The regeneration, and growth in holiness, of every Christian, are to be primarily attributed to the operation of the Holy Spirit. Without this, nothing can be done or attained, to any important purpose, in religion. Your candid attention is requested to a few hints respecting the means connected with the enjoyment of that blessed influence. The numerous cautions, warnings and advices, with which the mention of this subject is joined in the scriptures, are sufficient to show that the doctrine of which it treats is a practical doctrine, not designed to supersede the use of means, or the exercise of our rational powers, but rather, to stimulate us to exertion, and teach us how to exert them aright. If ye live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption.
The Spirit, we must remember, is a most free agent, and though he does not utterly forsake his work, he may be expected to withdraw himself, in a great measure, on being slighted, neglected, or opposed; and as our comfort and holiness depend entirely on him, it is important for us to know what deportment is calculated to invite, and what to repel, his presence.
1. If we wish for much of the presence of God by his Spirit, we should learn to set a high value upon it. The Lord seems to regulate his conduct by a rule, that of bestowing his richest favors where he knows they are most coveted, and will be most prized. The principle whence divine communications flow, is free, unmerited benignity; but ini the mode of dispensing its fruits, it is worthy of the supreme Ruler to consult his own majesty, by withholding a copious supply, till he has excited in the heart a profound estimate of his gifts.
Now words are adequate to express the excellence and dignity of the gift of the Divine Spirit. While Solomon was dedicating the temple his great soul appears to have been put into a rapture at the very idea, that he whom the heaven of heavens could not contain, should deign to dwell with man upon the earth. How much more should each of us be transported, when he finds the idea realized, by his own heart having become the seat of the divine presence. There are two considerations drawn from Scripture, which assist us in forming a conception of the magnitude of this blessing.
The first is, that it is the great promise of the Christian dispensation, and stands in nearly the same relation to us, that the coming Messiah did to pious Jews. The waited for the consolation of Israel in the birth of Christ; and now that the event is past, we are waiting, in a similar manner, for the promise of the Spirit, of which the church has hitherto enjoyed but the first fruits. To this, the Saviour after his resurrection pointed the expectation of his apostles, as emphatically the promise of the Father which they were to receive at the distance of a few days; and when it was accomplished at the Day of Pentecost, we find Peter insisting on it as the most illustrious proof of his ascension, as well as the chief fruit that converts were to reap from their repentance and baptism. Repent and be baptized, he said, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: for the promise (that is, the promise of the Spirit) is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. The apostle Paul places it in a similar light, when he tells us, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles: and in what that blessing consists, he informs us, by adding, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. On this account probably, he is styled the Spirit of Promise, that is, the Spirit so often promised; in the communication of whom the promises of God so centre, that it may be considered as the sum and substance of all the promises.
Another consideration, which evinces the supreme importance of the gift, is, that, in the esteem of our Lord, it was more than a compensation to his disciples for the loss of his bodily presence; so much superior to it, that he tells them, it was expedient that he should leave them, in order to make way for it: If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. Great as the advantages were, which they derived from his society, yet they remained in a state of minority; their views were contracted, their hearts full of earthly adhesions, and a degree of carnality and prejudice attended them, which it was the office of the Spirit only to remove. From his moe ample and effectual teaching, a great increase in knowledge was to accrue, to qualify them for their work in bearing witness to Christ, and a powerful energy to go forth, which was to render their ministry, though in themselves so much inferior, far more successful than the personal ministry of our Lord. In consequence of his agency, the apostles were to become enlightened and intrepid, and the world convinced. I have many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of truth is come, he will lead you into all truth. He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Accordingly, after his decent, we find the apostles wonderfully transformed; an unction, a fervour, a boldness, marked their character, which they had hitherto been strangers; and such conviction attended their preaching, that in a short time a great part of the world yielded to the weapons of their holy warfare. Nor is there any pretense for alleging that this communication was continued to miraculous gifts, since it is asserted to be that Spirit which would abide in them forever, and by which the church should be distinguished from the world. He is styled, The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but it is added, Ye know him, for he dwelleth in you and shall be in you.
As we are indebted to the Spirit for the first formation of the divine life, so it is he alone who can maintain it, and render it strong and vigorous. It is his office to actuate the habits of grace where they are already planted; to hold our souls in life, and to strengthen us that we may walk up and down in the name of the Lord. It is his office to present the mysteries of salvation, the truths which relate to the mediation of Christ, and the riches of his grace, in so penetrating and transforming a manner, as to render them vital, operating principles, the food and the solace of our spirits. Without his agency, however intrinsically excellent, they will be to us mere dead speculation, an inert mass; it is only when they are animated by his breath, that they become spirit and life.
It is his office to afford that anointing by which we may know all things by a light which is not merely directive to the understanding, but which so shines upon the heart, as to give a relish of the sweetness of divine truth, and effectually produce a compliance with its dictates. It belongs to him "to seal us to the day of redemption," to put that mark and character upon us which distinguishes the children of God, as well as to affirm a foretaste and an earnest of the future inheritance. "And hereby," saith an apostle, "we know that we are of God, by the Spirit which he hath given us." It is his office to subdue the corruption of our nature, not by leaving us inactive spectators of the combat, but by engaging us to a determined resistance to every sinful propensity, by teaching our hands to war, and our fingers to fight, so that the victory shall be ours, and the praise his. To help the infirmities of saints, who know not what to pray for as they ought, by making intercession for them "with groanings which cannot be uttered," is an important branch of his office. He kindles their desires, gives them a glimpse of the fullness of God, that all-comprehending good; and by exciting a relish of the beauties of holiness, and the ineffable pleasure which springs from nearness to God, disposes them to the fervent and effectual prayer, which availeth much. In short, as Christ is the way to the Father, so it is equally certain, that the Spirit is the fountain of all the light and strength which enable us to walk in that way. Lest it should be suspected that in ascribing so much to the agency of the Spirit, we diminish the obligations we owe to the Redeemer, it may not be improper to remark, that the tendency of what, we have advanced, rightly understood, will be just the contrary; since the Scriptures constantly remind us, that the gift of the Holy Ghost is the fruit of his mediation, and the result of his death. It is his interposing as "Emmanual, God with us," to repair the breach betwixt man and God, that prevailed upon the Father to communicate the Spirit to such as believe on him, and to entrust the whole agency of it to his hands. As the reward of his sufferings, he ascended on high, and received gifts for men; of which the right of bestowing the Spirit is the principal, that the Lord God might dwell among them. The donation, in every instance, through the successive periods of the church, looks back to the death of the Redeemer, as the root and principle whence it takes it rise, and consequently is calculated to enlarge our conceptions of his office and character, as the copiousness of the streams evinces the exuberance of the fountain. To him the Spirit was first given above measure; in him it resides as an inexhaustible spring to be imparted in the dispensation of his Gospel to every member of his mystical body, in pursuance of the purpose of his grace and the ends of his death. It is his Spirit, hence we read of "the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ;" not only by reason of the essential union which subsists between the persons of the Godhead, but because the right of bestowing it was ascertained to him in the covenant of redemption.
