grave," immediately the first refurrection is accomplished, and fo the fecond death fhall have no power over that foul. 3. By this power of God in the gospel, light is brought out of darknefs. The mind of man by nature is not only dark, but darkness: "Once were ye darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord." As, in the old creation, darkness was upon the face of the deep; fo is the darknefs of ignorance, unbelief, error, and prejudice, upon the face of the foul: but when God fays, "Let there be light," immediately the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jefus Chrift, tranflates the foul from darknefs unto a marvellous light, 2 Cor. iv. 6. 4. Such is the excellency of this power, that thereby beau ty and order is brought out of deformity and confufion, as was already hinted: "Though ye have lain among the pots, yet fhall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with filver, and her feathers with yellow gold." 5. By this power of God in the gospel, a new temple and habitation is reared out of the dark quarry of nature, and ftones raised up to be children of Abraham, Eph. ii. ult. "Ye are built up an habitation of God through the Spirit." Not to multiply particulars: by this power of God in the gofpel, the ennity of the heart against God is flain, and the finner is fo far reconciled unto God, that he is made to love the Lord his God, with all his heart, foul, strength, and mind. By this almighty power, the prodigal that was in a far country, feeding upon hufks with the fwine, is brought home to his Father's houfe, and re-inftated in all the privileges of children. By the power of God accompanying the gofpel, the poor man, that was oppreffed with poverty, is taken out of the dunghill, and fet among princes, and made an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Chrift. The frong man is bound by a ftronger than he, and fpoiled of his goods: the ftrong holds of Satan are pulled down, the high imaginations of the heart, that exalt themfelves against the knowledge of God, are levelled, and every thought brought into captivity unto the obedience of Chrift; the lawful captive is delivered, and the prey taken from the terrible. Thus I have given you a little glimpfe of the excellency of the power of God accompanying the gol pel, from its properties and effects. IV. The fourth thing in the method was, to fhew how the excellency of this power comes to be difplayed, by the conveyance of the gofpel-treafure in earthen veffels. Ín anfwer, I fhall not dwell upon this; only it is to be obferved, that it is God's ordinary way to exert his almighty power in the accomplishment complishment of his greatest works, by means which the rational world would think fhould prove utterly ineffectual. When the great fabric of heaven and earth are brought into being, it is done with a fimple word, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." When the pride of Pharaoh and the ftrength of Egypt is to be broken, when Ifrael is to be brought out of bondage, and the Red fea divided, it is effected by the ftretching out of the rod of God in the hand of Moses. When the ftrong walls of Jericho are to be brought down, it shall not be done by engines of war, fuch as battering rams, but by the fimple founding of rams horns, and a fhout from the camp of Ifrael. When the host of the Midianitish army is to be dif comfited, God will not have it done by thirty thousand, but he will have these reduced to three hundred; and that three hundred fhall not draw a fword, but only blow their trumpets, break their pitchers, and hold their lamps in their hands, crying, "The fword of the Lord, and of Gideon," and thereupon the Midianitish army is made to melt away, and every man made to sheath his sword in his neighbour's bowels. What was the plot of Heaven in making fuch infignificant contemptible means to produce fuch glorious effects? The plain reafon is, that his own arm and power might be the niore confpicuous; and that Ifrael might know that it was not their own bow or fword that faved them, but God's right hand and his holy arm that gave them the victory. In like manner, when God is to fet up the kingdom of the Melliah in the world, and to overthrow Satan's kingdom of darkness, he paffes by the plodding politicians, the learned philosophers, and elegant orators of the world, and pitches upon twelve poor fithermen, who had no other language than their mother tongue, no other education but the making and mending of their nets; and, in endowing them with power from on high, whereby they were made capable of propagating the gospel in all the languages of the known world, and the working all manner of miracles for the confirmation of the truth of their doctrine, whereby Satan's kingdom was made to fall like lightning from heaven; the idolatries of the nations, in which they had been rooted for many ages and generations; the devil's oracles amongst them are filenced; the Mofaical economy, which had been of divine authority, is unhinged; the Roman empire, the power of which had been employed to extirpate Chriftianity, is made to yield unto the fceptre of a crucified Jefus. In like manner, when God is to fet up his kingdom in the heart, he will do it by earthen veffels, fraughted with the treafure of gofpel truth and grace. Now, what VOL. II. 3 Z is is the defign of God in all this, but that the excellency of the power may appear to be of him, and not of man? The apostle elegantly defcants upon this fubject, 1 Cor. i. 26-31. For ye fee your calling, brethren, how that not many wife men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chofen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wife; and God hath chofen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are defpifed, hath God chofen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. The design of all this is, "That no Beth fhould glory in his prefence, but that he that glorieth, may glory in the Lord alone." And fo much fhall ferve for the illuftration of the text and doctrine. I proceed now to The Application. And I shall endeavour to difpatch all the application I intend at this time, in a few inferences. Inf. 1. See hence what an excellent and enriching bleffing the gospel is, when received in a way of believing: it is a trea Jure, and the best treasure ever a people were poffeffed of; they are indeed a bleffed people that know God in a practical way and manner. Here it may be asked, Wherein lies the excellency of the gofpel-treasure? This was cleared in the doctrinal part; but to what was faid, I shall add, 1ft, It is a celeflial and heavenly treafure; it is one of these "good and perfect gifts that come down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variablenefs, neither fhadow of turning." The law is a thing known, in a great measure, by the light of nature; but the gospel is a thing wholly fuperna tural, both as to the objective and fubjective revelation of it. 2dly, It is a fpiritual and foul-fatisfying treasure. And O how valuable must that treasure be, that enriches the foul, and brings it to life and immortality! Let a man be poffeffed of all the riches of the East and West Indies, yet while he is deftitute or ignorant of the gofpel-treafure, Laodicea's charac ter may be aflixed to him, "wretched, miferable, poor, and blind, and naked." 