Galatians, in which the phrases of walking "in the Spirit" or "after the Spirit" are chiefly used, the Apostle takes much pains to wean the Judaizing converts from a servile spirit of dependence upon the law, and to instil into them a spirit of liberty in Christ Jesus. He represents it as the cause not only of their serving God with the spirit of fear and bondage, but even of their being under the dominion of sin, that they were destitute of just views of the grace which was in Christ. To be under the law was, in his mode of arguing, nearly the same thing as being under sin. "When we were in the flesh," he says, "the motions of sin which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Wherefore, ye also, my brethren are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God."—The Epistle to the Galatians was written with the particular view of opposing the error into which they had generally fallen, of placing their dependence for justification upon the observance of the law. He exhorts them, on the contrary, to stand fast in the liberty with which Christ had made them free; and taking occasion to mention the divisions and contentions there were among them, refers to this as one cause of those evils, that their principles and motives were not sufficiently evangelical. "Walk therefore in the Spirit," he says, with reference peculiarly to the ruling principle of their conduct, "and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh:" for, as it follows in the next verse but one, "if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law;" and therefore it is implied, "sin shall not have dominion over you."

The principles from which a person acts have a constant and powerful influence upon his conduct. It is scarcely possible for one whose views are confined and

Let a

gloomy to act in a liberal and open manner. man's ideas of God and of his service be narrow and dark; let him conceive of him as a jealous and unreasonable Master; let him conceive the duties required of him to be a task rigidly enforced, the reason and propriety of which he does not perceive, and the burden of which is relieved by no delightful and animating considerations of the nature of the service, or the excellence of him to whom it is due; and what can you expect but a service reluctantly and imperfectly performed,—a service without spirit, a bondage and a burden, a nominal and outward obedience while the heart is withheld?

Now to "walk in the Spirit" is, I apprehend, to entertain and cherish those views which are directly contrary. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." The dispensation of the Spirit reveals the glory of the Lord, opens the treasures of his grace, exhibits him as a kind and tender Father, offering pardon and peace and eternal life to all who come to him in Christ. It shews the exceeding riches of his grace and the infinite extent of his love. Taught by the Spirit, we draw nigh to God, as children, and cry, Abba, Father: enlightened by him, we see something of the length and breadth, and depth and height of the love of Christ, and are filled with joy and peace in believing: animated by him, we run the race set before us with the well-founded hope of victory; trusting in the mercy of God, and influenced by the constraining love of Christ. This disposition of mind so necessary to our Christian progress, the Spirit peculiarly conveys to those who believe in Christ; and hence to "walk in the Spirit" may be justly considered to imply the cherishing of such views and such a disposition as are suitable to the Gospel dispensation; and as it is the design of the Spirit, both in his word and in his operations on the soul of believers, to convey.

2. By walking in the Spirit may be also implied habitual dependence upon his help.—It is not enough

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that God is pleased to administer salvation to man by the death of his Son and the influence of his Spirit; he requires that man should believe in the one and should seek for the other. The plan of salvation is adapted to us as rational creatures; and, therefore, proper knowledge and suitable dispositions are required of us. Now, as the merits of the death of Christ are only received by faith, so neither are the influences of the Spirit to be expected but in a way of dependence upon him. To walk in the Spirit, therefore, is to acknowledge with the heart our own weakness and inability to serve God; to expect victory over sin only by the gracious operation of his Spirit; earnestly to solicit his help; to use all means and advantages, with an entire dependence on his Divine blessing to make them effectual; and to give glory and honour to the Spirit for all the increase of knowledge and grace which we receive. It is not enough that our object be good; but our manner of obtaining that object must be good also. All sects and all religions agree in proposing a good end; namely that of a virtuous life; but there is a wide difference in the means used to attain it. The religion of a Christian is a religion in which the sufferings of Christ and the work of the Spirit make a principal part; and he mistakes, in the most important points of it, who thinks it sufficient to attend to the precepts of the Gospel without having respect to the peculiar means which it prescribes. The honour of the Spirit of God, and the glory of the Son in their respective offices of Sanctifier and Redeemer, are perhaps full as properly the objects of the Christian scheme of salvation as the happiness of man. And it is, I fear, the great error of the present day that a religion is proposed, in which the Son and the Spirit have no place: it is the melioration of heathen morality, by a mixture of the purity of the Gospel without that spirituality which is the very essence of the Christian religion.

3. To walk in the Spirit implies also, that we use the means by which the Spirit has promised to convey

his influence, in the humble hope of thus receiving it. -The influence of the Spirit is not promised, except in the use of appointed means. "I will be inquired of by the house of Israel for these things, saith the Lord," when he promised the Spirit. "Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find." "For what man is there among you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? If ye then, 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?"-To expect the help of the Spirit without the use of the means is enthusiasm and unwarranted presumption. I know not how it comes to be taken for granted by some, that the diligent use of means and dependence upon the Spirit are incompatible with each other. They seem to be afraid of rating too highly the means and ordinances; as if the Spirit of God were honoured in proportion as we undervalued the ordinances. On the contrary, it appears to me, that a man cannot so effectually depend upon the Spirit as by diligently using all the means. Dependence on the Spirit and the use of means are not opposed to each other: they are closely allied. By the means the Spirit works. They are but his instruments, by which he is pleased to communicate his influences to us. We honour the Spirit not by neglecting his appointed ordinances, but by sedulously using them. He, therefore, who walks in the Spirit will conscientiously and reverently attend to all the prescribed ordinances. He will pray much in the Spirit. In prayer, the Spirit operates on the soul: he helps our infirmities, instils good desires into our hearts, and makes intercession for us with fervent aspirations. He will read the word, written by the inspiration of the Spirit; and expect that, by means of that word, his mind will be illuminated. He will attend the preaching of the Gospel, knowing that the influence of the Spirit is conveyed through the ministry of preaching. He will receive that holy sacrament which was especially designed as a means of confirming our faith in Christ cruci

fied, and communicating the aid of the Holy Spirit. In short, he will shew his reverence for the Spirit, and express the desire he has of obtaining his special influences, by a devout and uniform use of all those means by which the Spirit has been pleased to grant his Divine assistance to the soul.

4. I observe, further, that to walk in the Spirit implies the exercise of a holy fear of him, which will manifest itself by avoiding those things which would grieve him, and by complying with his holy motions.-There is such a thing as resisting the Spirit, as grieving the Spirit, as quenching the Spirit, against which we are warned in Scripture. This we do, when we sin wilfully and presumptuously; when we give way to sins of impurity, which are particularly contrary to his pure and holy nature, or to the suggestions of infidelity, by which, the Israelites in the wilderness are said to have vexed and grieved him. Now he who walks in the Spirit will maintain a holy fear and jealousy of himself, lest he should offend his illustrious Visitor. Though he will be careful to distinguish between the imaginations of his own fancy and the suggestions of the Spirit, yet he will carefully attend to those intimations which are fully in unison with the revealed will of God, and which strongly enforce it; and, impressed with a reverence of his authority, will be afraid of acting against his will.

5. And, lastly, to walk in the Spirit, implies the cultivation of that heavenly-mindedness which the Spirit particularly inspires.-A worldly, covetous, or vain frame of mind is as destructive of the Spirit's influence as acts of gross sin. "They that be after the Spirit," saith the Apostle, "do mind the things of the Spirit." The object of the Spirit is to impress the soul with a view of the vanity of the things of time and sense and of the importance of those which are spiritual. He communicates no ideas relating to science, or to gain, or to worldly pleasure or enjoyment; he resides not in the heart which is engrossed by these. His object is