Oh, how is it that there can be any backwardness in thus surrendering to Christ! Do you not thirst for that sacred fellowship? Do you not long to be able to say, ‘Who hath washed me from my sins in His own blood?’ Is there any blessedness to be compared to that of having sin blotted out for ever? Why, then, do you still hold back? Why not give up, and just cast yourself, ruined and helpless, into the arms of your Saviour, that His own most precious blood may be sprinkled on your soul, and that by His great grace you may be His, and His for ever? * * * * * III. But we must hasten to our last subject: the AUTHOR of this most blessed change. This is distinctly said to be the Spirit. ‘The sanctification of the Spirit,’ as in 2 Thess. ii. 14. Observe, in passing, how all the three persons of the Holy Trinity appear in the verse. There is the foreknowledge of God the Father, the sprinkling of the blood of the Son, and the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost. It is from such passages as these that the answer in the Church Catechism is derived: ‘I believe in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God.’ Every branch or department of sanctification is His work. The original call, the progressive struggle, and the final victory, are all alike by His power. It was when the Holy Ghost descended at Pentecost that ‘the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved;’ and it is just in proportion as the same Holy Ghost puts forth His power now that souls are separated unto God. There is no real sanctification of any kind whatever unless it be the sanctification of the Spirit. If it is brought about by religious machinery, or any inferior agency, it is not the real thing, and will never lead to the real result. I am most anxious to press this upon you, for I think there is great danger of Christian people losing sight of it. Some people seem to think that everything depends on certain men or certain plans: but you cannot save souls by planning. We cannot bear this in mind too strongly with reference to those missions and mission preachers which are now exciting the deep interest of multitudes. I attach a very high value to those mission efforts: I have engaged in them myself, and I believe the Holy Ghost gave His blessing. But it is not a mission week, nor a mission preacher, that can sanctify or set apart souls unto God: it is God the Holy Ghost working in the heart, breaking down the old man, and constraining the soul to the obedience of the faith. Let no one then wait for a mission week or a revivalist preacher, in looking out for great results. The Holy Spirit is not limited, as some seem to think, to extraordinary means, or extraordinary agencies. It was when the Churches had settled down quietly in their quiet Christian life, that it was said of them that, ‘Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the