received amongst the objects of worship which the Romans venerated; and his religion, instead of being universally proscribed, would have been judged worthy of general respect. But the Apostles were commanded to preach the Gospel every where, as requiring an exclusive regard; and to enforce it with this authoritative declaration, that all who believed and embraced it should be saved, but that all who embraced it not should be damned."* Its doctrines were inculcated as so sacred, that "if even an angel from heaven should attempt to establish any position contrary to them, he should be held accursed." This inflexible spirit pervades the whole of our religion, so far as it relates to its fundamental truths. Every man must yield to it at his peril: and not to those parts only which are commended to us by our reason, but to those parts also which depend entirely on revelation, and to which reason is constrained to bow. Not to mention innumerable other passages which partake of this unbending character, I will take that which forms the subject of our present series: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Here is a declaration

* Mark xvi. 16.

+ Gal. i. 8, 9.

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so broad, so explicit, so determinate, as to admit of no qualification, no exception whatever. To it every child of man must submit; and "whoever shall stumble over it as a rock of offence, shall be broken; and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."* ing for granted that you have, agreeably to my request, examined carefully for yourselves my text in connexion with the context, and that you see my interpretation of it to be correct, (for "the Spirit of Christ," mentioned in my text, cannot by any possibility be understood as meaning the disposition of Christ,) I proceed, with all humility, to the further consideration of the awful truth which I have undertaken to develop.

Now, whether we could show the reasonableness of this declaration or not, it would be our bounden duty to receive it with implicit confidence, and to regard it as the avowed and unalterable determination of the Most High. But I think it may be clearly shown, that this is by no means an arbitrary appointment, resulting merely from the sovereign will of God. It appears to be rather a declaration founded on

* Matt. xxi. 44:

the actual state of man as a fallen creature. When man was in his primeval state of holiness, he was in himself complete, and needed neither a Saviour to work out a redemption for him, nor the Holy Spirit to apply that redemption to him. But, as a fallen creature, he stands in need of both. A Redeemer is necessary for him, that he may be brought back to God; and the gift of the Holy Spirit is necessary for him, in order that he may come to Christ aright, and find acceptance with God through Christ. This need of the Spirit's influence is the part of my subject which I am now called to unfold; and I pray God, that, whilst I address myself to it with all Christian fidelity, "the word may come to every soul amongst you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance."*

Let me however first, in few words, repeat what we mean, when we say, that men must "have" the Spirit of Christ; for, unless we have definite ideas upon that subject, we can never fully comprehend the point which we are endeavouring to set before you.

* 1 Thess. i. 5.

It is obvious that the possession of the Spirit, which is here spoken of, must be somewhat very different from any natural or acquired endowment, since we may possess every thing which constitutes us rational and accountable beings, and yet not be Christ's; whilst on the other hand, however defective we may, in other respects, be, the possession of it will infallibly prove us to belong to Christ. If it be asked, What does this possession of the Spirit import? I answer, It is, as I showed in my last, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls, as his temple, and his operating in us, as a quickening and influential principle of life.

That point being determined, we shall proceed, agreeably to the plan before laid down, to show,

II. Why the possessing of that Spirit is necessary to our being Christ's accepted followers. For the elucidation of this, there are three points to be established; namely:—first, That all our faculties are impaired by sin; next, That, without an entire renovation of them, Christ can never accept or acknowledge us as his: and, lastly, That none but the Spirit of

Christ can ever accomplish in us this necessary work. These points being established, the reasonableness, no less than the certainty, of God's declaration in my text, will appear, to the conviction of every gainsayer, and to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced mind.

First, then, let it be remembered, That all our faculties are impaired by sin.

It is clear, that we are not now such as we were when we first came out of our Creator's hands. We were created, originally, "after God's own image." Our mind was in perfect accordance with his mind, and our will with his will. There was not so much as a thought of our hearts which did not emanate from him, and had not respect to his glory. Our bodies were every way fitted to aid the soul in all its operations. Not an inclination, affection, or appetite, existed in us, but in perfect unison with the proper offices of the soul, and in subserviency to its dictates. Man's whole delight was in God alone. As far as his happiness was in any respect dérived from the creature, it was God in the

Gen. i. 26: