Word. And the Psalmist's prayer, "Open thou mine eyes," recognises the necessity of divine influence; but when he adds, " that I may see wonderful things out of thy law," divine truth, as revealed in the Word, is also recognised as the means of his instruction. These two-the sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth—are equally essential, and the one must not be allowed to supersede or exclude the other.

Having premised these general observations, let us now conceive the case of a soul that belongs as yet to the world, or to the class of unbelieving men, and consider the way in which, through the agency of the Spirit of God, he is translated into the other class, and made a living member of his Church. This transition occurs at the time of his conversion; and the process by which it is effected may differ in different cases, in respect to some of its concomitant circumstances, but essentially and substantially it consists in his being brought to believe the truth, so as to comply with, and embrace the method of salvation which is proposed to him in the Gospel. And in order to this, there are three distinct steps or stages by which the Spirit of God leads a sinner to the Saviour, which are described and placed in their natural order in the Shorter Catechism, where we read, that "Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ for salvation, as he is freely offered to us in the Gospel." The first part of the Spirit's work, in order to a

sinner's conversion, is "to convince him of his sin and misery," and especially of his guilt and danger as an unbeliever, living hitherto without Christ, and therefore without God and without hope in the world. This is expressly declared by the Saviour to be part of the Spirit's work : "He shall reprove the world of sin of sin, because they believe not in me." It does not suit my present purpose to describe the nature of conviction, or to give a detailed account of the sinner's experience under it; that will fall to be considered hereafter. In the meantime, I would only offer an outline of the whole process by which a sinner is translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son; and show, in regard to each of the stages of that process, the place which it holds, and its indispensable necessity, in order to saving conversion. Conviction occupies the first place; for it is by convicting that the Spirit converts; but when it is thus used, the term must be understood in a large and comprehensive sense, as including a great deal more than is usually implied in mere remorse on account of sin. It is chiefly of their sin, because they do not believe in Christ, and of their misery and danger as Christless sinners, that the Spirit convicts transgressors for the whole work of conviction, as well as the work of illumination and persuasion, has reference to CHRIST as the great subject of the Spirit's witness. It is important to bear this in mind; for many, under the mere natural operation of conscience, are sensible, at least occasionally, of very bitter and poignant remorse, when they have never seriously thought of

Christ, or felt their need of a Saviour, whereas the conviction which is spoken of in the Gospel has a direct relation to Christ, and implies not only a sense of guilt on the conscience, but a sense of the sin and misery of remaining in a Christless state. It presupposes, therefore, some general knowledge of Christ and the Gospel, as well as a sense of guilt, and a feeling of remorse; and it cannot be produced without an impression being first made on the mind of the certain truth, and the awful authority, and the transcendent importance of the Gospel. In this comprehensive sense, conviction presupposes some measure of the enlightening grace of the Spirit--imparting a general view of the truth as it is in Jesus, and enabling the mind to perceive the divine evidence of that truth, so as to feel that it is deeply criminal in slighting or rejecting it; and when it is said, therefore, that in the order of nature and experience, conviction is the first part of the Spirit's work, or the first stage in that process by which he brings a sinner to the Saviour, it is not meant that the Spirit operates directly and only on the conscience, so as to awaken in it a sense of sin, but that he operates on the conscience by imparting such light to the understanding as reaches the conscience, and quickens its perception, and enables it to see and feel that there is sin and danger in not believing on Christ. Such conviction embraces, indeed, the guilt of every sin; and the Spirit recalls to the recollection of the transgressor many sins, both of omission and commission, which he had long overlooked or forgotten; for at that solemn hour God says

to him, "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in order before thy face;" and when his transgressions start up, and pass in dark array before him, he is surprised and startled by the discovery of their number, and magnitude, and manifold aggravations,insomuch, that he is ready to exclaim with the Psalmist, "My transgressions have gone up over mine head, and have become a burden too heavy for me.” Any one sin may thus become the occasion of conviction; and it is by revealing sin to the conscience that the Spirit awakens it; but conviction is not complete, nor is it effectual as a means towards conversion, unless it amount to a persuasion, that without Christ our case is desperate, and that we have sinned, as in other respects, so in this especially, because we have not believed in him.

No man ever thinks of going to a physician until he feels that there is disease upon him he may be diseased, and that mortally, but till he knows and believes that he is so he seeks not for a remedy. No man cries for a deliverer, until he believes himself to be in danger he may be in danger, and yet be ignorant of it, and his danger is often greatest when he is least alarmed; but until he knows his danger, he has no desire for deliverance. Just so, the sinner is diseased; but he will never repair to Christ as a physician, till he knows that Christ only is the Physician of souls. The sinner is in danger, but never will he flee to Christ for refuge, until he is convinced, that without Christ he must perish.

To some this may appear a very easy matter, and one that requires no supernatural agency, since all men will readily admit that they are sinners, and the natural light of conscience itself may appear to be sufficient, especially when combined with the light of the Word, to convince them of their danger. But, easy as it may seem, I apprehend that this is the very stage at which the Divine Spirit meets with the stoutest resistance, and at which the sinner is most resolutely blind to the plainest lessons of the Word. For why is it that so many are found in every congregation, who have listened for years to a faithful ministry, and have become familiar with the joyful sound, while they remain utterly unconcerned about the salvation of their souls, and have never experienced, never even sought after the relief which the Gospel offers ?-why but that they have never been convinced of their sin and misery, or at least that they have never been so convinced, as to feel that, without Christ, they must perish? It is indeed an easy thing to say, as many do, that they are weak, frail creatures, or to admit in general terms what conscience itself forbids them to deny, that they are sinners; but it is no easy and no pleasant thing for any man to open his eyes, and to look fairly and fully on his own condition and character, as it is exhibited in the light of God's Word, or as one day he shall see it at the judgment-seat of Christ. Such a view of himself would mortify his pride and alarm his fears; and hence he takes refuge in certain general confessions, which have little or no meaning, and which leave his pride unmor