word, and " heard him gladly," whilst the Scribes and Pha- risees almost universally rejected him.
Affliction too is not unfrequently associated with poverty in the Lord's people : for it is rarely that any man will turn truly unto the Lord, till affliction of some kind or other has prepared his heart, and " plowed up, as it were, the fallow ground" for the reception of the heavenly seed. Almost all have occasion to acknowledge, with the Psalmist, " Before I was afflicted, I went astray." The minds of men are so carnal and worldly, that they will scarcely admit a serious thought, till they are made to feel, like the Prodigal in the parable, the insufficiency of earthly things to comfort them in the hour of trouble. Then they awake, as it were, out of a dream ; and begin to say, " I will go unto my Father, in whose house there is bread enough and to spare."]
2. As convinced sinners —
[In this state every child of God without exception an- swers to the character in our text. There was once a time when all of them thought that they were " rich and increased in goods, and had need of nothing;" but, when the Lord opened the eyes of their understanding, they were made sen- sible that they were " wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." From that time they become " poor in spirit," and " go on their way weeping " for all their past ini- quities and abominations. Now they have on their hearts a load too heavy for them to bear ; and under the pressure of it they go to that adorable Saviour, who has invited to him the weary and heavy-laden, and who alone is capable of giving them rest. Such are the persons to whom alone the Gospel is acceptable6, or can ever be preached with full effect: "the whole need not a physician :" it is the sick alone that desire his aid, or will receive his prescriptions. And such are the Lord's people: they feel themselves utterly destitute of all wisdom, goodness, and strength ; and they are content to re- ceive these blessings out of the fulness that is in Christ Jesus.]
3. As professors of godliness —
[In former ages, long before the coming of Christ, the Lord's people were persecuted by an ungodly world. Thou- sands " of whom the world," as the Apostle says, " was not worthy, had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment : they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword ; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being des- titute, afflicted, tormented1"." Of the saints under the Gospel dispensation it is needless to speak : the Acts of the Apostles
e Isai. xiv. 32. f Heb. xi. 36—38.