lie had just heard. He graciously helped his wondering mind by an illustration drawn from "the wind." A more beautiful and fitting illustration of the work of the Spirit it is impossible to conceive.
There is much about the wind that is mysterious and inexplicable. " Thou canst not tell," says our Lord, " whence it cometh and whither it goeth." We cannot handle it with our hands, or see it with our eyes. When the wind blows, we cannot point out the exact spot where its breath first began to be felt, and the exact distance to which its influence shall extend. But we do not on that account deny its presence. — It is just the same with the operations of the Spirit, in the new birth of man. They may be mysterious, sovereign, and incomprehensible to us in many ways. But it is foolish to stumble at them because there is much about them that we cannot explain.
But whatever mystery there may be about the wind, ita presence may always be known by its sou ad and effects. "Thou hearest the sound thereof," says our Lord. When our ears hear it whistling in the windows, and our eyes see the clouds driving before it, we do not hesitate to say, " There is wind." — It is just the same with the operations of the Holy Spirit in the new birth of man. Marvellous and incomprehensible as His work may be, it is work that can always be seen and known. The new birth is a thing that " cannot be hid." There will always be visible "fruits of the Spirit" in every one that is born of the Spirit.
Would we know what the marks of the new birth are ? —We shall find them already written for our learning in the First Epistle of St. John. The man born of God " believes that Jesus is the Christ," — " doth not commit sin," — "doeth righteousness," — "loves the brethren," — " overcomes the world," — " keepeth himself from the wicked one." — This is the man born of the Spirit ! Where these fruits are to be seen, there is the new birth of which