give me a greater share with Him in that which He did so willingly undergo for me? When He was sought for to be made a king,' as St. Bernard remarks, 'He escaped; but when He was to be brought to the cross, He freely yielded Himself.' And shall I shrink and creep back from what He calls me to suffer for His sake? Yea, even all my other troubles and sufferings I will desire to have stamped thus, with this conformity to the sufferings of Christ, in the humble, obedient, cheerful endurance of them, and the giving up my will to my Father's."-Archbishop Leighton.

"Oh, how will it fill the saints with amazement, while they are secretly accusing themselves, with Joseph's brethren, We are utterly guilty concerning our brother, our lord and elder brother, I say, to hear the Lord Himself not charging them with the least unkindness; yea, representing them before God, men, and angels, even, as it were, as immaculate as the angels themselves, who kept their first estate: yea, in all this, putting the crown upon their heads (Rev. iv, 10), which they cast down at His feet, saying, 'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name, give the glory.' Behold such honour have all the saints !"-Traill.

111

GOD THE HOLY GHOST.

"The Comforter. ... the Spirit of truth:' JOHN IV, 26.

"He shall teach you all things:" JOHN xiv, 26.

"He shall testify of me:" JOHN XV, 26.

"IF the Holy Ghost be God, Behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain Him; how much less this house,' this temple of the human body? By receiving Him then, we do not limit and circumscribe His presence.

"The apostles had Him bestowed upon them, in order to teach all nations in their several dispersions; and when they separated from one another, they were not separated from Him by whose continued assistance they had power to 'be witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.' This boundless sphere of His activity and communion with Christians in every place, is an argument of His Divinity against those who would degrade Him into the rank of creatures; and this consideration of His immensity would lead us to change the question, and, instead of asking, whether we have received, rather inquire how it is possible to exclude Him? For there is no 'going from the presence of this Spirit.' As the power of God is infinite, yet by us discerned only in some particular instances; so the Holy Ghost, though He pervades all things, yet yields some especial notices of Himself, which are particular evidences of

His presence. Thus, as we see God in the works of creation, so we feel the Holy Ghost in our Souls: not that they, either of them, are themselves the objects of our senses, but we discern them in their works: The heavens declare the glory of God,' and diversities of gifts are a manifestation of the Spirit."-Ridley.

"It is the office of the Holy Ghost to assure us of our adoption as sons, to create within us a sense of the paternal love of God toward us, and to give us an earnest of our everlasting inheritance. As, therefore, we are born again of the Spirit, and receive from Him our regeneration, so we are also assured by the same Spirit of our adoption, and because, being sons, we are also heirs, heirs with God, and joint heirs with Christ, by the same Spirit we have the pledge, or rather the earnest of our inheritance."-Bishop Pearson.

"The witness of the Spirit is a thing that we cannot express; a certain inexpressible assurance that we are the children of God; a certain secret manifestation that God hath received us and put away our sins. No one knows it but they that have it. I confess it is a wondrous thing, and if there were not some Christians that did feel it and know it, you might believe there was no such a thing; but it is certain there is a generation of men that know what the seal of the Lord is."-Preston.

"The testimony of the Spirit is immediate, by His secret influence upon the heart, quieting and calming all distrust and diffidence concerning its condition, by His own immediate power. Fear is banished by a soft whisper from the Spirit of God in the heart; and this in such a way that, though the spirit of man is calmed by it, yet it cannot tell how it comes to pass."-Simon Ford.

"The Spirit directeth and governeth all our actions, continually leading and moving us in the ways of obedience to God's holy will and law. As we live by Him (having a new spiritual life implanted in us), so we walk by Him, are continually led and acted by His conduct and help. He reclaimeth us from error and sin; He supporteth and strengthened us in temptation; He adviseth and admonisheth, exciteth and encourageth us to all works of piety and virtue."-Barrow.

"When the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son of God, He borrowed the semblance, not of a bird of prey, but of the mourning and tender dove.' And thus, when He now descends to stamp His sacred image on the soul, the impression which He leaves is not that of fierceness and intolerance, but of gentleness and tenderness and love. He is the Spirit, not of contention, but of order, and of a sound mind, and of the charity which never faileth'-the Spirit which maketh men to be of one mind in a house. Shall not those, therefore, who profess to follow His guidance, be harmless as doves? Shall they not cultivate the tenderness and gentleness of Him to whom the Spirit was given without measure? Shall they not remember they are brethren,' and see that they fall not out by the way!' To those who are thus cherishing the graces of the Spirit, the Sanctifier will become the Comforter." -J. W. Cunningham.

"In a mill where the machinery is all driven by water, the working of the whole machinery depends on the supply of water. Cut off that supply, and the machinery becomes useless. Let on the water, and life and activity is given to all. The whole dependence is placed upon the outward supply of water: still, it is obvious that we do not throw away the machinery through which the power of the water is brought to bear upon the work. Just so in the believer:

VOL. I.

I

the whole man is carried on by the Spirit of Christ, else he is none of His. The working of every day depends upon the daily supply of the living stream from on high. Cut off that supply, and the understanding becomes a dark and useless lump of machinery: for the Bible says that unconverted men have the understanding darkened. Restore the Divine Spirit, and life and animation is given to all-the understanding is made a new creature. Now, though the whole leaning or dependence here is upon the supply of the Spirit, still it is obvious that we do not cast away the machinery of the human mind, but rather honour it far more than the world does."-McCheyne.

"We teach that the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of faith, worketh in all those who are regenerated by Him, with and by this faith of the Gospel, through which they really and truly believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, a full confidence towards God, whereby they embrace Him as their Father, who loves them infinitely more than any earthly father does his dearest children; and towards Christ our Lord as their only Saviour, who ever intercedes for them with the Father, and who will deliver them from every evil and lead them to every good, till He bring them there where He himself is. Hence also this Spirit, in like manner, works in all who are of this description a firm hope of all grace and assistance from God, and of eternal life. We teach again, that this Holy Spirit, from and with this true faith, confidence, and hope in God and Christ our Lord, does also produce in the sons of God true love to Him, bold confession and sanctification of His name, in all their words and actions. and even in courageously sustaining all those things which are to be suffered on that account, even in every kind of punishment, and, finally, in death itself."-Bucer.

"Nay, none can know what may come upon them even in