2. If we would wish to enjoy much of the light and influence of the Spirit, we must seek it by fervent prayer. There are peculiar encouragements held out in the word of God to this purpose. "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." To illustrate the readiness of our heavenly Father to bestow this blessing, our Lord borrows a comparison from the instinct of parental affection, which prompts a parent to give with alacrity goof things to his children. He will not merely supply their wants, which benevolence might prompt him to do with respect to a stranger; but he will do it with feelings peculiar to the parental relation, and will experience as much pleasure in conferring, as the child in receiving, his favours. It is thus with our heavenly Father: He delights in exercising kindness to his children, and especially in promoting their spiritual warfare. He gives not merely with the liberality of a prince, but with the heart of a father. It is worth remarking, that in relating the preceding discourse, while one evangelist makes express mention of the Spirit, another speaks only of good things, intimating that the communications of the Spirit comprehend whatever is good. Other things may, or may not, be ultimately beneficial: they are either of a doubtful nature in themselves, or are rendered so by the propensity our corruption gives us to abuse them. But the influence of the Spirit, but its efficacy in subduing that corruption, must be invariably beneficial: it is such an immediate emanation from God, the fountain of blessedness, that it can never fail of being intrinsically, essentially, and eternally good. It is also deserving our attention, that the injunction of seeking it by prayer is prefaced by a parable constructed on purpose to teach us the propriety of urging our suit with importunity. In imploring other gifts, (which we are at liberty to do with submission,) it is still a great point of duty to moderate our desires, and to be prepared for a disappointment, because, as we have already remarked, it is possible that the things we are seeking, may conduce neither to the glory of God not to our ultimate benefit; for who knoweth what is good for men, all the days of his vain life? But when we present our requests for a larger measure of his grace, we labour under no such uncertainty, we may safely let forth all the ardour and vehemence of our spirits, since our desires are fixed upon what is the very knot and juncture, where the honour of God and the interests of his creatures and indissolubly united. Desires after grace are, in fact, desires after God; and how is it possible for them to be too vehement or intense, when directed to such an object? His gracious presence is not, like the limited goods of this life, fitted to a particular crisis, or adapted to a special exigency, in a fluctuating scene of things; it is equally suited to all times and seasons, the food of souls, the proper good of man, under every aspect of Providence, and every change of worlds. My soul, said David, Panteth after God, yea, for the living God. My soul followeth hard after thee; thy right hand upholdeth me. The most eminent effusions of the Spirit we read of in Scripture, were not only afforded to prayer, but appear to have taken place at the very time that exercise was performed. The descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, was while the disciples were with one accord in one place; and after the imprisonment of Peter and John, who, being dismissed, went to their own company, While they prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken with a mighty wind and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. When a new heart and a new Spirit are promised in Ezekiel, it is added, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.
3. Habitual dependence on divine influence is an important duty. This may be considered as opposed to two things; first, to depending on ourselves, to the neglect of divine agency; next, to despondency and distrust.
When the Holy Spirit has condescended to take the conduct of souls, it is unquestionably great presumption to enter upon duty in the same manner as if no such assistance were needed, or to be expected; and the result will be as with Samson, who said, I will go forth and shake myself, as in times past; and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. It is one ting to acknowledge a dependence on heavenly influence in speculation, and another thing so to realize and feel it, as to say from the heart, I will go in the strength of the Lord God. A mere assent to the proposition, that the Spirit must concur in the production of every great work, (as assent not easily withheld without rejecting the Scriptures,) falls very short of the practical homage due from feeble worms to so great an Agent; and a most solemn and explicit acknowledgement of entire dependence, may reasonably be expected. When you engage in prayer, or in any other duty, endeavour to enter upon it with a serious and deliberate recollection of your need of the Spirit. Let the consciousness of your weakness and insufficiency for every good work, be a sentiment familiar to your minds, and deeply impressed on your hearts.
But while we recommend this, there is another extreme against which we think it is our duty to guard you, and that is, a disposition to despondency and distrust. We are most ready to acknowledge that the assistance you need is free and gratuitous, neither given to our deservings, nor flowing from any connexion subsisting betwixt our endeavours and the exertion of divine agency. The Spirit of God is a free Spirit; and it is impossible to conceive how either faith or prayer should have an intrinsic efficacy in drawing down influence from heaven. There is, however, a connexion established by divine vouchsafement, which entitles believers to expect, in the use of means, such measures of gracious assistance, as are requisite to sustain and support them in their religious course. The Spirit is spoken of as the matter of promise to which every Christian is encouraged to look: The promise is for you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even to as many as the Lord our God shall call. Agreeably to this, it is represented as the express purpose of Christ s becoming a curse for us, that the promise of the Spirit might come on the Gentiles by faith. The same expectation is justified by the Saviour s own declaration, when on the last and great day of the feast he stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, for he that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water: this, says the Evangelist, he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.
