CHAP. I. God in the Covenant.

1 THE Lord God hath made over himself in this Covenant. That's the great & comprehen­sive promise, Jer. 31.33. I will be their God. I am God, and what I am, 'tis all theirs: my self, my glo­rious incomprehensible Essence, all my glorious attri­butes, my omnipotence, my omniscience, my wis­dom, my righteousness, my holiness, mine all-suffi­ciency, my faithfulness, &c. I will make over my self to them to be henceforth and for ever theirs:

Their Friend, their Portion, their Sun, their Shield.

1. Their Friend, I was angry, but mine anger is turned away: I was an adversary, I had a controver­sie with them, but I am reconciled, I have found [...] ransome, the quarrel is composed, my wrath is ap­peased, I am friends with them; I will forgive their iniquities, and their sin will I remember no more; I will take away their iniquity and receive them graciously; I will heal their back sliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from them, Jer. 31.34. Hos. 14.4. Glory be to God on high: on earth peace, good will towards men. Fury is not now in me: favour, and friendship, love, and good will, is all they may hence­forth expect from me. Sinners, what is there to be feared? what is there dreadful, but an angry provok­ed God? Thence is sorrow and anguish, thence is famine, and pestilence, and sword; thence is death and hell: he doth not know what the wrath of God means, that doth not see in the bowels of it, all the [Page 4] plagues above ground, and all the vengeance of eter­nal fire. Whatever terrors, or torments have seized upon thee; upon thy body, upon thy soul; whate­ver losses, crosses, vexations, afflictions, plague thee on this earth; whatever honour, and anguish, what­ever amazing, confounding torments are like to meet thee, and feed upon thee in the lake beneath, thou mayest say of all this, This is the wrath of God. That day the Lord says to thee, Fury it not in me; he saith also, Fear shall be no more to thee. That hour the Lord saith, I am thy friend, Dea [...]h and Hell vanish. The day is broken, the shadows fly away. And this is one thing included in that promise [ I am their God] I am their friend.

2. Their Portion. Fury cease? Fears vanish? Frindship, favour, life granted? But what shall he have to live upon? Man was never intended to be a self sufficient; he was created under a necessity of dependance of something without him; not only for the continuation of his being, but of the com­fort of his being: he cannot live upon the air, though he hath scaped the fire: the soul of man is too big for all the world; like Noah's Dove, it can find no rest below, and where shall it find it, or on what shall it subsist? Why God will not starve his friends; he that hath saved their lives, will find them a live­lyhood; because there is no other to be found, he himself will be a livelyhood to them; their portion, their maintenance, and their heritage for ever. As their deliverance is from him, so their dependance shall be on him; he is their substance, and on him [Page 5] is their subsistence, Jer. 10.16. he writes himself the porti­on of Jacob; and as such his Saints accept him, Psa. 16 5. The Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance; he is their bread, and their water, their stock and their store. The Lord [Gives] portions to his enemies; not only the young Ravens, but the old Lions, and Tigers, the worst of men do seek their meat from God, Psal. 17.14. they have their portion in this life, whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they have their portion: some of them have their portion in the City, others a portion in the Field: to some he gives a portion of gold, to others a por­tion of worldly glory, to others a portion of pleasures; by all these he deals, as the father of the prodigal, he gives them their portion, and sends them away. But whilst he [gives] portions to these, he [is] the portion of his Saints, he makes over and settles himself upon them, as their inheritance for ever: they shall never be in want whilst there is in him to supply them; they shall never be in straits whilst there is in him to relieve them: all their wants be upon me.

The Lord is their Portion, and he is a sufficient porti­on, With thee is the fountain of life, Psa. 36. In thy presence is fulness, Psal 16. The Lord God is all things to them, enough and to spare: In my Fathers house there is bread enough and to spare. He that hath all things below God, but not God, hath nothing; he that hath nothing be­sides God, but hath God, hath all things; enough and to spare; filling up and running over; there's still more to be had, if more could be held: the soul hath never enough, till it hath more than enough; is never full till it runs over: while it can contain and measure and number all that it has, this is its judgment of all, Pauperis est numerare pecus

In God is enough fo [...] filling up and running over; e­nough there is in him to fill up all their faculties; their [Page 6] understandings; there are infinitely beautiful perfections where we may gaze and glut our eyes with unspeakable delight; but when we have looked the farthest into them, when the most searching eye, the most greedy thoughts have searched and run their utmost, they come not near the end: they shall look, and look, and see, and see, and when they can reach no farther, then they shall ad­mire at those treasures of light and beauty that are still beyond them. Admiration is the understanding full, and running over: when its non-plust, and can reach no fur­ther then it wonders at what it perceives still beyond it. The Apostle tells us, Eph. 3.18. that the Gospel (which presents God in flesh) hath in it, an height, and depth, and length, and bredth; and I may tell you from him, 'tis an height without top, a depth without bottom, a length without limits, a bredth without bounds; in one word, immensity, unmeasurable and therefore unspeaka­ble, unsearchable glory. Whilst the blind world deride and despise the portion of the Saints, looking on God and all the things of God, as shallow things, that have no depth in them; they will be found by those that search into them, to be deep things that have no bottom in them, 1 Cor. 2. the deep things of God. All the raptures, and extasies of glorious joys of the Saints in the other world, are the running over of their eyes upon their hearts, and do break in upon them from their vision of God.

There's enough to fill up their wills and affection [...] ▪ there's infinite goodness, incomprehensible love, marvel­lous loving kindness, unspeakable delights, glorious joyes▪ Psa. 21.19. Oh! how great is, the goodness which thou hast laid up for those that fear thee! Oh! how great is the goodness! 'Tis vox admirantis, an admiring word; great beyond expression, great beyond imagination; Eye hath not seen, [...] hath not heard, neither have entred into [...] heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared [Page 7] for them that love him: and 'tis vox exultantis; of an heart leaping for joy, rejoycing in hope of the glory of God, which is laid up for his Saints. Laid up! where▪ Why laid up in himself; that's the fountain, that's the treasury; there's love, there's joy, there's satisfaction, our life is hid with Christ in God. Oh love the Lord all ye his Saints. O bless the Lord all ye his Saints. He that is mighty hath done for you great things: since the begin­ning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen oh God besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him, Isa. 64 4. or 'tis in the margin, There hath not been heard or seen a God besides thee, which doth so for him that waiteth for him, that waiteth for him.

There [...] enough to fill up our time; there's admiring work, and praising work for ever: there's matter for love and joy, to live and feed upon for ever; endless praises, eternal pleasures, everlasting rejoycings, Isa 35. Everlasting joy. Psa. 16. pleasures for evermore. There's enough to reward all our labours, and repay all our expences: there's a full reward; Gen. 15.1. Fear not Abram, I am thy shield, and exceeding great reward. Christian, thou shalt not serve the Lord for nought, he will reward thee, and 'tis little in his eyes, that thou shouldst serve him for corn, and for wine, for sheep and for oxen; yea for the Crowns and Kingdoms of this world: these shall not be thine hire; the everlasting God will be thy reward, thine ex­ceeding great reward: exceeding not thy work only, but thy very thoughts also: A little is too much for thy earn­ings, but the whole world is too little for his bounty: less then nothing might satisfy for thy labours, but less than himself will not satisfie for his love: the eternal God will be thy reward Oh the unsearchable riches of the poorest of Saints! Onimium foelices,—bona si sua n [...]rint. Poor? what and yet hast a God! in want, what & yet hast all things? [Page 8] Is [...]e a God that is thine, and art thou still in straits? Would a few sheep and oxen, vine-yards, & olive-yards, make thee a rich man, and can a God leave thee a beg­gar? Is not a pearl more than pebbles? Milk and Wine, than mud and water? Men use to say, Money is all things? meat, and drink, and clothes, and friends, and lands; vir­tually all things. And is not God more than money? Sure he hath said to his Gold [thou art my god] that cannot say, Let God be mine, and then go thou thy way. Hast thou a God, and yet poor? Nay farther, would the fatness of the earth, and fulness of heaven, if thou hadst both, be enough for thee? Would corn, and wine, and houses, and lands, and pleasures here, and eternal life here­after suffice thee? And is not God alone as much as all this? Dost thou want Star-light when thou hast the Sun? Is the Ocean more full for the Rivers that run into it? Or would there be any want there, if all these were stopp'd and dry? Can they contribute to it, which have their rise from it? Hath the Almighty God a self-sufficiency, and hath he not enough to satisfie a poor worm? Is he blessed in himself, and mayest not thou be blessed in him? He that thinks any thing less then God will suffice, under­stands not a soul; and he that wants any thing more, un­derstands not God. God alone is as much as God and all the world; and this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, God is their portion.

If enough be not yet said, look a while, and consider whence thou art taken up into this blessedness: What hast thou left? What an exchange hast thou made? Thou wert taken with the Prodigal from the trough, with the beggar from the dunghill, yea as a brand out of the burning; there thy lot was fallen. Oh where hast thou left the rest of the world? Blessing themselves in vanity, pleasing themselves with shadows, and apparitions, feed­ing on ashes, warming themselves at their painted fires, [Page 9] sporting themselves with the wind, rejoycing in a thing of nought: their crackling thorn [...], their glozing pleasures, their drinkings, and dancings, and roarings, their horses, and their dogs, and their hawks, and their harlots; ma­king a shift a while to make merry with these, whilst they are hasting to the pit, To that fire and brimstone which is the portion of their Cup.

Consider man, what is the chaff to the wheat? What is a Comet to the Sun? What is the night to the day? What are bubbles and childrens toyes to the durable riches? What are things that are not, to him whose name is [I am?] But Oh what is death, and wrath, and the curse? which was once all thine heritage; to that life, and love, and peace, and joy, and glory, which thou now possessest in that God that is thy portion? What a poor wretch wert thou once, when thou hadst nothing but sin, & shame, and misery, that thou couldst call thine own? these thou mightest call thine, sin was thine, woe was thine, death, and the grave, and the curse, and the pit were thine own; but that was all thou hadst; thy good things thou livaedst upon had they been of never so great value, were none of thine; thine house, and thy lands are none of thine: thy gold, and thy silver, and thy substance are none of thine; they are all but borrowed, or committed to thee as a Steward, and all to be given up upon demand; and what thou hast spent of them, thou must be brought to a reckon­ing for; a poor wretch thou wert, and hadst just nothing, all that thou hadst was none of thine.

But now God is thine own, all that he is, all that he has is thine; never couldst thou lay such a claim to any thing thou possessedst; to house, or wife, or child, or body, or soul, as now thou mayest to thy God. God is as surely thine, as thou art thy self: as sure as thou art a man, thou hast a God.

