is never made a good man, a happy man, a holy man, or an obedient man in the service of God, against the conviction of his understanding or his mind. We are not made Christians by being blindfolded, but we are made Christians by having the intellect instructed, educated, trained, and expanded. I am most attracted to God and truth by light, not by force. When I embrace the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, I do so because I see the glory, the adaptation, the all-sufficiency of His atonement. When I embrace justification by faith as a great truth, I embrace it because I see the necessity of it to me in my condition by nature, as a rebel before God. So when I am put upon any task of obedience, I am put upon it not by a coercive power, but by being taught my duty; the light of God and the truth of God concurring with the understanding, opening its powers, and leading me to see and know for myself what is true and just, and holy and right, before God. Then I may, moreover, say, that the power of God by the truth and the Spirit never works against the conscience, but in concurrence with it. A man's conscience is never violated when he becomes a good man. His conscience may be violated by his continuing a bad man; but it is never done by his becoming a Christian, however good he may be. Do you now see the force of what I mean? We are not made Christians, children of God, regenerated people, holy in heart and life, and devoted to the Divine service, by any coercion upon the conscience, but by truth and grace concurring with its convictions and impressions. There is something sacred about conscience-very sacred. There are many mistakes on the question of conscience; but if you think a man is wrong in his conscientious convictions, you must try to put him right. I do not know whether we have much authority to go farther than that. If I see a man to be

wrong, all that it becomes me to do is to endeavour to rectify his judgment, to give him better instruction, to show him what I conceive to be right, and then leave him to the convictions of his own mind. This, then, is what I think Christianity is. It is the power of God working in the soul of man, never antagonistic to the affections, but beautifully adapting its influence to the judgment and feelings of man. I see now, at this season of the year, a wonderful power at work in nature. It is a power of life, which puts itself into every cedar, into every oak, into every primrose growing upon the banks, into every rose; and is being developed in the beauty, the fragrance, and the vitality of every plant, and herb, and tree. Thus, the power of God in the universe works, bringing those things to perfection, and developing their force and beauty. I think it is very much the same spiritually with the soul. How does the power of the divinity work in man's heart? Why to purify, to expand, to render it as delicate, I was going to say, in its purity, as the lily sitting upon the waters; and as fragrant in affection, in love, in joy, in happiness, as the most beautiful plant you can find on earth. This power works not against the soul, but in concurrence with the soul; not against man's faith, but always up to the level of that faith. "According to your faith," said the Saviour, "it shall be done unto you." I do not think, generally speaking, that blessings are given. without faith. God first raises the mind to an act of faith agreeing to the privilege, and then bestows the privilege in accordance with the faith. I do not know whether you will see what I mean when I say, that the Lord does not give us the privilege and enjoyment beyond what we believe, or otherwise he would be forcing the mind, which does not belong to his economy He does not force the mind, but he elevates it, and then deals with it gently

on the scale of that elevation. It is so in prayer. I should say the Lord gives us what we pray for. He does not go beyond the spirit of our prayer, but acts with us, and bestows blessings in agreement with what we ask. This, then, is the power to which the Apostle adverts.

Secondly. What does the Apostle suppose this power sufficient to accomplish? Why, our establishment. Our establishment, you will please to remark, according to the gospel and revelation of Jesus Christ. These words, "according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ,” are very emphatic. They must either mean establishment in the gospel, or, otherwise, they must mean establishment in agreement with the truth and principles of the gospel. I think both are necessary. First of all, there must be establishment in the truth of the gospel. One cannot become a well-grounded, steady Christian, unless as a first principle, he is established in the truth. You may be very certain, my dear brethren, that your principles as to the truth in this world will be greatly tested; and how will it be possible for any one of you to stand, unless you are wellgrounded in the truth itself. The stability of a house will depend on the security of the foundation upon which it rests. If it reposes on a sure foundation, the winds may blow, the storms may beat, and time may make its ravages, yet the house will stand unimpaired. The establishment of a tree will depend upon the soil in which it has taken root. Let that root clasp, embrace, and transmit the life of a good soil, and the tree will stand through many centuries. The steadiness of a man's walk, in connection with this life, will, in some sort, depend upon the road he passes. He would not be able very well to get on in a bog, but he would, other things agreeing, on a good road. Now something very much like this must be the case with regard to the mind's perception of divine truth.

Perceive the truth, clasp the truth, and then you may become established in the truth. Let us examine the ground well upon which we stand; let us convince ourselves of its truthfulness and stability, and then, though we may not always be prepared to meet every sophism, to refute every argument, to rebut every opponent, we may yet repose with quietness and assurance in our position. I remember what I felt myself, when quite young, after reading Bishop Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies. It was a sort of enthusiasm such as one feels when a great victory has been won; and if decency had allowed, I could have taken my hat and thrown it up into the air, as an expression of delight at the perception I had gained of the absolute truth of Christianity. I have never-thank God— shifted from that ground since, and I trust, whatever else may be destroyed, I shall never suffer the foundation to be shaken. For myself, I am pretty much come to this, to believe nothing but the Bible; for everything else seems to be so variable, so changeable, so mutable. There are so many bright and dark sides about everything, that one can feel little satisfaction in anything but the demonstrations of the Bible. Thank God! there's light there, as bright, and certain, and unquestionable, and glorious, as the light of day! Keep to that, get well established in that, and other things will necessarily follow. Now the prayer, the desire of the Apostle is, that these Roman Christians might be established according to the Gospel. Not only in, not only upon it, as a foundation, but "according to it ;" or, in other words, that their experience, their enjoyments, their holiness, their discharge of duties, their fruitfulness, might be all on a scale with the glorious Gospel itself. And this is what we ought to aim after. The Gospel now, for instance, teaches that happiness, joy, comfort, are amongst its characteristic fruits,

Many persons, such as our friends the Roman Catholics, and those who trench upon that system, our brethren, the Puseyites, seem to live very much in the midst of the gloomy. When I was in Spain, I lived in one of their towns for a while, and during that period I constantly saw some emblem of their religion. And what were those emblems? Why, at every corner of the streets you would see in the daytime a lamp burning, and a human skull beneath it, with a great picture of purgatory, with priests, and popes, and all sorts of people, struggling to get out. I never saw an emblem of joy. I never saw a picture indicating happiness. Everything was gloomy. But it is not so in the Gospel! I am as much struck with the spirit of the Gospel as I am with its sublimity. Our religion is a joyful religion! How should it be otherwise? If God has forgiven us, and made us His children, and blessed us with His Spirit, and given us bright hopes of heaven, why should we weep? Away with your tears, your lamentations, and griefs; and remember, that, though sorrow "may endure for a night, joy will come in the morning." The power of God can also establish us in holiness and purity, raising us to as high a state of Christian perfection as His Divine word enjoins and teaches. If I had time, I should just remark for a minute or two upon this, because a great many persons have difficulties in their minds as to the possibility of enjoying what we consider essential-namely, perfect love, entire sanctification, Christian holiness. You think this is difficult. Well, perhaps, on your principles, it is; but not so on the principles of St. Paul, as given us in the text. You know, the question of everything in religion turns upon this, whether God is the doer of it or not. If God sanctifies, if God inspires you with love, if God restores the soul to purity and holiness, He can, with His great power and grace, do it upon any scale He pleases. The attain