I. How God teaches men; and,

II. Why those whom he teaches come to Christ.

I. Let us consider how God teaches men. The inspired writer evidently supposes that God teaches in a manner different from all other teachers. The works of God and the creatures of God may be said to teach, but yet they do not teach like God himself. He has a peculiar way of teaching, which is superior to all other teaching. To be taught of God is something very different from being taught of men. So Christ intimated to Peter, when he acknowledged his divinity. "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." The question then which still lies before us, is, How does God himself teach mankind? To this I answer,

1. He teaches them by bringing divine and invisible objects near to them. Men have the power of describing, but not of presenting divine and spiritual objects to the mind. Men are naturally disposed to put these objects far away out of their sight. If they think of God and of invisible and eternal realities, they do not realize their relation to them, and connection with them; but view them as objects at a great distance, with which they have little or no concern. But when God teaches men concerning himself, he draws near to them, and draws them near to himself, so that they cannot help realizing his being and presence. And when he teaches them concerning things unseen and eternal, he makes them realize that there is such a place as heaven, and such a place as hell, and that they stand upon the verge of eternity, and know not how soon they may be called into it. Men may describe the divine perfections, but God can show them to sinners. He can bring his power, his wisdom, his justice, his sovereignty, and his mercy so near to them, as to make them feel their reality and weight from day to day and from week to week. Men may describe the righteousness, holiness and goodness of the divine law. But God can bring it home to the conscience, and cause sinners to realize the infinite weight and authority of its awful sanctions. He can make them sensible that it is a living law of the ever living God, which never has been repealed or abated, but stands in full force, and clothed with all the authority of the supreme Sovereign of the universe. Men can describe the vanity of the world, and all its enjoyments. But God can show sinners the world just as it is, in comparison with the great objects of eternity, and cause them to realize that it is vanity of vanities, and lighter than a feather in contrast with eternity. Men can describe the heart and lives of sinners; but God can turn their attention inward, and make them see their hearts and lives in all their criminality and ill desert. They.

naturally overlook themselves, and are strangers to their hearts and the nature of their conduct. But when God teaches them, he makes them realize the corruption of their hearts, and the criminality of their lives.

2. God teaches men, by operating upon their minds, as well as by bringing divine objects near to their view. He does both these things at once. While he brings divine objects near, he opens all the powers and faculties of their minds to attend to them. He opens their understanding to perceive clearly the truths and objects he presents to their view. As he opened the understanding of the two disciples to understand Christ's teaching, so he opens the understandings of sinners, whom he teaches the truth concerning his own character, law, and government. He makes them understand what he has said concerning himself, and concerning themselves, in his word. He causes them to realize that he is what he has said he is, and that they are what he has said they are; that he is just in requiring them to love and serve him, and that they are guilty in refusing to love and serve him; that they stand condemned by the law they have broken, and are constantly exposed to deserved destruction. He opens their understanding to perceive the full meaning of these great and solemn truths which they had often heard, but never clearly understood and regarded. He not only enlightens their understanding, but awakens their conscience to do its office; and teaches them what is right and what is wrong, what is duty and what is sin. He takes away the mists and clouds which their corrupt heart had thrown over their conscience, and makes it speak with authority, in approving and condemning according to truth. Thus he awakened the conscience of the malefactor on the cross, who had long remained stupid and blind to his own character and condition. His conscience constrained him to feel and say that he deserved both temporal and eternal death. Those who had resisted the light and truth which Christ had exhibited before them by his miracles, and by his conversation and preaching, were taught of God to see and feel their danger and guilt, by a divine influence upon their understanding and conscience. God awakened their conscience, which condemned them for their aggravated guilt in crucifying the Lord of glory, of whose person, character and gracious design, they had been voluntarily and criminally ignorant. After Paul had blindly and obstinately resisted the knowledge of Christ and of himself, God enlightened his understanding, and awakened his conscience, to know and feel the truth respecting Christ and himself; which threw him into the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. But after God

has thrown light into the understanding, and conviction into the conscience of sinners, he more effectually teaches them by operating on their heart. He has their heart in his hand, and can turn it whithersoever he pleases. When he teaches them savingly, he opens their heart to attend to and receive divine truth, as he opened the heart of Lydia. He gives them a wise and understanding heart. He gives them a spiritual discerning of spiritual things. He gives them a heart to know him. Or, as it is expressed in another place, he gives them eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to perceive. He takes away a stony heart, and gives them a heart of flesh. He who commanded the light to shine out of darkness at first, shines in their heart, to give them the light of the knowledge of his own glory as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. The opening of the heart is the most effectual method of teaching sinners. When their heart is opened, all their other powers will do their office, and nothing is necessary for their farther instruction, but the exhibition of divine truth from time to time. When this is done, they hear and learn of the Father all that is necessary to prepare and dispose them to come to Christ. I now proceed to show,

