sinfulness and unbelief; but the Holy Spirit reproves or convinces the world of sin, because they believe not on Christ. John xvi, 9. He thus shews us our great and alarming danger, and inclines us earnestly to seek deliv

erance.

Our Lord, says to the Apostles, The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John xiv, 26. We may therefore reasonably conclude that the Holy Spirit acts upon our minds after this manner, bringing the declarations, the threatenings, and the promises of the word of Christ to our recollection; and thereby producing in us a desire to obey his word, escape his displeasure, and obtain his favour.

The enlightening and sanctifying influences of the Spirit are of great importance as to prayer, being needful in preparing our hearts for holy intercourse with God and for desiring those things which will glorify Him, and really benefit our own souls.

We know not what to pray for as we ought. St. James affirms, Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, to consume it on your lusts. This being so, the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us, according to the will of God. Rom. viii, 27. He directs and guides our minds to right. ends in asking, and the Lord knows the mind of the Spirit. He approves, and accepts the prayer made under his influence.

THE INTERCESSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT differs from that of Christ. Our Lord intercedes in heaven, separate and apart from us, by himself, at the throne of glory. The Holy Spirit intercedes in; and with our hearts, at the throne of grace. The gift and intercession of the Holy Spirit is the fruit and effect of the inter

cession of Christ, who, when he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive, and received this gift for men, yea, even-for the rebellious.

Christians, have, then, the intercession, the additional interposition of the Holy Spirit; like a powerful and able advocate, who takes up our sinking cause; urges our necessities, and our pleas, with power, earnestness, and perseverance; and places them with strong and irresistible effect in such a light, that it is evident the suit is obtained and the request granted. Thus the Spirit maketh intercession for us, suggesting to us, and offering up is us, those desires, arguments and pleas, which would otherwise never have arisen in our minds.

"The Holy Spirit," says one of the Reformers, "excites within us confidence, desires, and sighs, to the conception of which our native powers were altogether inade.quate." There are pious persons of very poor attainments in other respects, without learning or human acquirements, in the very lowest stations of life, who, asking for the aid of the Holy Spirit, can with the greatest propriety of expression, the deepest reverence, and an uninterrupted fluency of words, pour out their souls to God, and edify their families and their neighbours. Indeed have not those who entirely decry the assistance of the Holy Spirit, as given to believers in our days, reason to fear lest they should be guilty, in some measure, of the sin of blasphemy against him.

There is a distinction, not improperly made, between the gift and the grace of prayer, though perhaps the more just distinction would be between the talent of elocution and the spirit of prayer. Some have a natural or acquired power of a great command of words, and a full flow of language, which enables them to pray with facility, and so far it is very desirable: and I hesitate

not to say with Dr Watts, that "there is the ordinary assistance of the Spirit required, even to the attainment of this holy skill or ability to pray." But men may have this talent, and yet have none of the real feeling of want, desire, resignation, peace, hope, joy, &c. which form the essence of true prayer, and without which the best expressions are of little worth. The right spirit of prayer is not merely to be able to press God with the most proper words and urgent vehemence; this is talent and elocution. True prayer is a higher thing, the special gift of the Holy Ghost; not so much a matter of the lips, as of the heart. He has the most of this gift, who has the most enlightened apprehension of the God to whom he speaks: the deepest sense of his own wants: the most eager longings after grace, the most fervent desires of supplies from heaven; and, in a word, whose heart sends up the strongest cries to the Father of Mercies." Hence many have much of the spirit of prayer, who have but a small degree of the power of ut

terance.

Much, indeed, of the work of the Spirit, is secret.-We know not various particulars connected with it.-We know it rather by its effects, than by its mode of operation. 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. We experience its power, and that is sufficient. The christian knows that he has often knelt down averse to prayer, dead, dull, stupid; almost with-. out desiring the blessing for which we ought to ask.--. And yet, with all his weakness: after looking for the aid of the Spirit, after praying as did David, Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise,-(Psalm li, 15.) and persevering in asking, seeking, and

knocking, (Matthew vii, 7.) he has in such a remarkable way experienced the presence of God, as to fill him with joy unspeakable, and a hope full of glory.' He has, in these cases, sometimes found an unction, an enlargement of expression, so far beyond any thing that he had previously calculated on, or could expect, accompanied by such lively and vehement desires and thirstings after God, and holiness, and glory, as satisfactorily and evidently to his mind, marked the agency and assistance of a divine power which maketh intercession for us.

But farther, he maketh intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. I am sensible that I am here bringing a subject forward which must be in a great measure unintelligible (and may therefore appear absurd) to those who have never experienced it; but since the sacred writings have plainly stated it, we should ncither conceal it, nor keep it back. And conceive the case of a mind truly and fully awakened to see the shortness of time, the vanity of worldly things, the unutterable glory of the blessed, the never ending anguish of the condemned, the boundless ages of eternity, the uncertainty of every moment, and the inseparable connection between obtaining grace in this life, and glory in the next, If we realize this state of mind, we may easily imagine that there are such ardent thirstings wrought in the immortal soul, after pardon, grace, Christ, heaven, and glory, as no words are great or strong enough to express. The Psalms of David often manifest this state of mind, My soul fainteth, he says, for thy salvation. O Lord, how long! I am weary with my groaning. Here we may observe some of the groanings of him in whom the Spirit intercedes; but yet this intercession is with such importunity of desire,

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such holy pleading and wrestling with God, such ardour of spirit, such inward labouring and working of the heart toward God, as cannot be expressed by words.

It may be proper for preventing mistakes, to add, that it is not meant that we may now receive, or expect, those extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit which enabled the early Christians to pray in a foreign tongue, or suggested every particular word or expression. Our prayers are not so entirely under the influence of the Spirit, as, like those of David, to be properly the work of inspiration so much of our weakness mingles with them, that we cannot say of any sentence, this is the perfect work of the Spirit. Every feeling, and desire, must also be tried by the sacred touchstone, the Word of God, that we may know whence it comes. But the Holy Spirit does give those graces of love, fear, hope, and joy, that are suited to this duty; does excite holy desires, raise holy expectations, and work holy affections in us; does, we are persuaded, often secretly incline our minds to pray, and help us in praying, giving us clear perceptions, a ready utterance, and a humble confidence; and this aid is totally distinct from and superior to that general aid, which the providence of God affords to men in general, in order to their performance of the various actions of their natural life. The workings of the Spirit are not indeed," says Watts, "to be easily distinguished by ourselves, or by others, from the rational motions of our own hearts, influenced by moral arguments; but by the whole tendency, and the sanctifying effects, we may know that we had some assistance of the blessed Spirit.

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