been continually ascending and descending on the sons of men. Strange indeed it is, and one of the most striking proofs of the state in which we are living, that of all the great festivals of the Church, this, perhaps, ranks in common opinion as one of the least important; because the world cannot receive the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost; because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him.

We are accustomed, indeed, to talk of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles as of one of the striking miracles of the Gospel; the gift of tongues, and the other miraculous. powers which were then conferred, may interest us, perhaps, as a very wonderful event; nay, we may talk also of the ordinary gifts of the Spirit, and of the necessity of being born again by his influence, and yet we may not understand fully what was the great change in the condition of mankind, which was, as it were, on this day begun, or what is the full meaning of the expression, that we are now living under the dispensation of the Spirit. The subject, indeed, is far too vast to be properly treated of in a single sermon; but I may just touch on some of the principal points of it; and thankful shall I be if what I shall say may be the means, with God's blessing, of making any man better un

derstand the terms under which he is living, and learn to value the last and most abiding promise of our Lord, that the Comforter should remain with us for ever.

I have said before, and it is a thing very necessary to be borne in mind when we are reading the Scriptures, that many blessings which are there spoken of as of the highest kind, and as tending to produce the greatest and happiest changes in the state of the world, have, in fact, never been brought fairly into exercise, on account of the neglect with which men have received them. And the consequence of this has been, that things which are spoken of in the Scriptures as being come to an end, as being from henceforth useless, and to be held of no account, are and ever have been continued, and we could not at this moment safely do without them. In short, we must take the whole picture of Christianity, as we find it in the New Testament, together. If our lives answer to the goodness and holiness there described, then we may expect also to see those things done away, which to men so good and so holy would be no longer needful, and to feel and duly enjoy those blessings which are promised as the natural fruit of Christ's Gospel. But if our lives are not Christian, but Jewish or heathen,

then what was required for Jews and heathens may be still needful to us, and we cannot wonder if we do not taste the blessings which were promised to a very different set of persons than ourselves.

The design, then, of the Christian dispensation, if I may so speak, is by far the most noble, is the most glorious display of the wisdom, and the power, and the goodness of God, that it is possible, I suppose, for our minds to conceive. It was truly a new creation, to make men more than they had ever been before, since the entrance of sin into the world; to recreate them after the image of God, that they might for ever be with God. And to bring them into this state Christ died; that by his blood all past sins being washed out, they might be looked upon by God, as new born in perfect innocence, as ready to run unstained and unincumbered the glorious race that was set before them. So then, when the resurrection of Christ, had declared that the sacrifice of his death was accepted, that the sins of all the world were taken away, that to all their past evil men were in a manner become dead, then the time was come when they were to enter upon their new life; and being now placed, as it were, the second time within the gates of the

garden of Eden, God declared himself to them once more, as their guide, their supporter, and their friend, that they should cultivate it, and bring forth the fruits of it.

Thus, to take a comparison from another part of the Scripture, when the redemption of the Israelites out of Egypt had been effected, when they had been delivered out of the house of bondage, and the marks of their former slavery were gone; that same God who had led them in the pillar of fire and of a cloud, bare them on eagles' wings, and brought them to himself: he brought them to himself at Mount Sinai, that being now redeemed by him. as his own, and the former bondage being done away with, he might prepare them for their future course, and reveal himself and his will to them more fully than he had ever done before.

The day of Pentecost was that day on which the redeemed Israelites stood before their God when he came down to them on Mount Sinai : it was the fiftieth day after their departure out of Egypt. On that self-same day of Pentecost the redeemed disciples of Christ were all with one accord in one place, when their God came down to them also, to give them his law, and to reveal himself to them more fully than he had ever done before to man.

Hitherto then, all is alike; and now we come to the difference. The law given on Mount Sinai was written on tables of stone; the display of God's power was sensible, and might be seen and heard; and the mark that God continued with his people was the visible cloud that covered the tabernacle. But of the new law God himself declares that he puts it in our minds, and writes it in our hearts; and instead of any sensible mark of his presence, instead of frequent miracles, and the abiding glory on the tabernacle; there are the fruits of his blessed presence, spiritual fruits produced by the most holy and eternal Father of spirits, peace, love, joy, the enlightened mind, and the willing heart, the image of the glory of God as displayed in the person of Jesus Christ.

And to suit so perfect a revelation, and so effectual a presence of God amongst us, all was to be disposed accordingly. Miracles were to expire, and prophecies were to cease; there was no outward sign of God's presence with his church to be seen, that so we might the better remember where alone to look for him, making his abode with us in our hearts. Forms and rites, useful in training those who were not yet come to their full age in Christ, were from henceforth to expire: the old written law was