gave gifts unto men.' Having reached his throne, the Spirit came down as he had promised; came like a rushing mighty wind, filling the whole house where the disciples were assembled, filling each heart, filling the whole church; came with a copiousness and a power as if his influences had for ages been pent up and under restraint, and now rejoic. ed at being able to pour themselves out over the church and the world. And what was the immediate effect of that event? thousands were instantly converted; the sword of the Spirit seemed newly edged with power, and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, flashing conviction on human consciences, and piercing to the recesses of the soul. The gospel went flying abroad to the utmost ends of the earth, levying human hearts in the name of Christ wherever it came. The influences of the Spirit poured over the world like an inundation, a new deluge, overturning the altars and sweeping away the vestages of idolatry; and, had the vital flood continued to roll on, the only altar left standing would have been that which sanctifieth the gift and the giver-the altar of the cross. New teritories were added to the domains of the church; vast tracts of the moral wilderness were taken into the garden of the Lord. The church beheld her converts flocking to her from all directions, like clouds of doves to their windows: and among the wonders of that period, one was, to see her enemies lick the dust; to see her bitterest persecutors become her champions and her martyrs; to see leopards become lambs, and wolves become kids.

The chuch became one region of life, of divine vitality throughout; in which whosoever breathed, lived-enjoyed life in perfection. From a state of unsightly barrenness and drought, it was suddenly covered with verdure, like the garden of the Lord. Believers themselves seemed reconverted; if sinners became saints, saints themselves

became as angels; thus fulfilling the prophecy which had said, 'The weak shall be as David, and David as an angel of the Lord.' Every christian saw in every other the face of an angel, looks of benevolence and brotherly love; one interest prevailed; one subject of emulation swallowed up every other; who should approach nearest to the likeness of Christ; which should do most for the enlargement of his reign. The whole multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one mind;' the Spirit of Christ animated the whole, became the one heart of the whole community, and every particular pulse beat in concert with it. What a gift was this! The value of a gift depends materially on its suitableness; what could be more suitable to a world dying, dead in sin, than the Spirit of life and of holiness. The world was a valley of dry bones; what could be more welcome than that the Spirit should come and breathe upon these slain, that they might live; that, descending to this moral Golgotha, this place of skulls, he should give a soul to the world, and again replenish it with spirit-. ual life. How munificent was this gift! It was munificent in itself, in its kind, for it was the best; and it was also munificent in its degree, for he poured it forth in a profusion of gifts and graces. It was owing to no indigence, to no niggardliness on the part of Christ, that his church did not rapidly extend over the world, and that the whole was not filled with the Spirit. He gave with a liberality which showed that he tasted his own act, enjoyed the godlike act of giving, gratified himself in the exercise of his benignity. How godlike was this gift! Had man been consulted on the occasion, he would have asked some inferior good; but Jesus, taking the affair entirely into his own hands, poured out his Holy Spirit-a blessing intend. ed to make us holy like himself, happy like himself, and even one with himself; for, by giving us his Spirit, he

may be said to have given us himself, to have turned him. self into Spirit, into a fountain of divine influence that he may be one with our spirits.

II. The great object of the advent of the Holy Spirit is thus distinctly specified by Christ: When He is come, he shall convince the world of sin;' an announcement which Jesus himself must have felt as a wonderful truth. Standing as he did at that moment near to the cross, in the shadow of that awful monument of human guilt, he could not have glanced around on the scene of enormous and complicated guilt he was about to leave, and forward to the triumph and agency of the descending spirit, without feeling, as he uttered this grand prediction, that he was unburthening his mind of a weighty and glorious communication.

An obvious and striking feature of all the divine operations, is the accomplishment of the most comprehensive and important ends, by few and simple means. Such is the nice dependence of every part in his government on every other part, and such the entire harmony of the whole, that he only touches an almost invisible chord, and the vibration is felt to the extremities of the universe: how tremendous then must that principle of evil be, which can only be subdued by the mighty power of the Spirit; by the advent and accession of the third person in the awful Godhead; by no modified energy, but by the full almightiness of divine power. And tremendous it was! world had become the grave of piety: if the principle of piety showed itself vigorous and active, it became the mark for every shaft and weapon of hell; if it was impotent, it soon sickened and sunk under the pestilential atmosphere which sin had universally diffused; angelic piety itself would have found a sepulchre here. Not only was the

The

world destitute of all native, active goodness; a principle of evil, another Spirit, embodying all the essences of evil, was here, and at work. But did man show no signs of resistance to this alien Spirit? not a single indication of spiritual conflict appeared; all was silent, unconstrained submission, for this, to use the emphatic language of inspiration, is, where Satan's seat is.'

6

Now by what means shall this mass of disorder, darkness, and death be renovated? The divine benevolence had been prodigal of its means; but, as to any permanent good, they had failed. Experience had shown, that it was easier to crush and destroy the world, than to reform it. The Son of God himself had descended; but, as if determined by one desperate act to shut out all further communications from above, as if to intimidate the mercy of Omnipotence, they crucified the Lord of glory. What expedient, then, we ask, remains to be employed? Oh! how boundless are the divine resources! how grand! how amazing the provision! It was not that our world should. be the scene of a splendid angelic administration, and be charmed into a love of piety by their graceful exhibition of it: it was not that our world should be placed in dreadful proximity to hell, and be awed into sullen but silent submission by the sight of worms that die not, and of fires that are not quenched it was not that our world should be raised into the precincts of heaven; that a sight of the Being we had rejected, there enthroned in light, and surrounded by the sanctities of heaven might surprise us into involuntary adoration. No, saith Christ, 'My Spirit alone is competent to the task; and when He is come, He shall convince the world of sin. External applications would only produce, at best, a temporary reaction of mind: the agency that shall succeed in transforming it, must include the power of coming into immediate contact with it, and

of having at command whatever can suitably affect it. I have a cause lying against mankind; and he shall be my Advocate. I have an indefeasible claim on the human heart; and he, the Great Pleader, shall enforce it on the consciences of men. He shall go into all the world asserting my right, vindicating my claims, and writing my name upon human hearts; and he shall pass into every region of the soul, diffuse himself through all its capacities and recesses, throwing light into the understanding, assailing and subverting the fortress of sin in the heart, and taking an oath of allegiance to me from all its redeemed powers.'

There

Accordingly, in the discharge of his awful functions, the Spirit addresses himself to the hearts of men. is sin lying upon them, enormous sin! and his object is to convince them of it. Oh! how solemn the transaction! how mysterious the process! how critical the juncture! The instrument employed may be, in itself, the most simple and inefficient; hearing the gospel, or reading it, or recalling some truth to mind; but while the eye, or the ear, or the memory is thus engaged, and all without seems at rest, the Spirit is at work within, bringing the truth forward into the strong light of distinct consciousness; rendering it irresistible, by taking away the very will of resisting; turning it into a living conviction, and incorporating it among the spiritual realities of the soul. There are times, when all sensation seems collected into a point, and we live only in the eye or the ear: and when the Invisible Spirit is at work within, creating a new heart, the faculties and energies of our whole being seem collected into a focal point-the entire soul becomes conscience. Having seated and centred himself there, the whole mass and depth of our being is drawn, slowly perhaps, yet certainly drawn to him, owning his power, and trembling at his presence.