night, observe their feafons: This, I fay, is called God's kingdom of nature. 2dly, There is his kingdom of providence, whereby he upholds and governs all his creatures, and all their actions, making them fubfervient to his own glorious defign. And here his government is not tied fo down to the laws of nature, but he can counteract them whenever he has a mind; he can invert the order of nature, and flop and countermand his crea tures from following their natural courfe; as when he stopped the motion of the fan in the days of Jofhua, and made it return back in the days of Hezekiah; when he restrained the fire from confuming the three children, and the lions from tearing Daniel; and made the waters of the Red fea to ftand up in heaps till Ifrael had paffed through, and the waters of Jordan to run back to their fountains. There is not any crea ture but is under the command of his providential kingdom and government. This his kingdom "ruleth over all things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth;" angels, men, and devils, and all creatures above, or below, do his pleasure. 3dly, There is this kingdom of his grace, where he -erects his throne of grace, and difplays the riches of his grace and love among the children of men, which is just the church militant. 4thly, His kingdom of glory, or church triumphant in heaven, where he reigns among faints and angels for ever. Now, it is the third, viz. his kingdom of grace, that I now fpeak of. Now, God's kingdom of grace in this world, it is divided into that which is vifible and invifible. 1. God's vifible kingdom of grace is either univerfal, confifting of all through the world, that have a credible profeffion of faith in Chrift, and subjection to him, as their Judge, King, and Lawgiver, or it is more particular, confifting of a fociety of men, profeffing the name of Chrift in a nation, in a province, in a country, or yet in a particular family; for we read of the church of God in a houfe or family. But then, 2. We are to confider that God has his invifible kingdom, made up only of real believers, who are joined to the Lord Jefus as their Prophet, Prieft, and King, not only by the bond of an outward profeffion, but by an inward participation of his Spirit of faith. This invifible kingdom, I fay, is made up of believers only, and they are called his invifible church or kingdom, because his government is principally feated in the hidden man of the heart, which is not obvious to the ocular infpection and obfervation, but only as the fruits of his inter nal government in the heart flow out in the life and walk; and and hence it is, that Chrift here fays, The kingdom of God is within you. And by it I understand the work of grace in the heart of a finner, whereby every faculty and power, both of foul and body, which naturally were in rebellion against God, are new moulded, and brought in fubjection unto the Lord i The darkness of the mind is made to give way to "the light of the glory of God in the face of Jefus Chrift;" the rebellion of the will to yield unto God's will of grace, precept, and providence; the affections, which were fcattered among a thou fand vanities, are made to center upon God in Chrift, as their proper and ultimate object. Now, this kingdom within the foul, it is defcribed to us va rioufly in fcripture by the Spirit of God. I fhall name a few of thefe fcriptural characters of it, becaufe we can have no right notions of divine and fupernatural things, except we regulate our conceptions of them by the revelation of the word. (1.) Then, it is fometimes called, a being born again, John iii. 6. "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." This was fuch a mystery unto Nicodemus, that he says, though a master in Ifrael, "Can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the fecond time into his mo« ther's womb, and be born?" As in the natural birth, the child is brought out of the dark cell of its mother's belly, into this room and lightfome world, and that with much pain and travail, fo in the new birth the finner is brought out of the dark vault of nature, where it never faw the fun, into a world of grace, where the Lord is its everlafting light; and this cannot be accomplished without violence done unto corrupted nature, which occafioneth for the most part violent throws and pangs, like these of a travailing woman. (2.) I find it fometimes called a new creation, 2 Cor. v. 17. Our natures are fo miferably marred by the fall, that when God comes to erect his kingdom within us, he finds no preexiftent matter out of which to form it; and therefore the fame creating power that was put forth in framing of the hea vens, and laying the foundations of the earth, must be put forth in rearing up his kingdom in the foul. (3.) Sometimes it is expreffed by a liberating of the captive. from his bondage and prifon in which, he is thut up, If. Ixi. 1. The finner is led captive by Satan at his will; he has the cords and bonds of iniquity wreathed about the poor foul, and has him thut up in a dungeon of darknefs, that he cannot fee his fin and flavery, or the way of his efcape. Now, when Chrift, the Captain of falvation, comes by his word and Spirit, to rear up the kingdom of God in the foul, he breaks in pieces the fetters of captivity; he fays to the prifoners, Come forth, forth, and to him that fits in darkness, Shew thyfelf: And whom the Son thus makes free, they are free indeed, preferred unto the glorious liberty of the children of God. (4.) It is called a revealing of Christ in the foul, Gal. i. 15. 