wrought miracles; the love of money, the root of all evil, was in the heart of them both; nor did they ever love God, or seek his glory; they sought their own glory, and therefore they were not true men, nor was there any righteousness in them. Spiritual gifts have their seat only in the judgment and in the understanding and the word of God never goes any deeper than into their judgment and their mouth; there they hold the truth, and it is in unrighteousness, Rom. i. 18. The nobler faculties of the soul are never touched by these gifts, nor does the soul reap any benefit from them. There is no divine power operating on the will, making them willing. He that God makes willing repents, and goes into the vineyard and does the will of his father. Nor is the conscience purged, nor the heart purified, by these things. There is no law written in the mind, nor any holy fire kindled in the affections, to raise them up to the right hand of God where Christ sitteth. If they have any confidence or peace; the former is only presumption, and the latter is kept up by

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the strong man armed, who remains in possession of his goods unmolested; and all their joys spring from the novelty of the doctrine, and from the operation of oratory on the natural passions. Many of these gifts were bestowed on graceless men in the apostolic age, to raise reports, to send out a sound into the world, to excite curiosity, and to draw people to hear the word, and be witnesses of the power of God; which terminated in the salvation of God's elect, and which was for a witness against others, Matt. xxiv. 14. But, when the elect of God were collected together, and churches formed and endowed with the Holy Ghost, then the year of jubilee was come, and these gifts returned again to the Prince of peace; as was foretold by the prophet; and the men that were endowed with them either went into the world, or into all manner of heresies, and so became the pests and foes of Zion; just as we see some people do now. "Thus saith the Lord God; If the prince give a gift to any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be

their possession by inheritance. But, if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince; but his inheritance shall be his sons' for them," Ezek. xlvi. 16, 17. Thus we see there is nothing secured to the servant when the year of jubilee comes; but the inheritance of the sons is richly secured. All which is punctually fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

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Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth," Matt. xxv. -30.

But God writes the law of faith in the mind, and the law of love in the fleshly tables of the heart: and where these come, there the year of jubilee is proclaimed, and the law of liberty is published in the soul; and, to make all things sure and secure here, God sets

the broad seal of heaven to the work. "In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," Eph. i. 13. Believers are living epistles, and as such they are sealed with an everliving seal. Others may know these epistles and read them; but the choice contents, the mysteries, and the treasure, belong to God, and none else.

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Seals are to keep things secret to the real proprietors, who can open them, read and delight themselves with the contents when they please, and seal them up again when they have done, and keep them close from all others. garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse: a spring shut up, a fountain sealed," Song iv. 12. The waters of this fountain are all sacred to the heavenly Bridegroom and his friends; when the Lord chooses that they should spring up in praise and thanksgiving to himself, or flow out to refresh his friends, they are opened, and will keep rising up and running over as long as this opening or

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enlargement lasts; and, when shut up and sealed, they always stop. Sealing is to make things sure. the Spirit seals the saints, that they may be sure that they belong to the elect of God. Assurance, therefore, attends the seal. 66 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you," 1 Thess. i. 4, 5. Assurance, therefore, is to the believer one of the blessed effects of this seal; as it is written, "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places," Isa. xxxii. 15-18. The Jewish nation,