ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

It may, indeed, be remarked, that the disciples who personally received these promises, and many of those primitive Christians whom the apostle was thus addressing, were endowed, for special purposes, with miraculous powers, and with a correspondent extraor dinary measure of the Holy Spirit; but it cannot, I think, with any reason, be denied, that the promise of the Holy Ghost, the fulfilment of which is described in this passage of the apostle John, was addressed to all who might believe in all ages of the church of Christ. "He that believeth on me," said the Saviour, "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;" and, in a passage already cited, he expressly declared that the Spirit, whom he thus promised to believers, should abide with them "for ever.” "Repent," cried the apostle Peter to the listening multitude, "and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Hence, therefore it follows that the true believers in Jesus, of every description, and in all ages, are, in a peculiar manner, visited and guided by the Comforter. No longer are they to depend on the teaching of their fellow-creatures; for the anointing which they have received of Christ abideth in them, and teacheth them of all things, and is truth, and no lie.

Such was indeed one of the most striking characteristics of that new dispensation, under which all real Christians are living; and I cannot better conclude this selection of scriptural evidences on the perceptible guidance of the Holy Ghost, than by citing a well known prophetical description of that dispensation :-" Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, though I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days saith the Lord, I will put my law in

1 1 John ii. 20, 27.

2 John vii. 38.

3 Acts ii. 38, 39.

their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 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; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.' 991

Thus explicit are the declarations contained in both the Old and New Testaments, respecting the actual illumination of divine grace— the intelligible voice of the true Shepherd-the perceptible guidance and instruction of the Spirit of Truth in the souls of men.

While it may be hoped that the spiritually-minded Christian will readily admit the force of these scriptural evidences, and will cheerfully embrace that profitable truth which they so clearly unfold; it is not to be forgotten, that the human imagination is very active and delusive, and that persons who are superficial in religion, or who are not sufficiently watchful, may sometimes mistake the unauthorized dictates of their own minds, for the voice of a divine and unerring guide. That errors of this description have on many occasions occurred, must be freely allowed; and that, under particular circumstances, they may probably continue to occur, will not be denied by those who are sufficiently aware of the infirmity and deceitfulness of the heart of man. It appears, therefore, on the one hand, that the inward illumination of the Spirit of God is mercifully bestowed on us as a perceptible guide to righteousness, and, on the other hand, that we are exceedingly liable to be led about by the dictates of our own imagination. Such a view of the subject naturally leads to the inquiry, by what characteristics the voice of the Lord's Spirit and that of the human imagination, in matters of religion, may be distinguished from each other.

The least reflection may serve to convince us that the two influences of which I have spoken, the true guide and the false guide, are in reality absolutely distinct, different, and sometimes even opposite. The true guide is "the day-spring from on high," and comes immediately from God, in whom there is no mixture of evil, and who is the original and unfailing source of all good. The false guide is the creature of human infirmity and misapprehension; and frequently the source, from which it arises, is positively evil and

1 Jer. xxxi. 31-34; comp. Heb. viii. 8-13.

corrupt. Those who are faithfully following the true guide, are the dedicated children of a holy God. Those who are following only the false guide, have constructed for themselves an unsound religion, and are mere enthusiasts.

As the voice of the true Shepherd and the voice of the stranger are thus really distinct and, in fact, opposed to one another, so, I believe, the sincere and humble Christian, who has been taught the lesson of waiting upon God, and whose religion is of no shallow character, will be enabled, by divine grace, to discern the one from the other. He will find that they are clearly distinguished; first, by the mode of their operation; and secondly, by the fruits which they produce.