The readiness of the Holy Spirit, to communicate himself to true believers, is also evinced by the tenor of evangelical precepts: Be ye strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Gto command a person to be strong, seems strange and unusual language, but it is sufficiently explained when we reflect, that a portion of spiritual power is ready to be communicated to those who duly seek it. Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit, which is the exhortation of the same apostle, takes it for granted that a copius supply is at hand, sufficient to satisfy the desires of the saints. We are at a loss to account for such precepts, without supposing an established connexion betwixt the condition of believers and the further communication of divine influence. To the same purport, Paul speaks with apostolic authority, This, I say, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh; and Jude inculcates the duty of praying in the holy Ghost, which would be strange is no assistance were to be obtained; and as prayer is a duty of daily occurrence, the injunction implies that it is ready to be imparted to Christians, not by fits and starts, or at distant intervals, but in a slated, regular course.
For this reason, when we hear Christians complaining of the habitual withdrawment of the divine presence, we are under the necessity of ascribing it to their own fault: not that we mean to deny there is much of sovereignty in this affair, or that the Spirit, like the wind, bloweth were it listeth. But it should be remembered, we are now adverting to the situation of real believers, who are entitled to the promise; and though it is probable that there is much of soveignty exercised even with respect to them, we apprehend it rather concerns those influences which are consolatory, than such as are sanctifying; for, though there is a degree of sanctification intermingled with every exercise of genuine piety, yet it is manifest that some influences of the Spirit tend more immediately to comfort, others to purification. By some we are engaged in the fixed contemplation of objects which exist outside of ourselves, the perfections of God, the excellency of Christ, the admirable constitution of the Gospel, accompanied with a delightful conviction of a personal interest in whatever comes under our view; the natural food of which is joy unspeakable and full of glory. By others we are more immediately impressed with a lasting sense of our extreme unworthiness, and made to mourn over remaining corruption, and the criminal defects inherent in our best services.
In the midst of such exercise, it is possible that hope may languish, and comfort be reduced to a low ebb, yet the divine life may still be advancing, and the soul goring in humility, deadness to the world, and the mortification of her own will, as the sap during winter retires to the root of the plant, ready to ascend and produce verdure and beauty on the return of spring. This is the will of God, even our sanctification; and though he delights in comforting his people at proper seasons, he is much less intent on this, than on promoting their spiritual improvement, to which, in their state of discipline, everything is made subservient. Let us not then confound the decay of consolation with the decay of piety, nor imagine we can want the aids necessary to prevent the latter, unless we have forfeited them by presumption, negligence, and sloth. Whenever Christians sensibly decline in religion, they ought to charge themselves with the guilt of having grieved the Spirit; they should take the alarm, repent, and do their first works; they are suffering under the rebukes of paternal justice which God exercises in his own family. Such a measure of gracious assistance in the use of means, as is requisite for the comfortable walk with God, being by the tenor of the new covenant ascertained to real Christians, to find it withheld, should engage them in deep searchings of heart, and make them fear lest, a promise being left them of entering into rest, they should appear to have come short of it. But this leads us to observe, in the last place, that.
