Whichever his motive might be, our Saviour perfectly understood it, and addressing himself to the precise character of Nicodemus, he says, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." That Nicodemus should not understand this personal remark, is not surprising. That he, a Jew, must become a proselyte to a new religion, or that he, a Pharisee, must be totally changed, or advanced in his situation and fortune (for you may take it either way), was absolutely incredible to him. Conceiving, therefore, that the words could not be used in their common figurative sense, he resorts to the literal meaning as the more probable of the two. Our Saviour then repeats the assertion in the same emphatical words, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee," but alters the doubtful phrase, of being born again,-" Except a man be born of water, and of the spirit," &c. As if he had said, "You, Nicodemus, Jew, Pharisee, as you are, you must become a proselyte to a new religion, and that openly (not secretly, by night, as you now come to me, but by performing a public act) by being baptized, and what is more, you must be changed in character; you must become spiritual instead of formal; you must not rest your hopes in external ordinances; you must be born of the spirit, as well as of water. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.' That is, when you make a proselyte to Judaism, and cause him to be born again, by submitting to the external ordinances of Judaism, he is still only a Jew outwardly; being born of the flesh, he is flesh; but when his character is changed, when

he has imbibed the spirit of your religion, then he is a Jew inwardly,' 'his circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.' You addressed me as a 'teacher come from God,' because I worked miracles, and you spoke just now of being born again, in the literal sense of the words, as if you expected something miraculous in the change. But there is no room for wonder; I am not speaking of any miraculous or sensible agency, but of the operation of natural causes. 'Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the spirit.' You see in the one case, as well as in the other, the effect of natural (that is, not miraculous) causes."

Your next question is, Whether regeneration does not sometimes take place suddenly, instantaneously. I answer, Yes, sometimes, but probably not often. The operations of the human mind are directed by certain established laws, and, as far as these have been investigated, they act uniformly in similar cases. The conversion of St. Paul was sudden, instantaneous. He was a young man of ardent feelings, pure morals, and warm piety, zealously devoted to what he believed to be the cause of true religion. He verily believed that he was doing God service in persecuting the Christians, because he verily believed Jesus to be an impostor. But when Jesus, in the brightness of his celestial glory, presented himself to him in the way, and spoke to him, he could no longer doubt. There was not room

for a moment's hesitation. He became a Christian. And so would any one, who, with the same character, had entertained the same doubts. When a gay and thoughtless young man sees one of his companions suddenly drop down and expire, in the midst of his sport, he feels for the time a deep sense of the uncertainty and frailty of human life. If he cherishes this feeling, and dwells upon it, until he has made it habitual, and of course, acts upon this habitual feeling, making it the great business of his life to prepare for death, he is converted, regenerated, he is become a new creature, and suddenly, if you please. But if the same effect is produced upon another young man, not by any one striking event, but by the concurrence of a thousand small events, no one of which has been of sufficient importance to leave a trace on the memory-(a serious thought, excited in a solitary walk, renewed on hearing a sermon, recurring again on reading the Bible, and deepened by some disappointment or affliction, again and again in a course of years), this last is converted, regenerated, as well as the former. For it is to the effect we look, and not to the particular manner or time of its production.

It is not usual, in the course of God's providence, for great effects to be produced at once; you cannot go back to the beginning of a plant, so as to say, that at one moment it was not, and at the next, it is. You cannot trace back the progress of your own character, so as to find the beginning of your knowledge, your virtues, or even of your habits. You have grown up to be what you and in mind, by the same gradual process.

are in body,

It is in the

power of God to create men full grown, in the possession of all their faculties and strength, as he did Adam. It is in the power of God to communicate knowledge at once, as he did to the Apostles, who were enabled to speak in languages which they had never learned. And it is in the power of God to call men at once from the love of vice to the practice of virtue. But this is not his ordinary mode. He acts by means, and by gradual means; by parental instruction, by education, by the example of others, by the events of providence, and the teaching of his spirit. One of the old Puritans used to say, that if parents every where did their duty, domestic education, and not preaching, would be the ordinary means of regeneration.

You ask, further, if regeneration be brought about by the special agency of the spirit of God, or by our own exertions and means. I answer, in the first place, that we know nothing about the mode of operation of the spirit of God, and therefore the scholastic distinction of a general and special agency is vain and presumptuous, receiving no countenance from the Scriptures, the only source of knowledge on this subject. I believe most devoutly in the constant operation of God's spirit upon the human mind; but then I believe, as firmly, that this operation is perfectly consistent with free agency, and that it cannot be discerned by us. It is probably the same sort of influence which the minds of our fellow-beings exercise over us, and consists in the suggestion of trains of thought. When you read this, I shall be operating upon your mind by the suggestion of certain arguments and opinions; the next train

of thought into which you fall, may seem to you to arise naturally from what you are now reading, and yet it may, in fact, be suggested by the spirit of God. I believe, most firmly and habitually, in the superintending providence of God, and yet I do not believe in a succession of miraculous (or special) interferences. A very slight change in the order of succession of my thoughts may lead me to some place, or to do some thing, which, bringing me within the operation of other existing causes, may change the whole course of my life. But enough of this. I answer, secondly, in the language of our Saviour, " If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy spirit to them that ask him." "For every one that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." Language cannot be plainer. Whether regeneration be brought about by our means and exertions or not, it is certain that our exertions and means are necessary for this purpose. We must ask, seek, knock. The very passage which declares, that "it is God who worketh in us, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure," commands us to "work out our own salvation."

Your last question is, If regeneration depend upon our own exertions, how and when are we to commence, and be assured we have attained to it? The first part of the question is already answered. We are to repent, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." "I will arise and go to my Father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned."