THE LIVING WATER: A Sermon, BY THE REV. R. L. COTTON, D.D. JOHN, iv. 10. the pleasant interest and refreshment enjoyed in studying the word of God; the serenity and illumination derived from the holy communion;-could you have a lively apprehension of all the spiritual blessedness which the gift of God bestows upon men, even in this life, you would indeed earnestly pray for it to that heavenly Father, who will give the Holy Spirit unto them that ask him. How much more if you could know the blessings which flow from it in the life to come; if you could know the misery, the pain, the anguish, both of mind and body, amidst the never-dying worms and everlasting flames of hell, from which it can save you; if you could know the sweet, the delightful, the triumphant nature of the angelic joys, the "pleasures at God's right hand for evermore," the everlasting delight of living in the presence of God, in the presence of Christ, among pure and righteous and glorified beings, angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, and triumphant saints; could you know the nature and extent of the felicity and glory of those things which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man," but which "God hath laid up for them that love him;"-could you form but the faintest idea of one-thousandth part of them, you would not surely pass them by with neglect, as if they were not worth seeking; you would pant for them, you would long for them, you would seek them with all your heart and mind and soul. "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." WE find here a woman in the presence of the Saviour of the world, but unacquainted with him, and with the great and glorious things which he was able and willing to do for her. Jesus having been in his lowly manner journeying on foot, fatigued with the toil of it, in humble simplicity sat down on the woodwork, or some part of the machinery, of a well, which was called Jacob's well. He had perhaps directed his steps especially to this place, because he knew that a woman was there, who, though hitherto ignorant and sinful, was blest with an honest and ingenuous heart, ready to receive and follow instruction; and that intercourse with her would lead to the edification of many others. The blessed Jesus, ever intent upon carrying on his work of love, was not to be restrained by the fatigue under which he was labouring, from exercising his affectionate interest in the salvation of man. He sat by the woman; he began to speak to her; he said, "Give me to drink." She, little thinking that the lowly man with whom she was sitting was the blessed Son of God, the Saviour of mankind, asked him how he, being a Jew, could beg a favour of a Samaritan, since the Jews and the Samaritans were enemies. The gracious Jesus takes no notice of what she had said: he took no part în enmities and quarrels ; his holy mind was occupied with another and a better subject. He knew the sad state into which her dark-out;" could you know his meekness and genness and iniquity had brought her; and he knew the salvation which he could work for her. He addressed her to this effect: "Could you but know who I am, and what I could do for you, you would long for the great blessings which I am able to impart to you." His compassionate heart felt that it was a pity that there should be such grand blessings ready for the woman, while she was losing the enjoyment of them, because she did not know what they were, and therefore could not seek them. Therefore he saith, "If thou knewest the gift of God." And to how many might he thus speak at the present day! If you could know the nature of that unspeakable gift which the blessed God offers you in the Gospel of his Son; if you could know the soothing consolation of pardon and reconciliation with God; the comfort of love, and all other heavenly graces; the sweet satisfaction found in prayer; Again, the blessed Saviour might say, Could you know who it is that speaketh to thee; could you, my people, know what manner of person that is who saith to you, "Come unto me;" who promiseth, "him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast tleness, his righteousness and justice, his wisdom and prudence, his mercy and love; could you know all the beauty of his holiness, sweetened and softened as it is by his gracious tenderness, compassion, and condescension; could you know the glory and greatness of his divine majesty, as it appeared when the seraphim "cried to one another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory;" or, as it will appear when "he shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, and shall sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations," even all the thousands of all generations which have lived since the world began; or as he will for ever appear in "the light which no man can at present approach unto, King of kings and Lord of lords," with the vast hosts of the holy angels "standing round about him, and falling before the throne on ceptance? Do I receive with joy and gratitude every sign and expression of his love, which I find in the comfort vouchsafed to me in prayer, and in the study of the Scriptures, and in the holy communion, in the spiritual consolation which at any time pervades my heart? Or is it the case, that I care for none of these things-that I hear of all the offers and promises of the Gospel, and see nothing engaging or attractive in them; that I hear again and again of the righteousness, and love, and glory of the Saviour, and see no beauty in