47

PRAYER.

1

Thou art holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! and let thine universe be filled with thy glory. Make known, we beseech thee, that thou art yet for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty to the residue of thy people. Break in upon us with the light of thy countenance, and with a living sense of thine own eternal power, that we may be broken and humbled in the dust before thee. O, the depth of the riches both of thy wisdom, and of thy knowledge! how unsearchable are thy judgments, and thy ways past finding out! Who hath known thy mind, O God, and who hath been thy counsellor? for from thee, and through thee, and unto thee, are all things. We pray thee for thy mercy's sake, and for thy well-beloved Son's sake, to send forth thy light and thy truth; let them light and lead us unto thee, and unto thy tabernacle. Wilt thou melt down the hard and evil heart of unbelief, in all who are in any measure partakers thereof; and among the inhabitants of this city in general, wheresoever it is found, melt it down by the fire of thy love, by fire from heaven, that it may be utterly taken away; and that all may be brought to find their happiness, their life, their salvation, and their heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, who

was in glory before the world was, who was made flesh, and dwelt amongst men, who suffered on the cross for the sins of mankind, without the gates of Jerusalem, who rose from the dead, ascended up into heaven, and sitteth at thine own right hand in glory unutterable, there to be our Advocate with thee, the Father, a High Priest forever, after the order of Melchisedeck, King of righteousness, and King of peace. O, be thou pleased, by the drawing cords of thy love, by the power of the Holy Ghost, to bring us all to Jesus; that we may savingly behold the precious Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world; and that we may know him to be a Saviour from sin, that under the blessed influence of the Holy Ghost, we may serve, worship, obey and follow thee, the living God, in the beauty of holiness, in the new creation.

And now, we reverently, and in awful prostration of soul, acknowledge, that unto thee the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things; and unto thy well-beloved Son our Holy Redeemer; and unto the Holy Ghost, the Teacher and Sanctifier of thy children; one true, unchangeable, indivisible, eternal God aver all, Jehovah, who wast, and art, and art to come;-belongeth and must be ascribed, all honor, glory, power, dominion, and praise, majesty and high renown, now, henceforth, and to all eter nity.

SERMON IV.

DELIVERED AT ARCH STREET MEETING-HOUSE, FIRST

DAY EVENING, SECOND MONTH, 1838.

TWENTY-FIFTH,

"If ye love me, keep my commandments: and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also."

And truly, my dear friends, as Christ was the great promise of the law, in whom the types of the law were to be terminated, and the prophecies fulfiled, so the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is the great promise of the gospel of Christ, enjoyed by all who know, love, and serve him, all the world over, and in all ages. For here it is expressly declared, that

he should abide with the church forever; that he was not to come for the benefit of the early disciples alone; he was not merely to pour forth the gifts wherewith the apostles and evangelists were gifted in their day, proportioned to the pre-eminent and most important services to which they were called; but he was to abide with the Lord's people forever. And this declaration agrees with the words of the apostle Peter, when he spake of the fulfilment of the promise of the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was so gloriously poured forth upon the ancient church, both upon men and women; his language was, "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." And very

memorable were the words addressed in ancient evangelical prophecy, to the Messiah himself; "My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever." So that all who are of the seed of the Messiah, who belong to his family among the children of men, enjoy a blessed portion of that holy influence of the Holy Ghost, wherewith Jesus in his human character was anointed without measure; for God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him.

And, beloved friends, that glorious and blessed gift is obtained for the children of men, according to the counsels of Infinite Wisdom, through the meritorious death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life; for, when he led captivity captive, and ascended up on high, he received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also; that the Lord God might dwell amongst them. And were we required to furnish a practical, living, and perceptible evidence of the truth of the doctrine of his propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of men, that evidence is furnished by what we know, what we feel, and what we are assured, respecting the influence of the Holy Ghost, the operation of the Comforter, upon the understandings and upon the hearts of men; even that Comforter whom the crucified, risen and glorified Jesus, sends unto us from the Father, even when he baptizes his people with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

And, beloved friends, may we ever take a comprehensive view of the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of mankind; may we ever adhere to the doctrine of its universality, in a measure, though in many instances that measure may be very small; may we not be afraid of facing the declaration, That Christ who died for the sins of all mankind, is, by his Spirit, the light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. That light which shines in the consciences of men, is it not the light of the