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under Heaven. I was ready to say, that it is very likely, that some who have never seen the Bible can more easily see and obey this gospel than those who have this book; because those who have it, are pinning their faith on the letter. They are superstitiously looking to the letter, which only kills when the spirit is not the guide and director.

But I want every one (for I am no sectarian) to believe, that God is no respecter of persons; and that in every nation, kindred, tongue and people under heaven, those who fear him and work righteousness, will be saved with an everlasting salvation: and that those, wherever they may be, will make up the multitude which John saw, clothed with white robes and singing allelujahs, thanksgiving and praise, to God and the Lamb, forever more.

And those who have never seen the Bible or heard of it, will they not rise up against us in the day of account?

There is no doubt, that among the thousands and millions of people on earth; a very great portion of the children of men are placed in this circumstance; the same as the Gentiles whom the Apostle makes mention of, and yet he said they had by naturethe things contained in the law, for they were a law unto themselves. I have no doubt he alludes to the divine manifestation of God.

received by the people, of all the nations on earth; and which, if rightly attended to, is all-sufficient. It is so universal a thing, that he calls it a natural law; it is natural to every rational creature under heaven. By this, the Gentiles, he said, would condemn those who have a law, but do not fulfil it. O that we might look at these things, my friends. It wants only an attentive survey.

And may we not find, by a close investigation, that Christendom is the most behind hand of any nation under the heaven. They fall the most short, in my opinion, of any people in fulfilling the law of God in the heart. They can now exclaim against the inhabitants of the earth, who have not adopted this outward law; and these outward testimonies, calling them heathens and despising them; when it is evident that many of them have a higher sense of the divine majesty than some of the professors of Christianity. It is said that many of them worship images. It is difficult to see which is the most image worship; theirs, or a great deal of the worship in Christendom.

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What is an idol? Does it consist, necessarily, in something which can be seen only through the external senses? No. We may make a hundred idols in our imagination. If we admit into the imagination any thing which we make a god, it is just as much an image as Juggernaut. Any thing

which we form in the imagination, of what we may ever have seen, or can see, and adore or look up to, is as great a piece of idolatry, as ever was under the sun.

There are none clear of idolatry, but those who worship God Almighty as he declared him self. "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing, that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them." Let this motto ever rest upon our minds, to preserve us against idolatry of every kind.

SERMON VI.

DELIVERED BY ELIAS HICKS, IN FRIEND'S MEETING, ROSE-STREET, NEW-YORK, on fourTH DAY MORNING, THE 25TH OF FIFTH MONTH, 1825; DURING THE

YEARLY MEETING.

THE Soul that is fixed on God, for support and confidence, while passing through this mortal state, is happy beyond any finite comprehension.

The longer I live, the more I witness the truth of this testimony. Were it not for our neglect of this, we might all come to witness it, my friends. If our minds were rightly fixed on God our Creator, we should be led to see with one formerly— "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

My mind has frequently been led to adore the mercy and abundant goodness of a gracious God, towards his rational creatures, who are the most noble part of his outward creation; and to consider his wonderful goodness and condescension over all his works. He condescends to clothe the lily, and will not suffer a sparrow to fall to the ground without his notice and heavenly care.

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