It is by no means to be righteous over-much, to affirm we muft have the fame Spirit of GOD as the first Apostles had, and must feel that Spirit upon our hearts.

By receiving the Spirit of GOD, is not to be understood, that we are to be infpired to fhew outward figns and wonders, to raise dead bodies, to cure leprous perfons, or to give fight to the blind these miracles were only of ufe in the first ages of the church; and therefore christians (nominal christians, for we have little elfe but the name) may have all the gifts of the Spirit, and yet none of the graces of it: Thou, O man, mayeft be enabled by faith to remove mountains; thou, by the power of GOD, mayeft caft out devils; thou, by that power, mayest speak with the tongues of men and angels; yea, thou mayeft, by that power, hold up thy finger and stop the fun in the firmament; and if all these are unfanctified by the Spirit of GOD, they would be of no service to thee, but would hurry thee to hell with the greater folemnity. Saul received the spirit of prophefying, and had another heart, yet Saul was probably a caft-away. We must receive the Spirit of GOD in its fanctifying graces upon our fouls; for CHRIST says, "Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." We are all by nature born in fin, and at as great a distance from GOD, as the devils themfelves. I have told you often, and now tell you again, that you are by nature a motley mixture of the beaft and devil, and we cannot recover ourselves from the ftate wherein we have fallen, therefore must be renewed by the Holy Ghoft. By the Holy Ghoft, I mean, the third Perfon of the ever-bleffed Trinity, co-equal, co-effential, co-eternal, and confubftantial with the Fatherand the Son; and therefore, when we are baptized, it is into the nature of the Father, into the nature of the Son, and into the nature of the Holy Ghoft and we are not true chriftians, till we are fanctified by the Spirit of God.

Though our modern preachers do not actually deny the Spirit of God, yet they fay, "Chriftians must not feel him;" which is in effect to deny him. When Nicodemus came to CHRIST, and the LORD JESUS was inftructing him, concerning the new birth, fays he to our LORD, "How can these things be?" Nicodemus, though a master of Israel, acts just as our learned Rabbi's do now. The answer that CHRIST

gave him fhould ftop the mouths of our letter-learned pharifees: "The wind bloweth where it lifteth, and we hear the found thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth." Now till the Spirit of GOD is felt on our fouls as the wind on our bodies, indeed, my dear brethren, you have no interest in him: religion confifts not in external performance, it must be in the heart, or else it is only a name, which cannot profit us, a name to live whilst we are dead.

A late preacher upon this text, feems to laugh at us, for talking of the Spirit in a fenfible manner, and talks to us as the Jews did to CHRIST: They faid, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So he afks, "What fign or proof do we give of it?" We do not imagine, that God must appear to us, and give it us: no; but there may be, and is, a frequent receiving, when no feeing of it; and it is as plainly felt in the foul, as any impreffion is, or can be, upon the body. To what a damnable condition fhould we bring poor finners, if they could not be fenfible of the Spirit of GOD; namely, a reprobate mind and past feeling?

"What proof do they give?" fays the writer. What fign would they have? Do they expect us to raise the dead, to give fight to the blind, to cure lepers, to make the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear? If thefe are what they expect, I fpeak with humility, GOD, by us, hath done greater things than these: many, who were dead in fin, are raised to scrip`ture-life: thofe, who were leprous by nature, are cleansed by the Spirit of GOD; thofe, who were lame in duty, now run in GoD's commands; those, who were deaf, their ears are unftopped to hear his difcipline, and hearken to his advice; and the poor have the gofpel preached to them. No wonder people talk at this rate, when they can tell us, "That the Spirit of GoD, is a good confcience, confiquent thereupon." My dear brethren, Seneca, Cicere, Plate, or any of the heathen philofophers, would have given as good a definition as this: It means no more, than reflecting that we have done well. This, this is only Deifm refined : Dents laugh at us, when we pretend to be again their notions, and yet thefe men use no other reafon for our differing from them, than what is agreeable to Deifts principles.

This writer tells us, "It is against common-fense to talk of the feeling of the Spirit of GOD." Common-fenfe, my brethren, was never allowed to be a judge; yea, it is above its comprehenfion, neither are, nor can the ways of God be known by common-fenfe. We should never have known the things of GOD at all by our common senses: no; it is the revelation of GOD which is to be our judge; it is that we appeal to, and not to our weak and fhallow conceptions of things. Thus we may fee, it is by no means to be righteous over-much, to affirm we must have the Spirit of GOD as the Apoftles had. Nor,

