death, which are expressly spoken of in the Revelations, and, as I think, alluded to and supposed in other passages of Scripture in which they are not named.

The lesson inculcated by the observation here pointed out is this, that, in the difficulties which we meet with in interpreting Scripture, instead of being too uneasy under them, by reason of the obscurity of certain passages, or the degree of darkness which hangs over certain subjects, we ought first to take to ourselves this safe and consoling rule, namely, to make up for the deficiency of our knowledge by the sincerity of our practice; in other words, to act up to what we do know, or at least, earnestly to strive so to do. So far as a man holds fast to this rule, he has a strong ground of comfort under every degree of ignorance, or even of errors. And it is a rule applicable to the rich and to the poor, to the educated and the uneducated, to every state and station of life; and to all the differences which arise from different opportunities of acquiring knowledge. Different obligations may result from different means of obtaining information: but this rule comprises all differences.

The next reflection is, that in meeting with difficulties, nay very great difficulties, we meet with nothing strange, nothing but what, in truth, might reasonably have been expected beforehand. It was to be expected, that a revelation, which was to have its completion in another state of existence, would contain many expressions which referred to that state; and which, on account of such reference, would be made clear and perfectly intelligible only to those who had experience of that state, and to us after we had attained to that experience; whilst, however, in the mean time, they may convey to us enough of information, to admonish us in our conduct, to support our hopes, and to incite our endeavours. Therefore the meeting with difficulties, owing to this cause, ought not to surprise us, nor to trouble us overmuch. Seriousness, nay even anxiety, touching everything which concerns our salvation, no thoughtful man can help; but it is possible we may be distressed by doubts and difficulties more than there is any occasion to be distressed.

Lastly, under all our perplexities, under all the misgivings of mind to which even good men (such is the infirmity of human nature) are subject, there is this important assurance to resort to, that we have a protection over our heads which is constant and abiding; that God, blessed be his name, is for evermore; that Jesus Christ our Lord is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; that, like as a traveller by land or sea, go where he will, always sees, when he looks up, the same sun; so in our journey through a varied existence, whether it be in our present state, or in our next state, or in the awful passage from one to the other; in the world in which we live, or in the country which we seek; in the hour of death, no less than in the midst of health, we are in the same upholding hands, under the same sufficient and unfailing support.

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SERMON XXIII.

OF SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE IN GENERAL.

IN THREE PARTS.

(PART I.)

ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ?— 1 COR. iii. 16.

THERE are ways of considering the subject of spiritual influence, as well as a want of considering it, which lay it open to difficulties and to misconceptions. But if the being liable to misapprehension and to misrepresentation be thought an objection to any doctrine, I know of no doctrine which is not liable to the same: nor any which has not, in fact, been loaded at various times with great mistakes.

One difficulty, which has struck the minds of some, is, that the doctrine of an influencing Spirit, and of the importance of this influence to human salvation, is an arbitrary system,

making every thing to depend, not upon ourselves, nor upon any exertion of our own, but upon the gift of the Spirit. It is not for us, we allow, to canvass the gifts of God: because we do not, and it seems impossible that we should, sufficiently understand the motive of the Giver. In more than ordinary cases, and in cases more level to our comprehension, we seem to acknowledge the difference between a debt and a gift. A debt is bound, as it were, by known rules of justice: a gift depends upon the motive of the giver, which often can be known only to himself. To judge of the propriety either of granting or withholding that to which there is no claim, which is, in the strictest sense, a favour, which, as such, rests with the donor to bestow as to him seemeth good, we must have the several motives which presented themselves to the mind of the donor before us. This, with respect to the Divine Being, is impossible. Therefore, we allow that, either in this, or in any other matter, to canvass the gifts of God is a presumption not fit to be indulged. We are to receive our portion of them with thankfulness. We are to be thankful, for instance, for the share of health and strength which is given us, without inquiring why others are healthier and stronger than ourselves. This is the right disposition of mind with respect to all the benefactions of God Almighty towards us.

But unsearchable does not mean arbitrary. Our necessary ignorance of the motives which rest and dwell in the divine mind in the bestowing of his grace, is no proof that it is not bestowed by the justest reason. And with regard to the case at present before us, viz. the gifts and graces of the Spirit, the charge against it of its being an arbitrary system, or, in other words, independent of our own endeavours, is not founded in any doctrine or declaration of Scripture. It is not arbitrary in its origin, in its degree, or in its final success.

