fulness, whoever may be offended, or whoever may be brought into distress by it, that although the deepest agony of conviction, is not conversion, yet true conversion cannot take place without an affecting discovery of the greatness, and the guilt, and peril of the sins of an unconverted state. The change from a CARNAL to a spiritual mind, must involve this discovery; and they who have not yet had it, are in darkness, ignorance, guilt, and ruin. Who can be a penitent, that has not been a convicted sinner? Who can sorrow for sins, that he never saw? Who can have a hope, that never felt despair? Who can be cheered with even distant glimpses and visions of celestial glory, that was never brought to behold

"the opening gates of hell

"With endless pains and sorrows there?"

Be

O, ye strangers to convictions, and yet cherishers of hopes, remember that such hopes may be cherished, until you reach that world where convictions of sin, and guilt, and misery have no end! Open your eyes. hold your CARNAL MIND as its dreadful features are revealed in the light of divine truth. See how unreasonably and desperately you are contending with the Almighty. Feel how full of ENMITY AGAINST GOD is your heart. Consider-realize, that your heart is bitterness itself against Him whose presence alone can make heaven! O, bring that heart to be broken, melted, changed, sanctified, by the grace of that Holy Spirit, whose heavenly breathings give you some impression of what your state now is, and what it must forever be, unless that heart is repentant, and your temper of mind wholly changed!

III. It is in the light of this subject, that we are able to see most clearly the cause, the nature, and the necessity of regeneration. All nominal christians, whatever be their views of the native human character, consider regeneration, in some sense, important. Such as entertain favorable views of that character, though they

professedly regard it needful to be born again, view the change as consisting in the gradual cultivation and improvement of the social, moral, and intellectual habits of the mind. Of course, with them it is very much a work of their own, and may be done or left undone, without any very widely different results in the end. But this subject gives a materially different view of the case. The mind of man before regeneration, needs something more than the progressive improvement of its native qualities, in order to be prepared to enjoy a sinless state. It is ENMITY AGAINST infinite purity. Now this ENMITY will not remove itself. The mind left to itself, will never begin to cherish sentiments of affectionate attachment to the Being, whom it instinctively dislikes and resists. Whether, therefore, we consider the greatness of the work, or the extremely vitiated state of the heart, which is the subject of regeneration, it must be seen to be wholly of God. He alone, who is the great object of the sinner's ENMITY, can remove it. This seems clear from the very nature of the case. is not an outward reformation, but an inward transformation. It is not the bare making the outside clean, but a new creation of the whole moral nature unto good works. Who but the Almighty can effect this? Accordingly his own word declares, that his children are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. They are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto gord works, which he hath before ordained, that they should walk in them. According to his mercy, he saves them by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Without his signal intervention, vain would be the attempt of all created energies to accomplish the work of renewing unto holiness one CARNAL MIND.

It

From what has been seen of the nature of that mind, which needs to be the subject of this mighty operation of renewing mercy, we may learn something of the nature of the mind, which has been made the subject of

it. The change wrought, does not consist in the mere substitution of one set of notions and creeds for another. If it did, there would be nothing marvellous in the achievement of such a change. Nothing is more easy, than to change the speculative views of men. To convert them from one sect of religionists to another. A proud man of the world, can readily be made a spiritually proud professor of religion. A man of naturally violent temper, can easily be converted into a fiery and rash zealot of some religious party. The gay triflers that move in the world of fashion, can, without any difficulty and with scarcely any change, be made the busy retailers of religious gossip the busy actors in the world of religious romance and dissipation. And such conversions, it is much to be feared, are remarkably numerous in this age of religious profession, of religious talk, and of religious controversy. But ah! this is not religion-this is not to be born of God-this is not to be a new creature in Jesus Christ. To make THE CARNAL MIND to love God-to love his law, though it condemn him to love his holy sovereignty-to love his methods of saving mercy-to bring such a mind to loathe itself, to hate sin, to tread the world under foot, to pant after God, to aspire after nothing but the mind that was in Christ, with man this is verily impossible-and yet nothing short of this is regeneration. And yet except a man be thus born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except all this takes place, the mind remains CARNAL. And can an enemy-nay, can ENMITY itself AGAINST GOD enjoy him? Whatever men experience— whatever they do short of this, they make no approaches towards a meetness for heaven. Sinners must be born again, or they must evermore experience what it is to be lost.

IV. The subject suggests the consideration of duties. Placed in a world of immortals, whose immortal powers are ENMITY AGAINST GOD, what duties do the regenerate owe to their perishing fellow sinners? They

cannot change their hearts. They cannot extinguish the feelings of enmity that reign there. They cannot bring a clean thing out of an unclean. But there are some things which they can do, as co-workers with God in this mighty achievement. They can prepare the way of the Lord. They can remove impediments, existing in themselves, to the conversion of the carnally minded. They can aid in the preparatory measures to this great work. They can show forth, in their spirit and example, the genuine nature of religion. They can proclaim abroad, by the eloquence of a holy life, the true gospel of salvation. They can preach the truth as it is in Jesus, in the mute and silent rhetoric of a meek and quiet spirit. O, they can do yet more; they can warn and entreat and persuade the wicked. They can urge them to search the scriptures-to listen to the preached word-to bend their stubborn knees to bow their stubborn hearts in prayer. And they can do yet more. They can pray.

Ye children of God, what say ye to these things? You love the Lord. You behold his unspeakable loveliness. You see how infinitely deserving he is of the love of all created minds. You feel the blessedness of his love. You expect to enjoy its increasing measures forever. You feel for sinners perishing in their enmity. I know your hearts sometimes bleed for them. I know you long at times to bring them to the Saviour that they may be cured; that they may see his beauty, and feast on the provisions of his love. And would you do this? Then let your hearts burn within you in constant communion with Christ, until the flame of your fervent charity shall blaze forth, and allure sinners to him. O, if you have any sensibility to the value of spiritual blessings; if you have any bowels of christian compassion, you will do all you can, to save the perishing by pulling them out of the fire!

And is there no duty for you, ye perishing ones? Enemies to God, must it not be your duty to be recon

ciled to him? Is it not your present duty to become his cordial friends? Rebels against his government, and despisers of his grace, is it not your present duty to exercise ingenuous sorrow and deep repentance? Since you have lived up to this hour at ENMITY AGAINST GOD your Saviour, ought you not this hour to begin to love him, trust in him, obey and serve him? O, this is the duty of the lost spirits in the world of despair. And it is your duty. Ah! it is more, it is your interest, it is your happiness, it is your salvation. Until you do this you cannot be saved. So long as you cherish this carnal mind, you cherish the very elements of perdition in your bosoms. It is not possible for God to save you in your existing state. O, you must repent-You must believe-You must love God, or heaven can never be yours.

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