to awaken them to repentance, puts them upon making such humble confessions, and forming such new resolutions, as were suited to the kind of guilt they had contracted. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord. Say unto him, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, so will we render the calves of our lips. Ashur, that is, the Assyrians with whom they had sought alliance, shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses, that is, trust in warlike preparations; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ye are our Gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy a. To which acknowledgments he represents the blessed God as immediately replying, I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. "Your infidelity, self-confidence and impiety have almost proved your ruin. They have defaced your beauty and glory, and reduced you to a languishing dying state. But I will have mercy on you. That extraordinary providence which formerly interposed in your favour shall again make you prosperous and happy. On you shall the dews of my salvation descend; and so shall this withered plant recover its strength and vigour, and again bring forth fruit to my glory."

And how justly may this reasoning with the Israelites of old, be applied to the church of God under the present dispensation, of which they were an eminent type! That confidence in divine Providence which was required of them, as an expression of their allegiance to Heaven in their civil capacity, was a distant but natural intimation of that faith which is required of us in Christ our King and Saviour, and in the influences of the Holy Spirit, which he hath obtained for us. And as their failure in point of duty, to that extraordinary providence they were under, was the unhappy cause of all their declensions and miseries, so ours, in regard of that confidence we ought to place in the power and grace of God, is the sad source of all the declensions and miseries we at any time feel and lament as Christians. Wherefore, under these circumstances, the like acknowledgments are due from us, both in our individual and collective capacity, as from them. The first step we are to take, is to be deeply hum

a Ver. 2, 3,

bled for this great error, which is the cause of all our wanderings from God, even confidence in ourselves, and a disregard to the influences of his Spirit. And, thus returning to him by prayer and repentance, we may hope for the same favourable answer they received, I will heal your backsliding, I will love you freely, for mine anger is turned away. I will be as the dew unto Is

rael.

Now by the blessing here promised, we are to understand the influence of divine grace ;-that secret, invisible, and powerful influence, whereby the word of God, his ordinances, and providences, are made effectual to promote our knowledge, happiness, and purity;—that influence which impresses divine truths upon our minds, raises our hearts and affections to Heaven, cheers and refreshes our fainting spirits, quickens and animates us to duty, forms us into the likeness of God, and makes us meet for the everlasting enjoyment of him in the world above. And the more emphatically to express the divine agency herein, God is pleased to declare, that he will himself be as the dew unto Israel. So the psalmist, speaking as is generally thought of our Lord Jesus Christ, says, He shall come down like the rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth a. Now what I propose is only,

I. To illustrate this subject, by shewing you why these divine influences are compared to the dew; and,

II. To make some practical reflections.

I. Why are the influences of divine grace compared to the dew?

The dew is a mist or thin small kind of rain, which falls upon the earth morning and evening, in a very gentle, gradual, imperceptible manner, and so refreshes the ground, and makes it fruitful. In some countries, especially the eastern, it is a great deal more plentiful than with us, and for several months together, supplies the place of rain. It hath been generally esteemed, therefore, a very great blessing, and is often in scripture so represented. Thus, when Isaac blesses his son Jacob, he says, God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine b. And when Moses blesses the tribe of Joseph, he says, Blessed of the Lord be his lands for the

a Psal. lxxii. 6.

b Gen. xxvii. 28.

precious things of heaven, for the dew a. And on the other hand, the withholding it is mentioned as a curse, Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew upon you b.

Now there are three views in which we may consider the dew as a just and natural emblem of the influences of the Spirit. It is so in regard, first, of its origin; secondly, of the manner in which it falls; and thirdly, of its use.

FIRST, As to its origin. The dew comes down from above: whence it is frequently called The dew of heaven, and the heavens are said to drop down dew c. Indeed, strictly speaking, it is a vapour exhaled from the earth and waters. But as this vapour is carried up into the air, and from thence falls upon the ground, it may very well be described as coming from above, and from the heavens. Nor is it the effect of human art and power, but a wise provision of the God of heaven for watering the earth, and making it fruitful. And hence, among other wonders of his power, which the great God mentions in his discourse with Job, he thus challenges him concerning the rain and the dew, Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of the dew d?

