sin-who have not left all confidence in the flesh, cannot in this state and temper apply to Christ for the saving influences of the Spirit, "in spirit and in truth," though ye regularly attend on his ordinances. And ye who desert his ordinances, or who neglect or frequent them just as it suits your humour-ye have no more reason to expect a blessing, than the rebel has to expect pardon, who this moment kisses the offer of it, and the next tramples it under foot. But ye who have in the appointed way come to Christ, thirsting for spiritual influences, ye may drink,-ye are commanded to drink. "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.”

And this is the third and last thing required in order to enjoy the saving and satisfying influences of the Holy Spirit. If coming to Christ signifies a believing application to him who dispenseth the waters of life, drinking them must imply the dispositions with which they ought to be received and applied,—it must imply the reception of all these influences of the Spirit with joy and gratitude,— and the application of them with increasing desire and pleasure. "We come to the wells of salvation, and we must draw water with joy." We have asked the cup of salvation, and we must receive it with gratitude and praise. Let us seriously inquire whether we entertain such a sense of the blessings to be received, as will enable us thus to accept

them from the hand of the Lord.

Have we duly estimated the value of the gift,—the Holy Ghost to abide in us, the blessedness that accompanies it, -the glory and grace of Emmanuel who bestows it,—the amazing price with which he purchased it, -and the free and condescending manner in which he communicates it? If our heart is really alive to true excellency and generosity, it leaps within us as we take this passing glance of invaluable blessings; and our language is that of gratitude, devoting us to God. Ps. cxvi. 16.

We must not only take but drink of the water of life offered us by Christ. No refreshment can be derived from the cup in the hand, and none from grace merely assented to, even with thanksgiving. Wherefore, ye must not only take, but taste the waters of life with relish,-ye must make trial of their virtues. Nay, ye must not only taste the heavenly gift, as some have done, who afterwards fell away, without the possibility of being renewed, but ye must "drink." Ye must receive into your hearts a large portion of all the influences of the Spirit, and diligently apply his enlightening grace to what in

you is dark, his sanctifying grace to what is unholy, and his comforting grace to what is sorrowful. Though the influences of the Spirit are satisfying as to their nature, so that you will never need to apply to any other source for happiness, ye must not expect to be satisfied with their measure so as to desire no increase. Your thirst for them must be

proportioned to your increasing stature in Christ, and to your active exertions in his service. Besides the thirst of spiritual health and activity, ye will feel that of spiritual disease and temptation. But what a comfort is it to the afflicted Christian, that this thirst, how painful soever, is the forerunner and symptom of returning health and speedy deliverance! How comfortable to every thirsting soul among you who have come to Christ, and drunk of his Spirit, that he will abide in your hearts, guide you unto eternal life by his streams rising towards heaven, their source, and will be unto you an earnest of the bliss which he will there communicate, where, in a higher sense, ye shall not thirst any more." For Jesus saith, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Our hearts would now reply, " O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." "Be it unto us, according to thy promise, Lord Jesus!" Amen.

66

SERMON X.

And he

GEN. XXXII. 24-32.-" And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And, when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank."

GREAT is the price of the prayer of faith,—it availeth much. Aware of men's proneness to be discouraged in prayer, and to discontinue it, our Lord spake a parable unto his disciples, that men ought always to pray, and not to be faint. In this similitude he shows, that the unjust judge avenges the poor widow, purely to avoid the trouble of her importunity; and hence he appeals to themselves, whether the just God will not grant the just requests, oft repeated, of the objects of his peculiar

his own

love and care; "and, shall not God avenge elect, who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" Here the Spirit of God compares and contrasts God and his conduct to his people, with man, and his behaviour to his fellowman and subject. In the passage read, he lets himself farther down; he actually condescends to become palpable to the senses of Jacob, and by conflict of body and spirit, he illustrates in a clear and impressive manner the prayer of faith, and many of its most interesting circumstances. Nor can our faith in this event be reasonably staggered by its marvellous nature, when we consider that it accords with his general plan of making himself known in the patriarchal and antediluvian times, and that it admirably contributes to prepare for the revelation of Jesus Christ in the fulness of time; the grandest demonstration of his own glorious perfections, and the grandest means of reconciling man to God, and conforming him to the image of his own holiness and happiness. Objections or difficulties of this sort will gradually diminish as we attentively consider the several parts of this wonderful story. I am persuaded they will be lost amid the light and comfort these will afford to the hearers of a spiritual frame of mind.

This passage presents a lively image of the season, the object, the nature, the success, the grateful memorial, and the divine outward evidence of the persevering prayer of faith.