effect, the spiritual renovation of the hearer? Certainly. So is his power requisite to connect any other cause with its effect, the sowing of the seed with the springing of the plant. And the accompanying agency of God is as sure in the one case as in the other. But there is another agency

to come in on both occasions, that of man. He must receive the word into a good and honest heart. The Gospel did not save men against their will. It only gave them the opportunity to be saved. And the reason why one was spiritually renovated, reformed, saved, and another failed to be, was not because he withheld that efficiency from his word in one case which he gave it in another, but because one man chose to obey and the other to resist it.

"For every one that asketh receiveth." Why? Because he asks. But this theory makes it necessary for him to receive the very thing he asks before he asks, otherwise he cannot ask acceptably. The very thing which he wishes to have done for him must have been done before or it is useless for him to pray, and if it has been done it is manifestly useless. "The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word and it becometh unfruitful." What, choke the word, if it be irresistible! Can omnipotence be defeated? If man be altogether passive in regeneration, can any thing in him, either the cares of this world or any thing else, afford any effectual resistance?

The doctrine of passive regeneration by irresistible power must be given up as inconsistent with the laws of the mind, the moral constitution of our nature, and unsupported, nay, contradicted by the sacred Scriptures.

It may now occur to ask, what then is regeneration by the word of God, or the Gospel, as applied to us? We will attempt to explain it. The only way we before demonstrated, in which a man can be morally changed, made a better man, is through his understanding and will by instruction, persuasion, motive, inducement.

The Gospel is a system of doctrines, a collection of facts, a body of motives, precepts, and predictions which are addressed to the understanding, the conscience, the feelings, the sympathies, the whole moral nature of man, and through all these to the will, to produce right action. Its effect of course is to form a good character when there is none, and reform it when it is bad. The spiritual birth spoken of by Christ does not define the condition before it took place to be either sinful or innocent. He merely insists that to be a Christian, a man must possess a Christian character. The Gospel enlightens the understanding, teaches it concerning God, the fountain and foundation of all religion, and makes him the all-commanding motive, the central, all-pervading force in spiritual things. It teaches more of man and duty, and the reasons of it; and thus informs, awakens, and quickens the moral sense. It sets before us Jesus Christ with his all

perfect character, to be an object of our sympathies and affections, and thus enlists our feelings on the side of goodness. Through his resurrection it opens to us the spiritual world with its tremendous and eternal retributions. It gives us access with greater confidence to the Father of mercies in our devotions. When therefore one who has been instructed by the Gospel is placed in a situation where a moral choice is to be made, there is a greater probability that he will choose right, for he sees more clearly the reasons for it, and his whole nature is enlisted on the side of right. By the repetition of such actions the character is formed, the soul is born into the kingdom of heaven.

But the Gospel has power to change as well as form the character. A man grows up decidedly bad. In order to enter into the kingdom of God he must become a good man. This takes place under the influences of the religion of Jesus,sometimes suddenly, but oftener by slow advances. When it is done, how has it been accomplished? The theory we have been examining makes it to have been accomplished by almighty, irresistible power, changing his nature, or forcing his will. Such a change we have already demonstrated to destroy all moral agency and accountability. How then does it happen? Not by a change of moral nature, but by a change of moral action. One is within the power of man's free will and the other is not.

In the first place, there is a change in the objects of his attention. We all know we have the power

of turning our minds, our thoughts, to whatever we please. Before, the man of whom we speak paid no attention to religion or religious subjects. He was entirely absorbed in worldly or vicious pursuits. Something called his attention forcibly to religion. Some exhibition of Gospel truth perhaps impressed him, or some event of Providence; or he spontaneously directed his mind that way, as men may direct their minds to any subject or any pursuit. Instead of thinking of his business, and his worldly affairs, when he is in the house of God, he enters into the devotions, he attends to the Scriptures, and listens with desire of personal improvement to the preaching. Instead of reading secular books exclusively, when he has any time to devote to reading, he turns his attention often to the Bible. By thus directing his mind to the religion of the New Testament, its nature is not changed. It is the same mind in all its faculties and endowments that it was before. The objects only to which its exercises are directed are changed. His understanding is enlightened, and his knowledge enlarged. He becomes acquainted with his duty and the reasons of it. He learns more of God, of himself, and of the consequences of his conduct. By this direction of his attention to the teaching of Jesus, his moral sense, his conscience is awakened, made more active and discriminating. His motives for obeying its dictates are more fully displayed and comprehended. And when he again comes to act, those considerations which were before overlooked

present themselves, and he will no longer act as he did before he attended to them. His choice is different, his conduct and consequently his character changed.

In the second place, the objects of his pursuit are changed. The powers by which he pursues them are unaltered, but the objects to which they are directed are changed. Before, all his actions and energies were directed to the acquisition of worldly advantages. By the Gospel he is taught that these are not the only good; that the calm satisfactions of an approving conscience, the sense of the approbation of God, the sentiment of duty, the exercise of the benevolent and religious affections, are as rich and valuable sources of happiness as those which he has exclusively cultivated. He directs his efforts to gain these good things. When called upon to act he chooses with reference to these, he chooses to secure the approbation of his conscience by obeying its dictates, to secure the favour of God by doing his will. He seeks the pleasures of benevolence by exercising it on all proper occasions. He seeks the pleasures of devotion by maintaining communion with God.

In the third place, the objects of his affections are changed. The faculty by which he loves, undergoes no alteration. It has now new objects. Before, he was conversant only with the things of the world, with the pleasures of the senses, and the unlawful gratification of the passions. These are attended with a degree of pleasure, though of a