foon darkened; and, when once they get wife above what is written, God foon mikes them fools in religion; "They have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wifdom is in them?" Jer. viii. 9. Thefe lack moisture, and therefore wither; "Evil men and feducers fhall wax worfe and worse, deceiving and being deceived," 2 Tim. iii. 13. Paul fays, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jefus the Lord, so walk ye ́in him," Colofs. ii. 6. And he exhorts us, whereunto we have attained, to walk by the fame rule and mind the fame thing. When this wonder of wonders first appeared I begun to try his fpirit, whether it was of God; for which purpose I brought what he advanced to the test of scripture and my own experience; and I perceived that what he brought forth was not agreeable either to the fcriptures, or what God had taught me, and I believed he was an utter ftranger to that power in which the kingdom of God ftands. Paul fays, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accurfed," Gal. i. 9; and exhorts us not to give heed to fe ducing fpirits, for by them the minds of many are corrupted from the fimplicity that is in Chrift, in the fame way as the ferpent beguiled Eve through his fubtlety. God is the author of peace, but not of fuch confufion as this man brought forth; he erred, not knowing the power of God; "Whofoever tranfgreffeth, and abideth not in the doc

trine of Chrift, hath not God."

"If there come

any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God fpeed." God has promised his holy Spirit to guide his children into all truth; "The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the fame anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye fhall abide in him," 1 John ii. 27. "The foundation of God ftandeth fure, having this feal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." Paul laid the foundation as a wife mafter builder, and warns every man to take heed how he buildeth thereupon; "Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, filver, precious ftones, wood, hay, ftubble." Here are two forts of builders, and the materials are very different: one fort the fire will not burn, but refine; the other will be confumed by it. Sharp trials discover many that are not found in the faith. It is one thing to receive the knowledge of the truth into the natural understanding, in the letter of it; and it is another to receive the love of the truth in the heart; and, when the fiery trial comes, by which every. man's work is to be revealed, many fall away, the work is burnt up, and then it is made manifeft Many feem to run well for a time, and then draw back, and become fo degenerate, that there is not a fhadow of truth about

of what fort it is.

F

them; they go from a tolerably found judgment into Arminianism, and fink into the worst of errors; and it is often feen that fuch are greater enemies to the vital power of godliness than they who have never made a profeffion; the scribes and pharifees were the worst enemies to Chrift. The preaching of the gofpel is compared to a net caft into the fea, which gathered of every kind; the fervants did as they were commanded, and gathered together as many as they found, both good and bad, and the house was furnished with guests; but, when the king came, he discovered the man which had not on a wedding garment; while the good feed is fown by the fervants of Chrift, the enemy fows tares. fows tares. Paul fays, "But in a great house there are not only veffels of gold and of filver, but also of wood and of earth; and fome to honour, and fome to dishonour: if a man therefore purge himself from these he fhall be a veffel unto honour, fanctified and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work," 2 Tim. ii. 21.

It was fome time after Onefimus came and introduced his wild ferment before the divifion took place; during which time we had to con. tend earnestly for the faith, and the contention was extremely fharp. Before they feparated themfelves from us I had two fingular dreams, which made a great impreffion upon my mind; and, thinking them very fignificant, I wrote them

down, waiting and watching the end.-They were as follows: I dreamed that I was travelling in fome very rugged roads, full of hills, that were of an amazing height; by the fide of the hills there were great numbers of people, fitting upon feats, who seemed very attentive, as if listening to some one speaking: at a little distance off were a number of people with a great variety of articles to fell, which were all wearing apparel of different kinds; fome looked like woollen cloth, and other pieces had the appearance of linen; many of them, as I paffed on, asked me to buy: but I found fault with their articles; for, on examining a number of pieces, I could difcern a thread of woollen mixed in them all, on which account I refused them. All the pieces that I looked at were woollen, or mixed with it, except one, which was a piece of fine wove filk: I examined it very minutely, and could difcern no woollen in it; I therefore bought this picce, and yet paid nothing for it. I then went on over the hills, through the midst of a great number of people; and, as the roads were very bad, and many large ftones laid in the way, it was with great difficulty I got along and I had not gone far before I met a woman who much admired my piece of filk, and asked me to let her have a part of it; but I refused, telling her I should want it all for myself, and would therefore part with none. She faid to me, It is

a nice piece.' I told her it was, and that amongst them all there was not one like it. She then left me, and I journeyed forward till I got into fome very rough and indifferent roads again, and at laft came into a very large building, where there was a great number of people, fome looking fat and healthy, while others appeared thin and very ill. As I ftood in this place a man came up to me, and faid I was wanted in a room up ftairs; in my way there, it came into my mind that they wanted me to contribute to fome one's relief; fo I put my hand into my pocket, and took out three pieces of gold; but thought I would part with none till I knew to whom and what for. I then opened the door, and was greatly amazed; for in the middle of the room was a very large couch, full of men that lay in a very diforderly manner; fome were dead, and others looked very ill, apparently at the point of death, with their mouths wide open, gasping for breath; and the vifages of all were frightful to behold.

As foon

as I entered the room it came into my mind that thefe men were all profeffors of religion, who had fwerved from their profeffion, and brought difgrace on the truth, on which account they were fo afflicted, and vifited with the judgments of God. I faw no one that fpake, but heard a voice which talked with me. I inquired how it was that these men all came together; and was anfwered, that they came to fee each other, and