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The scripture teaches this in a variety of ways. represents that believers are God's workmanship; that they are born of God; that he quickens them; that he gives them a new heart, turns them from sin, and makes them obedient and holy. It ascribes to God, as the supreme cause, every particular thing which constitutes the character of Christians. It teaches that he gives them repentance and faith, sheds abroad his love in their hearts, enlightens them to see the excellence and glory of Christ, and works in them both to will and to do.

Thus the effect produced in regeneration is to be attributed to God. The inspired writers no where admit, that the honor of renewing the heart is to be divided between God and man. It is not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man; but of God." Here every thing is excluded from being, in the proper sense, the cause of regeneration, but the power of God. So the apostle teaches, that "neither is he that planteth any thing, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase;" and again, that "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy." Thus carefully do the sacred writers guard against defective views on this point, and thus earnestly do they labor to impress it upon our minds, that the renewal of the heart is, in the highest and fullest sense, effected by the power of God.

This conception of the divine power in regeneration is plain and simple. We look at holiness in man, and ascribe it to God as its cause. The view we take of this new spiritual creation is just as simple and obvious, as of the natural creation. The heavens and the earth, which once did not exist, but which now exist before our eyes, are effects, flowing from the operation of God's power. He created them. They exist in consequence of the act of his will. Here, that which is produced is material, or physical; in the other case, spiritual, or moral-things in their nature altogether different from each other, but equally effects, resulting from the operation of divine power; so that the honor of renewing sinners is due to God, as really and directly, as the honor of creating the world. This is a practical truth, taught clearly in the scriptures, and impressed upon the hearts

of all Christians; and impressed more and more deeply as they advance in the divine life.

The second position to be taken is, that the power of God displayed in regeneration, is great power.

One of the principles on which we are accustomed to judge of the greatness of the power exercised, is the greatness of the effect produced. When we look at a mountain, and contemplate its broad foundation, its lofty height, and its mighty bed of rock; and when we go farther, and turn our thoughts to the wide and fathomless ocean, and to the whole extent of the earth, and then to the vast and numberless bodies in the expanse of the heavens, and consider them all as created and sustained and moved by the power of God; the greatness of that power astonishes and overwhelms us. On the same principle we must regard the event which we are now considering, as manifesting great divine power. To give spiritual life to one who is dead in sin, and to prepare for heaven one who is fitted for destruction, is a work of no ordinary greatness. The apostle Paul, who always spoke the words of truth and soberness, likens the renewal of a sinner to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and represents it as displaying the exceeding greatness of divine power. And if the exercise of divine power is marked with such greatness in the renewal of a single sinner; it is natural to reflect on the increased display of divine power according to the number of those who are renewed. What a work was accomplished, when those who afterwards constituted the Corinthian church, were made new creatures, and instead of the base and abominable passions which they once cherished, were filled with the fruits of the Spirit! And what a work of divine power will be accomplished, when the whole multitude of God's people out of every nation under heaven, shall be saved from their sins, and made holy and happy forever in the kingdom of Christ!

But in estimating the greatness of the power which is exercised, we also take into view the obstacles which are

overcome.

The obstacles which oppose the conversion of sinners, consist chiefly in their corrupt affections and habits; in the entire alienation of their hearts from God, and their

settled enmity against his character and government; in their idolatrous love of the world; in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; in a loftiness of spirit which cannot be humbled, and an obstinacy which cannot be subdued, by any human means. When God speaks to sinners, and invites and solicits them to turn from their sins and become his children; their hearts instantly make resistance. And this resistance is so strong, that the most weighty motives which the Scripture presents before them, cannot overcome it. The efforts made by the wisest and most powerful of created beings, are, in themselves, of no avail. Convictions of conscience, fears of divine wrath, and the strong desires of the soul after happiness, all fail of success. Such is the opposition of the unrenewed heart to truth and holiness, that nothing but omnipotence can subdue it. And this opposition of the heart, which is so strong in itself, is increased and confirmed by the temptations of the world, and the concealed influence of the wicked one. The prince of darkness is enthroned in the hearts of the unsanctified. The power which renews them must therefore overcome that subtle and mighty foe, and all the powers of the world which are in league with him. It must dispossess them of their dominion. It must break the chains by which captives are bound, and give them freedom. The greatness of the power which belongs to the enemy of souls, and the obstinacy of the resistance which he and his allies make to the salvation of men, are learnt from the word of God, and from our own painful experience. Clearly then, the power which overcomes this subtle enemy, and all that he brings to act in alliance with him, must be exceedingly great. Hence the propriety of those scriptures which represent God our Saviour as a mighty warrior, going forth to battle, and by an act of his irresistible power subduing his

enemies.

