Learned, Pious, and Faithful Servant of JESUS CHRIST, Mr. JOHN BROWN, Sometime Minister of the Gospel at Wamphray in Annandale, and afterwards Minifter Carefully printed from the AUTHOR's own MANUSCRIPT. EDINBURGH: Printed by DAVID PATERSON, And fold by him at his Printing-house, LAWN-MARKET, and by the Bookfellers MDCCLXVI. The PREFACE. Tis faid, The righteous fhall be in everlasting remembrance, Pfal. cxii. 6. and, The memory of the just is bleffed, Prov. x. 7. Altho' it is now near a hundred years fince the Rev. learned and pious author fell asleep in the Lord, and is gone to receive the fruit ot his labours, from his Lord and Master, whom he served in the gospel; yet the wifdom of Divine Providence cannot but be noticed in the preservation of the author's own manufcript of the following lectures so long, and now raising it from the dust of obscurity, and bringing it forth to the light, which, under the divine blessing, will no doubt be useful for clearing up and setting in a proper light, the neceffary truths of the chrifrian faith and doctrine, therein contained, especially the great and fundamental doctrine of juftification fo fully and largely treated of in the inspired epistle, and fo consequently by the judicious expositor. It is presumed, it will be needless to make any apology for the publication of the following lectures; as they who are acquainted with Mr. Brown's fingular judiciousness in the management of fuch subjects as he has undertaken, will certainly make any of the remains of fuch an eminent minister and Chriftian very acceptable. Those who have been conversant with his writtings will stand in need. of little other voucher of genuineness beside the lectures themselves, as they evidently carry in them fuch marks as have always diftinguished his performances. It is not without ground to be feared, that, to the bulk of the present age, the following lectures will feem as idle tales, yet to fuch as have their senses exercised to difcern good and evil, they will appear words fitly spoken, as apples of gold in pictures of filver, wifely calculated both for informing the judgment and reforming the heart. It appears that the author designed the following Lectures for the prefs, on account of the correctness and compleatness of his manufcript; so that unless it be the prefixing a title, preface, and introduction to the first seven chapters, it has stood in need of no other help, either by adding or impairing. Such as hefitate any manner of way with refpect to the agreement of the printed copy, in any word or fentence, with the manufcript, may be fatisfied by comparing, as the manuscript is preserved in the hands of the Publishers at Edinburgh. That the public has been so long deprived of fuch a valuable and useful exposition, can no otherways be accounted for, than that the perfons into whose custody it has been, had never fallen on proper means for having it published. What further feems necessary in this way, shall be only, I. More particularly to mention a few things concerning the author. II. To notice the scope of the facred epiflle, and the author's expofition. III. To point out a very few reasons which appear to render the present publication the more neceffary. 1. The deserved reputation the author has already gained in the church of Christ, not only for his extenfive abilities, fingular piety and holiness, but his useful labours in the work of the ministry, and fruits of his study, many years fince gone abroad in the world, will very justly supersede almost any thing necessary to be faid about him; fuch fingular and excellent treatises, both in the polemic and practical way, have undoubtedly evinced to unprejudiced perfons, his good learning and folid judgment, and that |