fired them with zeal in his cause. It is he that has gathered together the redeemed in heaven, from every people and kindred and nation on the earth, and tuned their hearts to that song which they unceasingly sing. It is he who has moved in the breasts of all, in every age and every land, who ever melted in sorrow for sin, or glowed with love to God, even though they perceived not his power, and knew not his presence; or like the first disciples at Ephesus, they "had not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost."

Jesus prayed to the

And when repenting man has turned from the broad way of sin, into the narrow path that leads to life, the same divine agency still conducts him on to the end. Father for his disciples, that he would sanctify them. The apostles continually refer the growing holiness of Christians to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit witnesses with their spirit, that they are the sons of God. They are led by the Spirit,-live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit,—are filled with the Spirit,— are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,-are strengthened with all might by the Spirit,-and kept by the mighty power of God through faith unto salvation. They are washed, they are sanctified, they are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.' He sustains them in all their struggles with sin, and conflicts with appetite and passion and selfish attachment to the world. He is with them, when in the hour of temptation they are almost driven to make shipwreck of their faith, and kindly rescues them from the powers that would otherwise overwhelm them. He, by his allpervading energies, is even now with each one of the little army of praying disciples, who, scattered among the people of earth, are working out their salvation with fear and trembling,

while God worketh in them both to will and do of his good pleasure.' He is even now helping on many an obscure saint in his unobserved and toilsome pilgrimage to heaven.

But the importance of the influence of the Spirit of God is, perhaps, more strikingly manifest, when we look upon the mass of the world and take the Bible by the side of it, and read the clear promises respecting the ultimate prevalence of truth and righteousness, and consider, that of all the millions whose minds are now darkened and degraded by ignorance and superstition and vice, no one will ever be enlightened and reformed but by the Spirit, and no one, in the language of the beloved disciple, will ever "say that Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost." His work seems but just begun. He is yet to change every heart, and make a temple of every breast. He is yet to enter the bosom of the poor islander, who has almost lost the spirit and the intellect of man, and of the wild savage in the forest, scarcely superior in mind to the beast he hunts for his prey, and of the roaming Tartar that knows no home on earth, and seeks for none in heaven. The wings of the heavenly Dove are yet to overshadow the burning plains of Africa, and rest on the wintry winds of Siberian deserts. His presence is to make the habitations of cruelty the abodes of peace and love. The whole earth is to become the garden of the Lord, and all its inhabitants are to dwell together as his children, every eye turned in gratitude and confidence towards his throne,-every tongue speaking the same voice of praise,—and all hearts bound, in pure and hallowed affection, to one another and to God.

As this glorious work advances, there is reason to believe that the Holy Spirit will be more honored and confided in.

God, as the Father of his creatures, has been extolled,—in word, if not in heart, and poets have sung, with sweet sentimentality, of him who came down from heaven to dwell with man, and placed himself in the sinner's stead; but the Holy Spirit has scarcely been honored in speech or in song. The world have turned from him with infidel disregard; and many who seem to be warm-hearted believers, as if with the mistaken apprehension, that his influence does, in some way, do violence to the laws of man's nature and impair his freedom, have but hesitatingly and coldly acknowledged the Spirit's power. But as he goes on in his silent work, triumphing over the human heart, and over the prince of darkness, his agency must be more and more perceived, and more and more admired. The missionary, going forth with the full conviction, that neither he that planteth is any thing, nor he that watereth any thing, and relying on the unseen Spirit, will see, with wonder, nation after nation, yielding to his sway. The world will feel his influence and turn to him, with grateful adoration and with prayers. Hail to that day, when Christians, instead of disputing one 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.

IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE.-2 CORINTHIANS 5: 17.

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 ; former phrase implies, if any man be a Christian, a true dis

or as the