him, that I should desire him?" 66 their faces, and worshipping God, saying, | me with favourable regard, with gracious acAmen; blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever;" could you know that he "is the brightness of the glory of God, and the express image of his person;" could you hear the Father himself, God Almighty, saying unto him, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom: and, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands;" could you see the "wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace;" had you an enlightened knowledge of Christ in all the loveliness of his beautiful character as man, "fairer than the children of men," and in all his divine attributes and glorious majesty as God; could you know all the goodness and the greatness and the glory of the blessed Son of God, the Saviour of the world, who invites to you 66 come unto him, that you may have life," that you may "have it abundantly,"-life in all the abundance of living; life, with every thing that can fill the living being with joy and peace; life, blessed with the perfect exercise of reason, righteousness, and love-angelic, heavenly life; could you know the gift of God, and who it is that speaketh unto you, you would surely ask of him, and you would surely pray to him, with all the eagerness and earnestness of your hearts, beseeching him to give to you that which he offers to you. Surely there must be some sad disease infecting that heart that finds nothing lovely, nothing desirable, in the blessed Saviour and his heavenly gifts. Surely they that possess such a heart must be "dead in trespasses and sins." The darkness of the grave must have overspread their minds, preventing them from seeing the glorious light which shines over them. "The god of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." The cold hand of death must have been laid upon their heart, chilling all its feelings, and freezing all its affections. How otherwise could people hear of the ever-blessed Son of God, and his inestimable gifts, without any interest, or concern, or admiration, or desire? How will they wonder at their wretched blindness and stupidity, when they " see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;" when they see But if you have no knowledge of the the bright saints shining in the brilliancy of blessed nature of that "living water," or of their glory, and the heavenly light streaming the heavenly glory and happiness for which from the blessed heaven, manifesting to them it will prepare you, or of the beauty and ma- the radiant glory of the kingdom of God! jesty of that divine Saviour, who offers these What will be the anguish of their self-accusgrand spiritual and eternal blessings, you willing hearts, when they find themselves driven not long for the living water; you will not anxiously desire the enjoyment of heaven; your soul will not be "athirst for God, even for the living God;" you will not be eager to "appear in the presence of God." Wherefore, beloved friends, I beseech you, "consider your ways." Ask yourselves this question: Do I value most highly that living water, do I thirst for it, do I long for it, do I pray for it? Do I look forward, with eager desire and hope, to the attainment of a place in the glorious heaven? Do I seek the Lord? Do I seek an enlightened knowledge of Christ? Do I eagerly desire to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge? Do I anxiously cultivate the knowledge of him, by reading of him, and hearing of him, and thinking of him, and imitating him? Do I seek his face, and the light of his countenance, eagerly desiring that he may look upon away, and "punished with everlasting de- Then Surely, brethren, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that speaketh unto you, you would ask of him, and he would give you the living water. But what is this living water? We find that the Samaritan woman could not understand what the blessed Jesus meant by the living water; and perhaps such words, expressive and beautifully significant as they are, may convey no idea to manythey may be to them a mere empty sound. They may not perhaps know, after all, what that gift of God is which is offered them, and for which they may ask in prayer. Let us hear, then, some further explanation of it from Jesus himself. "Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life." The living water, then, means something which, having been imparted to us, becomes to us the means of our attaining eternal life. What can this living water be, then, but the Holy Spirit? That blessed Spirit poured into the heart of man, by the goodness of the gracious God, causes good principles and holy dispositions to arise in it. The fear of God, trembling before his justice and holiness; faith in God, resting upon his divine mercy and promises, and the merits of his blessed Son; the love of God, admiring his divine perfections, and feeling grateful for all his goodness and all his blessings; charity, filling the heart with kind affections, and exciting it to active and zealous efforts to comfort, relieve, assist, benefit a neighbour;-these, and other good principles and dispositions appearing in our heart, moving us to lead a righteous and godly life, to be diligent and persevering in acts of piety and charity, testify that the well of living water is really in the soul, and is "springing up unto everlasting life." For the presence of the Spirit is known by its fruits. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." And to such signs of the presence of the Spirit we must look, if we wish really to discover whether we are favoured with the effectual enjoyment of that inestimable blessing. We must watch the feelings, and affections, and dispositions of our heart; we must continually look into, and observe, and examine the ways of our life; if we would, indeed, discover whether the living water is springing up in us to ever lasting life. What, if there should appear in us adultery, fornication, hatred, variance, envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like? Could we hope that the blessed Spirit is a fountain of life to us in such case? The Holy Spirit would not send forth a stream befouled with filthy ways, and perverted by devilish tempers. The Spirit of Christ would dispose us to follow the example of the blessed Jesus in his holy way, and engender in us his lovely dispositions. He "went about doing good." In him was "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;" and "righteousness was the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness was the girdle of his reins." He "loved righteousness, and hated iniquity." He" fulfilled all righteousness," and was "holy, harmless, and | undefiled" by sin. Do we, then, find that we abominate sin; and are we utterly ashamed of ourselves because we have been guilty of it, and because of the badness of our hearts, so prone to evil, so wanting in piety and love? Do we find that we are ever seeking the pardon of our sins in prayer, with grace to give us power to master our sinful nature, and excite in us good affections? Are we ever maintaining a struggle with our vile passions and all our tendency to sin? and do we really keep the command over them? Are we ever endeavouring to cherish every good feeling, to cultivate every good disposition, to seek the improvement of the whole frame of our mind and heart? and do we find, as a matter of fact, that we are really devoted to the service of the Lord-that we are really "in the fear of the Lord all the day long," endeavouring to please him by all that we say and do-that we are really given to prayer and the study of the Scriptures, and attending the Lord's house and his holy table? Do we find that we really feel for our fellow-creatures-that we weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice—and that we not only feel, but act upon our feelings, exerting ourselves, and enduring loss, that we may afford every assistance, and consolation, and relief to our distressed, and afflicted, and needy neighbour? Do we find that " our affections are set upon things above, and not on things on the earth"-that we are not carnally minded, which is death, but spiritually minded, which is life and peace?" 66 These are no vain, or impertinent, or needlessly curious questions. They are of the deepest concern to us. For if such a stream of holiness is really proceeding from our hearts, it testifies to us that the fountain of life is there, the "living water." And this pure and holy stream, derived from that sacred fountain, tends in its course to the ocean of everlasting life. Such is the tenour of our Lord's promise: "It shall be in him a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life." Happy and thankful may those blessed children of God be, who find that, notwithstanding the dreadful flood of iniquity which seems to be overflowing the world and overwhelming mankind in misery and ruin, in them appears a stream, though far from the purity which they desire to see in it, yet running in the right course, the course of honesty and truth, the course of chastity and sobriety, the course of piety and charity,-a course spiritual, not earthly-tending to heaven, not to hell. To find the heart set heavenwards, seriously, earnestly, constantly "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" to find the life directed heavenwards, running through a channel of good and religious ways towards the blessed ocean of everlasting bliss-to find that all the heart and all the life, imperfect and faulty as they are, are yet steadily, and continually, and consistently bent towards God and glory, is indeed comfortable, cheering, and refreshing; for this course of holiness springs from God, and runs to God. God, in infinite mercy and love, sends his Holy Spirit into the soul, and causes pious and good dispositions to spring up in it. These dispose a person to renounce all sinful and worldly ways, and to give himself to a virtuous and religious life; and he then becomes "prepared to meet his God." He becomes 66 holy as he is holy," and therefore fit to be ushered into his glorious presence; that "presence in which there is fulness of joy," the perfection of happiness, happiness far beyond all the present powers of our heart to conceive. Do we now know so much of the gift of God, and of Him who speaketh to us in his holy word, as to desire that he may give us the living water? What shall we do? Can we hope that so great, so ineffable a gift, will be granted to such unworthy creatures at their request? Let the prophet encourage us, who speaks to us in remarkable unison with his and our divine Master and Saviour: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." These words surely encourage us to fall down before our God, praying to him to grant to us that Holy Spirit, which will be a fountain of life in our soul, of a religious life in this world, and of a glorious life in the world to come. And such encouragement is one of the very last things which the volume of Scripture presents to us, as if it would leave its readers impressed with a lively confidence, that upon praying with earnest longing for the blessed Spirit, it would be granted to them. