Let Jesus Christ be our Guide: let us cast one look at Calvary, and ask, Why there the Cross was erected? It sustains in excruciating torture the only begotten Son of God. Unlike the holy martyrs, whose souls, sublimed (so to speak) by their last agonies, are almost emancipated from their prison of clay before they quite leave it, and enjoy a sweet prelibation of that blissful presence of God, to which they will soon be introduced in its more full beauty and lustre this holiest of martyrs, this pure and spotless Being, is overwhelmed with the tremendous consummation of his great work, and exclaims -"My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" What! does not the recollection of his past innocence sustain him in the trying hour? Is He, the Holy One of God, denied that consolation which has been so often afforded to some of His humble followers? He cries with a loud voice, and yields up the ghost. Nature bears witness to the dignity of the Sufferer, and to the value of his death, by prodigies the most awful and portentous.

And can you, my brethren, believe that this terrible tragedy is acted merely to give Jesus Christ an opportunity of placing before his disciples an example of patient resignation and obedience to the will of God;-of meek forbearance under the grossest injuries, sealing the truth of his divine mission by a martyrdom so singular and dreadful? To suppose this, is to insult God, by impeaching his benevolence and his wisdom;-his benevolence,

by imposing so heavy a weight of suffering upon an innocent victim, when every purpose might have been answered by a death less excruciating to both body and soul;-his wisdom, for sure it was to be expected that a death so awful, and marked with such prodigies, would naturally lead every beholder to attach to it a value infinitely above that ascribed to common martyrdom. The terrible majesty of our Saviour's death would then be calculated to lead all who became acquainted with it into the grossest error.

But, my brethren, the sacrifice of this Lamb of God had a meaning most awful and momentous : it testified, that without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. It proved to the universe of God, the awful inflexibility of his justice; and that sin, even in this little world, this corner of his vast dominions, was such an outrage upon the economy of his government, and, if suffered to pass with impunity, would be so destructive of universal happiness, that, to atone for it, no less a sacrifice than the Son of God was necessary. This sacrifice, too, had a meaning most gracious and condescending. It testified, that such was the benevolence of God toward those who had rebelled against him, that he was willing to devise some means by which his honour might be preserved, and yet they restored to favour. Hence was Christ wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone

God." Hence we read-" Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth ;"—and, " In Christ Jesus have I begotten you through the Gospel. As, on the one hand, therefore, we are to acknowledge the Holy Spirit as the proper efficient cause in drawing sinners to the Saviour; so, on the other, we must be careful not to disparage the means which he sees fit to use. There is an economy of grace as well as of providence and of nature. There is a connection between the presentation of truth and motives to the mind and heart of the sinner, and his subsequent faith in Christ; a connection, indeed, independent of man, for it is constituted by God; a connection, too, which is affected by so many hidden and intricate causes, various as the infinite diversity of human character and God's difference of providential dealing with man, that it eludes our view, and often disappoints our conjectures: yet a connection which we discover in general to exist, and which therefore justifies the conclusion, that in the kingdom of grace God acts by general laws, and through the instrumentality of what we term secondary causes. this, however, my brethren, God forbid that I should detract from the sovereignty of his grace, or the necessity of his proper and direct influence in leading us to Jesus Christ. What I mean to assert is, that the Holy Spirit has seen fit to adopt a mode of acting in what relates to the salvation of sinners; that this mode is, in one important respect, disclosed to us; that, in this respect, it consists in using

In all

Truth, and motives derived from God's word, to affect the mind and heart of man; and that such means, so far as we can discern, are the only means which are suited to a being of a rational and accountable nature. These means produce no effect without man's agency; yet their efficacy depends on God's agency. Neglecting them, we can have no hope of salvation. In their use, if effectual in drawing us to Jesus Christ, to God will be all the glory.

3. In the third place, This drawing usually discovers itself only by its effects, and is not usually to be distinguished from the operations of our own minds.-I say, usually; for I would not deny that God may, in some cases, vouchsafe to manifest, by distinct and certain marks, his peculiar and immediate presence to the soul. But such is not usually the fact. His Spirit acts, but we see only its effects. All is under his guidance and control, yet all appears to be our own thoughts and purposes. He leads us in the way in which he would have us to go, but his hand is unseen. He draws us to Jesus Christ, but we seem to ourselves to direct our steps. Shall we then arrogate any merit to our faith? By no means. God is its Author, but he sees fit to conceal his agency.

4. Hence, in the fourth place, this drawing is of such a nature as to render it extremely difficult, and in most cases impossible, to determine the precise time at which the sinner is first affected by it.Were the agency of God in producing faith in the

heart a sensible one; were the hand which leads us to the Cross visible; then might the first moment of our reliance upon the Saviour be most easily ascertained. But our spiritual state is to be estimated by a comparison of our hearts with the word of God. And what says this word? The fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.". Now what scrutiny, my brethren-what scrupulous caution is necessary, in order to determine whether we possess these heavenly graces. Let the advanced Christian, who, like a tree planted by the rivers of water, hath constantly brought forth his fruit in his season, indulge the unwavering hope that he shall eternally flourish in the paradise of God. But how shall the young convert, whose mind has been tortured and distracted with a sense of his guilt, who has been tremblingly alive to every alternate suggestion of hope and despair; who has had so many doubts and perplexities; how shall he venture to say with certainty, that at just such a moment he passed from death unto life?

So far, then, as time, and scrutiny, and caution, are necessary to enable us to pass a judgment upon our spiritual state, so far it becomes difficult to determine, that at any one moment overwhelming evidence was afforded us of our having an interest in Christ. Still I would be far from saying that this is not sometimes the case. What I have offered is in the way of caution to those who think it necessary, or even important that the believer