those eternal principles which make it "impossible for God to lie."

3. No unregenerate man can see the kingdom of God, because it is impossible for God to "deny himself," or to act in manifest opposition to the infinite perfections of his own nature, in order to save them from suffering, who obstinately remain in a state of sin. "If ye believe not," says the apostle, "God abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself." Even were God's determination in this matter purely arbitrary, yet being formed by his supreme authority, and backed by his almighty power, and declared by his unchangeable truth, it should command our reverential attention ; but it is not arbitrary, it flows, like every other part of his counsel or procedure, from the essential and immutable attributes of his divine nature. There are some things that cannot be otherwise while God is God, and this is one of them: he cannot admit an unregenerate man into his kingdom, for this were to

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deny himself," and to act in direct opposition to every principle which regulates his procedure as the Governor of the world. The supposition, that a sinful man may enter into his kingdom without being born again, implies that God must deny himself in three respects;-that he must rescind the law of his moral government,-that he must depart from his declared design in the scheme of redemption itself; and that he must reverse the moral constitution of -or in other words alter the whole character of his kingdom.

man,

That a spiritual character is indispensably necessary,

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in order to our being admitted into the kingdom of God, may be inferred from the general laws of his moral government. In one sense, all men, however rebellious, and even devils themselves, are subjects of God's kingdom-that is, they are under his government, and bound to obey his authority, and responsible to him as their Judge. That we are under a system of government, is the intuitive conviction of every thinking mind. We feel that we are subject to checks and restraints which are imposed upon us by some external authority, and which are altogether independent of our own will,-insomuch, that although free to act according to our own choice, we cannot alter the constitution under which we live, nor emancipate ourselves from the control of law, nor escape or avert the consequences of our own conduct. That the system of government under which we are placed is essentially a moral one, appears alike from the evidence of our own consciousness, and from our experience and observation of the world at large. There is a mysterious law written on the tablets of our own hearts which reveals God as a Lawgiver and a Judge ; and our whole experience bears witness to the inseparable connection which he has established betwixt sin and misery on the one hand, and holiness and happiness on the other. This is the general constitution of God's government; and from that government the wicked are not exempted; on the contrary, its reality is evinced by the very experience of those who do most resolutely resist it,—just as rebels, when they are punished for their crimes, are still treated as sub

jects, and become the most signal monuments of public justice.

When our Lord speaks of the "kingdom of God," he does not refer to the moral government which is common to all men; but to that kingdom of grace and glory, into which it is his will to gather into one all his redeemed people, a kingdom in which every subject should be alike safe and happy, being delivered from all evil, and defended by his almighty power. He speaks of the state into which the Saviour brings his people—a state of perfect safety and peace; but still, you will observe, he speaks of it as "a kingdom," nay, as "the kingdom of God," and this implies, that while in other respects it differs from the universal kingdom, which comprehends under it the righteous and the wicked, the fallen and the unfallen, and extends alike to heaven, earth, and hell, it agrees with it in this—that it implies a system of discipline and government, administered by God himself, according to such rules and principles as are consistent with the perfections of his nature, and sanctioned by his unchangeable will. He is represented as the head of this new kingdom, and his people as his subjects there; and although our Lord does not refer to God's general government, but to this new kingdom of grace and glory, we may infer from his language that this kingdom will bear some resemblance to the former, in so far, at least, as to have a moral constitution, such as will make a holy character essential to the enjoyment of its privileges. It must be so, indeed, unless that kingdom be designed to supersede, or rather to

reverse the whole moral constitution of the world, and to introduce another and an opposite system, which should make no account of character in the distribution of happiness, and secure exemption from suffering without effecting any deliverance from sin. How far this corresponds with God's actual design as it is revealed in the Gospel, will fall to be considered in the sequel; but meanwhile there are two considerations that I would merely suggest as affording a strong presumption that Christ's kingdom cannot materially differ in this respect from the general government of God:-The first is, that this government is not an arbitrary constitution, arising, like the Jewish ritual, from his mere will, and capable, like that and every other positive ordinance, of being abrogated; but a constitution which, as it derives its authority from his supreme will, is itself derived from the essential and unchangeable perfections of his nature; so that, unless God himself were to change, or the relation betwixt God and his creatures to cease, the leading principles of that government must remain the same under every successive dispensation ;-and the second is, that it is a government not confined to men, but comprehensive of all orders of his intelligent creatures,-applicable to all who are capable of knowing God and serving him, and extending to angels and seraphim, to whose society his people are to be united in the kingdom of glory; so that, unless the redeemed are to be governed by a different law, it is absolutely necessary that they should be spiritual and holy as the angels are in heaven. From these two considerations, it is mani

fest, that in setting up a new kingdom, God will adhere to those great principles which are involved in his universal moral government; and from its fundamental laws we may infer with certainty, that as they who are saved are said to be brought into a kingdom, nay, into the very kingdom of God, they must be endued with a holy character.

That a spiritual character is indispensably necessary in order to our being admitted into the kingdom of God, appears from his declared design in the scheme of redemption itself. So far from being intended to reverse or supersede the moral government of God, or to release us from the operation of those laws which connect sin with suffering, the scheme of redemption was designed to secure our happiness by restoring us to a state of holy conformity to God's will. Its design in relation to the law is declared, when our Lord himself said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil ;" and the apostle, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish the law." And its design in relation to ourselves is intimated, when we read that it was alike the purpose of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to deliver us from sin as well as from suffering, and to restore us to the image as well as the favour of God. I solicit your attention to the declared purpose of each of the Three Persons in the Godhead, in that scheme of grace and redemption which is the only provision that has been made, or that ever will be made, for your salvation.

The design of God the Father is thus expressed: