with another about the manner in which the Spirit's influence is exerted upon them, shall be found uniting heart with heart, in simple, earnest, believing supplication, that the blessed Comforter will come down and work as he will, and inspire their souls with his love! Hail to that day, when he, whom the Bible reveals as the Being that is to convert the world, shall be welcomed by millions of adoring hearts to his work on earth!

My hearers, let us open our bosoms, and welcome him there. Descend, O holy Dove! descend! Let us not forget to acknowledge his power. Surely, they need not be told of its worth, who know what it is to struggle alone with sin, and find themselves vanquished in the conflict. They cannot fail to appreciate it, who have often exhausted their own energies in trying to win the hearts of their children and friends unto God, and have felt that they could do no more, but turn from them and pray. They cannot but prize it, who have long stood not far from the kingdom of heaven, and have not yet found heart to enter. Let those rejoice in it who weep for the desolations of Zion. Let no one speak lightly, or think irreverently of the Spirit. For there is a sin that hath never forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world to come, and that sin is a sin against the Holy Ghost.

SERMON XI.

2 CORINTHIANS v. 17.

IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE.

THOSE who are accustomed to observe the changes of human character, will not be startled with the boldness of this assertion. The views, feelings, and purposes of men are ever changing with time and circumstance. There is a wide difference of character, as well as of appearance, between the child gaily sporting in the nursery, and the old man bending tremulously over his staff; between the rash, unsuspecting youth, and the man grown wary in the school of experience; between him who only revels in the scenery of a young imagination, and him who has long buffeted the storms, and suffered the disappointments of real life. The adventurer who early left his father's house, returns home after years of wandering, to gaze and be gazed upon as a stranger among those who shared with him the pastimes of his boyhood. This change, though commonly gradual, is always certain, and sometimes it is so great and striking, that the mere prattle of the village will tell us, that such an one is entirely

altered, you would scarcely know him; he is another man.

But the Bible, in many places and various language, speaks of a change far greater, deeper, and more radical than this. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; or, as the former phrase implies, if any man be a Christian, a true disciple of Christ, he is a new creature. In some passages, the same change is spoken of as a resurrection from the dead: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Again, it is represented as a new birth: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And in the epistle from which the text is taken, the apostle, alluding to the original creation of the world, uses this strong and vivid language of comparison : "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

It is obvious, that the texts just cited are too various in their phraseology to be interpreted literally; and the last is too specific to mean any thing else than an internal, moral change. No man, surely, can be said, in the same literal sense, to be born again, to be raised from the dead, and to be created anew. But it is equally obvious, that the expressions here used are too strong to denote any ordinary, superficial change. For where, in the compass of language, can terms be found to express a greater and more complete renovation, than a

new birth, a resurrection from the dead, a new creation?

It is not designed, at present, to call your attention to the universal necessity of such a change, to point you to the power and means by which it is produced, or to mark with accuracy the greatness of its extent; but simply to consider, in brief, its nature, to describe, as I am able, some of the distinguishing traits of the Christian character.

Perhaps, from the circle of your acquaintance, you will now call to mind some one, who is thought to be a disciple of the meek and lowly Jesus, and who seems to be the subject of a change not unlike that which the text represents. You knew him when earth was his only paradise, and this world the scene of his brightest hopes; when he loved to talk in careless pleasantry of the scrupulous fears of the conscientious, and the supposed gloominess, and the misanthropic, hypocritical austerity of the religious; when his pride swelled high at every personal indignity; and when all his calm, sober thoughts were occupied in the business of worldly comfort and aggrandizement. You know him now; but he is not what he then was. His countenance is indeed the same, but another spirit informs it; his emotions are similar, but something new controls them; his faculties are not changed, but they are differently directed; his worldly condition may be much the same, but he regards it with different feelings, he views it with a different eye; he seems to breathe another atmosphere, and

to hold communion with other beings. Come, then, with me, and let us enter the secret chambers of his soul; let us watch the springs of action and discover, if we can, some of the principles which are imperceptibly working this change.

I. In the first place, we find, that he has peculiar affections towards God. The existence of the Supreme Being, the Creator and the Preserver of all things, he never denied; it is a fact too apparent to be really disbelieved by any. The little child no sooner begins to notice the different forms of nature, than it asks, with admirable simplicity, "Who made the trees? who made the sun? who made me?" But the answer, which every honest, reflecting mind must give that it is God,-while it astonishes and commands assent, does not always affect the heart. The idea is too vast to be fully comprehended, and too vague to make a distinct and deep impression. The world is present, but God seems to be far off. Surrounding objects are attractive, but the idea of the constant superintendence of this invisible Being has no charms.

The Christian now tells us, that in this respect his mind is altered. What once was dark and confused, has become comparatively clear and distinct; what once seemed like a passing dream, is now a constant reality. He walks forth in the field and the solitary place, and God is there. He mingles in the busy crowd of men, and God is there. He lies down in the darkness of night, and while every earthly object is lost to his eye, God is still present