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The first preachers of the gospel, therefore, in con formity with these principles, would aim first, and directly, to convince their hearers of their sins, and in accomplishing this end, they would fasten upon those facts in which the guilt of their hearers more particularly consisted. And then, when men were thus convicted of their guilt, the salvation through Christ from sin and its penalty, would be pressed upon their anxious souls; and they would be taught to exercise faith in Jesus, as the meritorious cause of life, pardon, and happiness.

Now, the apostolical histories fully confirm the fact, that this course-the only one consistent with truth, philosophy, and the nature of man-was the course pursued by the primitive preachers.

The first movement, after they were endowed with the gift of tongues, and filled with the Holy Ghost, was the sermon by Peter, on the day of Pentecost, in which he directly charged the Jews with the murder of the Messiah, and produced in thousands of minds convictions of the most pungent and overwhelming description. At Athens, Paul, in preaching to the Gentiles, pursued a different course. He exposed the folly of their idolatry, by appealing to their reason, and their own acknowledged authorities. He spoke to them of the guilt which they would incur if they refused, under the light of the gospel, to forsake the errors which God, on account of past ignorance, had overlooked. He then closed by turning their attention to the righteous retributions of the eternal world, and to the appointed day when man would be judged by Jesus Christ, according to his gospel.

The manner in which the apostles presented Christ crucified to the penitent and convicted sinner, as the object of faith, and the means of pardon, and the hope of glory, is abundantly

168 PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION

exhibited in the Acts of the Apostles, and in their several epistles to the churches.

Thus did God, by the appointment of the living preacher as a means of spreading the gospel, adapt himself to the constitution of his creatures: and the apostles, moved by Divine guidance, likewise adapted the truth which they preached to the peculiar necessities and circumstances of men.

CHAPTER XVIII

CONCERNING THE AGENCY OF GOD IN CARRYING ON THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THAT AGENCY IS EXERTED.

GOD having thus devised the plan, and manifested the truth, and instituted the means of redemption; the inquiry naturally presents itself-In what way would he put the plan into operation, and give efficiency to the means of grace?

We cannot suppose that God would put his own institution beyond his power, or that he would leave it to be managed by the imperfect wisdom and the limited power of human instruments. God would not prepare the material, devise the plan, adapt the parts to each other, furnish the instruments for building, and then neglect to supervise and complete the structure. God has put none of his works beyond his power; and especially in a plan of which he is the Author and Architect, reason suggests that he would guide it to its accomplishment. The inquiry is-By what agency, and in what way, would the power of God be exerted, in carrying into efficient operation upon the souls of men, the system of saving mercy?

In relation to the character of the agency, the solution is clear. The agency by which the plan of salvation would be carried forward to its ultimate consummation would be spiritual in its nature: because God is a Spirit, and the soul of

man is a spirit, and the end to be accomplished is to lead men to worship God "in spirit and in truth"

In relation to the mode of the Spirit's operation, some things belong to that class of inquiries upon which the mind may exert its powers in vain.— The mode by which God communicates life to any thing in the vegetable, animal, or spiritual world, lies beyond the reach of the human intellect But although man cannot understand the modus operandi of the Divine mind, in communicating life, yet the manifestations of life, and the medium through which it operates, are subjects open to human examination. Whether the influence of the Spirit be directly upon the soul, or mediately by means of truth, the end accomplished would be the same. The soul might be quickened to see and feel the power of the truth; or, by the Spirit, truth might be rendered powerful to affect the soul. The wax might be softened to receive the impression, or the seal heated, or a power exerted upon it, to make the impression on the wax; or, both might be done, and still the result would be the same. It is not only necessary that the metal should be prepared to receive the impression of a die, but it is likewise necessary that the die should be prepared and adapted to the particular kind of metal-the image and the superscription of the king put upon it-the machinery prepared and adapted to hold the die and apply it to the metal, and after all these things necessary are done, the coin can never be made, unless power is exerted to strike the die into the metal, or the metal into the die So it is in the processes of the spiritual world; the material [mankind] must be prepared. The die [the truth of the gospel system] must be revealed and adapted to the material; and the image to be impressed upon human nature [the Lord Jesus

Christ] and the superscription, [glory to God and good-will to men] must be cut upon the die. Then the means of bringing the truth into contact with the material must be provided; and, after all these preparations and adaptations, there must be the power of the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process, and to form the image of Christ in the soul.

The foregoing is a complicated analogy, but not more complicated than are the processes of the animal and spiritual world. Look at the human body, with its thousands of adaptations, all of them necessary to the system, the whole dependent upon the use of means for the supply of animal life, and yet deriving from God its rational life, which operates through and actuates the whole. In like manner, the Spirit of God operates through and guides the processes of the plan of salvation.

The Scriptures reveal the truth clearly, that the Spirit of God gives efficiency to the means of grace. And not only this, but he operates in accordance with those necessary principles which have been developed in the progress of these chapters. Christ instructed his disciples to expect that he would send the Holy Spirit, and when he is come, said Jesus, "He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment;" that is, the Holy Spirit will produce conviction of sin in the hearts of the unsanctified and impenitent:-the office-work of the Spirit of God in relation to the world, is to con vince of sin. In relation to the saints, he exercises a different office. He is their Comforter. He takes of the things that belong to Jesus, and shows them to his people. That is, he causes the people or God to see more and more of the excellency, and the glory, and the mercy manifested in a crucified

* John xvi. 7-14.

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