man to conceive rightly of it, till inspired from the Lamb, or till it is revealed by the Spirit.

Our Saviour's kingdom is come, and many press into it; but some, when they hear of this treasure, despise it; they believe no such is found in this world; they think no such happiness is attainable in this life; and therefore they neither seek it, nor ask it, but are like people who hear of treasure hid in a field; but esteem it a dream, or fancy, or cheat, and so never seek for it; so all, who do not believe the kingdom attainable now, cannot possibly enter it, because of unbelief. They cannot seek it, because they do not believe it is to be found; they cannot ask for the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins, because they think it is not got till we die: they do not seek the Lord; for they believe to expect to receive the Holy Ghost, and know our Saviour, is presumption. Thus pure unbelief hinders them to enter into the rest remaining for the people of God. But why do not they believe? Is it because the Lord has promised no such blessing? No; he has promised it. All the scriptures are filled with promises of this kind. All was written that we might believe in Jesus, and have eternal life through his name.

Is it then because none have found this treasure? By no means; for in all places there are witnesses of it; among all sorts of people there are men who have found the Beloved, who know their Redeemer lives, and who have got salvation in his blood, even remission of their sins. But the truth is, they neither believe Jesus nor his disciples; they put it off and say, What is in the scripture concerns the apostles and first ages of the church, and as violently oppose the continuation of those blessings, as if no Bible was in the world. Let such take care lest that happen to "Behold I them which is written in the prophets, work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though a man declare it unto you.'

It

It is otherwise with some; for they hear of this hidden treasure, and they seek it till they have found it. If any should look for other treasure, a great part of them might look in vain, and perhaps after many days and weeks labour another may find it, and all their toil be fruitless and lost; but it is so ordered by him who has hid this treasure, that all who seek shall find, all that ask shall have, and all who run in this race shall win the prize.

This treasure is found in Jesus; in him are hid all the treasures of God. Whoever wants to be rich in eternity, must have him. He is the costly Pearl, the Pearl of great price. He is that true Treasure, "which no moth nor rust can corrupt, and which no thief can break through and steal.' Ye dead souls, who are minded to find this true and real Treasure, this solid and lasting riches, come to Jesus, and you shall find it there.

Be not faithless, but believe Jesus Christ's kingdom is yet to be found; his salvation is yet to be experienced; his love is yet to be felt in the heart. Up and seek it; be in earnest about it; remember "the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Whoso seeks with all his heart, shall find it, and then he will readily part with all he has, to purchase that field; he will count all other things, all gain, company, pleasures, honours, beauty, friends, and whatever else he valued before, spiritual or temporal, as loss, that he may get and win Jesus; nor need he be afraid of others getting his riches, and so must hide it, there is enough for all; and therefore when a soul has found Christ, he is like the woman of Samaria, Philip, and others, he would call and invite every man to come and see Jesus too: he is happy he is in the kingdom, and wants all, even his enemies, to come into the same. 0 2

My

My brethren, be thus minded; let all your business, your religion, your endeavours, and aim be, to know and have Jesus Christ. Let this be the mark of the prize of your high calling. Value nothing beside, love nothing, count nothing riches or treasure, desire nothing, ask nothing but to have him and his merits, and then you will be rich, the kingdom of heaven shall be yours, the life that now is, and that which is to come, all shall be yours for ever and

ever.

While others despise so inestimable a benefit, disbelieve and scorn it, and mock and deride the sincere few, who are digging after this treasure, and in search after this riches and kingdom, continue ye in faith. Let our Saviour's promise be steadily believed, and think not well of yourselves till ye have entered the possession of this grace, so shall ye be happy here and hereafter. Here ye shall be kings over Satan and the world, and foretaste and anticipate your heaven, and no man shall be able to rob you of your crown; you shall have your portion safe when the heavens vanish away, and when the earth is burnt up; you shall then be in a continuing city, in a kingdom that cannot be shaken, world without end. Amen.

DISCOURSE XXVIII.

THE OFFICES OF THE MESSIAH.

LUKE iv. 18, 19.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

THIS was the portion of scripture our Saviour

chose for his text when he preached at Nazareth on a certain sabbath-day, not long after his baptism in Jordan; and when he had read it in the synagogue he closed the book and sat down, and said, "This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears," and all wondered at the gracious words which he spake, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him; but before he had done speaking, his own doctrine was verified in himself, namely, "that a prophet is not without honour but in his own country, and among his own kindred;" for they were offended with his doctrine, and thrust him out of their synagogue, and attempted to kill him, but he escaped through the midst of them, and went away.

I shall not now make observations on what offended the Nazarenes in our Lord's discourse, nor speak of his early persecutions, and how he used his divine

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power

power in disappearing from among them that sought to destroy him, for this would take up that time which I would rather spend in treating of his blessed offices in the world. This shall always be to me a favourite subject, as long as I am his servant, and permitted to labour in his vineyard.

It is certain, Isaiah, out of whose prophecy Jesus read, spake those things not of himself but of the Redeemer, since he has appropriated them to himself, and which things are the testimony of all the inspired writers concerning him.

Our Saviour would read in the scripture, to teach us they were the true sayings of God, and that we might not be tempted to disesteem or slight the law and the prophets. He often mentions passages out of the Bible himself, and bid such as wanted to be satisfied concerning him search the scriptures, confessing at the same time, "these are they that testify of me." He also blames the Sadducees, because they were ignorant of the scriptures, and urges no greater reason in his answers to the tempter than that it was written. He was, no doubt, the God of wisdom, and could easily have baffled Satan with the strongest arguments, but he chose only to say, It is written, and referred to the holy writings, as to the words of God; nor could the enemy, with all his temptations, stand against the simplicity of our Saviour. In this respect he has left us an example that we should follow his footsteps, when Satan or carnal men would reason with us. If they would oppose the Godhead of our Saviour, our answer must be, How readest thou? It is written, "He is over all God blessed for evermore." Or should they despise free justification, the gift of the Spirit, the knowledge of our salvation, the assurance of faith, Christ's dwelling in us and manifesting himself to us, we must appeal to the scriptures, for so it is written: and when meek arguments