4. If we wish to enjoy the light of the Spirit, we must take care to maintain a deportment suited to the character of that Divine Agent. When the apostle exhorts us not to grieve the Spirit of God, by which we are sealed to the day of redemption, it is forcibly implied, that he is susceptible of offence, and that to offend him involves heinous ingratitude and folly: ingratitude for what a requital is this for being sealed to the day of redemption! And folly inasmuch as we may fitly say on this, as Paul did on a different occasion, Who is he that maketh us glad, but the same that is made sorry by us? Have we any other comforter when he is withdrawn? Can a single ray of light visit us in his absence, or can be safe for a moment without his guidance and support? If the immense and infinite Spirit, by a mysterious condescension, deigns to undertake the conduct of a worm, ought it not to yield the most implicit submission? The appropriate duty owing to a faithful and experienced guide, is a ready compliance with his dictates; and how much more may this be expected, when the disparity betwixt the parties in question is no less than infinite. The language of the Holy Spirit, in describing the conduct of the ancient Israelites, is awfully monitory to professors in every age, They rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and fought against them. As we wish to avoid whatever is more curious than useful, we shall not stay to inquire precisely on what occasions, or to what extent, the Spirit is capable of being resisted: it may be sufficient to observe, it is evident from melancholy experience, that it is very possible to neglect what is the obvious tendency of his motions, which is invariably to produce universal holiness. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, temperance, faith. Whatever is contrary to these, involves and opposition to the Spirit, and is directly calculated to quench his sacred influence.
From his descending on Christ in the form of a dove, as well as from many express declarations of Scripture, we may with certainty conclude the indulgence of all the irascible and malignant passions to be peculiarly repugnant to his nature; and it is remarkable, that the injunction of not grieving the Holy Spirit is immediately followed by a particular caution against cherishing such dispositions: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ s sake hath forgiven you. Have you not found by experience, that the indulgence of the former has destroyed that self-recollection and composure, which as so essential to devotion? Vindictive passions surround the soul with a sort of turbulent atmosphere, than which nothing can be conceived more opposite to that calm and holy light in which the blessed Spirit loves to dwell. The indulgence of sensual lusts, or whatever enslaves the soul to the appetites of the body in violation of the rules of sobriety and chastity, it seems almost unnecessary to add, must have a direct tendency quench his sacred influences; wherever such desires prevail, they war against the soul, immerse it in carnality, and utterly indispose it to everything spiritual and heavenly. That which is born of the Spirit, is spirit; it bears a resemblance to its Author, in being a spiritual production, which requires to be nourished by divine meditation, by pure and holy thoughts.
If you wish to live in the fellowship of the Spirit, you must guard with no less care against the encroachments of worldly-mindedness, recollecting we are Christians just as far as our treasure and our hearts are planted in heaven, and no further. A heart overcharged with the cares of this world, is as much disqualified for converse with God, and for walking in the Spirit, as it would be by surfeiting and drunkenness; to which, by their tendency to intoxicate and stupefy, they bear a great resemblance.
How many, by an immoderate attachment to wealth, and by being determined at all events to become rich, have fallen into divers foolish and hurtful lusts, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows! and where the result has not been signally disastrous, a visible languor in religion has ensued, the friendship of serious Christians has been shunned, and the pubic ordinances of religion attended with little fruit or advantage. As it is the design of the Spirit in his sacred visitations to form us for an habitual converse with spiritual and eternal objects, nothing can tend more directly to counteract it, than to bury our souls in earth; it is as impossible for the eye of the mind as for that of the body to look opposite ways at once; nor can we aim supremely at the things which are seen and temporal, but by losing sight of those which are unseen and eternal.
But though a general attention to the duties of piety and virtue, and a careful avoidance of the sins opposed to these, are certainly included in a becoming deportment to the Holy Spirit, perhaps it is not all that is included. The children of God are characterized in Scripture by their being led by the Spirit: evidently not impelled, nor driven forward in a headlong course, without choice or design; but, being, by the constitution of the nature, rational and intelligent, and by the influence of grace rendered spiritual, they are disposed to obey at a touch, and to comply with the gentler insinuations of divine grace; they are ready to take that precise impression which corresponds with the mind and purpose of the Spirit. You are aware of what consequence it is in worldly concerns to embrace opportunities, and to improve critical seasons; and thus, in the things of the Spirit, there are times peculiarly favorable, moments of happy visitation, where much more may be done towards the advancement of our spiritual interest than usual. There are gales of the Spirit, unexpected influences of light and power, which no assiduity in the means of grace can command, but which it is a great point of wisdom to improve. If the husbandman is attentive to the vicissitudes of weather, and the face of the sky, that he may be prepared to take the full benefit of every gleam of sunshine, and every falling shower, how much more alert and attentive should we be in watching for those influences from above, which are necessary to ripen and mature a far more precious crop! As the natural consequence of being long under the guidance of another, is a quick perception of his meaning, so that we can meet his wishes before they are verbally expressed; something of this ready discernment, accompanied with instant compliance, may reasonably be expected from those who profess to be habitually led by the Spirit. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. Psalm XXV. 14.
