2. That the work of conversion, or renovation, (which they confound with regeneration,) is instantaneous, and produced by a sudden and irresistible impulse of the HOLY SPIRIT upon the mind; and that it is sensible, or perceptible by the individual himself, at some particular place, and particular time ↑.

regenerate person, but the impossibility of his sinning any more; contrary to reason, Scripture, and experience."

"The perfect Christian, indeed, according to the representation of Holy Writ, is he, who, as far as the infirmity of his nature will admit, aspires to universal holiness of life; uniformly and habitually endeavouring to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God, and to fulfil all righteousness, in humble imitation of HIS REDEEMER ;- -who daily and fervently prays for increase of faith,' like the Apostles themselves; and strenuously labours to add to his faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity.' Such is the assemblage of virtues necessary to constitute the character of the perfect Christian; ever aiming at, though never attaining to absolute or sinless perfection, in this present state of trial, probation, and preparation for a better; and meekly resting all his hopes of favour and acceptance with God, not on his own defective or imperfect righteousness, but on the free grace of GoD, through the redemption that is in CHRIST JESUS; for by grace we are saved through faith;' and this, not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any one should boast.' See my Methodism Inspected, part I. p. 30. And Dr. Magee's learned and elaborate work on Atonement, second edit. in which this question is fully and ably discussed. * Dr. Whitehead, in his Life of Mr. John Wesley, has the following excellent remark on the pretensions “to instantaneous deliverance from all sin; giving credit to which, on the testimony of several of his followers, Mr. Wesley seems to have built thereon his doctrine of an instantaneous attainment of Christian perfection.”

"This instantaneous manner of attaining perfection in the Christian temper seems to have no foundation in SCRIPTURE; it even appears contrary to reason, and to the constitution and order which God has established throughout all animated nature, where we see no instance of any thing arriving at perfection in a moment.” Whitehead's Life, Vol.

II. p. 291.

+ Waterland, in his sermon on Regeneration, has the following profound observations.

"The setting up of a private spirit, on imaginary inspiration, as a rule of conduct, has been one of the subtlest engines of Satan in all past ages. GOD has permitted it, probably for the trial of his faithful servants, that they may be proved and exercised every way, 1 Cor. xi. 19, and may learn to be as much on their guard against any surprize of their understandings, as against any seduction of their wills.

"There are strong temptations inclining forward men to set up their pretensions to a private spirit. It flatters the pride, laziness, and vanity of corrupt human nature. Most men love to indulge their own way and humour, and to get from under the sober standing rules of order, decency, and regularity. They would be their own masters and lawgivers, and even make laws for others; and if they can but once persuade themselves, (and what will not blind self-love persuade a man into?) that they are full of the Spirit, Job xxii. 18, they soon grow regardless of the open laws of GOD and man, affecting to conduct both themselves and others by some secret rule of their own breasts. This is a very dangerous self deceit, and not more dangerous than it has been common, in all ages and countries. If none but hypocrites, or ill designing men were to be drawn into this

To guard, we may presume, against such, our LORD next remarked to Nicodemus ;

"Marvel not that I said unto you, ye must needs be born anew: [as] the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born [anew] of THE SPIRIT," ver. 7, 8.

This beautiful and apposite illustration of the mysterious nature of the agency of THE SPIRIT in regeneration, seems to have been borrowed from Solomon's illustration of the mystery of natural generation.

"As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind,

Nor [how] the bones [grow] in the womb of the pregnant;

So thou knowest not the work of GOD,

Who maketh all things." Eccles. xi. 5.

And the gradual growth of the spiritual life in the regenerate, as well as its imperceptibility by the individual himself, is most happily illustrated in the following parable of Our Lord.

"So is the [preparation for the] kingdom of heaven, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and though he sleep by night and rise by day, [following his ordinary occupation,] yet the seed should spring and grow up, himself knoweth not how. For the ground spontaneously beareth fruit; first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit, [or grain,] is produced, immediately he sendeth the [reapers] sickle, because the harvest is ready," Mark iv. 26-29.

In this beautiful agricultural imagery, the seed of grace and holiness is sown in the heart at baptism, by the HOLY SPIRIT; it vegetates and grows imperceptibly, the man himself knows not how, he being utterly unconscious of the way of THE

snare, the temptation would be but coarsely laid, and be less apt to deceive; but the well-meaning pretenders to the Spirit, who through a secret unperceived self-flattery, or a complexional melancholy, first deceive themselves, they are of all men the fittest to deceive others, 2 Tim. iii. 13. Their artless simplicity, their strong and endearing professions, are very apt to win upon some of the best natured, and best disposed, though unguarded Christians; which the Tempter knows full well, and he never exercises a deeper, or more refined policy, Rev. ii. 24, than when he can thus decoy some very sincere and devout Christians in a pious way; turning their very graces into snares, and, as it were, foiling them with their own artillery."

What fine painting, and intimate knowledge of the recesses of the human heart, is displayed in this masterly picture of the popular founders of schisms and leaders of sects!

SPIRIT, or his mode of operation, and can only judge by the fruits, or by his spiritual improvement, until the harvest, or general resurrection.