Come Chri [...]n, here's now thy portion, the light of [Page 10] thine eyes, the lifting up of thine head the joy of thine heart, the strength of thy bones, thy stock, thy treasure, thy life, thy health, thy peace, thy rest, thy all; Whom have I in heaven but thee & in earth there is none that I desire besides thee. My [...] and mine heart faileth, but God is the strength of mine heart, and my portion for ever. Psal. 73.25, 26. Here is thy portion, know it for thy good, take it for thy own; live up­on it, and live up to it.

1. Live upon thy Portion. Here thou mayest feed, herein thou mayest rejoyce, herein thou mayest bless thy self for ever. Let him that blesseth himself on the earth, bless himself in the God of Truth. Let him that re­joyceth in the earth rejoyce in the God of Truth. Let the strong man live upon his strength, let the wise man live upon his wits, let the rich man live upon his lands, come thou, live upon thy God; come enjoy God and thy soul; enjoy God in thy soul, enjoy thy soul in God. Thou hast possession, what should hinder thy fruition? In fruition the Schools tell us there are three things, which go to the making it up; Cognitio, Delectatio, Quietatio.

1. Knowledge; according to the clearness or clou­diness of our apprehensions of any good, we more or less take the pleasure or comfort of it; and there­fore the full fruition of God is not till at last, when we shall know as we are known: Here we see as but in a glass, and darkly; we know but in part, & while we know but in part, we love but in part; & joy but in part; the dimness of our sight makes an abatement upon our joy: When the vail shall be taken away, when we shall come to see face to face, [Page 11] then we shall fully feel what it is to have a God. Christian, know thou the God of thy Fathers; the more thou knowest the more thou hast.

The carnal world enjoy not God at all: God is not known in their Tabernacles: In Jewry is God known, his Name is great in Israel: at Salem is his Tabernacle, and his dwelling in Zion. But what of God in Edom, or Ammon, or Amaleck, or Egypt, those dark Regions wherein neither Sun nor Star appears. Leave them to their dunghil gods to the gardens which they have, desired, and the Oaks which they have chosen. The Lord is before thee know it for thy good. Study thy God Christian, roul over his sweetness in thy mind, as thou dost the sweet morsel in thy mouth; see what he is, & what thou hast laid up in him: read over daily his glorious names, walk through those chambers of his presence, his glorious Attributes; look into the chamber of his power, and see what thou hast laid up for thee there; go into the chamber of his wis­dom, and see what that will afford thee, look into the chambers of his goodness, mercy, faithfulness, holi­ness, and behold what treasures are laid up for thee in each of these: enter into thy chambers, they are all thine; enter into thy chambers, let thine eye [...]e there, let thy meditation be there, let thy soul be there every day; there's thy portion, search it out and know it for thy good. This is the first thing contained in Fruition, Knowledge.

2. Delight. Fruition is the taking the pleasure of what we have; Frui est cum gaudio uti: Augustine. [Page 12] We cannot enjoy what we do not love, and love hath delight. We cannot enjoy that wherein we do not joy. Delight thy self in the Lord, Psal. 37.4. I sate me down under his shadow with great delight, Cant. 2.3. If his shaddow be so pleasant, what will his Sun-beams be? Psal. 34.8. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Our senses help our understandings; we cannot by the most rational discourse perceive what the sweetness of honey is, taste it & you shall perceive it. His fruit was sweet unto my taste. Dwell in the light of the Lord, and let thy soul be always ravished with his love. Get out the marrow and the fatness that thy portion yields thee. Let fools learn by beholding thy face, how dim their blazes are to the brightness of thy day.

Let thy delights in God be pure and unmixed de­lights. Let thy spirit be so filled with God, and so raised above carnal joys, and the matters of them, that it be no damp upon thee to have nothing but God. Thy Wine is the more sprightful when not mixed with water: Live above in that serene Ayr which is not incrassated with earthly exhalations. Sickly bodies, and so sickly souls, cannot live in too pure an Ayr. Be so wholly spiritual, that spiritual joys, spiritual delights, may be suited to thee, and sufficient for thee. Do not say I want the joy of the Vintage, and of the Harvest; I want the joy of the Bridegroom, and of the Bride; I want the sound of the Milstones, and the light of the Candle, to make my comfort full. Let the joy of the Lord be thy strength, and thy life: Say with the Prophet, Habbak. 3.17, [Page 13] 18. Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the Vines, the labour of the Olive shall fail, and the Fields shall yield no meat, the Flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no Herd in the stalls; yet will I rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. This is the second thing in Fruition. Delight.

3. Satisfaction. The quiet or resting of the soul in its portion: Therefore the Schools say, it is only the ultimus finis, the last end, that is the proper object of fruition. The carnal world, whatever they possess, yet they cannot be said properly to enjoy it; tho' they be their gods that they live upon (their dragg is their god, their yarn is their god, their plough, and their plenty, and their pleasure is their god, they burn incense to them) though they be their gods that they live upon, yet they cannot enjoy them; there is no rest for them in their god: Psal. 25.12, 13. What man is he that feareth the Lord? his soul shall dwell at ease. In the Original it is, shall lodge in goodness. The soul is never in ease whilst it is in want, every want wrings; it can never take up its lodging where it cannot take its rest. His soul shall be at ease, shall lodge, that is, shall take up its rest in the goodness of God: and when we find rest in our beds, then we enjoy them. Is thy soul lodged [...] God? O enjoy thy lodging: Soul, take thine ease, thou hast goods laid up for many years. Return to thy [...]est, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with [...]ee. As it was said [to] so let it be said [by] the [...]hurch and every Saint, This is my rest, here will I [Page 14] dwell for ever. Here thou mayst find rest, when thou hast no other rock to lean upon; thou mayest be at rest in thy God, in thy most restless state; in a weary land, in a bar­ren wilderness, in a [...]empestuous Ocean: however it was in the vision of the Prophet, yet thou mayst say, if the wind rise, the Lord is in the wind, if after the wind, an earth­quake, the Lord is in the earthquake; if after the earth­quake a fire, the Lord God is in the fire; and where-ever thou findest God, thou mayst find rest. If thou findes [...] God in a wilderness, thou wilt find rest in the wilderness; if thou find God in the earthquake, or the tempest, or the fire, e­ven there also thy soul shall find rest: when thou canst not rest in thy bed, nor in thy house, nor in thy land, thou mayst still rest in thy God. Say, Christian, say again, Return to thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with me. Though my he [...]ps fail me, and my friends fail me, and my flesh and my heart fails me, God is the strength of mine heart, and my portion for ever: this is my rest, here will I dwell for ever.

To these I might add a fourth thing wherein Fruition stands, The making use of our Portion. He enjoyes that uses what he hath; though the Schools distinguish betwixt frui and uti, yet in a sense (especially with a respect to our present estate) the latter may be comprehended under the former. We then enjoy our portion, when we have a power & heart to make use of it on all occasions. I am thine, Soul, come and make use of me as thou wilt; thou mayst freely: I have nothing but it is for thee; thou mayst freely come to my store, & the oftner the better welcome: have thou not a God lying by the [...] to no purpose; let not thy God be as others gods, serving onely for a shew: Have not a name onely that thou hast a God; since he allows thee, having such a friend, use him dayly: my God shall sup­ply all your wants; never want whilst thou hast a God, never fear or faint whilst thou hast a God: go to thy [Page 15] treasure, and take whatever thou needest; there is bread and cloaths, and health, and life, and all that thou needest. O Christian, learn the divine skill to make God all things, to make bread of thy God, and water, and health, and friends, and ease; he can supply thee with all these; or, which is better, he can be in stead of all these, thy food, thy cloathing, thy friend, thy life to thee. All this he hath said to thee in this one word, I am thy God; and hereupon thou mayest say, I have no husband, and yet I am no widdow; my Maker is mine husband: I have no father nor friend, and yet I am neither fatherless or friendless; my God is both my father and my friend. I have no child; but is not he better to me than ten children? I have no house, but yet I have an home, I have made the most High my habitation. I am left alone, but yet I am not alone, my God is good company for me; with him I can walk, with him I can take sweet counsel, find sweet repose; at my lying down, at my rising up, whilst I am in the house, as I walk by the way, my God is ever with me; with him I travel, I dwell, I lodge, I live, and shall live for ever.

2. Live up to your priviledge. Live according to your rank and quality, according to your riches laid up for you in God. The rich men of this world live like rich men, they sort themselves with persons of their own quality, at­tend on the Courts of Princes, are employed about the magnalia regum: you may read their estates in the whole way of their life; they wear them on their backs, spread their Tables with them, fill their bellies with them; they live sumptuously, and fare delicately. Christians, feed not on ashes or husks, you have better meat; you have milk and honey, marrow and fatness, the hidden Manna, the bread that comes down from heaven, the water of life; you have blessed priviledges, precious promises, lively hopes, living comforts, glorious joys, the fountain of life to [...] your souls upon; come, out, O friends; drink, yea [Page 16] drink abundantly, O my beloved; out-fare the rich man, Luk. 16. who fared deliciously every day: you have enough to maintain it; let every day be a gaudy-day, a feast day with you.

Let your cloathing be according to your feeding. Be cloathed with the Sun; put on the Lord Jesus. The Kings Daughter is (and so let all the Kings Sons be) all glorious within, let their cloathing be of wrought gold: Be cloathed with humility, put on love, bowels of compassion, gentleness, meek­ness; put on the garments of salvation.

Let your company and converse be according to your cloathing. Live amongst the excellent, amongst the generation of the just: Get you up to the Gene­ral Assembly and Church of the first-born, to that inmi­enerable company of Angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. Live in the Courts of the Great King, behold his Face, wait at his Throne, bear his Name, shew forth his Vertues, set forth his Praises, advance his Honour, uphold his Interest: let vile persons, and vile ways be contemned in your eyes, be of more raised spirits than to be companions with them, Disce ex hac parte, sanctam superbiam, scit [...] te illis esse meliorem. Regard not their societies, nor their scorns, their Euge's or their Apage's, their flat­teries or their frowns; rejoyce not with their joys, fear not their fear, care not their care, feed not on their dainties: get you up from among them, to your Country, to your City, where no unclean thing can enter or annoy. Live by Faith, in the power of the Spirit, in the beauty of holiness, in [Page 17] the hope of the Gospel, in the joy of your God, in the magnificence, and yet the humility of the children of the great King.

3. Their Sun. He will discover and make ma­nifest to them, the riches and glory of their Por­tion: He hath granted them himself for their por­tion, and he will reveal & make manifest to them what a portion he is. He will make manifest both their blessedness they shall enjoy in him, and the way to it, and also the dangers that lie in the way, Psal 84 11. The Lord God is a Sun. The Sun is the light of the world, it discovers its self, and all things else: We cannot see the glory of the Sun but by its own light; the Moon, the Stars, the Firmament, and all this lower World, would all disappear, if the Sun withdrew its light: Beauty and Deformity, Safety and Danger, the Right way and the Wrong, are all brought to view by the light of the Sun: the Sun light makes the Day; Night is spread over the World when the Sun is set. God is glorious, but who would be ever the wiser did not this glory shine? Psal 36.9. In thy light we shall see light. Why is the glorious God apprehended, understood, admired, by so few a­mongst the sons of men? Why, he is out of sight, the Sun is not risen upon them, nor shines unto them▪ they have Moon light, or Star light, some dimmer reflections of this glory at second hand from the Creatures, but they see not the Sun.

