by the Spirit"? If any one think he can enjoy Christ by any power of his own, let him only make the experiment; let him retire to his closet for one hour, and say, ' I will spend this hour in the enjoyment of Christ; I will delight myself in him with my whole heart :' let him make the attempt, and he shall soon be undeceived by the most convincing of all argu- ments, his own experience : nor are we afraid to rest the whole argument upon the issue of such a trial. Nor can we enjoy Christ hereafter any more than we can in this world, if we be not prepared for it by the Spirit of God. There is a " meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light" which we must have, before we can find comfort in the presence of our Lord. What pleasure could we take in him whom we do not at all resemble ? " What communion could light have with darkness, or Christ with Belialx ?" We find that even now, when our corruptions are so restrained, one single hour is irksome, if spent in spiritual exercises ; and we may be sure we could not bear to be occupied without intermission to all eternity in those duties, for which we have no inclination, yea, from which we are most exceedingly averse.
But let one asseveration of the true and faithful Witness stand in lieu of ten thousand arguments ; Ye must be born again, says our Lord ; and that, not of water only, but of the Spirit; or else ye can never enter into the kingdom of Gody.]
We shall endeavour to improve this subject, 1. By a general inquiry —
[Have we the Spirit ; or are we yet destitute of his gra- cious influences? Some think this a needless inquiry, and one which cannot be satisfactorily resolved. But can we " be brought out of darkness into marvellous light," and be " turned from the power of Satan unto God," without knowing that we have experienced some change ? St. Paul supposes such ignorance to be inconsistent with saving conversion to God : he asks, " Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost2?" and again, " Know ye not how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates a?" Now here he not only declares that we are reprobates if we have not the Spirit of God, but considers this truth as known and acknow- ledged by all true Christians. Inquire then, whether you have been enlightened, renewed and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and whether you are yet daily experiencing his powerful operations? Let not this matter hang in suspense, lest you be found reprobates and sons of perdition, when you are fancying yourselves saints, and heirs of glory.]
« Rom. v. 5. x 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. y John iii. 5—7.
* 1 Cor. vi. 19. a 2 Cor. xiii. 5.