looked, there the spirit of self, of Satanic and worldly subtilty, will be church, and priest, and supreme power, in all that is called religion.

But to return now to the doctrine of continual inspiration. The natural or unregenerate man, educated in Pagan learning and scholastic theolo gy, seeing the strength of his genius in the search after knowledge, how easily and learnedly he can talk and write, criticise and determine upon all Scripture words and facts, looks at all this as a full proof of his own religious wisdom, power, and goodness, and calls immediate inspiration enthusiasm; not considering, that all the woes denounced by Christ against scribes, pharisees, and hypocrites, are so many woes now at this day denounced against every appearance and shew of religion, that the natural man can practise.

And what is well to be noted, every one, however high in human literature, is but this very natural man, and can only have the goodness of a carnal secular religion, till as empty of all as a newborn child, the Spirit of God gets a full birth in him and becomes the inspirer and doer of all that he wills, does, and aims at, in his whole course of religion.

Our divine Master compares the religion of the learned pharisees" to whited sepulchres, outwardly beautiful, but inwardly full of rottenness, stench, and dead men's bones."

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Now whence was it, that a religion, so serious in its restraints, so beautiful in its outward form and practices, and commanding such reverence from all that beheld it, was yet charged by truth itself with having inwardly such an abominable nature? It was only for this one reason, because it was a religion of self. Therefore, from the beginning to the end of the world, it must be true, that where self is kept alive, has power and keeps up its own interests, whether in speaking, writing, teaching, or defending the most spacious number of scripture doctrines and religious forms, there is that very old pharisee still alive, whom Christ with so much severity of language constantly condemned. And the reason of such heavy condemnation is, because self is the only root, or rather the sum total of all sin; every sin that can be named is centered in it, and the creature can sin no higher than he can live to self. For self is the fullness of atheism and idolatry, it is nothing else but the creature broken off from God and Christ; it is the power of Satan living and working in us, and the sad continuance of that first turning from God, which was the whole fall or death of our first Father.

And yet, sad and Satanical as this self is, what is so much cherished and nourished with our daily love, fears, and cares about it? How much worldly wisdom, how much laborious learning, how many subtilties of contrivance, and how many flattering

applications, and submissions are made to the world, that this apostate self may have its fullness, both of inward joys, and outward glory?

But to all this it must yet be added, that a religion of self, of worldly glory and prosperity carried on under the gospel state, has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish pharisees. It is the highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity, because it lives to self, Satan, and the world, in and by a daily profession of denying and dying to self, of being crucified with Christ, of being led by his Spirit, of being risen from the world, and set with him in heavenly places.

Let then the writers against continual immediate divine inspiration, take this for a certain truth, that by so doing they do all they can to draw man from that which is the very truth and perfection of the gospel state; and are, and can be, no better than pitiable advocates for a religion of self, more blameable and abominable now, than that which was of old condemned by Christ. For whatever is pretended to be done in gospel religion by any other spirit or power, but that of the Holy Ghost bringing it forth, whether it be praying, preaching, or practising any duties, is all of it but the religion of self, and can be nothing else. For all that is born of the flesh is flesh, and nothing is spiritual, but that which has its whole birth from the Spirit. But man, not ruled and governed by the Spirit,

has only the nature of corrupt flesh, is under the full power and guidance of fallen nature, and is that very natural man, to whom the things of God are foolishness. But man boldly rejecting, and preaching against a continual immediate divine inspiration, is an anti-apostle, he lays another. foundation than that which Christ has laid, he teaches that Christ needs not, must not, be all in all in us, and is a preacher up of the folly of fearing to grieve, quench, and resist the Holy Spirit. For when, or where, or how could every one of us be in danger of grieving, quenching, or resisting the spirit, unless his holy breathings and inspira tions were always within us? Or how could the sin against the Holy Ghost have a more dreadful nature, than that against the Father and the Son, but because the continual immediate guidance and operation of the Spirit, is the last and highest manifestation of the Holy Trinity in the fallen soul of man? It is not because the Holy Ghost is more worthy, or higher in nature than the Father and the Son, but because Father and Son come forth in their own highest power of redeeming love, through the covenant of a continual immediate inspiration of the Spirit, to be always dwelling and working in the soul. Many weak things have been conjectured, and published to the world, about the sin against the Holy Ghost; whereas the whole nature of it lies in this, that it is a sinning, or

standing out against the last and highest dispensation of God for the full redemption of man. Christ says, "If I had not come, they had not had sin," that is, they had not had such a weight of guilt upon them; therefore the sinning against Christ come into the flesh was of a more unpardonable nature, than sinning against the Father under the law. So likewise sinning against the Holy Ghostis of a more unpardonable nature than sinning against the Father under the law, or against the Son as come in the flesh, because these two preceeding dispensations were but preparatory to the coming, or full ministration of the Spirit. But when Father and Son were come in the power and manifestation of the Spirit, then he that refuses or resists this ministration of the Spirit, resists all that the Holy Trinity can do to restore and revive the first life of God in the soul, and so commits the unpardonable sin; and which is therefore unpardonable, because there remains no further, or higher power to remove it out of the soul. For no sin is pardonable, because of its own nature, or that which it is in itself, but because there is something yet to come that can remove it out of the soul; nor can any sin be unpardonable, but because it has withstood, or turned from that which was the last and highest remedy for the removal of it..

Hence it is, that grieving, quenching, or resisting the Spirit, is the sin of all sins, that most of