he makes himself known, and by which right apprehensions of Him are acquired, so, when we pray that his name may be hallowed, we desire and ask that all false notions of the divine character may be banished from the minds of men; and that conceiving of his majesty, purity and holiness aright, a rational fear and worship of him may pervade the world-That atheism, infidelity, heathenism, Mohammedan delusion, Popish superstition, heresy, all will worship, and all heartless formality in religion, may vanish before the luminous and powerful influence of gospel truth and vital godli

ness.

In praying that God would "dispose of all things to his own glory," it is especially proper that we take into view those things whose direct and natural tendency is adverse to his glory, but which he can so overrule as to promote it in the most eminent degree-I will mention a few instances of this kind, for the illustration of this important point. The most wonderful instance of all, is the sufferings and death of Christ. The sun never shone on another scene of guilt so awful and complicated, as was exhibited by those who crucified and slew the Lord of glory-Indeed you know that for a time the sun refused, as it were, to shine upon it. Satan and the agents whom he employed in this awful transaction, expected, no doubt, that a death blow had been given to the whole work of Christ, when they saw him expire on the cross. Yet by the all-disposing wisdom and power of God, this very event is made the foundation of every sinner's hope-is overruled, to bring to glory the whole elect and ransomed people of the Lord. Again. The persecution of Christians, is, in its natural tendency, and in the design of persecutors, adverse to the glory of God, as it is promoted by the

truths of the gospel and the holy and exemplary lives of true believers. Yet persecution has often been overruled, in a most remarkable manner, for the extension of the cause and kingdom of Christ. It became proverbial with the primitive Christians, that "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church." The persecutions of the apostolick age resulted in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became the great apostle of the Gentiles, and who laboured more abundantly and more successfully than any other individual of the apostolick college. Once more. The grievous sins and falls of true believers, are overruled by God to render them more humble, watchful and exemplary, in the whole of their subsequent lives. Such, you are aware, was the effect of the falls of David and Peter, as narrated in the sacred volume; and the record of their fall and recovery, however it may have provoked the sneer of the infidel, and proved a stumbling block to the careless and inconsiderate, has kept many a broken hearted penitent from utter despair, encouraged him to return to his God, caused him to experience anew the consolations of divine grace, and to proclaim to others the freeness and riches of recovering mercy.

Thus you perceive, that God's name may be hallowed-his glory may be and often is promoted, by disposing to that end, events and actions, in their nature and tendency most hostile to such a result.

HARMONY OF THE DUTY WITH THE PROMISE, IN THE WORK OF REGENERATION.

Under the above title, a sermon has recently appeared in "the Presbyterian Preacher,"-a monthly publication which we take this opportunity cordially to recommend to all

our readers. The author of the sermon is the Rev. John Matthews, D.D., Professor of Theology in the Theological Seminary of IndianaFrom this publication we make the following extended extract, believing that nothing could more advantageously fill the space which we have assigned to it in our pages.

Scarcely any point or problem in Christian Theology, has given birth to more discussion, and we may add, to more heresy, than how the utter impotence of unregenerate sinners to give their hearts to God and to believe in Christ to the saving of their souls, is reconcilable with their obligation to do this, and to do it without delay. This vexed question has occasioned the revival in our day-and we deeply lament to say, in our church-of the heresy of Pelagius, in all its extent and with all its worst features. That the discipline of the Presbyterian church. should sleep, as it does, over the prevalence in its own bosom of this abomination, is the subject equally of surprise and grief, to those who truly love the doctrines and government of our church, as laid down in our publick Standards. In these circumstances, it is truly refreshing to see the genuine doctrine of the Holy Scriptures on the litigated subject, ably and clearly set forth, as it is in the sermon from which we make our extract. We give the introduction and method of the discourse, with a portion of the second general division, the whole of the third, and the inferences at the conclusion-omitting the whole of the first division, and the greater part of the second. We wish that the whole might be read and deeply pondered by every member of the Presbyterian church. It is by separating the commanded duty from the graciously promised aid of God in the performance, that the errors-soul-destroying errors -in relation to this important subject, take their rise. Hence all the

jargon we hear about moral and natural ability; and hence the absolute denial of human impotence, and the delusive notion of self-regeneration and conversion. If God had not provided and promised the gracious aids of his almighty Spirit, to those whom he commands to make them a new heart, we have no reason to believe that the command would ever have been given; for it is certain it would never have been obeyed, and God does nothing in vain. He has given no such command to the fallen angels, because for them he has made no such provision and promise. But we detain our readers too long from the sermon.

