unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned;" that is, they are known only by the teaching of the spirit, in the use of the word. Now, as all real Christians are illuminated and taught of God, it is evidently necessary that they should all have the Spirit: and if the Spirit be not given, then no man in the world knows, or can know, the things of God. Again, all real Christians are praying persons; but no man knows "how to pray, nor what to pray for," without his assistance; and therefore it is mentioned, Rom. viii. 26. as the common privilege of all believers, that "the Spirit itself helpeth our infirmities" in this duty; which shews that all Christians, in all ages, need the influence of the Spirit. Our Saviour, in his discourse with Nicodemus, (John iii.) strongly insisted on the necessity of regeneration, or the new birth, solemnly declaring, that "unless a man be born again, or born of the Spirit, he could not be saved.” This then shows, that every Christian must needs have the Spirit, for he is the author of that inward change, without which no man is inwardly a Christian. Sanctification is also the privilege of all true believers: they are elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit." 1 Pet. ii. 2. No man can be saved who is not sanctified, and no man can be sanctified but by the Spirit. The Holy Ghost was promised "to convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." But will any per son say, it is less necessary now to be convinced of sin, &c. than at first? Can there be any repentance without it? Certainly not: and if not, then the Spirit is as necessary as ever. He is also called the Spirit of Faith. He is the Comforter, the Seal, the Witness, the First Fruits of heaven. No man then can have faith in Christ, spiritual joy and comfort, nor any evidence for heaven, unless he have the Holy Spirit. This might be more abundantly proved from a great number of texts and arguments, but the narrow limits of a short sermon forbid.* *The necessity of Divine Influences is displayed, in a very pleasing manner, by Mr. T. Williams, in his book, called "A APPLICATION.Have ye received the Holy Ghost? said St. Paul, to some early disciples. We ask the same question-Have ye received the Holy Ghost? We have proved the necessity of his sacred influences: do we know any thing of them by experience? Remember what the Scripture says, Rom. viii. 9. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." And how awful must their portion be, who are not his! The whole world is under the dominion either of the good Spirit of God, or of the evil spirit, "who worketh in the hearts of all the children of disobedience." It is therefore of the greatest importance for us to consider, under whose influence we act. "If we sow to the flesh, we shall reap corruption; if we sow to the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap eternal life." By our fruits are we known. "The fruits of the Spirit are, love, and joy, and peace, and goodness, and meekness, and temperance."-The works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, hatred, drunkenness, &c. and they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." What does our conduct say? O conscience be faithful— give a true verdict! Does it appear that you are a stranger to his grace, in enlightening the mind, renewing the will, convincing of sin, leading the soul to Christ, and sanctifying the whole man? Know, then, that your state is deplorable and dangerous. May you be sensible of it: and, you are, you will earnestly pray to God to give you his Spirit, which he has promised to them that ask him. if Above To those who know the Lord, the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost will appear exceedingly glorious. Such persons will rejoice to think that his gracious influence is still continued in the church. all, they will be continually desirous to experience it. All the light, love, peace, joy, and consolation, to be found in the religion of Jesus, spring from his constant operations. Honour, then, this blessed Spirit, by seeking his daily assistance. When you pray, read, hear, or perform any spiritual action, seek his help. Thus shall you" be filled with all joy and peace in believing;" thus shall "the love Historic Defence of Experimental Religion, as supported by the authority of Scripture, and the experience of the wisest and best men in all ages," &c. of God be shed abroad in your hearts;" thus shall you "abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost;" and having this experience, you possess "the seal" of God, and "the earnest," of heaven; "for he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who hath also given us of his Spirit." This is the grand evidence of our being Christians indeed: and "hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." To the blessed Spirit of all grace; to Jesus Christ the only Saviour; and to the Father of mercies; the one covenant God of our Salvation, be glory, in all the churches, world without end. Amen. T "Let thy kind Spirit in my heart SERMON XLVIII. CHRIST OUR BENEFACTOR. Acts x. 38. Who went about doing good. By the Rev. SAMUEL GREATHEED.