, we must disclaim all dependence upon it; and rest upon the promise of the Spirit to render it subservient to the important purposes for which it is designed.

Obs. 303.-That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must receive it with faith and love.

To receive the Word, is to accept of it with all readiness of mind, as the Word of God indeed the dictates of the Holy Spirit, directed to the soul for the purposes of salvation; and the right improvement of the Word during the reading and hearing of it, is called a receiving of it, because we can derive no real benefit to our souls from the free offer and exhibition of all the blessings contained therein, unless we receive them as the free gift of God.-John iii. 27. ́

1. We must receive the Word in faith. Here the following things may be observed:-(1.) We must believe the Divine authority of every part of the book called the Bible, and credit it as God's testimony of himself to man. There must be no doubt in our minds with respect to this subject; for there is abundant evidence of its truth within itself; and if we doubt, we cannot be said to receive the Word in faith. (2.) As it contains every thing necessary, not only for the salvation of sinners in general, but for that of ourselves in particular, we must not only receive it as true, but we must receive it with particular application; for it contains the message of God to us individually, as if there were none but ourselves to whom it is directed.-Lam. iii. 24; Ps. cxix. 20. (3.) If we would have any respect to our own progress in the Divine life, and to our comfort, we must examine the effects which the Word has upon us.-Ps. exix. 9, 50; Dan. x. 19.

2. We must receive the Word with love. This is the natural consequence of its being received with faith; for wherever faith is, it worketh by love, and purifieth the heart. If the Word come home with power in the experience of any, as in the case of the Thessalonians, it will be accompanied with love. Compare 1 Thess. i. 5, and ii. 13, with 2 Thess. i. 3, &c., and it will

re evident that their faith was not alone; for their love is spoken of in the highest terms. To all who do not receive the Word in love, it is the savour of the second death.-2 Thess. ii. 10.

Obs. 304.-That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must lay it up in our hearts, and practise it in our lives.

1. We must lay up the Word in our hearts. The understanding must be exercised about the knowledge of it; the will must be exercised about complying with it in all its parts; the affections must be fixed upon it; and the memory must retain it. Without all this, it cannot be said to be laid up in our hearts.Ps. cxix. 11; Heb. ii. 1. Closely connected with laying up the Word in our hearts, is the exercise of meditation upon what has been spoken, or upon what we may have read or heard read.Ps. i. 2.

2. We must practise the Word in our lives. This is the great end of the former exercises. To practise the Word in our lives, is to have a conversation in word and deed becoming the gospel -to have the outward and inward man regulated according te the unerring Word of God.

INFERENCES.

From this subject we learn,-1. The value of the Word of God, and the respect which we ought to pay to it. 2. The danger of disregarding it. 3. That there is much necessary on our part that we may understand the Word, but that nothing will prove effectual without the Spirit. 4. The necessity of fear and reverence in reading the Word, and the danger of the want of these. 5. The necessity of faith and love when we read or hear the Word. 6. The necessity of laying it up in our hearts, meditating upon it, and reducing it to practice. 7. That the outward performance avails nothing, if the heart is not engaged. -Isa. xxix. 13.

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DIV. 2.-OF THE SACRAMENTS AS MEANS OF GRAace.

Of the Efficacy of the Sacraments.

. 91. How do the Sacraments become Effectual Means of Salvation.

The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.

ANALYSIS AND PROOFS.

We are here taught,

“

1. That the sacraments possess no virtue in themselves. Acts viii. 13, 23.-" Simon himself believed also, and was baptized. But Peter said to him, I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."

2. That the sacraments are not rendered effectual by any virtue in the administrator. 1 Cor. iii. 7.-"Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase."

3. That the sacraments are rendered effectual by the blessing of Christ. Matt. iii. 11.-" He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."

4. That the sacraments are made effectual by the operation of the Spirit of God. John vi. 63.-"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing."

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5. That the sacraments become effectual to those only who receive them by faith. Mark xvi. 16.—“ He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved."

EXPLANATION.

Obs. 305.-The sacraments are effectual means of salvation. A means of salvation is an appointment of Jesus Christ, the king and head of the Church, in the use of which salvation is begun, carried on, and perfected. See Acts ii. 37, &c.; 1 Cor. x. 16.

The difference between the Word of God as a means of salvation, and the sacraments as means of salvation, is this: the Word of God is a means which respect both saints and sinners; but the sacraments are means which respect the saints alone, in the sight of God. The Word is designed as a means of convincing and converting sinners; the sacraments, of comforting saints and confirming them in their most holy faith. The Word must precede the sacraments, which are designed only for those who believe; and faith cometh by hearing the Word of God read or preached. The Word must appear to be an effectual means of salvation, before we ought to meddle with the sacraments.

The sacraments are not only means, but they are effectual means of salvation to all whom they concern: and this is verified in the experience of not a few who hold sensible communion with Christ in the breaking of bread, which is a season of great joy to their souls; and the comfort thus received through them, is a pledge of a full salvation and of full communion with Christ in the Church triumphant.

Obs. 306.-The sacraments possess no virtue in themselves.

The sacraments of themselves have no virtue or efficacy to confer salvation, being only among the outward and ordinary

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