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ILLUSTRATION.

The doctrine and necessity of the new birth is rendered plain and evident by the following scrip tures. St. John iii. 3. "Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Verse 5, "Jesus answered, verily, verily, say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." That this new birth is a work not of the will nor power of the sinner, but of the spirit of God, is not only seen by the above quotation, but also fully proved by the following. St. John i. 13. "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Faith, which is the medium through which this grace is communicated and wrought in the soul, is also the gift and work of God. Eph. ii. 8, 9. "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." 2d Thes. i. 11. "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of his calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power." The Hecessity of the new birth is acknowledged by Christian professors in general, but, at the same time, placed on ground which renders it ascribable to the will of the creature, and thereby rendered precarious and uncertain. By so doing, the necessity of the new birth has been used as an argument to prove that mankind, in general, will be forever excluded from the kingdom of God, on the supposition that all men will never be born again. I say on the SUPPOSITION, for surely there is no scripture

authority to prove that all men will not be born again.

It would seem more reasonable to argue, from the NECESSITY of the new birth, as follows:

1st. As it is impossible for any one to enter into the kingdom of God except he be born of the water and of the spirit, if it were the will of God that all men should be saved, it must then be his will that all men should be born again.

2d. As has been shown, this being born again is of the will of God, and not of the will of man. Therefore there can be no more uncertainty, as to the event, than there is of the accomplishment of the will of God, which St. Paul says, is, that all men should be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth.

3d. No reason can be rendered why God should not use all the means which he sees necessary for the accomplishment of his will.

4th. From the foregoing considerations it is reasonable to conclude that the necessity of the new birth ought to be used as evidence to prove its certainty; for if it be a matter of infinite importance, and effectible only by the will of God, to argue that it will not be accomplished, is as unfavorable to the divine character as it is injurious to mankind.

PARABLE XI.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax, shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory." MAT. xii. 20:

ST. MATTHEW having given an account of some precautions which Christ made use of in order that the people at large might not know him, quotes the above passage from Isaiah, as being fulfilled by Christ, See Isaiah xlii. 1, &c.

The house of Israel is here represented by the similitude of a bruised reed, by which is meant the low condition in which Christ found it when he came. The prophet looked forward from his day, and beholding the house of Israel in a low state of servitude, represented it by a bruised reed, and then prophecies of the Messiah and his coming, and said he would not break what little strength it retained, which was then only in the sceptre of Judah, or staff, or reed of his tribeship, until he had fulfilled the law and made it honorable, which I understand by his sending forth judgment unto victory. The continuance of Judah's sceptre until the coming of Shiloh, was spoken of by Jacob, see Gen. xlix. 10. It was to continue until Shiloh should come, after which it was broken: Observe, the bruised reed was not to be broken, nor the smoking flax quenched, until judgment was sent forth unto victory, which intimates that the reed would then be broken and the flax quenched. Flax is extremely combustible, and quickly consumed by fire, and as it smokes a little after the fire has passed it, before it is entirely gone, so the house of Israel is represented as almost the whole of its strength exhausted, and dying like the wick of a candle after the blaze is extinguished, but that it

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should not be entirely quenched until righteousness should gain the victory over sin; then was Judah's sceptre broken, and the light, strength and glory of the legal dispensation vanished forever.

ILLUSTRATION.

It is remarkable that notwithstanding the low condition of the Jews, and their servitude under the Roman yoke, yet they were preserved, and retained their ecclesiastical order until they had an opportunity to exercise that power in fulfilling the scripture prophecies concerning the Messiah. Had the sceptre departed from Judah, or a lawgiver from between his feet, before Shiloh come, and that people had been broken up and dispersed as they were immediately afterwards, they would not have been in a situation to fulfil all that the prophets had written concerning Christ; they could not have said, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die.

If we duly consider that all the other tribes of the children of Israel had become extinct before the coming of Shiloh, and even that of Judah was reduced to contemptible weakness, yet preserved for the fulfilment of Jacob's prophecy, and the many other prophecies concerning the Messiah, it must operate as a very forcible argument in favor of the divinity of those scriptures which were so remarkably fulfilled. What power of human wisdom, can we reasonably suppose, could discover to the dying patriarch that Judah would be the only surviving tribe, and that he would survive until the coming of Shiloh? If we attribute this to the sagacity of human wisdom, with a design to avoid the idea of divine inspiration, we only defeat

our object, by giving to human wisdom that prescience which amounts to as much as divine inspiration.

PARABLE XIL.

"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse. than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." MAT. xii. 43, 44, 45.

Ist. OUR Saviour in the above passage represents the then present generation of the house of Israel by a man who had an unclean spirit.

2d. He shows that the unclean spirit which they were possessed of, at his coming would seem to be cast out, but that seven evil spirits would succeed and stand in the room of one.

3d. He shows that, that generation would not find the rest which remaineth for the people of God, on account of their unbelief.

4th. He shows that they would enter into the old house of the law, or covenant of works, which they would find first empty, as Christ informed them that their house should be left unto them desolate, &c.

5th. Swept and garnished, that is, made ready for their entrance; as they were not acquainted with the gospel, they would attempt safety in the covenant of works, in which situation they are