* HE apostle Peter said this of our Lord Jesus Christ. The occasion of his saying it shows us that the Spirit of God works upon the minds of men, and inclines them to serve him, even before they know how to serve him in a right manner. In this case, they are very glad and thankful to be taught the will of God. Do you, brethren, wish to know how you may please God, and become “wise to salvation?" If we did not wish to do you good, we *This discourse was composed by Mr. Greatheed solely for the use of some persons who visited the villages near Newport-Pagnell, Bucks, and who read written or printed sermons to the people, and before the publication of the first volume of the Village Sermons; consequently without any intention of its publication from the press. But it appears in this volume by the particular desire of Mr. Burder, who wishes it to stand as a token of his unfeigned respect for the Author, and a memorial of their mutual friendship. should not come to you. The Lord is altogether good, and is always doing good. We may surely hope he will do us good now, if we are truly desirous of knowing his will. We find, from this chapter, that the words of the text were spoken by Peter to Cornelius, who was an officer in the Roman army, and had been brought up a heathen and an idolator. He was quartered among the Jews, who were the only nation at that time that knew there is only one God, who is eternal and holy. Cornelius learned from them this doctrine, which is the ground of all true religion; and he prayed to God, as every body should do, who believes there is a God. If you do not pray to God, you are worse than the heathens, for they do not know there is a God to pray to. Besides this, we are told that Cornelius feared God with all his house. Do you try to lead your families and friends to know and serve God? If not, you see, that instead of being true Christians, you come far short of what Cornelius did, before he ever heard the Gospel of Christ. They who do not pray to God are without excuse, because God assures us, in his word, that he hears and answers prayer. The history of Cornelius gives a proof of it. The apostle Peter was preaching the Gospel at a place about forty miles distant from the town where Cornelius lived. The Lord informed Cornelius of this, and told him to send for Peter to come and instruct him. Peter accordingly came, and preached Jesus Christ to all who had met on the occasion; showing them how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good. He told them also much more about Jesus Christ; and, indeed, if he had not preached about Christ, he need not have come there. "Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life;" by whom alone a sinner can find mercy with God. Wherever the apostles went, they preached Christ. This is one mark by which you may know who they are that preach most like the apostles. If you hear little or nothing about Christ, you are likely to get little or no good. The apostle Peter informed Cornelius and his family, that the doctrine he had to deliver was the same which VOL. II. Ο they must have heard of, as it had been published throughout all the neighbouring country of Judea; and had, indeed, been first preached in Galilee, the country where they then were. You may, perhaps, think it strange, that Cornelius had not inquired about it sooner; but the reason probably was, that Christianity was then every where spoken against; the apostles and disciples of Christ were suspected, even by their own countrymen, the Jews, to be either mad or wicked men, because they worshipped God in a way different from that which was established by law; and because they continued preaching Christ to their neighbours, when it was opposed and forbidden by the great people and rulers. If you read the books of the Acts you will see this was the case; and you will not be surprised at it, if you consider that Jesus Christ himself was crucified, (which is like being hanged in our country) for both the rulers and the mob accused him of the vilest crimes. But the prejudices of Cornelius were now removed, and it was an excellent disposition which he discovered, when he said to the apostle, "Now, therefore, we are all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." May the Lord give us, now, the same disposition! One thing which Peter told Cornelius concerning Jesus Christ was, that he went about doing good." If Cornelius had heard any thing of Christ before, it might be that he went about doing harm. Christ had been charged by the Jews with treason and blasphemy. He had been tried, condemned, and executed, as a malefactor. Cornelius was likely, from the common report, to have a very bad opinion of Christ. He determined, however, to hear all that Peter had to say in behalf of Christ; and then to judge for himself. Let us all be careful how we take matters upon hear-say, especially about religion and religious people. Peter convinced Cornelius that Jesus Christ went about doing good. So far as you know the history of Christ, you are doubtless convinced, that he did not go about to hurt people, but to do them good. Even those ignorant and foolish persons, who deny that Christ was sent from caven, own that he did good in some respects. But what |