What's the reason that truth and falshood, good and evil, substances and shaddows, things perish­ing, [Page 18] and things permanent, are no better distin­guished? What's the reason that men are so mi­staken and misguided in their judgments, in their choice, in their way? That they are at such a loss such Wanderers from their bliss? What's the rea­son that mens own sparks, the light of their own fires, their Candle light, or Torch light, their flesh­ly imaginations, their carnal prosperity, their plea­sures, their ease, their earthly glory, and their carnal joys that hence flash up to them, are so ado­red and admired by them? Oh, they see not the Sun. God is out of sight, and thence are all their dotages, and foolish mistakes and miscarriages. God will be a Sun to his Saints [their] Sun. [Thy Sun] shall no more go down. They shall have both the propriety and the comfort of this glorious Sun; he will shew them his face, he will cause his glory to appear, he will lead them into himself by his own beams; he will shew them their end, and the means; the Goal and their way to it; he will shew them the good part, and the right path: good and evil duties and sins, realities and delusi­ons, helps and hindrances, dangers and advantages, their snares and their succours, will all be discover­ed to them by the light of the Lord.

Hearken, thou poor and dark soul, that hast chosen, but thou knowest not what; that art going, but thou knowest not whither; thou art wandring and stumbling on, but thou carest not how: that complainest thou canst not see, thou canst not va­lue, thou canst not be affected with all the glory [Page 19] and joy of the invisible world; that findest thy husk's and thy trash to be a greater pleasure to thee, than all the riches of immortality; that wouldst fain mind, and chuse, and love, and relish, and seek God, and things above, but thou canst not: thou seest so little of the beauty of them, that they do not entice thine heart after them; and when thou art seeking, thou art at a loss, and in the dark as to the way that thou shouldest take. Hearken Soul, thy God calls to thee; Come unto me, look unto me, and I will be thy Sun: I will shew thee all that glory, and the right way that will bring thee to it: I promise thee I will, trust me, I will be a light unto thee.

4. Their Shield, Psal. 84.11. The Lord God is a Sun and a [Shield.] The gods of the earth are so stiled, Psal. 47.9. The shields of the earth: much more the God of glory. Ephes. 6.16. Faith is called a shield: Above all taking the shield of Faith, it signi­fies the same, as God is a shield. Faith is to the soul whatever God is. This is the grace that en­titles the soul to God, and applies God to the soul, Gen. 15.1. Fear not, Abraham, I am [thy] shield. What is promised to the Father of the Faithful, stands sure to all the seed, Rom. 4.16. The state of Christians in this life, is a militant state, a state full of hardships and hazards. By reason whereof, as richly as they are provided for, they are subject to fears of being undone, and spoiled of all: They are in fears about things eternal: they have spiritu­al adversaries, that lie in wait for their souls, that [Page 20] fight against their souls, that are tempting them, and en [...]icing them from their God; that watch their opportunities to steal away their God, by stealing away their hearts from him; & such dan­gerous attempts of this kind they meet withal, that they often are in great doubt what the issue may be. They are in fears about things temporal; their names are shot at, their liberties are invaded, their estates, with all the comforts of their lives, are in danger to be made a pray: to day they are a praise, to morrow a scorn: to day they are full & abound, but to morrow they may have nothing left: they die dayly,; they are killed all the day long.

But whatever their dangers and their fears there­upon are, here is sufficient provision made against all. God is their shield.

Christian, thou hast enough, and all that thou hast is in safety. Thou art compassed about with a shield, secured on all hands, there is no coming at thee. Whatever assaults are made, thy God is a wall of partition betwixt thee and harm. They are not shields of brass and i [...]on thou art furnished with, the strong God is thy defence. Wherefore dost thou doubt, O thou of little Faith? A Christian, and yet afraid? shifting for thy self? taking care for the Asses, and Oxen, and Sheep? vexing, and loading, and losing thy self, in thy cares and fears from day to day? Where is thy God, man? Doth not God take care for Oxen, and Asses, and all that thou hast?

But Oh what meanest thou in this, to be shifting thy [Page 21] self from danger, by shrinking back from thy God? se­curing thy self from affliction, by taking sanctuary in iniquity? What art thou doing, but throwing away thy shield, to save thee from harm? making a breach in thy wall, to keep thee in safety? Gen 17.1. &c. chap. 15.1. Wa [...]k before me, and be thou perfect: follow thou me, stick to me, and then, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield. This now is the first and great promise of the Covenant, I am thy God, and the second is like unto it.

CHAP II. Christ in the Covenant.

II. GOD hath put Christ into the Covenant, and made over him to his people. Isai 426. I will give thee for a Covenant. He who is promised, as the chief matter, the Mediator, Surety, Scope of the Covenant, is by a Metonymy, called, The Cove­nant. I will give thee for a Covenant; that is, I cove­nant to give thee to the people. Whatever glory and blessedness there is in the fruition of God; wo is me, there is a great gulf fixed between me and it, over which there is no passing; there is a partition-wall raised, over which there is no climbing; there is an hand writing against me, whilst that stands, all that is in God is nothing to me: Were this God mine, I had enough. Let me be put to labour or suffering, let me dig, or beg, or starve, and die; whether I be rich or poor, have something or no­thing, [Page 22] be a praise or a reproach, it matters not, so God were mine

But oh how may I obtain? Who shall bring me to God? Why, the Lord God hath given thee his Son to undertake for thee, and to be thy way unto the Father, Heb. 11 19, 20. Jesus Christ who is the morning star, the Sun of righteousness; the Image of [...]he invisible God; the first born of every creature; by whom are all things, who is before all things, the head of the bo­dy the Church; who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; in whom dwells all fulness, even the fulness of the godhead bodily; who hath made peace by the blood of his Cross, Col 1 and chap. 2. Whose Name is Won­derful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Fa­ther, the Prince of Peace, Isai. 9.6. This Jesus is grant­ed thee in the Covenant, to bring thee to God, To which blessed and glorious purpose he is exhibited,

• 1. As the Light of Life.
• 2. As the Lord our Righteousness.
• 3. As our Lord and King.
• 4. As our Head and Husband.

1. As the light of life. A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel, Luk. 1.32. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, John 1.4. He that followeth me, shall have the light of life, John 8.12. There is a light that serves to kill, & destroy to bring death and condemnation to light: the light of the Law, that killing Letter, concerning which the Apostle, Rom 7 9, 10. When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. But [Page 23] Christ brings life and immortality to light; Heaven, Glo­ry, the invisible God, which are lost, out of reach, and out of ken, are all discovered in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. 4 6 To give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, He is the Image of the Invisible God, the brightness of his Fathers glory, the glass in which by reflection we see the [...] [...]ohn 14 8, 9 Shew us the Father, and it suffices us. Why, says h [...], Hast thou known me, Philip! and yet sayest, Sh [...]w us the Father? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; and this is the light of life, John 17.3. this is life ete [...]al, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

2. As the Lord our righteousness This is his Name, Jer. 23.6. He shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. To this end he is given to us

1. As our propitiatory Sacrifice, 1 John 2. The propitiati­on for our sins, 1 Cor 5. Christ our Passover, Rev. 13.8. A Lamb slain from the beginning of the world Our price, our ransome, to satisfie Justice, pacifie wrath, discharge from the curse; to blot out the hand-writing, break down the wall of partition; to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and so to bring us to God. Whatever difficulties there appear in thy way, whatever doubts arise in thine heart, from thy sins, from thy guilt, from thy poverty, from thy impotence; whatever obje­ctions thy fears may hence put in, there is the blood of the Lamb, that will answer all. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

2. As a merciful and faithful High-Priest. Heb. 2.17. who hath made an atonement for us in the earth, and ap­pears for us in heaven; who hath made reconciliation for us, and makes intercession for us, Heb. 9.24 to appear in the presence of God for us: we read Exod. 28 12.29 that Aaron as the type of Christ, was to bear the names of the [Page 24] children of Israel, engraven in stones, upon his shoulders, and upon his breast-plate, when he went into the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. Our Lord is entred into the Heav [...]n [...], to appear in the presence of God, with our names upon his shoulders, and upon his heart, for a memorial before the Lord; there is not the least of Saints, but there his name is engraven. Here is my ransome Lord, and behold my ransomed ones. Here is my price and my purchase, my redemption and my re­deemed. Whatever accusers there be, whatever charge be laid against them, whatever guilt lies upon them, here are the shoulders that have born all that was their due, & payed all that they owe; and upon these shoulders, & in this heart thou mayest read all their names; & when thou readest, remember what I have done for them; and acquit, absolve, and let them be accepted before thee for ever. Remember the tears of these Eyes, the stripes on this Back, the shame of this Face, the groans of this Bo­dy, the anguish of this Soul, the blood of this Heart; & when thou remembrest, whatever name thou findest en­graven upon this Heart, and upon these Shoulder; they are the persons whose all these are; and whatever these are, whatever acceptance they have found with thee, whatever satisfaction thou hast found in them, put it up­on their account: never let me be accounted the accepted, if they be rejected; never let me be accounted righteous, if they lye under the imputation of wicked. If they be not righteous in my righteousness, I must be guilty under their guilt. Whatever I am, whatever my satisfaction is, all is theirs: for them they plead, for them they pray; my Tears, Stripes, Wounds, Groans, Anguish, Soul, Blood, they all cry and say, Father forgive them, Father accept them.

Of all c [...]yes, there are no such strong cries as the Cry of Blood, and that whether it be against, or for the guilty; [Page 25] its voice shall be heard on high Thy brothers blood cryeth [...] m [...] from the ground, Gen. 4. and what followed? Wo to those persons against whom blood cryeth: but where blood, such blood cries for them, for pardon, for mercy, blessed are those Souls.

