new creatures.

It is the beginning of repent

ance-the entrance upon a religious life-the turning point of salvation-the threshold of the mansions of eternal bliss.

After all that we have said, however, some, perhaps, may be saying in their minds, like Nicodemus to Jesus, "How can these things be?" And if he, 'a master in Israel,' was so astonished at the doctrine, and so slow in receiving it, we cannot wonder that many amongst us are equally so. As such, we shall endeavour further to explain the nature of the new birth, by an illustration taken from a subject which is familiar to every sailor. I refer to the mariners' compass. Whilst you are all acquainted with the compass, most of you, it is presumed, know something of its construction; and every one, who has ever been at sea, must be aware of its usefulness. It is your guide, and means of safety and prosperity. Now, what the compass is to the sailor, the Spirit of Christ (which entering the heart produces the new birth) is to the believing Christian. The former guides through the trackless deep, when neither sun nor stars are visible, and enables you to reach the port to which you are bound; the latter guides through the mazes, darkness, and manifold perils of this mortal life, to the haven of eternal bliss. But consider what the compass would be without being touched?

It might have all the apparatus and requisites of a compass, it might resemble other compasses so much as to present no difference in its external appearance whatever, and yet, for any purpose of navigation, it would be entirely useless. And such precisely is the natural man, before his heart is touched by the Spirit. He is a soul without divine life-a compass without magnetism. He may, indeed, exhibit all the outward appearances of the spiritual man; he may sustain a moral character; he may be diligent in religious duties; he may be forward in good works,yet, if he have not the divine touch-the heavenborn love, or charity, he is nothing. As the untouched compass has no attraction to the polestands in any direction-is inactive, inanimate, useless; so the unregenerate man has no attraction to Christ, the believer's pole-star; he is indifferent to heavenly influences; more readily stands out of the right direction than in it; and is, in short, sluggish, dead, and unprofitable. As, therefore, the compass, however well made and beautifully finished, must be touched with the mysterious influence of the magnet, before it can turn to the pole, so the heart must be touched with the secret influence of Christ's Spirit, before it can turn to Christ.

But if any one still doubt, like Nicodemus, because of the mystery of regeneration, and again

and again say, "How can these things be?" we would refer you, after the manner of our Lord, to the mystery of the magnet, and ask you to explain that. Tell us how the power enterswhence it comes-how it acts? No! you cannot; yet you will not deny the power. Neither, then, deny the mysterious power which we have been describing, though we cannot explain the mystery. It is a mystery no greater than that of the magnet or of the wind. For "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit." If, then, the wind be a mystery which we cannot understand; it is but another mystery to be born again. If the compass be a mystery we cannot fully explain; the heavenly influence of regeneration is but another inexplicable mystery. As you believe the natural

mysteries, why receive not the spiritual?

II. Having said so much in respect to the nature of the new birth, we must be more brief in our remarks on THE DESIGN OR USE OF IT.

Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ we are justified in the sight of God, and delivered from the condemnation of the law; through the new birth we are meetened for the pure and holy enjoyments of an eternal world.

The forgiveness of our sins, therefore, is but a part of the requisites of salvation. For were it possible that our sins could be forgiven, whilst our hearts remained still hard, worldly, sensual, and wicked, it is evident, even to natural reason, that there would be no fitness in us whatever for the holiness of heaven. Hence religion becomes the education for the heavenly state. But without the fitness of a holy and sanctified nature, paradise itself would be devoid of enjoyment. For as well might the fishes of the sea enjoy the pleasure we feel in breathing the pure air of heaven; as well might the ruminating ox have happiness in the sun-parched sandy desert; as well might the aspiring eagle, with clipped wings, experience all the enjoyments natural to its proper condition whilst crawling about the earth, as that the soul unsanctified and unfitted for heaven should find its happiness there! Here then, my brethren, we see the design and use of the new birth. As essentially as we need the blood of Christ for the pardon of our sins, so essentially we require the quickening, purifying influence of the Spirit of Christ, in regeneration, "to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

In order still more distinctly to perceive the use of regeneration—that is, the new birth, let us compare it with faith. Faith is the origin and medium of our justification; the new birth, of

our sanctification. Faith reveals to us the glories of a heavenly world; regeneration, as we said, fits us for their sanctified enjoyments. Without faith there can be no regeneration; without regeneration there can be no holiness. Faith without conversion, is dead and unsaving; conversion without faith, is either the heart's deception or Satan's counterfeit! The devils have the solitary, uninfluential faith; for, being beyond the reach of conversion, they believe and tremble. The marks of a saving faith are many; but there is no 'outward visible sign of this inward and spiritual grace' that is entirely satisfactory, except the new birth.

Hence, my brethren, the use and object of the new birth, both as a preparation for heavenly happiness, and as a self-evident and intuitive proof of the reality of our faith, and the pardon of our sins.

III. The third consideration which has been proposed to engage our attention, is THE NECES

SITY OF THE NEW BIRTH.

If the scriptures had been altogether silent as to the necessity of the new birth, we might have satisfactorily inferred that necessity from the very object of it, as just described. For as necessary as our original birth is, before we can perform