In like manner, the influences of the Spirit are from above, and come down from God. They are the effects, not of human wit or energy, but of divine wisdom, power, and goodness. And they are absolutely at God's disposal, and under his direction and controul. And who shall question this? To deny that there is a secret, invisible, mighty influence, which at some seasons especially quickens the heart of a good man, and animates him to his duty, is in effect to deny all religion. And to ascribe this influence to a man's own will and agency, is not only to contradict the evident testimony of Scripture, but to admit difficulties which are not to be satisfactorily accounted for on any one principle of nature or reason. No man, I think, will dare affirm, that God, who is a Spirit, cannot have access to the spirits which he hath made; or that there is any the least absurdity in supposing, that if he please he can impress the mind with a firm and lively belief of future and invisible things, incline the will to a cheerful compliance with the dictates of his word, soften

a Deut. xxxiii. 13.

c Deut. xxxiii. 28.

b 2 Sam. i. 21.
d Job xxxviii. 28.

the hard heart, and so touch the affections as to make them an effectual spring to action.

And that this is the case, may, I think, with great strength of reason, be inferred from a plain matter of fact, of which we are frequently the witnesses. The means of religion are manifestly adapted to produce the effects which have been mentioned, just as the sowing and cultivating the ground to make it fruitful. But these means are not alike successful with all who enjoy them. Here is one shall have the evidence of the gospel set before him in the most convincing light, and shall be reasoned and expostulated with in the most lively and affecting manner; and yet he shall continue as stupidly ignorant, unbelieving, and perverse as ever. While another, who came under the sound of the word, with perhaps as great, if not greater prejudices and disinclinations than he, shall go away deeply affected with his future and everlasting concerns, and with such impressions of divine truths on his heart, as issue in a saving conversion to God. And so with respect to Christians themselves; how cold and languid are some under the means of grace, while others are sensibly refreshed, quickened, and animated by those means! The like may be observed in regard of that darkness and dejection of mind which the best of men on some occasions endure. Here are two, both equally oppressed with fear and melancholy, and both equally desirous to enjoy the sensible comforts and pleasures of religion. They have both recourse to the same means. The one is happily set at liberty from all his fears, while the other goes away with a sorrowful heart, and remains a considerable time longer in this unhappy and afflicted state. How natural the inference! that the benefit which the former reaps from the means of religion, is owing to the kind and seasonable influences of divine grace which accompany them.

But it is not from fact and experience only, that we are led into this conclusion. It is the universal and prevailing doctrine of the Bible. The Bible itself claims our attention as a supernatural revelation, and therefore takes it for granted, as a truth evident to our reason, that God can have, and that he actually hath access to the hearts of men. Whoever reads the Psalms, and the other devotional writings of the Old Testament, will see that the divine influences were the common privilege of all

good men in the earlier ages of the world, and that it was in this way religion was begun and carried on in their hearts. And my time would fail me, were I to cite the most remarkable passages only, which, relate to the Spirit of God and his influence, in the New Testament. Nor are we in any danger of ascribing that to God, which is the fruit of a weak and depraved imagination, while we are carefully attentive to the tendency and effect of those impressions that are made on our hearts.

The influences then of which we are here speaking, are of divine original. They descend like the dew from the heavens. They are from above, and come down from the Father of lights, and the God of all consolation. Is your heart, Christian, humbled under a sense of sin? Are you refreshed with the hopes and comforts of the gospel? Are you animated to duty and obedience? And are you made patient of affliction and suffering? Does the word preached profit you? so that, on some occasions especially, you are remarkably cheerful and vigorous in your attendance on holy ordinances, and can say with Peter, inflamed with the love of God, and enlivened with his gracious presence, It is good to be here. Are you, in a word, made wiser, happier, and better, by religious duties? It is owing to the grace of God, to these dews that descend from the everlasting hills.

SECONDLY, The dew is a natural and fit emblem of the in-. fluences of the Spirit, in regard of the manner in which it falls upon the earth. This is very remarkable, and doubtless one main reason of the comparison. It descends gradually—imperceptibly-seasonably-and sometimes very plentifully.

1. It is remarkable of the dew that it falls gradually. It comes down, not like the rain in heavy showers, with impetuous violence, carrying every thing before it, but in an easy, soft, and gentle manner. This idea Moses adopts when he says, My speech shall distil as the dew, and as the small rain upon the tender herb a. So, the influences of the Spirit are gradual in their communication, and many times very soft and gentle in their operations on the heart. It is by degrees usually that men are converted from sin to God. And you hardly need be told, that in regard of those who are converted, there are degrees

a Deut. xxxii. 2.