are, they have no motives to prompt them to obedience, but the _fear_
of punishment and the _hope_ of reward. In our next, this will be
fully illustrated.

SERMON VI

"For what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect? God forbid; yea let God be true, but every man
a liar." Romans iii:3, 4.

We resume the argument, in this discourse, concerning those prisoners
brought forward in our last. We left them in bondage under the
sentence of the law with no hopes of deliverance. The first year rolls
away. The king says, my son, the time has come--go, and reveal my love
to the prisoners by bringing the promise of their redemption to light.
The son flies on wings of love, enters the prison and exclaims--I
bring you good tidings of great joy. My father, the king, is your
friend. He loves you; and that love has induced him to proclaim your
liberation as a free gift. He has promised (and he cannot lie) that in
two years from this day you shall be free. This covenant, so far as
concerns its fulfillment, is unconditional. Believe, and you will be
saved, by faith in the promise, from your present fears, and
condemnation under the law.

Those stubborn prisoners see a sufficiency of evidence to believe the
promise. They exercise unshaken faith in this second covenant between
the father and son. This faith works by love in their hearts, and
purifies them from disobedience. Their souls melt in view of the love
and goodness of the king revealed to them by his son. In fine, they
love him because he first loved them. They are now saved by faith in