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which, without Him, would be utterly ineffectual. These agencies are not so adapted and fitted to each other, and to the sinner, that, when they come into a certain juxta-position, a spiritual result will inevitably take place. So immediate, so necessary, is the superior power, that if that soul be born again, it is born of THE SPIRIT OF GOD. The mighty work that transforms a guilty creature into a child of God, and removes him from the dominion of sin to the dominion of grace, is the work of the Deity Himself. It is His mighty working. The Second Person redeems; the Third enlightens, and draws, and renews. Other agencies are appointed, and used, and blessed; but they do not perform the work instead of God. It is too mighty and too sacred: but, if it were even possible for the efficient power to reside in any subordinate agencies, He, in His great and boundless love, would still delight (if we may so speak) to do it Himself. He esteems it worthy of Him: it glorifies Him. How great, then, is that work which employs and glorifies the personal agency of the Deity!

It is not, however, more certain that the work is God's, than that He is desirous to be seen in it-to be recognised and acknowledged as its Author. Nay, He is even jealous lest He should be overlooked or forgotten; lest the seeming perfection of secondary agencies should conceal the chief Performer. The real work is not done without Him-it cannot be done without Him and He is not willing to work where the glory of His operation is likely to be given to another. Many instances of this jealousy are found in the Old Testament, and it is again and again directly asserted. On one single occasion that great servant of God, the meekest of men, forgot himself, and he was never forgiven. No doubt, at the water of Meribah he allowed his spirit to be disturbed in a very unusual manner : but, there is reason to think, the chief ground of offence-that which alone was, in the sense implied, unpardonable-was the putting of himself forward (and this only under a combination of momentary annoyance and thoughtlessness) as the first operator: "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" And, probably, he said and did other things that made this temporary presumption evident and unequivocal. With a fellowinfirmity, our own presumption is ready to rise at the recital of this incident and to contend with God, were we not effectually reproved and silenced by calling to mind the supreme and unquestionable rectitude that decides. Why could not this great servant be pardoned such a fault,-one fault,only one, amidst a cloud of virtues? This man, whose single voice had gained pardon for myriads,-pardon for their huge and reiterated sins,— pardon from death,-why could not he himself be pardoned? Had he not served for forty years,-served in honour, in danger, in dishonour? What mighty things had he done in the name, and always to the glory, of God! Had not his deepest and most violent emotions been produced when the honour of God was in question? Did not the Master Himself declare that this servant was superior to all others?-"who is faithful in all Mine house." And was he not to be honoured above all others for this fidelity? -"With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in

dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold." Why, then, should not He who had pardoned the thousand thousand transgressions of Israel forgive His great servant this one "trespass?"-The greater the servant, the greater the danger, and the less pardonable the fault. This man Moses, as the subject of mighty honours, and the instrument (visible and immediate) of mighty wonders, was a lawgiver, a captain, a father, and (in a figure) a god, to the people whom he led and governed. This present multitude, born in the wilderness, had never known him but in his greatness and glory: ever since they breathed the vital air he had been a patriarch, a prophet, and a prince; and he was the greatest being they had ever seen, or were likely to see. What danger, then, to the Author of all his works and all his glory, if the natural tendency in the people of his care to render him Divine homage should be increased by even a momentary assumption on his part of the Divine prerogative; and if that should seem to them to be done by the authority of man, which could be done only by the power of God! The Master had made His servant so great, that it was needful to watch his every movement, and visibly and even severely to signalize his first fault,—especially, a fault in this direction. Only such a Master could have safely conferred such honours. He gave grace where He bestowed power; and this dutiful servant, when found in a trespass, had yet grace to receive in a becoming spirit his Master's open rebuke, and to submit, even without a murmur, to the penalty it involved. The jealousy of God never ceased till that penalty was exacted. Because of this "trespass," neither Moses nor Aaron was to go over that Jordan, although both had come twice to its brink, and the second time, too, after an interval of nearly forty years. No mode of punishment could have been more conspicuous and significant. Again and again they were reminded of its cause. Though advanced in years, neither was infirm by age; and they calmly put off life at the command of God, the one on Mount Hor, the other on Mount Nebo; Aaron, in the presence of Moses, Moses, of God. The disappearance of this magnificent man from the earth, with its associate circumstances, is one of the most impressive and touching incidents of sacred history.-All this, as we judge, was accounted necessary to redeem the honour of God from the trespass of Meribah : “Ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel."

