meant the gospel which he preached, with all its principles and blessings to mankind. The following passages support this sentiment: Mat. xii. 28, "But if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you;" xxi. 31, "Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you ;" 43, "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given unto a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." By these passages, it seems that the Saviour intended to inform the religious Jews, that he came to them with the gospel kingdom, but that they refused to enter into it, but that publicans and harlots would more willingly receive it than they; and that on their refusing it, it would be given to the Gentiles, who would receive it and obey its laws. Mark i 14, 15, "Now, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel;" iv. 26, &c. "And he said, so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." And he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth; but when it is sown it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." Luke xvi. 16, "The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it ;" xvii. 20, 21, "And when he was demanded of the pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them, The

kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, lo here; or lo there! for behold the kingdom of God is within you." Mat. xiii. 33, "Another parable spake he unto them. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Rom. xiv, 17, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. iv. 20, "For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." These and many more passages which might be quoted, very plainly show that the gospel dispensation, its laws, its requirements, its joys and its peace, are signified by the kingdom of God, or kingdom of heaven. And it is worthy of notice, that the forerunner of Jesus preached, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; and that Jesus and his disciples preached in the same manner.

Our next inquiry will be directed to know what preparation was necessary in order to introduce the Pharisees among the Jews, into this kingdom. Nicodemus was one of the rulers of the Jews, and no doubt a religious character. He acknowledged that Jesus was a teacher come from God, but it seems he did not understand the spirit and nature of the gospel and doctrine which he taught. Now when Jesus said to this Jew, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God," there can be no reasonable doubt, that he meant, that a change of sentiments and opinions, of views and of feelings, was necessary to take place in him, in order for him to receive, and enter into the kingdom of God, so great and so entire, as to be suitably represented by being born again.

But the idea of a radical change of nature is by no means admissible. Nature is the same before birth as it is afterward. But as the new-born child is born to the visibility of the light of the natural world, so is one who is converted from the errors of superstition, whether Jew or Gentile,

to the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. This change, this new birth, is effected in the rational powers and faculties of man by means of information, which operate to change the sentiments, and to remove the errors of the mind, and of course to change the affections of the heart.

The nature of this new birth is signified by the following scriptures: See Mark x. 15-" Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." In the place where our text is recorded, Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Water is used for cleansing, and it is the spirit that quickeneth; but water does not change the nature of the thing which it cleanses; and what the spirit quickens is that which it cleansed by the water. Now, it is evident that the water which cleanses men is the word of truth, or the testimony of the gospel; and the spirit that quickens is the spirit of love and grace, which a knowledge of divine truth kindles and wakes up in the soul. We read of this birth in John i. 12, 13, "But as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." By this it appears that a belief in the word, or doctrine of Christ produces this birth, which is attributed not to the will of man, but of God. 1 John v. 1, "Whosoever believed that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." 1 St. Peter i. 22, &c. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto the unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with pure hearts fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and

the flower thereof falleth away but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." To these representations we add the words of St. Paul, Col. i. 13, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son."

When all these scriptures are put together, and when they are carefully and rationally considered, it appears that their true meaning signifies the conversion of men from false doctrines to the true knowledge of God, from the spirit of error to the spirit of truth. We cannot conceive of anything sc mysterious and unaccountable as the changing the nature of man in a moment, and making of him a being different in nature from what he was before. But we can reasonably believe that by being instructed, by being brought to the know ledge of the nature and spirit of the gospel of God's unchangeable love to mankind, not only different views, but different feelings and affections are realized in the mind.

"Tis education forms the common' mind;

Just as the twig is bent the tree inclined."

If we look at the superstitious pharisees among the Jews, we shall find that their education was such as to render them most inimical to the gospel of Jesus. They vainly fancied that they were righteous, that their rites, traditions and formu laries were all well pleasing to God, and that Jesus and his disciples, because they did not conform to their way, were the worst of men, and the doctrine they preached the most abominable of heresies. They verily believed that God hated all such perverse and wicked beings, and they were of the same temper, they hated Jesus, they hated his apostles, they hated the gospel. Under all these circumstances, under the ponderous weight of all their traditions, we may easily conceive how hard it was for them to receive and acknowledge Jesus and his testimony; and how impossible it

was, while covered with such thick darkness, for them to see, or enter into the kingdom of God, which is the gospel of his grace.

Or, if we contemplate the state of the Gentues, a people educated in the grossest idolatry, and in the habit of serving their many gods in a manner shocking to humanity, we can conceive at once how hard it was for them to turn from their dumb idols to serve the living God.

There is not recorded in history, perhaps, a more remarkable case of the conversion of an individual, than we have of the conversion of St. Paul. Now, there can be no doubt, but this man passed through what our Saviour meant by being born again; and, in fact, our Christian people, who make of this new birth such a mystery, all acknowledge that St. Paul was really born again. But let us humbly ask the question, if this child of grace ever gave such a relation about being born again as our young converts do in these times ?

We are knowing to what our traditions have established, and we have heard converts relate that they saw the justice of God in their everlasting condemnation, have felt the most tormenting fears of being cast into hell, and have been brought to realize the positive certainty of such a state hereafter. But, my friends, do you read anything like all this in the several accounts of St. Paul's conversion? No; certainly he gave no such relation. Nor is there any such relation recorded in the scriptures of the exercise of any, who were converted to Christianity.

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These frightful stories and terrible representations are brought into fashion for a certain purpose, which superstition can better promote by such means, than by simple honest truth.

Our subject may be represented by those changes which sometimes take place in the minds of men respecting political governments.

If we cast our minds back to the time when these States were under the British government,