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soul, and spirit; tlie living reflection of the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost. 
Passing, then, from objective to subjective Theology — from a 
system of truth propounded for belief to that system in ope- 
ration — from the creed to the believer, we pass into the domain 
of practical life, surely the fitting sphere of all legitimate 
experiment. And here I purpose to glance at three salient 
points : — the commencement, the course, and the close of the 
life spiritual; in other words, the Christianas spiritual con- 
sciousness , testimony, and trust. These points respectively 
answer to distinct and positive statements in God's Word, 
and are among the great ends of all theological truth. Thus, 
the commencement, “ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a 
man be born again [from above], he cannot see the kingdom of 
God ; " “ Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;" and “That which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit ;" — the course, “ If any man be in 
Christ, he is a new creature ; 33 “ I live, yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me ; " — and the close, “ He that soweth to the Spirit, 
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting ; " and “ Christ in you 
the hope of glory." How here are three distinct issues, — 
three fair tests: — 1. That the believer has received a higher 
and supplemental life ; from birth a natural man after the 
flesh, from the new birth a spiritual man after the Spirit. 
2. That his life is modified by/or rather is the proper exponent 
of, his new and spiritual birth ; a new creature and in all 
things ; his former self subordinated to his inner self, his 
outer life moulded by his higher being. 3. That his 
spiritual inheritance, sustaining him throughout, issues in 
glory. 
In certain schools of thought we know that all human 
advancement is traced to two sources — individual develop- 
ment and external civilization ; and, within their respective 
limits, I question not the value or the achievements of either. 
I accept, however, another channel, that which history and 
experience alike attest, and which presents phenomena for 
which the others and all others offer no sufficient explanation. 
As all three positions belong to classes and not to individuals 
only, and each therefore may be regarded as typal rather than 
individual, and thus be taken out of the category of mere 
personal investigation, I purpose so to treat each here. My 
first position, then, is that experimentally the believer has 
received a supplemental life, a new birth, a spiritual existence. 
How, consider the Apostles in the brief interval between the 
betrayal of their leader and the day of Pentecost. One boldly 
denied, one and all were renegades ; two “ had hoped," but 
