Wesley Corpus

Stephen’s Day.) “Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity.” (Quinquagesima Sunday.) “O Lord, from whom all good things do come, grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by thy merciful guidance may perform the same.” (Fifth Sunday after Easter.) “We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless, but send to us the Holy Ghost to comfort us.” (Sunday after Ascension Day.) “Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort.” (Whit-unday.) “Grant us, Lord, we beseech thee, the Spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful.” (Ninth Sunday after Trinity.) “O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee, mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts.” (Nineteenth Sun day after Trinity.) “Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name.” (Communion Office.) “Give thy Holy Spirit to this infant, (or this person,) that he may be born again. Give thy Holy Spirit to these per sons,” (N. B. already baptized,) “that they may continue thy servants.” “Almighty God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these persons by water and the Holy Ghost, strengthen them with the Holy Ghost the Comforter, and daily increase in them the manifold gifts of thy grace.” (Office of Confirmation.) From these passages it may sufficiently appear for what pur poses every Christian, according to the doctrine of the Church of England, does now receive the Holy Ghost. But this will be still more clear from those that follow; wherein we may likewise observe a plain rational sense of God’s “revealing” himself to us, of the “inspiration” of the Holy Ghost, and of a believer's “feeling” in himself the “mighty working” of the Spirit of Christ. “God gave them of old, grace to be his children, as he doth us now. But, now by the coming of our Saviour Christ, we have received more abundantly the Spirit of God in our hearts.” (Homily on Faith.