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and our living to righteousness, that will make us live for ever and ever. For the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men no otherwise, than by teaching them that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, they should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

c Titus ii. 11-14.

d Jude 24, 25.

SERMON VI.

JOHN iii. 8.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

THE doctrine which is taught by our Saviour in this chapter seems to be as great a paradox to some people in our days, as it was to Nicodemus in his own. When they hear any mention made of the operations of the Holy Spirit, and the assistances of divine grace, they are apt to ask, with that master of Israel, How can these things be? How is this consistent with human liberty and moral virtue? Is not this reducing religion into a kind of charm, which operates in a manner for which we cannot account; and converting men into machines, which do not act themselves, but are only acted upon by the arbitrary force of a superior being? If our Saviour were now alive, and had to do with such persons as these, he would probably endeavour to abate their wonder, and increase their faith, in the words immediately before the text; Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again; there is an absolute necessity for something more than what is conveyed by a natural generation, in order to renew and restore your nature: for that which is born of the flesh is flesh, seeks and minds only the things of the flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit

is spirit; is a principle of a higher life, and leads men to mind the things of the Spirit. And though there may be something intricate and mysterious in the operation by which this new birth is effected, yet that is no reasonable objection to the truth of it, which is sufficiently plain from its fruits and effects. Just as in the case of the wind; which, however abstruse the philosophy thereof may be, as to its origin, nature, and direction, is yet plainly proved to be a very real and a very powerful thing, by the sound, and other sensible effects which usually attend it the wind bloweth where it listeth, &c.

It seems evident, from this short illustration of our Saviour's reasoning, that this first baptismal regeneration is wrought in us by the influence of the blessed Spirit. He then plants in our nature a seed of life, which, if carefully cultivated afterwards, will spring up unto righteousness and immortality. But whether this seed is constantly cherished by the same heavenly influence, or whether our nature, thus renewed, is itself sufficient, by its own powers, to bring it to perfection, is still a question; for the resolution whereof we must seek in other scriptures. Men have run into great extremes on this head. The Pelagians of old are said to have magnified, above measure, and beyond truth, the freedom of human will, and the integrity of human nature; and by consequence, at least, to have denied the doctrine of divine grace. And this seems to be too much the temper of some writers of our own times. On the other hand, the Calvinists, and perhaps some others, are charged with giving too disadvantageous an idea of our nature and condition; and in order, as they thought, to do honour to the grace of

God, to have represented it as being given in such an irresistible degree (whenever it is given to any effectual purpose) as to destroy both liberty and virtue. It would be a tedious, and perhaps an useless employment, to pretend to unravel the perplexities of these different schemes; and therefore, without concerning myself with the endless objections of either, I shall endeavour to establish the general doctrine, in a manner, to which, I hope, no reasonable exception can be made. In order to this, I shall,

First, Propose the doctrine itself:

Secondly, Shew its foundation in the word of God:

Thirdly, Mention the limitations and restrictions under which it ought to be admitted:

Fourthly, Obviate the ill uses which may be made of it; and,

Fifthly, Specify the good ends which it naturally promotes.

I. The doctrine is this; That the Holy Ghost, by a secret operation on men's minds, disposes them to the love, and assists them in the practice of virtue. This influence is commonly called grace: which term, though it may have various acceptations in scripture, and particularly sometimes stand for the virtues themselves, (as when we speak of the graces of the Christian life,) in which sense it is itself an effect; yet, in the argument which we are now upon, it must be considered as a cause; as something which, in its proportion, produces those effects of righteousness, and holiness, and every virtue, which are therefore called fruits of the Spirit".

a Gal. v. 22.

The necessity of this gracious influence, or, as our church scruples not to call it, this "inspiration of "the Holy Spirit b," arises from the weakness and corruption of our nature; from the number, variety, and power of temptations of the world, the flesh, and the Devil, compared with the nature of religion, and the difficulties which attend the practice of our duty. From a view of these things together, men have often thought that they needed some assistance; and Christians in particular have persuaded themselves, that they are taught to expect it from and by the operations of the Holy Spirit, whose distinct peculiar office, as they apprehend, is to "sanctify all the elect people of God." This is a brief account of the doctrine which has been usually taught in the Christian church; but which some writers of great note (as was before intimated) have treated with a great degree of reservedness. If it can be defended, it ought; if not, let it be given up.

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II. The foundation which this doctrine has in the word of God will appear, either from direct assertions of it, or from express promises of assistance, or from directions given concerning it. If the word of God affords us instances in any one of those ways, and much more if it supplies us with instances of them all, they who believe this word of God must consequently receive this doctrine of it as true and useful. Our Saviour directly asserts in the context, that except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Here therefore the new birth, which is the first step in the new life, and without which no man can become a new

b Communion Service.

c Church Catechism.

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