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely." But the prophet points out to us one step which is most necessary in the way to the attainment of the desired life: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Repentance is here plainly laid down as a necessary step to divine favour. Seeking the Lord, calling upon him, and that while he may be found, while he is near, before he has absented himself for ever from us-think of this, young people,-is here 66 shewn to be a necessary step to salvation. And not only seeking the Lord in prayer, confessing sin, and calling upon him for mercy, but forsaking the wicked way and the unrighteous thoughts enters into the direction of the prophet. Yes, in vain shall we pray for the blessed gift of the Spirit, if we do not give up all bad practices, and bad language, and leave all wicked society, and take to religious and good ways-" break off our sins by righteousness;" cease to do evil, and learn to do well." But if we do earnestly and sincerely seek the mercy and favour of Almighty God, striving to change the manner of our life, and so to "frame our doings, that we may turn unto the Lord" in such a manner as to be accepted by him, great are the encouragements, blessed are the hopes, which the prophet sets before us. "He will have mercy upon you; he will abundantly pardon you;" his gracious compassion will be moved towards you; his pardon will be poured down in abundant streams upon you. Beautiful are the descriptions which the Scriptures give, in many passages, of the fulness and perfection of the pardon which the merciful God grants to the truly humbled and believing penitent: and from this state of lowly self-abasement and contrite sorrow, and eager desire for pardon and grace, the blessed Spirit will lead the penitent forth into the way of life; he will "convert his soul, and bring him forth into the paths of righteousness," even the ways which lead to glory, glory eternal in the heavens. "For ye shall go forth with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." So happy is the change in the penitent's condition, that it is enough to make all nature burst forth in joyful songs of gratulation around him: but not only this, it is of suthicient importance to fill the very heavens with joy. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." And the joy and peace with which the penitent will be brought forth, will be of durable, of eternal nature. The "joy and peace in believing," with which he is favoured in this world, will be the earnest of joy and peace eternal, which will crown him for ever in heaven. The stream of righteousness, which proceeds from the sacred fountain in his soul, "springs up unto everlasting life." JANSENISM.-No. III. Port-Royal. THE fixed determination of purpose on the part of the adherents of Jansenius not to sign the declaration already referred to, and which was directly at variance with their principles, drew down upon them, as was to have been expected, the most rancorous malice of their enemies. Excommunications, fines, banishments, and imprisonments, were the consequence; the state-prisons were thronged; the threats of fire and poison were not withheld; the Bastile, within whose walls the objects of tyrannical jealousy and hatred had for years languished in despair of regaining freedom, was crowded with fresh victims-even recesses in its passages were converted into temporary cells. It was in vain for the Jansenists to attempt to escape the fury and trickery of the Jesuits. That crafty society could not bear their uncompromising condemnation of many of the means adopted by the Romish see to retain and to extend its influence over the consciences and properties of men, and which scrupled not to suffer the enormities of its adherents to pass uncensured, provided there was a ready zeal testified to bow with submission to its authority, and to seek to bring others in thraldom to its iniquitous sway. Had the Jansenists been less open in condemning the vices of their brethren of the Romish Church, or had they been in their own habits more conformed to the world, it is probable that they might with the utmost safety, as far as persecution was concerned, have adhered to the peculiar views of Augustine. The world is, generally speaking, more prone to condemn a man's uncompromising censure of its maxims, than any peculiar notions which he may entertain on theological subjects. A man's belief, in fact, is little inquired into, provided he sets not his face against the prevailing vices of the times. The abbey of Port-Royal in the Fields, situated in a retired valley not far from Paris, occupied at this period a very prominent place among the religious institutions of France. "It excited," says Mosheim, "the indignation of the Jesuits, the admiration of the Jansenists, and the attention of Europe;" and this not only on account of the highly religious tone of thinking and acting of its inmates, but of their literary acquirements. Founded in 1204 by Eudes de Sully, bishop of Paris, its discipline had in process of time become gradually relaxed, and the inhabitants had sunk into that sloth and sensuality which was too prevalent among monastic bodies: this was, in fact, à natural result of an unnatural system of seclusion from the ordinary occupations of life, equally at variance with the Gospel and common