66

But although the regenerate be utterly unconscious of the manner of his spiritual growth, he is not to be idle or inactive, as if the HOLY SPIRIT is to do every thing, and himself nothing. Giving all diligence, he must add to his faith virtue,” or morality, and all the Christian graces, noticed as requisite to attain "a divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4-8: he must work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, mindful of his own inability and insufficiency without the Divine aid, and humbly acknowledging that "it is GOD who worketh in us, by HIS SPIRIT, both to will and do what is right of his own good pleasure," Phil. ii. 12, 13.

As the sacrament of baptism is the prescribed mode of regeneration, or initiation into the privileges of the Christian covenant, so is the sacrament of the Lord's supper, the instituted mode of renovation, sanctification, and gradual perfection of the Christian life, in the opinion of the foregoing primitive Fathers, and also of the Church of England, which, in her Catechism, states the benefits of communicating worthily to be "the strengthening and refreshing of our souls, by the body and blood of CHRIST, as our bodies are by the bread and wine." The Lord's supper is indeed the Christian tree of life, replanted by our gracious REDEEMER, and watered by his blood, "for the healing of the nations," in the spiritual paradise, Rev. xxii. 1, 2.

In the primitive Church, the Lord's supper was administered every Sunday, as intimated by the phrase of breaking bread, Acts ii. 42-46; xx. 7—11; 1 Cor. x. 6, &c. And Justin Martyr informs us, that "after they had read a portion of Scripture, sung a hymn, preached and prayed, then they proceeded to the administration of the Eucharist." Apol. II. p. 27.

27. In

Some pious divines maintain a sensible witness of THE SPIRIT, or experience of his operations, from Rom. viii. 16. "THE SPIRIT itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of GOD." This, perhaps, should rather be limited to the Apostle, and Roman converts, who had the first fruits of THE SPIRIT, or spiritual gifts, ver. 23. We will not, however, presume to deny, that the HOLY SPIRIT may furnish suitable consolations after a well spent life, and an assurance of God's favour at the hour of death. But the surest criterion of "being sons of God," is "being led by the SPIRIT OF GOD" in their conduct, ver. 14.

Cyprian's days they celebrated it both morning and evening. "That as CHRIST instituted the sacrament in the evening, to signify the evening and end of the world, so they celebrated it in the morning, to denote the resurrection of their Lord and Master." Epist. LXIII. p. 177. And so necessary did they hold the early, as well as the frequent participation of this holy rite, that at Carthage it was usual to administer it even to children. Cyprian relates, that when a nursing child disliked and refused to taste the sacramental wine, the deacon who administered it, compelled her to swallow it, notwithstanding her resistance, p. 284. This indeed was proceeding to a superstitious excess. In the present age, professing Christians run into the opposite error of omission; and, perhaps, one of the leading causes of the prevailing lukewarmness of the times, and decay of vital religion among Churchmen, is to be ascribed to the prevailing neglect and disuse of this most holy rite, by old and young, rich and poor, to their great loss and spiritual detriment.

Eque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus æque,
Æque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit.

Nicodemus, however, still objected to this mysterious doctrine of spiritual regeneration by baptism as incomprehensible. "How can these things be?" ver. 9.

JESUS, in his turn, expressed surprise at his slowness of apprehension, mixed with a gentle reproof of his ignorance; alledging, that it was taught by the Baptist as well as by himself, and contained in the Scriptures of the OLD TESTAMENT, and with which he, as a celebrated teacher, ought to have been better acquainted.

"Art thou the teacher of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak what we know, and testify what we have seen, but ye receive not our testimony," ver. 10, 11.

The rudiments, indeed, of the doctrine of regeneration are to be found scattered through the prophetic Scriptures, the sub stance of which was extracted by our Divine Teacher.

1. The opening of our Lord's discourse bears a remarkable analogy to the miraculous change of the elements of nature in the plagues of the Egyptians, noticed in the Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon, xix. 6.

"For all the creation, in its proper kind, was fashioned again

anew, (Taλiv avwSEV SIETUTOUTO,) ministering to THY commands, that THY children might be preserved unhurt." But in our Lord's application, the change of the human creation is equally possible with GOD, as the change of the inanimate.

2. The fallen David, after the matter of Uriah, supplicates for a regeneration of his corrupt nature, by the influence of the HOLY SPIRIT, and explicitly states the doctrine of original sin, founded in the fleshly nature of man, even from his birth, in his penitential Psalm li. See Vol. II. p. 343.

"Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

Lo, I was shapen in iniquity,

And in sin did my mother conceive me," &c.

Our Office of baptism, therefore, adopting this language, begins, "Forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin; and that our Saviour CHRIST saith, None can enter into the kingdom of heaven, except he be regenerate, and born anew* of water, and of the HOLY GHOST," &c.

3. The Prophet Jeremiah thus describes the NEW COVENANT in the regeneration of all things.

"This shall be the NEW COVENANT, which I (THE LORD)

Will make with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.

After these days, saith THE LORD,

I will put MY LAW into their inmost parts,

And will write it upon their heart:

And I will be their God,

And they shall be my people." Jer. xxxi. 33.

4. Ezekiel, also, more particularly describes the process of their regeneration, and their final conversion.

"Then will I sprinkle pure water upon you,

And ye shall be cleansed from all your defilements,
And I will cleanse you from all your idols.

I will also give you a new heart,

And will put into you a new spirit;

And I will remove from your body the stony heart,

And will give you a fleshly† heart:

And I will put MY SPIRIT within you,

And will cause you to walk in My statutes,

It is to be regretted, that our last Bible translators receded from this earlier and more correct version of John iii. 3-5.