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convinced that, without the influence of the Holy Spirit, you cannot please God; but that so many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God? Consider only who gave the Spirit to the church, when the first disciples were assembled with one accord in one place; who it was that led captivity captive, and gave this gift unto men, and that the especial work of the Comforter was to convince men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and to guide them into all with them for ever?

truth, and to abide

Are we fully sensible God, in thus dealing

of the goodness of with his servants? He sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins, and he sends his Spirit to make us holy, that we may be for ever happy in heaven. He does not forsake the work of his own hands. does not leave himself without witness.

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He

Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world !" He begins a good work in mercy, and he carries it on to the day of Jesus Christ. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

If we, then, live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. It is a pleasant walk. How

sweet.

cheerfully the Christian walks! He presses on. Like Enoch, he walks with God: like the two disciples, he walks with his beloved Master. How peaceably he rests! He has laboured in the service of the best of masters, and the sleep of the labouring man is How faithfully he trusts! How firmly he believes the word and the promises of God! He casts all his care upon God. And how composedly he dies! Thus the walk terminates in endless glory. Who would not be made partaker of that grace which leads to such results? Lastly, "We may observe," says Bishop Beveridge," that whilst the apostles were sending up their spirits unto God, God sent down his Spirit upon them; and, by consequence, that the best way for us to obtain any mercy from God is still to ask it of him, God having not only promised, but his saints experienced, that what they ask faithfully they shall obtain effectually."*

And we are thus the gainers in every way. Our walk is pleasant, and our journey's end is peace. It is said of the Israelites, " He" (i. e. Jehovah) "led them forth

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* Bishop Beveridge's Whitsun Sermon.

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by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation." They had their journey; we have ours; but the great Leader is the same. Their God is our God, for ever and ever. He will be our guide unto death. He will guide us by his counsel, and after that conduct us to glory.

It is evidently the work of the Spirit which can begin, continue, and end every good purpose, and make us continually given to such things as shall please God, for Jesus Christ's sake.-Amen.

SERMON XXII.

PUBLIC WORSHIP.

HEBREWS X. 25.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

THE main scope and design of the Epistle to the Hebrews is to convince that people, once so highly favoured, so dearly beloved by God, of the transcendent excellency of the Gospel of Christ above the law of Moses. The writer, who was in all probability St. Paul, with the greatest warmth of affection endeavours to turn their eyes from the ceremonies of the law, on which they were still attentively fixed, and to place them upon Christ as the long-expected deliverer

of their nation, and of the world at large; and to show them that Jesus, whom he preached, was "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." In the chapter from whence the text is taken, the apostle speaks of the privilege of believers in having such an High Priest over the house of God, so superior to the priests who were continually offering sacrifices for the people under the law. He then draws many useful inferences from this consideration; pointing out those duties which should result from an interest in the sacrifice of Christ, made upon the cross, once for all. He says: Having boldness" (he speaks confidently) to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an High Priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with

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pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another

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