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so good a God, you cannot surely be so unreasonable as to expect, or hope that God would be so partial, as to punish the Jews, his favorite people, with such signal severity, and yet let Christians pass on in their ingratitude and rebellion, with impunity.. The seed of grace (or the light of the spirit, or the little leaven, or the gospel, or, as it is sometimes called, the word) is planted in every heart, pagan and Christian, for the purpose of bringing forth the fruit of righteousness, and that without respect of persons; so that every man, in every country, has an opportunity afforded him, to escape the bitter pains of eternal death, by the munificence and impartiality of Jehovah; and if he dies, his hardness makes him die.

Thus, the sun-beams harden clay, while they soften wax; the same as the spirit of God softens one sinner, while it hardens another. To those who listen to, and obey its still small voice in their hearts, it proves

a melting and mollifying power ; but contrariwise with those who refuse to listen thereunto. “ Hence this is the condemnation of the world, that light has come, but men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.”

A man may have a perfect knowledge of the history, and yet be a stranger to the mistery of the death of Christ. He may preach ten thousand sermons, and write one hundred commentaries. He may cry, “ lo here is Christ, and lo there he is ;” and “ the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we;" and yet be an enemy to the cross of Christ, and a crucifier of Christ in his heart; the light of his spirit, and his still small voice, being equally despised. The fact is, let them learn what they will, and profess what they may, unless the holy spirit of Christ is in them, after all their theological performances, they are most certainly reprobates, as sayeth the apostle, Paul:-“ Examine yourselves, whether ye

we are

be in the faith ; prove your own selves : know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ?” 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

Every one who harbours this divine spirit, however ignorant of literature, has a knowledge of himself and of the truth, than which a better knowledge cannot be; and every one who rejects this spirit, is in spiitual darkness, although he could repeat the whole Bible verbatim in Greek, or write it in Latin. Nothing is more plain from the whole tenor of Scripture, than that the grace of God has appeared to every man that has been, or is in the world; whether Christian, Jew, Greek, or Barbarian. St. Paul in the most plain and pointed manner declares this truth, in his epistle to Titus :-" For the

of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.”

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Tit. ii. 11, 12. This grace or spirit must appear, not to some men, nor many men, but TO ALL MEN! and teach them the whole duty of man. For could God judge and condemn those, who were ignorant of their duty to him and their fellow creatures? Hence there are some who obey this light, even among savages; who fulfil the royal law of love, although destitute of any written commandments. I can from personal experience declare, that I have found more genuine hospitality among some unlettered savages, in their homely habitations, than I have among the sanguine and enlightened professors of the Christian religion. I find many who have the word religion always in their mouths, who are continually attending sacramental or ceremonial meetings, yet they prove by their conduct that they are led by the spirit of the devil, and not the spirit of God.

The least leaven will produce mercy, the least grace will revive love in the heart, the

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smallest glimmering of the light of the holy spirit, will inspire the mind with common humanity ; yet do I know many high professors of religion, who are devoid of mercy and common humanity; they cannot therefore, be led or influenced by the spirit of truth. I will allow, a man may be a good man, and nurture that good spirit, and yet, by weakness, unwatchfulness, or infirmity, may deviate from the paths of moral rectitude; but if he errs one moment, he will repent with heart-felt sorrow the next, not for fear of hell, but from pure love to God; but to be destitute of mercy, is to be a stranger to the experimental knowledge of the truth altogether. This brings to my mind a circumstance, which will tend to illustrate the present subject, viz. About three years ago, a certain poor but pious woman, was reduced to the greatest distress and misery, by the premature decease of her husband. She had three small children to provide for, and it was winter. I

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