LECTURE LXXXVII.

DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT IN REGENERATION ACT DIRECTLY ON THE SINNER'S MIND?

OUR next inquiry will be, whether the Spirit of God in regeneration acts directly on the mind itself, or on something which is extraneous to the mind, and which is employed as a means of producing the effect.

In a general view, what can be more congruous to the nature of the subject, than the doctrine, that the eternal, all-powerful Spirit has a direct access to the minds which he created and sustains, and that he influences and governs them as he pleases? It is clear that we have access to the minds of men only through the medium of signs and bodily organs. Such is the design of our Creator. The sphere of action and the degree and manner of influence assigned to us, correspond with our nature and relations. But the influence which God exercises over the minds of men is, in all respects, infinitely superior to ours. To suppose that his power is subject to such conditions and limitations as those which regulate the power belonging to us, would be to lose sight of his perfections, and to make him like ourselves. The God of the universe must be free from all the hinderances and restrictions which appertain to the exercise of the power imparted to us, and must be perfectly able to turn and guide, to regulate and purify every mind, and all minds, according to his pleasure. This is involved in the very idea of his Godhead and his complete dominion over created beings. It is involved in many passages of Scripture, in which he is expressly declared to have exercised

such supreme power. If any one thinks that God cannot exert this unlimited control over the minds of men, I ask, what hinders? Is not infinite power sufficient to control finite power? Has not the Creator and Upholder of all things power over those who live and move and have their being in him? If he has not this power, how can he maintain his dominion, and do all his pleasure?

But I shall not stop with this general view. There are particular considerations which bear upon the subject, and which I shall now lay before you.

The first consideration which occurs to me is this; that as the effect produced in regeneration is in the mind itself, so must the influence be which produces it. The disorder to be remedied lies in the heart; and where but to the heart is the remedy to be ap plied? As to the truths of religion, there is nothing which needs to be altered in any of them. All that we are required to believe is true; all that we are required to love is excellent and amiable; and all that we are required to do is reasonable and just. There is no fault in any of these objects. There is nothing faulty anywhere, except in the mind itself. The whole evil to be remedied lies there. And the change to be effected must be effected there. Man's disposition Man's disposition- the state of his affectionsis opposed to spiritual things. His heart is depraved. The divine Spirit must act upon the heart itself; must so alter man's moral state that, when holy objects are presented to view, holy affections will spontaneously arise; must take away moral obliquity, and give uprightness. The sum of my remarks under this head is, that as man's moral nature or heart is the subject of the evil to be removed and the renewal to be experienced, it must be the subject of that divine influence which removes the evil and produces the renewal.

Secondly: по one can conceive it to be otherwise. You may employ such a phraseology as will invest the subject with an ambiguous generality, and will thus hold your minds in an indefinite, obscure contemplation of it, and make it difficult to know what to believe and what to disbelieve. But if you bring the subject near, and take a distinct view of it, you will find it incon

ceivable that the Spirit of God in renewing the sinner, should act upon anything but the mind itself. Upon what else can he act? Do you say he acts upon the truths of religion, so as to render them effectual; that he imparts power to motives, so that they excite and persuade the sinner to repent and believe? Let us examine this notion. The divine Spirit, you say, acts upon the truths of religion. But what are the truths of religion, but propositions, written, spoken, or contemplated, respecting God and man, and other moral objects? These propositions, which are contained in the Scriptures, are immutable. Nothing can be added to them, or taken from them. They are just what they should be. The Spirit has fully revealed these truths, and in this respect his work is perfectly accomplished.

