operation of the spirit which first hath led us to will aright; but that we have not been willing to depend upon it to work all our works in us; and we have found ourselves day after day, and time after time ready to despond and to give up all for lost; and, I believe, my friends, that this state doth not arise so much from our inability to comprehend, and from the seeming contradiction of this passage, as from a want of childlike simplicity and humility, from the want of our being willing really to bow our necks to the yoke of Christ, and to come into his school, and to learn of him who is meek and lowly of heart; but, my friends, if there are any now present who know any thing of this state of mind, may they be induced to come and to contemplate, yea, deeply to contemplate that other part of the great economy of the christian growth, and christian erudition, that it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure; that, indeed, my friends, of ourselves we are in a state of total inability, that we are by nature utterly helpless, in a dark, and an utterly lost estate; and that it is nothing which we have done, and nothing which we can do, by any effort or exertion of our own, which can redeem us from our state of death, from the pit of our natural corruption and our natural darkness; but that, indeed, help hath been laid upon one that is mighty, and who, whilst we have been in this estate, hath commended his love towards us, in that Christ died for us, and that he

hath opened unto us the way to our heavenly Father, as a reconciled Father; and that therefore God is pleased to extend unto us the grace of his good Spirit, to call us, to open our eyes, and to enable us to lift up our hearts, though it may be as from the bottom of the sea, unto his holy temple; to look unto him with living faith; here, my friends, is indeed, the working in us to will; but then it is his good pleasure that we should not only thus will, but that we should also do, and for this purpose also he hath promised unto us the continued help of his holy Spirit; without me, said Christ, ye can do nothing; he is indeed all in all, he is not only the beginner, but he is the finisher of our faith, and he is the accompanier of every step of the christian progress, so that it is necessary that we should be willing indeed to work out our own salvation, trusting and continually abiding in him through whom alone we have ability, for he worketh in us to do according to his own good pleasure, and in proportion as we are brought thus to bear in mind these two great parts of the christian system, as we are equally impressed with the necessity of depending upon the help of the Holy Spirit, and of co-operating therewith, so shall we truly find our strength to increase, so shall we find that the just man's path is like a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day, so shall we be enabled more fully to see that work which is appointed for us to do, and with increased

alacrity to work out our soul's salvation whilst it is called to-day; and thus also my friends will the church in its various parts be truly edified, for not only is it the method by which we must individually become lively stones built up on him who is the living stone of the christian temple, but it is also the method by which we must come to find our various positions in the christian edifice, for we are not to be carvers, and choosers for ourselves, we must be willing to be placed wheresoever the great Builder-the great Architect of the spiritual edifice chooses to place us : O my friends, it is indeed a good thing to desire spiritual gifts, it is a good thing to have a zeal to be employed in the service of so good a master, it is a good thing, said the Apostle, to desire the office of a bishop, but my friends let us remember, that whilst in the warmth of our zeal we may indeed earnestly covet spiritual gifts (and would that there were in our church more of this coveting) but still we must be willing to be employed in whatsoever service the great head of his church chooses to assign to us, there is a part -there is a position in the spiritual edifice for every stone, and every member of the christian church, every lively stone, however humble in his own estimation, however little seen, and observed by those around him, hath a place in that living temple of which Christ is the ever living head.May you my beloved friends, increasingly desire spiritual gifts, but above all may you follow charity,

that love of God and of man, which will lead you truly to serve him your master, and to prove that love and service to him by such services towards your brethren and sisters as he may be pleased to appoint you unto, and let not the least member of the christian church think that he is not worthy of being a part of the church, and let not any of those who are endued with higher gifts despise those who have less, let there be, my friends, harmony, and simplicity, and obedience, so shall ye be edified, and grow together as a living and spiritual house in which incense and a pure offering may ascend unto the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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MRS. ANN JONES.

"I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me, 99 was the declaration of our blessed and holy Redeemer, whom we profess to believe on as our leader and way. I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me, and must we not believe my friends that it is our indispensable duty, as frail, finite, dependent beings, so to strive to be made like unto our holy pattern as that we can, in true resignation of will and of soul to the divine will, thus feel that it is indeed our duty to be made conformable to the will of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, not seeking to do our own will, not seeking to gratify our natural inclinations or living unto ourselves, to please ourselves, but seeking through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to be quickened, created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works, being made in all things subject unto him whose will is our sanctification, and as we thus seek to come unto him in the simplicity of little children, and in the obedience of faith, with a humble and resigned mind desiring to do his will, and not our own, we shall not be left in the dark concerning the great truths of the christian religion, we shall not be at a loss