Christian, this blood is for thee, it speaks better things than the blood of Abe; H [...]b. 12 it pleads, sues, pr [...]s [...] [...]or thy discharge from all that is upon thee Thou hast ma­ny cries against thee; Satan cries, thy sins cry, thine own heart, thy conscience cries against thee; and thou art amazed at the dreadful noise they make; but behold! the blood of the Lamb, the blood of God cries for thee. Thou hast an accuser, but thou hast an acquit [...]er: thou hast adversaries, but thou hast an advocate An Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the p [...]opi­tiation for thy sins: 1 John 2. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods E [...]ect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? it is Christ that died; yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right-hand of God, who also maketh Intercession for us, Rom. 8 33, 34

Nay further, thou hast not only a righteous, but a merciful High-Priest; that is provided of a Sacrifice, and hath an heart to offer it for thee: thy name is in hi [...] heart as well as on his shoulders; in his bowels as well as on his back. He hath blood for thee, precious blood; and he hath bowels for thee, pitiful bowels He can have pity and compassion on the miserable, Heb 5 2 if he can find no other, he can find arguments enough from thy wo, and thy misery, to draw forth his Soul towards thee. He is merciful, and his mercies are tender mercies; he is pi [...]iful, and his compassions are tender compassions: thou art not so tender of the Wife of the B [...]ome, of the Child of thy Bowels; thou art not so tender of thine own flesh, of the Apple of thine Eye, of thine own Soul, as thy Lord is of thee: His Spirit is moved for thee, his Soul [Page 26] melts over thee, be bleeds in thy Wounds, he suffers in thy sorrows, his Eye weeps, his Heart breaks over thy broken and undone State; fear not his forgetting thee, his Bowels will remember him of thee.

He is a merciful and a faithful High-Priest. No dig­nity to which he is exalted above thee, no distance to which he is removed from thee, can make him forget his friends; He is gone into the Heavens, and there exalted far above all Principalities and Powers, and set down at the right-hand of God. He is gone, but he hath carried thy name with him, as a perpetual memorial for thee. Thou art unfaithful, shame to thee; thou forgettest thy Lord at every turn; every business that comes, every trouble that comes, every pleasure that comes, every com­panion that comes in, makes thee forget thy Lord, forget his Love, forget thy Duty; On how small a matter will steal thy Heart from him, yea stir up Tumults and Re­bellions against him. Thy Comforts, thy Hopes, thy Needs thou hast daily of him, will not all prevail to hold him in remembrance with thee Thou forgettest thy Lord, but he will not forget thee; though thou hast been unfaithful in many things, yet he is in nothing; 2. Tim. 2.13. Yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself; he should not be true to himself, if he be not faithful to thee; his interest li [...]s in thee; thou art his, his possession, a member of his body, fear not; i [...] he should be unfaithful to thy soul, he is the r [...]in unfaithful to his own body. If thy case be such that he can help thee, if there be any thing wherein he can stead thee; if all that he hath, his blood, his righteousness, his interest with the Father, will be sufficient for thy help he hath undertaken to procure it for thee, and secure it to thee. Faithful is he that hath called you, and will do it.

This now is that Jesus that is given unto us; as our prop [...]iatory Sacrifice, as our merciful and faithful High-Priest, [Page 27] who suffered on the earth, and is gone into the heavens for us; standing in his red robes, garments rol­led in blood, with those glorious w [...]ites upon the red; pardon, peace, absolution, acceptance; with the names of his ransomed ones engraven upon his heart, and upon his shoulders: This is that J [...]sus, who is, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

3 As our Lord and King. A King shall reign in righ­teousness, in him shall the Genti [...]es truct Zach 9.9 Shout, O daughter of Zi [...]n, behold [thy] King comet [...] Isai 9.6. The Government shall be on his shoulder. God hath more care of his Saints, then to leave the Government of them on their shoulder. Is not her King in her.

He is a King to gather them, a King to govern them, a King to defend and save them; to save them from their temporal enemies, the sons of violence, the men of this evil world; from their spiritual enemies, to save them from their sins, Thou shalt call his Name Jesus, for he shall save their people from their sins, Mat. 1.21. 'Tis a mercy to be under government, under government, and under prote­ction. What would become of us, where there no King in Israel: Where there's no King, all are kings; more kings than men: Satan will be a king, every lust will be a lord, as many kings as there are devils and sins. Whi­ther would our unruly hearts carry us? How easily would our wily and po [...]ent enemies ruine us? What tyranny would sin exercise within? What cruelty should we suffer from without? Whither should we wonder? where should we fix? What peace, what order, what stability? Whence should counsel, and protection, and salvation come, were there no Lord over us? 'Tis a mercy to be under Go­vernment; but to be under such a Government, under a King, and such a King? such a wise and potent King, such a meek and merciful King, such a holy and righteous King? O what a wonder of mercy! Rejoyce greatly, O [Page 28] daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee, he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an asses colt, &c. [He is just having salvation] as a Priest he hath purchased, as a King he be­stows his salvation. He comes not to get, but to give; not to give Laws only, but to give Gifts unto men; and he gives like a King, Palms, Crowns and Thrones; sal­vation to his people by the remission of their sins. Oh how unthankful, oh how foolish is this rebellious world? Im­patient of subjection? shake off the yoke? groan under duty? under discipline? We will not have this man to rule over us? Who then shall save you? hard to be a Christian? strict laws, severe discipline? no liberty? Is this thy complaint? that is, wo is me, I am so limited, & hedg'd in on all hands, that there is no liberty left me to be miserable; if I will be his, I must be happy.

Let fools inherit their own folly, but let Israel rejoyce in him that made him, let the children of Zion be joyful in their King; for the Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautifie the meek with salvation. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, yea, the Lord our righteousness, he is the King of glory. The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Law-giver, the Lord is our King, he will save us. Praise ye the Lord. Come, all ye Nim [...]ods, ye mighty hunters on the earth: come, all ye sons of Anak, ye seed of the Giants; come, all ye sons of Belial, ye seed of the Adulterer and of the Whore; come, all ye Ishmaelites and Ammonites, ye Moa­bites and Hagarenes; associate, confederate, take counsel together; smite with the tongue, bite with the teeth, push with the horn, kick with the heel: come, all ye gates of hell, and powers of darkness; thou Dragon with all thy armies, with all thy fiery darts, and instruments of death: come, thou King of terrours, with thy fatal dart; [Page 29] the Virgin, the Daughter of Zion, hath despised you all, she hath laughed you to scorn: the Daugh­ter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at you; her King is in the midst of her; the Lord is her King, he will save her.

4. As our head and husband. He that is given to be head over all things to the Church, is given to be the head of the Church, Eph. 1.22, 23. and of every member in particular, 1 Cor. 11.3. Believers are all joyned to the Lord. 1 Cor. 6.17. United in Christ as fellow members; united unto Christ as their common Head. From which all the body, by joynts and bands, having nourishment ministred, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God, Col. 2.19 they are married to Christ, 2 Cor. 11.2. I have espoused you to one husband.

From this Union follows,

• 1. A Communication of Influences,
• 2. A Complication of Interests.

1. A Communication of Influences. [Having nou­rishment ministred] Christ our Head, is our Foun­tain of Life. Our Head is our Heart also, out of it are the Issues of Life; from him we live, and are nourished and maintained in life. He is our Joseph, all the treasures of the Holy Land are with Him In him are hid all the treasures of wis­dom and knowledge, Col 2.3. It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, Col. 1.19. He is the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth.

Here note,

1. What grace there is in Christ, The Schools [Page 30] tell us, that in him there is a threefold grace.

1. Gratia [...] The grace of Union The humane Nature of Christ, hath received the high grace or favour to be [...] united to the [...] person [...] the God head; by virtue of which Union, the fulness of the God head is said to dwe [...] in him bodily: Bodily, that is personally, or substanti [...]; in opp [...]sition to the types and shadd [...]ws of the Old Testament, in which God (in a figure) is said to dwell. God is said to dwell in the Tabernacle▪ in the Ark of the Cove­nant, in the Temple; but in these be dwelt only as figures and shadd [...]ws of the humane nature of Christ: in Christ he dwells not in a figure, but personally and substantially. As Christ, Col 2.1 [...] is called the Bo­dy, in oppositi [...]n to the t [...]pes of old, which were but the shaddow; so b [...]dily here notes not a [...]g [...]rative, but a per­sonal inhabitation. Christ is the body, not a shaddow; and God dwells in him bodily, that is substantially, and not in a shaddow.

2 Gratia Habitualis. Habit a Grace. All those moral perfections, wherein stands the holiness of his nature. The love and fear of God; his hu­mility, meekness, patience; in sum, his perfect conformity to the image and whole Will of God. Such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Heb 7.26.

3. Gratia Cap [...]tis; or that honour which is given to him to be Head of the Church.

2. How Ch [...]ist is said to be full of grace; there is a two fold fulness of Grace.

1. Ex parte ipsius gratiae. In respect of grace it [Page 31] self; thus he is said to be full of grace, that hath all grace, and hath in it the greatest excellency & perfection of it, that doth pertingere ad summum gratiae, Aquin.

2. Ex parte habentis gratiam, in respect of the person that hath it; and thus a person is said to be full of grace, that hath as much as he is capa­ble of. Christ is full of grace in both respects; that grace which is in him, is grace in the high­est perfection of it, and as much as his vessel can hold.

3. That this fulness of Christ is ours, and for us, Joh. 1.16. Of his fulness do we receive grace for grace, Col 3.3. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Your life, that is, both your spiritual life, grace; and your eternal life, glory, 1 Joh. 5.11. This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Our life is said to be in Christ in three respects.

1. It is hid in Christ, as the effect in the cause, as the life of the branches, is hid in the root, so is the life of a Christian in Christ. He is our root.

2. It is deposited with Christ; it is laid up with him, committed to his trust and custody; with him it is secured & put into safe hands.

3. The dispensation of it is committed to him: from him it is at his pleasure to be derived to us. Of his fulness we receive. The Son hath life in him­self, and he giveth it to whom, when, & in what measure he pleaseth.

Christian, art thou nothing in thy self? Thou [Page 32] hast enough in thy Jesus. Art thou dark? He's a Fountain of light. Art thou dead? He's a foun­tain of life. Art thou poor and low; weak in knowledge, in faith, in love, in patience, &c He's a treasure of all grace; and what he is, he is for thee. Is he wise? he is wise for thee: Is he ho­ly? he is holy for thee: Is he meek, merciful, humble, patient. He is so for thee. Is he strong, is he rich, is he full? 'Tis for thy sake: as he was empty for thee, weak for thee, poor for thee; so for thee he is mighty, he is rich and full. Whilst thou bewailest thine own poverty and weakness, Oh bless thy self in thy Lord, in his riches, righ­teousness and strength.

2. A complication of Interests. As the head and body, as the Husband and Wife, so Christ and his Saints are mutually concerned: are rich or poor, must stand and fall, live and die together. As the Husband conveys to the Wife, a title to what he hath; as the Wife holds of the Husband; so is it betwixt Christ and his Church; they have nothing but through him; their whole tenure is in capite: they hold of the Head; they have no­thing but through him▪ and whatsoever is his, is theirs: His God is their God, his Father is their Father; his blood, his bowels, his merit, his spirit, his victories, all the spoyls he hath gotten, all the revenue and income of his life and death, all is theirs. For them he obeyed, suffered, lived, died, rose, ascended, is set down in glory, at the right­hand of God. He obeyed as their Head, died as [Page 33] [...]heir Head, rose, ascended, reigneth as their Head; [...]nd hath in their names, taken possession of that [...]nheritance which he purchased for them. This [...]s that Jesus which is given to us, and thus is he granted and made over to all his Saints in this Covenant of God.

