should rule over them. Wherefore should they say, among the people, where is their God?"

Whatever our avocations in life may be, our minds may be brought into obedience to the same baptizing power, and hence all these effects will be produced. And what are the priests and the ministers, who are to stand between the porch and the altar, and thus pray for the people-" O Lord, give not thine heritage to reproach?" Are they individuals appointed and supported by man? No, verily. Who are these ministers of God, whom he maketh as a flame of fire? They are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them that shall be "heirs of salvation." They are those ministers who are employed in casting out devils. They are those who are employed in nourishing up the soul unto everlasting life. And when we come to experience this fulfilled in us, then we shall know another declaration fulfilled, to our souls comfort-that "there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven." Now shall we look at a great distance and beyond the grave, for this heaven? No. Rather let us remember the declaration

"the kingdom of heaven is within you.' "There we are to look for the appearing of this kingdom, and there we are to experience his governing power-there we are to know his laws to have dominion over every other name, power, and principle in us, and know that he "rules as with a rod of iron" against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, and we shall know that the sceptre of righteousnes is the sceptre of his kingdom. And under the influence of this governing principle, we shall know that these angels are the ministers of God to man, for good; and that the lion of the tribe of Juda continues to open the book of the mysteries of heaven, and enables to look thereon. And remember that the seals were opened in order, and not in confusion, but one after another. These seals were opened through the mighty operation of the power of God, opening the various seals adapted to the state and condition, and to the various advancement of individuals in the christian course. What is the opening of these seals? Is it not the opening of the understanding that we may comprehend divine truths? We cannot become religious all at once-from a state of wickedness and profanity, to a state of strict adherence to the law of God. It is a cause of

thankfulness in my soul that I can acknowledge at the present day, that he has been merciful in that which he required at my hands, that when my feet were first turned towards the city of Zion, had I seen all that would have been required of me, its effects would have been overwhelming. But in the mercy of God those things were opened which I was able to comprehend, and which were immediately essential. And as my understanding became opened, I saw farther. As a child in the rudiments of education can see but little; but as we advance, and add experience, our minds are enlarged, our understanding increases, till we become perfect in the art or science, which has been the object of our study. So it is in a spiritual relation. This the apostle had in view; for he says, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Now, would to God that we may experience this growth in grace and become men, and put away childish things, and perverse dispositions which cannot unite together; because it is an infallible and self-evident truth, that while we are under the government of these dispositions we cannot advance into that divine harmony,

because of sin and transgression. We cannot become afflicted in the afflictions of our brethren, because, to do this, we must become partakers of the nature of Christ. For in all the afflictions of the Jews, "he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them." "He led them about, he instructed them, he kept them as the apple of his eye.

But to return-"There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven." And what are these angels? And what are these devils? Are we to look for them in the Paradise of Milton, or in the disordered imaginations. of any of the poets? Are we to look upon angels, as women with wings, carrying the divine commands to and fro in the earth? Are we to look upon devils, as local self-existent beings, calculated to torment the human soul in lakes of fire and brimstone? Now, I have had a different view of these things; and as far as it respects myself, I see no good reason to change that view. Not that I want to impose it upon any of you-but my view is, that these angels are the heavenly and virtuous dispositions; and that the devils are evil dispositions, which, if indulged by man, and

that indulgence continued, will become the tormentors of the human family. But when we come to know the angel of love, to cast out the devil of hatred; the angel of mercy, to cast out the devil of cruelty; the angel of temperance, to cast out the devil of intemperance; the angel of hope, to cast out the devil of despair-and when we know every ministering angel of God, (and they are an host) and every heavenly disposition to take possession of the mind, they must necessarily cast out the opposite dispositions, adversaries, and enemies, and what if I say devilsthey will thus become the governing principle of the mind. And while we are under the iufluence of him who is the head of all this multitude of ministering spirits, the enemy can never be reinstated. Then we shall know the declaration fulfilled that there was war in heaven; and this being continued in our minds till judgment is brought forth unto truth, we shall come into that state in which we can see a mighty angel stand with one foot upon the sea and the other upon the earth, as we may remember the angel stood, and was raised above all the fluctuating imaginations, which are typified by the sea, and he was raised above all earthly propensities. This analogy is beautiful, and deeply instructive. In this