children. He begat us with the word of truth. It is an instrument suited to the nature of man, as endued with reason and conscience. The word of truth is proposed to him, and his heart receives it, or rejects it. The heavenly Father invites him to be of the number of his children; sets before him the word of truth. Receive that; live by that: let it be the principle of your thoughts and actions; and "I will be a Father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

It is thus that a man is begotten of God: through this operation of God's word upon his heart. St. Peter writes to the same purpose.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptibleby the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." That word says, Ye must be born again.

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Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." The conscience replies :-I feel it is so : a new nature must be implanted within me, to overcome that old nature, which is corrupt, and contrary to God's written word. The word says again: Christ Jesus came into the world, that as many as believe in him might have that new spirit: might be "made partakers of the divine nature;" might have " power to become the sons of God." The heart replies: I believe; it is worthy of all acceptation; I believe that he came to take away our sins; to save his people from their sins. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

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Such, in substance, is the operation of the word

of truth upon the heart. It speaks to the heart; and under the influence of the Holy Spirit the heart responds. But it does respond. It is not senseless, passive, inanimate. Whilst it receives, it also takes. There is an active stretching out of the hand of faith, to lay hold of what God offers and bestows.

And thus men become, indeed, God's creatures: not merely by creation, of which they were unconscious; but by adoption, in which they have exercised a part, and their own will has had a share.

Why then are infants baptized, and received into covenant with Christ, when, by reason of their tender age, they cannot exercise this faith? Because they promise it by their sureties, which promise, when they come to age, themselves are bound to perform. No man who has arrived at years of understanding, has scriptural ground to be satisfied with his state, without a sense of this adoption: a consciousness that the word of truth hath said to him, Here is eternal life; and that the answer of his heart has been, True, Lord, "this is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Lord, we believe; help thou our unbelief, and enable us to prove in ourselves the power of thy word unto salvation.

For salvation is the merciful purpose for which the word of truth is given, and the "new creature" formed. It is not intended to stop short of this. It is intended to restrain all those passions, and correct all those affections, which are contrary to holiness, disapproved of God, and unsuitable to his heavenly kingdom. And some of these St. James proceeds to show, as is the manner of all the apostles: who

set forth, first, the mercy of God; then its effects and consequences.

19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

20. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

He speaks, probably, of a case in which they were particularly tempted, and liable to offend: they were contentious, impatient, vehement against opposition. Such was the Jewish character; we see it in all the gospel history: and they were Jews by birth, to whom James was writing. Those who condemned our Lord, professed to be zealous for God. "He has spoken blasphemy."

By our law he ought to die." You would suppose they were working the righteousness of God. So those who put Stephen to death had the honour of Moses in their mouths, and pretended to vindicate their law, as if " doing God service." Something of this spirit might remain in the Jewish Christians after they had been begotten by the word of truth. So St. James reminds them that "the fruit of the Spirit is peace:" that "the wisdom from above is peaceable:" that the weapons of christian "warfare are not carnal:" that we must "in meekness instruct those that oppose themselves:" for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. And then including all in one comprehensive sentence, he adds:

21. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

The engrafted word-How exact the image! The

purpose of a graft is to produce fruit of a new nature it changes the produce of the same stem. And so the word of truth: new qualities succeed the old and corrupt disposition: what in Saul was unholy violence, in Paul became earnest zeal: and so instead of filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, instead of all that impurity and overflowing vice with which the natural heart too much abounds, there arise goodness, and meekness, and godliness, and temperance, and purity.

Such is the effect of the engrafted word; and thus it is able to save the soul, by bringing the soul into a condition to be saved; and out of which it cannot be saved; for "without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

And thus, in conclusion, our thoughts are carried beyond this world of difficulty and trial, and fixed upon a very different state of being, when holiness will no more need to be engrafted on the soul as a produce new and strange; it will be its own proper nature, when the spirit is made perfect. Here the word of truth has to contend with falsehood;-to disperse error;-to subdue a stubborn heart, too often unwilling to believe:-there all will be truth, things seen as they are, no longer through a glass darkly. Here, too, the corrupt nature struggles against the engrafted nature, and one is sadly marred and injured by the other :-there that beautiful promise will be realised, "Thy people shall be all righteous." "For there shall in no wise enter into that kingdom anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie."

Wherefore, as the apostle argues, lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

LECTURE VI.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEARERS AND DOERS OF THE WORD.

JAMES i. 22-25.

22. But be ye doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Persons, then, may deceive themselves: be mistaken as to their spiritual state; falsely persuaded that all is well with them, on some grounds which are not safe and solid, and will not support them in the day of trial.

This agrees both with Scripture and experience. There are regular hearers of the word, who yet derive no profit from hearing. Nay, is not their condition still more dangerous? "If I had not come," said the Lord Jesus," and spoken unto them,"-if they had not heard-" they had not had sin :"they would have been comparatively blameless : "but now they have no cloke for their sins."

In what manner it happens that men are not doers of the word, but hearers only, St. James sets forth by an example.

1 John xv. 22.