Salvation

It is a Divine and supernatural act . It does not originate with sinners themselves , nor can it be ascribed to a mere human agency . It originates with God . He it is who directs the motions of the clouds , and gives to doves their instinct ; and He it is who draws sinners to the Saviour , who inclines and enables them to come to him . They never do so of their own accord . No doubt , when they do come , they always come willingly ; but it in the way of their being made willing . Of themselves they have neither inclination nor ability to come to Jesus , nor can ministers , or any human friend , induce them to do so .  Nay , though all the angels in heaven were to employ their powers of persuasion for this purpose , they could not effect the conversion of a single soul . This work none but God can accomplish , and accordingly it is invariably ascribed , both in the Old and New Testaments , to the direct agency of the Spirit . "Thy people shall be willing in a day of thy power ."   "No man can come to me ," says the Lord himself , "except the Father which hath sent me draw him "   and elsewhere it is declared that  " no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost ." Whenever a work of conversion , then takes place among sinners , whether on a lesser or greater scale - whenever they are seen turning from the error of their ways to the wisdom of the just , such a movement is to be viewed as as an effect of Divine power , as produced through the immediate though unseen operation of the Holy Spirit . Thus , in what striking terms is it traced to this cause , in the following passage , from Isaiah 44 . "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty , and floods upon the dry ground ;  I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed , and my blessing upon thine offspring ; and they shall spring up as among the grass , as willows by the water courses . One shall say I am the Lord's ; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord , and surname himself by the name of Israel. "

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