come under this influence, and are guided and led thereby, all our profession of religion is less than nothing, yea, less than nothing and vanity. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Now, beloved friends, the professing church of Christ stands in need of greater purification than it has yet attained to; there are many blots on her escutcheon, even in this land; there are many spots on her garments; she is defiled by the dust of the earth; and her garments are very much tattered. But when the professing church of Christ under every name, comes under the baptizing influence of the Holy Ghost, and comes to be led and guided in all things, by the uncompromising principle of life and light, then she will arise and shake her garments from the dust, then she will appear in her beauty, and there shall no more pass through her borders, the uncircumcised and the unclean.

It is plainly the doctrine of Scripture, that the Holy Spirit has been given through Christ to be our guide in life, our guide in duty, our guide to heaven. And why will ye not follow that guide? For it is not in man that walketh to direct his own steps; the Spirit must lead us, if we would live forever. But I apprehend there are those who sit down to reason

and speculate on the subject, and who are prone to perplex themselves with the question, How am I to distinguish the voice of the Spirit of God, from my own imagination, or from the delusion of my soul's enemy? But, dear friends, the believer in Christ who is brought into a humble dependence upon the Lord of life and glory, and who walks by faith and not by sight, is enabled to distinguish the voice of the Shepherd, from the voice of a stranger. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." There is a spiritual eye, and a spiritual ear, opened by the Lord's Spirit, so that with the intellectual ear of the soul, the voice of the true Shepherd is clearly heard and distinguished, by the watchful believer, from the voice of a stranger, But there are tests by which we may try these things; there are certain proofs which are very clear and very Scriptural; and it is well for us to examine ourselves, to prove ourselves, whether we be in the faith. "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

Now, friends, the guidance of the Spirit of truth, which leads into all truth and into all virtue, will never lead any man, either in opinion or practice to any thing which is contrary to Holy Scripture. And it was a noble testimony of our early Friends, that if any man pretended to be led by the Spirit into any

practice contrary to Holy Scripture, it was to be accounted a delusion of the devil. And the Spirit of truth will always lead us to exalt and accept those blessed truths which are plainly declared to mankind in the Holy Scriptures of truth; for those Scriptures did emanate from that very Spirit, and the Spirit of truth can never by any possibility contradict itself. Therefore here is a very merciful provision for you and me; and may we all be diligent in the fear of the Lord, in the perusal of the Holy Scriptures, always remembering, that we cannot savingly understand their contents, unless they are brought home to the understanding and to the heart, by the very same influence that gave them forth. And blessed be the Lord, the testimony of this religious body has always been abundantly clear, to the great truth, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.

Then, to advance another step in this subject; it is certain that the true guidance and influence of the Spirit can never, by any possibility, lead any man living, to deny the Lord who bought him. That is impossible; for the words of our Saviour are clear; "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye shall also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." And

when the Jews came to our Saviour and said, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" he said, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." And, friends, when the true Spirit of grace and of supplication, is poured into the mind of unregenerate man, it breaks him down into tenderness and contrition, and he looks upon him whom he hath pierced; even the crucified Jesus, who was nailed to the cross by the wicked hands of his enemies, and who died for the sins of all mankind; whom therefore we all have pierced by our sins, and should mourn for him as a man mourneth for his only son, and should be in bitterness for him, as a man who is in bitterness for his first-born.

And it was the doctrine and the preaching of the early members of this religious Society, "Mind the light;"-mind the light of the Spirit of God which shines in the heart, that it may show you your sins, and bring you to the Saviour who died for them. And, friends, if you will mind the light, it will make manifest your degraded and lost condition by nature; it will make you sensible of your need of a Saviour; it will bring you to the feet of Jesus, that you may behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.

Then, my friends, there is another test to which we may bring this matter, of no small practical importance. There is according to the doctrine of Scripture, a conflict, a warfare between the flesh and the

Spirit. And the Spirit of God, when truly felt and known, will ever be found to counteract the corrupt passions of our fallen nature, and to lead the believer in Jesus in the way of the cross; and those who come under that guidance and under that influence, shall be taught of the Lord to say, as Paul said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." And here is the true reason, I believe, why so many who profess the name of Christ, are unwilling to be guided by the unflattering and uncompromising voice of the Spirit of God, which dictates a straight-forward course of unbending holiness, without turning to the right hand or to the left; they are displeased at the cross; they cannot bear the mortification of their heart's lusts; the world, the world is their God; self is their idol; and they will not renounce the world; they will not renounce self, and walk in the narrow way. Light has come into the world, verily; but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. But O, friends, the folly, the madness, the desperate danger of such a course! Permit a stranger, and yet a brother, to implore you, as you value your eternal happiness, not to trample upon the cross of Christ, but to give up to it, and bear your cross, that you may be followers of a crucified Lord. For except you take up his cross, you cannot be his disciples. Yes, professing christians must come to a higher