Gideon's large army was reduced to three hundred men, because the people that were with him were "too many" for God to give the Midianites into their hands; that is, too many for the Almighty to be seen in the work which, nevertheless, He would perform: "Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." The walls of Jericho might have been assaulted by a vast body of armed men in the usual way, and the Divine power might have imperceptibly aided to secure success; but as THE CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD wished to be seen in the work, and to have the glory of it, the ark of the God of Israel, preceded by Priests and trumpets, compassed the city seven days, and at a given moment, before a blast and a shout, the walls of Jericho fell down

flat, and, without a stroke of war, the army of Israel entered the city.— But we will not multiply illustrations. This determination of the Almighty to be seen (though not by sense) in His own works, and to have the glory of them, is too evident throughout the whole of Scripture, and too well known to diligent readers, to require further proof.

And what, of all His works, is so great, so truly and exclusively His own, as the work of human regeneration? Is any of all His works more difficult to perform? Is it not as much a superhuman work to quicken and restore a dead soul, as to raise a dead body? Who but God shall bring back an alienated and guilty creature, dead in trespasses and sins, to spirituality and purity; to love, to gentleness, to sweetness, and holiness; to what a Christian is, and may become? And when He has done the work, so great a miracle,-is it surprising that He should require the glory of it?-that He should watch with a jealous eye any who would deprive Him of that glory?

These, then, we may consider as accepted or established points: namely, that the effectual grace which turns a sinner from darkness to light is the present and acting power of God ;-that He claims the glory of what He effects;—and that He is likely to give or withhold co-operation, as the glory thereof may or may not redound to Himself. The practical question then is, how far the operation of these principles may affect the success or non-success of any agency acting on men for their spiritual welfare: say, of any Minister, of any church, of any community of churches, of any individual.

To draw and hold a congregation of decent people; to strengthen what principles they have; to improve their habits of worship, to increase their reverence for Divine things, and win their recognition of the great evangelical doctrines, so that, altogether, there may be an improved tone in morals and religion, (as the phrase would be,)-may not be very difficult for a Minister of average sense and fluency, an honest and earnest man, to accomplish, with the ordinary aids of the sanctuary. He makes for the most part no greater demand on them than they can without any great sacrifice or exertion concede; and he does not press home any very searching inquiries as to their individual relations with Christ. But, when the Minister speaks of an inward and spiritual change in all his hearers, (even the best of them,) of which they themselves must be conscious;—of relations of faith and love and duty, and earnest service to Christ issuing from a regenerate heart, and of all this being nourished and upheld by daily communion with Christ in meditation and prayer, then the whole carnal mind revolts. This is too much; this is taking religion too deeply into the recesses and fountains of humanity, and interfering with the whole stream of life and enjoyment. Deeply, indeed, but not too deeply. This is the very thing proposed and commanded. This is the breaking of the heart of stone; the being renewed in the spirit of our mind; the being born again of the Spirit of God. Thus, and only thus, old things pass away, and all things become new.

But this is what the natural man

resists. Morality, public worship, beneficence, consent in a general way to the teaching of Scripture without prying too much into what is mysterious, gentleness, amiableness, the forgiveness of injuries, &c.,-all this he will concede; but the citadel of Mansoul itself he will hold and defend. This he will on no account give up. Here, then, a resolute stand is taken; and some mighty, overwhelming power must appear. It is at hand: that power is the Holy Spirit of God. He, and He only, can overbear this resistance, and take possession of the human soul itself,-the seat of thought, and purpose, and feeling, and inclination. Joshua may be here, even Joshua: but THE CAPTAin of the LorD'S HOST must be here also, and work with Joshua, or nothing effectual will be done.

Now it is this spiritual, radical, pervading work within the human soul, that every Minister of Christ well instructed unto the kingdom of heaven proposes to himself,-every Minister who himself has tasted that the Lord is gracious, and felt the powers of the world to come. Under what conditions, then, is the Holy Spirit most likely to work with and by such a man to produce the desired result? Must he not be truly spiritual in his habit of mind, in his chief tastes and occupations, and in the main object of his pursuit ?—thoroughly humble, gentle, earnest, resolute, unselfish, devoted : and all this, not merely as it may appear to the judgment of man, but as it does appear to the Spirit of God; to Him whose eye tracks him over all his course, in private and in public, and penetrates and surveys his inmost mind; to whom he is thoroughly known in the whole scope of his life and purpose; to whom he appears as he is, as he acts, and as he intends and desires ; "from whom," in a word, "no secrets are hid.” To our belief, just as a Minister thus commends himself less or more to the Holy Spirit, is that adorable Paraclete likely to love him, bless him, abide with him, make him more like Himself, and love him still the more for this growing correspondence of nature; to aid his meditations, prompt his thoughts, encourage his industry, and impart a spiritual savouriness to his whole bearing and deportment. But He is especially, and above all, likely to be with such a man in the greatest place in which he ever stands,—the pulpit : the place for which, mainly, all his gifts are conferred, and all his graces imparted; where he has the greatest opportunity of doing the most good in the least time to the greatest number of redeemed souls,-good that is spiritual, divine, everlasting. This sacred place is the Minister's main standing-point. Here he makes his stand against sin; here he announces Christ; here he offers the blessings of grace and salvation; here, in the name of Christ, he opens the kingdom of heaven (of eternal glory!) to all believers. Yet here he can accomplish nothing, nothing effectual, without the Holy Spirit of God. Here, then, of all places, will that Spirit of grace be with His faithful servant, with his heart, with his mind, with his mouth, with his sympathies; to teach him what he should say, to give him a ready utterance, to excite a noble courage, and to warın and soften all he says with a generous tenderness; giving him to feel toward immortal souls of men "in the bowels of Jesus Christ." Thus from the good

man's lips will He cause grace, as well as truth, to flow. But, in addition to this, He will work, as He only can work, on the minds and consciences of those addressed. He will open the way, and send home the truth with authority and power. All may not submit ; but most, if not all, will be made to feel, under degrees and modes of application adapted to their own condition, the efficiency of the ministration of the word of righteousness. If a whole congregation he not converted, they may all be edified. A wilful and obstinate sinner may not at once "turn to God;" but if his attention be compelled, if he be brought to thoughtfulness, and, still more, if he be made to tremble, to go away uneasy, he is edified, there is grace upon him, whether he hears or whether he forbears. And what if some long-mourning penitent receive the consolation of the sons of God, if the weak are strengthened, if the sorrowful are comforted, if the timid are encouraged, if it is generally felt that this word is "able to save the soul,” and if all retire saying, "It was good to be there," and with dispositions more favourable to the reception of these ministrations in the time to come, -then how great a blessing is here! The five barley-loaves are broken by Divine hands, and they feed at once a thousand souls. All this is the result of the Spirit's co-operation.-How vast is the difference between a thousand persons retiring from the sanctuary with profited minds and gladdened hearts, and the same number retiring without any very clear sense of edification, or any tendency to recall what they have heard! How great, then, the opportunity of the pulpit to use a single hour! and how great the responsibility of those who occupy it!

We must judge, therefore, that the more holy and spiritual any Minister is in his habits and aims, the more likely the Holy Spirit is to work with him and by him. And another and most important recommendation to this Divine aid, is a continual dependence on it for success. The Holy Spirit is pleased that this should be felt by the human and visible agent whom He condescends to employ; and that it should be expressed in his private supplication and in his public pleading. It is earnest public pleading with God for His immediate grace, and an immediate success from that grace,— a pleading characterized by many "repetitions" that are not "vain," and by variations of phrase that signify much the same thing,-that shows where the Minister's strength lies, and whither the general expectation must look. The Holy Spirit is thus distinguished to all as the Source of the desired good; and this, in connexion with the faith called forth, is the strongest motive to Him to perform His mighty works. He is likely then to receive the glory of them,-the thing He so watches to secure. Perhaps it is one of the faults of the public ministrations of the present day, that this dependence, though felt, is not sufficiently felt; and, though expressed, does not receive that prominence which the Holy Spirit requires. It is not enough that it be held as a matter of orthodoxy, and duly expressed in a well-turned form just at the right place in a series of supplications: it must be implied-nay, seen-in the earnestness with which the grace is sought, and the faith with which it is anticipated. This one thing is more

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