and convinced of sin, by the Holy Spirit, we ask, like the jailor at Philippi, "what shall we do to be saved?" Probably in all cases, the first idea which occurs to the mind, is, that we must do something, in order that we may in some way merit or earn the salvation which we want. The self-righteous spirit is instinct in man, and immediately rises, to propose its own method of relief. The performance of some particular duty, the hearing of some preacher, the reading of some book, the new obedience of life to come, or our grief and sorrow for life past, all severally occur to the mind, as a price for the blessing we need, or as a reason and method for future hope. It is often long, before we are willing to trust ourselves wholly to the free and sovereign grace of God, and the entirely finished salvation of Christ, as the foundation of all our confidence and joy. But the salvation which the Gospel provides, is wholly of grace, both as flowing from the original unmerited favour and mercy of God the Father, and as applied by the divine and special power of the Holy Ghost. The Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. The Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ, and shews them unto men; and by his new creating power, enables them to receive him and to believe in him, unto life everlasting. The first aspect of the text declares salvation as the gift of grace, to the entire exclusion of human merit. The second proclaims the application of this gift, by the power of grace, to the equal exclusion of the power of man. These two points we shall distinctly consider.

1." By grace are ye saved," in the free exercise of divine mercy, shutting out every thought of human works or deservings. Indeed the idea of merit in a fallen and imperfect being is in itself entirely absurd. Consider the condition of our first parents, after their disobedience to God. What could they do, to recommend themselves to the favour of the God against whom they had offended? I will not ask, what they could do

to merit the gift of God's dear Son,-and the influences of his Holy Spirit upon their hearts, for it is obvious that no thought of the possibility of such a method of restoration, could by any means have entered into their minds. But what single personal act, or service could they render to God, for which he should be induced to pardon their disobedience and restore them to his favour? Or, what can the fallen angels now do, to restore the image and favour of God to themselves? They are surely as capable of earning their salvation, if a sinful being may ever earn it, as is any unconverted sinner on earth. But if it should be said, that though man could not originally earn salvation for himself, yet since God has mercifully bestowed a Saviour upon man, we must be expected to do something to deserve his favour, or by some service, to repay him for his kindness; I ask, what can we do? "What have we, that we have not received?" "Without him, we can do nothing." And if the bestowal of his grace, must precede every good act in us, it is evident, that we can do nothing to deserve it. We are wholly dependant upon God's sovereign pleasure, for the ability both to will and to do. The first gift of a Saviour sprang from God's unmerited love, and so must our salvation by him in all its parts. We have nothing to offer him. All our sufficiency is of God; and whatever we render him, we only give him that which is his own.

T'he Gospel opens to us therefore, a salvation perfectly free. It has provided every thing which our souls can want. And having made such abundant provisions, it asks us to receive them all without money and without price. They are provisions of grace, which are clogged with no conditions. You are to accept the whole, as the gift of God to those who are perishing, and thus they become your own forever. Neither the depth of previous guilt nor the extreme weakness and corruption of your nature, forms any difficulty. Salvation is as freely offered to the pirate in his dungeon, as to the man

who is in the morality of his conduct, not far from the kingdom of God. Whosoever will, may take a blessing, which is offered to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and to which man can add nothing, and for which man has nothing to give. In making this free offer of mercy, the Gospel does not ask what you have been, or what you have done. It addresses you as the chief of sinners, as crimsoned with the stains of guilt; and presents the full glories of its finished and perfect salvation, as freely to one, as to another, asking nothing but an humble and thankful acceptance of the gift. The whole work of merit has been finished; and the whole offer of it is free and simple.