First, it is not arbitrary in its origin; for you read that it is given to prayer. "If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it;" but whether we will ask it or not, depends upon ourselves. It is proposed, you find, as a subject for our prayers; for prayer, not formal, cold, heartless, transitory, but prayer from the soul, prayer earnest and persevering; for this last alone is what the Scripture means by prayer. In this, therefore, it cannot be said to be arbitrary, or independent of our endeavours. On the contrary, the Scripture exhorts us to a striving in prayer for this best of all gifts.

But it will be asked, is not the very first touch of true religion upon the soul, sometimes at least, itself the action of the Holy Spirit? This, therefore, must be prior to our praying for it. And so it may be, and yet not be arbitrarily given. The religious state of the human soul is exceedingly various. Amongst others there is a state, in which there may be good latent dispositions, suitable faculties for religion; yet no religion. In such a state the spark alone is wanting. To such a state the elementary principle of religion may be communicated, though not prayed for. Nor can this be said to be arbitrary. The Spirit of God is given where it was wanted; where, when given, it would produce its effect; but that state of heart and mind, upon which the effect was to be produced, might still be the result of moral qualification, improvement, and voluntary endeavour. It is not, I think, difficult to conceive such a case as this.

Nevertheless it may be more ordinarily true, that the gift of the Spirit is holden out to the struggling, the endeavouring, the approaching Christian. When the penitent prodigal was yet a great way off, his Father saw him. This parable was delivered by our Lord expressly to typify God's dealing with such sinners as are touched with a sense of their condition. And this is one circumstance in it to be particularly noticed. God sees the returning mind; sees every step and every advance towards him, "though we be yet a great way off;" yet at a great distance; though much remains to be done, and to be attained, and to be accomplished. And what he sees, he helps. His aid and influence are assisting to the willing Christian, truly and sincerely willing, though yet in a low and imperfect state of proficiency; nay, though in the outset, as it were, of his religious progress. "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart" (Psalm, xxxiv. 19). But in all this there is nothing arbitrary. Nor, secondly, is the operation of the Spirit arbitrary in its degree. It has a rule, and its rule is this: "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath." Now of

this rule, which is expressed under some, but under no great difference of phrase, in all the three first Gospels, I have first to observe, that, though it carry the appearance of harshness and injustice, it is neither the one nor the other, but is correctly and fundamentally just. The meaning is, that whosoever uses, exercises, and improves, the gifts which he has received shall continue to receive still larger portions of these gifts; nay, he who has already received the largest portion, provided he adequately and proportionably uses his gifts, shall also in future receive the largest portion. More and more will be added to him that has the most: whilst he who neglects the little which he has, shall be deprived even of that. That this is the sound exposition of these texts is proved from hence, that one of them is used as the application of the parable of the talents, concerning the meaning of which parable there can be no doubt at all; for there he who had received, and, having received, had duly improved, ten talents, was placed over ten cities; and of him the expression in question is used, "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance." On the contrary, he who had received one talent, and had neglected what he had received, had it taken from him and of him the other part of the expression is used; "Whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath." But there is a point still remaining, viz. whether this Scripture rule be applicable to spiritual gifts. I answer, that it is so applied, more especially to spiritual knowledge, and the use which we make thereof. "Take heed how ye hear unto you that hear shall more be given; for he that hath, to him shall be given, and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." So stands the passage in Mark, and substantially the same, that is, with a view to the same application, the passage stands in Matthew and Luke. I consider it, therefore, to be distinctly asserted, that this is the rule with regard to spiritual knowledge. And I think the analogy conclusive with regard to other spiritual gifts. In all which there is nothing arbitrary.

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Nor, thirdly, is it arbitrary in its final success. "Grieve not the Spirit of God:" therefore he may be grieved. "And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace" (Heb. x. 29): therefore he may be despised. Both these are leading texts upon the subject. And so is the following-" And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain" (1 Cor. xv. 10): therefore it might have been in vain. The influence, therefore, of the Spirit may not prevail, even as the admonitions of a friend, the warnings of a parent, may not prevail, may not be successful, may not be attended to, may be rejected, may be resisted, may be despised, may be lost; so that both in its gift, in its degree, operation, and progress, and above all, in its final effect, it is connected with our own endeavours, it is not arbitrary. Throughout the whole, it does not supersede, but co-operates with, ourselves.