sense, and one which was in no small measure the means of forwarding the progress of the blessed Reformation; at the same time testifying that a life of supposed separation from the world might yet be spent in walking according to its course, and that the walls of a monastery or nunnery are by no means to be regarded as containing within them the most exalted religious feeling or the purest morality. An important reformation, however, had taken place under the government of Jaqueline, daughter of Anthony Arnaud, who, after her conversion, assumed the name of Marie Angélique de la St. Madelaine. It had for a century exemplified a model of piety, mingled indeed with lamentable error, and accompanied with austerities at variance with the true character of the Gospel: still, a great change had been wrought; the views entertained by Jansenius had here taken root, and had been instrumental in weaning many a heart from the world, and in producing a tone of seriousness that strikingly contrasted with that existing in many of those institutions which it has been, and now is, the policy of the see of Rome to sustain-institutions that are silendy working their way in our own country, the increase of which is viewed with a strange apathy, but which may be one day instrumental in causing much confusion in the kingdom, in the attempt to raise Popery on the ruins of Protestantism. The Port-Royalists might, at the period referred to, be divided into three classes:-1. The nuns, who occupied the monastery, and followed the rule of Cisteaux; 2. the recluses, who led a retired life of abstraction from the world, but who were not bound by any vow, and of whom one company consisted of men who lived at the farm-house belonging to Port-Royal and other small cottages, and the other of ladies who boarded in the monastery; 3. various friends, who had houses near, and kept up an intimate connexion with the institution. The remarks of Mosheim with reference to the state of Port-Royal, however just many of them may be, are to be received with much caution: he does not appear to have entered into the spiritual feelings by which many of its adherents were unquestionably actuated, and from which their devotedness to religion took its rise. "Such," he says, 66 was the fame of this devout nunnery, that multitudes of pious persons were ambitious to dwell in its neighbourhood, and that a great part of the Jansenist penitents, or selftormentors, of both sexes, built huts within its precincts, where they imitated the manners of those austere and gloomy fanatics, who, in the fourth and fifth centuries, retired into the wild and uncultivated places of Syria and Egypt, and were commonly called the Fathers of the Desert.' The end which these penitents had in view was, by silence, hunger, thirst, prayer, bodily labour, watchings, sorrow, and other voluntary acts of self-denial, to efface the guilt and remove the pollution the soul had derived from natural corruption or evil habits." It would seem that there is something not a little harsh and unjust in such a statement. If those who retired to Port-Royal hoped by voluntary acts of self-denial to efface the guilt and remove the pollution of the soul, then, indeed, they erred greatly, "not knowing the Scriptures;" they displayed an utter ignorance of the plan of salvation through the meritorious efficacy of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ; they forsook the fountain of living waters;-but I can scarcely believe their views were so radically erroneous. This, however, is stated as a mere matter of opinion. Wherever there is an unreserved submission to the see of Rome, there must be a departure from the truth of the Gospel; but it would appear that by the refusal to sign the declaration that has been referred to, such blind submission was not maintained by the Jansenists. The penitents, however, according to Mosheim, did not all observe the same discipline, or follow the same kind of application and labour. The more learned consumed their strength in composing laborious productions filled with sacred and profane erudition; others were employed in teaching youth; but the greatest part exhausted both the health of their bodies and the vigour of their minds in servile industry and rural labour. What is singularly surprising, he adds, is, that many of these voluntary victims were illustrious both by their birth and station; amongst the most eminent of whom was Isaac le Maitre, à celebrated lawyer at Paris, who retired to Port-Royal in 1637, his example being followed by persons of the highest distinction. Against the establishment of Port-Royal, its friends and supporters, the fury of the Jesuit party was steadily and relentlessly poured forth: the monastery was surrounded by an armed guard; sentries were placed at the doors; the nuns were prevented walking out in their own gardens; they were deprived of their ministers, interdicted the sacraments, and delared rebels and heretics. This persecution lasted some years, during which many died in consequence of the privations they suffered. They were denied a participation of the holy communion in their last hour; and their bodies were debarred from the rites of Christian burial. The recluses suffered little less cruelly: hand-bills were posted in the corners of every street, offering large rewards to those who would apprehend them; they were consequently obliged to wander from one hidingplace to another-the police officers often searching the rooms in which they were concealed. Some of them |