kingdom, of which we are speaking. The highest good of the subject is consulted in every measure. The laws are all just and equal, and directly tend to secure peace, comfort, and joy to the obedient. The laws of this kingdom are, in fact, so many wise counsels and parental directions in obtaining the highest perfection and felicity of our nature. The laws of this kingdom point out the only remedy for sin, and its present and future evils. By a sincere repentance, a hearty return to obedience, and a faith which works by love, we are assured there may be deliverance from guilt, and wo, and danger. This kingdom is in fact, every way perfect. The blessed and Almighty Ruler is not only righteous, but merciful, not only rewards the faithful, but forgives and blesses the penitent. Do we then refuse to be subjects of this kingdom, and say, "We will not have this man to rule over us?" If so, what must be our condition, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe."

2. As it is thus dangerous to neglect our duty in this high respect, we are deeply concerned to enter into this kingdom without delay. It is always nigh unto us; its laws are known and familiar; and the blessed Spirit, which is freely given to them that ask, is ready to help our infirmities. But delay is big with danger. The difficulty of subjection will be enhanced by habits of sin, and the hope of divine influence will grow fainter and fainter, if we continue resisting or grieving the

spirit. O let it of a truth be said of us that "the kingdom of God is within us:" that "every thought of our heart is subjected to the law of Christ." When this shall be the case, heaven will be let down into our souls; and a measure of its peace and joy will be imparted to us; enough at least to be a most precious foretaste of "joy which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart on earth fully conceived."

3. From our subject, we learn that true religion is, in its nature, still and unostentatious.

It is not anxious to draw upon it the eyes of the world is not apt to say with Jehu, "Come, see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts." It delights in retirement, in the private duties of religion, in secret communion with God, in unseen struggles with remaining corruptions of the heart, in unobserved labours, and, by men, unheard prayers for divine help to "add to faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity." It pants with longing solicitude for those humble graces, which the world overlooks or despises, but which it knows are in the sight of God of great price. There is a holy delicacy, a lovely modesty in true religion, which constitutes its highest charm.-Yet let me not be misapprehended as intimating, that it shrinks from observation as unwilling to be seen on proper occasions, or unwilling to be scrutinized to the uttermost and brought to the most fiery trial. Many of the duties of religion are public in their very nature; they are social, and must be performed in company; such are the

26 THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHOUT OBSERVATION.

special ordinances of the gospel, and the duties generally of the sanctuary, and the various duties between man and man. In these respects, to shun observation would be as criminal, as to publicly vaunt the holy secrets of the closet and of the heart. In these respects, as our Lord directs, we are to "let our light shine before men, that they may glorify our Father which is in heaven." And there is one precious spot,midway between the closet and the world, where religion loves to appear; in the family circle. Here it should daily manifest itself in the unbosomed confidence of parents and children; in parental solicitude to teach, and filial eagerness to learn; and in heart-felt union in offering the morning and the evening prayer.

Finally, let us study carefully the nature of this kingdom, which "the God of heaven hath set up, and which shall never be destroyed." It is ultimately to be established in all nations. But wherever it is established, the true subjects of it are to feel and acknowledge its influence and power on their hearts; the kingdom of God must be within them, purifying their affections, purging out their corruptions, and establishing that permanent peace, which arises from universal and habitual holiness. Let us feel the deepest solicitude that this kingdom may sway our hearts and affections; that our souls may be interested in its present blessings, and may ultimately rise into its more perfect and glorious state in the heavenly world, through infinite mercy and grace in Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever. Amen.

SERMON III.

EXCELLENCY OF THE GOSPEL.

MATTHEW XIII, 44.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Most of this chapter our blessed Lord devoted to instruction by parables, assigning his reasons for adopting that mode of preaching. In each of his parables there is a leading point, which he designs to establish, which we must carefully observe, that we may not by the circumstances of the allegory be misled into singular and erroneous notions. In the brief parable, selected for consideration at this time, the object of our Lord was to declare the inestimable riches of the kingdom of heaven, or the gospel dispensation, and the infinite importance of securing an interest in its present and everlasting blessings. Without farther exposition of what is sufficiently obvious from the text, I shall make it my ob

ject, by several considerations, to show the divine excellency of the gospel, and the infinite reason we have for embracing it as our only guide to everlasting life, and our best comforter on the way to it.

For a moment, then, let us

I. Glance at the evidence of its divine original. By the gospel we understand the history and doctrines of Christ. What these are, we shall more particularly see under the following head. That they were from God, we have the evidence of prophecy. Now, none but God can pierce the vail of futurity and disclose its secrets before the time. Yet ages before the advent of our blessed Saviour, his birth, and life, and miracles, his doctrine, sufferings, and death, and the great end to be obtained by it, his resurrection and ascension to glory, were in no very obscure terms predicted by different prophets. If ancient believers did not fully comprehend what was intended by those prophecies, they sufficiently understood that they pointed to a Saviour, one "who should bruize the serpent's head, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel, a sun of righteousness, who should rise upon the world with healing in his beams." Events, however, have made many predictions clear which were before obscure, and have shown the consistency of facts in our Lord's history, which to the fathers must have seemed incompatible. But I need not quote from the Old Testament, or the New, on this point of evidence; it is clear and convincing to every fair mind, which exam