The third position is, that the power of God by which the renewal of sinners is effected, is special and supernatural.

This seems to be clearly indicated in the passage already referred to, in which the apostle speaks of the divine power in the recovery of sinners to holiness. He

does not liken it to the power of God in the growth of a tree, or in any of the great and marvellous works of nature, as thunder and earthquakes, and the motion of the heavenly bodies. But he likens it to the power which raised Christ from the dead,- -an event in the highest sense supernatural. The same may be signified when the renewal of sinners is likened to the work of creation,— a work which did not result from the laws or powers of nature, but gave existence to nature, and originated all its powers and all its laws. The choice which the in

spired writers made of these two supernatural works, creation and resurrection, to illustrate the renewal of sinners, was doubtless intended to have a peculiar significancy.

But to make the views which are to be taken of the subject perfectly intelligible, it is necessary to give a particular explanation of the terms, special and supernatural,

A thing is frequently called special, if it is uncommon, or beyond what is ordinary. The effect produced by divine power in regeneration, is a heart to love and obey God. It is holiness. But this surely is a very different thing from what is ordinarily found in man. Those who continue in their natural state, are wholly destitute of holiness. And we well know that being born again is not common to men. In this particular sense, it would seem that regeneration will cease to be special, when it takes place ordinarily, as we expect it will in the millennium. But there is another and a very important sense in which regeneration will deserve to be considered as a special work, even when all men come to be the subjects of it. It will be totally different from any thing naturally belonging to them, or which they ever would be the subjects of, without the renewing of the Holy Ghost. And so the exercise of God's power in this work will be special, inasmuch as it will be different from any exercise of his power in the unrenewed. But this sense of special, is nearly allied to the sense of supernatural,the other word by which this exercise of divine power has been designated.

This word, as applied to the present subject, has a sense different from miraculous, which is commonly used to point out preternatural events in the material and in

tellectual world. Supernatural here relates to events in the moral world. Its precise meaning is, above that which is natural. If then we would form a definite conception of what is supernatural, we must first understand what is natural. An event is said to be natural, when it takes place according to the laws of nature, and in consequence of those laws. There is an established, regular mode of operation in the intellectual and moral world, as well as in the physical. A child learns to speak and read by natural means and in a natural manner; in other words, according to the laws of his nature, and in consequence of the mental and bodily constitution which God has given him; and so there is no need of his being regenerated in order to this. The feeling of pity and parental love is natural, as it spontaneously arises in the mind when the proper circumstances occur, in consequence of the constitution which God has given to man; and there is no need of regeneration in order to this. A man's literary acquisitions are natural, as they result from the efforts which he makes in the use of his natural faculties, without any special influence from above. There are also various changes in the habits and characters of men, which take place in a manner perfectly natural, such as a change from intemperance to temperance, or from indolence to industry. In a word; whatever results from causes naturally operating in man, or from any principle, faculty, or disposition naturally belonging to man, is to be considered as natural; and in regard to any thing of this kind, there is evidently no need of regeneration.

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If it be asked, whether effects produced thus naturally, are dependent on God; I answer; yes, entirely so. him, and through him, and to him are all things." The agency of God is universal, both in the material and spiritual world. But in regard to natural events, the power of God operates according to the uniform laws of nature, and shows itself merely in those laws. Indeed the laws of nature are to be regarded as the established methods of the divine agency. So that God's having an agency in the events which commonly take place, is perfectly consistent with those events being natural. When God causes the sun to rise, and the corn to grow; when he causes the faculties of men to increase in strength; when