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me. So should you say: I am hastening off the stage; the graves are ready for me-of what importance will it be in a few days, perhaps in a few hours, whether I have been rich or poor; whether I have been honorable or despised.

"Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased for when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not "descend after him. Though while he lived, he bless"ed his soul; and men will praise thee, when thou "doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation "of his fathers, they shall never see light. Man that "is in honor and understandeth not, is like the beasts "that perish."

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Now of that which we have spoken, this is the sum. "Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is ex"alted: but the rich in that he is made low; because as "the flower of the grass he shall pass away; for the "sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it wi"thereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and "the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall "the rich man fade away in his ways. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by prayer and supplica"tion with thanksgiving, let your requests be made "known unto God. And the peace of God which pass. "eth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and "minds through Christ Jesus. Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither "poverty, nor riches; feed me with food convenient "for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, who is "the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the "name of my God in vain. Lord my heart is not "haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a child "that is weaned of his mother, my soul is even as a "weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord from ❝henceforth and for ever."

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Christians, we have been admonishing you to be content with a little of the things of this life; but God for bid you should be satisfied with a little religion...a little grace. Here you should be ambitious; here you should be covetous. It is a holy ambition; it is a heavenly covetousness. You are allowed to seek more; you are commanded to seek more. More is attainable: more is necessary. Therefore be not alive only in religion... but be lively....do not only bring forth fruit....but much fruit....that your Heavenly Father may be glorified, and that you may appear to be his disciples. Let your faith grow exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you towards each other abound. And say with the apostle, "I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one "thing I do, forgetting those things which arc behind, "and reaching forth unto those things which are before, "I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high "calling of God in Christ Jesus."

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DISCOURSE XX.

OUR DUTY IN RELATION TO THE SPIRIT.

(WHIT-SUNDAY.)

Quench not the spirit.-1 Thes. v. 19.

THE works of nature, and the works of grace, spring from the same Author; and the former are designed to explain and exemplify the latter. We can scarcely perceive any thing in the whole compass of creation, which will not easily supply us with an emblem or a monitor of some religious truth.

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The Holy Ghost, whose ministry comes this day under our review, is held forth by various images. our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus-by the operation of the wind; "The wind bloweth where it

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listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst "not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the spirit.” In his address to the woman of Samaria-by the refreshments of water; "If thou knowest the gift of God, and who it is "that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst "have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water for this spake he of the spirit, which "they which believe on him should receive." In the words before us, the apostle derives the comparison from fire. Quench not the spirit.

All the properties and effects of fire, are strictly applicable to the spirit. Does fire penetrate and search? -how piercing and painful are some of his discoveries and influences ? Does fire destroy ?-He consumes

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our errors and our corruptions. Does fire refine? He purifies and sanctifies. Does fire produce both light and heat?-He not only illuminates, but warms. Dots fire conduce to our comfort ?-He fills us with all joy and peace in believing.

It is hardly necessary to observe, that the Holy Ghost is not spoken of personally, but in reference to his agency and operations. Now these are two-fold: first extraordinary and miraculous-these are con fined to the apostolic age. Secondly, common and saving, and these will continue to be experienced to the end of the world. And be it remembered, that while these are no less real in their existence than the for mer, they are far more glorious in their effects. Though they do not heal bodily diseases, they cure the disorders of the mind. Though they do not qualify us to discern spirits, they lead us to prove ourselves, and to examine whether we be in the faith. Though they do not furnish us with other tongues, they enable us to comply with the admonition; "let no corrupt commu"nication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is "good to the use of edifying, that it may minister 66 grace unto the hearers."

These influences of the spirit are rendered necessary, by our depravity and inability. Some of the wiser heathens confessed the need of divine assistance, to enable a man to commence and continue a virtuous cause. But what unenlighted reason imperfectly discerned, the book of God has fully established. There we find all real religion traced up to a divine agency if there be a christian grace to be exercised, it is called the fruit of the spirit: if there be a christian duty to be performed, it is to be done in the Holy Ghost. We are said to "live in the spirit; and to "walk in the spirit." And that the spirit is still possessed for these all-important purposes, appears undeniable-if we appeal to the testimony of the scripture. Witness its decisions" ye are not in the flesh, but in "the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you.

"Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is "none of his. Know ye not that ye are the temple of "God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you ?” Witness its promises "I will put my spirit within "you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. If ye "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your "children, how much more shall your Heavenly Fa"ther give the holy spirit to them that ask him ?" Witness its commands-" be filled with the spirit. "Grive not the holy spirit, whereby you are sealed un"to the day of redemption. Quench not the spirit." -Let us examine this admonition.

Fire may be quenched many ways. The most direct way is by casting water upon it.-And this I compare to actual, wilful sin. By this christians are sometimes seduced, and the consequences, with regard to religion, are mournful. An example is better than a description, Let us take David as an instance, and see the injurious effects of his fall. Read his penitential psalm. Some have told us that sin cannot hurt a believer. I am sure it hurt David. His fall produced several fractures, and occasioned him the most acute pain and anguish. This is what he means when he says, "make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones "which thou hast broken may rejoice!" He is filled with awful apprehensions of being a cast away-" Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me." He is deprived of the joy of the Lord, which was once his strength" Restore un"to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me "with thy free spirit." He was struck dumb and could not speak of God, or to God, or for God, as he once did-"Open thou my lips, and my mouth shall "shew forth thy praise." Finally, he had made by his fall, breaches and ravages in the church-" Do "good in thine good pleasure unto Zion: build thou "the walls of Jerusalem." For in this case it may be truly said that one sinner destroyeth much good. The sins of a professor cause the enemics of the Lord to

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