and judicious men entertain sentiments respecting it different from those which I have now stated.

I cannot take my leave of this subject without again entreating all present seriously to consider the solemn alternative stated in the text. We must "have the Spirit of Christ," else we are "none of his."-I would beseech, with peculiar earnestness, such as deny the existence and influences of the Holy Spirit, to weigh what has been advanced with considerate attention, and humble candour. For, if "the Spirit of Christ" in our text really refers to the influences of that Divine agent, whose Personality and Divinity I formerly endeavoured to establish;-it then becomes a question of no trifling interest, whether it be possible that they can "have the Spirit of Christ," who deny entirely the reality and necessity of his operations, and even his very existence; and consequently, whether they can be truly his.

I conclude by observing, that those prayers for Divine influences which occur so frequently in the New Testament, are at once a proof of their reality, a testimony to their value, and an example of humble piety which it well becomes us to imitate. Let us, then, appropriate, and make our own, the following supplications; presenting them to God for ourselves and for one another. "Wherefore I also, after I heard of. your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding

• BY TOTS ¿glass —"in the saints."-Various have been the senses affixed to this

greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand :"-" And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all, as we do toward you: to the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness, before God even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints:""And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and (I pray God) your whole spirit, and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:""The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that ye may abound in hope, through the of power the Holy Ghost:"-" For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant unto you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man: that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and

phrase.-Whitby says “i. e. how great is the inheritance he hath designed for the saints." M'Knight not only understands this to be the meaning, but translates the phrase, "for the saints."-The Improved Version of the New Testament, " among the saints."-Locke understands it as signifying the glory of the saints in becoming God's people, the lot of his inheritance.-Scott gives this view along with the more ordinary one, connecting them by an or, as if undecided which is preferable.-&c. &c.-It has occurred to me, that the phrase might, with sufficient propriety, be rendered, "in the holy places;" which at once removes all difficulty and ambiguity—The phrase iv rõïs izeugavíos occurs three times in this and the following chapter (ch. i. verses 3 and 20, and ch. ii. verse 6.) and is translated-I think correctly even in the first of its occurrences, but certainly in the two latter-“in_the_heavenly places."-May not the "inheritance in the holy places" then, mean the same thing with the “inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven."-See in the Greek, Heb. x. 8, 24, 25. x. 19.

to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or think, according to the power that worketh in us; to Him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end! Amen."*

Eph. i. 15-20. 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13. v. 23. Rom. xv. 13. Eph. iii. 14—21,

DISCOURSE XIII.

ON THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.

Acts xi. 26.

"And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

It has been a favourite employment amongst speculative grammarians, to trace the changes, produced by the lapse of time, on the signification of words. In not a few instances, these changes are so great, that it is a matter of considerable difficulty to discover the relation between the present and what seems to have been the original import. That the best way to ascertain the correct meaning and proper use of any term in a language, is to trace it back, if possible, through all its intermediate variations, to its remotest derivation,-is a principle, the justness of which, as one of general application, while by some writers it has been assumed and made the ground of many ingenious philological speculations, has been ably shown by others to be more than questionable.*—But while it does not appear to be generally true, neither is it, by any means, universally false. There are some cases, in which it is a matter of the greatest consequence, to ascertain, either from etymology, or from the existing documents of ancient practice, the precise sense in which a particular term was originally used. This is of especial importance, in cases where that which was originally signified by the term continues in its nature and properties the same, and where, consequently, the

See the admirable Strictures of Mr. Stewart, in his Philosophical Essays, on the Philological Speculations of Horne Tooke.

deviations from its primary meaning have been productive of deception and mistake:--and, in such cases, the degree of importance is proportionate to the nature of such mistake, and to the magnitude of the consequences which may have resulted from it.

The present application of these remarks, you will all immediately perceive.-There are few words which have, in their ordinary use, deviated more widely from their original application, than the term-CHRISTIAN. In its original use, it was descriptive of a comparatively small number of men, who were distinguished from the rest of the world by a singular and striking peculiarity of sentiments and character. In the use that is generally made of it now, it can hardly with truth be said that it is distinctive of principles and character at all; --for it is applied indiscriminately to persons, whose principles and characters are diametrically opposite. Nay, to such a degree has it been generalized in its application, as to have become a term in geography, rather than in religion, marking out-not a distinct and defined variety of individual character, -but birth, and local residence, and national boundaries.— Great Britain is a Christian country; and its inhabitants are, of course, Christians, because they are not, by profession, Pagans, or Mahometans.

Whatever advantages may have been considered as arising from civil establishments of Christianity, the serious and pious amongst their advocates have readily and strongly admitted, that this, at least, is one of their necessary evils :-I mean, the indiscriminate application to communities, of those terms, which properly indicate personal state and character; and the incalculable measure of self-deception, of inconsiderate security, and delusive confidence, which has thence, by a fatal necessity, resulted.

It has so happened, that, of a variety of appellations, origi