and the united voice of the ministers of the gospel of every age must repeat the sound; Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world; look in faith to him who was lifted upon the cross without the gates of Jerusalem, for the healing of desperate wounds. O, dear friends, are we not wounded by the old dragon, the enemy of souls, deeply wounded, and doth not the deadly poison of sin rankle in our very souls, the end whereof is death?-the death of the soul, even its eternal separation from God the fountain of light. And behold the all-wise Jehovah has provided his own remedy; and he commands us all to come in faith, even to come with broken and penitent hearts, and to believe in the crucified Jesus, that we may be delivered from our desperate danger; emancipated from the terror of the Lord, and win redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

O, friends, what shall we say of the wisdom or philosophy of that man, who, under the false idea that no man is responsible for his faith, and that he cannot, and will not believe what he does not comprehend, turns away his intellectual vision from the crucified One, who suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,-refuses the appointed remedy, nay, tramples in spirit upon the blood of the everlasting covenant;-O, what must be the consequence?-he dies, and dies forever. And therefore, ye beloved ones and longed for in the Lord, away with your false propositions, and speculations,

and doubts, and come home to the truth as it is in Jesus. For ". we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

And now, friends, though an appeal has been made under a feeling of the pointing of religious duty, even to your reason, to your calm reflection, to your meditation in the cool of the day-remember, O remember, that no man can call Jesus, Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, pray for the Spirit; wait for the Spirit; quench not the Spirit; grieve not the Spirit. But bow, bow down this night under the matchless influence of the power of God, who is yet baptizing his people with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And then shall your understandings be enlightened, because your dispositions will be rectified, and you shall see things as they really are, and come to rejoice in God, your Saviour; come to a practical understanding of these blessed words; "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die."

47

PRAYER.

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 over 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 eternity.

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