OF UNIVERSAL GRACE AND DIVINE ILLUMINATION.

"That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."-John i. 9.

Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. He that doeth truth cometh to the light, that it may be manifested to him, that his deeds are wrought in God, and by his fruits he is known, that others seeing his good works, may glorify our Father which is in heaven. There is one God, the Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. The grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and the world's lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world.

The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit withal. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord thy God doth require of thee for unto every one is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

"For what purpose do we send out missionaries into the dark places of the earth? Not to give the heathen a new faculty, but to assist that which they already possess to be the means of increasing the

OF UNIVERSAL GRACE, &C.

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spark of divine light which already shines in their dark hearts, although the darkness comprehend it, not." All have a measure of this divine gift to occupy with, whether it be comparable to the ten talents the five, or one only, and every man will have to account for that which he hath; not for that which he hath not.

After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. They shall no more say, every man to his neighbour, or to his brother, "Know the Lord!" for they shall all know me, from the least even unto the greatest. I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth which dwelleth with you, and shall be in you, but the world receiveth him not, neither knoweth him.

The anointing which ye have received of him, abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things necessary for salvation. These promises appertain to all the living members of Christ's militant Church, and those who receive the Comforter, in the way of his coming, do hold spiritual communion with God without the intervention of man, or the use of outward means. This is the privilege of the Gospel !

ON BAPTISM.

"There cometh one mightier than I after me."—" I indeed, have baptized you with water, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."-" He must increase, but I must decrease."-John Baptist.

It is true that Christ was baptized by John, saying unto him, "Suffer it to be so now," hereby intimating, that the necessity for this outward ceremony would shortly cease, agreeably to the Baptist's own confession, "I must decrease"-my outward baptism must give way to another and more effectual baptism—the spiritual baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire. It is true also, that Christ himself never baptized any with water; but Peter, Philip, and Paul, who had been brought up in the observance of Jewish customs, did, like them, use water baptism for a time, as a token to their converts.* But Paul, when he perceived the dangerous dependence which might be attached to the

*The Jews did not baptize their children or adult Jews, but such persons only as they converted. For a brief period the apostles followed their example in this respect; for we do not find that they baptized each other, or their children, but their converts only.

practice, soon laid it aside, and thanked God he had baptized so few, saying, he was not sent to baptize but to preach, and he elsewhere affirms, that as "There is one Lord-one faith," so there is "one [saving] baptism"-and only one; and the apostle Peter sheweth, that the baptism which now saveth, is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh" by the agency of water. It is not any outward or elementary operation, but the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. "Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized." This Christ spake of suffering for the Gospel's sake, not of water baptism.

The blood of bulls and goats cannot cleanse away sin. Circumcision availeth nothing, nor uncircumcision, rituals, or non-rituals, but if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: ye must be born again ; the old man with his deeds must be put off, old things must pass away and all things become new, and all things of God who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ. "The kingdom of God is within you." Whilst frequently referring to this, Christ's constant aim was, to turn men from a dependence on ceremonies to the essence of religion. Christ's baptism, which is described in Holy Writ, as the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire, searcheth the heart, trieth the reins, and sheweth unto man his thoughts. It purifieth the inner man from every corrupt desire

and evil imagination, it divides asunder the precious from the vile, that which serveth God, from that which serveth him not, so as by fire, comparable to the refiner's furnace that separates the dross, the tin and the reprobate silver, from the pure gold, which, only abideth the fire. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work."