First, with respect to the mode of their operation: the human imagination, when applied to matters of religion, may often be justly described as working in the whirlwind. It is violent in its impulses: it lays hold of us, and leads us astray when we are in a condition of restlessness and temporary confusion, and when the disquietude in which we find ourselves affords a sufficient evidence, to any candid mind, that self is predominant. On the other hand, the voice of Christ in the heart is not more pure than gentle. Justly may it be styled, the "still small voice," and clearly is the mode of its operation, as distinguished from the work of mere imagination, illustrated by that part of the history of the prophet Elijah, from which these expressions are borrowed. When Elijah stood before the Lord on Mount Horeb, we read, that "the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice!"" When the pride of the heart is laid low, when the activity of human reasoning is quieted, when the soul is reduced to a state of silent subjection in the presence of its Creator, then is this "still small voice" intelligibly heard, and the word of the Lord, as it is inwardly revealed to us, becomes "a lamp" unto our "feet" and "a light" unto our "paths." Here I would remark that, in order to maintain this state of humble and quiet dependance upon God, the habit of a frequent retirement from the

1 1 Kings xix. 11, 12.

common occupations of life is of great use and importance. Nevertheless, such a frame of mind may be preserved, even when we are engaged in the pursuits of business. Watchful Christians are taught to live with a heart subjected before the Lord, and with an eye ever directed toward him in real simplicity. While such is their condition, the true guide to peace will not forsake them. When they turn to the right hand, or when they turn to the left, a voice shall still be found to follow them, saying, " This is the way; walk ye in it." If, however, there are persons (as I believe there are) of real piety, who sincerely desire to follow the guidance of their Lord and Master, and yet have not learned to distinguish, as they would wish to do, the internal manifestations of his Holy Spirit, let them not be unprofitably discouraged. Let them rather pursue their course, in humble reliance on the mercy of God; and let them cultivate the animating hope that, as they are preserved in dedication to the divine will, and grow in grace, they will gradually become better acquainted with the word of the Lord within them, and will be ⚫ comforted in a greater degree with the light of his countenance.'

Secondly, with regard to the fruits which these opposite influences respectively produce: the suggestions of the human imagination, in matters of religion, as they prevail over us when we are in a state of restlessness and confusion, so, when they are followed, they confirm and aggravate that condition. While they tend only to the elevation of self, and to the gratification of the eager desires of the unsubdued mind, they may indeed inf'ame us with a false zeal; but they can never soften the obdurate heart, bring the restless mind into stillness, or truly pacify the troubled conscience. On the contrary, the sure effect of obedience to the "still small voice" of our Divine Master in the soul, is quietness, tenderness, humility, true soundness of mind, and substantial peace.

But we may extend our views further, and consider the consequences of these respective influences, not only on the inward frame of the mind, but on the outward conduct of the man. Here the difference between the fruits of two distinct and even opposite principles, become completely manifest. The imaginations of the heart of man, when not subdued and rectified by the power of divine grace, are continually prone to evil; and, although Satan may trans

1 See Isa. ch. 50, ver. 10.

form himself into an "angel of light," and conceal his operations under the cover of a religious profession, and even a sincere enthusiasm, his fruits will still be those of darkness and unrighteousness. Persons who, in the heat of their own spirits, commit themselves, without reserve, to so delusive and perilous a guidance, will not fail to make shipwreck, in many particulars, of the great moral principles of the Gospel of Christ. Again and again will they be found breaking the law of their Redeemer-the law of kindness, charity, order, submission, gentleness, integrity, purity, and peace. And, truly, the end of such a course is sorrow. "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”

On the other hand, those who follow the Lord's Spirit will assuredly be found to bear the fruits of the Spirit, which are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law." That there are very many persons, not of our religious body, who are endeavouring to follow the Spirit as a perceptible guide, there can be little doubt. Nevertheless there will, I trust, be no impropriety in my making an appeal, in connexion with the present branch of my argument, tc the observation of those persons to whom this work is principally addressed. Although discouragement may often overtake us, through the misconduct of unsound brethren, my young friends, with myself, have enjoyed many opportunities of watching the demeanour and conduct of experienced persons, who profess that obedience to the dictates of the Spirit of Truth, in the soul, is their main rule of life; and who, by a long course of patience and self-denial, have fully evinced the sincerity of their profession. Now, we are certainly well aware, and we need not fear to acknowledge, that the character and deportment of such persons are distinguished for sobriety and substantial excellence, and that, however various may be their situations, their talents, and their gifts, they resemble one another in this main characteristic that they are fulfilling the law of love, and living a life of piety and usefulness.

Our observation of others may suffice to convince us that, when the great principle of religion, to which I am now adverting, is con