2. But how shall you obtain this gift? How shall it be applied personally to your souls? The text answers you with equal distinctness, "by grace ye are saved." The Holy Ghost must come upon you, and the power of the Highest must overshadow you, that you may be created anew, and led in entire self-renunciation, to embrace the offers which are thus freely made. The Spirit of God, gives a real conviction of sin; a godly sorrow for sin; a true repentance from sin; and leads you to the Saviour who is revealed as your atonement, and righteousness, for forgiveness and peace. He bestows upon you that new heart and new nature, which are promised in the covenant which God has made and proclaimed in the Gospel. His power is all-sufficient; and every step which is taken, in the way of life, is the working of his mighty power. When you are dead in sins, he awakens you to spiritual life. While you are infirm and feeble, he strengthens and sustains you, with new communications of strength. He refreshes you with the living water that flows from Christ the fountain; and feeds you with the living bread, which is Christ the gift of God. From the first hour, to the last, of your spiritual life, by the grace of God, you are what you are. There is no dependance placed in human power. Your own wisdom, strength, or

you and God, so far as the purposes and mind of God are concerned. It has rendered God's purposes of love to you, perfectly consistent with the holiness, justice, and faithfulness of his own character. It has met the denunciations of the offended law. It has satisfied the utmost claims of the Divine majesty. It has done every thing which was necessary, to save you from your lost and ruined state. And having opened a perfect and sufficient way of rescue for you, from the everlasting punishment of sin, and a full and glorious entrance into the kingdom of God, it offers to all of you, its abundant means of spiritual cleansing and healing. You are complete in him.

2. For the unholiness and depravity of your souls,—your hostility to God, and your inability to return to him, the Gospel proclaims an adequate relief, in the influence and power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the blessed Trinity, whom the Saviour sends to dwell in every heart that will receive him, as an everlasting comforter and guide. It is his work to bring back your affections to God, and to restore to you the image of divine holiness. He delivers you from your native enmity to God, by taking away from you, the evil heart of unbelief, and giving to you a cheerful and grateful submission to the will, and the plans of God. He supplies the defects of your entire incapacity to do good, by renewing you through his own power, and leading you both to will and to do, according to his good pleasure. He reveals the Saviour's excellence and attractions to your mind, and makes you to love, and to desire, the things of Christ.

Your personal inability to turn to God and live, though it be the direct result of sin, and no original weakness of your unfallen nature, is an entire inability. You are wholly destitute of a desire or power to prepare yourselves by good works for a return to God. You are dead in your sins. In this state the Spirit of Christ comes to you, to bring the knowledge of

his salvation. He quickens you by his divine power-that power which raised Christ himself from the g egrave. He shews you the extent of your wants and dangers. He humbles you under a consciousness of them. He stirs you up to cry after God. He gives you a godly sorrow for sin. He reveals the fulness of a Saviour's power, and the glory of his finished work, to your view. He enables you to exercise faith in him, and to receive him in your heart, as your hope of glory, with joyful confidence, in all the offices which he sustains for you. He fills you with love to Christ, and constrains you to devote yourselves to him. He gives you ability to mortify the indwelling power of sin, and to honour the Lord whom you now serve, in a holy conversation. He transforms you more and more entirely after the image of Christ, and renders you meet to become partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. The Holy Spirit is thus the divine agent in applying personally to your souls, the perfect and all-sufficient redemption which the Son of God has wrought out for you; and thus under the gracious provisions of the Gospel, you have access through Jesus Christ, by one Spirit unto the Father.

In the means of deliverance which the Gospel thus provides for you, it accomplishes its one grand object, "to seek and to save, that which is lost." The outward difficulties in the way of your salvation, the Gospel removes, in the proclamation of God the Son, as a sacrifice and righteousness for you. The inward difficulties, arising in yourselves, it equally removes, by the offer of God the Spirit, as a sanctifier and new creator of your souls. When you were all without strength, Christ died for the ungodly, and thus came to seek and to save, a world which was lost. While you are individually dead in sins, the Holy Spirit comes as the gift of Christ to apply to your souls, the work which he has finished, and to seek and to save you personally, from your lost estate. These are the means of deliverance which the Gospel provides for sinners

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