3dly, The gofpel-treafure the more that a man hath of it, he is always the more humble and denied. Quite contrary to this is the effect of men's poffelling worldly treatures; no fooner do fome men get a little of the world fcraped together, by hook or crook, but they are fwelled with pride, and look with an air of contempt and difdain upon others, that are not come their length, as to worldly fubfance. But, I fay, the gospel-treafure hath a quite different eff &; for the more a man hath of it, the lefs doth he think of himfelf, in comparifon of others; as you fee it was with the great apoftle Paul. Who had more of of the gofpel-treasure than he? and yet, fays he, Eph. iii. 8. "Unto me, who am lefs than the leaft of all faints, is this grace given, that I fhould preach among the Gentiles the un[earchable riches of Chrift." 4thly, Though it be a humbling, yet it is really a foul ennobling treasure. The man by having the gofpel-treafure hid in his heart, it lifts him from among the common lay of mankind, and fets him among the excellent ones of the earth; it fets him among princes, and among the heirs of the kingdom of heaven; it endows the man with a princely fpirit, infomach that he looks with contempt upon this dunghill-world, and his affections are fet a flight after things that are above, where Chrift is at the right-hand of God. "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not feen: for the things which are feen are temporal; but the things which are not feen, are eternal." 5thly, As was above hinted, the gofpel-treafure is durable, abiding, and everlafting; it goes along with a man, through death, which twins him of all his other worldly treasures: Pfal. xlix. 16. 17. "Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his houfe is increased. For when he dieth, he fhall carry nothing away: his glory fhall not defcend after him." But the gofpel treafure is of fuch a nature, and fo well fecured, that neither death, nor life, nor things prefent, nor things to come, fhall ever be able to fpoil him of it, Rom. viii. at the close. Well then, Sirs, if the gofpel be fuch a valuable treasure, for the Lord's fake, ftudy to fecure it, that your fouls may be enriched for ever. Queft. How fhall we fecure it? Anfw. It is by faith's fetting to the feal unto the record of God concerning his Son Jefus Christ. Queft. What is the record of God? See this answered, 1 John v. 11. "This is the record of God, that God hath given to us (finners of mankind) eternal life, and this life is in his Son: and he that hath the Son, hath life." That moment a man fets to his feal to this record of God, as a faithful faying, and worthy of all acceptation, he is fecured of all the riches of Chrift, which are unfearchable. Inf. 2. Hath God put this treasure into earthen veffels, as minifters of the gospel are here called? then fee hence how worthy of reception and entertainment a faithful minister of the gofpel is: why, although he be but an earthen veslel, yet he brings a glorious treafure along with him unto the people to whom he is fent. Solomon tells us, that "a man's gift makes room for him;" much more he that brings a treasure of gifts. That minifter who brings Chrift, and all the treafures of heaven along with him, is worthy of all reception, ac cording cording to that, Rom. x. 15. "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gofpel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Although minifters be fpoke of by this diminutive character of earthen veffels, yet there are feveral great and honourable titles and defignations given them in fcripture, which plainly fhew the reception that they are worthy of. Every fent minifter of Chrift, is "the meffenger of the Lord of hofts," Mal. ii. 7. A meffenger fent from the Lord of all the hofts of heaven, earth, and hell, ought to be entertained, and it is dangerous to maltreat him. Ministers are called the ambaffadors of Christ, 2 Cor. v. 20. "Now, then, we are ambassadors for Chrift, as though God did befeech you by us: we pray you in Chrift's ftead, be ye reconciled to God." Minifters of the gofpel are called ambaffadors, with allufion to the practice of princes, who fent their ambaffadors into foreign courts; and the ambaffador reprefents the perfon of the king that fent him; and if any injury be done to the ambaffador, it is reckoned a difhonour done to his great mafter. The ambaffadors of kings, they are fent unto foreign courts, to negociate the affairs of peace, of trade, or of marriage; and in all thefe refpects minifters are ambaffadors from the high court of heaven. For, 1st, They are fent to negociate a peace between God and man. They preach the gofpel of peace; they have the word of reconciliation committed to them, "As though God did befeech you by us, we pray you to be reconciled to him." We come to caft out the white flag of peace from heaven, to a company of rebels, and to affure you, upon the oath of God that fent us, that he hath no pleasure in your death, but rather that you turn to him and live; and therefore we cry to you, "Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?" We come with the olive branch in our mouths, to let you know that the deluge of God's wrath, that was breaking out against all mankind, is fubfided, and that his anger is turned away, through the death and fatisfaction of his eternal Son; and therefore, he who hath created our lips, hath ordained us to cry, "Peace, peace to them that are afar off." For this very end, the ministry of reconciliation is committed to us, viz. "That God was in Chrift, reconciling the world unto himself, not impu ting their trefpaffes unto them;" although, alas ! we that are the ambaladors of peace, may apply that word with respect to the generality of our hearers, Ii. xxxiii. 7. " The ambassadors of peace weep bitterly." And why do they weep, but because their Maiter's offers of peace are rejected, and the ambaffadors of peace are maltreated? On this account we fol how the example of Chrift with refpe& unto Jerufalem; when he |