He entreats, promises, threatens, and expostulates by his word— He awakens attention by the secret energy of his SpiritHe calls also by alarming dispensations of his providence-] But the generality disregard his voice sins [They are asleep, and even "dead in trespasses and If awakened, they endeavour to lull themselves asleep again a If they cannot do this, they rest in frivolous excuses a But he knows how dreadful their state would then be This is a fact worthy of our highest admiration [Well might he call us to "behold" it with wonder— How wonderful, that the Creator should so condescend to a creature! How wonderful, that the Judge should become suitor to the criminal! How wonderful, that the self-sufficient God should seek in such a way to bless those who are inexpressibly vile and helpless! This must excite our admiration to all eternity-] The adorable goodness expressed in it will appear further by considering II. The mercies he desires to impart to them He requires nothing of sinners but what he will enable them to perform [He looks for no worthiness or merit in them He only desires that they "hear his voice, and open to him" He will himself " unstop their ears," and "incline their hearts" If indeed they obstinately persist in rejecting him, they cut themselves off from any hope in his mercy---] Upon their yielding to his solicitations, he will bless them [The metaphor of a guest is still kept upIt is a common metaphor in scriptured a Cant. v. 2, 3. b Acts.xiii. 18. d John xiv. 23. The The "supping" implies the most familiar intercourse with the soul This our Lord will vouchsafe to those who open their hearts to him He will delight himself in the exercise of their graces" , Nor will he withhold these mercies on account of their past conduct [He will with equal readiness become the guest of allNo unworthiness or past obduracy shall hinder himHe has declared this in the most express terms h He has proved it in the most remarkable instances b There is a cloud of living witnesses ready to attest it—] We shall conclude with an ADDRESS to 1. Those who are living in a careless state But this arises only from your own negligence and supine ness Christ has been long knocking at the door of your heartsEvery vile lust has been admitted, whilst HE has stood without May you never have that threatening fulfilled to you1 2. Those who are awakened from it [What a mercy is it that you have heard the Saviour's voice! Let it be your daily endeavour to open your hearts to him Guard against unbelief, which above all bars the door against him Let the sins which are offensive to him be put awayThen shall the fact which so offended the Jews be realized in you Thus shall you enjoy the most endearing fellowship with Jesus And you shall ere long place"] Cant. iv. 16. e g" If f Zech. ix. 17. m Rev. xix. 9. any man. See also Isai. lv. 1. Rev. xxii. 17. h 2 Chron. xxxiii. 9, 12, 13. 1 Tim. i. 13. 16. * Isai. lv. 6. Luke xix. 7. 1 Prov.i.24-31. XVI. THE ENDS FOR WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO US. Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. THE promises of the Old Testament frequently refer to different and distant periods In these periods they receive different degrees of accomplishment The promise before us was partly fulfilled in the deliverance of the Jews from idolatry after their return from captivity in Babylon It had a further accomplishment on the day of Pentecost Its final completion will take place at the millen nium This appears by its connexion with the foregoing verse In the meantime it is daily fulfilled to the church of God It may lead us to consider the ends for which God gives us his Spirit He sends down his Spirit I. To cleanse from sin The heart of man is full of "filthiness and of idols [There is nothing so worthless, but it is idolized by us; nothing so filthy, but it is harboured and indulgedThe idols indeed are not set up in our houses, but in our hearts And if the filthiness appear not in open enormities, yet are our flesh and our spirit contaminated with it throughoutHence God pronounces the whole race of man to be "filthy and abominable" Nor indeed can any words sufficiently represent our deformity -] a Ezek. xiv. 3. ⚫ Jer. xvii. 9. Το To cleanse us from these, God imparts his Holy Spirit [The Spirit of God is here compared to "clean water"He is often spoken of in Scripture under this metaphorHis sprinkling of this water on us is in allusion to the sprinklings of the ceremonial law It was by sprinkling, that holy persons and vessels were sanctified It is for the same end that God sends his Holy Spirit upon us The blood of Christ alone can cleanse from the guilt of sin ment It rather presupposes an affiance in the blood of ChristThough the operations of Christ's blood and spirit are distinct, yet they are never divided — The one is as necessary in its place, and as effectual, as the other-] By his Spirit he cleanses the soul "from all its filthiness and all its idols" [The corruption of the heart is not indeed utterly extinguished But the love of sin is taken away, and its power is brokenSt. Paul ascribes this effect to the Spirit in the strongest terms] In order to effect this permanently, God sends his Spirit II. To renew the heart A change must be radical, in order to be effectual 1 The heart, by nature, is hard and insensible as a stone [The soul is altogether "dead in trespasses and sins"The understanding is blind, the will obstinate, the conscience seared A dead body is insensible of its own corruption So is the soul insensible of its state, because it is spiritually dead-] God therefore takes away this " stony heart out of the flesh John vii. 38, 39. d 1 John i. 7. [He The purifying of the Levites well illustrates this. They were cleansed by the sprinkling of water on them; yet not so cleansed but that they needed to offer an atonement. The atonement and the sprinkling jointly produced the full effect. See Numb. viii. 6, 7, 8, 12. Eph. v. 25-27. h Matt, xii, 33, f 1 John v. 6. [He does not really alter the powers of the soul-The faculties remain the same as they were beforeBut a new direction is given to them— They are also assisted by him in their respective functionsHence they appear to be altogether new-] He gives in exchange "an heart of flesh" [It is characteristic of the new heart that it is tenderIt is deeply affected with its own sin and misery— It is melted with a sense of God's unbounded merciesThus in fact the Christian is made " a new creature In this way God prevails by the Spirit III. To sanctify the life " What was before metaphorically, is here plainly expressed God, by renewing the soul, changes also the life 1 [The unregenerate man accounts the commandments grievous The renewed person longs for a perfect conformity to them k He henceforth "walks as Christ himself walked "-] By the indwelling of his Spirit he " causes his people to obey him [We cannot explain the mode of the Spirit's operationsWe are sure, however, that he does not act on men as mere machines He draws them in a rational manner as free agentsHe constrains them by enlightening their understanding and inclining their will He makes them delight in receiving and obeying his influences Their language is invariably like that of the church of old1-] In order to IMPROVE this promise, we would lead you to contemplate 1. Its freeness [To whom is this promise made, but to those who are filthy and idolatrous, insensible and obdurate? Let none put it away from them as not belonging to them But rather let all lay hold on it, and plead it before God—] 2. Its i The salt being cast into the fountain, the streams are henceforth salubrious: See 2 Kings ii. 21. * Rom. vii, 22, I Cant. i. 4. VOL. I. U |