nature in us, therefore, says St. John, we love him because he FIRST loved us;" the same as say ing, we desire God, because he first desired us; for we could not desire God, but because he first desired us; we could not turn to God, but because he first turned to us. And so it is, that we could not love God, but because he first loved us; that is, because he first, by our creation, brought forth, and by our redemption, continued and kept up, that same birth of his own Spirit of love in us; for, as his Holy Spirit must first be a gift to us, or born in us, and then we have that which can worship God in Spirit, so his love must of all necessity be a gift to us, or born in us, and then we have that of God in us, which alone can love him with his own love. A truth absolutely asserted in these words: "Love is of God, and he that loveth is born of God"

Let this be my excuse to the learned world, for owning no school of wisdom, but where the one only lesson is divine love, and the one only teacher, the Spirit of God. Let no one call this wild or extravagant ; it is no wilder a step, no more injurious to man, to truth and goodness, than the owning no god but one. For, to be called from every thing but divine, love, and the Spirit of God, is only being called from every thing that has the curse of fallen nature in it. And no man can come from under this curse, till he is born again

¿ dwie love, and the Spirit of God. For thus be born, is as much the one sole happiness, jos, and glory of men, both now and ever, as it as the sove joy and glory of angels eternally in the heavens Bebeve me, then, thou great schoiar. th all that thou hast got of wisdom or learning day after day, in any other school but this, wil stand thee in as much stead, fill thee with as high heaveny comfort at the hour of death, as all the long dreams which night after night, thou hast ever had in thy sleep. And till a man knows this with as much fulness of conviction as be knows the vanity of a dream, he has his full proof that he is not yet in the light of truth, not yet traght of God, nor like-minded with Christ.

One of Christ's followers said, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father;" the answer was, "Let the dead bury their dead, follow thou me." Another said to him, "Let me first go bid them farewell that are at home in my house;" Jesus answered, “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Now, let it be supposed that a third had said "Lord, I have left several deeplearned books at home, written by the greatest masters of grammar, logic, and eloquence, suffer me first to go back for them, lest losing the light which I had from them, I might mistake the depth and truth of thy heavenly doc

trines, or be less able to prove and preach them powerfully to others. Would not such a request as this have had a folly and absurdity in it, not chargeable upon those two other requests which Christ rejected? And yet, what can scholastic, classic, and critical divinity say for itself, but that very same thing which this requester here said?

The Holy Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world, he that followeth me walketh not in darkness." Here spiritual light and darkness are as immutably fixed, and separated from one another, as the light and darkness of this world were divided on the first day of the creation. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is the one only light, both of men and angels. Fallen nature, the selfish will, proud tempers, the highest abilities, the natural sagacity, cunning arts, and subtilties that are or can be in fallen men and angels, are nothing else but their fulness of spiritual darkness, from which nothing but works of darkness can come forth. In a word, darkness is the whole natural man; light is the new-born man from above. Therefore, says the Christ of God, "I am the Light of the world,” because he alone is the birth of heaven in the fallen souls of men. But now, who can more reject this divine light, or more plainly choose darkness instead of it, than he who seeks to have his mind enriched, the faculties of his fallen soul cultivated by

2

the literature of poets, orators, philosophers, sophists, sceptics, and critics, born and bred up in the worship and praises of idol gods and goddesses ? What is this, but like going to the serpent to be taught the innocent spirit of the dove; or to the elegant lusts of Anacreon and Ovid, to learn purity of heart, and kindle the flame of heavenly love in our souls? Look where you will, this is the wisdom of those who seek to Pagans for skill to work in Christ's vineyard; who, from long labours in restoring the grammar, and finding out the hidden beauties of some old vicious book, set up for qualified artists to polish the gospel pearl of great price. Surely this is no better a proof of their "savouring the things that are of God," than Peter gave, when his Master said to him, "Get thee behind me, Satan." A grave ecclesiastic, bringing forth out of his closet skilful meditations on the commentaries of a murdering Cæsar, or the sublime rhapsody of an old Homer, or the astonishing beauties of a modern Dunciad, has as much reason to think that he is walking in the light of Christ, and led by the Spirit of God, as they have who are only" eating and drinking, and rising up to play."

But to see the exceeding folly of expecting ability in divine knowledge, from any thing that is the wit, wisdom, or spirit of the natural man, you need only read these words of the holy messenger of

God, the Elias that was to come. "I indeed," says he, baptise you with water, but he that

"

Now, if this which not our faith, if we

cometh after me, whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to unloose, he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." the Baptist said of Christ is do not receive it as the truth in which we are firmly to stand, then be as learned as we will, we have no better a faith, or higher wisdom, than those blind rabbies who received not the testimony of John. A fire and spirit from above was the news which he published to the world; this, and nothing else, was his kingdom of God that was at hand. Now, if this fire and spirit from above has not baptised us into a birth of the life of God in our souls, we have not found that Christ and kingdom of God, to which John bore witness. But if (what is still worse) we are so bewitched, through the sorcery of learning, as to turn writers and preachers against this inward and only redeeming heavenly fire and Spirit, we are baptised with the spirit of those to whom our Lord said, "Wo unto you, Scribes Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."

For what is or can be the fall of a divine Adam under the power of sin, Satan, and hell, but the extinction of that heavenly fire and Spirit which