and yet I say unto you, that Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O! ye of little faith?" And I think we ought, more than we do, to commend ourselves with prayer to the special providence of our God and Saviour, and to the guidance of that holy Guide, under whom all things are placed, "in heaven and in earth;" for our blessed Saviour said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;" and he remains to be God over all things, both temporal and spiritual, to his own church. And if the Lord's children, although often sorely tried and perplexed, do commend themselves in faith and prayer to the Shepherd of the flock, and make their requests known to God in faith, they will not want a protector, they will not want a guide even in outward things; but the Lord will condescend to go before them, and make a way for them where they see none, as it was with the children of Israel in the days of old, when they were escaping from the hand of Pharaoh; and when the king, with all his chariots and his mighty hosts, and his powerful army, were closely pursuing them, the mountains on either side of them, and the waves of the sea before them, the command was, "Stand still, and see the salvation of God;" and a pathway was made for them through the ocean. O friends, they had even then to walk by

faith; for the waves roared and tossed themselves about, but they could not prevail over those who had faith to follow their guide; for then a passage was made through the deep of the ocean: and my firm belief is, that the same glorious God doth condescend, from season to season, to make manifest his goodness to those who love and follow him, even in the order of an outward providence; of that especial care which is over the Lord's children; for, "not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father;" and, my beloved friends, "you are of more value than many sparrows."

My soul has been bowed in thankfulness, in the remembrance, at this time, that the Lord condescends to guide us by the light of Scripture, my brethren; and I trust we increasingly feel the value, the inexpressible worth, of the light of an outward revelation; of which the divine origin is made abundantly clear, by evidence which enlightened reason cannot resist. O! friends, are we diligent in making a right use of this blessing? do we endeavour to follow the guidance of the light of Scripture, in all our ways, and in all our works? are we satisfied with the superficial perusal of the book, or do we endeavour to go down into the depth of it? is it our daily study? is it our daily delight? are the Scriptures our evening friend and companion? O friends, how diligently did some of our forefathers, in the early period of our Society, study the holy Scriptures; how

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deeply were many of them imbued with their holiness; how many long hours did they spend in the perusal of them; of which we find a clear account written in many instances. They dared not lay the book on one side; they knew it from beginning to end; they studied deeply, many of them, of which you will find plain proofs, and clear records, in their history; and they were not afraid of applying to the sacred Volume, as the sure, safe test of their religious doctrine; and they invited their hearers, on all occasions, to follow the example of the Bereans, who "searched the Scriptures daily, that they might know whether these things are so.” And I long to encourage my young friends to make a more diligent, watchful, careful use of the light of Scripture, whereby the Shepherd of Israel condescends, as by one main, important means, to guide the children of God out of darkness into light; to bring their fellow men out of this blindness and ignorance to a knowledge of the truth, even into marvellous light; and I believe, friends, the more diligently, the more humbly, the more earnestly, we devote our minds to the study of the sacred pages, the more we shall know of the fulness which is in Christ; the more we shall know, from our own experience, that he is a wonderful counsellor, an almighty friend; that in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And, my dear friends, we are not to look for Christ, as our shepherd, in the disuse of the Holy

Scriptures, but in the use of them; we are stewards, my beloved friends, and deeply accountable in the sight of God for a right use of all his gifts and talents bestowed upon us; and how shall we stand in his sight, if we do not make a right and diligent use of this invaluable, most precious gift and talent, the light of an outward revelation, bestowed upon us in free mercy from our God. And therefore, my beloved friends, "the Lord is our shepherd," and he guides us by the order of an especial providence, and by a plain light of an outward revelation, recorded for our instruction in the holy scriptures.

My dear friends, I trust we can, with one heart and one mind, set our seal to these truths; for they are plain, simple, and indubitable, as the noon-day light. But doth any man suppose, that the belief of them does in any degree weaken our esteem of the work of God's holy Spirit? God forbid, my dear brethren; for on what does our value for the scriptures rest, but on the firm conviction that they were given forth under the immediate influence of God's holy Spirit? and who is there amongst us who dares to believe that the contents, even of the scriptures, will benefit us for the great purpose of salvation, unless they are unfolded to our spiritual minds, and impressed on our hearts, by that Spirit which gave them forth? for there is no one principle more clearly declared in scripture than this; "What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even

so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." And I do beseech my beloved friends, of every age and class, more and more earnestly to seek for the gift of God's holy Spirit, that they may know the Comforter to take of the things of Christ, and shew them effectually and savingly to their benighted souls; for thus, and thus only, can we so believe in a crucified Redeemer as to live for ever; thus, and thus only, can we experience Him to be our resurrection and our life, and our sure and certain hope of immortal glory. And this, friends, is the work whereby the Holy Spirit brings us to Christ; the Spirit of the Father leads us to the Son; and when we are thus brought to the Son by a living faith, the Lord is our Shepherd, because he guides us by the immediate influence of his Holy Spirit; "for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;" and unless we are so led and guided, we cannot be sons. O! friends, what a glorious privilege, that there is an access open for us all to the Father, through the Son, by one Spirit; and that God, in his matchless condescension, is pleased to make known his will to us by his Spirit, not in the disuse of the means appointed, but in the use of them. Friends, let us not deceive ourselves; let us be the children of prayer; let us wait upon God in true silence; let us devote some of our private hours to the patient perusal of scripture, with meditation and supplication; and then we shall know