against this error in the case of sensible, visible subjects? How much more necessary to guard against it in the case of subjects which are both spiritual and invisible; which are beyond the ken of our senses? To this our blessed Lord frequently draws our consideration: So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, HE KNOWETH NOT HOW. Even in the most common and well-known operations of nature, the visible world, the operating cause is beyond our comprehension, notwithstanding our utmost diligence and most anxious inquiry: the author of nature is himself the immediate operating Cause; for he giveth to every seed his own body. And in this instance we are taught, in Holy Scripture, that the grain, we sow is not quickened except it die: here death is in a manner preparatory to life, as cause is preparatory to effect. Now, saith our Lord, So is the kingdom of God-It cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo, here; or, Lo, there; for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. All the operations of grace are carried on in man's heart. The operating causes are felt and experienced by the individual who is the subject of them; but they are not visible even to him, much less to others, either in their approaches or their de

So is

partures. The wind bloweth where it listeth, saith our Lord; and thou hearest the sound thereof; but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. every one who is made a son of God. As in the operations of nature, so is it in the operations of grace; the cause is of God, and it is inscrutable to us, both in itself and in the mode of operation. We know the means in both cases to be used-for God works by means, and he alone appoints them-but we know nothing more. The command is, in both cases, In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand.-Of his own will begat he us, saith St. James, with the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.-Being born again, saith St. Peter, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. And if we use the means, God will bless them. Their success does not, in either, depend on our knowledge or perception of the operating cause as, in the kingdom of nature, the seed being sown in the ground, there is first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear; so it is in the kingdom of grace. It is the same God who works. The good seed of God's word being sown in our hearts, though it be at the first even as a grain of mustard seed, which

is the least of all seeds; yet shall it become a great tree; and it shall bring forth fruit unto eternal life; in thought, word, and deed-here too spiritual death is preparatory to spiritual life. But all must be in the order appointed of God: we must first be made sons; and then, and not till then, shall we have the Spirit of his Son in our hearts. It is not said, Because ye cry, Abba, Father, ye are sons; but, Because ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And hence the Apostle absolutely concludes: Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

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SERMON XI.

ROMANS viii. 17.

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and jointheirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

THE object and end of the Gospel of Christ are in perfect harmony with the form and manner of its revelation: and there is a remarkable and striking analogy in those several respects, maintained throughout the whole, with some of the most interesting circumstances and some of the most endeared relations of human life. The bonds of affection and interest have ever been most powerful among men. Hence spring the strongest incentives to action; hence are derived the most effectual inducements to constancy and perseverance. In this world, interest and affection reign paramount; but they are rarely, if ever, found united. Too often the contest is, which shall overcome and even in those instances where

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rivalry is excluded, we find almost always the one prevailing, to the prejudice of the other. By the Gospel alone they are perfectly joined together in it, our best interests are promoted, while exercising the best affections of which we are capable; and the purest and most disinterested love is made the means of attaining to the most exalted state of prosperity and happiness. The object of the Gospel is to make us the sons of God; and the end of the Gospel is to make us the heirs of God. Now as the object always leads to the attainment of the end, it must necessarily precede, or go before and hence we must first, in this present life, be made the children of God, preparatory to the attainment of the end, the heavenly inheritance in the life to come.

Among men, there is no interest superior to that of an heir: it takes precedence of all other it is the highest title to possession: the right of inheritance supercedes every other. Nothing can separate the lawful heir from his lawful inheritance derived to him by birthright; for the son inherits of his father. Hence the inheritance is enjoyed, in the first instance, to the prejudice of our affections-the son inherits through the decease of the parent: the man who is called to rejoice as an heir, is called at the same time to mourn as a son;