covenant; for Christ laid down his life by previous contract, and the blood of atonement is the blood of the Covenant. No, beloved brethren, we do not offer you the salvation of God upon false principles; but upon the authority of the divine commandment requiring us to do so; and in the full assurance, that as to matter of fact, there never was a single instance, and there never will be an instance, in the history of the universe, of a sinner, embracing the offer by faith in Christ Jesus, who shall not certainly inherit eternal life. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, He that cometh shall in no wise be cast out; To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. So we preached and so ye believed, that the teacher and the taught may rejoice together in "the glad tidings of great joy." AMEN.

THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE

CHRISTIAN LIFE.

SERMON II.

JOHN iii. 7.—Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

THE great importance of the Christian religion is universally admitted by all who have intelligence enough to form an opinion for themselves upon the subject. Those who have, for centuries, laboured in vain to disgrace and to destroy it, confess their belief of its vast influence over human affairs; and they who, from whatever motive, have appeared, from time to time, in its defence and propagation, acknowledge its excellency and its usefulness. Those, who are happy enough to feel its power, are not, of course, ignorant of its inestimable worth. They know assuredly, that this is the one thing needful; that, compared with its enjoyments, all other things are but loss. What inquiry can therefore be more worthy of the reasonable creature, than that which has for its object the principles of Christianity?

There are three ways, my dear brethren, of considering, for our own improvement, that religion which we believe, enjoy, and inculcate. In all these we have in the holy Scriptures an infallible guide. We may consider it, As it was laid down, before the world began, in the divine counselsAs it was taught, secured, and exemplified in the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ-and, As incorporated in the belief, and experience, and practice of renewed man.

The first of these modes is the most scientific, and is usually pursued in teaching the students of theology a knowledge of the sacred system: the second is most commonly followed, in their pulpit exhibitions, by those preachers who are determined not to know any thing among their hearers save Jesus Christ and him crucified: and the third is occasionally employed, both from the pulpit and the press, with design so to apply as

well as expound the Christian doctrine, as to discover to the anxious inquirer his own actual condition in relation to personal religion.

It is the last of these modes which I have resolved to pursue in the series of discourses which I now propose to deliver. I begin with a description of that wonderful change which is effected upon sinful man by divine power, when he first becomes a true Christian. To this object my text directs your attention. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

You will find, by inspection of the passage of Scripture in which these words occur, that they were originally addressed by our Saviour to a man of Israel, of high distinction in Jerusalem, whose name is Nicodemus. The whole conversation is interesting and instructive; and the circumstances under which it took place, give aid in its illustration.

Our Lord had now, for the first time in the course of his public ministry, made his appearance in the capital of Judea, the centre of ecclesiastical polity, and the place where God recorded his name. Here stood the temple of the Lord; and here the males of Israel, assembled from all parts of the world, met three times in the year to observe the prescribed solemnities. It was on the feast of the Passover, the most remarkable of their holy convocations, when the Son of God ascended Zion Hill, and entered into his Father's house, in the presence of the Sanhedrim, the officiating priests, and the worshipping hosts of Israel. Humbled as he was, voluntarily appearing in the form of a servant, he displayed to their astonishment, in the Temple of Jehovah, the purity and zeal of his heart, the dignity of his office, and the divinity of his mission. He spake with authority; he banished from the gate those who by their merchandize polluted the sanctuary; and he performed miracles which led many to believe in his name. This took place on the day after the paschal supper, the first and high day of the subsequent festivity. It is probable, that before the rulers of the Jews had recovered from their astonishment, or had time to concert plans of opposition to the cause of Christ, that in their conversation about the events of the day, they generally admitted the extraordinary mission. of Jesus, as a prophet of God, if not the Messiah: and it is certain, that Nicodemus visited him at night, to obtain further knowledge upon this important subject. He was himself a member of the council; of the sect of the Pharisees; and, if the Talmud be correct, also a priest, and at this solemnity the officiating minister who presided over the waters that were

