explained ?" This illustration of the case had been before made use of by our blessed Saviour himself: [John xii. 24.] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remaineth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' Which words, in their application to the resurrection of the dead, have a very curious and remarkable propriety: whereas other seeds rise again out of the ground, and become seed-leaves of the plant; that of wheat is almost the only one in nature which dies in the earth; and therefore was the most proper emblem to represent the dissolution of man, and his revival. Since then the wisdom of God has thought fit, in his holy word, to draw variety of religious instructions from the consideration of his works, and frequently sends us to learn our duty from the irrational and inanimate parts of the creation, let us not be ashamed to go to the school of nature, and to get understanding from the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field. They are able to read us wise lectures of morality, and to improve us even in the virtues of a Christian. They will teach us dependence upon Providence, and gratitude to it for our daily support, for the regular supplies of food and raiment. They will teach us a lesson, which many of the philosophers could not teach us, that we are not only the constant but the peculiar care of Providence; and that if a sparrow doth not fall to the ground without his notice, how much more will he have a watchful eye over his favourite creature man, and not suffer him to wander unnoticed, unguided, unprotected. They will teach us, what all should remember, and all are apt to forget, how frail we are, how precarious our existence is in this world, how momentary our duration. But they will also teach us, that life will rise out of corruption; that we shall spring up with fresh recruits from the grave, like seed buried in the ground; and shall be invested with light in more glorious raiment than the lilies. Such knowledge as this lies open to the way-faring man; it grows in every field, and meets us in all our paths. And it is the most important knowledge that the wisest of men can pursue or gain; it is that which will make us wise unto salvation. [DR. JOHN TOTTIE.] SERMON CX. FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. A NEW CREATURE. GAL. vi. 15.——————In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision: but a new creature. [Text taken from the Epistle for the Day.] To explain the new creation, it will be requisite to begin with the old. God created man in his own image,' [Gen. i. 27.] holy and pure: and unquestionably furnished him with sufficient powers and motives to continue such. But by his miserable fall, he became prone to sin, as well as mortal. The unhappy disorders, which he had thus introduced into his own frame, he must of consequence transmit, as an hereditary disease, to his posterity: and as men grow up, instead of correcting their bad inclinations, they never fail to cherish them, if left to their own ways; by which means they become worse of course. This inward condition of man, under the full effects of his first parents' transgression, answers too exactly, and yet more after the addition of his own personal guilt, to that account in the beginning of the history of the old creation: And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.' [Gen. i. 2.] But it follows: And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.' [Ver. 3.] Thus the human soul, in the above-mentioned state, is unformed and disorderly, void of reason and rule, gloomy and comfortless; till God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,' [2 Cor. iv. 6.] shine upon the dismal chaos, and produce in it new appearances and views of things; till he bring forth order from confusion, and form again in the heart the illuminating image of his own holy nature, through the ministry, interposition, and merits, of his Son Jesus Christ. But to be admitted into this regenerate state, and to be grafted by baptism into the body of Christ's Church, will avail us nothing, finally, unless we live suitably to the laws of it. And as, in the natural world, God's preservation of things hath often been called a continual creation of them; so in the moral, the same notion is more evidently right. The complete sense, therefore, of the gospel-creation comprehends, not only the giving of spiritual life at first, but supporting it in us afterwards. And we shall find the whole of our religious being, as well as the beginning of it, to deserve the name of the new creature on two accounts: I. Of the power of God necessary to it. II. Of the change in man's condition, made by it. I. Of the power of God, necessary to it. Now this power he hath exerted, not only by giving us originally the light of reason and conscience, and superadding to this the directions and motives of external revelation, but by inwardly operating on our hearts through his Spirit, exciting and forming us to piety and virtue, and restraining us from transgression, in such a manner, that whatever good we perform, and whatever evil we avoid, not we by our own strength do it, but the grace of God, which is with us:' [1 Cor. xv. 10.] by grace we are saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God: for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works.' [Eph. ii. 8, 10.] This doctrine the scripture throughout teaches. We know not, indeed, how God influences our minds: for we know not how he doth anything. But assisting his fallen and weak creatures