SERMON XXXII.

LOOK TO A PIERCED CHRIST.

pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of m, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as rneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day there

a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabiJerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness."-ZECH. xii. 10,

ords you have a description of the conversion of which is yet to come an event that will give life ad world. But God's method is the same in the of any soul. Conversion is the most glorious od. The creation of the sun is a very glorious en God first rolled him flaming along the sky, out golden blessings on every shore. The change is very wonderful-when God makes the faded e, the dead trees put out green leaves, and the pear on the earth. But far more glorious and is the conversion of a soul! It is the creation of is to shine for eternity; it is the spring of the hall know no winter-the planting of a tree that with eternal beauty in the paradise of God.

source of conversion. The hand of Christ: "I pon the house of David and upon the inhabitants em the spirit of grace and of supplications; and look upon me whom they have pierced." The t comes from the very hand that was pierced by the accursed tree. Indeed, the innermost source rit seems to be the heart of the Father. Jesus

the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the

Father;" and, in 1 Cor. ii. 11, he is said to be in the heart of God, as the spirit of a man is in the heart of man. He is the friend that dwelt from eternity in the bosom of the Father and of the Son. But still it is as true that the Father has given the Spirit to Christ: "It hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." Jesus has obtained the gift of the Holy Spirit as a reward of his work. It is fitting that he that died for sinners should have the Spirit to dispense to whom he will; and so one of his last words to his disciples was: "I will send him unto you; and when he is come he will convince the world of sin."

1. This teaches awakened souls where their convictions come from. Do any of you feel that you have been awakened to concern about your souls?-you have been pierced through with an arrow of conviction. Look at the arrow; it came out of the bow of Christ. It was Christ that took it out of his quiver. Christ aimed it at your heart-Christ made it pierce your heart. The feather is marked with the blood of the pierced hand. That arrow came from the hand of love-from the hand that was nailed to the cross. Ah! then, take it as a proof that Christ wants to save you. He is beginning to deal with you. Ah! do not turn away-do not tear out the arrow-do not heal the wound slightly. Go to himself, and the same hand that pierced you will heal. Lord, if I may not have peace from thee, grant I may get it from nothing else.

2. When you see others sorely wounded, you should acknowledge the hand of Christ. I find that some acknowledge the hand of the minister, but not the hand of Christ. This is a sore dishonour to our glorious Immanuel! It was said of the Erskines, the fathers of the Secession, that God took away great part of the blessing from their labours, because the people could not see Christ over their heads. I find much of this amongst yourselves. The Lord teach you to look above the heads of ministers, to our glorious Redeemer, riding on his white horse-sending out his arrows of conviction!

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3. Pray to Christ to do this. If he pours out the Spirit, then who can hinder? I have no doubt many have come up to-day, who would have stayed away thought Christ would this day convert your soul. I fear there are some among you who have shut your eyes, and stopped your ears, and made your heart gross, lest ye should

be converted, and Christ should heal you.

You would

not like to be made a weeping, praying, lowly believer in Jesus. But, oh! if Christ pours out the Spirit to-day, then even you will be melted-even you will be made to weep "What must I do to be saved?"

and to cry:

In a time when Christ is not pouring the Spirit down, ministers speak and strive, but in vain; it is like speaking to the winds, or the wild waves of the sea. But when Christ rises from his throne and pours the Spirit down, then the weakest means are infinitely mighty. The Word does not come in word only. The jaw-bone of an ass was a very weak sword to kill men with; and yet, in the hand of Samson it was mighty. He slew a thousand men with it. A sling and a stone was a very weak weapon to oppose an armed giant; and yet when David slang the stone, it sank into the forehead of the giant, and he fell upon his face to the earth. Oh! pray, dear believers, that the sling and the stone may this day be in the hand of our glorious David— that the Word may sink into the hard hearts of this people -that even giants in sin may be brought down to the very dust. Ah! I fear that many of you are armed to the teeth against the Word of God; you are armed cap-a-pie-armed at all points. You are mocking, perhaps, in your security; yet, look up, dear friends, to the arm of Immanuel-he can bring down the proudest. Pray that he would pour down the Spirit. I believe that the lowly prayers of a single believer may obtain a deep and pure work of God in a town. If there were men among us like Noah, Job, and Daniel, we might expect showers of blessings.

II. The Spirit who converts.

1. The Spirit of grace. He is so called, because his coming to any soul, and all that he does in the soul, is of free grace. When the Spirit of God first visits a soul, he finds nothing to invite him to come or to stay; he finds the soul like the dry bones in the open valley-without any form or comeliness-without any desire for life. Every natural man has no more comeliness than a dry skeleton— no more desire for than a dead carcass. grace Nay, more, there is everything to drive the Spirit away. He is a holy Spirit; but he finds the heart a sink of corruptions, full of the most loathsome lusts and passions. He is a loving Spirit; but he finds the man's heart full of rebellion and horrid enmity against God. He is a jealous Spirit; but he

finds the man's heart a chamber of imagery, full of abominable idols. Oh! I can imagine the Holy Spirit looking into some of your hearts, and saying: "Why should I come to such a soul? He does not want me to convert him. He wants to be let alone. He had rather serve his lusts; why should I disturb him? I will let him alone." Stay, stay blessed Spirit of grace! Come, out of free grace. Come, not because he wants thee, but because thou art gracious. Come and make even these dry bones to rise and call upon the name of Jesus.

Some of you know it was thus he came to you. He found you a rebel, and he has made you an obedient child. Oh, will you ever despair of any, since he turned your heart! There are some among you, dear friends, of whom man would despair-men and women who have lived long in sin-old formalists, to whom betraying the Lord at his table is an old trade. Oh, let us not despair of such! The Spirit is the Spirit of free grace. Invite him to come, poor dead soul.

2. Of supplications. Because he teaches to pray. A natural man can hardly be said to pray. True, he has often a form-often a cry in the time of distress; but "will he always call upon God?" An anxious soul cannot pray with a form; for he says, None was ever like me. But a man prays in reality when the Spirit comes to his soul. He drove an ungodly Manasseh to his knees. Manasseh had often bowed the knee in youth at his godly father's knee-he had often prayed to his bloody idols—he had often prayed to the devil; but now, when the Spirit came, he began to pray indeed. He drove a blaspheming Paul to his knees. Often Paul had prayed at the feet of Gamaliel. In the synagogue, and at the corners of streets, he had made long prayers, for a pretence; but now, awakened by the Spirit of God," behold, he prayeth.”

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Have you been taught to pray by the Spirit of God? You once had a form-or you prayed for a pretence-or you prayed to idols; but have you been driven to pray by the Holy Spirit? Then, you may be sure he has begun a work your heart. If any of you have not been driven to pray in secret, you may be quite sure that you are in the "gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." A prayerless soul is an unawakened soul-very near to the burning. Some pieces of wood will burn much more easily than others; some pieces are green, and do not readily catch the blaze,

but a dry piece of wood is easily kindled. Prayerless souls are dry pieces of wood-they are ready for the burning.

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III. Where the soul looks in conversion: "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced." When the Spirit of God is really working in the heart, he makes the man look to a pierced Christ. Wherever he goes, this is the prominent object in his eye-Christ whom he has pierced. Satan would make a man look anywhere rather than to Christ. There is such a thing as false conversion. Satan sometimes stirs people up to care about their souls. makes them look to ministers, or books, or meetings, or duties to feelings, enlargement in prayer, &c.; he will let them look to anything in the universe except to one object-"the cross of Christ." The only thing he hides is the Gospel-the glorious Gospel of Christ. When it is the Spirit of God, he will not let the soul look to anything else but to Christ-a pierced Christ.

What does an awakened soul see there?

sins.

1. That he has pierced the Son of God by his sins. This gives him an awful sense of the infinite greatness of sin. A natural man thinks nothing of sin. An oath or a lie is as light as a feather on many of your consciences. You feel it no burden, even if there were a million of them lying upon your soul. You can sleep easily under all your But if your eyes were opened to look at a pierced Christ, you would see that the load is infinite. Ah! see there-God did not spare Christ. Though he had no sin of his own-nothing but imputed sin-yet see what infinite wrath was poured upon him!-see what arrows pierced his holy soul! The nails pierced his spotless hands and feet; but all the arrows of God were drinking up his spirit. Will God spare you, then, if you die under your own sins, when these sins are your own act and deed?

Think again: Christ was God. That pale sufferer is the "mighty God-the everlasting Father-the Prince of Peace;" yet see how he sinks under the load; see, in Gethsemane, how he lies trembling, sweating great drops of blood; see him on Calvary, how his bones are out of joint-how his head is bowed in dying agony. You are but a worm. Can you bear that wrath? "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with thee?" Oh! look to Christ, sinners-look to a pierced