when the Jews shall be restored to the church with the fulness of the Gentiles, and when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the seas." Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest."

Let me remind you, still farther, that the language in which the scripture instructs us to pray for the Spirit, or for blessings which necessarily imply the communication of the Spirit, is not only such as affords us the strongest encouragement, and warrants the most confident expectations, but such as may well fill us with unutterable wonder and amazement at the conde

scension and grace of the Most High God. "Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." "Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me." How astonishing that we, who are feeble and sinful creatures, should thus be invited not only to speak unto the Almighty Maker, but to teaze him, as it were, with our importunity, to address him almost with a tone of authority; not only to ask, but to "command him, concerning the work of his hands," the results which his Spirit will yet achieve! Can we forbear to add, what must be our stupidity and our guilt if these encouragements fail to arouse us to earnest, and hopeful, and persevering supplication!

Let me remark, finally, that God has often given

the Spirit unasked; and that is what cannot be said of the kindred blessing of forgiveness. When he gives pardon, he gives first a spirit of penitence, prompting men to confess their iniquities and to implore forgiveness, but he has often given his Spirit without being asked; and I may add, that in no instance, when solicited, has he refused that inestimable boon. Often "has he been found of them that sought him not;" never has he refused to be found of them that have sought him. Often has he imparted his Spirit to reclaim the wandering and awaken the slumbering, to enlighten blind minds and soften hard hearts; and would it not, then, be utterly unreasonable to imagine that he will not be prompt and eager to listen to them that cry to him? "Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." I may add,

VI. When the Spirit is poured out, the result will be happy and glorious. In consequence of the prayers of the prophet, "breath from the Lord entered the dead bodies in the valley of vision, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

In illustration of the particular now announced, I might call on you to consider, first, the stupendous and beneficent character of the change implied in the regeneration of a single soul. Think of a rational and immortal spirit, that had been alienated from the "Father of spirits," the great source of purity and joy, that was "dead in trespasses and sins," and the righteous conviction of eternal wrath; think of such a spirit being quickened from the death of sin, restored to the favour and fellowship, and assimilated to the image of, its Maker, and constituted an heir of imperishable felicity and glory. Here is a change more stupendous and wonderful in its nature, more beneficent

and glorious in its character and results, than the creation of the resplendent sun, than the formation of all the suns and systems of the material universe.

If such be the happy and glorious nature of the transformation implied in the regeneration of one human being, think, next, how beneficent and wonderful the aggregate, the sum total of changes, comprehended in the regeneration and salvation of the whole, or even of the majority, of a village or a city, of a nation or of the world at large.

Think, again, how interesting and lovely is the spectacle which a church or congregation exhibits, and how vast the amount of holiness and comfort which it embodies, when its members are generally, or universally, what they ought to be,-persons renewed by the Holy Ghost, and living habitually under his benignant guidance. Think of a society, in which fraud and falsehood, selfishness and envy, dishonesty and injustice, intemperance and impurity, are almost unknown,- -a society, pervaded by a spirit of humility and meekness, of love and charity, of zeal and piety, and almost every member of which is prompt and forward to consecrate his property and his exertions to the glory of the common Saviour, the present and eternal comfort of his fellow men.

Such, brethren, will be the state of things exemplified in almost every region of the globe, when the Spirit shall be poured upon us from on high. To aid you in conceiving of this happy state of things, and to stimulate to pray and labour for the acceleration of it, let me, next, remind you of some of the similitudes employed in scripture to represent it to the imagination rather than to the intellect. Think of the change effected by the rising of the sun; and of the difference between midnight and morning. At the former season, all nature is

wrapt in gloom and horror; a death-like and universal silence reigns; or if there be tokens of life and activity, they are probably the presages of danger,—the yell of wild beasts prowling for prey, or the steps of the robber and the murderer. At the other season, the darkness and the danger have passed away; the whole creation exults under the exhilarating beams of the Ruler of the day, "coming forth like a bridegroom from his chamber;" the riches of the earth and the glories of the heavens invite our admiring gaze; and men go forth from their dwellings to ply the labours of industry, or to enjoy the beauties of nature. Similar is the change effected by the operation of the Spirit. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared as the morning. He shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain."

Contemplate next the contrast presented by external nature in the seasons of winter and summer. In the former, sullen vapours obscure the sky; and the landscape, which a few months ago appeared so fair and lovely, presents scarcely a vestige of vegetation or beauty; and, perhaps, the Almighty "scatters the hoar frost like ashes, and gives snow like wool, and casts forth his ice in morsels," or in masses; so that it would almost seem as if amid drifting snows and intolerable frosts all flesh would perish together. But at the appointed season the snows melt and disappear under the genial heat of the vernal sun; the suspended powers of vegetation revive; in a little the meadows and the fields, the hills and the valleys, are decorated with a glory surpassing the splendour of kings; and the forests and the groves having put on their green

attire, resound with the voices of thousands of happy songsters warbling their Maker's praise." For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” This wonderful transition affords another appropriate similitude of the transformation effected by the word and spirit of Jesus Christ. "I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."

"As dew upon the tender herb,
Diffusing fragrance round;
As show'rs that usher in the spring,
And cheer the thirsty ground:

So shall his presence bless our souls,

And shed a joyful light;

That hallow'd morn shall chace away
The sorrows of the night.

Striking and instructive as are these similitudes, that employed in the passage before us is perhaps more striking and instructive still. Try, then, to transport yourselves in imagination to some immense plain or valley, presenting nothing to the eye of the spectator but dead bodies, or dry bones. See these ruins of mortality organized into human forms, inspired with life and breath, marshalled under proper officers into a numerous, and orderly, and formidable army; their banners floating in the breeze; their armour glittering in the sun; and the breast of every man beating high with emotions of courage and joy, at the sound of

VOL. II.

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