full of enmity against God, now feels a constraining love to him. The will, heretofore obstinate and perverse, is brought into sweet captivity to the obedience of Christ. The heart, by nature deceitful and desperately wicked, is renovated and sanctified. The affections, once engaged on the side of sin, are now exercised upon "the fruits of goodness, righteousness, and truth." In fact the subjects of this change, wrought by the Spirit of God, were not only supposed to be regenerate, in common with all the members of the visible church of Christ; but they are really and truly so, as the subjects of his spiritual and mystical church, included in the present mixed condition of the former. They are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." The subjects of this religion are born of God; and "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." That is, he cannot live in habitual disobedience, or in the commission of known and allowed sin. He is "born of incorruptible seed, the seed of God remaineth in him, and he is a partaker of the divine nature.” Now all these expressions imply, prove, and illustrate the doctrine of perseverance. And if we view this branch of the subject in connexion with election, it will necessarily bring us to the same conclusion. For those who are

the subjects of religion thus wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit, possess a principle which may be traced up to their "election of God" as its source;

and hence, according to the sense of the article before literally cited, they are called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.

IV. The fourth observation to be amplified, is, that he who begins the good work of religion will also finish it.

"He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" he will finish or complete it, as the Greek word signifies, and as it is rendered in the margin of the Bible, until he bring it to full perfection, in the great day of Christ, when he shall appear in all his glory, as the Judge of the quick and dead. The good work of grace, therefore, commenced in the soul of the believer by the Holy Spirit, will most assuredly terminate in the participation of everlasting glory. We need, dear brethren, a better religion than that which originates merely from our own powers. If the apostle had considered man as the author of his religion, he would not have spoken with such confidence in relation to his finishing it. What dependence can be placed upon the powers of man? What confidence can be founded upon his strength or virtue?

What expectations or hopes can be fixed upon the stability of a religion of his own creating? If we are depending upon ourselves for beginning or carrying on the work of grace, we are like a man building a house upon a foundation of sand. Sooner or later it will fall, and great will be the fall thereof. But you may rest confident, my friends, that true religion stands upon a very different foundation. "He who has wrought for us this self-same thing i

have I that the good work of grace is, in reality, begun in my soul? Have I truly been convinced of my sin, by nature and practice? Under this conviction have I fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before me in the gospel? Am I living a life of faith on Jesus the Son of God? Is my faith working by love, purifying my heart, and enabling me to overcome the world? Have I these evidences of my fellowship in the gospel? These are the works for which the apostle exercised his gratitude to God, for his beloved Philippians. Possessing, my brethren, these evidences of grace, you may appropriate to yourselves the consolations of the gospel and rejoice in Christ Jesus. For grace is glory begun, and glory is grace completed. You may look forward into futurity with comfort and hope. Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. He will be with you through life; he will be with you in death, and, as the captain of your salvation, will conduct you in safety through its dark valley. His angels will then convey you to the mansions of bliss in paradise, where, when absent from the body, you will be present with the Lord. This is not all: the work will not be finally completed until the second advent of the Lord Jesus, when he will be revealed in all his glory, and come again, as the judge of the quick and dead, attended by his mighty angels. Then, Christians, your bodies as well as your souls will participate in the promised salvation. Your mouldered dust will be re-animated, and your vile bodies will be fashioned like unto the glorious body of your

exalted Redeemer. You will be owned and confessed by him before angels and men, and be graciously addressed by him in the words of the promise,

Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Glorified in body and soul, you will then enter the state and the place from which all the painful consequences and effects of sin will be everlastingly banished; you will for ever dwell in the city of God, where "there shall be no more curse : but the throne of God, and the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." Amen.

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NOW THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST WAS ON THIS WISE.

EVERYTHING in nature and in providence is full of mystery. Every leaf of the tree, every flower of the field, and every pebble in the brook, possesses qualities which a child is capable of observing and comprehending; while at the same time it contains hidden properties, which the wisest philosopher cannot find out to perfection. In all the ways and works of God, there is a simplicity level to the meanest understanding; and at the same time a depth and complexness, which confound the most enlarged mind. But if all the operations both of nature and providence present this combination, it is peculiarly displayed in the amazing scheme of redemption, the dawn of which shone forth in the incarnation of our blessed Saviour. "Great is the mystery of godliness! God manifest in the flesh." So exclaimed the inspired apostle; and should not the wondrous theme excite our admiration and