scientiously maintained, these pure and lovely fruits are invariably produced. And further, as far as we ourselves also, who are younger in religious growth, have been enabled to order our conversation by the same rule, and to "mind the same thing," our own experience will oblige us to confess that the Shepherd of Israel, as he is thus followed, is an unerring guide. We know that he would never fail to lead us away from the snares of the enemy, from the sinful pleasures of the world, and from the pride of life, into humility, charity, and pure morality. Finally, may we not with gratitude acknowledge that, in observing the latter days and death of many faithful servants of the Lord, who once occupied a place among us, we have been furnished with ample evidence that the end of a life passed in obedience to the inward monitions of the Spirit, while depending on Christ as our all-sufficient Saviour, is quietness and peace?

That God is able to illuminate the souls of men with the immediate visitations of spiritual light, the most incredulous metaphysician will not venture to deny. On the other hand, we may readily accede to the principle laid down by Locke, that we can entertain no reasonable confidence in any supposed spiritual illumination, further than as we are furnished with evidence that it proceeds from God.' Now, that the perceptible influence of the Holy Spirit on the soul proceeds from God, the Christian enjoys satisfactory evidence-first in the declarations of Scripture, that such an influence shall be bestowed upon him—and secondly, in the practical results into which it leads. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." He brings his own sensations to the test of experience. He knows the tree by its fruits.

This general argument will be found to derive confirmation from a view which we may now briefly take of some practical particulars in this perceptible guidance. In discussing those characteristics, I must of course be understood as appealing to the experience of my readers; and happy should I be, were my observations to serve as way-marks to any of them, by which they may learn more clearly to distinguish the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of error.

1. The light of the Spirit of Christ in the heart tends to the

1 See Essay on the Human Understanding, book iii. ch. 19. 21 John, v. 10.

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humiliation of man: for, in the first place, it reveals to him his many iniquities, and affords him the clearest evidence that he is fallen, corrupt, and prone to evil; and, in the second place, as he endeavours to follow this light, he is again and again instructed in the lesson that his own strength is utter weakness, and that he can do no good thing of himself. Besides, it is ever to be remembered, that divine grace in the soul is not only light, but power. It softens all that is hard, and levels, as with the dust, all that is lofty within us. Those persons, therefore, who are truly subject to it, will, of necessity, become tender, contrite, and lowly of heart. The operation of the same principle tends, moreover, to the exaltation of Christ. That light and that power, which convince us of our own iniquities, lead us also to form a right estimate of the character and merits of our Lord. While, in our endeavours to follow his guidance, we are brought to the humbling discovery of our own weakness and worthlessness, we are taught that, in this weakness, the strength of Christ is made perfect; and we cannot but extol that Saviour, who supports us in every difficulty, arms us against every temptation, restores our souls, and leads us in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

2. Since fallen man is corrupt and perverse; since his natural inclinations, if not checked, will infallibly lead him, under some form or other, into the vanities of the world and the sins of the flesh; and since it is the great purpose of the Christian system to recover him from this lost condition, and to bring him into conformity with the will of God, we may rest assured that the true voice of Christ in the heart will conduct us in the path of daily self-denial. And such, undoubtedly, is the experience of all those persons who have committed themselves to the guidance of this inward Monitor. They find that he leads them through the "strait gate," and by the "narrow way," and that, in order to follow him, it is indispensably necessary for them to resist their own desires, and to mortify those perverted selfish principles which constitute the character of the natural man.

When our Lord declared that, if any man would come after him, he must take up his cross and follow him-(the cross being the instrument employed for the infliction of capital punishment)—he might perhaps intend to press upon his immediate followers, that, in order to be his disciples, they must be willing even to die for his name's sake. Such a doctrine was well adapted to the circumstances

in which these persons were placed: but, in that spiritual sense of which our Lord's words are obviously capable, it will be found to coincide with the experience of every real Christian. None can "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth," without being conformed to his sufferings-without bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus-without dying themselves to the lusts of the world, the sins of the flesh, and the pride of life. "We are buried with Christ by baptism unto death, that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." 991 But let us not fear this death, or shrink from the cross of Christ: He who imposes it, in order to our highest good, will render it more than tolerable; and it is the enemy of our souls who magnifies in our view the pain and difficulty of bearing it. To the dependant, simple, yet decided, Christian, the yoke of Jesus becomes easy, and his burden light.

