went on to explain the mystery of which he was thus blameably ignorant, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'

The language in which St Paul addresses the Corinthians in the sixth chapter of his first epistle, might seem to be connected with this declaration. In the ninth and two following verses, he says, 'know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?' he then enumerates some of the characters which cannot enter into the kingof God, and reminds the Corinthian church that some of its members were once among such; and then turns to the change effected in them, But ye are washed, but ye are justified, but ye are sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.' And again, the whole of this wonderful, and for man, most ennobling doctrine, is comprised in the words which conclude the same chapter, when the apostle, as if reproving those he addressed for their ignorance,

their want of divine perception in their high and holy privileges, exclaims, 'What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? which ye have of God; and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.' In these words. we have indeed all our completeness in Christ for salvation;-atonement, for we are bought with a price,-justification, for we are accepted, we are God's,-sanctification, for the Holy Ghost is in us.

It is by this indwelling of the Holy Ghost, that the human soul is brought back to a suitable state for companionship with God, is conformed to the circumstances of heaven, so as to be able to desire them in time, and to enjoy them in eternity.

It is by the operation of the Holy Spirit that we are brought to accept the blessings of salvation, and it is by the continued indwelling of the same Spirit that we are rendered meet to enjoy them. The manner of this operation is a mystery; for what man

knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man that is in him?' and the operation of the Spirit of God upon the soul is scarcely more mysterious than are the workings of the human mind itself, which are totally unknown, and often quite incomprehensible to one exactly similarly constituted.

With admirable simplicity, and comprehensive brevity, the Lord at once rebuked the cavils of human reason, and condescended to forestall them; warning Nicodemus that nature itself is full of mysteries which we can neither account for nor disbelieve; and having declared, without explaining the mystery of the Spirit, he tells him there are greater mysteries to exercise the faith of men than even this, for of this they could have some proof; the witness being in themselves-as he said on another occasion, 'the kingdom of God is within you ;' and again, the kingdom of God is said to be 'righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.' We have within ourselves the evidence whether or not we are

born again, born from above. We cannot experience that great spiritual change, which is emphatically described, as a passing from death to life, a transition from darkness to light, without being conscious of the change; we must know whether we hate the sin we once delighted in,-love the holiness we once disliked,-long for the presence we once shrunk from, and enjoy the companionship we once disrelished.

Thus the work of the Spirit is a thing to be known, and understood, and experienced, as well as believed, in our present earthly state: it is not like some other recorded truths, a matter of faith only: it is a truth which admits the test of human experience; therefore in speaking of it our divine Instructor said, If I have told you earthly things, (or things relating to your earthly state) and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things;' or of those things which are purely heavenly, to which none of your own feelings and experiences can testify, which

must be received by faith without the testimony of experience. If I tell you of the mystery of the incarnation. If I tell you that the Son of Man, who now talks with you, has come down from heaven, and is to ascend back to heaven, and, as one with the Father, is now in heaven. 'If I tell you that his work of atonement was prefigured by the symbol of the accursed serpent, lifted up by Moses on the accursed tree in the wilderness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?" In comparison of these mysteries, the work of the Spirit may be numbered among 'earthly things,' for it has relation to our earthly state; and also because it must be performed upon the soul while it is in an earthly state, otherwise it cannot see the kingdom of God. This gift of the Spirit which our circumstances render so absolutely necessary, in order to enable us to benefit by all that had been done for us, was a consequence of Christ's ascension into heaven; as he adds in the words