Page:Some Reflections on the Importance of a Religious Life.djvu/20

 These views, by which our Society is distinguished from many of our fellow Christians, have been upheld from the days of our early friends to the present time, in a simple dependence upon the help of the Holy Spirit. May they ever be maintained amongst us, and in the same dependence!

Many of our dear and honoured Friends in former times, and others who are still living, have yielded, in faith, to the guidance of the Spirit of Truth; and have in a remarkable manner through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, partaken of, and been sustained by this heavenly influence. Hence I do earnestly desire, that faith in the convictions of the Holy Spirit, and in his guidance and government, may be sought after and increase amongst us; and that obedience may be yielded to all his manifestations. It is our duty to exercise a right understanding in the fear of the Lord, even in religious matters. We may be exposed to delusion; but humility, a filial fear of God, a correct view of Holy Scripture, and a sense of the subtle, transforming insinuations of the devil, are strong safeguards against it. But what a blessed privilege it is to be weaned from all undue dependence on instrumental help; to be brought, through faith and obedience, to that single trust in the Lord, in which we can humbly and reverently feel, that in the