wilderness can become an Eden, and this desert like the garden of the Lord; "joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody."

Now my friends, what are the operations of this baptism, and how are they to be experienced? Are there not many of us who commit acts under the influence of pride, ambition, wrath, cruelty, and other evil passions, which may be the cause of injuring our neighbours, and wounding our own souls? And can any of us commit actions of this description with impunity? Is there not something which reproves us, when our heads are laid on the pillow? And what is this? It is the same principle which met Adam in the cool of the day, when he had transgressed against the power of the living and omnipresent God. "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?" Are not the same effects produced by evil at the present day? And do we not hide ourselves-does not guilt make us afraid, and do we not attempt to hide ourselves from this divine power, which reproves us for every evil? And do we not lose the benefits of these reproofs, by hiding ourselves, and by endeavouring to avoid the scrutiny of that power, which never looks on evil with acceptance or

allowance? And does not this remain with us, in the matchless mercy of a gracious God? It is the same unto us, from infancy to old age, when hoar hairs have covered us.

Now my friends, this principle which reproves for evil actions, brings sorrow, trouble, and confusion, and is the source from which spring dread and despair in the guilty mind; yea, it leads to every feeling in which there is torment. Here is a truth applicable unto all, for all have experienced it. And herein is fulfilled another declaration of scripture-" And they shall teach no more, every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for they shall all know me from the least of them, unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." And here is a medium opened whereby we may come to an experimental knowledge which can alone lead to life eternal. Whilst there is evil in the mind, this fire will continue to burn until it has consumed every thing of a nature calculated to separate us from the source of purity. This is a baptism of the Holy Ghost, which operates as fire, on all the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. And if we will submit to its operations, and turn at its reproofs, it will not only become a reprover, but a purifier of the soul. But have

we not, on the contrary, experienced the fluctuations of all those lofty imaginations of the mind, brought down into a state of stillness, when we have felt a dependence on the divine author of our existence, and have willingly waited on him. It has been something like what was experienced by its followers formerly. And it is this principle which continues to the present day, that effected all those mighty miracles which were performed among the Jews, in the outward advent of the Messiah. We remember that he opened the blind eyes, unstopped the deaf ears, and healed the maladies of their outward bodies, cleansed the leprosy, raised the dead, and cast out devils. And have these operations ceased? Were they merely limited to a few years, and to a peculiar people? No, verily. From the foundation of the world, it has not only been a medium whereby man could have access to the Father, but by which we become united to him: for it is an emanation of his own eternal and undivided power and spirit; and it has from the foundation of the world, opened the blind eyes, unstopped the deaf ears, and healed all the maladies of the soul, raised the dead, and cast out devils. And even at the present day, these operations continue to produce

their effects in those, and only in those who come to him. He continues by the power of this gospel, which is preached in every creature, to open the eyes of our minds, to unstop the deaf ears of our understandings; and he will continue to cast out every evil, till we gain a complete victory over all our perverse dispositions and wicked propensities. He will heal every malady of the soul, quiet every angry passion, and raise us from a death of sin into the life of Christ, in which we experience the harmonizing power of God, which casts out devils, and brings body, soul, and spirit into the divine harmony.

Now is there any thing in a baptism with water, which can produce these effects? No. But as it was in another case so it is in this. When we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, it nourisheth the soul as the baptism of his spirit cleanseth it. For it is declared, "except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life." But we cannot become partakers unless it is by baptism in his name, and his name is his power. But when we are thus baptized into his power, then we come to know his flesh to be

meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed. And what is this blood? It is the life. It is the circulating medium which gives vitality to the whole system, and circulates through the whole system, as the outward blood circulates through the whole outward body. So the spirit of Christ circulating through the spirit of man, will bring about a conformity of thought, word, and action to its own nature; and here we become partakers of the life of Christ, and receive benefit from his blood; but not through that act of unparalleled malevolence in the Jews, whereby they crucified the Son of God.

When this blood, this divine life, this emanation from God comes to circulate through the whole soul, then we come to be wholly partakers of the divine nature; then we become the sons of God. And here is fulfilled another declaration, which has been long contested. It is a doctrine of the scriptures, that those who are elected together with Christ are "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ;" because they become partakers with him of the divine nature. And as these continue in that election, their understandings will be more and more fully opened to many divine truths, which are hid from the wise and the prudent of this world. But by a daily abuse