It is the wisdom therefore of the devout reader of Scripture to discern the voice of God; to adore the Sovereign King in the person of his Ambassadors; to recognize the Spirit actuating the living creatures which announce his presence, yea breathing even in the wheels which are the conductors of his influence; and thus to make the Unseen God as effectually present to us by the forms of language and of thought which the Bible has preserved, as He was made present to Adam and to the Patriarchs and to the Prophets by the forms (for even to them by forms only could he show himself) of bodily appearance and of audible sound. It is in the mind that God's presence must be realized, and it is only by the mind-by what this brings to the contemplation of his manifestations, and retains within itself of his communications-that we can truly see Him. There can be no other perception of God, to a created being, but the perception of his Idea in the consciousness; and the fulness, and the corresponding benefit, of that perception will depend upon the frequency with which that Idea is revived; the steadiness with which it is sustained; and the intimacy and comprehensiveness of its connection with all our other trains of thought. And therefore we are not to think ourselves less privileged than the saints of old, because we have not extraordinary manifestations of God. We, equally with them,

have every opportunity of recognizing Him in the things around us; and, for the special revelation which came rarely and transiently to the astonished ear of each particular man of God, we have, instead, the lasting record of all his revelations to all his prophets, placed permanently in our hands and made accessible to our daily meditation. In many an age "the word of the Lord was precious," that is, scarce; “there was no open vision." And even the Priests and Prophets of God were obliged to "enquire at the word of the Lord" from time to time as they needed council; to consult the Urim and Thummim; to present themselves before the oracle. Whereas we have now this word ever open to our view, nay stored up in our memories; and at all times and in all places we may enter into the Sanctuary and commune with our Father; even as it is written, "I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their heart, and they shall not teach every man his neighbour saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord." The only difference is, that God's voice to us is not that of particular direction in particular cases, but of general principles included in those special instances which are recorded for our admonition; and applicable by the heaven-directed judgment of the devoutly pondering

Christian to all cases as they arise. Wherein the difference is our advantage. We gain thereby a general guide through all the paths of life; and we are raised, moreover, from the mere blind obedience to specific laws which may be yielded by a servant or a child, to that intelligent following out of general principles which is the reasonable service of a freely acting man. "We are delivered from the law, being dead to that wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." It is the law of Spiritual wisdom, no longer pealing trumpet-tongued amidst the terrors of Sinai but breathing forth its still small voice into the hushed and meditative conscience, which now directs our course. It is in the sanctified judgment of the Church of Christ that we may now realize the prophetic promise, "Ye shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left." "My son, keep thy father's commandments and forsake not the law of thy mother; bind them continually upon thy heart and tie them about thy neck; when thou goest it shall lead thee, when thou sleepest it shall keep thee, when thou awakest it shall talk with thee !"

Did (for instance) the Lord God talk with Adam and Eve in the garden, and they "heard his voice?'' Even so will he talk with you if you devoutly listen

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to the echo of that voice conveyed—yea and ten thousand times re-echoed-in his sacred Scriptures. Did the word of the Lord come to Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward? In the Bible does that same word come to you if you are walking in the steps of Abraham's faith; and you too therefore may trust in it as your own. Did God call to Samuel on his bed, and this again and again while yet the inexperienced youth was ignorant of the heavenly origin of the voice? Just so does he call to you, (and O how patiently and perseveringly !) waiting for the moment when your spirit shall be disengaged from earthly sounds, and hushed into attention, and instructed in the meaning of the sacred summons. And therefore to that voice you may reply, -as directly as did Samuel when thus taught to "know the Lord," with as intense a feeling of the divine presence,-"Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth! Did God reveal himself directly to Moses and the Israelites, to Elijah and the prophets, to Paul and the Apostles? The same God now reveals himself by their recorded words to me and you, and we may cry with them" Behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness!"

Take then the revelations of the Bible as made, in all their permanent essence, to yourself.

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that you have part and lot in all that God has given to cheer and guide his ignorant and sinful creatures; remember that even the historical occurrences recorded " happened unto them for ensamples, and are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come ;" and throw yourself back into the scenes and circumstances of the olden time, not as a spectator merely but a deeply interested sharer of the revelation made. Help your sluggish conception by every accessory thought that may give reality and vividness to the facts recorded by the sacred writers. Place youself in imagination under the frowning precipice of Sinai. Stand with Elijah in the entrance of that awful cave, when there swept by it the mysterious" still small voice." Follow Jesus, with the multitude who

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pressed upon him for to hear him." Sit with them at his feet around the beautiful mount of the beatitudes near Capernaum. Enter with the disciples into the upper chamber where they supped with their affectionate Master and received his parting exhortations. Lie prostrate by the side of Saul when he heard the voice from heaven, and trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Make thus the Bible as familiar and inward to your mind as the scenes of your boyhood, and the dreams of your youth; lose yourself in its realities; identify yourself with its occurrences; "pour