possess a peace

insensibility and thoughtless security; but does this deserve the name of peace? No, it is only the effect of blindness and hardness of heart, and must at length give place to terror and dismay. But those who are interested in the kingdom of God, which passeth all understanding; springing from reconciliation with God, and flowing to them through the atonement of Jesus. He is our peace-having made peace for us by the blood of his cross; "and being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."- Jesus likewise gives the heirs of the kingdom peace, amidst all the tribulations and vicissitudes of life. And I add, that he bestows on them peace in the prospect of death. When the awful hour arrives, which puts a period to all the hopes and enjoyments of a worldly man, the heir of the kingdom oftentimes can rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. But though he may sometimes go all his life long in bondage through fear of death, yet this fear is generally removed before the messenger arrives. The olive branch is held out, the believer is enabled to lay hold on it, and the peace of God takes possession of his soul.

The third blessing of the kingdom of God, as comprising a state of grace, is joy in the Holy Ghost.Do not imagine, my dear young friends, that if you become religious you must become gloomy and melancholy, and bid farewell to every pleasure and delight. What can be more false than such a representation? Religion is calculated to afford, and actually does afford, joys eminently superior to any the

world can afford-joys which the world knows nothing of-joys it can neither give nor take away. Interested in the blessings of the kingdom, the believer may sing,

"The sorrows of the mind

Be banished from this place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.

The hill of Zion yields

A thousand sacred sweets;
Before we reach the heavenly fields
Or walk the golden streets."

:

(2). But the state of glory comes after the state of grace. All those who are partakers of the kingdom of grace, will soon be admitted into the kingdom of glory. The one is absolutely and certainly connected with the other it is the Father's good pleasure to bestow on his people the kingdom of glory. There they will join the society of angels and archangels; and, like them, become the ministers of God to do his pleasure. They will there be made kings, as well as priests unto God for ever and ever. Here, indeed, they are princes; but they are princes in disguise: here they are unknown to the world, though well known to God. Here, like David, they are anointed, but not proclaimed. Here they are entering the kingdom, considered as a state of glory, and they are entering it through much tribulation. But there they will be distinguished by their royalties there they will put on their robes-there they will sway their sceptres-there they will wear their crowns; crowns of life and glory, which shall never fade away-there they will reign with Christ for ever and ever.

But

as it is written, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

2. Secondly, with the kingdom of God, our Lord connects His righteousness.

To the kingdom of God, the righteousness of God is inseparably united. And by the righteousness of God in this place, I apprehend, our Lord intends the renovation of our nature, and the sanctification of our lives that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. The holy Jesus is constantly urging his disciples to the pursuit of personal holiness:-and this he does especially in the Sermon on the Mount, from whence our text is taken. In this invaluable discourse, the Saviour sets before his disciples the grand outlines of christian practice. Christian prin ciples, or doctrines, are to be learned from other parts of the sacred oracles. The tenor of our Lord's instructions here, is—“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. seek ye e first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." This righteousness is called the righteousness of God, because he confers it by his Spirit, and accepts it

through his grace.

But

II. Let us, in the second place, notice the attention which our blessed Lord enjoins to it.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The adorable Jesus calls your supreme attention to the glorious object he exhibits. How shall we explain this injunction? Does it not evidently include the following particulars?

1. Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness in the first or early part of life.

And here, my dear young friends, I call upon you, in the inviting and encouraging language of inspiration, to seek the blessings of the kingdom of God, at this early period of life. Oh, may you make it your first concern in order of time. as well as your happiness.

It will be your wisdom
Remember, now, thy

"I

Creator in the days of thy youth." "My son, give me thy heart.' “Wilt thou not from this time cry, my Father, thou art the guide of my youth?" love them," says the blessed God, "that love me; and they that seek me early shall find me."-Are any of you disposed to say, "I am now in the morning of life, and it will be time enough for me to seek the kingdom of God when I am grown older, or when gray hairs shall admonish me of my approaching dissolution."-But who has told you that you will live to be old? The God of your lives has not told you so; and sure I am that none but he can insure your life for a year-for a month-or for a day. The youthful die, as well as the aged; and you, my young friends, may soon be cut down like an opening flower. Your observation shews you, that the king of terrors

any

other season,

frequently passes by the habitations of the aged and the infirm, and thunders his tremendous summons in the ears of those who are young, strong, and healthy as yourselves. You may never have besides the present, to seek the blessings of the kingdom of God; but if you die before they are secured, it would have been good for you if you had never been born. What will it profit you, if you should gain the whole world and lose your own soul? This would be a loss irreparable, eternal!--But the sooner you "Godliness has be happy. seek, the sooner will you the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come." In a few years at the farthest, every person that I am addressing to-night, will be in the eternal world. I was lately looking at the bills of mortality for the metropolis, and observed that out of upwards of eighteen thousand deaths registered for the last year, only one person had lived to the

age

I

of a hundred years. In much less than that time probably, every young person within these walls, as well as all those who are more advanced, will have entered the world of spirits. But were I sure that all years, age of a hundred of you would live to the would say, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. There are only two masters before you, one of whom you must serve; for serve both God and Mammon. The service of God is perfect freedom: it will bring you pleasure in life, support in death, honour and felicity for ever. But there is another motive, by which I would urge your seeking now the kingdom of God and his righteous

you cannot