II. Why those that are taught of God do come to Christ. They always do come to him. The scripture abounds with instances of such persons coming to Christ. The penitent and divinely taught malefactor immediately cast his eye and his heart upon Christ, and sincerely embraced him as an all sufficient Saviour. The three thousand who were taught of God on the day of Pentecost, cordially embraced their crucified Redeemer. Cornelius, who had been taught of God, was ready to receive Christ as soon as he was preached to him. who had opposed and persecuted him, trusted in him for salvation as soon as he was taught of God. Those who have been taught of God have always been disposed to come to Christ for salvation. The question now is, Why do all such persons come to Christ? There are several plain and obvious reasons why they do this.

Paul,

1. Because they see their need of Christ. God teaches them their guilt and danger. He makes them see that they are not only exposed to eternal destruction, but justly deserve it. And this leads them to cry, "God be merciful to us sinners." But by being taught their own characters, and the character of God, they are fully convinced that no mercy can be found, out of Christ. God cannot be merciful to them in any other way than that he has devised and revealed in the gospel, through the atonement of Christ. Those who are not taught of God, refuse to come to Christ, because they see no need of coming to

him for pardoning mercy. They trust in themselves that they are righteous, and that their righteousness is sufficient to entitle them to pardon and acceptance with God. This is the representation which Christ gives of those who have not been taught of God, nor seen the plague of their own hearts, nor realized the sentence of condemnation which God has passed upon them. "The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Unrenewed and untaught sinners have neither seen God, nor his law, nor their own hearts, nor their perishing condition, in a true light. But those who are taught of God see all these things in a true light, and are fully convinced that salvation is to be found in Christ alone, and that there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby they can be saved. They feel themselves shut up to the faith. The law, which they have broken, is a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ, that they may be justified by faith. They cannot see how it is morally possible that God should be just, and yet justify any but those who come to Christ, and believe in him for salvation.

2. Those who are taught of God come to Christ, because they have become cordially reconciled to God and wish to enjoy his favor. The great obstacle in the way of merely awakened and convinced sinners' coming to Christ, is God himself. They are not willing to come to God penitently and submissively. They have strong objections against his character, his designs, his commands, and his terms of mercy. They are not willing that he should have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and require them to submit to his sovereignty, as an indispensable condition of receiving them into his favor. But those who are savingly taught of God are cordially reconciled to him, and heartily give up all their objections against his perfections, his designs, his commands, and his terms of mercy. All impediments of this kind are entirely removed. They have heard, and learned, and seen so much of the Father, as to love him supremely, and to submit to him unreservedly. They are so sensible of their sinfulness and ill desert in the sight of God, that they feel that he has a just right to save or destroy them for ever. They can adopt the prayer of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner." They are willing to return to God, whether he be willing to receive them, or not. They are reconciled to him, whether he be reconciled to them, or not. They feel towards God and themselves, as the prodigal son felt towards his father and himself. When he was taught of God, "he said to himself, How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have

sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father." He was so fully convinced of his father's rectitude, and of his own ill desert, that he could lay no claim upon his pardoning mercy, and could not ask his father to restore him fully to his favor. So those who have been taught of God are willing to return to him, and ardently desire his forgiving grace, while they renounce all claims to it, and acknowledge that they may be justly denied. Here the similitude fails; for the prodigal had no mediator; but those who are taught of God, and are reconciled to him, have a mediator, and therefore may submissively ask to be completely restored to the forfeited favor of their injured Sovereign, for the sake of Christ who has died for them, though not for their own sake. And being cordially reconciled to God the Father, they are willing to come to Christ, and rely upon his mediation and atonement, as the sole ground of their complete restoration to the divine favor. Besides,

3. Those who are taught of God will come to Christ, because Christ himself appears supremely amiable and precious. They have seen so much of God, and are so sincerely reconciled to him, that they are prepared to view Christ as the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person. Christ's love to his Father, to his law and government, and to perishing sinners, renders him the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely in their view. His divine and human excellences, and his mediatorial offices, all concur to unite them to him, as the branches are united to the vine. The teaching of the Father, by his effectual operations upon their understandings, their consciences and hearts, draws them to Christ, according to his own representation: "No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him." The Father draws those whom he has taught, in the day of his power, by making them willing to come to Christ. They are drawn, not by constraint, but by the cords of love. Their understandings, their consciences, and their hearts, are opened to see the truth and feel the force of the apostle's declarations in the third of Romans, concerning the necessity and propriety of sinners' coming to Christ for pardon and salvation. "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested-even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all