employed for sacred purposes, and which, by figure, represented the purity of heart and life required of the worshippers of God, and communicated by the Holy Spirit to all who believingly ascend the holy hill. Whether from timidity, or from zeal to embrace the first opportunity, he approached, under the shades of night, the lodgings of the Son of man, and addressed him with great candour and respect. The reasonings which he employed as the ground of his own convictions, and those of his associates, are certainly worthy of a man of understanding and personal integrity. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. The Redeemer immediately replied to this respectful address, by urging the necessity of regeneration to a life of holiness and happiness: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The sudden manner in which this doctrine is introduced by our Saviour, in reply to the salutation of the counsellor, has puzzled the commentators to account for it to their own satisfaction: But if Nicodemus was indeed, during the day, the officer who presided over the dispensation of baptisinal water, in the numerous Jewish purifications, as it was his business to explain the doctrine of inward holiness in expectation of the kingdom of God, the immediate introduction of this subject will appear perfectly in character. This also shows the aptness of the allusion to water in connexion with the Spirit in verse fifth; and resolves the difficulty under which critics have laboured from finding the definite article* used in connexion with "Master of Israel," in the tenth verse. He was, on that day, the teacher of Israel in this very doctrine of holiness, of the nature and origin of which he was still himself so completely ignorant.

tial.

Nicodemus Ben Gorion was rich, intelligent, and influenHe was a man of candour, of diligence, and of irreproachable morals. He was eminent as a professor and a teacher of revealed religion, and consistent in his conformity to the established ritual. He was not only what passes in the church for a good religious man; but, moreover, a dis

*O Aidaσxados, The teacher of Israel, by way of eminence. As such, our Saviour spoke to him; and the application of the true doctrine, of the nature and origin of the religious life, under such circumstances, to Nicodemus personally, gave peculiar point to the whole conversation. How many teachers still dispense baptism, and preach about conversion and holiness, while ignorant of the nature of regeneration!

tinguished minister in the sanctuary; and yet, he was an entire stranger to the life and power of godliness.

No wonder, then, that he appeared confounded at the doctrine of the new and second birth: no wonder he would be struck by the pointed application, which our Saviour made to him, of the principle which he previously laid down in relation to every man, Ye must be born again.

The text leads me to describe the nature of regeneration or the second birth-and the necessity of it to him who would enjoy the benefits of religion.

I. The nature of the change, required in the text, is to be explained from the scriptures.

Thoughtless men who have been brought up, from infancy, in a Christian land, do not inquire into their own state; but are contented to live in the profession of Christianity without anxiety for any thing more than the name or the outward forms of religion. They may, it is true, have heard and believed the superiority of the Christian faith to infidelity and idolatry, and so be proud of its excellencies, while they view with detestation or pity the Deist or the ignorant Heathen. They may, sometimes, have caught fire from the altar of party, and have flamed with zeal for the propagation or defence of their own system, and so become satisfied, that they are earnest in the faith, and active in the duties of Christianity, while they are utter strangers to true religion. Generally, however, they bring down religion to the standard of their own formality; and discard entirely that holiness of heart and of life which is essential to its existence. Those who have come to mature age without the knowledge or belief of the evangelical doctrine, are more apt, in making a profession of religion, to attach importance to the terms, by which conversion is represented; but they, too, equally with the former, are liable to deception; and in danger of mistaking any alteration in their views, their feelings, or their conduct, which may have a devotional tendency, for the change of mind effected by the Spirit of God. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance to all, to understand the true nature of the Christian life in its origin and progress to perfection.

I proceed, accordingly, to give you ample evidence of the Fact, that there is such a change-That it is produced by the power of God's grace-That it is a spiritual change communicating a new life-That this life is instantaneous in its communication, although progressive in its effects.

1. The Christian religion effects, upon all its actual sub