worthy of all acceptation, of all admiration, worthy of being heartily adopted by every rational soul in this assembly.

And, friends, in proportion to the practical importance of those christian testimonies which this religious Society has been led to uphold for the welfare of the church at large, and of the world-in proportion to this importance, have been the restless attempts, and ceaseless controversies of the old Serpent, the enemy of God and man, to lay waste our christian profession, and to lead us astray, on the right hand and on the left. We know that we have had mournful proof of it in this very land; we know that there are many, who, under the pretext of spirituality, have forsaken the very foundation on which all true spirituality is built. The Lord gather them home.

And now, there are more than a few, I trust not in this land, but elsewhere, who are betrayed into what I believe to be the opposite error, and are virtually sacrificing the testimony which hath always been borne in this Society to the uninterrupted spirituality of the worship of God; and to the immediate and perceptible guidance, government, and teaching of his Holy Spirit; at least this is the practical tendency, of which I have myself been a sorrowful witness; for I have marked the effect of it, and have mourned over it. But, ye beloved young friends, I beseech you to turn a deaf ear to the charmer on the right,

and to the charmer on the left, "charming never so wisely," and gather home to the shelter, gather home to the clefts of the Rock, gather home to the peaceable habitation, and to the quiet resting place, and to the sure dwelling, and learn, once more learn the lesson, of reverently and patiently waiting on an ever-present Lord and Saviour, in the silence of all flesh. "Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for he is raised up out of his holy habitation."

Beloved friends, there are young ones here, in the early vigour and approaching maturity of their intellectual faculties, who, being brought under the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, and under the immediate guidance and perceptible touches of the Lord's anointing, will arise, and show themselves to be noble warriors in the army of the Lamb, who shall go forth, conquering and to conquer; and shall wage a blessed warfare against all the powers of death, hell and darkness; and shall, in the end, have their share in the blessed promise; "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."+

SERMON V.

DELIVERED AT ARCH STREET MEETING-HOUSE, FIRSTDAY EVENING, THIRD MONTH, ELEVENTH, 1838.

I am ready to believe, that among the various sections of the professing church of Christ, there is no religious society any where to be found, or heard of, which has borne a more explicit testimony, or a more frequent one, to the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, than the Society of Friends; nor do I believe, that any body of christians have made a greater point of pressing upon their members the privilege and the duty of the frequent and daily perusal of the Sacred Writings; not only in the privacy of man's solitude, but more especially in family circles. And yet, Friends have always been careful to avoid the common application to the Sacred Volume of the title, "Word of God." It is not that they have ever entertained any doubts of its divine authority, for our early Friends frequently acknowledged that they are the words of God; but their caution was, that they might not in any way derogate from the infinitely

superior claims of him, of whom they testify; and of whom the apostle John, in the Revelation, writes after the following manner; “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but himself: and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” And this is the Word of God of whom the same apostle doth testify in another place, in reference to the beginning, yea, to eternity; for by the word beginning, the Jewish people were accustomed to represent that which is from eternity. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And accordingly, the same apostle, in the Revelation, saith, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." And when in ancient times, the prophet Micah was inspired of the Lord, and by the Spirit of Christ, to testify of his coming in the flesh, he spake saying, "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be lit

tle among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;"-the Lord grant that he may be our ruler;— "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." And this was a testimony to which the primitive members of this Society, were ever ready to set their seals. And although their faith was questioned and disputed by the cavillers of their day, as it is by the cavillers now, they were ever prepared to acknowledge their firm belief in the eternal divinity of the Saviour of men.

Well, friends, as the Word was in the beginning, and from everlasting, so all created things came into being by his intervention and power. For God made the worlds by his Son; "all things were made by him;" saith John, "and without him was not any thing made that was made.". And again; "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." And the testimony of the apostle Paul, is very explicit and comprehensive, when speaking of Christ; "In whom" saith he,

66.

we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him." And again; "Unto the Son he saith, And, thou, Lord, in the beginning