But another objection is advanced, and from an opposite quarter. It is said, that if the influence of the Spirit depend, after all, upon our endeavours, the doctrine is nugatory; it comes to the same thing, as if salvation was put upon ourselves and our endeavours alone, exclusive of every farther consideration, and without referring us to any influence or assistance whatever. I answer, that this is by no means true; that it is not the same thing either in reality, or in opinion, or in the consequences of that opinion.

Assuredly it is not the same thing in reality. Is it the same thing, whether we perform a work by our own strength, or by obtaining the assistance and co-operation of another? in does it make it the same thing, that this assistance is to be obtained by means which it is in our own choice to use or not? or because, when the assistance is obtained, we may or may not avail ourselves of it: or because we may, by neglecting, lose it? After all, they are two different things, performing a work by ourselves, and performing it by means of help. Again: It is not the same thing in the opinions, and sentiments, and dispositions, which accompany it. A person who knows or believes himself to be beholden to another for the progress and success of an undertaking, though still carried on by his own endeavours, acknowledges his friend and his benefactor; feels his dependency and his obligation; turns to him for help and aid in his difficulties; is humble under the want and need, which he finds he has, of assistance; and above all things, is solicitous not to lose the benefit of that assistance. This is a different turn of mind, and a different way of thinking, from his, who is sensible of no such want, who relies entirely upon his own strength; who, of course, can hardly avoid being proud of his success, or feeling the confidence, the presumption, the self

commendation, and the pretensions, which, however they might suit with a being who achieves his work by his own powers, by no means, and in no wise, suit with a frail constitution, which must ask and obtain the friendly aid and help of a kind and gracious benefactor, before he can proceed in the business set out for him, and which it is of unspeakable consequence to him to execute somehow or other.

It is thus in religion. A sense of spiritual weakness and of spiritual wants; a belief that divine aid and help are to be had; are principles which carry the soul to God; make us think of him, and think of him in earnest; convert, in a word, morality into religion; bring us round to holiness of life, by the road of piety and devotion; render us humble in ourselves, and grateful towards God. There are two dispositions which compose the true Christian character; humility as to ourselves; affection and gratitude as to God; and both these are natural fruits and effects of the persuasion we speak of: and what is of the most importance of all, this persuasion will be accompanied with a corresponding fear lest we should neglect, and by neglecting lose, this invaluable assistance. On the one hand, therefore, it is not true, that the doctrine of an influencing Spirit is an arbitrary system, setting aside our own endeavours.-Nor on the other hand, is it true, that the connecting it with our own endeavours, as obtained through them, as assisting them, as co-operating with them, renders the doctrine unimportant, or all one as put in the whole upon our endeavours without any such doctrine. If it be true, in fact, that the feebleness of our nature requires the succouring influence of God's Spirit in carrying on the grand business of salvation, and in every state and stage of its progress, in conversion, in regeneration, in constancy, in perseverance, in sanctification; it is of the utmost importance that this truth be declared, and understood, and confessed, and felt; because the perception and sincere acknowledgment of it will be accompanied by a train of sentiments, by a turn of thought, by a degree and species of devotion, by humility, by prayer, by piety, by a recourse to God in our religious warfare, different from what will, or perhaps can, be found in a mind unacquainted with this doctrine, or in a mind rejecting it, or in a mind unconcerned about these things one way or other.

SERMON XXIV.

ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT.

(PART II.)

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?— 1 COR. iii. 16.

