But he is a _new creature_. That Divine character, once so hateful, is now lovely; that government once so dreaded, is seen to be established in wisdom and goodness; while those perfections, once odious, break forth and beam out with a heavenly splendour, the source of joy and of unfailing confidence to all holy beings. ‘Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth.’—Truly this is a great and wonderful change. ‘Old things have passed away; all things have become new.’ The principle, which ran through and actuated the whole man—the entire mass of his moral nature, has been changed, renewed, supplanted. A new and hitherto unknown principle has entered the heart, from which the former occupant has fled abashed. The ground, formerly overgrown with the weeds and tares of selfishness, now brings forth, under divine culture, the fruits of holiness,—one of the first of which is supreme love to God, itself the seed, the germinant principle, the proof, the pledge, of all the rest.—It may be said then with perfect truth, that when a man becomes a Christian, he has a _new God_,—a new object of supreme regard, affection, and veneration. Self formerly occupied the throne; but self is now upon the footstool and in the dust that covers it, while God, his Maker, Redeemer, and Judge, is enthroned in his rightful supremacy. The regenerate man is a new creature, because _he has a new rule of duty_. Formerly his own inclination, his own will, provided there was no outward impediment which prevented, directed his actions. Who does not wish to gratify his own desires? Who would not do it if he could? But here is a _new creature_. The first question the new born soul puts forth, is that of Saul, ‘Lord, what _wilt thou_ have me to do?’ The will of another being, a being invisible to human eye, impalpable to human touch, whose literal voice no man hears, is now the rule of duty to the new creature. The law of God takes the place of man’s desires, wishes, and propensities. He who formerly took council of his own selfish heart, now yields to the revealed word; he who once sought to please himself, now seeks to obey his heavenly Master; he who followed his own headlong propensities, now holds them in check, while he consults the lively and life-giving oracles of truth. And these utter no uncertain, ambiguous responses, but plainly point out the path of duty, which, to the regenerate man, is the path of peace.