or common communications from the Spirit of God concurring to the commencement of personal religion, or to support of a renewed state of mind, are through the medium of angels; for, this supposition seems best to accord with Christian experience of their presence and absence; and with the scriptural representations of the Spirit striving with men, being resisted, and the manifestations actually perverted from their genuine tendency, which is to incite credence, excite emotion, and induce inclination in respect of the grace of God objectively set before us in the gospel.

Secondly, the revelations of God, now on record in the Scriptures of truth. Regeneration is in the Holy Scriptures ascribed to the special revelation of a Saviour, and special revelation of the Divine pre "The law ference in the gospel. Psa. xix. 7, 8, of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." Psa. cxix. 93, "I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. Moral and ceremonial precepts, gra

cious informations, authoritative commandments, involving merciful permissions to sinners, are no doubt intended, as producing a change virtually the same with gospel regeneration. Matt. xiii. 23,

He that received seed into the good ground, is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit." John vi. 45, “They shall be all taught of God, every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto John vi. 68, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." James i. 18, "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth." 1 Pet. 21-23, “You who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be

me.

in God-have purified your souls in obeying the truth-being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God." The tendency of the written divine revelation is to instruct, to please, to move, and to persuade. These ends of tendency are frequently accomplished: and I think that the happy man who is evangelically instructed, pleased, moved, and persuaded, is born of the incorruptible seed, and is completely regenerated.

Again, as faith in Christ is the primary essential of the new birth, according to John i. 12. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe in his name," those Scriptures which assert that revelation is actually suasive in respect of faith, prove also that it is an essential of the cause of regeneration. John i. 7, The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. Acts xiv. 1, Paul and Barnabas in Iconium "so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed." Rom. x. 17, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." What notion can persons form of these Scriptures, who explode the affirmation that revelation has actual tendency to produce faith? and consequently regeneration? If you ask how? I answer, by their concurrence to power in that respect.

Thirdly. POWER is essential to regeneration. As the hand of the Lord was with the preachers at Antioch, a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. (Acts ii. 20, 21.) Regeneration is a valuable change, or rather a series of valuable changes, all and every one of which owes its existence to power for power is essential to the existence of every thing which is valuable. I have said that power coexists with, consists in, results from, or is somehow essentially connected with, or signified by, active property called ability, and a related passive

property called capacity, in suitable circumstances, and is the direct immediate source of valuable operation. The reader easily perceives, that respecting our subject, I recur to the active properties of truths suggested by the Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Scriptures that I recur to the passive properties of a human sinner; and that I recur to those suitable circumstances of the person which essentially con cur to the operation we call regenerating; and which is denominated by the apostle, "the effectual working of his power." (Eph. iii. 7.)

That properties, active properties, are truly ascribed to the suggestions of the Spirit of God, seems evident from their being represented as striving with men; and also their being resisted. Acts vii. 51, "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did so do ye." The active properties of God's Holy Word, are more fully exhibited in scripture: for every kind of operation ascribed to these writings, necessarily imply an active property in that respect. Thus, when the word reproves, it involves a reproving property; when it exhorts, it involves an exhorting property; and when it instructs, it involves an instructing property; and when it persuades, we recur to a persuading property; all which are active properties. 2 Tim. iii. 15, "The Holy Scriptures are able" (or have sufficient active properties) "to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

Passive property also is essential to the existence of power respecting regeneration. As in every instance of causal operation there must be power, so in every instance of existing power respecting regeneration a passive property is indispensible, and exactly relative to the passive property of the truths suggested by the word or spirit of God. The human soul, ever active in imagination, and its thinking under the several modifications, which form a temper, a suitable temper or state of mind, seem chiefly con

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cerned, and do compose the subject of this related capacity. More especially, the moral sense and moral affections of man are indispensible. Moral sense of duty seems the light by which every man is enlightened who cometh into the world; this, with the moral affections, parental love, filial reverence, conjugal attachment, fraternal love, (where these relations exist,) sympathy towards the afflicted, social joy in the happiness of others, compassion to the miserable, generosity, and gratitude,— verence of God, devotion to God, admiration of the beauty of holiness, or in other words, of wisdom, justice, and goodness: I say that moral sense and these moral affections, which as before represented, constitute conscience, are eminently in their exercise essentials of the related passive property of mind under our contemplation. When moral sense is chiefly operative it is scripturally called a single eye, when the moral affections are chiefly respected it seems scripturally called an honest and good heart. -Again this related capacity is the attribute of a serious mind; a mind which is not in a criminal state, either of indifference, or of dislike to advances in religion; but which unites endeavour and prayer, endeavour to divest self of prejudice, and to attain the just influence of evidence, and prayer consisting in humble wishes for good of the soul. This passive property, in relation to the word, to which the mind concurs by its free choices, is the good ground, which, on receiving seed, brings forth thirty, sixty, and an hundred-fold.-This good state of mind is required by the law of nature, and may be attained as natural religion, under the common or ordinary concurrence of the Spirit of God; and probably is sometimes attained and the person never regenerated. Rom ii. 14, 15, "When the Gentiles who have not the law, [Divine testimonies] do, by nature, the things contained in the law, these having not the jaw, are a law unto themselves; which show the work

of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." Let the consciousness which we call conscience be so renovated, that we feel respecting our own motives and conduct, as we do respecting the motives and conduct of our neighbours; with this tender conscience, this good conscience, we are not far from the kingdom of God. This is, if I am not mistaken, the true point of contact between experimental natural religion, and experimental Christian religion.

Lastly, suitable circumstances are essential to power respecting regeneration. These are equally essential to regeneration; for the word may be preached, and a certain person not have opportunity of hearing it, or may hear it, but who has not attained the good conscience and other essentials of a related passive property in respect of the word, without which the man may be alarmed, and fear excited, but he loves his sin in one view, while he repents of it in another; and is more concerned for pardon than for holiness. The indispensibility seems fully evident from the consideration that faith is an essential of the regenerated mind, that hearing or reading the word is essential to faith, and that opportunity is essential to hearing or reading Divine testimony.

Special circumstances remarkably concurred to several instances of regeneration recorded in scripture history. How eminently did a coincidence of circumstances concur to the conversion of many Samaritans consequent of our Lord's conversing with a Samaritan woman! (John iv.) Thus the circumstances connected with personal acquaintance with Eneas, a paralitic, on whom a miracle of healing was wrought, concurred, indispensably concurred, to the regeneration of all who dwelt in two villages, for the historian says, "All who dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord.” (Acts ix. 35.)

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