think that his salvation is entirely in his own hands,that whenever he shall choose to wake up and become a Christian, the Spirit is at his option-ever the same —and that therefore it is perfectly safe, the accidents of mortality apart, to put off religion till the last moment. Equally pernicious is the effect on churches. It leads them to put off God to their own convenience; to neglect present duties and opportunities; to calculate on periodical revivals, at the times when they have most leisure and inclination to work; and at such times to place undue reliance on extraordinary measures and highly exciting means, to the neglect of the Holy Spirit. Thus the Spirit is grieved. Nor is this all ;— in case their measures do not succeed, they feel disappointed; disappointment produces irritation; and the inquiry is raised, Who is to blame? There is always sin enough, doubtless, in the best of churches, to distance the Holy Spirit, if his only rule of blessing were human desert ;-but it were quite as wrong, presumptuously to ascribe the absence of a revival to some special misdoing of members of the church, or of the pastor, as to ascribe the absence of propitious gales at sea to some special misdoing of members of the crew, or of the captain, and to agitate thereupon the inquiry, Who shall be thrown overboard? God may see other reasons than special blameworthiness in Christians, for withholding from sinners regenerating grace,-reasons in the sinners themselves, who have perhaps long resisted his Spirit,―reasons in the peculiar position of the church; reasons in view of distant results, seen only by the eye of omniscience. These reasons may

respect the ultimate good of the church itself, which God is humbling, and teaching that lesson of dependence on him, which is ever the forerunner of good. The grace of a meek and quiet, of an humble and dependent spirit, is as important as that of bold and tireless activity.

Christians should therefore ever keep their minds clear of all irritation, impatience, censoriousness; they should maintain sweetness, gentleness, and kindness of spirit; they should see to it, with severe self-inspection, that nothing is wanting on their part, and then wait patiently on God.

If it is evil to go before the Spirit, it is equally evil to follow tardily behind him. Had the Israelites gone before the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, or had they followed at a tardy pace behind, they would in either case have been lost in the wilderness. Churches and pastors should ever seek to be led by the Spirit ;-they should keep hold of his hand, and never let him go from them ;-they should cherish towards him a lively tenderness, and a deep sense of dependence ;-they should ever feel that they are in a wilderness, and shall be hopelessly lost without him; they should carefully eye his movements, notice the signs of the times, seize every opportunity, and be equally anxious to be neither too fast nor too slow. There is no practical difficulty here, if they honestly seek to walk in the Spirit-and to wait only upon God, making his glory the great end of their being.

6. UNRESISTED. It seems more scriptural to say that the Holy Ghost is unresisted, than irresistible. For the Scriptures teach us that sinners can and do resist him. "Ye stiff necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears," said an apostle, "ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye."* But in all cases where the agency of the Holy Ghost is effectual to the regeneration of a soul, he ceases to be resisted. An irresistible agency carries the idea of force-violence-as though the sinner were taken captive against his will. No man becomes a Christian thus. This is not the way of the Spirit. He renews the will itself. Instead of forcing the soul, with an irresistible agency, he removes its disposition to resist, and is therefore no longer resisted. His influence on the soul, instead of being imperative, violent, irresistible, is gentle, tender, winning. It is a work of love, not of authority. Indeed all his influences are kind, sweet, subduing,-he woos, wins, captivates,-he draws with chords of love, the bands of a man.t He is not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice :-It is the soft and gentle whisper of Spirit with spirit. It is the Holy Ghost, all compassionate, tender, dove-like, enfolding the rebel spirit in his arms, pressing it to his bosom, and breathing his own love into it. Never is a person more conscious of having no force or violence exerted upon him—of being more entirely free and voluntary— than when under the influences of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost works none the less mightily, for working gently and lovingly ;—the most mighty agencies are the most gentle in operation. This is especially true in the moral world. Suppose a monarch had sent down to you from his throne the stern voice of authority, demanding your submission. We will suppose he has a right to demand this, for you are an unreasonable rebel. But you brace yourself against him-you will not submit. Instead of resorting to violence, with infinite condescension he leaves his throne, comes to you, clasps you in his arms and presses you to his heart, with the winning look of forgiveness and love. Your opposition is gone-your heart yields—you love and obey.

This is the way of the Holy Ghost. What the stern voice of law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, the Holy Ghost accomplishes in his own person. He does not come merely to pour light into your mind, or to assist in doing it, but to embrace and subdue you, by making you feel the warm beatings of his own heart. So gently is the change wrought, that, oftener than otherwise, the subject of it cannot tell when it was. As Christ said, he cannot tell whence it comes, nor whither it goes. Some how or other he feels differently respecting religion from what he did. His opposition is gone ;-his shame is gone ;his indecision is gone; his unbelief is gone;-his burden is gone;-he cannot tell how. But this he knows, that they went away without any violence ;there was no shock ;-no forcible bolting in at the door. An angel form, in kind and winning tones, said,

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me."* Somehow or other he was inclined to open the door;-Christ came in, he embraced him,-friendship was declared, and the feast of eternal love began. In place of opposition, there is now a cordial welcome; in place of shame, glorying in Christ; in place of sickly indecision, a firm and manly purpose; in place of unbelief, the confiding trust of a little child; in place of that burden, peace and rest. This is the charming, the sweet, the beautiful work of the Holy Spirit. Do you see any thing like an irresistible agency here, in the physical sense of that word?—No; but you see an unresisted agency;-you see something that removes the disposition to resist, and thus makes the sinner willing in the day of its power.

7. ABUNDANT. "By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly." God has made all things abundant in their place, and for their intended object. Scarcity implies something wrong. Primeval paradise brought forth abundantly of all the beauties and sweets of nature; and the original sources of abundance still remain, only disturbed in their operations by sin. The great laws and movements of nature, that are as it were above the reach of the catastrophe, still unfailingly exhibit the same abundance. It is with no measured hand that God pours out the light, the air,