view, he is still dead in trespasses and sins and will fall short of heaven. SERMON II. THE CONVERSION WHICH IS OF GOD. JEREMIAH 31: 18. IN the former discourse I undertook to describe that kind of conversion which is the work of unregenerate man, and is to be traced to the principles of action naturally in his heart, without the special influence of the Holy Spirit. I endeavored to show that man in his unrenewed state, may be, and often is, brought under such influences from without, and within, that he is actually converted, or does actually turn, in a certain way; that he experiences a manifest change not only in his outward conduct, but, in some respects, in the views and feelings and purposes of his own mind; - but that the change to which he attains in this way does not reach his great, governing principle - does not go to the bottom of his heart; and that it leaves him still destitute of holiness, and unfit for the kingdom of heaven. Such is the very best conversion, which is merely the work of man, and which results from the operation of the powers and principles of his own mind and heart, without the renewing of the Holy Spirit. It is like the house which was built on the sand; and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell. Such is the nature and the end of the conversion and the piety, which is of man, in contradistinction to that which is of God. And such will be our end unless we have a religion above the highest and best attainments of unregenerate man. WHICH IS OF GOD. 547 I shall now endeavor to set before you some of the marks or characteristics of that conversion, which is of God. I begin by saying, that the work which God accomplishes in a saving conversion has an intrinsic excellence, which clearly shows who is its author. God always works in a manner worthy of himself. But when he undertakes any work of extraordinary magnitude and importance, and one which in human view is attended with great difficulty, he takes special care, by the work itself, and his manner of doing it, that his hand may be clearly seen, and that all may know that the work is his. The saving conversion of a sinner, is a work of such excellence, that it redounds preeminently to the glory of God. The wonderful works which God did in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan, made it manifest, that he was Jehovah, the Almighty, and righteous, and merciful God. And he is now constantly showing by his works and dispensations, that he is God. But what work of God has such excellence as the spiritual change which he accomplishes in the sinner? Creation was truly a great and wonderful work. When God made the sun-when he said, let there be light, and there was light, he acted like a God. But methinks the creation of a thousand suns has not an excellence and glory like the turning of a sinner from enmity to love, from the slavery of sin to the liberty of the son's of God. Angels rendered praise to God, when they witnessed the work of creation. But at the work of redemption, and the conversion of a sinner they cry, glory to God in the highest. They rejoice over every sinner that repents. And all the followers of Christ see now, and will see more clearly in eternity, that the conversion of a sinner is to the glory of God's grace. That conversion, which is the work of the divine Spirit, has nothing deceptive in it, like the conversion which results from the workings of the natural man. The religion which is of God is not an appearance but a reality; not a shadow but a substance. It is not superficial or hollow, like that which is of man. It is solid excellence. Conversions which are the mere product of man's natural powers and dispositions, are to be seen everywhere. 548 THE CONVERSION But when rightly understood, they have no real beauty or excellence. They are not worthy to be called the work of God. They are rather like the works of the magicians in Egypt, which were imitations, though contemptible imitations of the miracles wrought by Moses; but they were the best that the magicians could do with all their enchantments and juggling arts, and with the help of the wicked one. Still they were all counterfeits, ending in the confusion of those who wrought them. But when you look at the works of God, wrought by the hand of Moses, you see real miracles, works truly wonderful. You see the finger of God. You cannot but say, that these are from God. Many conversions have been brought about in our day by something , very like the enchantments and tricks of the Egyptian jugglers. But they prove to be superficial, hollow, worthless things, a discredit to the very name of conversions, and in the end a stigma upon their authors. But look at the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, and of the multitude on the day of Pentecost, and of the Corinthian believers, some of whom had been given to the most loathsome vices. Look at the conversion of Augustine, and Luther, and Edwards, and Brainerd, and John Newton, and Henry Martyn and others of like kind. You will find them to be what the Apostle calls them, God's workmanship. Here, you will say, here is something from above. Here is the finger of God. And here, in the work itself, is the very image of