spirit its real nourishment and true life, and that he can consequently no longer rest upon such delusive supports; and besides this, painfully repents having so shamefully dishonoured and trifled with the image of his heavenly Father, and taken upon himself in its stead the image of Satan, and therefore acknowledges that he is entirely unworthy of being henceforth called his child; it is then that regeneration begins, although it is not regeneration itself.

Now, at such discoveries, at such inward sorrow, tribulation, and anguish, when the soul takes no more delight in itself and its vanities; it must resolve, with the prodigal son (whatever appearance it may present), to arise and go to the Father, and say, Father, I am not worthy to be called thy son.' Regeneration then proceeds further in the soul, namely, when the Holy Spirit, with his influences, finds more and more room in the soul, and instils good desires, good inclinations, good thoughts, and awakens in the individual a disgust at his evil and hateful sinful form. Now, when the soul stands still a little here, and at length resolves to resign itself by faith to Jesus, the seal is again im. pressed, and the heart no longer grieves the Holy Spirit, by whom it is sealed unto the day of redemption.

The sealing of the Holy Spirit, dearest friends! does not consist merely in experiencing some transient announcement, emotion, and touching of the heart. It is certainly an invaluable favour, that I feel even the smallest good thought in me; that I

have still the smallest good inclination and impression in my heart but still this is not the sealing of the Holy Spirit. When the individual is placed in the state of repentance, he experiences unquestionably the operation of the Holy Spirit in his heart; for he it is, who makes the man restless, troubled, and perplexed; and it is like a strong rope thrown to the man, which he must hold fast, if he desires to obtain the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

But something more is implied by the seal being really re-impressed upon the soul. It implies that the happy hour, the happy state is now attained, when the individual, in his deformity, and damnable nature, under the burden of his sins, turns most humbly and believingly to Christ, embraces him, as his one and his all, with a true denial, thorough and complete renunciation of self, the world, and all transitory things, so that he accepts Jesus alone for his Mediator and Saviour, and resigns himself to him and to his divine will, with body and soul; this is called, in the Scriptures, faith in Christ; and as soon as faith in Christ springs up, the seal of the Holy Spirit is impressed upon the soul.

We see that this is the case in this very epistle to the Ephesians, ch. i. 13, 14, where Paul says, "By whom ye also have heard the word of truth, to wit, the gospel of your salvation, by whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession," that is, when the man experiences the

happy hour, in which, with due consideration and sincerity of heart, he resolves, as far as he knows, to bid adieu to all sin, and renounce himself and the world, acknowledging and confessing himself before the tribunal and face of God, as a creature deserving condemnation, and resigning himself entirely, as he is, to Jesus Christ and his mercy, in order to be atoned for by his blood, sanctified by his Spirit, and prepared to become a child of God.

This is just the happy moment, in which a contract is made between Jesus and the soul. This alliance is not a mere human impotent idea, but is an alliance sealed by the Holy Spirit in the heart, and, so to speak, is deposited, as a sealed document, in the heavenly chancery, for an eternal memorial, From that hour, and as long as the soul continues firm to this contract, the Lord acknowledges her as his; she bears his image, his impress upon her; the sign is again hung out before the door, even as some great man causes his armorial bearings to be put up, over his door, in order that every one may know what great man lives there. As soon as an individual, in real heartfelt faith, has thus given himself to Jesus as his property, he immediately hangs up this sign before the door: "Here dwells a soul, which has given itself to Christ as his property, and therefore belongs entirely to him," according to that which the Apostle says in the above quoted first chapter of this epistle, "which is the earnest of our redemption until the purchased possession." The man is

then become the property of God, the property of Jesus Christ.

It is certainly true, that the seal of the Holy Spirit, on such a soul, is still very soft and delicate; the wax is not yet hardened; it may still be injured; it nevertheless really bears the divine image. Such an individual, I say, is regarded by Christ as belonging to him; but he must also regard himself as one, who is God's property; who has now renounced the strange spirit of the world and of darkness, and has paid homage to another monarch; he must now be desirous of being sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, whom he has received into his heart, to whom he has given full authority, from thenceforth, to reign within him, to love and suffer, to eradicate the evil, to implant that which is good, and increasingly to restore the first original image in him, which was lost in Adam. O what a happiness it is, when an individual experiences this happy hour! but if he has not yet experienced it, ought he not to devote every hour and every moment in order to experience

it?

Ought he not, every hour and every moment, to ask himself the question, How do I stand with my God? Whose image do I bear?' On that day, it will certainly not be asked, how wast thou outwardly called, or to what denomination didst thou belong: but this only will be asked, "Whose image and superscription is this? what form dost thou bear ?"

Further souls that have thus resigned themselves

to Jesus, are become quite different from what they were before; they may now, henceforth, under the banner of their mighty monarch, their king, and their prince, boldly fight against sin, the world, and Satan; for he must fear them more than they need to fear him. But as I have already said, this is only the initiatory impress and seal of the Holy Spirit, which, indeed, shines forth in some souls very perceptibly, since the Holy Spirit impresses upon them, a tender and child-like confidence towards God, so that they can now look upon him again as their God, nay, what is far more, as their Father; so that they are able to say to him, in the most child-like manner, Abba! dear Father! and are wholly tranquillized and frequently quite certain that their sins are forgiven them in Jesus Christ, that they have part in their Redeemer, and that they may rest assured, that they shall be able to stand in the day of their redemption-yet, with others, the thing is not so evident; but still, in principle, it is not less essential if the surrender of ourselves to God and Christ is sincere, and takes place without any reserve, and we continue resigned to him in such a disposition.

It is thus, my dear friends, that we may, and ought, and must regard ourselves, as those who are Christ's property, as men, who bear the impress of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Many of little faith bear this noble treasure about with them in their hearts and know it not; I mean a sincere and profound desire impressed upon their inmost souls, by which they hunger after something superior to all