But you say that the Spirit of God imparts clearness and power to divine truth, so that it may be rightly apprehended, and may produce its proper effect: as in natural things, an object may be taken from a misty, obscure atmosphere, and placed in a clear light. I agree that there is an obscurity, which prevents the truth from being rightly apprehended by the sinner. But where does the obscurity lie? In the truth itself, or in the mind of the sinner? And in order to remove this obscurity, is it necessary that any alteration should be made in the truth? When we say that the Spirit of God imparts clearness to divine truth, we speak of an operation and an effect produced in the mind itself, the truth remaining perfectly the same. To give clearness to revealed truth, is to give clearness to the minds of those who contemplate it; or, as the Apostle expresses it, "to open the eyes of their understanding." Every object is in the dark even at noon-day, to one who is blind. There is light enough, and surrounding objects are, in themselves, sufficiently illuminated. But if you would make them clear to the man who is blind, you must open his eyes. The illumination needed respects his organ of sight. No change is required in external objects. The Christian is often heard to say, "In my unconverted state, the character of God and Christ, and the great truths of the gospel, were all dark to But when the Spirit of God visited my heart, all became

me.

light." To give clearness to the truth, is to enlighten the mind to behold it.

And what is it to give power and efficacy to the truth? Is divine truth in reality weak and inefficient? If so, how does it come to have such power over those who are sanctified? Does sanctification make an alteration in the truth itself, or in the mind which contemplates it? Take the truth, that God so loved the world as to give his Son to die for us. How great is its power over believers! It moves all their faculties. It controls their hearts and their lives. But to the proud and unbelieving, the same truth is powerless. Whence the difference? The text, John 3: 16, is before the eyes of the believer and the unbeliever. They both read it, and read it alike. But the effect is different, and that effect is in the mind. The precise difference is this: the believer discerns the excellence of the truth, and loves it, but the unbeliever does not. The believer contemplates the compassion and grace of God in the gift of his Son, with pious wonder and gratitude, and with a hearty resolution to live no longer to himself, but to him who died for him. The unbeliever hears the proclamation of mercy, but hears not; he sees the light of the gospel, but sees not. He is alive to the world, but dead to spiritual things. The power of divine truth over the believer is precisely this, he feels powerfully towards it-or has a strong affection for it loves it intensely. And the Spirit of God gives power to the truth by causing the mind to discern it clearly, to believe it firmly, and to exercise powerful affections in view of it. He makes the truth efficacious by bringing the heart effectually to love and obey it. To suppose that the Spirit in the work of sanctification acts upon anything extraneous to the mind, would be utterly inconsistent with the nature of the subject.

Do you say, that the influence of the Spirit affects not the mind itself, but its actions beginning and ending with them? But here again we must take care not to be imposed upon by mere sounds. Actions imply an agent. They cannot exist by themselves, away from the agent. To influence the actions of the mind, is to influence the mind in acting. To cause right actions is to cause the mind to act right.

Finally, the current language of Scripture implies, that the divine Spirit operates upon the mind or heart itself. "The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will." "The Lord opened the heart of Lydia, that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul." "A new heart will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you." God enlightens the heart, renews and purifies the heart, sheds abroad his love in the heart. And where it is said that God influences the actions of believers, it is still said that the influence is upon and in the agents. He works in them, and right willing and acting is the effect. And when Christians pray intelligently for the influence of the Spirit, they have, I think, no other conception, than that the Spirit is to act upon the mind or heart itself, and to produce the desired effect there. They are sensible that the divine influence is needed there, and there only; and that if their hearts may be made pure, all things will be pure to them.

But there is another class of texts which must be considered, namely, those which speak of God as renewing and sanctifying his people by the truth. "Sanctify them through the truth: thy word is truth." Believers are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." And the Apostle says to the Corinthians, "I have begotten you through the gospel." And the Psalmist says, the word of God enlightens and converts men.

In these and other like texts, the inspired writers, it is said, plainly teach that, in the work of conversion and sanctification, the divine Spirit acts on the mind, not directly, but indirectly, that is, through the medium of the truth.

1 10 In reference to these texts, and their bearing on the present subject, I would suggest the following things:

In the first place, it will be found, that those writers and preachers, who hold most decidedly to the direct and efficacious influence of the Spirit upon the mind, entertain as high an opinion, as any others, of the importance and necessity of divine truth in the work of sanctifying sinners, and are as active in teaching and defe defending