communicate his closest secrets, as to his dearest bosom friend. It is only a bosom friend to whom we will unbosom ourselves. So Psalm xxv. 14. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant."

Now there are three sorts of divine secrets :

1. There are secrets of providence, and these he reveals to the righteous, and to them that fear him. The prophet Amos speaks of these secrets of providence, Amos iii. 7. "Surely, the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the pro phets. Micaiah knew the secret of the Lord touching Ahab, which neither Zedekiah nor any of the other false prophets knew. So Gen. xviii, 17. "And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" The destruction of Sodom was a secret that lay in the bosom of God; but Abraham being a bosom friend, God communicates this secret to him. verse 19, 20, 21. Abraham was a friend, a faithful friend, a friend by specialty; and therefore God makes him. both of his court and counsel. O! how greatly doth God condescend to his people! he speaks to them as a man would speak to his friend; and there are no secrets of providence, which may be for their advantage, but he will reveal them to his faithful servants. As all faithful friends have the same friends and the same enemies, so they are mutual in the communication of their secrets one to another; and so it was between God and Abraham.

2. There are the secrets of his kingdom, and these he reveals to his people. Mat. xiii. 11. "Unto you is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,

but unto them it is not given." So Mat. xi. 25. “ At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." "Let us not think (saith Hierome) that the gospel is the words of scripture, but in the sense; not in the outside, but in the marrow; not in the leaves of words, but in the root of reason.' Augustine humbly begged of God, That if it were his pleasure, he would send Moses to him, to interpret some more abstruse and intricate passages in the book of Genesis. There are many choice, secret, and mysterious truths and doctrines in the gospel, which Christ reveals to his people, that this poor, blind, ignorant world are strangers to. There are many secrets wrapt up in the plainest truths and doctrines of the gospel, which none can effectually open and reveal but the Spirit of the Lord, that searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. There are many secrets and mysteries in the gospel, that all the learning and labour in the world can never give a man insight into. There are many that know the doctrine and the history of the gospel, that are mere strangers to the secrets of the gospel. There is a secret power, authority, efficacy, prevalency, goodness, and sweetness in the gospel, that none experience but those to whom the Lord is pleased to impart gospel secrets to. Isaiah xxix. 11, 12. "Seal my law among my disciples." The law of God to. wicked men is a sealed book, that they cannot understand, Dan. xii. 9, 10. 'Tis a blotted paper, that they cannot read. And, as a private letter to a friend contains secret matter, that no man else may read, be

cause it is sealed, so the law of grace is sealed up under the privy seal of heaven, so that no man can open it, or read it, but Christ's faithful friends, to whom it is sent. The whole scripture (saith Gregory) is but one entire letter dispatched from the Lord Christ, to his beloved spouse on earth. The Rabbins say that there are four keys that God hath under his girdle.

1. The key of the clouds.

2. The key of the womb. 3. The key of the grave. 4. The key of food.

And I may add a fifth key, that is under his girdle, and that is the key of the scripture, which none can turn but he that hath "the key of David, that opens and no man shuts, and that shuts and no man opens." Rev. iii. 7.

O Sirs, God reveals himself, and his mind, and will, and truth to his people in a more friendly and familiar way, than he doth to others, Luke viii. 10. "And he said, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand." Though great doctors and profound clerks, and deep studied, but unsanctified divines, may know much of the doctrines of the gospel, and take great pains to dress and trim up those doctrines with the flowers of rhetorick and eloquence, yet it would be much better to present truth in her native plainness, than to hang her ears with counterfeit pearls, (the word, without human adornments, is like the stone Garamantides that hath drops of gold in itself, sufficient to enrich the believing soul) yet the special, spiritual,

powerful, and saving knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel, is a secret, a mystery, yea, a hidden mystery to them.

Chrysostome compares the mystery of Christ, in regard of the wicked, to a written book, that the ignorant can neither read nor spell he sees the cover, the leaves, and the letters, but he understands not the meaning of what he sees. He compares the mystery of grace to an indited epistle, which an unskilful idiot viewing, he cannot read it; he knoweth it is paper and ink, but the sense, he understands not. So unsanctified persons, though they are never so learned, and though they may perceive the bark of the mystery` of Christ, yet they understand not the mystery of grace, the inward sense of the spirit in the blessed scriptures. Though the Devil be the greatest scholar in the world, and though he have more learning than all the men in the world, yet there are many thousand secrets and mysteries in the gospel of grace, that he knows not really, spiritually, feelingly, efficaciously, powerfully, thoroughly, and savingly.

But now Christ makes known himself, his mind, his grace, his truth, to his people, in a more clear, full, familiar and friendly way, 2 Sam. vii,. 27. For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant; so you read it in your books: but in the Hebrew it is thus, Lord, thou hast revealed this to the ear of thy servant. Now the emphasis lieth in that word, to the ear, which is left out in your books. When God makes known himself to his people, he revealeth things to their ear, as we use to do to a friend, who is intimate with us, we speak a thing to his ear. There is many a secret which

Jesus Christ speaks in the ears of his servants, which others never come to be acquainted with. 2 Cor. iv 6. "God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

The six several gradations that are in this scripture are worthy of our most serious consideration.

1. Knowledge.

2. The knowledge of the glory of God.

Here is,

3. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God. 4. Shining.

5. Shining into our hearts.

And,

6. Shining into our hearts in the face of Jesus Christ.

Thus you see that the Lord reveals the secrets of himself, his kingdom, his truth, his grace, his glory to his saints.

But,

XIII. There are the secrets of his favour, the secrets of his special love, that he bears to them, the secret purposes of his heart to save them, and these are those great secrets, those deep things of God, which none can reveal but the spirit of God. Now these great secrets, these deep things doth God reveal to his people by his spirit, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, 12. “ But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit; for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." Now what are the things that are freely