of his &ut.hority snd of hie acceptance with the Father. Ho roee ae the Mediator and the Representati'l'e &nd the Forerunner of his people. TI. 'l'HE Al'PLTOATION OF THIii PRINOIPLE IS SEOUBED BY THE OPERATIONB OF THlll HoLl: SPIRIT. The Church professes, in the ancient Creed, to "believe in the Holy Ghost., the Lord and Giver of life." Without tho influences of the Divine Spirit, the moral results secured by Christianity could not have been realized. Like the sunshine and the showers of spring, the Holy Spirit, by his descent e.nd by his shining, fertilizes the ba.rren soil of humanity. Like the breath which came from the foul' winds, and breathed upon the slain so that they lived, is the influence which awakens the dead bones of the valley, and makes of them an exceeding great army. All spiritual life is evoked and sustained by the living Spirit of God. Ill. TJm PRINOIPLE REVEALS ITSELF IN THR NEWNESS OF INDmDUAL LIFE wmoH 19 THE DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN OHARACTER, The transforming power of the new faith was at once revealed, and has ever continued to be revealed, in the heart and life of the individuals who have received Christ. The former state, the state of heathenism and irreligiousne.ss, the state of sensuality, or worldliness, or unbelief, may well be desig- nated, and by the inspired writers was designated," death." And the contrast between that and the state of fellowship with God and of obedience to Christ could not be more strikingly described than in the la.nguage of the text," Life from the dead." It is nothing less than this that Christianity is intended to effect-a change moral, radical, enensive, and enduring. IV. 'l'BE PRINCIPLE 16 lllll,"'IFESTED ON A LARGEB, A SOCIAL SCALE. It is thus that it is represented in the terl as operating; it effects a transformation in human society. To many cities and communities in the primitive times, the religion of the Lord Jesus proved an impulse of regeneration. And by it ancient society seems to have been sa,ed from threatening corruption and dissolution. When death was to all appearance imminent., the gospel entered into the heart of humanity as a new vital principle, renewing that which was old, he.a.ling that which was sick, and reviving that which was dead. It is still the one, the only, hope for a race " dead in trespasses and sins." \. Tmt PRINCIPLE WILL BE EXDlPLIFIED IN TBE ETERNAL LIFE OF QHBIBT'S PEOPLE. Both the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and that transformation of spiritual charact.er which is called" the :first resurrection," are the pledge and earnest of the immortal life of the Lord's people. It is distinctive of our religion that it holds out a definite and assared prospect of a life beyond the present-a life holy, imperishable, and Divine. The prospect of bright and blessed immortality has strengthened the arms of every true Christian labourer, and has cheered the heart of every Christian sufferer, It has been the joy of the living and the hope of the dying. Al'PLICATIO:S. L The words are a summons to the spiritually dead. There is life in Christ even for such. 2. They are an encouragement to Christian toil. Those who in their service of benevolence are oppressed by the deadness which encounters them, should recur to :first principles, and consider the purposes of infinite grace and power, and the promises of spiritual revival 3. They are a consolation and inspiration to Christians when drawing near to the death of the body.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vem. 1-10.-Israd not utterly f'ejt-ded. Here the apostle, refl.ecting on the dis- obedience of the grea.t majority of the Jewish people, and their consequent rejection, returns to the thought already expreued (eh. iL 27), that "a remnant shall be saved." He himself is a living proof, he says, that God bath not utterly cast away hie people. "For I 1W10 am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin" (ver. 1). But those who have been rejected have suffered the jUBt and natural punishment of their own unbelief. Two practical lessons are here taught. I. A w ARNING TO THE UNCHARITABLE, Even in the most corrupt Churches there may be true believers. This leuon is practically illustrated by Elijah's mistaken or exaggerated view of the state of Israel in hi~ time. "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my lifo. But what la.it.h t,he IUIIWer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself ,even thousand on, xr. 1-86.J THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS.