SERMON IX.

JOHN vii. 37.-"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink."

OUR Lord always adapts the subject of his discourse to the circumstances, and his manner of delivering it to the importance of the matter. The text is an instance of this adaptation. He spake it on the last day of the feast of tabernacles. This solemnity was kept to commemorate the goodness of God, who protected and provided for the Israelites, while they dwelt in tents in the wilderness, and who afterwards established them in the fertile land of Canaan. The last day of this feast was observed with peculiar solemnity, and hence it was called, "the great day of the feast." On this day the Jews often repeated the great hosanna; on this day they brought water from the pool of Siloam, to be poured out with the wine of their sacrifice. And during these acts, they sang these words of Isaiah, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation ;" and expected the long-promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit. While they profess to desire spiritual influences, and to seek them where they are not to be found, Jesus informeth his countrymen that he is the dispenser of them, and

will bestow them, in a satisfying abundance, on all who apply to him for them.

Jesus represents the Holy Ghost, and his influences, as the prophets had often done, by water, without which man cannot live; and invites all who desire them to come to him, assuring them, that whosoever will receive them shall be satisfied, even as he is who quencheth his thirst. This could not be said of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. They cannot satisfy the soul; they are not given to every man who believes in Christ, and they are by no means necessary to his happiness. Of the saving operations of the Spirit all this may be said. And they are not excluded by the observation of the apostle" The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." If literally understood, these words would lead us to infer, that Jesus neither spake of the miraculous nor of the saving influences of the Spirit; for both were, long before, given in some measure. If figuratively interpreted, this observation is perfectly consistent with the conclusion already drawn, namely, that it cannot be the miraculous, and must be the saving, influences of the Spirit, to which our Lord refers in the text. These had fallen as dew under the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations. Deut. xxxii. 2. In consequence of Christ's ascension, these were to "descend as rain," Psalm lxxii. 6; "to pour as a flood ;" and "to cover the earth, as waters the sea." Natural, therefore, is the observation of the evan

gelist, comparing the former communications of grace with the last, when he remarks, that the sprinkling which preceded was figuratively nothing, compared with the effusion that should follow the exaltation of our Lord's human nature to the throne of the mediatorial kingdom. The time of this effusion of saving influences was at hand, and Jesus invited men to come to him, that they might partake of them. And observe, he delivered his instruction and invitation in an awakening and impressive manner, suited to their importance. "He stood, that he might be seen; he cried, that he might be heard of all.”

The text teacheth us, that the saving influences of the Spirit are necessary and satisfying to men awakened to a true sense of their situation, as water to the thirsty, that Jesus is the dispenser of these blessings, and that those alone receive them, who, thirsting for them, come to Christ, and accept them in the way of God's appointment.

I. The text teacheth us, that the saving influences of the Spirit are necessary and satisfying to men awakened to a true sense of their situation, as water is to the thirsty,-that they are "drink." From the Scriptures we learn these are his enlightening, sanctifying, and comforting operations. And, concerning them, our Lord observes, " whosoever drinketh the water that I shall give him will never thirst." John iv. 14.

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1st, The enlightening influences of the Holy Ghost are necessary and satisfying to men awakened to a true sense of their situation, as water is to the thirsty, that they are "drink." Holy men spake the word, now written, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; and the Holy Ghost openeth the heart to attend to it, read or preached,-to examine, understand, and receive the truths of it concerning God, ourselves, and the way of salvation. Without this knowledge, apostate mankind are exposed to the curse of the law of God, and involved in a darkness that conceals the only way of escape. There is a Saviour, but they are ignorant of him,-a place of refuge, of which conscience tells them they have need, but they cannot discover it. 66 They sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of death." The deplorable ignorance of Greece and Rome, in respect to the knowledge of God, of man, and the way of salvation, proves the necessity of the outward revelation by the Spirit ; and the backwardness of some to come to the light, the unavailing knowledge of others living under the gospel, and the grateful acknowledgment of all become wise unto salvation, demonstrate the necessity of his inward influences. And these are not more necessary than they are satisfying. The knowledge which the Spirit thus effectually communicates, is as much more satisfying than all other branches of science, as the light of the sun is more pleasing and useful than the glimmering of a

taper. The Spirit teacheth the knowledge of the most important of all truths,-of the living and true God, and of Jesus Christ, his Son, whom he hath sent, which is eternal life. He teacheth truth the most incontestably proved by evidences seen and handled. And he unfolds truths the most excellent in themselves, the most extensive and diversified, even the perfections of God, from eternity to eternity; contriving and executing the works of creation, or providence, or grace and justice, for his own honour, and the good of all who resemble him. And the efficacy of the Spirit's teaching is no less satisfying than the subject and evidences of what is taught. When he speaks to us with power, we hear, at first, an alarming sound of guilt and wrath; and then a joyful one-of mercy and reconciliation. When he takes of the things of Christ, and shows them unto us, we see them at first obscurely, and afterwards plainly; we enter into the kingdom of God, and rejoice accordingly. Who can describe the delight experienced when he brings them still nearer, so that we obtain a growing sense, nay, a taste, of their power and sweetness! As these are, properly, consequences of spiritual light in the understanding, they belong to his other operations,

The 2d class of which is called his sanctifying influences. By these he creates a clean heart, and renews a right spirit, in those whom he savingly illuminates. They are created by him, after the