escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust," 2 Pet. i. 4. To suppose that there is any thing in the Divine arrangement itself, which either operates as an hinderance to your salvation, or supplies a lawful excuse for your neglect to scek it, is virtually to deny the truth of the gospel altogether: it not only "makes God a liar," but also charges him with the most refined and gratuitous unkindness, treating with mockery and insult the misery of his creatures, under the pretext of his readiness to save them.

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thought is almost too blasphemous to be penned ; pursued to its legitimate consequences it will land you in the gloomy regions of atheism; since to invest God with such a character, is in reality to deny his existence. Talk not, then, of the provision of mercy as inadequate to the necessity or the peculiarity of your case. "Christ has wrought out and brought in everlasting righteousness," Dan. ix. 24; and "he is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them," Heb. vii. 25. And why entertain the idea of God's unwillingness to bless you? "He that spared not his ovn Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom. vii. 32. Again, and again, you are assured that if you believe, you shall be saved, and that nothing can condemn you but your own continuance in unbelief. If you read or hear any statements, professing to be statements of gospel truth, which are at variance with these plain declarations of Holy Scripture, they are mis-statements, originating in ignorance or error; they are either misconceptions of what is

revealed, or mere human dogmas which are wholly devoid of authority. All the difficulty is with yourself. It lies in your own sinful disinclination to repent and turn unto God. Thus saith the Lord Jesus, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life," John v. 40; and your own conscience testifies that this is the truth. There is some sin, which you will not forsake; or some pleasure, which you will not forego; or some sacrifice, upon which you will not venture; or some objection to the terms of the gospel, which you will not lay aside. The fact is, and you must admit it, that "the grace of God is exceeding abundant" in thus dealing with you. The feast is prepared; the table is spread; the provision is suitable and ample; and you are freely and urgently invited to come and partake of it. But instead of complying, you are seeking by every possible consideration to excuse yourself, and thus strengthening your disinclination, and trifling with your privilege.

To all these advantages which your connexion with the administration of the gospel kingdom gives you, there is to be added the promised influences of the Holy Spirit. These influences, as they have to do with conversion, are purely and only spiritual. They are as essential to the existence and prosperity of spiritual life, as his physical influences are to the existence and welfare of physical life. The whole system of means adapted to maintain spiritual life, implies the accompanying influences of the Holy Spirit; for without these the appointment of the means is altogether useless. Accordingly, you find that the influences of the Holy Spirit, equally with the varied

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means by which "the truth as it is in Jesus," is brought into contact with the mind of a sinner, are ascribed to the mediatorial interposition of the Son of God. The truth, as it is contained in the Holy Scriptures, is the great instrumentality of spiritual influences. "The sword of the Spirit, is the word of God," Eph. vi. 17; and the apostle James, speaking of the gracious process by which a sinner is brought to God, teaches us that, "of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures," James i. 18. Whenever the truth is presented to your mind, the Holy Spirit is present, and all the effect which the truth produces must be referred to his influences. When it proves to you a light, discovering guilt and sin;" when it comes like a hammer and a fire, breaking the rock in pieces;" when it is a sweetly persuasive motive, drawing you near the Lord;" you have in yourself the proof that "there is a Holy Ghost." Your own experience has taught you that these influences are not confined to the mere letter of Holy Scripture, nor to any particular truth as isolated from the rest; still less to any particular agency by which the truth may be set before you, or any particular circumstances under which your attention may be led to it. Whenever, wherever, by whomsoever, "the truth," substantially, simply, "as it is in Jesus," has been brought into contact with your mind, and has gained from you a candid, serious, practical consideration, these gracious influences have been present. All the convictions which you have of the nature and necessity of religion, must be ultimately referred to this source. And to what a gracious extent you have

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enjoyed this advantage, it were vain to endeavour to estimate. Recollect then that it is equally vain to try to estimate your gracious privilege. Spirit of the Lord strives with you. ences accompany his truth. "The Spirit and the bride" are joined, when the invitation to "come and take the water of life freely" is addressed unto you. What more could God have done for his vineyard? Seriously ponder his inquiry :"Wherefore-what is the reason-when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" The reason is with yourself. It lies in your own love of sin, and your unwillingness to turn unto God. The fact is as humbling as the guilt is aggravated. Set yourself sincerely and deliberately to ascertain what it is which keeps you from the Saviour. Your immortal welfare is concerned. "Why will you die?" At the least, answer it to yourself. Why?-Thus saith the Lord, "Break up your fallow-ground; and sow not among thorns; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he come and rain righteousness upon you," Jer. iv. 3; Hos. x. 12. Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you; I will make known my words unto you," Prov. i. 23.

IV.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE NOMINAL CHRISTIAN.

The responsibility of the man who enjoys the privileges of the Gospel, is declared by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, in this impressive language:

"That servant who knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes," Luke xii. 47. All the advantages you possess are so many means to an end; so many inducements offered to you to obey the gospel," and thus prepare to "give unto the Lord the glory due to his name. The blessedness to which such obedience introduces, is inconceivably great, and everlastingly important. But it presupposes the obedience. There is nothing in the mere means and ordinances of Christianity which can save your soul, irrespective of an appropriate improvement of them on your own part. The principle of the kingdom of grace is that of the kingdom of nature: "The hand of the diligent maketh rich,” Prov. x. 4. The obligation also corresponds. As, "he that observeth the wind, shall not sow and he that regardeth the clouds, shall not reap," Eccl. xi. 4; so he who neglecteth the means of spiritual benefit, shall lose the harvest of eternal life. 66 Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish," Luke xiii. 5. "He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life," John iii. 36. "Without holiness shall no man see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14. To imagine that you are to be made the mere passive recipient of salvation, and, therefore, that all you have to do is to keep yourself within the range of divinely appointed means, and then to sit still and wait until you are made the subject of some mysterious process in which you are to be wholly inactive, is a fearful mistake; a mistake as ruinous in its practical tendency as it is indicative of your own carelessness, and dishonourable to "the God of salvation."

Yours is