The design of his operation is in one view invariably the same the production of holiness; but the branches of which that consists, and the exercises of mind which are rendered subservient to it, are various; and he who is intent on walking in the Spirit, will be careful to fall in with that train of thought, and cherish that cast of reflection, to which he is especially invited. For want of more docility in this respect, it is probable, we have often sustained loss. Permit us here to suggest two or three heads of inquiry. You have sometimes felt a peculiar seriousness of mind, the delusive glare of worldly objects has faded away, or become dim before your eyes, and death and eternity, appearing at the door, have filled the whole field of vision. Have you improved such seasons for fixing those maxims, and establishing those practical conclusions, which may produce an habitual sobriety of mind, when tings appear under a different aspect? You have sometimes found, instead of reluctance to pray, a powerful impulse to that exercise, so that you felt as if you could do nothing else. Have you always complied with these motions, and suffered nothing but the claims of absolute necessity to divert you from pouring out your hearts at a throne of grace? The Spirit is said to make intercession for saints, with groanings which cannot be uttered. When you have felt those ineffable longings after God, have you indulged them to the utmost? Have you spread every sail, launched forth into the deep of the divine perfections and promises, and possessed yourselves, as much as possible, of the fullness of God? There are moments when the conscience of a good man is more tender, has a nicer and more discriminating touch, than usual; the evil of sin in general, and of his own in particular, appears in a more clear and piercing light. Have you availed yourselves of such seasons as these for searching into the chambers of imagery, and while you detected greater and greater abominations, been at pains to bring them out and slay them before the Lord? Have such visitations effected something towards the mortification of sin? Or have they been suffered to expire in mere ineffectual resolutions? The fruits which godly sorrow produced in the Corinthians are thus beautifully portrayed: What carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what revenge! There are moments in the experience of a good man, when he feels a more ordinary softness of mind; the frost of selfishness dissolves, and his heart flows forth in love to God and his fellow-creatures. How careful should we be to cherish such a frame, and to embrace the opportunity of subduing resentments, and of healing those scars and wounds which it is scarcely possible to avoid in passing through this unquiet world.
There is a holy skill in turning the several parts of Christian experience to account, analogous to what the votaries of the world display in the improvement of every juncture from which it is possible to derive emolument; and though the end they propose is mean and contemptible, the steadiness with which they pursue it, and their dexterity in their choice of means, deserve imitation. In these respects they are wiser in their generation than the children of light.
Do not allow yourselves to indulge in religious sloth, or to give way to the solicitations of the tempter, from a confidence in the safety of your state or in your spiritual immunities as Christians The habitual prevalence of such as disposition will afford a much stronger proof of insincerity than any arguments which can be adduced for the contrary; and admitting your pretensions to piety to be ever so valid, a little reflection may convince you, that a careless and negligent course will lay you open to the severest rebukes. you only have I known, says the Lord by the prophet, of all the families of the earth; therefore will I punish you for all your iniquities.
Remember, dear brethren, we profess a peculiar relation to God as his children, his witnesses, his people, his temple; the character of that glorious Being, and of his religion, will be contemplated by the world, chiefly through the medium of our spirit and conduct, which ought to display, as in a mirror, the virtues of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. It is strictly appropriate to the subject of our present meditations to remind you that you are temples. For ye, says the apostle, are the temples of the living God, as god hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. What purity, sanctity, and dignity, may be expected in such persons who bear such a character! A Christian should look upon himself as something sacred and devoted, so that what involves but an ordinary degree of criminality in others, in him partakes of nature of sacrilege; what is a breach of trust in others, in him the profanation of his temple. Let us, dear brethren, watch and pray , that nothing may be allowed a place in our hearts, that is not suitable to the residence of the holy and blessed God. Finally, having such great and precious promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.
