life. They were dead in trespasses and sins, till the Spirit of of life brought life into their souis, and enabled them to live by the faith of the Son of God. This is as full a communication of life, as the creating any thing which did not exist before; and therefore believers are said to be born of the Spirit (John iii.) whofe life they had not before their new birth. They are alfo called new creatures or a new creation, in the very fame sense; because they had no existence in heavenly things, till the holy Spirit afforded it by his power. This is the obvious meaning likewise of the word regeneration, and of all those terms which denote the bestowment of a new life, the translation from darkness, and the admission to God. Hence it is that the redeemed, being born of the SPIRIT, are said to be born of God, and are called the sons, the children, and the heirs of God. They claim not heaven as an uncovenanted mercy, which too-too many unwarrantably do; but as a matter of inheritance, promised and therefore due from the Father, purchased by the Son, and afforded by the power of the Holy Ghost. Now, as none but God can impart life, and especially the immortal life of grace; the HOLY SPIRIT, being "the Lord and giver of life," and the great agent to maintain it in the hearts of his people, must necessarily be God over all, blessed for ever. The Spirit himself is life, and communicates life to whom be will. 1 Cor. xii. 2. John iii. 8. As the Divine Spirit gives life, so he supports it when given, by his Almighty power: and none but Almighty power could support the life of grace, against the united force of the spirits of darkness, the temptations of the world, and the treachery of an evil heart of unbelief, always inclining to departure from the living God. The Spirit of God visibly cast out devils, to testify the divine mission of Christ; and he hath spiritually cast them out in all ages, and will cast them out to the end of the world, to render that mission effectual for the salvation of his people. He teaches the redeemed, alfo, whatever is necessary for them to know. Could any but an omnipresent agent thus instruct through every moment, and in every age, all the individual members of Christ's scattered church, correcting their thoughts, informing their judgments, sanctifying their wills and affections, and thereby preparing them for life eternal? And if this agent be omnipresent, doth it not conclusively follow, that he is the infinite God? In a word, if this Holy Spirit create anew in Christ Jes sus; if he cause to be quickened from death into life; if he translate from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God; if he be always present to help his people's infirmities, to mortify their sins, to fanctify their persons, to re new their minds, to teach their understandings, to give them access to the Father, to be in them all and to dwell in all for ever; is it possible for common sense itself to fuppose, that He can be less than true and very God, the all-wise, the allgracious, and omnipotent JEHOVAH! It seems less absurd to affirm, that a gnat or a fly can create a world, and preserve the series of being upon it, in its perfe, yet complicated arrangement; than to assert, that any existence could accomplish all the wonderful works above-mentioned, but the author and preserver of all existence himself? Yet, paradoxical as the expression seems, this sort of credulity does that person entertain, who, admitting the Bible to be a divine revelation, has infidelity enough to deny the proper divinity of the Holy Ghost. To thee, O Believer in Jesus, this article of the Spirit's deity is a maxim of indisputable moment-an axiom of indubitable truth. Thou wilt not deny his word, which asserts it: Thou canst not resist his witness in thyself, which confirms it to a demonstration, Others may deny, what they do not experience or feel; but thou knowest HIM that is true, because thou art in Him; and he with all his evidences of comfort, love, and joy, dwelleth in thee. He first brought thee into spiritual life from the death of sin: He reconciled thee to God, when thou wast an enemy by wicked works: He giveth thee a thousand tokens of his presence and support: He leadeth thy thoughts and thy heart direct to God and neaven; preferves thee (always ready in thyself to stray) from numberless snares in thy daily walk, and at length will give thee an abundant entrance into his everlasting kingdom. Thou constantly feelest thyself to be a poor, dependent creature; able to think nothing, to will nothing, and to do nothing good of thy own power: And it is thy privilege and thy joy to find this gracious Spirit, working in thee both to will and do of his good pleasure. Thou art never happy but in this perception. Thou art never holy but in this enjoyment. Thou art never safe but in this protection. What cares the devil for all the resolutions and strength of man, even if man could exert them, without grace divine? He broke down the patience of the most patient Job, and made him curse the day in which he was born, when God permitted him to exercise his power for a trial. And he would bring to nothing the highest attainments of thy soul, did the Spirit of truth depart from thee for a moment. If any man bade fair to stand alone, surely it must have been the man after God's own heart; but he fell, as every body knows, and fell foully and horribly too. If any man could hope to recover himself from a fall; who might expect to do it sooner than he, who had vanquished repeated foes, and trampled up. on the boasted strength of a giant? Yet this man, a prince and a prophet too, wise and powerful, lay for a long time in his transgression, and at last cried out, like an helpless infant, for the restoration and support of God's free SPIRIT. Ps. li. 12. He found the powers of darkness and sin too mighty for his feeble efforts to resist, and too subtle for his dull understanding to oppose. The wisdom of God's Spirit alone could repel the sophistry of hell; and the energy of the Almighty bring him back from the captivity of Satan. Art thou not sensible of this gracious operation, dear Christian, from time to time within thy soul? Dost thou never feel a power, which is not thine own? Never taste a joy, which animal sense cannot induce? Never rise to views, which nature cannot fhew thee? Never have a communion with heaven and the unutterable glories of the world above, which earth could not inspire?-Examine thy secret chamber, and the secret of thy heart; and say, "have I not tasted that the Lord is gracious indeed? Did I not feel his divine power at such and such times, far superior to any thing of my own? Was not my heart drawn out, in the sweetest communion of love, with God my portion, my Father, and my Friend?"—The records of heaven preserve the facts : They are gone up, like Cornelius's deeds of grace, for a memorial before God. If a drop of water, given to another for thy Master's sake, shall not be lost or poured out upon the ground; surely, the living streams of his love, which have flowed into thy soul, shall one day be recounted with joy, and all rise up again in the circuits of heaven. Remember, believer, for thy comfort likewise, that thy gracious guide and supporter is the self-existent Jehovah, who faileth not, neither is weary, whose gifts and callings are without repentance, and whose love is everlasting as his nature. This HOLY SPIRIT did not bring thee into the way of salvation for any other purpose, but to lead thee to the end of it: And every testimony of his grace in thy soul is as sure an earnest for glory, as though thou wert already in it. We know that we bave passed from death unto life (says the apostle); because we have his Spirit dwelling in us, working all the motions of prayer, love, hope, joy, righteousness and praise, which are his genuine fruits and the evidences of his presence. So surely, therefore, as thou hast the pledge, thou wilt, in due time, possess the everlasting inheritance. The world cannot prevent thee, the devil cannot destroy thee, thy own sinful flesh shall not prevail against thee; for the arm, counsel, and love, which are engaged in thy behalf, belong altogether to the SPIRIT JEHOVAH. "But may not libertine professors abuse this truth?" Indeed they may And so do libertines abuse all other truths and blessings. It is thought bad logic in the schools to reason from the perversion of a thing against its worth: And it is more dangerously erroneous in the school of Christ. There is not a single doctrine of grace, but which the folly of man, acted upon by the subtlety of the devil, may wrest, and wrest to destruction; but grace is gracious still, and will lead the children of God to his glory. Dog's will eat the children's bread; but it is not the less bread, and good bread too, though dogs devour it. Thus grunnitus porcèrum (as Luther termed it,) this "grunting of hogs" is very different from the gentle bleating of Christ's sheep. We have, therefore, one short answer to give to all questions of this kind; that those persons, who, under pretence of gospel-liberty, run into any licentiousness of heart and life, and plead the privileges of grace for purposes which are not gracious, are neither more nor less than the servants of corruption, the bondslaves of the devil, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. To which it may be added, that if they live and die in this horrible state of mind; it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrab in the day of judgment than for them. The gospel of the blessed Redeemer, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, are so far from indulging sin, that they indispensably inculcate upon believers to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present evil world. All God's ways are holy; and fo must they be who call themselves his children, or they are not his children. If the Christian were asked, which were his happiest moments; he would answer, those which were spent in the closest walk with Christ, and in the nearest communion with God. The enjoyment of the life of grace is founded in the death and destruction of all sin: And the believer is only unhappy, when corruptions within, aided by corruptions without, draw him off from an entire dependence upon his Lord. He would be perfect, if he could; because, in perfect holiness, he would obtain perfect happiness, a complete possession of all good; and he longs for heaven itself, both for the full enjoyment of God's presence, and for the absolute perfection of holiness, which he cannot attain till he arrives in it. On the other hand, every true believer can witness, that departing from God, is departing from peace. A serious Christian once asked a great backslider, whether he really had found more satisfaction in the indulgence of his lusts, and the full swing of carnal pleasure, than he before had done in the profession of the gospel and in the hours he had formerly spent for God. He honestly answered; he had not; and that, so far from being happy, he was not even untormented, but, when in a state of the most intoxicated dissipation. It pleased God to restore him again; but not without such bitterness of soul, as all the mad and foolish pleasures he had pursued, were but a poor compensation to him. They, who leave the fountain of living waters, bew out unto themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water, or water only that can destroy them. Turn, then, beloved Christian, to thine only rest. Turn to Jehovah the Father, who hath loved thee for ever; Turn to Jehovah the Redeemer, who hath saved thy life from destruction: Turn to jehovah the Spirit, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Soon shalt thou behold him face to face, and turn from him to the world, or to sin, or to self; no more. Soon shalt thou enjoy whatever can be possessed of this great One Jehovah, and be wrapt up in the fullness of his joy thro' a blessed eternity. O for transporting views of this ineffable glory! O how poor, how vain, how perishing, do the world and all other things appear, held up before this unutterable brightness of the Majesty on high! What is life, what is death, what are crowns and kingdoms below, what is all that can be named, in comparison with the unsearchable riches of Christ, the communion of the Holy Ghost, and the unalienable possession of both in heaven!We should scarce endure to live in this wretched world, if we had much foretaste of this bliss, or if God, till his purposes are fulfilled in us below, did not permit the veil of flesh to hide the fullness of his love and brightness from our minds. 米米 ALEHIM, OR GOD. IN formered, and it was shewn, that this name, apN the former Volume, the import of this significant title plied to the Godhead, was manifestly meant to convey an idea of what we call the Persons, the Greeks Hypostases, * We follow the Latins in using the word Person for Hypostases, and the word Essence for Ovrix, Being or Existence. Seneca says, in his 58th Epistle, that this translation of Ouaia was first adopted by Cicero, and that he understood by it the universal nature and cause of all things. In this epistle he complains heavily of the Latin tongue for its incapacity to translate the sense of Greek terms without a periphrasis. The Latin Fathers seem to have followed Cicero for the same reason-the want of better terms. Indeed we are told by Gregory Nazianzen, that because the Latins could not otherwise make a proper distinction between the essence and the hypostases, through the poverty of their language, they used the word person for the latter, lest it should be thought, that they held three essences. He well observes, that "the purity of our faith doth not |