of the gospel, is, in my opinion, injurious to it. God may, to be sure, give special aids to men, whenever he thinks fit. He may, by an extraordinary agency, render our faculties more capable of apprehension, where divine things are concerned:—may awaken a dormant idea, which lay neglected in the memory, with unusual energy;—may secretly attract the more attentive regard of the mind, and give it an inclination and an ability of tracing its various relations, with an unusual attention, so that a lustre before quite unknown shall be (as it were) poured upon it; —the spirit of God may render the mind more susceptible and more tenacious of divine knowledge; I believe he often does by interposition, if in the spirit of Christ's doctrine we ask it of the great Father of Lights, the Author of all the understanding divided among the various ranks of created Beings; who, as he first formed the minds of angels and men, continues the exercise of their intellectual faculties, and one way or another communicates to them all the knowledge of every kind which they possess; (in which view all our knowledge of every kind may be called a revelation from God, and be ascribed, as it is by Elihu in Job, to the inspiration of the Almighty:) This the holy Spirit may do, and dissipate a prejudice that opposes truth. But this is not always necessary: nor always to be expected. It is evident from the gospel, that our Lord rather speaks of his word and doctrine, as the aids to save mens souls, than of himself, or spirit, personally considered. Abiding in him, and he in them, as necessary to their bearing fruit, signifies a strict and steady regard to his word, and the influence of that upon our minds. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you; ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you: that is, If you continue to believe in me, and to pay a steady regard to my doctrine, you will be highly acceptable to God. In short, as no man can come unto me (says our Lord), except the Father which hath sent me draw him: that is, no man will receive my pure, sublime, and spiritual doctrine, unless he have first gained some just apprehensions concerning the general principles of religion: but if he has a good notion of God and his perfections, and desires to advance in virtue, he will come unto me, and hearken to that revelation,