more eminently experienced than at any previous time. The first inquiry then will be, whether this favor is continued to the Church or not?

The Society of Friends believe that it is; and they think they are supported in this belief by the testimony of Scripture, as well as by individual experience.

In order therefore to decide whether immediate revelation, was only a circumstance which attended the introduction of the Gospel Dispensation, or was really an essential part of that Dispensation itself, we shall examine first,a few of the prophecies which related to it; and then, some of the testimonies which are to be found of their fulfilment. Isaiah, who has been called the evangelical prophet, from his clear prophecies relating to the Messiah, and the nature of his kingdom, says: "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground:, I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring." c. 44. v. 3. In speaking of the coming and sufferings of Christ, he says: "So shall he sprinkle many nations: the kings shall shut their mouths at him; for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider." ib. 52. 15. And after that clear prediction of the sufferings and death of Christ, and the accession of the Gentiles which should follow, he says: "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children." ib. 54. 13. And in connection with the same prophecy he says: "Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,even the sure mercies of David. Behold I have given him for a witness. to the people, a leader and commander to the people." ib. 55. 3, 4. "For thus saith the high and lofty

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One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." ib. 57. 15. "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from hence forth and forever." ib. 59. 21. "Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God, thy glory." ib. 60. 19, 20. "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt,"-"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach, no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest, of them." Jer. 31. 31, 32, 33, 34. This is called an everlasting covenant. ib. 32.40, Ezek. 16. 60, & 37. 26, Heb. 13. 20. The prophet Ezekiel also, in speaking of the blessings of Christ's kingdom, says: "A new heart also will I give you: and a new Spirit will I put within you:"—"And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Ezek. 36. 26, 27.

"And it shall come to pass afterwards, [or as the apostle Peter expressed it, 'in the last days,'] that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the hand-maids, in those days, will I pour out my Spirit." Joel, 2. 28, 29.

If these prophecies apply to the Gospel Dispensation, which I apprehend will not be called in question, they certainly apply to this Dispensation, as its permanent characteristics, and not as mere circumstances attending its introduction.

The testimony of our Lord himself, and of the apostles and evangelists, very fully corroborate and confirm the prophecies that went before, and still maintain the same doctrine, of the permanent nature of this trait in the character of the new Dispensation, and of the necessity that it should be so.

Both the prophets and apostles represented the legal dispensation, inferior to that of the Gospel, in divers respects, and in a particular manner, in the greater affusion of the Holy Spirit, and consequently a more eminent degree of Immediate Revelation. For the old covenant was to give way to one "more excellent, and established upon better promises;" Heb. 8. 6: in which the access to God should be more easy, the revelation of his will, be immediate, and this glorious privilege be placed within the reach of "all," "from the least to the greatest."

When our Lord had risen from the dead, and was giving his disciples that general commission for publishing his doctrines, he said: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth"-"and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 28. 18, 20. These declarations of our Lord, were not confined, in their application,

to those who were then present; but we may adopt the language of the apostle, that "whoever was written aforetime, was written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope." Rom. 15. 4. And therefore, as firmly as we believe in the Power of our Lord and Saviour, so firmly we may be assured, on the same authority, of his presence with his servants through all ages.

Previous to his crucifixion, and in order to prepare them for that event, and for a clear understanding of the nature of the dispensation which he introduced, he impressed on their minds, in a remark. able manner, this very doctrine which we hold, of the Holy Spirit: its sensible influences on the mind, and its revealing operations. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." Here is clearly set forth the permanence of this favor to the true believers. It was not to be a transient thing, afforded for a limited period-but to abide with his disciples forever. He proceeds: "Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither know eth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you; and shall be in you." John, 14. 16, 17. And in the 25th and 26th verses of the same chapter, he adds: "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." And again, in the next chapter, he says: "As the branch cannot bear fruit, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much

fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered." v. 4, 6. That the Holy Spirit was received by the primitive believers, according to these promises, will not be called in question, by any denomination of christians. Nor was it conferred in only a few cases, or at a particular period. It fell in Cornelius and his household. It was received by the converts of Samaria. Acts, 8. 15. The same favor was enjoyed by the Churches throughout Judea, Galatia and Samaria. ib. 9. 31. Thus also at Antioch, and the region round about, "the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost." ib. 13. 52.

We are not, however, without examples of a contrary nature, which also deserve to be noticed. The eloquent Apollos, in his first visit to Ephesus, was instructed only in John's Baptism; and though he was fervent in spirit, yet he did not fully preach the doctrines of the gospel, so that Aquila and Priscilla, found it necessary to instruct him more perfectly. And that the most important defect in his doctrine, related to immediate, divine influence, appears from the next chapter. For it is recorded there, that Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus, (where Apollos had just been preaching, before he was more perfectly instructed,) and found certain disciples, of whom he inquired if they had received the Holy Ghost since they believed? But they had not so much as heard whether there was one or not. But during his stay, and religious exercises with them, the Holy Spirit was communicated to them, and it is very evident that they were not fully introduced into the church, until they had received it. Acts, c. 18 and 19. Though Simon Magus had received the tenets of the christian religion, and been so far