CHAP. III. The Spirit in the Covenant.

III. GOd hath put his Spirit into the Covenant; the Almighty, the Eternal Spirit; the Ho­ [...]y Spirit, the Spirit of Glory and of God.

This Holy and eternal Spirit is first poured forth [...]n our head, the Lord Jesus; to anoint him our Redeemer, to furnish and qualifie him for that great undertaking, Isai. 61.1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, &c. Isai 11 2, 3, 4. I will put [...]ny Spirit into him, the spirit of wisdom and under­standing, and of the fear of the Lord, Isai. 11 2.

And he is promised to each member, Ezek. 36.27. I will put my Spirit within you. To all these he is granted.

• 1. As a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.
• 2. As a Spirit of Holiness and Sanctification.
• 3. As a Spirit of Truth and Direction.
• 4. As a Spirit of Comfort and Consolation.

1. As a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, Eph 1.17, 18. To enlighten them, to open their blind [Page 34] eyes, and to shine into their hearts, to give them the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that they may knew what the hope of his calling is, and what the riches of the glory of his Inheritance in the Saints. To counterwork the spirit of this world, whose work i [...] ▪ to blind mens eyes, lest the light of the g [...]orious Gospel should shine unto them, 2 Cor. 4 4, 5, 6.

This is He by whom the Father hath called us out of darkness unto his mar [...]ellous [...]ght, 1 Pet. 2.9. the light that the Spirit b [...]ings in, is a marve [...]lous light, and that in three respects.

1. It is a marvellous thing that ever light should come into such dark souls. That those that were born blind, and upon whom the god of t [...]is world had for many years together been tryl [...]g his skill, to thicken their darkness, to encrease and seal them up under it; that ever such eyes should be opened, and the light of life should shine in upon such hearts, this is a marvellous thing When our Lord Jesus in the days of his flesh, opened the eyes of those that had been born blind, the people ran together, and wondred at the sight. If you should see stones to live, if you should see dead stocks, or dry bones to walk up and down the streets; if you should see trees, or houses, or mountains full of eyes, this were not more full of wonder, than to behold blind sinners receiving their sight. Thou were once darkness, art thou now light in the Lord? stand and wonder at thy cure.

2. They are marvellous things, which this light discovers. It is a wonder that such eyes should [Page 35] ever see, and they see wonders. The Gospel is a mystery full of wonders: there are heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths. We have seen strange things to day. Strange love, strange grace, wonderful wisdom, wonderful pity, patience, mer­cy: wonderful providences, wonderful deliveran­ces▪ incomprehensible excellencies, unspeakable joy and glory: 'Tis a wonder there should be such things every day before our eyes, & yet we could not see them till now; and 'tis a wonder, that when we did not see them before, we should e­ver see them now; that those things which we despised, derided, mocked at, stumbled at, as meer foolishness and fancy, we should now see and ad­mire, even to astonishment; that that JESUS, which was to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness, should be to the same men, when called, the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God. O the deep things of God! O the unsear­chable Riches of Christ! that He that searcheth all things, reveals unto the Saints! O the hidden treasures they now discover in this deep m [...]ne! To you that believe he is precious, [...] Praise, an Honour; all fair, all glorious; and you have seen his glory▪ as the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth.

Again, there are marvellous evils, as well as good things, that by this light are brought to light. Sin, with all the hidden things of darkness, that lay below in those chambers of death; the se­crets of the evil heart of man. Sin appears a won­der [Page 36] to the sa [...]i [...]g [...]s enlightened soul, ex [...]eding sinful, a world of wickedness

There's Death and Hell, and the Devil in every sin; unkindness, unthankfulness, folly, enmity, rebellion, spite, and the blackness of darkness What once appeared as a pleasure, a delight, a b [...]auty; or at least, if an evil, yet but a tr [...]fle, a maner of nothing; is become a plague, a terror, a burthen, a bondage, bitterness, sham [...], sorrow; and such an [...]igh provocation, that whereas [...] be swell'd and murmur'd, and cryed out of [...]igour, severity, cruel [...]y in the l [...]st punishment of [...]; now he wonders at the clemenc [...], & patience, and forbearance of God, that such an [...]strent and provoc [...]ion, had not long since turn­ed the whole earth into an Hell.

Christian, thou complainest thou canst not s [...]e, thou canst not [...], thou canst not mourn, thou canst not break under all the guilt that his upon thee; thi [...] heart is hard, thine [...]es are dry, not a tear, not a groan, scarce a sigh, will all this evil fetch out from thee. O this b [...]i [...]d and [...]o [...]ish mind: O this ce [...]d and senseless heart! what shall I do? what would I not do, to get me a m [...]i [...]g, mourning, broken spirit? but I cannot, I cannot; I can­not see, I cannot b [...]d, nor break: O beg the light of this Holy Spirit [...] if the sight that will present thee with [...] evil, do not re [...]d thy heart, and turn thy stomach, and open all thy sluc [...]s, and let out thy soul [...] and groans, in shame and sorrow, thou ma [...]st then w [...]ll b [...] wonder to thy self. But be not discourage, be not dismayed: do not say, this Rock will never break this [...]on will never melt; I may go sighing for sighs, mou [...]ning after [...]ars, groaning [...] groans, but all in vain, it will never be; past feelings, past [...]e [...]ing, sorrow fli [...]s still from me, repentance is hid from mine eyes; do not thus discourage thy self; wait for this spirit, open to it, and thou shalt see flowing in such streams of [Page 37] self-shaming, self-confounding light, as shall flow forth in self- [...]basing, self abhorring streams of tears.

3. These [...] things, are revealed with marvel­lous clearness. That is, in comparison of what they are to the [...] world, and in comparison of what they themselves once saw. They come to see the glory and the beauty, and the reality of the wonderful things of God We have seen his glory, sai [...]h the Apostle, John. 1. The [...] of God [...] [appeared] But we a [...] (with [...]) he [...] as in a [...], the glory of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18. Out of Zion hath he appeared in per­fect beauty

It's prophesied, Isai. [...] of the unbelieving world, that when they should see Christ, they should se [...] beauty in him.

Strange though he were all beauty yet they should see him, and yet see no beauty. That is, they shall see him, and yet no [...] see him. They see not wood for trees. What is thy beloved more than other beloveds? What is Christ more than an ordinary man? What is the Gos­pel more than an ordinary Story? What is the Spirit? What is Truth? What is there in this Faith and Love, in this Ho [...]iness and Righteousness, in this Peace of Con­science, and Joy of the Holy Ghost? What substance is there in them? Where is the Glory, and wherein is the Excellency of them? Which may came the Spirit of the Lord from [...] to thee? [...] shalt know in that day, when thou sha [...]t cal to the Mountains to fall on thee, & the Rocks to hide thee, from face of God & the Lamb We know whom we have believed. We know that we know him We speak that which we know, & testifie what we have seen. We have an Ʋnion see [...] the Holy One, we know all things God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit, for the spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God. Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us [...] [Page 38] God. We have a clear and certain sight. We do not see men as Trees walking, with our eyes half open: we see men as men, Christ as Christ, Truth as Truth, in its naked lustre and evidence. This we have seen, and do testifie, neither deceiving, nor being deceived. We thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the Wise and Prudent, and hast revealed them unto Babes.

And as they see Truth, and Holiness, and Goodness in their wonderful Glory, and Beauty; so also Folly, and Falshood, and Sin, in its wonderful ugliness and deformi­ty. Sin appears to be sin, to them, Rom. 7. Folly to be folly, falshood to be falshood; they see men as men, Christ as Christ, Truth as Truth, Holiness as Holiness; and they see Beasts as Beasts, Fools as Fools, Sin as Sin, Devils as Devils, Hell as Hell: They see all things as they are, Temptations as they are, Delusions as they are; they see what is under them, the Hook under the bait, the sting in the Locusts Tail, the war in the Devils heart, carried on under his fawning face; We are not ignorant of his Devices.

Sinners, cease your wondring at the Saints, let them be no longer for signs and for wonders in Israel; cease your wondring at the Saints, come and wonder with them Wonder not that they say not as you, live not as you, run not with you after the same Follies and Vanities; Oh! if ye once come to see what they see, you will be a wonder to your selves. M [...]ck not at their blessed­ness; Bles [...]ed are their eyes, for they see. The blind envy, but do not disdain the seeing. Say not, These men are in a dream, or drunken, or mad; take hood. Blaspheme not the Holy Spirit, [...]all not his light darkness, put not your darkness for light. Would you know when these [...] testifie what they have seen and heard? whether they are sober, or beside themselves? Come and see; I say [Page 39] not, stand and see, you cannot see at that distance you stand; come near, come in and you shall see; see your blind­ness first, if ever you will see the light Oh! bewail your dark­ness, and seek light, seek and you shall see it. Son of David, have mercy on me; Why, what wilt thou, man? Lord, that I may receive my sight. Shall that be thy cry? O pity thy blind Soul! O pray for eyes, They that see, pity the blind; We have a little Sister that hath no breasts, we have a poor Brother, [yea [...] world of them] that have no eyes. What shall we do for our poor Brethren, in the day that they shall be spoken for? Oh! be eyes to thy blind, be a light to thy dark Souls; let them that dwell in darkness see thy great light. Sinners, those whom you persecute, do thus pity, do thus pray for you; Lord, that their eye might be opened: will you say Amen, to their prayers? or will you say, Lord, regard not their word we desire not the knowledge of thy wayes?

Christians, be marvels. You that have seen marvel­lous things, be marvellous persons set the world a won­dring for something Let your light shine, let the light which hath shined into your hearts, shine forth in all your paths: let the Spirit of Light within you, be a Spirit of Glory resting upon you. Once you were Darkness, but [...] are ye Light in the Lord; Wa [...]k as Children of the Light. Be ye Holy, Harmless, the Children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked Generation, amongst whom ye shine as Lights in the World.