It is undoubtedly a difficulty in the doctrine of spiritual influence, that we do not so perceive the action of the Spirit, as to distinguish it from the suggestions of our own minds. Many good men acknowledge, that they are not conscious of any such immediate perceptions. They, who lay claim to them, cannot advance, like the apostles, such proofs of their claim, as must necessarily satisfy others, or, perhaps, secure themselves from delusion. And this is made a ground of objection to the doctrine itself. Now, I think, the objection proceeds upon an erroneous principle, namely, our expecting more than is promised. The agency and influence of the divine Spirit are spoken of in Scripture, and are promised: but it is no where promised, that its operations shall be always sensible, viz. distinguishable at the time from the impulses, dictates, and thoughts, of our own minds. I do not take upon me to say, that they are never so: I only say, that it is not necessary, in the nature of things, that they should be so ; nor is it asserted in the Scripture that they are so: nor is it promised that they will be so.

The nature of the thing does not imply or require it: by which I mean, that according to

the constitution of the human mind, as far as we are acquainted with that constitution, a foreign influence or impulse may act upon it, without being distinguished in our perception from its natural operations, that is, without being perceived at the time. The case appears to me to be this. The order in which ideas and motives rise up in our minds, is utterly unknown to us, consequently it will be unknown when that order is disturbed, or altered, or affected therefore it may be altered, it may be affected by the interposition of a foreign influence, without that interposition being perceived. Again, and in like manner, not only the order in which thoughts and motives rise up in our minds, is unknown to ourselves, but the causes also are unknown, and are incalculable, upon which the vividness of the ideas, the force and strength and impression of the motives, which enter into our minds, depend. Therefore, that vividness may be made more or less, that force may be increased or diminished, and both by the influence of a spiritual agent, without any distinct sensation of such agency being felt at the time. Was the case otherwise, was the order according to which thoughts and motives rise up in our minds fixed, and being fixed, known; then I do admit the order could not be altered or violated, nor a foreign agent interfere to alter or violate it, without our being immediately sensible of what was passing. As also, if the causes, upon which the power and strength of either good or bad motives depend, were ascertained, then it would likewise be ascertained when this force was ever increased or diminished by external influence and operation: then it might be true, that external influence could not act upon us without being perceived. But in the ignorance under which we are concerning the thoughts and motives of our minds, when left to themselves, we must, naturally speaking, be, at the time, both ignorant and insensible of the presence of an interfering power; one ignorance will correspond with the other: whilst, nevertheless, the assistance and benefit derived from that power, may, in reality, be exceedingly great. In this instance philosophy, in my opinion, comes in aid of religion. In the ordinary state of the mind, both the presence and the power of the motives which act upon it, proceed from causes of which we know nothing. This philosophy confesses, and indeed teaches. From whence it follows, that when these causes are interrupted or influenced, that interruption and that influence will be equally unknown to us. Just reasoning shows this proposition to be a consequence of the former. From whence it follows again, that immediately and at the time perceiving the operation of the Holy Spirit is not only not necessary to the reality of these operations, but that it is not consonant to the frame of the human mind that it should be so. I repeat again, that we take not upon us to assert that it is never so. Undoubtedly God can, if he please, give that' tact and quality to his communications, that they shall be perceived to be divine communications at the time. And this probably was very frequently the case with the prophets, with the apostles, and with inspired men of old. But it is not the case naturally; by which I mean, that it is not the case according to the constitution of the human soul. It does not appear, by experience, to be the case usually. What would be the effect of the influence of the divine Spirit being always or generally accompanied with a distinct notice, it is difficult even to conjecture. One thing may be said of it, that it would be putting us under a quite different dispensation. It would be putting us under a miraculous dispensation; for the agency of the Spirit in our souls distinctly perceived is, properly speaking, a miracle. Now miracles are instruments in the hand of God of signal and extraordinary effects, produced upon signal and extraordinary occasions. Neither internally nor externally do they form the ordinary course of his proceeding with his reasonable creatures.

And in this there is a close analogy with the course of nature, as carried on under the divine government. We have every reason, which Scripture can give us, for believing, that God frequently interposes to turn and guide the order of events in the world, so as to make them execute his purpose: yet we do not so perceive these interpositions, as either always or generally to distinguish them from the natural progress of things. His providence is real, but unseen. We distinguish not between the acts of God and the course of nature. It is so with the Spirit. When, therefore, we teach that good men may be led, or bad men' converted, by the Spirit of God, and yet they themselves not distinguish his holy influence; we teach no more than what is conformable, as, I think, has been shown, to the frame of the human mind, or rather to our degree of acquaintance with that frame; and also analogous to