Many there are who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; bitter for fweet, and fweet for bitter. They call the divine light, 'which lighten

eth every man that cometh into the world.'* a natural light, an ignis fatuus, or by fome other ignominious epithet; though the Scripture declares it the very life of the holy word, that was in the beginning with God, and truly was God. There are many of them, who, under a notion of advocating the true cause and doctrine of Chrift, ftrike violently against the very life of it; and will not allow that the manifeftation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal,'+ though the fcriptures exprefsly affert it, and experience confirms it to those who rightly profit by the meafure received. Many who have, from tradition and education, for a season believed the Holy Spirit gracioufly vouchfafed them, was fome very inferior thing to the true Spirit of the everlasting and moft holy God, have at length, by yielding to its dictates, and taking it for their leader, grown wifer than their teachers, and been indubitably inftructed and affured that it was indeed the eternal Spirit, that, from their infantile days, ftrove with them, for their reconciliation with God, the eternal fource of it; as it did with the old world, for their recovery from their cor. rupted, alienated state.

We find that when the earth was corrupt before God, and filled with violence; when God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth,' Gen. 'vi. 11, 12; when God faw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ima'gination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," ver. 5; when it repented the 'Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart,' v. 6. at that most totally C 2 abandoned

* John i. 9.

t1 Cor. xii. 7.

abandoned and depraved period and ftate of mankind, when God, was juft about extirpating from the face of the earth the whole wretched race of man, a few individuals excepted: at fuch a feafon as this the Lord faid, My Spirit fhall not always ftrive with man,' ver. 3. Surely if his Spirit had friven with them until that time, until they were fo defperately wicked, and wholly corrupted, that not only fome, but every imagination of their hearts was evil, yea, only evil, and that continually; we may well believe the exprefs fcripture affertion, that a manifeftation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit ' withal.'

If God's love is fuch to men, that he follows them by the strivings of his own Spirit, and fpares them, until, by disobedience they become abandoned and corrupted, what greater evidence can we defire of the univerfality of his love, the long-fuffering of his patience, and impartial vouchfafement of his Holy Spirit, not to a few to the exclufion of the reft, but to all mankind the world over. And what more than reafoning confirms it to be fo, is, the abfolute truth of the fact in the individual experience of all. It is true many deny it. The Jews alfo denied Chrift to be the Son of God. They did not know who, and what he was; and their infulting Query, Whom makeft thou thyfelf was juft as natural to proceed from them in their dark and carnal state, as is the confidence wherewith thousands, high in profeffion of godlinefs, now utterly difallow the Holy Spirit that is given to all, to be the Holy Spirit. But this confolation have all wifdom's children, that Wifdom+ is juftified of them all;' and that the unbelief of others can never make void their faith: they are taught of God, and great is their peace.

*John viii. 53.

+ Luke vii. 35.

In regard to my own early acquaintance with the Holy Spirit's operation, though I then knew not what it was, I have now no more doubt about it than I have about the exiftence and omniprefence of God. It is fealed upon my heart, with as much clearness and certainty, that it is the Spirit of the living God, and that it vifits, woos, invites, and ftrives with all, at leaft for a feafon, as it is, that God is no refpecter of perfons. And I as fully believe no man can have any clear knowledge of God, or of his own religious duty, without the Holy Spirit's influence, as I believe the wifdom of this world is foolifhnefs with God, and that the world by wisdom know him not. Yea, fo quick and powerful, fo difcerning the thoughts and intents of the heart; and fo juft and diftinguishing, in approving and condemning them, according as they are good or bad, is this fpirit, word, and witnefs in man; that not only without the aid of human injunction or information; but in direct dif fent from, and difapprobation of, the fentiments, advice, and preffing invitations and perfuafions of my play-mates, and thofe much older than myself, and who confidently and repeatedly declared to me, that fuch and fuch things were innocent and not at all wicked, and that nobody thought them fo but myfelf; the teftimony of truth would and did arife. and live in my heart when very young, through the fhining of divine light or influence of the Holy Spirit; that thofe things were evil, were wicked; and I thought, notwithstanding all thofe young perfons could fay to the contrary, that all good people would think as I did-and believe they would be generally fo accounted, if all men kept ftrictly to the Holy Spirit's teachings. But violence being done to clear conviction in the mind, death takes place, as on Adam in the day he ate forbidden fruit. And in this ftate of death, the truth is not fo eafily distinguished from error or good from evil, as before tranfgreffion,

C 3

transgreffion. Evil habits gain ftrength; darknefs covers the mind; temptation is renewed, and though the Spirit again in fome degree premonisheth, and bids beware, the mind, habituated to the ftifling of conviction, too commonly again rushes forward, and becomes more and more hardened and darkened, until what was at firft plainly condemned as evil, by the unflattering witnefs in the mind, is at length maintained to be innocent and finless. This is the too ufual courfe of poor mankind.

Before I was ten years old, the workings of truth grew fo powerful in my mind at times, that I took up feveral refolutions (or at feveral times refolved) to amend my ways, and live a ferious and religious life, though I was not one of the most vicious of my years; yet enough fo to be made very fenfible of the Lord's controverfy with me, on ac count of the evil of my ways My mind became exceedingly difquieted, when I went contrary to divine manifeftation; though I had not yet a clear fenfe that it was the very Power and Spirit of God upon me that fo condemned and diftreffed me for fin, and ftrove to redeem my foul from the bondage of corruption.

I now began to take notice of what I heard read and converfed of refpecting religion; and among other things I heard frequent mention in books and converfation of the Spirit of God; and that good people in former times had it in them; and by it learned the will of God, and were enabled to perform it. I perceived it was often spoken of in both the Old and New Teftament, and many other writings. I understood that true converts in these days alfo have it. But, like many others, I overlooked its lively checks and calls in myself; had no idea that I had ever known any thing of it; longed to be favoured with it; but fuppofed it was fome extraordinary

extraordinary appearance, different far from any thing I ever yet had been acquainted with.

Thus the Jews, even while they were expecting Chrift's coming, knew him not when he came. They overlooked and defpifed his mean and ordinary appearance; thought he was Jofeph's fon, and born among them, and fo rejected, abufed and finally put him to death. But they were mistaken in his pedigree: his defcent was from heaven; and Gad, not Jofeph, was his father. Juft fo are thousands now miftaken, as to the dignity and origin of God's Spirit in them; they think it is of man, a part of his nature and being; whereas it is of the very life, power and fubftance of God. Its defcent is as truly from heaven, as was that of the Lord Jefus. He came in that low, mean and ordinary appearance as to outward fhew and accommodations, teaching us thereby not to defpife the day of small things, nor overlook the littleness of the motions of divine life in our own fouls. And when he compares the kingdom of Heaven, which he exprefly fays is within, to outward things, he very inftructively inculcates to us, al at the beginnings of it are malt, a little leaven.'' a little feed' a grain of mus'tard feed'-'the leaft of all feeds.'*This is true in the inward, whatever it be in the outward; for the feed of the kingdom is the leaft of all the 'feeds' in the field or garden of the heart. Other feeds fprout, fpring up, and take the attention, while the incorruptible feed, the word of God in the heart, is overlooked, trampled under and defpised.

O! that children and all people would be careful in their very early years, and as they grow up and advance in life, to mind the 'reproofs of inftruction' in their own breafts; they are known to be the

*Mat xiii. 31. 32.

way