Secondly, Is it to be righteous over-much to frequent religious affemblies,

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The preacher, upon this text, aims at putting afide all the religious focieties that are in the kingdom: Indeed, he fays, "You may go to church as often as opportunity ferves, and on Sundays; say your prayers, read the word of GOD; and, "in his opinion, every thing else had better be let alone: "and as for the Spirit of GOD upon your fouls, you are to "look upon it as ufelefs and unneceffary." If this, my brethren, is the doctrine we have now preached, chriftianity is at a low ebb indeed; but God forbid you should thus learn JESUS CHRIST. Do you not forbear the frequenting of religious affemblies; for as nothing helps to build up the devil's kingdom more than the focieties of wicked men, nothing would be more for pulling of it down, than the people of GOD meeting to ftrengthen each others hands; and as the devil has fo many friends, will none of you be friends to the bleffed JESUS? Yes, I hope many of you will be of the LORD's fide, and build each other up in chriftian love and fellowship. This is what the primitive chriftians delighted in; and fhall not we follow fo excellent an example? My brethren, till chriftian converfation is more agreeable to us, we cannot expect to fee the gospel of CHRIST run and be glorified. Thus it is by no means to be righteous over-much, to frequent religious affemblies. Nor,

Thirdly, Is it to be righteous over-much, to abftain from the diverfions and entertainments of the age.

We are commanded to " abftain from the appearance of evil," and that "whatsoever we do, whether we eat or drink,

we

we fhall do all to the glory of GOD." The writer upon this text tells us, "That it will be accounted unlawful to fmell to a rofe:" no, my dear brethren, you may fmell to a pink and rofe too if you please, but take care to avoid the appearance of fin. They talk of innocent diverfions and recreations; for my part, I know of no diverfion, but that of doing good: if diverfion which is not contrary to your bap you can find any tifmal vow, of renouncing the pomps and vanities of this wicked world; if you can find any diverfion which tends to the glory of GOD; if you can find any diverfion, which you would be willing to be found at by the LORD JESUS CHRIST, I give you free licence to go to them and welcome; but if, on the contrary, they are found to keep finners from coming to the LORD JESUS CHRIST; if they are a means to harden the heart, and fuch as you would not willingly be found in when you come to die, then, my dear brethren, keep from them: for, indeed, the diverfions of this age are contrary to chriftianity. Many of you may think I have gone too far, but I fhall go a great deal farther yet: I will attack the devil in his strongest holds, and bear my teftimony against our fashionable and polite entertainments. What fatisfaction can it be, what pleasure is there in fpending feveral hours at cards? Strange! that even people who are grown old, can spend whole nights in this diverfion: perhaps many of you will cry out, "What harm is there in it?" My dear brethren, whatsoever is not of faith, or for the glory of GOD, is a fin Now does cards tend to promote this? Is it not mifpending your precious time, which fhould be employed in working out your falvation with fear and trembling? Do play-houses, herfe-racing, balls and assemblies, tend to promote the glory of GOD? Would you be willing to have your foul demanded of you, while you are at one of thofe places? Many of thefe are, (I must speak, I cannot forbear to fpeak against these entertainments; come what will, I will declare against them) many, I fay, of thefe are kept up by public authority: the play-houfes are fupported by a public fund, and' our newspapers are full of horse-races all through the kingdom: these things are finful; indeed they are exceeding finful. What good can come from a horfe-race; from abufing Gon Almighty's creatures, and putting them to that ufe he never

defigned

defigned for them: the play-houses, are they not nurseries of debauchery in the age? and the fupporters and patrons of them, are encouragers and promoters of all the evil that is done by them; they are the bane of the age, and will be the deftruction of those who frequent them. Is it not high time for the true minifters of JESUS CHRIST, who have been partakers of the heavenly gift, to lift up their voices as a trumpet, and cry aloud against these diverfions of the age? Are they not earthly, fenfual, devilish? If you have tafted of the love. of GOD, and have felt his power upon your fouls, you would no more go to a play, than you would run your head into a furnace..

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. And what occafions thefe places to be so much frequented, is the clergy's making no fcruple to be at these polite places t they frequent play-houses, they go to horse-races, they go to: balls and affemblies, they frequent taverns, and follow all the entertainments that the age affords; and yet these are the perfons who fhould advise their hearers to refrain from them; but inftead thereof, they encourage them by their example. Perfons are too apt to rely upon, and believe their pastors, rather than the fcriptures; they think that there is no crime in going to plays or horfe-races, to balls and affemblies; for if there were, they think those perfons, who are their ministers, would not frequent them: but, my dear brethren, observe they always go difguifed, the minifters are afraid of being feen in their gowns and caflocks; the reason thereof is plain, their confciences inform them, that it is not an example fit for the minifters of the gospel to fet; thus, they are the means of giving that offence to the people of GOD, which I would not for ten thousand worlds: they lay a ftumbling-block in the way of their weak brethren, which they will not remove, though it is a stumbling-block of offence. "Woe unto the world because of offences, but woe unto that man by whom the offence cometh." The polite gentlemen of the age, spend their time in following these diverfions, because the love of GOD is not in their hearts; they are void of CHRIST, and deftitute of the Spirit of GOD; and not being acquainted with the delight there is in GOD and his ways, being strangers to these things, they run to the devil for diversions, and are pleafed and delighted with the filly ones he fhews them.

VOL. V.

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My