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How great should be our solicitude, that when he comes, as he may, by his messenger death, in a moment which we think not of, he may find us doing his will, walking blameless in his commandments and ordinances, waiting in faith and patience for his coming.

Lord and Master, may we then enter into the paradise of God, and finally have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory.

SERMON XXXI.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY

GHOST

HEBREWS VI. 4.

Made partakers of the Holy Ghost.

THE doctrine of the influences of the Holy Spirit upon the human soul, is a fundamental doctrine of the Gospel. The most superficial observer of human nature must acknowledge and deplore its frailty and corruption. The understanding is liable to error, the affections tend to excessive indulgence, the will is averse to that which is good, and numerous are the temptations to which, thus weak and corrupt in his understanding, his will, and his affections, man is exposed in this evil world. Hence results the necessity of divine agency in his restoration to truth and virtue, and his victory over temptation. What this divine agency shall be, is a point purely of revelation, resting on the determination of the Almighty Being who made us, and on whom we are entirely dependent. In the sacred writings we find this divine agency, so essential to us in our present fallen and weak condition, revealed in the influences of the Holy Spirit, the gift of which, the purchase of Christ's merits, and the consequence of his ascent into heaven, the church this day commemorates. And it is the language of inspired apostles, that we are not sufficient of

ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but that our sufficiency is of God; and that, through the sanctification of the Spirit, we are established in holiness, and prepared for heaven.

In accordance with Scripture, the agency of the Divine Spirit is a prominent doctrine of our church. "We have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable unto God," (this is her language in one of her articles,) " but by the grace of God giving us a good will, and working with us when we have that good will." Accordingly she prays to God, that as, "by his special grace preventing us," (going before us,) "he puts into our minds good desires, so by his continual help we may bring the same to good effect." And she directs us to offer earnest supplication to God to "cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit."

On the subject of the influences of the Divine Spirit many erroneous and dangerous opinions prevail, against which it is essential that Christians should be put on their guard.

Since, then, the operations of the Holy Spirit are thus essential, it is of importance that we correctly understand the nature of these operations on our hearts.

1. The operations of the Divine Spirit on our minds are in accordance with our intellectual and moral powers; and therefore are not violent, but gentle and persuasive.

It is an error to suppose that the operations of the Divine Spirit are overpowering and violent.

When, indeed, men were endowed with miraculous powers, over which they had no control, and

in which they acted as they were impelled, the operations of the Spirit were sometimes violent; denoted by "a rushing mighty wind," and by "tongues of fire." But when men, as moral agents, are to be reclaimed from sin and restored to holiness, then the mild influences of the Holy Spirit may be aptly denoted by the gentleness of the dove, under which emblem he descended on our blessed Lord. Violent impulses upon the mind would be incompatible with its freedom, with man's condition as a moral agent, and with the character of God as a moral Governor. The gentle influx of divine illumination and grace on the soul, preserves it in the possession of that freedom which is essential to man as a moral agent, and which might be impaired by any violent impressions. God will not, by the operations of the Spirit, violate that constitution of our nature which he hath established; and every man's consciousness assures him that he is free in all his volitions and determinations.

In his character as a moral Governor, the Almighty, therefore, deals with men by the force of motives, by the hopes of reward and the fears of punishment, addressed to their understanding and to their affections. This is the mode, and the only mode, by which free agents can be governed. But if these motives were violently applied to the mind by the influences of the Holy Spirit, they would no longer resemble motives operating on free agents, but physical forces impelling machines. In the process of conversion from sin to holiness, doubtless strong emotions often fill the breast of the sinner. Remorse for his sins, and holy apprehension of God's judgments, often agitate his con

science. The enormity of his transgressions, the greatness of his ingratitude to his gracious Maker and Benefactor, and his presumption in so long defying divine justice impressed upon his conscience, he finds himself under the sentence of perdition, and terror convulses his soul. Miserable man! guilty sinner, thou hast cause to mourn. Thy God, thy Sovereign, thy Benefactor, thy Judge offended; the mercy, the grace, and the love of thy Saviour contemned; thy immortal soul polluted, and in danger of eternal perdition-thou hast indeed cause to mourn. But when thy terrors become the terrors of despair, they are the result of thine own weak and disordered nature; they are not the necessary attendants on genuine conviction of sin; they are not the operations of the Spirit of God. For while it is the office of this Spirit to convince of sin, it is also his gracious office to direct the troubled soul to that blood of atonement, faith in which allays its fears, and sooths it with the peaceful emotions of humble hope.

Be not distressed, Christians, if your penitence has not been accompanied with violent agitations of mind and terrors of conscience. Sorrow for your sins, deep and unfeigned sorrow, you must indeed have felt, or you have no pretensions to the character of a true penitent. But violence is no characteristic of genuine grief. If, under a sense of your guilt and unworthiness, you have had recourse, in humble confession and prayer, to the throne of your heavenly Father, and found consolation and peace in reliance on his mercy through Jesus Christ, you may rest satisfied that your sorrow for sin, destitute as it may have been of violent agitations of soul, has yet been quickened by divine VOL. III.

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