demned before the bar of his own conscience, and have the fentence ratified in heaven by the Lord of the conicience; and be fore he run the risk of a condemning confcience, and a frowning God, he would rather have all the world glooming and looking down, well knowing, that the fmiles of the world, and their mirth and jollity, will do him little fervice when under the challenges of an awakened confcience, and the terror of an angry God; whereas, if God and his deputy approve of him in his way, he is capable to rejoice in tribulation, distress, famine, nakedness, and all outward misery, saying with Paul, "Our rejoicing is this, the teftimony of our confcience, that in fimplicity and godly fincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our converfation in the world."

4thly, A kingdom hath its treafury and ftore-house. We frequently hear of the public treasures of the king.

So this fpiritual kingdom of God that is within, has its ftore-house; but, with this difference, that the stores of other kingdoms are within them, but the store-house of this invifible kingdom lies without it, namely, in Christ, who is the Head of the kingdom: for, it hath "pleafed the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell, that out of his' fulness we should receive grace for grace," Col. i. 19. John i. 16, And herein lies one of the principal differences between God's way, with Adam in innocency, under a covenant of works, and his way with believers under a covenant of grace: God gave Adam the stock in his own hand, with a promise of life if he improved it, and a threatening of death and eternal ruin if he loft and spent it; but, in the covenant of grace, God will not truft man with the ftock, but he has laid it in the hand of Chrift, as the Head of the new covenant, and the promise of life is not made to us directly, but to him, and all that embrace him by a faith of his own operation; for "this is the record that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, and he that hath the Son, hath life," John v.

II 12.

5thly, A kingdom commonly has its enemies, both foreign and inteftine, with whom it wages war.

Juft fo is it with the kingdom of God reared up in the heart by the power of divine grace: It has foreign enemies with whom it is continually grappling, Satan, the god of this world, and all his auxiliaries, "the luft of the flelb, the luft of the eye, and the pride of life," are continually at war to ruin it. Hence is that of the apostle, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood only, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spi

7

ritual wickedneffes in high places." And then this kingdom is at war with the inteftine enemy of indwelling fin, remaining atheism, remaining enmity, unbelief, pride, carnality, hypocrify; thefe lie lurking in the fecret corners of the foul, waiting all opportunities to betray it into the hand of the devil and the world from without: and therefore the poor believer is obliged to keep even his own heart with all diligence: Many a hot battle has the grace of God within, with indwelling corruption, when none in all the world knows it; "the flesh lufteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary the one to the other;" which made the apostle Paul to cry, "I find a law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of fin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who fhall deliver me from the body of this death."

6thly, A kingdom hath its magazines for military provision. We read of David's armoury in the kingdom of Ifrael, where did hang the fhields of the mighty.

So this kingdom of grace within has its armoury, from which it is furnished with weapons, and all neceflary provision for carrying on the war against Satan, the world, and indwelling corruption; and the armoury of this kingdom is none other than the word of God, Eph. vi. 11. We read of the whole

armour of God, whereby we are enabled to stand against the wiles of Satan. There we are directed, ver. 14. to have our loins girt about with truth, God's own girdle, for "truth is the girdle of his loins and reins;" the righteoufness of Chrift revealed in the gospel is to be our breastplate, to defend aganist all charges and accufations from the devil, the world, or an accufing confcience: Our feet, ver. 15. are to be fhod with the gofpel of peace, which is the prepa ration against the rough and thorny paths we may travel in, following the Lamb whitherfoever he goes; and then, ver. 16. faith fraughted with the belief of the word, is a fhield that defends the foul against all the fiery darts of Satan. The hope of falvation. ver. 7. and "immortality brought to light in the gofpel," is a helmet that defends the head against all the howers of temptation that may come from the devil, and the world. And the word of God, fkilfully managed in the hand of faith, is the fword of the Spirit's furnishing, which both defends the foul, and offends the enemy, and puts him to flight. Thus this kingdom has its armoury.

7thly, A kingdom has its confederates, with whom it is in league, offenfive and defenfive.

So has this fpiritual kingdom of God in the foul: God him

felf

felf in Chrift is its great and glorious Confederate. At the fame time that he difannuls the man's covenant with hell, and his agreement with death, he makes with him an "everlasting covenant, even the fure mercies of David," Jer. xxxii. 40. "I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they fhall not depart from me." By virtue of this covenant, he is engaged to be their "God for ever, and their Guide even unto death;" to go with them "through fire and water; to ftrengthen, help, and uphold them with the right hand of his righteousness;" whatever battle they are engaged in, to ftand at their right hand, to fave them" from them that would condemn their soul ;" and whatever piece of work or duty he calls them to, to work in them "both to will and to do of his own good pleasure ;" and that he "will never, never, never leave nor for fake them." And thus you fee upon what account the work of grace in the foul is called a kingdom. Like a kingdom it is the refidence of the great King; it has laws, by which it is governed; it has a court of equity, where all iniquity is condemned; it has its treasury that is inexhauftible; it has its wars, foreign and domeftic; it has its magazines for military provifion, and its confederates with whom it is in league, even a reconciled God in Chrift, who makes" a covenant for them with the beafts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground," Hof. ii. 18.