Beclouded Christian: thou goest on bemoaning and bewailing thy self, complaining that thou art still blind; the light hath shined into thy darkness, but thy darkness comprehendeth it not; thine eye is yet but tender, at least, and thou canst see but little; but little of Christ, the Sun [...] as a sparke to thee; but little of sin, that Mountain [...]oo [...]s yet but as a Mole hill; It is neither clear, nor dark, neither night, nor perfect day: thou hopedst that long [Page 40] ere this, thy Scales would have fallen off, the Vale would have been removed, but they abide upon thee; thou waitest for Light, but b [...]hold obscurity! for brightness but thou walkest in darkness, thou goest on, adding darkness to darkness, the darkness of sorrow, to the dimness of sight. Thou fearest that the Gospel is hid from thee thou doubt­est 'tis still night, because it is not yet noon with thee. But harken, as little as thou seest of Christ, doest thou see so much, that thou priz [...]st, and lovest, and cleavest to him above all? as little as thou seest of sin, doest thou see so much, that thou loathest, & shunneth it above all things? doest thou walk in that little light thou hast? doest thou Love, Long, Wait, Cry, for the light? Send forth thy Light and thy Truth, lift up the Light of thy countenance; Sun of Righteousness shine upon me; why are the Wicels of thy Chariots so long a coming? Woen Lord? Make hast my B [...]i [...]ed, O might I once see thy face, as the Sun, looking over the Mountains. Is this thy voice? are these the Breathings of thy Soul? Be of good comfort, these are the Glimmer­ings and Groanings of that Holy Spirit within thee, which hath already delivered thee from darkness, and will bring thee forth into his marvellous light; thou shalt know, if thou follow on to know the Lord. Arise, shine, thy light is come, the G [...]ory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Though yet (as to thy sense) it be neither clear nor dark, neither night nor perfect day, in the evening there shall be light

2. A [...] a Spirit of H [...]liness and Sanctification; He is given as an Holy Spirit▪ and as a Sanctifying Spirit: therefore Sanctification is called the Sanctification of the Spirit; 2 Th [...]s 2 13 He comes to change us into his own nature, to mak [...] us partakers of his Holiness; he is a Refiner's fire, and [...] Math. 3 2 to purge, and work, and w [...]h off [...] filth, & corruption of our natures; What it is said he shall be to the Church, Isa. 4.4 A Spirit of Judg­ment, and a Spirit of Burning, to wash away the filth of [Page 41] the Daughters of Zion, and to purge the blood of Jerusa­lem, from the midst thereof: [ a Spirit of Judgment] that is, in the Rulers of Israel; stirring them up to do Justice, and execute Judgment, that so the guilt of blood may be taken away Isa 32.15 16 and a Spirit of Burning; that is, in the hearts of the people of Israel, to consume and destroy­ing the inward Lusts of their hearts, that no more such wickedness bee commited amongst them This he is to every Saint; A Spirit of Judgment, to give Sentence a­gainst their Lusts, to condemn them to the fire; these must be cast out, to the fire with them; away with them, get ye hence ye Sons of the Bond-woman; you may not be Heirs with the Sons of the Free-woman. The Spirit of the Lord first [...]covers and convinces of sin; judges betwixt light and darkness, grace and sin, and then gives sentence, away with these Lusts, they may not be suffered to live.

A Spirit of Burning, to execute the sentence, to consume them in the fire. The Spirit of Sanctifi­cation is a Spirit of Mortification, Rom. 8.13. If ye (through the Spirit) do mortifie the deeds of the Body. It is the Spirit that kill's, the flesh profiteth nothing.

The Spirit implants the Soul into Christ; gives it in Interest in his death, brings it under the influence of his death. Christus crucifix [...]s est Christus crucifigens. Tis the death o [...] Christ, that is the death of sin; these Theeves are Crucified with him. Rom 6.6 Our o [...]d man is Crucified with Christ, that the Body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should no longer serve sin Hell knew not what they did, when they Crucified Christ; death with all its armies were put to death with him.

The Spirit raises up another party in the Soul, a [Page 42] party against a party, an Army against an Army; brings Grace in to take up arms against sin; Grace doth not only fight against sin, but is in the very nature of it the death of sin, as the Generation of a new, is the corruption of the old form Humi­lity is pride dead, Meekness is sinful passion & fro­wardness dead, Patience is impatience sl [...]in.

The Spirit excites & sti [...]s up the Soul against sin, sets it a praying against it; the Spirit of Grace is a Spirit of Supplication, fetches down Hail stones & Thunder-bolts from Heaven to destroy these Amo­ [...]tes; sets a watch against it, presses the Soul to deal wisely with it to keep it low, by cutting off all provision from the flesh, restraining, and keeping it short of all those fleshly objects which would keep it in heart, and so it is starved to death. It is true, our greatest wisdom, watchfulness, abstinence, self-denial and all external means alone, will fall short of killing one lust, it is the Spirit that killeth, with­out it, the flesh profiteth nothing: all external at­tempts for the mortification of the flesh, are but a fleshly mortification; But if ye [through the Spirit] do mortify: pray in the Spirit, watch in the Spirit, curb and keep short, and keep under this body, till taking in the assistance of the Spirit, then it shall die.

Christian, thou livest in a weary Land, and thou hast but a weary life of it, bryers & thorns are with thee, the Cananite is yet in the Land, thou sojournest in Mesech, and hast thine habitation in the Tents of Kedar; and thou hast a Mesech & Kedar within thee; thou hast Armies within thee of fleshly lusts, [Page 43] which sight against thy soul: thou goest mourn­ing daily, because of the oppressour, those spiritual wickednesses which lie in thine heart, and war in thy members: thou often groanest, and cryest out to thy God, Liberty, liberty; Redemption, redemption Oh this proud heart, Oh this vain heart! Oh this earthliness, Oh this fleshliness, this sloathfulness, this enemity, and re­bellion against the law of my mind, & my God! When I would do good, evil is present with me. I cannot, I cannot do the things that I would; I can with no peace serve or enjoy my God and my soul: my duties are ei­ther prevented or polluted, my comforts are either wasted or made quite to vanish and disappear; when I would serve my God, I must away to serving my belly, or my back, or my friends; when my soul is a little gotten up­on the wing, and soaring in the upper Region, it is pre­sently checked, pulled down again to the earth. O my pinioned imprisoned soul! wo is me wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Why, yet comfort thy heart, the enemy flies upon thee as a flood, but the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Thou complain­est thy gold is become dross, thy wine is mixed with water, yea with mud and [...], yet he will turn his hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, & take away all thy sin. Though these bryers and thorns be set in battel against thee, yea, and against him also, yet he will go through, go through them, he will burn them together, Isa. 27.4. Thou complainest that thy ga [...]ments are defiled, thy glory is stained, thy beauty is marred, the Image of thy God is so [Page 44] defaced, that there is but here & there a spot of it left upon thee. Thou art black, but not comely: whilst thy Lord says, Thou art all fair, O my Love; thou cryest out, I am all soul, O my Lord: thou wouldst be holiness to thy Lord, but thou art an offence to him; holiness is still thy love, and thy desire, and thy longing, but it flies from thee; it is rather thy wish then thy hope; thou canst weep over, but thou canst not weep out thy deformity, thine iniquity is still marked before the Lord. If there be a little Grace in thee, yet there is such a weakness in its sinews, such a paleness in its face, that it is not like to live; or if it live, Oh! how little hope that ever it should thrive or flourish. Thus thou complainest, thus thou goest mourning and sighing, and sinking, and fainting in thy mind, and now and then venturest out a desponding Prayer: Lord, pity; Lord, look upon my sorrow, and my sin; Lord, wash me; Lord, help me. Why, the Lord God hath sent thee his help out of his Sanctuary, and his strength out of Zion. The eternal Spirit is come down on purpose, to give battel to the flesh, to subdue thine ini­quities, and bring all those that rise up within thee, un­der thy feet. Thou mistakest thy self, and thine enemies, if thou thinkest they will be conquered by one blow of thine arm, this kind goeth not out so; not by might nor by power, much less by weakness, and by flesh, by any weak attempts of thine own, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord: 'Tis work for a God to relieve and cleanse such an heart, to turn such an Hell into an Heaven. What thou canst not do, being weak through the flesh, [Page 45] behold! he comes down to do it for thee; thou hast proved thine own weakness, now try everlasting strength: He stands at the door and knocks, hear his voice at the door, Wilt thou be made clean? wilt thou be made whole? wilt thou be delivered? Open to him, and with him deliverance comes in, he stands at the pool, stirring the wa­ters for thee; put in thy Cripple-soul, and be healed of all thy diseases; say to him▪ Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean; and thou shalt soon have this answer, I will, be thou clean.

3 As a Spirit of Truth and Direction, John 16.13. he shall guide them by his Counsel, he shall lead them in the way that they shall go, Isai. 30 21. They shall hear a word behind them, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when they are turning to the right-hand, or to the left. He shall lead them into all Truth, to prevent mistakes, and into all Righteousness, to prevent miscarriages: Nay more, he shall not be only their Star, but their Strength too; he shall guide them on, and help them on, they shall be led by the Spi­rit, bound in the Spirit, press [...]d in Spirit; they shall be excited, assisted, carried on in the power of the Spirit, in the way that they should go: he will cause them to walk in the Statutes of the Lord. Whatsoever thy wayward­ness and wandrings have been, whatever thy feebleness & fickleness be, whatever false lights and false ways are be­fore thee, whatever temptations thou meetest with to turn thee aside out of the right way, whatever doubts hence arise in thine heart, I shall one day or other perish from the way, and be a lost sheep at [...]ast; yet his conduct shall be prosperous, and the event shall be sure; be shall so guide thee by his counsel, that he shall bring thee to glory. He shall gather his Lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosome, & gently lead those that are with young.

4. As a Spirit of Comfort and Consolation, he is so cal­led, John 16.7. The Comforter. If I go not away, [the [Page 46] Comforter] will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. He shall come unto them, and abide with them, to supply the absence of their Redeemer, to support them under their affliction, to witness their A­doption, to seal them up unto the day of redemption, & to be the earnest of their Inheritance, Eph. 1 13, 14.

John 16.14 He shall take of mine, and shew it unto you. [He shall take of mine:] that is, not only of the Truths, those treasures of wisdom that are in me, (though that be specially intended) but of my Love, my Righ­teousness, my Holiness, and all those treasures of grace and mercy that are laid up in me, whatever there is in me, that may stand you in any stead, yield you any re­lief or support, the Comforter which I will send you, shall bring it down to you: he shall take my blood, and the pardons it hath purchased for you; my bowels, and the Compassions that are working in me towards you; my prayers and Intercessions I am offering up for you; he shall take of all those treasures of grace, and everlast­ing Consolations which are laid up for you with me: he shall take of mine, and shew it unto you. As much as you have in the world to afflict and amaze you, as little as you have of your own to comfort you, either in your hearts, or in your houses, or among your friends, he shall shew what I have for you to refresh you.

