the gospel has made known another divine person, (so we are obliged to speak) the holy Spirit of God, who stands in a distinct relation to us; and to whom, therefore, his proper and peculiar honour is due. But of this divine. person in the glorious Trinity, I shall find another occasion to lay before you, at large, what the scriptures have brought to light.

you

the

For the present, it may suffice to have put in mind of what we are taught concerning grace of God in his Son Jesus Christ; to the end that, religiously observing all the duties which this revealed doctrine requires of us, we may fully correspond to the gracious intentions of the revealer, by having our fruit unto holiness; and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin (be it ever remembered) is death: but eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lordd: To whom be all praise, thanksgiving, and honour, now and for evermore. Amen.

d Rom. vi. 22, 23.

SERMON XXXI.

PREACHED JUNE 12, 1774.

GAL. vi. 8.

He that soweth to the spirit, shall oF THE

SPIRIT REAP LIFE EVERLASTING.

WITHOUT staying to point out the imme

diate occasion of these words, or to enumerate and define the several senses of the word spirit, in sacred scripture, it is sufficient to my present purpose to observe, that the text affirms a general and fundamental truth of the Gospel, more clearly and particularly explained elsewhere. It is this: That he who in this life conducts himself according to the rules and admonitions of God's holy spirit, which the Apostle calls, sowing to the spirit,

shall, through the influence of the same spirit, obtain, that is, in the Apostle's figurative style, shall reap, life everlasting.

But, what! you will say, everlasting life is the gift of God through Christ: how is it then that we receive this gift at the hands of another, of God's holy spirit?

To resolve this difficulty, and to open to you at the same time the Christian doctrine of grace, together with the concern which we have in it, I shall consider,

I. In what sense we are to understand the assertion, That everlasting life is of the spirit.

II. In what way this blessing is conferred upon us; under which head I shall have occasion to set forth the several offices and operations of the holy Spirit.

III. Lastly, what returns of duty, as corresponding to these offices of the Spirit, and as resulting from the relations in which we stand towards him, are, in consequence of this reve lation, reasonably required of us.

I. To understand in what sense the scriptures assert everlasting life to be of the spirit, it will

be necessary to form to ourselves a distinct idea of the divine œconomy in the whole work of our redemption; which (to sum up briefly what is revealed to us) appears to have been conducted in the following manner.

God the Father, of his mere grace, purposed and willeda, from all eternity, the restoration of life to man, after his forfeiture of it by disobedience: but he saw fit to make our title to this free gift depend on the death and sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ: and, lastly, to give the actual possession of it only through the ministration of his holy Spirit.

The whole of this process is full of wonder; but there is no contradiction, or inconsistency in its several parts.

However, to open the œconomy of this dispensation a little more distinctly, it is to be observed, that eternal life may be taken in two senses. It may either imply a mere state of ENDLESS EXISTENCE; and, in this sense, it is solely and properly the gift of God through Christ; for as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive: Or, it may mean, what it always does mean in those pas

2 Tim. i. 9.

1 Cor xv. 22.

sages of scripture, where it is magnified so much, a state of HAPPINESS, in that existence; and then only a capacity of being put into this state is procured for us by the Redeemer. But this capacity, this grace of God, may be frustrated by us, may even turn against us, if we be not duly prepared to enjoy that happiness of which we are made capable; and such preparation, is the proper distinctive work of God's holy spirit.

Further, to see the necessity, the importance at least, of such preparation, we are to reflect, that, by the fall of man, not only life was forfeited, but the powers of his mind were weakened. Transgression had clouded his understanding, and perverted his will. He neither saw his duty so clearly as before, nor was disposed to perform it so vigorously. And this depravation of his faculties, we easily conceive, might, as an original taint, be transmitted to his posterity; nay, we certainly feel that it is so: yet, without any imputation on the author of our being, who might have placed us in this disadvantageous state, if he had pleased, from the beginning; and to whom we are accounta ble for the right use of the advantages we have, not of those we have not. Still, the purity of

Gal. ii. 21.