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illustrate, The Spirit takes of the things of Christ

He brings, therefore, to and sets them before it reveal the will of God

and shows them unto us.* the mind its proper duties, in such a way as clearly to in us. Nay, he does more than this. Where the will is both submissive and operative, ready to take up the work which is thus placed before it, and anxious to accomplish all that is proposed to it, the Spirit strengthens its resolutions, assists its powers, co-operates with its endeavours, and furnishes grace proportionate to its necessities. But there is not the slightest violence done to the free will of man, nor any influence made use of which does not seem rather to be the mind's own suggestion, than the effect of any invisible power over it. Thus, when a man, having seen the error of his ways, turns to God by a lively repentance, and, in the full feeling of awakened remorse, cries mightily to God for help and deliverance, what hinders but that the very sight of his guilt may have been the work of the Spirit of God upon his heart, and the piercing accents in which he supplicates the throne of infinite mercy and goodness for the forgiveness of sin, may be dictated by him who helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered? One thing is clear, that, if we are destitute of the Spirit of grace, we cannot come to salvation. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." They are led by that Spirit to a knowledge of Christ the Mediator,

* John xvi. 13-15.

and then they are presented by Christ to his Father, as being one with him. If, then, to be led by the Spirit, which is the Apostle's phrase, be equivalent to being drawn by him, which is our Saviour's phrase, it follows that we must be endued with this heavenly grace, we must be under the very guidance of this Holy Comforter, to bring us unto Christ and to God. The expression, led by the Spirit, bespeaks any thing but force and constraint. It teaches, rather, that he is a gentle guide who takes us by the hand, and conducts us, as willing agents, to the throne of divine acceptance. Reluctance and opposition would soon drive him away from us, and though he cannot be unkind, he may be grieved and affronted. Where, however, he lights upon a willing mind, and his hallowed influences are duly felt and appreciated, he communicates grace in proportion to the wants and importunities of the recipient, and not only draws him nigh to Christ, but disposes him likewise for Christ's presentation of him to the Father.

III. Our blessed Saviour, having shown that men must be previously drawn to him in order to enable him to present them unto God, and this, because if they were left to themselves, they would never come, declares, in the Third place, his gracious acceptance of all who shall thus approach him in sincerity and truth: "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.".

When our Saviour says in the former part of this verse, "All that the Father giveth me shall

come to me," we are not to infer that any exclusion of particular persons is implied, for the Father confers on all the ability to turn to Christ, and Christ himself declares, that he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. But what he means is, that all who dispose their hearts to righteousness and true holiness, all who do not resist his preventing and co-operating grace, the Father gives to the Son; and only those who slight his mercy, and reject the proffered means of salvation, are excluded. In fact, they refuse to be given unto Christ, and their exclusion is their own act and purpose. "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life;" which is equivalent to the strongest invitation possible. "Why," said our Saviour to the Jews, "do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word:" cannot, not from want of ability, but want of inclination. And, again, "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." The giving, therefore, of disciples by the Father unto Christ, is inclining those who hear the word of truth to embrace and profit by it; this is, in a scriptural sense, being taught of God; and every one who is so taught, and comes to the footstool of his Saviour for farther information and instruction, Christ has solemnly declared, he "will in no wise cast out."

Let us dwell on these words, for they well deserve our deepest consideration. Such is the merciful provision made, through a crucified Saviour, for

rest."

man's recovery from sin, his restoration to favour, and his final blessedness in heaven, that none will be lost but by their own wilful neglect. What can be more inviting, what more encouraging, than our blessed Master's words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." When brought into jeopardy by our parents' guilt, our lives threatened, and our estate confiscated, are we to blame the severity of our Judge, if, with a pardon in his hands, and the promise of the restoration of all our hopes and possessions, we reject the boon and refuse the terms on which our deliverance is promised? O let us listen to the call of our all-bountiful Mediator and Advocate. Let us accept the offer which he so graciously presents us. Poor, frail creatures as we are, what would become of us were we to be abandoned to ourselves. If we look up to the infinite God, and see our moral unfitness to abide his presence, and if we turn to the wondrous powers with which we are endowed, and view their incapacity, through sin, to make any adequate improvement, we may well adore that inexhaustible goodness which provided a Saviour to intercede in our behalf, and supply what is wanting in us, to raise us to the footstool of divine mercy, and to secure our acceptance through his merits and mediation.

SERMON XXX.

THE TWO NATURES OF CHRIST.

66 THE JEWS

JOHN X. 33.

ANSWERED HIM, SAYING, FOR A GOOD WORK WE STONE THEE NOT; BUT FOR BLASPHEMY; AND BECAUSE THAT THOU, BEING A MAN, MAKEST THYSELF GOD."

THE history of our blessed Lord begins with the fall of man. He is then darkly introduced to us as the seed of the woman who was to bruise the serpent's head, and from that period to the time of his nativity, he is either distinctly alluded to, or directly spoken of, throughout the Scriptures of the old dispensation. Being thus incorporated with the revelations of God, and made an inseparable part of the annals of the world, as they are preserved to us by the inspired historians, we have not only the fullest authority for tracing his descent through the long period of the world's existence, but it is our duty to consider him as the leading object of every dispensation of God to man, as the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Head of the Patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian economies. This view of Christ connects him with every generation of our fallen race, and is consistent with the notion of his being

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