16." It pleafed God to reveal his Son in me: The vail and face of covering is rent, and the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jefus Christ shines into the heart," whereby the man, that was formerly darkness, becomes light in the Lord: And in this light of the Lord, the man, who was blind, is made to fee light clearly, infomuch, that he wonders at every thing in the revelation of the word, efpecially he falls a-wondering at the glory of Chrift's perfon and undertaking, faying, "Without controverfy, great is the mystery of godlinefs: God was manifefted in the fleth." He wonders at the glory of the divine attributes and perfections difplayed in his perfon and work, faying, "Who is a God like unto thee?" Micah vii. 18. (5.) It is called a being joined to the Lord; he that "is joined unto the Lord is one fpirit." The man now begins to hold Chrift as a new Head of influence and government He quits the first Adam as a covenant head, and becomes dead to all expectation of life and righteoufnefs by Adam's covenant, and is married to a better Husband: he quits the devil as his head and ruler, the old head of apoftafy and rebellion, and joins himself to the Lord Jefus as his Head, and holds him as a Head from whom, as by joints and bands, he has nourishment ministered, whereby he is made to increafe with the increafe of God, Col. ii. 19. (6.) It is fometimes called a refurrection, Eph. ii. .: the finner is dead in trefpafles and fins, and behold he ftinketh, as it is faid of Lazarus, John xi. 39. He is quite putrefied in the grave of fin, "no foundnets in him, from the fole of the foot, even unto the head," no principle of life: but when God comes to fet up his kingdom within, the fpirit of life which is in Chrift Jefus, enters, and makes him a partaker of the firft refurrection; the dry bones are made to live, by the blowing of the four winds of the influences of the Holy Ghoft. (7.) It is fometimes called God's workmanship; ye are "his workmanfhip, created in Chrift Jefus unto good works," Eph. ii. 10. and Philip. i. 6. it is called a good work, "He that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jefus Chrift." The erection of this fpiritual kingdom in the foul is the work of God, it carries the peculiar ftamp of God upon it; and it is a good work, because it is a work whereby the ruins of the fall of Adam are repaired, and the image of God is restored, &c. Many Many other names are given in fcripture unto this kingdom of God in the foul; for instance, it is called a being dead to the law, and a being married unto Chrift. Sometimes a being drawn with the cords of a man, and bands of love. Sometimes the baptifm of the Holy Ghoft. Sometimes an opening of the eyes of the blind, and a turning from darkness unto light. Sometimes a being faved, and called with an holy calling. Sometimes an opening of the heart: a lifting up of the everlasting gates to Chrift. Sometimes a cirumcifing the heart to love the Lord. Thefe, I fay, and many other fcriptu ral accounts we have of it, and here it is called the kingdom of God within a man. Which brings me to (LUKE Xvii. 21.--For behold the kingdom of God is within you. THE SECOND SERMON ON THIS TEXT.) HE third thing propofed, which was, to inquire why III. T this kingdong Pf grace in the heart is called a king dom, and the kingdom of God. ift, A kingdom, you know, is the common refidence of the king. So the renewed heart is the refidence of "the King eter nal, immortal, and invifible, the only wife God." If. lvii. 15. "Thus faith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whofe name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place," unto which no man can approach, and "with him alfo that is of a contrite and humble fpirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." The gracious foul is built up "an habitation of God through the Spirit; I will dwell in them, and I will walk in them, faith the Lord." The expreffion is amazing, it imports a fixed refidence, and that with wonderful pleasure and fatisfaction. 2dly, A kingdom has its laws by which it is governed. So in the heart of the believer the law of God is established; "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts," Jer. xxxi. 34. It is faid of the righteous man," The law of his God is in his heart, none of his fteps fhall flide," Pfal. VOL. III. 3 R xxxvii. 31. xxxvii. 31. The grace of God doth not teach or lead to law lefs liberty in fin; no, but it teaches to deny" all ungodlines and worldly lufts, and to walk foberly, righteously, and godly, in this prefent world." Indeed the doctrine of grace floating in the head, may poffibly lead men of corrupt hearts, through their own mistaken notions of the grace of God, to argue, 29 fome did in the apoftle's days, "Let us fin, that grace may abound:" But the grace of God, when it faftens upon the heart, it teaches to deny all ungodlinefs: And how doth it teach this? But by engraving the law of God in the heart, of by cafting the heart into that mould of holinefs that the law of God requires, and then the man delights" in the law of the Lord after the inward man;" and having a tranfcript of the law within, obedience to it in the outward walk be comes juft the man's element, fo that he "rejoices and works righteousness, and remembers the Lord in his ways; my foul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy righteous judgements at all times," Pfal. cxix. 20. 3dly, A kingdom hath its courts of equity, where right and wrong are determined. So there is a court of juftice eftablished in the fpiritual kingdom which is fet up within, I mean the court of con fcience informed and inftructed. The law of God being written on the heart by the finger of the eternal Spirit, con fcience, God's deputy, reads and understands it, and either ac cufes or excufes, according as his actions are agreeable or dif agreeable unto the law of God, which he has given him as the rule of his obedience: It is true, there is fomething like this to be found in the Heathen, and men who are yet in a natu ral ftate, as you fee, Rom. ii. But when the kingdom of God comes to be fet up in the foul, the great Lord of the court he purges it from dead works, whereby it had been defiled and ftupified, fupports the authority of his own deputy, renews his commiffion, and commands every action of the heart or life to be ftrictly tried and examined at its bar, declaring, that what confcience, according to his law, binds on earth, fhall be bound in heaven, and what it ap proves on earth fhall be approved in heaven. And hence comes that tenderness of heart and life that is to be found among thofe that are truly exercifed unto godlinefs, which the world are ready to ridicule, under the notion of needles nicety, and precife fingularity, and what not; and are ready to think it ftrange, that they run not with them unto the fame courfes, of riot or defection. Why, the matter is this, the man is afraid if he walk as others do, he fhall tranfgrefs the law of God which he finds in his heart, and fo be arraigned and con demned |