O Christians, a sight of Christ in our sorrows, in our fears, in our thickest darkness, what day-light would it bring in? When thou lookest into thine heart, and art astonished and confounded at what thou findest there, at the blindness and the hardness, the poverty, and the emp­tiness, the guilt and the guile, the pride and the peevish­ness, the evil thoughts, the vile affections, the filthy lusts, that are swarming and working in thee: when thou look­est into the world, and tremblest at what thou beholdest there; the malice, the craft, the power, that is engaged [Page 47] against thee; the furious spirits, the fiery tongues, the fierce looks, the violent hands, that are flying upon thee, and the little relief the earth will af­ford thee; when thy heart faints, and dies with­in thee, at the sense of this thy woful and forlorn state: a sight of what thou hast in thy Lord pre­sented to thee by his Spirit, Look thou here Soul, what thy Jesus hath sent thee down, a glance from his eye, a drop from his heart, a Mess from his Table; and all to tell thee, Yet I do not forget thee: behold the care I take of th [...] ▪ [...] treasures I have for thee, to encourage thy love, and reward thy faithfulness. Oh! how will this make all thy darkness to de­part, and turn the shaddow of death into the morning.

Thus is the Holy Spirit given to the Saints, to be the light of their eyes, the death of their sins, the guide of their ways, the stay of their hearts▪ to uphold their grace, and to maintain their peace; to subdue their ene­mies, or their fears; to secure them from temptations, or succour them when tempted; to wipe off their re­proach, or make it their crown; to heal their diseases, or make them their cure; to help their infirmities, to work their works, to make their yoke easie, and their burthens [...]ight; to turn their sighs into songs, to form their groans into prayers, to send them up to their Lord, and bring down their returns; to comfort their hearts, to establish, strengthen, settle them, that they be neither offended at the chain, nor moved from the love of the Gospel.

CHAP. IV. The Earth in the Covenant.

IV. GOd hath put the Earth into the Covenant Though the Saints have not their reward in this life, their portion in this world, yet this world also is theirs, Mat. 5 5. The meek shall inhe­rit the earth, 1 Cor. 3.22. Things present and thing to come, all are yours.

• 1. The good things present.
• 2. The evil things present.

1. The good things present, Mark 10.30. Houses and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, & lands now in this time. Prov. 3 16. Length of daye are in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honour. Houses, and Lands, and Riches, and Honours, where are they? who are the poor of this World, the houseless, harbourless, and friend­less? Who have wo, and want, and shame, and sorrow? Who are Strangers and Pilgrims, dwel­ling in tents, driven into corners, into dens and caves, hunted up and down upon the mountains of the earth? to whom is hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, but to the meek of the earth? Is this to inherit the earth? All theirs, when nothing theirs? yet they do inherit the earth. For,

1. They shall ever have as much as will suffice them, and that is as much as all. They shall not want any thing, but what they may want. Your [Page 49] Father knoweth that you have need of these things; and he knows how much they need. More than needs, is more than enough; and more than e­nough, is a prejudice. Many men have too much; too much money, too much esteem, too many friends; more than they can bear; so much as to sink them, and drown them in perdition and de­struction.

Christians shall have enough; they shall never be in such a needy state, but whatever is necessary for them in all the earth, they shall have it: The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof; & he hath said, That those that seek him, shall not want any thing that is good, Psal. 34.10. If the whole world can supply them out of all its store, they shall be sup­plyed.

2. What they have, they have a better & farther title to, than any others in the world. Though the dominion be not founded in grace, yet by grace it is established. What they have, descends upon them not barely by providence, but by pro­mise, Heb. 1.2. Christ is heir of all things, & they are fellow heirs with Christ A little coming from the Promise, hath more in it, than the great­est abundance that is only handed down by com­mon providence; that which comes in from the promise, comes in with a blessing; if thou hast but an handful, thou hast a blessing in thy hand; if thou hast but a corner, thou hast a blessing in thy corner. A little from love, is a great blessing. Thou hast God in every morsel thou eatest, [Page 50] and in every drop that thou drinkest; a drop from Heaven will turn thy bran into the finest flower, and thy water into wine.

O what serene and quiet lives, how void of care (distracting care) might the Saints live in the world! What are the burthens that do gall our backs? what are the briars that tear our fl [...]sh? what are the thorns that pierce through our hearts ordinarily, but the ca [...]es of this life? What shall I eat? what shall I drink? wherewith shall I be cloathed? where shall I dwell? how little have I for to day? what for to morrow? what for hereafter? how shall I secure what I have? when this is gone whence shall I be supplyed? Thus do we go on, piercing our selves through with many sorrows. Our cares for sup­ply eat up what we have; our thoughts cut deeper than our wants; we cannot at so cheap a rate fear, as we often bear the want of all things.

And why take ye thought? The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof; and he hath said, All this is yours, you shall want nothing. You have not only your Deus providebit, providence to live upon; you have also your Deus promisit, the promise before you, and this hath all things in it; all is yours. What for to morrow? what for hereafter? Why, what saith the promise? Thou shalt want nothing, neither thou nor thine: Never saw I the righteous for­saken, nor his [...]eed beging their bread.

Hast thou two Worlds made sure to thee, and canst thou want? thou mayst as well whine, and make a pittiful cry at a full table, O where shall I [Page 51] have my next Morsel? as under such a full promise, Oh where shall I have my next Meal? O how much beneath the spirit of Christianity, are the ca [...]king anxious lives of too many Christians, you do not believe, you do not believe; you talk of your Co­venant right, of your part in the Promise, of liv­ing by Faith; but where is any such thing? can you trust God for your Souls, and can you not trust him for your Bodies, for your Childrens believe, and you will make as much, and be satis­fied as well, with a penny in the promise, with a meal in the promise, with a house in the promise, as with a penny in your Purse, or a meal in your Cupboard.

What dost thou get by all thy [...]ares? Which of you by taking thought, can a [...]d one Cubit to his Sta­ture? one farthing to his store? If thou lose no­thing by them, thou mayst sure put all thy agai [...]s into thine eyes; tears and trouble are all they will add to thee. Be quiet, and nothing will ayl thee▪ let not any straits sting thee before they are; want not before thou wantest; let not the Winters frosts nip thee whilst it is yet S [...]mmer.

Know when thou art well, and be content All is thine; if thou inheritest thy God, thou in­heritest the Earth; nothing of all its store shall be kept back from thee, that is necessary for thee; only thou must not look to be thine own carver; thy God, will carve out what thou needst. Let e­nough suffice thee, and thou shalt never have too [Page 52] little. Thou shalt never have so little, but thou mayest say this little is enough.

What if what thou wantest in Water, be made up in Wine? if thou hast but little in Bran, but the more in Flower? a short meal with a smile from Heaven, thou mayst count no East but a Feast; a little oyl in the cruse, how far will it go with a smile the blessing of the Covenant? If the upper Spring run freely, thou mayst abate a nether Spring.

Let my beloved comfort me with his Apples, and stay me with his flaggons; and let the rest be as little and as course as it wil Let the promise be my portion, let the pipes be kept open to my Soul, and then the least pittance for this ca [...]kass shall suffice me. O my Lord, let me feed with thee, and I will not quarrel whatever my sare be. Let my po [...]tion be from thy table, and then be it much or little. Let me hear thy voice, I am thine, and with me all things; and I am content to be at thy allowance. Let thy deed of gift stand sure to me, put in my childrens names there, and I ask no more for my self of them. Hold thy peace, keep silence, O my anxious Soul, know when thou art well; be in nothing carefull, the Lord is at hand.

2. The evil things of the Earth are theirs: the Cross is in the Covenant, Psal. 89.34 If his chil­d [...]en forsake my law▪ and walk not in my judgments; if they break my Statutes, and keep not my Command­ments; then will I visit their transgressions [Page 53] with a Rod, and their iniquity with Stripes.

1. The Covenant hath its Cross. The Doctrine of the Gospel is the Doctrine of the Cross, the preaching of the Gospel is the preaching of the Cross, 1 Cor. 1. The Mysteries of a crucified Jesus and of his crucified Saints, do fill up the whole New Testament. The Cross is not only imposed upon the Saints as their burthen, but bequeathed un­to them as a Legacy. It is given unto them, as an honour and priviledge, Phil 1.29. Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. It is joyned with the most glorious gift; the gift of Faith. Yea, & it is a greater gift than this. To suffer in Faith, is more than barely to believe.

2. By vertue of the Covenant the Cross is a Blessing. The word is now changed; it is no longer, Cursed, but Bles­sed is every one that hangeth on this Tree. Mat, 5 10, 11 Bles­sed are they which are persccuted for righteousnes sake; blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, falsly for my sake. Why, where is the blessedness? or wherein stands it? I stands in these things:

• 1. In the Separation of the Cross from the Curse.
• 2. In the Sanctification of the Cross to its ends
• 3 In the Proportioning of the Cross to their needs and strength.
• 4. In the special comforts of the Cross.

1. The Cross is seprated from the Curse. There is some­thing in this. To be able to say under the so [...]est of afflicti­ons. This scourge is no Scorpion; this is no curse, it is but a Cross Our Lord bare both the Cross and the Curse toge­ther, and that made his cup so bitter: but now he hath [Page 54] divided them; the curse he hath left upon sinners, and laid only the naked Cross on his Saints. The crosses of re­probate sinners, are all curses. Every affliction is a curse; there is wrath in all their sufferings, there is venome upon every Arrow, there is vengeance in every, dart every rod is a serpent to them. Thou that art of the number of Christs implacable enemies, when he comes to fall upon thee, and to grind the under his hand, thou wouldst have a word of comfort to be spoken to thee in thy sorrow; no, no, there is no comfort can be spoken; thou mayst say of every dart he smites thee with, This is sent of God, to re­venge himself upon me; The crosses of the impenitent are all curses: but the Saints curses are all come to be but, crosses. Though men curse, the Lord will not curse what­ever troubles come upon thee, though there be Vinegar in them, yet there is no venome in them; though there be Angish in them, yet there is no wrath in them; though they be ill-looked, yet there is no ill will in them; they come upon no ill intent, nor shall have any evil Issue. the smitings of the wicked are tother, as the smiting of the righteous were to the Psalmist a precious Balm, Psal. 14.5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness, it shall be an excellent oyl; it shall not break mine head. And thou mayst say, Let the wicked smite me; smite me with the tongue, with the fist of wickedness, or what they will, it shall not break mine head, much less mine heart; it shall be a kindness to me, an excellent oyl.

2. The Cross is sanctified to its ends. It hath many holy and excellent ends, and it shall prosper; it shall accom­plish its ends. The cross is laid on the Saints, sometimes to prove them, sometimes to reprove them; to humble them, to purge them &c. and whatever it is sent to them for, it shall not return in vain. As the word, so the rod, shall accomplish that for which he pleases that sent it. By this the iniquity of Jacob [shall] be purged.