3. Those who resist and grieve their heavenly Guide, and quench that delicate flame of light with which he condescends to visit them, gradually envelope themselves in gross darkness. They become incapable of perceiving the instructions of their Divine Monitor, and thus they continually form a lower and a lower standard respecting right and wrong. On the contrary, the Spirit of Christ, as it is closely followed and scrupulously obeyed, rectifies and quickens the faculties of the conscience. Our perceptions of good and evil become more and more just and lively; and, at the same time, our apprehension of spiritual things is enlarged and strengthened. Thus is accomplished, in the experience of his followers, the promise of the Lord Jesus, that "unto every one that hath shall be given." "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

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4. Since the inward manifestations of divine light in the soul, if attended to, lead invariably into the practice of Christian graces; and since those graces are clearly described and enjoined in the Holy Scriptures, (especially in the New Testament,) it is plain that these two practical guides to righteousness will ever be found in accordance with each other. The law written in the book, and the law written on the heart, have proceeded from the same Author: the only standard of both of them is the will of God; and therefore

1 Rom. vi. 4.

2 Matt. xxv. 29.

3 Prov. iv. 18.

they can never fail to correspond. Scripture is a divinely authorized test, by which we must try not only all our sentiments on matters of doctrine; but all our notions and opinions respecting right and wrong. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." ought, however, to be remarked, that the written law, for the most part, consists in general directions. Now, the inward manifestations of the Spirit of Christ, while they confirm the principles on which those general directions are founded, will instruct us how to apply them in our daily walk, and under all the various circumstances and exigencies of life. For example, the outward law declares, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The inward law will not only inculcate the same rule, but will point out, to the obedient followers of Christ, in what manner, and on what occasion, this love is to be brought into action.

5. It is worthy, in the last place, of particular observation, that the monitions of the Holy Spirit within us direct an exact, comprehensive, and unmixed, obedience to the will of God. How imperfect is the obedience of those persons, who acknowledge only the written law, and who, in the application of that law to the various occasions of human life, are accustomed to seek no other direction than that of their own reason, and to depend upon no other strength than that of their own wills! While in the secret of their hearts there dwells a spirit of rebellion against that Lord who would lead them into self-mortification; how readily can they plead excuses, and urge the doctrine of expediency, in opposition to the dictates of truth! Notwithstanding their professed regard to the Scriptures, they neglect to seek that guidance of the Holy Spirit, of which the Scriptures so plainly testify. And what is the consequence? Their moral sense degenerates, and they presently learn to " call evil good, and good evil;" to "put darkness for light, and light for darkness;" to "put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." In such unsound professors of religion there is no full coming out-no effectual emancipation—from that which is evil in the sight of God.

May not a degree of the same kind of imperfection be detected in the experience even of seriously-minded Christians, who, while their dependance is mainly placed on the grace of God, are not fully be

lieving in the light of Christ, as it is inwardly revealed to the soul? I am, in some measure, aware of the depth of human iniquity, and I well know how difficult it is to escape from its secret influence; but, I believe that Christians would not be so much perplexed as they often are, with a sense of imperfection and sin in the performance of their various religious duties, were that performance less of themselves, and more of God; were it less dictated by the activity of their own minds, and derived with greater simplicity from the Fountain of all good. Great as is our own infirmity; deep as is our natural defilement; it is certain that the inward Guide, of whom we are speaking, is entirely holy, and he still upholds to his followers the very highest standard of action-" Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." He commands them to be of clean hands, and to refrain completely from every thing which his own light has made manifest to be evil. He admits of no excuses; he sacrifices his law to no apparent expediency; he is satisfied with no mixed obedience; and when he calls us into active duties, and more especially into religious services, he is ever ready to assist us in our humble endeavour to offer unto the Lord an "offering in righteousness"-even a pure offering.

Such are the tests, and such are the fruits, of the perceptible guidance of the Holy Spirit in the soul. The reader will recollect, that the doctrine of such perceptible guidance rests upon the authority of Scripture; being clearly declared by the prophet Jeremiah, by the apostles John and Paul, and by our Lord himself-that the dictates of the Spirit, which lead into truth, are totally distinct from those of the human imagination, which lead into enthusiasm ;-that the two influences are to be distinguished, first, by the mode of their operation, and, secondly, by the fruits which they produce that the influence of the Spirit operates in a gentle manner on the waiting and prostrate soul—that the fruits which it produces are the "peaceable fruits of righteousness"-that these afford a substantial evidence of the divine origin of that guiding principle which leads to them— and, lastly, that this general argument is greatly strengthened, when we come to trace some particular features in the practical operation of the principle in question; for, as it is closely followed, it is ever found to lead to the humiliation of men, and to the exaltation of Christ; to the denial of self, and to the bearing of the cross; to the