to the corrupt falsification of Scripture on this subject, all error and evil have been produced. All the diversity of folly, inconsistency, superstition, blasphemy and madness, in the understanding, will, and life of man, is to be attributed solely to the want of uniformity and agreement in sentiment, with respect to the one true God; for He is the maker, husband, brother, friend, and father of us all. And be it also well attended to, that the end of all our knowledge is, that we may be the better for it; or that we may become wiser, happier, more useful and spiritual subjects of him who is emphatically declared to be, "The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. " He who is well instructed who the Lord is, most easily perceives what the Lord is. The sacred scriptures abundantly tell us both these two things, and they equally tell us, that "God is one, that God is love; and that he is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever.

Divine knowledge is that to which all other knowledge ought to be subservient; because it applies to God, heaven, another and a better world, and the spiritual

and eternal life of the rational and immortal soul, which is that precious and glorious principle and essence of our life which was created in the image and like、 ness of the infinite and eternal God himself. And of divine knowledge, the true knowledge of the Lord, (as I said before ) is the first and chief. And so extensive and effectual is this, that it applies to every power, principle, and faculty of man. Indeed it is most true, that the acknowledgement of the Lord, according to the undefiled, or unperverted meaning of his holy word, which supremely testifies of him alone, includes the whole of evangelical religion, spiritual wisdom, and angelic perfection. But then this acknowledgement must be vital, practical, and experimental, as well as doctrinal, speculative, and intellectual. Therefore,

Since regeneration, like creation also, is a gradual work, this great and supreme knowledge and acknowledgement, must likewise be progressively acquired. For it was necessary for the first disciples to believe their master to be the Son of God, before they believed him to be God also.

It is necessary for us first to believe in our Lord's first advent, before we can possibly be brought to believe in his second advent: It is necessary for us first to believe in the divine authority of Revelation, before we can believe in the truths which it contains. And it is necessary for us to know the Lord with our understanding, before we become thereby more intimately acquainted with him in heart, will, and life. Nevertheless, in proportion as this knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord is attained, our own natural, accursed, and extravagant self-love of dominion, our hatred and contempt of others, and in a word, idolatry in all its principles, forms, and derivations, together with every irregular elevation and improper direction of the life of man, must yield, submit to, and obey "the Lord our righteousness." And when this is our happy case, then profound humility, intellectual discernment, divine order, practical usefulness, bliss eternal, and "the honor that cometh from God only," which is the great and exclusive reward, to which, by his divine mercy and free grace, we are entitled,

will be the blessed, glorious, and inestimable substitutes, consequences, or effects.

Now, in order to accomplish this, "the scriptures of truth, which are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus, are expressly and peculiarly adapted. Every dispensation of divine mercy, grace, and providence, points to the same glorious and almighty end. The manifestations of spiritual light from heaven have been progressive, so that "the glory of the latter house, has always been greater than the glory of the former house, saith the Lord of hosts. A new, final, consummate, and eternal dispensation is predicted, described, and promised: And the more clear and distinct divine truth is made manifest, and fully and extensively apprehended, and especially the knowledge of him who is the essential truth, whose name is called the Word of God, so much the more will divine order, harmony, love, and peace, abound and prevail in the world; or, in other words, in proportion as "the kingdom of God shall come, his will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven." For the spiritual and

eternal regeneration of man, is the end of every scripture prophecy, precept, and doctrine; and in no other way can these sublime, significant, and peculiar words of our text be fulfilled: "The Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord [ Jehovah] and his name

Now, on the face of these most important words, it may be observed, that it seems highly proper, reasonable, and necessary, that the Lord, and no other, should be king over all the earth, One Lord, and his name One. For, he who is king and Lord of heaven, must be king and Lord of the earth also. For heaven and earth are inseparably connected together, and the divine influence hath continual respect to things spiritual and natural; and it was not without foundation said, by the great and renowned hermetic philosopher, "that all things in heaven were upon earth, in a terrestial manner; and that all things on earth were in heaven in a celestial one: It also appears evident from our text, that it contains and exhibits a prediction

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