the ministry of the Spirit, 2 Cor. ii. 8. And the Spirit of Christ, in the prophets of the Old Testament, "testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and of the glory that should follow," 1 Pet. i. 11. And we are told that "the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy," Rev. xix. 10. Therefore, whatever the enlightened understanding discovers, and the mind perceives or conceives, it is immediately handed down to the experience of the Spirit's teaching within, to see if it be consistent with the anointing which teacheth all things; and, if it agree with the anointing, and has the sanction of the Holy Spirit, immediately the mind is led to the written word for support and confirmation, and the Spirit brings some word home to the mind which proves and establishes it; and this witness of God is greater than the witness of all the men in the world; but, if it agree not with the anointing, and if it receive not the Spirit's sanction, nor any word come in to confirm it, it is rejected and cast out, as being contrary to the anointing. "And ye need not that any should teach you, but as the same

anointing teacheth you," 1 John ii. 27. Whatsoever, therefore, contradicts the Spirit's work and his teaching is to be rejected. If my dear brother will attentively observe this inward teaching, he will perceive something of it all the day long; and, without this divine compass, it is in vain to launch out into the profound depths of divine mysteries, and especially that of the Holy Trinity. "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea," Job xi. 8, 9. "Secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but things which are revealed belong_unto us, and to our children for ever," Deut. xxix. 29. And God has promised that he will give us a heart to know him, for he will pardon them whom he reserves, Jer. 1. 10. And again "For all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more," Heb. viii. 11, 12. I was led into the glorious mystery of the Holy Trinity by the

And

teaching of God in my own soul. It is written in the prophets, "All thy children shall be taught of God," Isa. liv. 13. This passage our Lord quotes, "It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me," John vi. 45. And it is added, "No mán can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him," John vi. 44. Now, from this divine teaching there is none of God's elect exempted they shall be all taught of God. the Saviour informs us that, by God here God the Father is meant; and he adds, "Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." He must both hear and learn of the Father before he comes to Christ; nor can any man come to Christ except the Father draw him; and all such, says Christ, "I will raise up at the last day," John vi. 44. Hence we learn that all the elect are taught of the Father; and that every one of the Father's pupils comes to Christ; and, without being drawn by the Father,

they cannot come; and those that do come shall be infallibly saved and raised up at the last day.

But then where is the father's teaching described? How does he teach us? And what do we hear and learn of him? This is what I will endeavour to make plain. "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked," Psalm xciv. 11-13. Now the schoolmaster, by which God teaches us, is the moral law; as for the ceremonial law, that was never enjoined to the Gentiles. Out of this law are we taught of God the Father and our lessons are prefaced with his chastening rod. "Bles

sed is the man whom thou chastenest and teachest ;" and Christ says, we both hear and learn of the Father. Two things we hear; first the chastening rod. "The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name; hear ye the rod, and who

hath appointed it," Micah vi. 9. Here is the voice of the Lord crying to the chosen, calling the city of Zion; and here is a rod that speaks, "Hear ye the rod." Now this is what our Lord sayswe hear and we learn of the Father; and he teacheth us out of the law. The second sound that we hear is called the Lord's voice, that cries to the city; and that voice is, by Paul, called a voice of words; it is " blackness, and darkness, and tempest; the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words," Heb. xii. 18, 19. A voice of words, not a life-giving power. And this voice of words is called a killing letter, or the letter that killeth, which, when it came to Paul, sin revived, and he died. And what can kill us, but the curse, or sentence, of the ministration of death, engraven on tables of stone? The voice we hear, therefore, is the curse of the broken law condemning us; the rod that we hear is the wrath and anger of God smiting, reproving, and rebuking us. This is what we hear; and the lessons we learn are, the guilt and filth of sin, the wrath of God, and the enmity of our own