LUKE xvii. 21.-For behold the kingdom of God is within

you.

THE THIRD SEMON ON THIS TEXT.

IV.

THE

HE fourth thing was, to inquire how this kingdom comes to be erected in the foul.

The apoftle, we find, gives an account of this, 2 Cor. x. 4.5. under the notion of a great king, with his armies, invading

an

an enemy's country, laying fiege unto his ftrong holds, reducing them by force of arms unto his obedience: "The wea pons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, cafting down imagina. tions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chrift:" Where, to illuftrate the matter in hand, we may notice these few things.

, The ftate and condition of the heart and foul of man, when God, by the power of his Word and Spirit, comes to make an attack upon it, in order to establish his kingdom: it is in a state of hoftility, fortified as with trong holds, walls, and high towers and bulwarks, against all attacks that may be made upon it. Unbelief, ignorance, pride, felf-conceit, carnal wisdom and policy, and the like, they are the strong holds that the devil has reared up in the heart of man against God, and against the power of his word; through the power of natural corruption, the finner is fo de. praved, that he is wholly in the devil's intereft, in covenant with death, and in an agreement with hell. And hence it comes, that, when minifters of the gofpel, according to their com mmiffion, begin to mount the batteries of the law against their corruptions, and come clofe home to them, to hit their beloved idols, crying aloud, and not sparing them, they are ready to form and rage, accounting them their enemies.

2dly, We may notice the defignation given to our work, who are minifters of the gofpel: It is called a warfare, and, if we be true to our truft, faithful to God and to the fouls of men, we may lay our account with many a hot battle with the lufts and corruptions of men. And hence it is, that we fhall commonly find faithful minifters of Chrift, the very butt of the malice of hell and its emiffaries; the ftrength of battle is against them, commonly in a day of perfecution; they may refolve with it to have all the engines of hell employed to ruin them and their miniftry. Sometimes, and commonly, the enemy attempts to ruin their name and character by reproach and calumny, in order to render their ministry ufelefs. Sometimes they contradict, and attempt to weaken it, by nibbling at their doctrine, as the Pharifees did at the doctrine of Chrift himself. Sometimes harafling them with profecutions before their courts, for difobedience unto their ini quitous laws, as the Jewish Sanhedrim did the apostles of Chrift, Acts iii. and iv. Sometimes perfecuting them even anto the very death, as we fee frequently verified in Christ, and many of his prophets, under the Old, and alfo under the New Teitament. Why, what is the matter that faithful mi

nisters

nifters are thus the butt of the world's malice? Why, the matter is, they are engaged in a warfare against the lufts and corruptions of the world; and by their teftimony they torment them that dwell upon the earth; and therefore they "make war against the witneffes (Rev. xi. 7.), and go about to kill them, and caft out their names as evil, and their dead bodies in the streets," that they may be rid of them, and of their testimony both; and becaufe of thefe and the like hardfhips they meet with, they are fometimes, through the weaknels of nature, put to cry with Jeremiah, "Wo is me, my mother, that thou haft born me a man of ftrife, and a man of contention unto the whole earth," Jer. xv. 10.

3dly, We have the defign of this warfare that ministers of the gospel are employed in: It is not to deftroy the perfons, or ruin the worldly interefts of men, but to fave their fouls, by refcuing them from the slavery and bondage of Satan, and their own lufts, and bring them into the glorious liberty of the fons of God; or, as the apoftle expreffes it in the clofe of the fifth verfe, "to bring every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Christ." Sinners are the devil's captives, led about by him in the chains of their own lufts; and fo much are they in love with the devil's flavery, that every imagination of the thoughts of their heart is evil only, and continually evil. Now, the defign of our warfare, as ministers of Chrift, is to proclaim liberty unto the captives, to free them from their flavery, and to reduce them unto their ancient al legiance and obedience unto the King of kings and Lord of lords. And for this end we fet the trumpet of the law to our mouth, to warn finners of their danger, if they continue in the devil's fervice, and to emit the joyful found of the gospel trumpet, proclaiming the glorious fulness, fuitablenefs, and excellency of Chrift, and the love of God to loft finners through him; that, by these cords of a man, and bands of love, we may bring "every thought of their heart into captivity to the obedience of Chrift, and of God in him, as their only Judge, King, Saviour, and Lawgiver," If. xxxiii. 22.

4thly, We have the weapons that minifters of the gospel are to make ufe of in invading Satan's kingdom, in order to the refcue of his prifoners and captives; negatively, they are not carnal, not phyfically carnal. We are not commanded by our great Mafter, to advance or carry on the warfare of his kingdom, with the Popish and Mahometan weapons of fire and fword: Chrift never taught his followers to make ufe of the force of arms, to dethrone kings, and overturn kingdoms, in order to fet up his government in the world. When Peter drew the fword on his behalf, he orders him to put it up, for

all