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"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." O that, while I am speaking, the Spirit, the blessed Author of the glorious change, who goeth where He listeth, and quickeneth whom He will, would quicken some souls among us, and by his powerful energies would call forth into life some hearts, hitherto lying dead in trespasses and sins! One of the first fruits and marks of such a work would be a secret conviction of the truth, and the reality of this change of which we speak; a conviction producing an inward desire to partake of it. My brethren, have any of you this conviction? Do you find this desire in you? Welcome, O welcome, the beginnings of grace in your soul. Quench not the sacred light. It may be the dawn of that day which will never end: the forerunner of that sun which will never go down. Strive to impress and increase this conviction on your heart. Turn your desire into prayer. Pray that you may be born again," that you may experience in your own soul the power of renewing grace; that you may know what it is to have the heart quickened, enlightened, regenerated by the Spirit of God. Persevere in such prayers. Doubt not of their being heard and answered. Ask all in the name of Jesus Christ; and rely upon that most comfortable promise, "God will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him."

SERMON III.

ADOPTION THE FRUIT OF FAITH AND
REGENERATION.

JOHN, i. 12, 13.

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name: which were born, not of Blood, nor of the Will of the flesh, nor of the Will of man, but of God.

Ir is the great and peculiar privilege of true Christians that they "have received the adoption of sons," have been taken "into the household of God," and "have a name and a place in his family." Being made members of Christ, they are become the children of God. It is this privilege, of which St. John speaks in the text. He tells us of some, who had " power to become the Sons of God:" and he tells us also whence they had obtained this power; by what means they were become the Sons of

God. On this point indeed he enters very fully into particulars. So that in discoursing on this passage, I shall naturally be led to enlarge on the previous Causes, by which our adoption into the family of God under the Christian covenant is brought about and accomplished.

In speaking indeed of the Causes by which our adoption is accomplished, it must ever be remembered that this privilege, like every other blessing of redemption, springs solely from the spontaneous mercy and the rich loving-kindness of the Lord. Admission into his family is exclusively the work and the gift of God. His grace is the first moving Cause of our adoption: and if we receive this adoption, it is solely because He freely bestows it on us. Such is the view exhibited in the text. Those who had the power to become the Sons of God are described as having received this power from Him. It is expressly said, that He gave it to them." Once children of wrath, are they now children of grace? Once children of darkness, are they now children of light? Once children of disobedience, the slaves of sin and Satan, are they now the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty? Whence did they obtain this privilege? How was this glorious change in their state effected? Did they merit or purchase it for themselves? Did they pro

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cure it by their own wisdom, power, or goodness? No. God, "who is rich in mercy, of his great love wherewith He loved them, quickened them when dead in trespasses and sins;" "justified them freely by his grace;" and thus "translated them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son." But God in thus fulfilling the purposes of his love works by means. He ordains instruments for the accomplishing of his ends. He employs means for bringing sinners into his family. And these instruments, these means, which He has thus ordained and employs, may be considered as secondary and subservient Causes in effecting the great work of our adoption. Such are the Causes, on which I purpose to enlarge; and which the text describes as two :

I. The one immediate, which is Faith: "as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

II. The other remote, which is Regeneration: "who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of men, but of God."

My brethren, may the Spirit of God be with us in our meditations on this important and interesting subject!

I. In considering Faith, as the immediate

Cause of our adoption into the family of God, we may advert, first,

To the particular Act or exercise of Faith, here meant ; and, secondly,

To the Way in which it tends to produce the effect ascribed to it.

First, Faith, in order to be of any avail in the work of our redemption, must be placed in the heart. This alone can be a saving faith: and this alone is the faith, of which we here speak not an historical, not a doctrinal, not a notional belief: but a living, a vital faith in the heart; for "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." The object of faith is the word of God. Faith generally has respect to every thing which God has either revealed or promised. But the particular act of faith, to which our present attention is directed, has respect to Jesus Christ. He exclusively is the object of that faith, by which we receive the adoption of sons. "For we are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ."*- And St. John tells us in the text, that the persons to whom Christ " gives power to become the Sons of God, are those who believe on his Name." Now the Name of Christ signifies Christ himself; or rather Christ in the discharge of those offices, which on our account He has assumed for His Names are descrip

*Gal. iii. 26.

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