eternal life, to his enemies; whose minds are so entirely alienated from him, that until he makes them willing, in the day of his power, their minds are determined against accepting any favour from him. They live long in contempt of the law and authority of God; and though justly obnoxious to his displeasure, while left to themselves, they despise and reject the proposals of his mercy. If they sometimes acknowledge themselves to be sinners, they still presume that they are able to procure his favour by their own performances. They strangely imagine they have a sufficient ground of hope, so long as it appears to themselves that they are not altogether so bad as others. And when, by the Gospel, the Lord treats them as sinners already justly condemned by the tenour of his holy laws, and informs them of the exigency of their case; that nothing less than the resources of his infinite wisdom, and the most extensive exertion of his unspeakable love, can possibly save them from destruction; the pride of their hearts rises against his declarations. His wisdom, in their view, is folly; and his love provokes their enmity and scorn. He says of MESSIAH, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I "am well pleased, hear ye him;" but the language of their hearts is, "We will not have him "to reign over us."* They revile and oppose the messengers of his grace, account them enemies, charge them as troublers of their peace, and as those who turn the world upside down: and, when not restrained by the providence of God, inflict upon them, besides, reproaches, stripes, imprisonment, tortures, and death. If their dearest friends, and those who are connected with * Luke, xix. 14. them by the nearest ties of relation, submit to the testimony of God, and yield themselves to the appointed Saviour, they are treated as apostates from the general opinion. This defection from the common cause is often sufficient to cancel the strongest obligations, to dissolve the closest intimacy, to raise a person foes in his own household, and to excite envy, hatred, and malice, in those who once professed esteem and love. Can the spirit of rebellion rise higher, than when they who have insulted the authority, defied the power, and resisted the government and will of the great God, proceed at length to trample upon his tenders of reconciliation, and to affront him in that concern which of all others is dearest to him, the glory of his grace in the person of his Son? of his Son? Yet this is no exaggerated representation. Such is the disposition of the heart of man towards God; such were some of us; and such, I fear, some of us are to this hour. I do not say, that this enmity of the carnal mind acts, in every person who is subject to the grace of God, with equal rage and violence. In a land of light, liberty, and civilization, like ours, a variety of circumstances may concur to set bounds to its exercise; education, a natural gentleness of temper, and even interest, may keep it within limits of decorum, especially towards some individuals; but I affirm, or rather the Scripture declares, that enmity against God, a disaffection to his Gospel no less than to his law, and a dislike to those who profess and obey the truth, are principles deeply rooted in our nature, as fallen; and, however they may seem dormant in some persons for a season, would operate vigorously, if circumstances were so to alter as to afford a fair occasion. For as, of old, "he that was born after the "flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. And it is still as true as in the apostle's days, that "all who will "live godly in Christ Jesus, shall," in one degree or form or other, "suffer persecution"† from those who will not. Thus men are characterized in the word of God, rebels and enemies, having "a neck of iron," to denote their obstinacy; "a brow of brass," to express their insolence and presumption; and "a "heart of stone,"§ insensible to the softest methods of persuasion; incapable of receiving tender, kind, and generous impressions, though they are wooed and besought by the consideration of the mercies of God, of the dying agonies of MESSIAH; unless that mighty power be displayed in their favour, which brought forth streams of water from the rock in the wilderness. MESSIAH died, arose, and ascended on high, that he might receive gifts for rebels of this spirit and disposition. The one grand gift I shall specify, is, indeed, comprehensive of every other good, the gift of the Holy Spirit. He said to his sorrowing disciples, "It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter "will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will "send him unto you." Soon after his ascension, this promise was fulfilled. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit ;" and the people who had slain the Lord, were pricked to the heart, repented of their sin, received faith in him whom they had pierced, and experienced joy and peace in believing. That the Gospel is preached upon earth by a succession of ministers called and furnished for Gal. iv. 29. § Ezek. xxxvi. 26. + 2 Tim. iii. 12. Isa. xlviii. 4. that service, and that the Gospel when preached, is not rejected by all, as it is by many, is wholly to be ascribed to the agency of the Holy Spirit, whose office and covenant-engagement it is, to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and "of judgement,"* and to glorify MESSIAH. He opens the eyes of the understanding, subdues the stubborn will, softens, or rather removes, the heart of stone, and gives a feeling, tender heart, a heart of flesh. Then the rebels relent and sue for mercy; then they obtain faith, repentance, remission, a full and free salvation and all the gifts which MESSIAH has received for them. IV. His ultimate design in favour of rebellious men, the great final cause of his mediation, and particularly of his bestowing on them the gift of the Holy Spirit, is, "that the Lord God may "dwell among them." Man was created in the image of God, who formed him for himself. But he sinned, and was forsaken. God withdrew his light and love from him, and man sunk into darkness and misery. Sin and Satan took possession of the heart, which was originally designed to be the temple of the living God. But the Lord had a merciful purpose, to return in a way worthy of his perfections. Without him, the souls of men, and the whole human race, as to their proper happiness, are like what the earth would be without the sun, dark, cold, fruitless, and comfortless. But the knowledge of MESSIAH, like the sun, enlightens the world, and the heart. When in the day of his power, by the revelation of his light and love, he destroys the dominion of sin, and dispossesses Satan, he reclaims his own, and takes possession for himself. The heart, * John, xvi. 8. sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, and anointed with the holy unction, becomes a consecrated temple of the Holy Ghost. This persuasion, though now by many, who have not renounced the name of Christian, deemed the essence of enthusiasm, was once thought essential to Christianity; so that the apostle speaks of it as an obvious incontrovertible fact, with which no true Christian could be unacquainted: "Know ye not that your body "is the temple of the Holy Ghost?"* Again, he speaks of Christ dwelling in the heart :† "Christ "in you the hope of glory." And in another place, "Ye are the temple of the living God, as "God hath said, I dwell in them, and walk in them;" agreeably to his promise by the prophets. He liveth in them, as the principle of their life, wisdom, and power: therefore the apostle says, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." There is a mutual indwelling between the Lord and his people. They in him, as the branch in the vine; and he in them, as the sap in the branch. He in them, as in his temples; they in him, as in their strong tower of defence. And from hence we infer the duration of their life of grace; that it shall continue and spring up into everlasting life; since it is properly not their own, but his; and since he has said, "Because I live, ye shall "live also." 66 He dwells likewise among his people in their collective capacity. His whole church, comprising all the members of his mystical body, "built upon "the foundation of the apostles and prophets," form a building fitly framed together, a palace, a holy temple for the Lord, the great King. He 1 Cor. vi. 19. § 2 Cor. vi. 16. + Eph. iii. 17. ↑ Col. i. 27. |