poverty, although he poffeffeth millions of gold and filver. His understanding is in darkness, error, and delufion; his will is corrupted and debased; his affections are placed upon unfubftantial, unfatisfying, and empty things; his life is become evil; and he is fallen among thieves, who have robbed him of all true riches, wounded him, left him half dead, and exposed to want, wretchedness, and ruin. And we may apply the words of our Lord in the Rev, iii. 17, 18, to fuch a perfon "Thou fayest, I am rich, " and encreased with goods, and have need of "nothing; and knoweft not that thou art wretched, " and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I "counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, "that thou mayeft be rich; and white raiment, that "thou mayeft be clothed, and that the fhame of thy "nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes " with eye falve, that thou mayest see.'

Now, when a man is difpofed to fell all that he hath, to give up his felf-love, love of the world, covetousness, his own propriety; he is then prepared to receive these heavenly and true riches; and thus he diftributes to the poor; his poor blind understanding is illuminated by divine truth, filled with heavenly wisdom, his impoverished will is turned to the Lord, and replenished with heavenly love; the mind which was governed by the worst of principles, is now under the influence of love to God, and charity to man; the life that was before earthly, fenfual, and evil, becomes heavenly, fpiritual, and good. And

thus

thus the poor mind is made rich, the hungry foul is fed, the fickly affections are healed, the imprisoned powers of man are fet free; and the internal and external life are brought into divine order.

It is added in our text, " and thou fhalt have "treasure in heaven." By heaven, as I have before noticed, the mind of a renewed, or good man, is frequently fignified; because a regenerate man is an image, or form of heaven. The meaning, therefore, is, when thou haft fold all that thou haft, thy selflove, thy own propriety, thy evil principles, and life; thou fhalt then enjoy true riches, heavenly treasures. Which for the fake of brevity may be comprehended under two words, viz. wisdom and love, or truth and goodness. For as the understanding and the will constitute the whole man, fo the greateft poffible treasure the understanding can enjoy, is divine wifdom or truth; which confifts in a right knowledge of God, of his holy word, of ourselves, of spiritual things, and of heaven.

As we all know we are to live here but a little while, but in the other world for ever and ever; fo we must be convinced that the truest and highest wisdom, is to know what relates to our fouls happinefs and our eternal state. And this wisdom can only be obtained by divine influx from the Lord, through his word. And the greatest poffible treasure the will can enjoy, is divine love or goodness; because the divine love of the Lord is the fource of all happiness and felicity. It is true that the divine love

of the Lord, is ever manifested towards us, whatever may be our state or life; but then we do not enjoy it, and reap the unspeakable benefits thereof, until we give up all our will and affections to the Lord; loving him above all things, with all the heart, foul, mind, and strength. Then the mind is open to, and receptive of the divine influx of love and goodness, in all its beatitudes and delights; and admitting this divine love and wisdom into our minds, we become good and wife ourselves: love to God, and charity to man, is the principle from which we think, fpeak, and act.—all evil is hated and forfaken; and we have treasure in heaven. That is, we have in the foul, all the bleffed fruits of love and wisdom, goodness and truth: heaven itself is formed within, and all the beatitudes of that eternal world, are fpringing up in our fouls.

The next advice our Lord gives the ruler, is, " and come, follow me.” As every word our bleffed teacher delivered was in divine order, so a beautiful order appears in this text-1ft, he must fell all that he has 2dly, diftribute to the poor-3dly, have treasure in heaven-and 4thly, follow his Lord. The order of our regeneration, our heavenly life, and our final happiness, is seen in these words. The first step is to give up, and depart from all that is evil, in heart and life; the fecond, to turn the mind to the Lord; the third, is to receive the heavenly treafures of love and wisdom into the will and understanding; and then to follow the Lord, by an unreserved

unreserved obedience to his holy laws: for by following him is meant, to imitate his example, to do his will. This, then, is the order of our regeneration; to depart from all known evil, whatever those evils may be, as they are fins against God our Father, Redeemer, and Saviour; to turn the mind to the Lord for inftruction and wifdom; to receive the heavenly treasures of love, goodness, and truth; and then, to follow him in faithful obedience to his holy will and laws, will be easy and pleasing.

From what has been faid, firs, I hope it will appear plain, what our Lord means when he fays, " It is "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a "needle, than for a rich man to enter into the king"dom of God." For I do not conceive there is any more difficulty for a man, who poffeffes from one to fifty thousands per year, to get to heaven, than there is for those who gain their bread by the fweat of their brow. For if there was, what man in his fenfes would strive to get wealth? What rational thinking mind would dare to keep it when gotten? And how is it that a kind and merciful God, would give the goods of this life so liberally as he does to thousands and tens of thousands; if the poffeffion of them would fo certainly, and dreadfully, impede the everlasting happiness of the poffeffor?

But, firs, this is not the cafe; the difficulty does not arife from the extent of land we poffefs, the number of houses we can cal! our own, or the weight of our filver and gold. But when our Lord, fays, "It is

"eafier

"eafier for a camel to pass through the eye of a « needle, than for a rich man to enter into the king"dom of God"-He means the man who is rich in his own efteem; puffed up with pride, full of self-love, and love of dominion; and who places all his happiness in the enjoyment of what is merely natural, fenfual, and earthly.

This is the man who fays of himself, he is rich, and increased in goods, and has need of nothing; not knowing that he is poor, and wretched, blind, naked, and miferable. And while in that state, it is impoffible he can enter the kingdom of God; and living, and dying therein, he can never find admiffion there. But as to the mere poffeffion of temporal wealth, it no more impedes or prevents our living in heaven, than poverty prevents it. The way to heaven and happiness is the fame for one man as another; the rich and the great, the poor. and the mean, have equal access to it.

A principle of felf-love, covetoufnefs, and thirst for dominion, may operate as powerfully in the heart of a beggar, as in the mind of a lord. Let not thofe who are in low circumstances suppose, because they are so, that they are more the objects of divine favor, and stand a better chance for heaven, than the rich. Nor let the wealthy imagine, on the one hand, that they have a fuperiority over the lower classes of men, in what concerns their fouls, and eternal life; nor, on the other hand, that they stand not an equal chance for heaven, and all its beatitudes.