EZEKIEL XVIII.31. Make you a new heart and a new spirit. Ch. xxxvi. 26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.

There is no inconsistency, but the most perfect harmony, between these two passages. The one is the command, the other is the promise of the same JEHOVAH; made known to us by the same prophet. The one is from Mount Sinai, the other from Mount Zion. The one is the voice of justice, the other of mercy. The one is an exhibition of supreme authority, the other of infinite condescension and kindness. The one is the law, the other is the gospel. Both require our special attention separately, and in their connexion. We must not derive from the command a train of thought, or a course of conduct, inconsistent with the promise; nor are we to suppose for a moment, that the promise is intended to exempt from the claims of the command. Our wisdom and our safety consist in receiving both, according to the letter and spirit. This is not the only instance, in which the same thing is commanded and promised. God now commandeth all men every where to repent, and yet Christ is

exalted a Prince and Saviour to give repentance and remission of sin. We are commanded to believe in the Lord Jesus, and yet faith is the gift and the work of God: Wash you, make you clean, and yet the kind promise is, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean."

These and other passages, which need not be mentioned, contain, like the text, both a command and a promise relating to the same thing. It will be our object then, I. To consider what is implied in the COMMAND.

II. What is implied in the PROMISE, and,

III. What course we should pursue under the COMBINED INFLUENCE OF BOTH.

If the promise implies that we need all the blessings included in the new heart, and that God alone can bestow them, and of course that we are entirely dependent on his good pleasure for these blessings; the fact is also clearly implied, that we are helpless in ourselves, as it regards the accomplishment of this work. If it be admitted, as we presume it will, that God does nothing in vain; that when he produces an effect, this effect could not be produced without his power; that when he promises to accomplish any purpose, this purpose could not be accomplished without his agency; then it will follow, that the promise, solemnly made, to give us a new heart, implies that we are helpless, that we could not possess this heart in any other way; for if we could, then the promise of God, and the agency of God in performing this, would be in vain. It is perfectly accordant with the common sense of all men, that that which we receive as a gracious gift, as an unmerited favour, cannot be the product of our own efforts; that which is the work of God, cannot, in the same sense, be

our work. Regeneration is ascribed to God, as his work, and as his alone, in language so clear, so unequivocal as to exclude all other agencies. If we are born of God, then it is neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. If we are his workmanship, then we are not our own. The new heart includes faith; and faith is the act of our own mind; yet this act never would be performed without divine aid. It is both the gift and the work of God.

But a truth of such deep interest ought not to rest on the common opinion of men. What saith the Scriptures? How readest thou? Without me, said the Saviour, ye can do nothing. The truth is doubted by no man, that the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine: no more can ye, except ye abide in me. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. Can a work, which requires divine power to accomplish it, be done by those who are without strength? Our prayers to God are nothing but mockery, unless they imply our helplessness. When we ask God to help us, to cleanse our hearts, to strengthen, protect, defend, deliver, guide and save us, do we believe that we ourselves can do these things? or do we believe that our sufficiency is of God; that he is our strength, our support, our defence, our salvation?

Let it not, for a moment, however, be supposed, that this helplessness is insensibility or hardness of heart, as it regards spiritual things. Whenever you hear a man say that he is helpless, and see him remain as unmoved as the rock, be assured that man neither understands nor believes what he says; he is merely alleging this as an excuse for his neglect of duty, and for the love of sin which he does not intend to forsake. The truth that we are without strength, is one of those things of the Spirit

which the natural man neither understands nor believes. It is the real feeling produced by this truth, that completes the work of preparation for the reception of Christ; that humbles us in the dust, that brings us, with entire submission, to the foot of the cross. The want of this belief and of this feeling is the cause of that insensibility which so much prevails. Bring sinners to feel that they are guilty and that they are helpless, and it is impossible for them to remain unmoved. The more deeply conscious we are of our helplessness, the more earnestly will we pray that we may receive the help of God. If we pray with the Spirit and with the understanding, we pray for that, and that only, which we do not possess, which we need, which God has promised to give. Nor let it, for a moment, be supposed, that there is the shadow of excuse for this inability. It is a criminal inability. So far as we are helpless, so far we are criminal. That we cannot, without divine assistance, believe in Christ, love God, and repent of our sins, is, at once, the measure and the proof of our guilt. To say that we cannot believe in Christ, who has died for us, and whose atoning blood is essential to our salvation, is to say, that we cannot believe and confess that we are sinners. To say that we cannot love God, is to say, that we cannot cease to hate him. To say that we cannot repent, is to say, that we approve of sin, and are determined to persevere in the practice of it. That is, though the plain and positive declarations of God have decided otherwise, yet that it is right to reject the only Saviour, to hate and disobey God, to love and pursue sin.

These are two facts, therefore, the conviction of which should exist and operate together in our minds; that, as it regards the work of our own salvation, we are

utterly helpless; and that this helplessness, in its very nature, is sinful. Both of these facts are pressed upon our minds by the testimony of clear and numerous passages of scripture. Nor can we, for a moment, admit the painful suspicion, that any intelligent Christians will doubt either of them; or will not say from the heart, that they accord with their own experience.

III. Finally; in securing the great interests of eternity, what course should we pursue, under the influence of that instruction derived from this command and this promise of God?

The command, if we mistake not, teaches us, that he has a right to all the spiritual exercises of our hearts; that this is our imperious duty; and that we are guilty, in not thus giving him our hearts. The promise teaches us, that we need divine assistance in making this new heart; that for this we are entirely dependent on God; and that without this aid we are utterly helpless. The course of safety is marked out by the combined instruction and influence of both together. What God has joined we must not separate. We cannot receive the one, as it ought to be received, without the other; we must receive both, or we receive neither. If from a professed regard to the one, we forget and neglect the other, we only prepare for ourselves the cup of bitter disappointment.

The course, then, seems to be this: as guilty and helpless sinners, we should go immediately and directly to God, confessing, most humbly and sincerely, our sins, and pleading most earnestly for his mercy. By confessing our sins, we acknowledge the authority, the justice, the goodness of the law which we have transgressed, and by which we are condemned for these transgressions. By pleading for his mercy, we ac

knowledge our need, our dependence, and our helplessness. This is the way pointed out in scripture. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The confession flows from the belief and feeling that sin is an evil, which deserves the punishment of eternal death. Confessing our sins, with this contrition of soul, we will forsake them. By pleading for mercy, we admit that the justice of God would be eternally glorified in our condemnation; that we do not deserve the blessings for which we pray; that if we are saved it will be to the praise of the glory of his grace. The more deep and vivid these convictions of our guilt and helplessness become, the nearer we should approach the cross of Christ, and with the more humble importunity should we pray. If we feel so much of the old heart of stone, that we can neither confess nor pray as we ought, this is but the clearer proof of our perishing need, of our dependence and helplessness; and presents to us the more urgent motives to come to God, that he may give a new heart and a new spirit. If it appears impossible to feel, even in the faintest degree, the desire that God would give us a new heart; it is but the still more clear and alarming proof, flashing into the soul, of our great and imminent danger. We should come to Christ as we are; guilty, that we may be forgiven; helpless, that we may receive strength; vile and polluted, that we may be purified; insensible, even dead in sin, that we may be quickened and made alive. The sick, not the whole, need the physician; need him, because they are sick, and cannot help themselves.

Were we not both guilty and helpless sinners, we would not

need the Saviour. Without the deep conviction of this truth, we never would come to the Saviour; because the motives to bring us would not operate on the mind.

The Psalmist pursued the very course pointed out by this command and this promise. No person can read, in the 51st Psalm, the confessions which he makes, and the prayers which he offers up, without perceiving that they flow from a very deep and humbling sense of his need, his dependence, and his helplessness. The sins of his nature and his life are confessed with shame and contrition. "For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me." In whatever pursuit he was engaged, to whatever object he turned his attention, his sin met his view, occupied his thoughts, grinding him down into the very dust before God. Does he behold the robes and the throne of royalty? he is reminded of his vileness, his need of cleansing. Does he reign over an extensive empire? sin has had dominion over him. Does he receive the adulation of his subjects? his conscience reproaches him with his own baseness. Does he sit in judgment on the different cases brought before him? his own case is decided, and he is condemned by the Judge of all the earth. He renounces all merit of his own, from any source, in any sense, or in any degree, and pleads for mercy according to a rule of proportion entirely different, according to the loving kindness and tender mercies of God. The very blessings which God has promised to bestow, are the blessings of which he feels his perishing need, and for which he prays. The Lord has promised to give a new heart and a new spirit; his prayer is, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Then, saith the Lord, will I sprinkle clean water