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their failings, than others who have had less experience of themselves. They see so much imperfection in their very best deeds, so much obstinacy even in their reformed wills, and so much corruption in their purest affections; that, while they deeply perceive the necessity of being saved solely by the merits of Christ, they are apt to think no human heart so replete with perverseness as their own. Even the laborious Apostle of the Gentiles pronounces himself less than the least of all the Apostles, unworthy of bearing the name of an Apostle; and every Christian, who possesses the least degree of self-knowledge, can most feelingly exculpate him from the charge of an affected humility. They, who complacently view their own good deeds, and while they bless themselves that they are not like other men, verily believe that they produce the fruits of the Spirit in the highest perfection, are much further removed from the kingdom of God, than the humble, self-condemning,

CHAPTER VIII.

The constant influence of the Holy Spirit necessary to convey us in safety to the end of our pilgrimage.

WHEN a man has been once deeply convinced of the extreme sinfulness of his heart, and has discovered from repeated lapses his utter inability to walk in the way of God's commandments by any inherent strength of his own; he will naturally be anxious to learn, how he is to arrive in safety at the end of his pilgrimage. He knows too well by bitter experience, that the moment he is left to himself, he is sure to fall more or less from that

degree of Christian perfection, to which he had previously attained. When the supporting arm of God is withdrawn, as a trial of his faith, and in order to convince him of his frailty, his strength withers, his spiritual faculties decay, and he becomes weak like any other man.* He finds that the occasional assistance of the Spirit is not sufficient; but that he requires it every day, every hour, every minute. As the body is unable to perform its functions, unless constantly supplied with the breath of life; so does the soul constantly require the vivifying inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

In Scripture, spiritual ideas are conveyed to our minds by natural objects; nor is it

Judges xvi. 17.

"Opus est nobis quotidiana sanctificatione, ut qui quotidie delinquimus, delicta nostra sanctificatione assidua repurgemus." Cyprian. de Orat. Domin.

possible to form a conception of them through any other medium, than that of some one of our senses. If the Holy Ghost bore no other denomination than that of the third person of the Trinity, we should be unable from such a title to form any definite notion of his attributes. But when he is styled Ruach and Pneuma, words which primarily signify the air in motion, we are led to conclude, that there must be some analogy between his influence upon the soul and that of the atmosphere upon the body. This persuasion is strengthened by finding, that the same terms are invariably used to describe the action both of the divine and the material spirit. The play of the lungs, by which the atmosphere is received into our animal frames, is termed inspiration; the very name, by which the conveyance of supernatural powers to the mind, is uniformly designated. But we are not to confine the term inspiration merely to the gift of prophecy : our church teaches us to give it a much more

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