"There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly said. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore, I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace1."

Were I to add any thing to this gracious discourse, it would but weaken its effect. Here we have our Lord's full testimony that our heavenly Creditor freely, unconditionally offers forgiveness to his debtors; that this free mercy generates love in the objects of it in proportion as conscience shows them the depth of their need of it; and that love will delight to manifest itself by costly, painful services to him, who

1 Luke, ch. vii.

thus commendeth his love towards us. Here I leave the argument. Art thou desirous on the great day of separation to be numbered by the King with this penitent woman, rather than with the Pharisee? to hear from his lips those transporting words, "Thy sins are forgiven; thy faith hath saved thee; enter into peace?" Turn then a willing ear to the invitation now addressed to thee; approach him in faith and earnest desire to receive the good things he bountifully offers: "open thy mouth wide, and he will fill it." He requests thee to "buy without money and without price." But remember the terrible alternative. His servant now bids you to the great supper, of which the Sacrament celebrated last Sunday is both a type and a foretaste; if you make light of it, as by far the most numerous part of the Congregation made light of God's feast spread before your eyes on that occasion, you will not stand excused, because you plead worldly business and engagements. He will count you unworthy of it, he will sware in his wrath, none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

SERMON III.

THE NEW BIRTH.

TRINITY SUNDAY.

JOHN iii. 3.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

NICODEMUS, a master of Israel, that is, one whose office and duty it was to instruct the people, applied in private to our blessed Lord, to learn the important truths which he came to teach. He prefaced his request with a full acknowledgment that the miracles wrought by Jesus were a proof that God had sent him; we are therefore bound to believe that he approached this heavenly Teacher in the simplicity and sincerity of his heart. Such a man could not apply in vain to him whom the Father had sent to enlighten the world, and who never cast out one soul that approached him in faith. The doctrine, then, which Jesus preached to him, not only must be true, but it must be of the first import

ance. It is intended to set Nicodemus right in the very beginning of his course, to lay the foundation on which the divine building of true religion could be built. Let us then consider it with the reverence and attention due to that teacher, who came from God; and let us pray that Blessed Spirit, by whose agency we are begotten again to spiritual life, that he would make the word of God effectual to the renewing of our sinful souls. For myself I approach the subject with some distrust and irresolution. Not because I doubt in what the essence of true religion consists, or that I do not cordially believe that a mighty change must take place in the heart of man before he can please God; but because this doctrine has been deformed by the extravagancies of enthusiasm on the one hand, and deadened by the cold interpretations of an heartless profession of religion on the other; I fear therefore lest some of my expressions should be misunderstood, as if they encouraged either perversion of the truth. We will pay close attention to the words of Jesus with the persuasion that we cannot err materially while we adhere to them in their plainest sense; we will also refer to other parts of the word of God which will effectually guard our interpretation from serious error.

We find that Nicodemus was surprised and puzzled by our Lord's declaration; and that Jesus repeated it with the same solemn introduction, Verily, verily," but in some degree varying his expression. We must therefore take both the 3d

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and 5th verses as conveying the same doctrine,

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Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," and "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." To be "born of water and of the Spirit" then is the same thing as being "born again;" and "seeing" the kingdom of God is the same with "entering into" it. But what is this kingdom of God, whose approach Christ was then preaching? Not that future state of glory, to which we look forward in faith and hope; at least, if we are to consider future glory as a distinct and separate state from admission into Christ's Church on earth. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the Son of God, is that blessed society of all the true sons and servants of God, into which we are admitted during this our earthly pilgrimage; of which holy Church we must be members, otherwise we can never partake of the future glory prepared for it. Our Lord positively tells us in this chapter, that our entrance into the kingdom of God by regeneration or new birth is an "earthly thing," that is, a thing that takes place on earth, and contrasts it, as an elementary truth, with those heavenly mysteries which in the following part of the chapter he lays open to Nicodemus and to us.

We proceed then to inquire what is that mighty change here below, which takes place in every disciple of Jesus, before he can see the kingdom of God, that is, before he can really and substantially