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His great commission as the third Person in the glorious Trinity. He does it effectually, so that the heir of hell becomes the heir of glory; the man of sin becomes the man of God.

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This is done by the application of appointed means. carnal instruments, but instruments which are "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." The means employed are the Scriptures read and preached, accompanied with prayer and thanksgiving. The power of the Spirit is believed by some to be latent in the Word of God, whether it be felt by the reader or the hearer at the time or not, just as there was a power latent in steam before it was discovered and brought forth into active operation. St. Paul says that "the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Every truth in the Bible has in it a corresponding power and influence-an influence which was deposited there that it might be put in combination with conscience, and an influence that is felt by the co-operation of subordinate circumstances. The reason why reading the same chapter or hearing the same sermon is not equally felt by all is, that the minds of some are made by circumstances more susceptible to impressions than those of others, just as the good seed fell into different kinds of soil in the parable of the sower. The Holy Ghost is always present in the Word, as Christ promised that He should be always present in His Church.

2. Another part of the Spirit's work is to teach the teacher of the Church. Christ promised His disciples, "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." Assuring them that by His teaching they should be directed in their ministry, so as to be able to teach others in a manner consistent with the will of God, and the requirements of the world. "How shall they preach, except they be sent ?" asked an inspired apostle in reference to the future teachers

of the Church. And we may add, how shall they preach except they be especially endowed with spiritual as well as physical and scholastic qualifications to discharge their mission? The Holy Ghost has in all ages duly qualified the true ministers of God for the sacred office which they hold. Whether we regard the inspired patriarchs and prophets, or the miraculously endowed apostles and confessors, or the more modern faithful "ministers and stewards of the mysteries of God," we find that they all were, are, and must be fitted for their work by the special teaching of the Holy Ghost. Without this, the task of the study would be hard and insupportable; without this, the services of the sanctuary would be formal and lifeless; without this, the exercise of the pulpit would be dry and profitless; without this, the duty of the sick chamber would be cold and cheerless. "Who is sufficient for these things?" None, except those who are duly qualified by the Holy Ghost.

3. Another branch of the Spirit's work is the perfecting of the saints.

This implies the application of all the Divine graces to the soul from the moment of its regeneration to its entrance into the gates of Paradise. We are ignorant, the Spirit enlightens us; we are subject to err, the Spirit corrects us; we are weak, the Spirit strengthens us; we are surrounded with doubts, the Spirit increases our faith; we droop under the power of temptation, the Spirit revives our hope; we wane in our love to God, the Spirit warms our affections; we bewail the corruption of our hearts, the Spirit cleanses our thoughts, and adds to our holiness: we tremble at the anticipation of death, the Spirit removes the gloom, and brightens the prospect; we question our title to heaven, the Spirit ratifies the claim, and advances us to glory. Thus, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, the believer is sustained through the various scenes and trials of the present life, and is fitted for "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

Then, if we would feel the Spirit in His regenerating,

quickening, animating, strengthening, comforting, sanctifying influence, we must pray for Him. It is in this way we believe God vouchsafes to give us His Spirit. Prayer is a link of connexion between the mind and the influence of the Spirit. God has promised to give His Holy Spirit to those who ask for Him. Let us attend to our duty, and God will attend to His promise.

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Whit Sunday.

EVENING SERVICE.—Capital Punishment: Gen. iv.

Verse 15.-" And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."

MAN clings tenaciously to life. Death, even in its mildest form, is of all things most repugnant to his nature. "All that a man hath will he give for his life." He will spend a fortune in consulting physicians; he will endure the hardships of cold and of heat; he will brave the inconveniences of travelling by sea and by land; he will patiently bear incisions of the flesh, and even the amputation of the limbs, with the desire of sparing life. Death is a grim enemy that every one dreads, especially the man who has no hope but in this life. Go into the sick chamber of such; look at his anxious countenance. How wild his appearance! how downcast his looks! His heart throbs, his limbs tremble, all his movements are the expression of horror. This arises, not so much from his bodily pains, however acute, nor from the dread of dissolution, regarded in itself; but from his consciousness that death is an introduction into a state of existence of which he knows nothing, but for which he feels that he is not prepared. If there be a reality in the future which this man dreads (and every man's conscience who is in a right state of mind corroborates the testimony of Scripture that there is); if, we ask, there be a reality in the future which this man dreads when he has time to anticipate it and to prepare for it, what must it be to the unprepared sinner who is plunged into it unexpectedly and in a moment? Death by accident or by the hand of an assassin carries with

it a double force of awe, and we tremble when we think of a soul urged into the presence of its God, often in the midst of the revel, or from the haunt of dissipation, unhallowed and unforgiven. Such a man closes his eyes on the crowd of his associates in crime, to open them the next moment upon scenes of terrible retribution before the "judgment-seat of Christ," where he receives a righteous sentence for his sins. This is hard language; nevertheless, believing as we do the declarations of God's Word, we must believe that it is true. We can entertain no hope, for there is no foundation on which a hope can be based.

Then we turn to the murderer. If the case of the victim be so hopeless as we have described, what must be the state of the perpetrator, who has been the voluntary instrument of his fellow-man's destruction? If he be capable of thinking at all, his hell commences at once. The remorse of his conscience and the guilt of his mind become a burden of incalculable misery. He is haunted by the last beseeching look and the final groans of his victim; he trembles under the frowns of an offended God, while the question rings in his ears, "Where is (Abel) thy brother?" He fears the society of his fellow-men; there is terror in the sound of a footstep, the chirp of a bird, or the shake of a leaf; and he is forced to exclaim, in the words of Cain, "My punishment is heavier than I can bear."

How often, as in the case of Constance Kent, have unknown murderers, under such feelings, been urged to give themselves up into the hands of justice as the only resource presenting itself to them of getting rid of the down-sinking melancholy of their minds. This of itself is a punishment beyond human conception. Such is the heinousness of the crime of murder that we cannot for a moment think that any man, however abandoned his character, can possibly commit it for the mere gratification of committing the deed. There must be some cause, known or unknown, for so atrocious an act. We find that those causes arise, either from the desire of gain, or from jealousy, or from revenge, or, as we shall

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