now: sure he is very angry, and will punish me; what must I do?

Here the child weeps again.]

Fath. But God is merciful too.
Child. What is that, father?

Fath. Why, to those that repent of their sins past, and reform their lives, he is merciful; that is, upon their repentance he forgives them, for the sake of Jesus Christ, and is reconciled to them, as though they had not sinned against him.

Child. Jesus Christ! father, who is that?

Fath. He is God.

Child. Why, father, you said, God was one first being, is there more Gods than one? is there two firsts? my commandments say there is but one God.

Fath. No, child, there is but one God; yet Jesus Christ is essentially God, though in a second person; he is God co-equal, co-eternal, that is the same in being, nature, and attributes; "God manifested in the flesh," sent from heaven to redeem a lost world.

Child. I don't understand a word of all that, father; what does it mean?

Futh. Why, child, you are to understand, that when the first man and the first woman in the world were created, God having made a covenant or agreement of holiness and life with them, and in them, with all that should be born of them, they broke that covenant, and so involved all their posterity in their guilt, the punishment of which was eternal death: but God, who as I told you, child, was infinitely good, though provoked utterly to destroy the whole race for that sin, and being under the engagement of that covenant to do it, yet, in the mere operation of his own goodness, determined to recover sinful men from the gulf of death: to make this adequate or suitable to his own infinite justice and holiness, he incarnated, by a miraculous birth, the divine nature into the human, and caused this blessed conjunction to appear in the world in the likeness of sinful

flesh; so being infinite God on the one hand, and man on the other, he became capable of being a complete sacrifice for the satisfaction of God's justice; and afterwards suffering the divine wrath, made peace for us by the blood of his cross; was crucified, dead, and buried, as you say in your creed, rose again, is ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of power, and shall come again to judge us all: and this, child, is called our Saviour, the Son of God, and is indeed God himself.

Child. I don't know how to understand all this, father. Fath. You must understand it gradually, my dear, a little at a time; you can understand this, that we are all under the sentence of death for the first man's sin: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin," Rom. v. 12.

Child. That is a strange thing, father! what, are we all condemned to suffer for that man's transgression?

Fath. The scripture is plain in it-" By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation," Rom, v. 18.

Child. But, father, you said just now, God would be reconciled to me, if I repented, and was sorry for my sins. Fath. Yes, child, I did so.

Child. But how can that be, when you say I shall be condemned for another man's transgression?

Fath. It is very plain, that the effect of that man's first sin is a corrupt taint which we all bring into the world with us, and which we find upon our nature, by which we find a natural propensity in us to do evil, and no natural inclination to do good; and this we are to mourn over, and lament, as the fountain of sin, from whence all our wicked actions do proceed; and this is called indwelling sin.

Child. Have I this in me, father?

Fath. Yes, child; did you not say, how should you do this, or that, for you were not taught? you can be a naughty boy without teaching, to sin is natural. But you must be instructed and laboured with to be a good child. "To will,

is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I know not; in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing," Rom. vii. 18.

Child. What will become of me then, father, if I was wicked when I was born?

Fath. This, my dear, is that which I named Jesus Christ for.

Child: Why, what will he do for me?

Fath. He will deliver thee from this body of death :"Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through [or for] Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. vii. 24, 25.

Child. How can he do this?

Fath. "He hath delivered us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us;" and whereas we are no able to perform any thing, he hath " fulfilled all righteousness for us, [if we believe in him ;] for being justified by faith, we have peace with God; and so as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, [Christ] shall many be made righteous," Rom. v. 19.

Child. But, father, will Jesus Christ answer for me for that first transgression, and take away the sentence you say I was under? for if he does not, I am undone; to be sure I can't do it myself.

Fath. Yes, my dear, "the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin," as well of nature, as of life; "and there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," -Rom. viii. 1.

Child. And now we are all saved again by this new Saviour's satisfaction; an't we, father?

Fath. No, child, not all! We cannot say all are saved, but all those who are saved, are so saved, viz. by the satisfaction of the blessed Redeemer, being chosen from eternity by the mere grace and good-will of God; to whom, after they come into the world, God of the same grace gives repentance and faith, sanctifies and justifies them,

and then accepts them for the sake of the Saviour of the world.

1

Child. So there are none saved, but such as God has chose again out of the rest?

Fath. We have no warrant to say any other are saved, and yet we dare not say who shall not be saved.

Child. But who then are they that are chosen, father? don't you know their names?

Fath. No, child, God has left that uncertain to us.

Child. But, dear father, I would fain know if my name be among them; for what will become of me, if I should not be one of them?

Fath. I hope you are, child: God has not let us know who are shut out, but by shutting out themselves.

Child. But is there no way to know, father?

Fath. Why, child, it may be presumptively known by this, that since to all that God has thus chosen, he, by his Spirit, gives faith and repentance, sanctification in heart, and justification of person, whoever the Spirit of God worketh this faith and repentance in, have a very good assurance that they are not in the number: "the Spirit witnessing with their spirits, that they are the children of God," Rom. viii. 16.

Child. But how shall I know if I have faith and repentance? what are they, father? I never heard of them in my life: you never told me a word of them before.

Fath. Repentance, child, is a sense of, and sincere sorrow for sin, in all its parts, as well original, as actual; and this sorrow must be always attended with a sincere desire of pardon and sanctification, and earnest endeavours after reformation and amendment. And faith, child, is a fidu cial, filial confidence in the promises of God, and consequently in God himself; thereby humbly realizing, and appropriating to ourselves, the whole purchase of the death of Jesus Christ, with a relying upon his merits, resting on him, and adhering to him for life and salvation.

Child. I shall never remember all this, father, how did

you come to remember it? did your father only tell it to you, as you do me? are there no books to teach me? if not, won't you write it down for me, father? you know 1 can read.

Fath. It is all written down already, child, and you have it every word in your Bible.

Child. I do remember something, father, of Adam and Eve; were they the folks that sinned first?

Fath. Yes, child, and han't you read of Jesus Christ? Child. Yes, father, but I do not understand a word of him, nobody ever taught me; besides, I have heard my brother cry, O Jesus! and O Christ! at his play, and nurse chide him for it, and said it was a naughty word.

Fath. Your brother is a naughty boy, and should be whipt when he uses those words.

Child. Who should whip him, father, you don't?
Fath. But I shall, if I hear him say so again.

Child. But why, father, if Jesus Christ be God, how is it a naughty word?

Fath. It is a naughty, profane thing, to name his name on slight occasions; that name should only be named with fear and reverence, and, on a serious occasion, as we use it now, my dear: your commandments say, you must not take the Lord's name in vain; that is, upon common occasions, such as passion, play, imprecation, profane cursing, swearing, and the like.

Child. But who is this Jesus Christ, father? I have never heard any thing of him before, but only by his

name.

Fath. He is "God manifested in the flesh," and the Son of God sent down from heaven to die for sinners, and to save us from eternal death.

[Here the child is silent, and tears fall from its eyes.] Fath. Don't cry, my dear, why dost thou cry?

Child. I must cry, dear father, there is something bids me cry! I cannot tell what you say at all, father; but my heart beats, I am affrighted, die for sinners! Jesus Christ