GOOD WORKS NOT MERITORIOUS. 



121 



Binnest, what dost thou against God ; or, if thou 

 be righteous, what givest thou him ? and what 

 receiveth he of thine hand?&quot;* &quot; Thy goodness 

 extendeth not unto him,&quot; and ho that sinneth 

 against him wrongeth his own soul.&quot; What 

 merit can there he in the exercise of love, and in 

 the cultivation of benevolent affections, when we 

 consider, that these affections are essentially re 

 quisite to our happiness, and that the very exer 

 cise of them is a privilege conferred by God, and 

 one of the principal ingredients of bliss? What 

 merit can be attached, in the presence of the 

 Most High, to the noblest services we can per 

 form, when we reflect, that we derived all the 

 corporeal and intellectual faculties by which we 

 perform these services, and all the means by 

 which they are excited and directed, from our 

 bountiful Creator? What merit can there be in 

 obedience to his law, when disobedience must 

 infallibly lead to destruction and misery? Is it 

 considered as meritorious in a traveller, when he 

 is properly directed, furnished with strength of 

 body and mind, and provided with every neces 

 sary for his journey, to move forward to the 

 place of his wished for destination ? Our bene 

 volent affections, and the active services to which 

 they lead, may be meritorious in the eyes of our 

 fellow-men, in so far as they are the means of 

 contributing to their enjoyment; but in ihe pre 

 sence of Him who sits on the throne of the uni 

 verse, dispensing blessings to all his offspring, we 

 shall always have to acknowledge, that &quot; we are 

 unprofitable servants.&quot; It is probable, that, if 

 the great object of religion were represented in 

 its native simplicity, if the nature of salvation 

 were clearly understood, and if less were said on 

 the subject of human merit in sermons, and sys 

 tems of divinity, the idea which I am now com 

 bating, would seldom be entertained by any mind 

 possessed of the least share of Christian know 

 ledge, or of common sense. 



That the eternal salvation of men, is the effect 

 of the iove and the grace of God, is also a neces 

 sary consequence from what has been now stated. 



* Job xxxv. 6. 8. Psalm xvi. 2 &c. 



For every power, capacity, and privilege we 

 possess, was derived from God. &quot; What hive 

 we thai we have not received ?&quot; Even our \ ery 

 existence in the world of life, is an act of grace. 

 We exerted no power in ushering ourselves into 

 existence : We had no control over the events 

 which determined that we should be born in Bri 

 tain, and not in Africa ; which determined the 

 particular family with which we should be con 

 nected ; the education we should receive ; the 

 particular objects towards which our minds shouki 

 be directed, and the privileges we should enjoy. 

 And, when we arrive at the close of our earthly 

 career, when the spirit is hovering on the verge 

 of life, and about to take its flight from this mor 

 tal scene, can it direct its course, by its own 

 energies, through the world unknown ? can it 

 wing its way over a region it has never explored, 

 to its kindred spirits in the mansions of bliss? 

 can it furnish these mansions with the scenes 

 and objects from which its happiness is to be de 

 rived ? can it re-animate the bodj after it has 

 long mouldered in the dust ? can it re-unite itself 

 with its long-lost partner ? can it transport the 

 resurrection-body, to that distant world where it 

 is destined to spend an endless existence ? or 

 can it create those scenes of glory and magnifi 

 cence, and those ecstatic joys which will fill it 

 with transport while eternity endures? If it 

 cannot be supposed to accomplish such glorious 

 objects by its own inherent powers, then, it must 

 be indebted for every entertainment in the future 

 world to the unbounded and unmerited love and 

 mercy of God. To Him, therefore, who sits up 

 on the throne of the heavens, and to the Lamb 

 who was slain and hath redeemed us to God by 

 his blood, let all praise, honour, dominion, and 

 power, be ascribed now and forever. Amen. 



Having now finished what I proposed in the 

 illustration of the principles of love to God and 

 to man, and of the precepts of the Decalogue, 

 in the following chapter, I shall take a bird s eye 

 view of the moral state of the world ; and endea 

 vour to ascertain, to what extent these principles 

 and laws have been recognised and observed by 

 the inhabitants of our globe. 



