to Adam in the garden, it had reproved the first transgressor-it enabled Enoch to "walk with God"

-it pointed out to Abraham the glory of the gospel day; it instructed the understanding of the prophets; spoke to Samuel in Shiloh; it was the "Rock that followed Israel." The evangelist speaks of it as the "true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world ;" and the apostle calls it "the power of God and the wisdom of God."

It is also revealed to us; and it is just in proportion as we become the subjects of its government and influence that we become "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” It is this union that makes us Christians and partakers of the Divine nature, one with Christ and God; and it is vain for us to call ourselves Christians or followers of Christ, if we have not been made possessors of his spirit; for, says the apostle, "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

The teaching and guidance of this Divine power, and wisdom Christ, is what we call inward, immediate, and Divine revelation-a revelation that is not limited to time or confined within the narrow bounds of sects, but has "appeared unto all men teaching them to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world."

We have abundant evidence that such a revelation is universal, and adapted to the wants of man in his pursuit of heaven and happiness. In the Scriptures we find a great amount of testimony showing that the men of former generations acknowledged an im

mediate revelation of the Divine will to man, and we profess to believe that holy men of old wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. The writings of the Scriptures are, however, chiefly confined to the history of a single nation of people; but there are, nevertheless, to be found among the records and traditions of almost every nation, traces of a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, and of an immediate revelation of his will to mankind. Those records or traditions were ever found, so far as they go to illustrate the universality of the goodness of God, and of his dealings with man, are of equal weight and authority with the Jewish Scriptures and ought to be so regarded. Inspiration was not confined to the authors of the Bible, neither does it follow as a matter of course, that every thing which is found in the Bible was written by Divine inspiration. We find in the writings of many of the ancients, whose history is not contained in that book, declarations of a belief in Divine revelation, showing that it was not limited to any single class or nation, and the universal testimony of human experience in all times, proves, that God has not left himself without a witness in the souls of his accountable children.

Well, my friends, we have access to the same inspiration which has always influenced the minds of the righteous, and that too, without any human aid or instrumentality. We are not dependent upon men or books for it. We have as much evidence that the unlettered North American Indian, who has never seen the Scriptures, nor heard the gospel outwardly preached, believes in and understands Divine revelation, as certainly as did the prophets of old, or any of

the Scripture writers. He speaks of the voice of the "Great Spirit" taking cognizance of his thoughts and actions, and leading him to a life of purity and holiness. It matters not whether we have ever heard the name of Jesus outwardly named, or have ever seen the Scriptures, for such is the goodness of our heavenly Father, that he has adapted his dispensations of grace to meet our spiritual wants, under all the various circumstances in which man may be placed.

In all spiritual matters, in things pertaining to salvation, this Divine illumination is our surest guide; a teacher that can never deceive us, but will, as we obey it, lead us out of all error into the knowledge of the truth. It is this that opens to man the path of duty and convicts him for transgression; while it reproves him for doing evil it blesses him for doing good.

The duties it enjoins are the same in all ages. It leads but to one point, and that is the practice of the religion of Jesus Christ. Christianity being a Divine revelation does not change; its doctrines are the same in all ages; we are as much bound to regulate our conduct by it as the men of past generations, for it remains to be its peculiar nature, to exert a blessed influence upon human conduct and practice.

Christianity owns no mysteries, it is plain and simple, easy to be understood. We must learn to distinguish between genuine Christianity and every thing of an opposite character that bears its name; we must judge it, and know it by its fruits. We shall find it does not consist so much in opinion and profession

as in faith and practice. It does not stand in the observance of external forms, but in daily practical righteousness. Neither does it depend so much on unity of opinion as in doing the will of our Creator. It embraces every good work of benevolence, leads its possessors to "visit the fatherless and the widow in their afflictions, and keep themselves unspotted from the world.”

Such was the religion taught by Jesus of Nazareth; not as something that was new, and unknown before his time, for he came not to teach any new doctrine, as is evident from his own declaration: "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." When the blessed Jesus was queried of after this manner: "Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" he said to the inquirer, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." This doctrine, therefore, was not new, it was equally as true in the days of Moses as of Jesus. These ever have been, and ever will be the unchangeable requisitions of the Divine law, and every rational being who has ever been on the stage of action, or that ever will be on the stage of action, has been under and will be under the obligation to regulate his conduct by them.

It would be utterly at variance with what we know of the character of Deity, to suppose that he would proclaim to one class of mankind such laws

as, “Thou shalt love thy Creator, thou shalt love thy neighbour;" and to another class, thou shalt hate thy Creator, thou shalt hate thy fellow-creature.

To love God, and to love man, embraces the whole of the Christian religion. These are among the unalterable commands of Jehovah; obedience to which uniformly produces order, harmony and happiness. While on the other hand disobedience to them is followed by contention, by anarchy and confusion, and by all the evils which render existence a curse instead of a blessing. We shall find, if we investigate the subject, that happiness can only be secured by fulfilling these laws of our being, and that our failure to enjoy it is the consequence of our own rebellion.

Now we find that Jesus, our blessed example, fulfilled this law of love; both by precept and example he endeavoured to enforce it. He reproved the Jews for their conduct; he held up to their view the perfect rule of morality, the law of God, from which they could easily see that every opposite rule of conduct which they had learned from tradition was imperfect and of human origin.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you. that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute you and despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is