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

ines and compares. Prophecy, then, is the voice of God proclaiming the divine origin of the gospel, and of its author. Besides those prophecies recorded in the Old Testament, and seen to be fulfilled in the history of the New, there are others in the New Testament, announced by our blessed Lord and his apostles, some of which have long since been fulfilled with astonishing exactness, and some are at this moment experiencing their completion, and others seem hastening to a glorious accomplishment. How wonderful is the argument for the truth of the scriptures from prophecy; how adapted to meet the incredulous, to compel their attention, to silence their doubts, and to operate with almost equal force in different ages by means of a succession of prophecies, and a succession of accomplish

ments.

That the gospel was from God we have, also, the evidence of miracles, miracles as well attested as any ordinary events of history. Miracles are such events as evince a special interposition of divine power-" works which no man can do except God be with him." The gospel is a history of miracles. The birth of Christ was miraculous. His ministry was a scene of miracles. Water blushed into wine.

The sick were healed with
He called forth the dead

a touch, and with a word. from the coffin and the grave. The tempest at his rebuke sunk into a calm. The heavens opened over his head, and a divine voice proclaimed-This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Yet while such was his command over all nature, he did not pre

serve his life from his murderers, but when crucified and buried, he rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven in the view of hundreds who were filled with amazement. In these incontestable miracles, we have again the voice of God, proclaiming the truth of the gospel, and the divine mission of its author. No other religion, but that of the scriptures, pretends to the evidence of miracles. Upon the gospel, and this alone, has God impressed his zeal as true. The miraculous evidence of its divine origin, then, attests the infinite excellency of the gospel.

We proceed to consider this truth in another important point of view, viz:

II. In regard to the doctrines it reveals and illustrates. In a religion, which it has pleased God to introduce with the attendant pomp of prophecies and miracles, we should expect instruction of the utmost importance. Such indeed we find. The gospel reveals the pure and lovely character of God; and right apprehensions of the divine Being are the very foundation of true religion. That the morality of men is influenced by the character of the Gods they worship, is the testimony of every age. If they have gross conceptions of God, their religion will be absurd and superstitious; if they imagine him cruel and implacable, or frivolous and impure, they, his worshippers, will approach his altar, as in regions of Pagan darkness, with human sacrifices, or a servile fear. But the gospel teaches that God is a Spirit, and that he is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. It presents his charac