is so worthy of him; and the belief of that assistance is so productive of thankfulness and love, humility and pious resolution; that surely we must admit it on his plain testimony: and we can hardly lay too great a stress upon it, provided we are careful not to pervert it, either into a plea for our own negligence, or an imputation upon his justice. If we imagine ourselves absolutely incapable of doing anything towards our reformation from sin, or improvement in goodness; we excuse those, who become and continue wicked, as having no means given them to act otherwise: we charge their guilt upon God, for withholding such means from them; and make it unjust in him to punish them for the worst things they do.. For no punishment is just, where there is no fault; and it can be no fault to behave, as we never could help behaving. Besides, all the commands and exhortations of scrip ture, all its earnest reasonings and affectionate expostulations, have for their ground-work, the supposition, that man is able, as he chooses, either to receive the grace of God, which bringeth salvation;' [Tit. ii. 11.] or, generally speaking, to reject it. We own, the spiritual creation, as well as the natural, is in appearance wholly ascribed to God in some places of holy writ; but, in appearance also, wholly ascribed to man in others: as, 'Make you a new heart, and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel!' [Ezekiel xviii. 31.] And we are to understand the various texts of scripture consistently; not to stretch figurative expressions, till we force them to contradict literal ones, and evident reason too. Else if we conclude, that because the wicked are described as 'dead in sins,' [Eph. ii. 1.] they can take no step towards good; we must conclude also, that, because the religious and virtuous are described as 'dead to sin,' [Rom. vi. 2.] they can take no step towards evil, which the very best of us all know to be false. And likewise, if we argue thus, we must condemn or misinterpret many clear passages of the New Testament, besides particularly that of St. Paul. Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.' [Eph. v. 14.] Still we readily grant, that nothing of this can be done otherwise, than by the strength, which God furnishes but he furnishes to every one, that hears the gospel, strength sufficient. The true scripture-doctrine therefore is, that divine grace enables and excites men to do their duty: that some wilfully refuse to be guided by it, and fall; while others concur with it, and work out their own salvation, God working in them both to will and to do.' [Philip. ii. 12, 13.] But, : II. Our Christian life is also called a new creation, to express in a strong manner, how greatly our condition is changed. by it for the better: according to that of the Apostle, 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.' [2 Cor. v. 17.] But here again, we must guard against mistakes. It is not true, that in strictness of speech, fallen man hath originally no principle of what is right, left in him. If the whole was lost by the fall, somewhat hath, by the general grace of God, been restored since. For, though St. Paul saith, In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,' [Rom. vii. 18.] yet he saith of the same person, quickly after, 'I delight in the law of God after the inward man.' [Rom. vii. 22.] And he supposes even the Gentiles to do, in some cases, in some measure, the things contained in the law.' [Rom. ii. 14.] Indeed experience proves, that notorious sinners have often a considerable mixture of worthy dispositions. We are not therefore to look on those dreadful pictures, which the sacred writers draw, of the most depraved of the heathen, as being just representations, without abatement, of the natural state of all mankind. But, however, that state is undoubtedly a bad one; destitute of sufficient strength, unentitled to pardon of sin, to supplies of grace, to reward of obedience: till God, in the covenant of baptism, affords us relief in all these respects; and so translates us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son.' [Col. i. 13.] Here then begins our new creation or birth: and our remaining concern is, to behave as dutiful children to our heavenly Father; and by using the prescribed means of spiritual growth, be careful to arrive at fulness of stature and strength in Christ. The first creation was not completed in a moment, but gradually finished in the space of six days: after which, Adam was left to cultivate the garden, that God had planted. The second hath no certain time prescribed it but advances faster or slower, with fewer or more frequent interuptions, to greater or less perfection, according as men lay hold on, or neglect, the assistances always ready for them. Some are trained up,' and walk from the first, in the way wherein they should go:' [Prov. xvii. 6.] and though guilty of many small errors, through infirmity and surprise, yet, avoiding great and wilful deviations, they advance continually to a happy end of their journey. Now these cannot well perceive any sudden change in the condition of their souls; for their improvement is usually very gradual: much less any change in it from bad to good; for it hath always been good from their earliest acquaintance with it. Too many indeed may imagine this falsely but others through God's mercy, may know it to be true, that they have always lived religiously, from genuine Christian principles. Like Timothy, they have known the holy scriptures from children, which are able VOL. II. Q |