crecy of the First Cause, and betraying an agency which otherwise might have been forever concealed. So necessary have those tangible links been deemed, that even in cases where God has exerted His power miraculously and immediately, He has generally made use of visible antecedents to connect the effect more evidently with His own power; as in the case of Moses' rod, the trumpets at Jericho, the pitchers and lamps of Gideon's army, the washing of Naaman in Jordan, the extension of Elisha's body over the Shunammite's son, the salt cast into the fountain, the clay applied to the eyes of the blind man, and many other instances which will readily occur. So instead of conveying truth to men by immediate revelation, accompanied with silent efforts of sanctifying power, He has chosen to send it to them in the languages of men, in the shape of a written Word, and to form a visible chain of prophets, apostles, ministers, and ordinances; not only because this mode was better adapted on many other accounts to the purposes of a moral government, but that He might manifest more distinctly the source of the power which converts the world. Thus the word with which our Saviour composed the winds and healed the sick, discovered whence the power proceeded, more than if He had done the same by a silent influence. If then the whole body of truth by which the heart, the will, and the life are to be influenced, is conveyed only through a written Word, and by the ordinances instituted to impress that Word on the mind, there can ordinarily be no holiness, no salvation, without an attendance on the Means of Grace. Now the Word of God may be considered as acting on the mind at three different stages; viz. before Regeneration, at the time of conversion, and in the progress of sanctification. By attending to its effects at these several stages we shall discover, that though the difference between a sinner the moment before and the moment after Regeneration is produced by immediate power, yet the difference between a convicted sinner and an established Christian, much more between a heathen and an established Christian, is in a great measure brought about by the instrumentality of the Word. "How-shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher ?-So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”* The use of the Word before Regeneration I shall consider under the second head. Let us now examine its influence at the time of conversion, and in the progress of sanctification. At the time of conversion the truths of the Word are the instruments of producing all the thoughts which fill the understanding, all the motions of the heart, the will, and the body; and are thus the instruments of producing the whole of that turning which the term imports. A manifestation * Rom. x. 14, 17. of God to the soul is as much the instrument of producing love to God, as light is the instrument of vision. A manifestation of sin is equally the instrument of producing repentance; and a manifestation of Christ as much the instrument of producing faith; for without the presentation of the objects the affections could not exist. Hence by a very significant figure the Word of God is called "the sword of the Spirit ;" and is said to be "quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow."* If your heart is pierced with a sword, you feel not the hand which wields it, but the sword. So in conversion the soul feels not the Spirit, but the truths of the Word only. There is however this difference in the two cases in one instance the power is applied to the heart, to open a passage for the Word; in the other it is applied to the sword, to open a passage for itself. But in both cases the instrument alone is felt. A A penetrating sense of truth, together with those affections, determinations, and actions which follow in view of truth, comprehends the whole effect of Regeneration. Regeneration is the formation of the eye, but light is necessary for actual vision. Thus conversion is brought about by the instrumentality of the Word. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Hence they who preach the Word are said to convert men: "If * Eph. vi. 17. Heb. iv. 12. Rev. i. 16. and ii. 12. any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he which converted a sinner from the errour of his way, shall save a soul from death."* Hitherto I have made a distinction between Regeneration and conversion: but it must be allowed that the former is sometimes taken in so broad a sense as to include both; and then the general change, bearing the name of Regeneration, is said to be brought about by the instrumentality of the Word. "Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth." "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God." "For in Jesus Christ I have begotten you through the Gospel." The same idea is conveyed in other forms of speech: "Is not my Word as a fire,—and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ?""The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."+ As a new living man is a man with new feelings and actions, so by a new heart, in the fullest sense, is meant a heart with new affections. When men are commanded to make to themselves new hearts, to circumcise and purify their hearts, nothing more is meant than that they should exercise new affections. Regeneration, or the new heart, understood in this sense, is certainly effected by the instrumentality of the Word. *Ps. xix. 7. James v. 19, 20. iv. 15. James i. 18. 1 Pet. i. 23. xviii, 31. James iv. 8. † Jer. xxiii. 29. John vi. 63. 1 Cor. Ezek. By the same instrumentality are produced all the new affections, volitions, and actions of the Christian in the progress of sanctification. Though the new disposition, as distinct from the affections, is both continued and increased by immediate power, yet that power is exerted in so stated a way that the improvement of the disposition keeps pace with the growing strength of the affections; and the affections themselves are increased by the instrumentality of increasing knowledge. As truth becomes more clearly understood, the heart acts more vigorously towards it. Thus while in the "glass" of the Word we behold "the glory of the Lord," we "are changed into the same image from glory to glory,"*-much in the same way as men are improved by example. Hence a very distinct emphasis is laid upon the Word as the instrument of sanctification. "Christ-loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.” "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." "Ye received it not as the word of men; but, (as it is in truth,) the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." Hence the dispensation of the Word is compared to planting and watering seed in the earth, and they who preach it are called fellow labourers with God: "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.-We are labour * 2 Cor. iii. 18. with 1 Cor. xiii. 12. |