great purposes for which the Spirit was to be sent into the world. "And when he is come," said he, "he will reprove the world of sin.” This office he

performed in the case of the three thousand who were pricked in the heart on the day of Pentecost, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" A similar effect was produced in the case of the jailor, who, at midnight, called for a light, and sprang into the prison, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And the same thing substantially occurs in the case of every awakened sinner. And the agent to whom this work is, in every instance, to be ultimately referred, is the Holy Spirit. This is always the first step to the effectual application of the benefits of Christ's death; though there are multitudes who experience this, and perish notwithstanding.

That faculty, or principle of the soul, which is especially the subject of the Spirit's operation in conviction of sin, is the conscience. It is this which recognises the difference between right and wrong, and passes a sentence of approbation or disapprobation on our own actions. This, therefore, is the appropriate principle to be brought into exercise in the work of conviction; and to this the Spirit always addresses itself. Hence conviction is uniformly attended by remorse, and not unfrequently so pungent, as to amount to agony. Hence, too, convinced sinners are said to be "pricked in the heart;" an expression which denotes the most excruciating anguish.

The kind of truth which the Spirit uses in accomplishing this work, is primarily the law of God,

"By the law," says the apostle, " is the knowledge of sin." God's law is nothing else than a transcript of his moral character; requiring all his creatures to be holy, according to their measure, as he is holy. It is the eternal standard of right; and every departure from it is sin-the abominable thing which God hateth. But if men are practically ignorant of this standard, they will, of course, be in the same degree ignorant of their sins; and it is only in proportion as the law is brought home to them in its high and awful bearings, that they can have any conviction of sin. And the more they view the law in its amazing extent, as reaching to the thoughts, affections, purposes

-as taking cognizance of the whole inner man, and during every period of their existence—the more they view it in connection with the awful attributes of Jehovah, especially his omnipotence, his omniscience, his holiness and his truth,-so much the more black and dreadful appears the guilt of sin; so much the more numerous and appalling their own personal transgressions. I say, then, that the law is the great instrument which the Spirit of God wields in producing conviction of sin. Let that never be brought in contact with the conscience, and the sinner would go slumbering to his grave. If we might suppose the case that it should be kept out of view in the next world, the hell which the Bible describes could not exist.

There are indeed other parts of divine truth, besides the law, which the Spirit uses in the work of conviction; but they are subordinate to this. For instance, the great doctrine of Christ crucified for the sins of men, has often a powerful influence in con

vincing men of sin,-for herein the honours of the law are maintained; and the argument which the Spirit uses with the sinner's conscience is, that if sin be such a tremendous evil as to demand for its expiation the death of the Son of God, then repentance of sin must be an immediate and imperative duty. And I doubt not that many a sinner, while he has yet been blind to the glories of redemption, has derived his deepest conviction of sin from the views which he has taken of this doctrine; and the question has forced itself upon his conscience, with fearful urgency, "If these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"

The same is true of various other parts of divine truth: the Spirit, in his gracious sovereignty, uses them to convince men of sin; and sometimes even those truths which might seem to us least adapted to that end; but the influence which they exert is indirect, and uniformly terminates in bringing God's law to bear upon the conscience.

2. There is also an agency of the Spirit in the work of conversion—in the turning of the soul from sin to holiness.-This is what is referred to by our Saviour, when he says, 66 Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot see the kingdom of God." The work which the Spirit here performs, is the renovation of man's moral nature; changing an enemy of God into a friend of God: and if we have a right to compare the different kinds of influence which he exerts upon the children of men with each other, perhaps it is a reasonable conclusion, that more of his omnipotence is exerted here than in any other part of his work. What is done in conviction is only a

preparation for this; what is done in sanctification is but a continuation of it. As the act of conversion may be considered in some respects the most decisive in its bearing upon man's destiny, so we may suppose, that it brings him more closely into communion with the almighty energies of God's Spirit than any other.

The Spirit, in his converting influences, instead of bringing the truth to bear directly upon the conscience, addresses it to the will and the affections. The will, or the faculty by which we determine our actions, has naturally a wrong direction; and in regeneration it is set right: the affections are naturally placed upon forbidden objects; and in regeneration they are recalled to objects which are worthy of them. Or, to avoid all appearance of philosophical distinctions, the soul that has hitherto loved and chosen sin, experiences a change, in consequence of which it will hereafter love and choose holiness. Hence, the Scripture speaks of it as a change of heart, by which we mean, in common language, a change of disposition. Man in his natural state is said to possess heart of stone;" in his renewed state, 66 flesh," or "a new heart." As this, then, is the part of his nature in which the change primarily takes place, to this we must suppose the agency of the Spirit, in performing the change, is especially directed.

66

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And as the work of conversion is performed on a different department of man's nature from that of conviction, so also it is accomplished through the instrumentality of a different part of the system of divine truth. It is not only of the incorruptible seed of the word of God that men are born to newness of life, but it is by the gospel, in distinction from

It was the law

the law, that this work is effected. that made the jailor tremble; it was the gospel that brought peace and gladness to his soul. It was the law that caused the three thousand to be pricked in the heart; it was the gospel-Christ crucified-that melted them into contrition, and transformed them into disciples. And you see the reason of it-the law speaks terror, and nothing else: it points to a most eventful trial; and anticipates the eternal wrath of God. The gospel proclaims good news. It tells the sinner that his case, though deplorable, is not desperate and hope encourages exertion. It holds up the glorious truth, that, through the merits of Christ's atoning blood, there is eternal life; and the sinner, through the agency of the Holy Ghost, seizes hold of this truth, as of life from the dead; and in view of it, he melts down, in humble submission, at the foot of the cross. I do not mean that the gospel, in its more particular, and even less important doctrines, may not sometimes be directly instrumental of producing this change; though certain it is, that wherever it takes place, it is the gospel, in distinction from the law, that accomplishes it. As it is not a common thing, to say the least, for men to know, with absolute assurance, the precise period of their conversion, so they cannot ordinarily determine what particular part of divine truth was then directly before the mind; but if it were possible to ascertain, they would doubtless always find that it had a more or less intimate connection with the cross of Christ.

3. There is, moreover, an agency of the Spirit in the whole progress of the soul in holiness.-Says the apostle to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to