upon it, it may likewise be understood to have respect to the intellectual system, and in this sense exhibit a lively and expreffive reprefentation of the Two States of human nature, viz. its Fall in Adam, and its Redemption in JESUS CHRIST. The first of these states, most plainly delineated in the former part of my text, I have already confidered; and endeavoured to fhew, by arguments drawn from common obfervation and daily experience, that, in the state of unregenerate nature, GoD may with truth be faid to "hide his face" from us, in confequence of which "we are "troubled;" and to "take away his

breath," in confequence of which we "die, and return to the duft" of our earthly nature. I shall now proceed to enumerate the true and real characteristics of the Regenerate Nature, to which the latter verse of my text alludes: "Thou "fendest forth thy Spirit, they are cre

"ated;

ated; and thou reneweft the face of "the earth!"

I have already faid, that, by the Regenerate, we are to understand all thofe of every age and nation, of every religious fect and opinion, who, by Divine Grace, have fought and found an higher and better life than their present earthly and fallen one; in confequence of which "they are created anew," as my text expreffes it; that is to fay: by the breathing forth again of that Breath of Life, by which man was orginally formed in the Divine Image, this Image is happily restored; he rifes out of the ruins of a fallen, into the Glories of a redeemed, ftate; and is thereby enabled to relinquish or fubdue all the attractions and temptations, all the powerful influences and fuggestions of his earthly and inferior part.

From this short description, it is fufficiently evident, that the Regenerate Nature, in its inward tempers, difpofitions, and affections, as well as its outward appearance in the conduct of human life, is directly oppofed to that which is unregenerate. One is from beneath, the other from above: one is of the earth, earthly; the other is of Heaven, heavenly one is born of this world, of the will of the flesh; the other is born of GoD, of the will of his own Eternal Spirit: one is death, fpiritual as well as temporal; the other is Life, heavenly and eternal. traft is obvious and ftrong.

The conAnd as we

of the dark

have already taken a view fide, and contemplated nature in its fallen and degraded ftate; let us now change the fcene, and behold the luminous and reviving profpect of nature redeemed, fpiritualized, and exalted.

Not

Not half fo beautiful, fweet, and refreshing, are the beams of opening morn, which diffipate the fhades of night; as thofe rays of Uncreated Light, which difpel all doubts and darknefs from the Regenerate Heart. In the picture of unrenewed nature, all was fhadowy and deceitful: the Light, if any there was, was a false glare; the objects, either vifionary or destructive, In the picture now before us, all is real Light, Life, and Bliss: every object is seen in its true colours and proportions. Unclouded fkies, mild and gentle breezes, fair and beauteous landscapes, are without-within, fweet peace of mind, defires calm and unruffled, love, harmony, and Seraphic joy!

Follow the truly Regenerate Christian through all the periods and poffible conditions of human life, you will find this representation to be strictly just. As to thofe ftorms of temptation, adverfity,

and affliction, in which the Prince of Darkness is fometimes permitted to thunder around him, thefe can only affect that outward nature, by which he ftands connected with this outward world. The Inward Man rifes fuperior to this elemental uproar, lives and breathes in the Light and Air of Heaven, and is perpetually converfant and entertained with heavenly objects and delights.

True, indeed, it is, that this moft defirable serenity is not to be attained at once. The struggle betwixt two oppofite natures must be long continued, before the victory is complete. "The

"face of the earth," after a cold and dreary winter, is not inftantaneously "renewed:" the genial warmth of the fun kindles, by degrees, the vegetative life; and days, and weeks, and months, must pass, before the plants, and herbs, and flowers, and fruits, arrive at their maturity, and diffuse their beauties, virtues,

and