God. This gives it a manifest superiority over other divine works. All the works of creation and providence show that God is the author. But here a work is done, which not only shows God to be the author, but does, in its own nature, bear the moral image of God. It makes the soul of man a partaker of "the divine nature." You see that in every point of view, the true, saving conversion of a sinner is far above that which is accomplished by mere human power. It is a change of another and higher kind. It is a change which a man never comes to by the very best operation of reason, conscience, or self-love, or by the power of the will, or by the desire of pleasure or the fear of suffering, or by the working of superstition or enthusiasm, or by the dreams of imagination, sleeping or waking, or by human persuasion, either in the way of allurement or terror, or by the mere influence of instruction, or education, or example, or experience, or external rites, or events of providence. A saving conversion is entirely above and beyond what can be effected by any or all of these, without the divine Spirit. It is a change to which no one ever attains, unless he comes under the special operation of God. But it must be remembered, that this special, supernatural, divine work, though so much above what the mere agency of man can of itself ever attain, does not put a stop to man's agency. It puts a stop to his sinful agency; but at the same time it influences him to a holy agency. It changes his bad agency to a good agency. The converted sinner continues to put forth as real an agency, and as great an agency, as before. What then is the difference? It is this. His agency now is of another and better kind. The true convert wills or chooses as really and as often as before. The difference is, he now chooses right. He now has a will truly free. Before, his will was free from compulfree in every sense necessary to his being a moral, accountable agent. But after all he was a slave to sin, and his will was enslaved under the bondage of corruption. Now he is free, and his will is free, in the best sense free from the slavery of depraved passions and desires. The work of God in conversion emancipates the sinner, and emancipates his will from this degrading bondage, and brings him into subjection to the will of God. This is true liberty," the glorious liberty of the sons of God. sion - There never was a more palpable mistake, than to suppose, that the efficacious operation of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of a sinner interrupts or impairs his agency or takes away his freedom. What converting grace does, is not to interrupt or impair a man's agency, but to improve it, to make it what it should be; not to paralyze or embarrass the will, but to correct its irregularities, and bring it to follow truth and righteousness, instead of error and sin, to act for God, rather than the wicked one;- not to take away freedom, but to give freedom-freedom worthy of the name. This man never obtains of himself. He may change his posture and his place, but he keeps on his fetters. He may act with vigor he may work hard; but he is a slave. I remark further; that, in accomplishing the work of man's conversion, God does just that which needs to be done. A skilful physician always aims to discover the nature and seat of the disease in his patients to discover what needs to be done in order to a thorough cure. And he well knows that, how far soever he may be able to check or vary the outward symptoms or the visible operations of the disease, he will fail of effecting a cure, unless his medicine reaches the seat of the distemper and removes the radical evil existing there. Now in the dispensation of grace, God undertakes to convert the sinner. And in this work of his Spirit, he does that very thing which needs to be done in order to a thorough and saving change. Now why or for what purpose is the special operation of God necessary? What is the great work to be accomplished, and which can never be accomplished, except by the divine Spirit? I reply, first-if any one needs such a reply that the special influence of the Spirit is not required to make men moral, accountable beings; for they are so before their conversion as much as after. It is not necessary, in order to furnish them with any power or faculty of mind, which goes to constitute them moral beings, or to put them under obligation to obey the divine law; for they have every such faculty and are under such obligation as really and as completely in their natural state, as when renewed. The influence of the Spirit is not always necessary to a man's outward reformation; for this may be brought about by the exercise of his natural powers and dispositions. It is not necessary in order to excite strong emotions, apparently religious and devout, such as Rosseau sometimes felt, and such as many now feel in view of the natural beauty and sublimity of divine objects, or under the influence of solemn rites, or awakening events of providence. There are, as we have seen, many and very remarkable things which men may do, and remarkable intellectual acquisitions and external ornaments to which they may attain, without regeneration. Very powerful and di |