Having thus endeavoured to lay before you the most likely methods of obtaining the communications of the Spirit, as well as to show the great importance of this gift, we might now dismiss the subject, were we not desirous of first guarding you against a dangerous mistake. The mistake, to which we refer, is that of taking conviction for conversion, certain impressions of the guilt and danger of sin made upon the conscience, for the saving operations of the Spirit. These convictions are important: it is highly desirable and necessary to have a settled persuasion. Of the extablished connexion betwixt sin and punishment, and, as a natural consequence, to feel uneasiness and alarm, in proportion as we have reason to believe our sins are yet unpardoned. Until we see ourselves lost, we shall never truly come to Christ for salvation. Until we feel our malady, and dread its consequences, we shall never have recourse to the Physician, or be willing to comply with his prescription. We adjure you, therefore, as you value your eternal interests, not to trifle with convictions, or to endeavour to wear off religious concerns or uneasiness by the vanities of life and the stupefactions of pleasure. Regard and cherish them as the sacred visitations of Heaven; look upon them as mercifully designed to arouse and awaken you from a fatal stupor. They are often the harbingers of mercy. Wherever the Spirit of God is in reality, he will convince of sin; but conviction is produced in thousands who still remain destitute of saving grace. That influence of the Spirit by which a change of heart of effected, is essentially different from that distress and alarm which may be resolved into the exercise of mere natural conscience. For a man to be convinced that he is a sinner, and to tremble at the apprehension of the wrath to come, is certainly something very distinct from becoming a new creature. Real Christians have not only perceived their danger, but have fled for refuge; have not only been less or more troubled with a sense of guilt, but, in consequence of coming to Christ, have found rest fore the souls. On a review of your past life, you perceive innumerable transgressions, it may be, and are perfectly convinced that you have been walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. So far it is well; your apprehensions are just and well founded, and your situation more replete with danger than you have ever conceived it to be. Do not, however, rest here. Let the views you entertain excite you the more earnestly to press into the kingdom of God. Let them engage you to the more diligent use of the means of grace; and, above all, let them lead you to fix their hope and trust on the Redeemer, whose blood alone can cleanse you from sin, and whose intercession is able to save, to the uttermost, all that come to God by him. Apply to him with humble faith and ardent prayer, and though you may be tempted to cherish doubts of the extent of his power and grace, say with him of old, Lord. I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Lay aside, as far as possible, every other concern; postpone your attention to every other object, till you have reason to believe you have obtained mercy, and renewed in the Spirit of your mind. Address the throne of grace with unceasing importunity, remembering who hath said, Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and ye shall find . Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. In all your addresses to God make use of the name and intercession of Christ, plead the efficacy of his blood, and the encouragement he hath offered sinners, in his Gospel, to return to God. Keep a continual watch over your words, thoughts and actions: keep your heart with all diligence. Guard with the utmost care against levity and sloth, two most dangerous snares to the souls of men.
If you ask how you may know whether you are a partaker of the special grace of God; we reply,, This will be best entertained by its fruits. When you feel a fixed hatred of sin, and intense thirst after and perfection, and a delight in the word and ways of God; when you are habitually disposed to dwell on the thoughts of Christ and heaven; when the Saviour appears unspeakably precious, as the Pearl of great price, and you are habitually ready to part with everything for his sake, you may be certain that you are born of God. These are the fruits of the Spirit, which sufficiently demonstrate the influence and Presence of that blessed Agent. Till you have experienced effects of this kind, you are in a wretched state, though surrounded with all the brightest earthly prospects, because you are estranged from God, and exposed to his eternal wrath and displeasure.