“As therefore we are born again by the Spirit, and receive from him our regeneration, so we are also by the same Spirit _assured of our adoption_. Because being _sons we are also heirs, heirs of |God|, and joint-heirs with |Christ|_, by the same Spirit we have the _pledge_, or rather the _earnest of our inheritance. For he which establisheth us in |Christ|, and hath anointed us is |God|; who hath also sealed us, and hath given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts_: So that _we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance_. The Spirit of God, as given unto us in this life, is to be looked upon as an earnest, being part of that reward which is promised, and, upon performance of the covenant which God hath made with us, certainly to be received.” Your Lordship observed, that “the interpretation of those passages, which relate to the _Unction from the Holy One_, depends on the sense of those other passages of holy scripture, particularly, those in St. _John_’s gospel.” Now if so, then these words fix the sense of six out of the seven texts in question: and every one of them, in the judgment of this writer, describes the _ordinary gifts_ bestowed on all Christians. It now rests with your Lordship, to take your choice; either to condemn or to acquit both. Either your Lordship must condemn Bishop _Pearson_ for an _enthusiast_, (a man no ways inferior to Bishop _Chrysostom_:) or you must acquit me: for I have his express authority on my side, concerning every text which I affirm to belong to all Christians. 24. But I have greater authority than his, and such as I reverence, only less than that of the oracles of God. I mean, that of our own church. I shall close this head, by setting down what occurs in her authentic records, concerning either our _receiving the Holy Ghost_, or his _ordinary_ operations in all true Christians. In her daily service, she teaches us all to _beseech_ God, _to grant us his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do at this present, and that the rest of our life may be pure and holy_: To pray for _our Sovereign Lord the King_, that God would _replenish him with the grace of his Holy Spirit_; for _all the Royal Family_, that they may be _endued with his Holy Spirit_, and _enriched with his heavenly grace_: for all the clergy and people, that he would _send down upon them the healthful Spirit of his grace_: for _the Catholick Church_, that _it may be guided and governed by his good Spirit_: and for all therein who at any time _make_ their _common supplication unto_ him, that _the fellowship_ or communication _of the Holy Ghost may be with them all evermore_.