[Page 55]3 The Cross is proportioned to their needs and strength Je [...] 30.11. I will correct thee in measure, but I will not leave thee altogether unpunished. Just so much as will serve shall suffice; the wise Physitian hath respect both to the need, and to the strength of the Patient. Isai 57.16. I will not co [...]tend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; lest the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. The Apostle tells the Saints, Heb 10 that they have need of patience; and their experience tells them, they have need of something to exercise their patience. And their needs are different; some are knotty pieces, and need more; others are tender, and upon them less will serve The stubborn Child must have more stripes; the shaking of the rod will do more on some spirits, then the smart of it on others; but all needs something. Let him onely that is without sin, say, I have no need of shame and sorrow The Lord will nei­ther over, nor under do; every one shall have his load and no more. No more then they can bear, and no less than their need requires. The Lord delights not in his childrens tears, he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men; but yet he had rather they cry then perish. Wonder not christians, that your tender Lord puts you to pain, and that your pains are so sharp and so many; Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. It is a mercy that he will chastise; you may put your corrections among your mercies. His breakings of you are his blessings, his woundings are your cures; and by your own, as by your Lords stripes, you are healed▪ And when you shall review, and read over all his darker pro­vidences, and behold the wisdom, tenderness, which is at­tempered with his severities, evidenced in his laying on so much, & yet no more than was needful, you will then write down with the Psalmist, Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me. O my Lord, let me not want thy staff nor thy rod; neither a friend nor an enemy: neither a calm nor a storm; neither [Page 56] food nor medicine: If my disease be too strong for my Physick, let me have yet a stronger portion; if my wanton heart will not yet be tamed, put on more fetters, an heavier load; load upon load, weight upon weight, and till thou seest, let me never say it is enough. Let me never be sick of my remedy, till I be cured of my disease. Let me rather suffer by the hand of a Devil, then perish by the hand of a Lust. Spare not Lord, cease not Lord, to smite thy servant, till thou hast thereby smitten down all mine enemies. Peace? Plenty? Ease? what that I may have to spend upon my Lusts? to wax wanton against my God? hanc pacem nolo▪

Pain, Trouble, Want, any thing rather than peace, upon such terms. Correct me, O Lord, yet in Judgment, but not in thy fury, lest I be consumed & brought to nothing.

4 The Cross hath its special comfort, 2 Cor. 1.3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who com­forteth us in all our Tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort where­with we our selves are comforted of God For as the suffer­ings of Christ abound in us, so our Consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your conso­lation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings, which we also suffer; or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation: and our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

The comforts of the Cross are often the sweetest, and the fullest, that the Saints ever taste on this side the crown. The first draught is often bitter; the green Cross is heavy, and it is necessary it should be so. As it is with some Medicinal Waters, it works by its weight; it must be an heavy yoke that will tame an unruly neck; if it gall not, it will not heal; 'tis the smart of the rod that stills the Child. Think not your burthens will lie easie, when [Page 57] first laid on, and think not much if they do not The first conflict with Temptations, may put you to an har­der brunt than you are aware. It must be so, that it may be for your good afterward. So my Physick will work, I am content it make me sick. Tribulation wor­keth Patience; that it cannot do, unless it pains. It a observable that it is not said, the Cross worketh patience but the tribulation, the pinching of the Cross, or the pain, the Cross puts us to; this is patience, a quiet bearing that pain, which the flesh when touched puts us to. When we [feel] the Thorns and the Nails, when the Iron enters into our souls, when it pricks and smarts, then it will work. The green cross is heavy; a prison, of a wil­derness, will look uncouth at the first; but when your Lord comes in, and visits you, then the sweet the plea­sure comes: and the more frowns at the threshold, the more kisses you may expect afterwards; Christ doth not always meet his Saints in the Porch; the Devils Parlour, the inner Prison, is his banquetting house; the Dungeon his Wine-cellar: there they drink and are satisfied. The Stocks, and the Rack, are the Organs that make them the sweetest Musick. Many a Saint hath been sadly disap­pointed at the first, hoping to meet with Christ at the door; but behold! a dreadful sight; behold! sin lieth at the door; all his sins, all that ever he did against Christ, all his unthankfulness, unfaithfulness, unkindness, rebellion against his Lord, stand forth and stare him in the face. Christians, beware of sin now: it will meet you in the day of adversity, the Cross will tell you all that ever you did. I remember my faults this day; now I remember all my pleasant things; my Sabbaths, my Ordinances, my Liberty, the dear society I once enjoyed; but trifled and wasted away; O my pride and my wantonness, my I­dleness, my Earthliness, my Hypocrisie, wherefore are you come thus to affright and torment me? Lord, whi­ther [Page 58] am I come? O how dreadful is this place? Is this my Prison-entertainment? Are these my Prison-consorts? O what an hard lodging am I like to have with such companions? O the Wormwood and the Gall! a dark habitation, a bitter cup indeed is now given unto me. Is this the comfort of the Cross? Are these the sweets so much talked of? Yet be not dismayed, as roughly as thou art handled at the door, it is better within, the Devil is going out in this storm; thy sins meet thee now, but it is only to shake hands and part; after this Agony, expect the Angels to come and minister to thee. Complain not if thou yet find no sweet, thou hast not drank deep e­nough; the next draught the Sugar may come; in the next Room thou mayst meet thy Lord; and then tell me if it be short of all that hath been told thee.

But shall I give you a more particular view of some of the special comforts of the Cross, or our sufferings for Christ? I shall only first premise a word, to let you un­derstand what I mean by the sufferings of Christ. We then suffer for Christ, when we suffer for Christs Cause; when we suffer because we will be Christians, we will be holy and righteous; when we suffer because we will not sin; and when we suffer upon Christs call, when he cuts out a cross for us, and lays it on. Then Christ calls us to suf­fering, when he puts us to this choice, Either to suffer or to sin; when our backs or our consciences must suffer; when we must suffer, or he must suffer by us. If any man will be my Disciple, let him take up [his] cross. Christ is not, & Christians must not be prodigal of their blood; their blood is his; their estates, their names, their liber­ties, are all his, and to him they must be accountable how they part with them. It is not every cross that thou canst call [thy] cross; we must not leave our way to seek a cross; when Christ hath laid a Cross athwart a Christians way that he should go, and he must either [Page 59] make a stand, or turn aside, or submit his neck to it; then he says, There is [thy] cross, take it up, and get thee on Whatever cross be before thee, if thou hast a way open to avoid it without sin; that is none of thy cross, thou mayst not take it up; or if thou dost, thou wilt have no thanks for thy pains.

Christians should be w [...]y here Though it be an argument of a gracious spirit, to be always of a rea­dy and forward mind to suffer for Christ; & when he demands, Who will go with me? who will bear my cross? chearfully to answer, I will go, Lord, let me bear it; yet should we take heed, that as we hang not back, when he says, Go, so that we run not be­fore he send us. Though it be an high honour to suffer for the Gospel yet no man taketh this honour up­on himself, but he that is called of God. I would not go to a Prison without a Mittimus from Heaven, lest if my suffering be of my self, I be there left to shift for my self. If Christ should meet me in prison or in banishment, and demand of me, What dost thou here Elijah? Friend, how camest thou in hither? What should I say, if I could not say this, Thou, Lord, hast brought me hither? my conscience, my duty hath brought me in?

But understand me here with this caution, That when the cause for the main is Christs, but the call seems doubtful; yet when the sufferer hath care­fully enquired the mind of God, truly follows the dictates of conscience, sincerely designs the honour of Christ and his Gospel, although he should erre in some circumstances of his case, and for fear of ini­quity [Page 60] should chuse affliction, when possibly he might have avoided both; God will surely wink at his mistakes, own his sufferings, and greatly accept & reward his readiness of mind.

Yet still take heed of careless or wilful errours: take heed of preparing nails for thy own cross; thorns, scourges, spears for thine own head or heart. Take heed both how thou shunnest, and how thou espo [...]sest a suffering state.

Go not in upon heedless mistakes; go not in for good company, much less upon any carnal designs; let not thy pride, or ostentation, or the byass of any fleshly respects lead thee into the house of cor­rection, lest thou find them the rods to lash thee when thou are there.

Christians consider, if there be not sometimes some uncomfortable miscarriages in this matter; and whether it hath not been the lot of some of Christs (with how much justice or charity, let the Lord be Judge) to be censured and reproached for unfaithful, or for fearful upon no other ac­count but for walking by this rule, not to go to pri­son without a warrant, that is, not to cast them­selves into a suffering state, whilst God hath left a way open to escape, without sin. I confess the more dangerous, and the more ordinary errour is on the other hand; we are more apt (especially when afflictions are more sharp and bite in ear­nest, and then will be the great trial) rather sin­fully to shift our selves of them, than unwarranta­bly to run our selves upon them; but yet let it be [Page 61] considered, whether there be not an errour on this hand also.

It is true, where the cause is the same as to the main different circumstances may make that to be one mans sin, which is another mans duty; yea, that may be a duty to the same man at one time, which (supposing him in differing circumstances) might have been his sin at another. And it is not seldome (through the unavoidable difference of our apprehensions, and the difficulty of discerning our cases) that Christians equally careful to know and do the will of God, when the case, and the circumstances also are mostly the same, do judge differently about their call to suffering. Here let no man be so tyrannical to others, as to expect that they should go cross to their own, to comply with their brethrens judgments and consciences. Let us not put one another on this unmerciful necessity, either to break our peace with God, or our Friends. Let it be sufficient to us, faithfully to follow our own light, without judging or quarrelling with those that are otherwise minded. Beware of bit­terness. Be not cruel to consciences; smite not with the tongue, nor let an evil thought arise in thine heart, upon any such account as this. Thine arrows will recoyl, and fly back in thine own face. Blemish not thine own sufferings by blasting thy Brothers liberty. Let not the wariness of some be condemned for Cowardise, nor the forwardness of others for pride or hypocrisie; but let us be cloathed with humility, let us put on a spirit of self-suspition, [Page 62] and charity to our Brethren; and let this Christian frame be the more studiously maintained, by how much the more our differing practices according to the variety of our apprehensions seem to condemn each other, & so provoke to uncomfortable schisms and con [...]entions, & by how much the more perni­cious such schisms are like to prove in the issue.

These things premised, I shall now shew you what the special comforts of the Cross are▪ You may expect your suffering state to be sweetned with.

1. A more plentiful Diffusion of special Grace. Grace is a comfort; 'tis never better with the Saints, than when that flourishes. The joy of the harvest is howling to the joy of grace; he is not a Christian that cannot say, 'Tis Summer, when these flowers appear in their beauty. Flourishing Faith & Love, have their glorious joys▪ 1. Pet. 1.8. The Springs of grace, are a resurrection from the dead; and there is no such spring as after a showre. Oh how green do the herbs thou look the withering flowers do then lift up the head never▪ so many stars appear, nor with such lustre as in a frosty night; grind the spices, and their fragrancy flows out. Saints are never more Saints, than in the house of bondage, or the Land of their pilgrimage; our Winter wea­ther makes us warm at heart. As our outward man perishes, our inward man is renewed day by day, 2 Cor. 4 16 Persecution is the time of life. We are deli­vered to death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be manifest in our mortal flesh, 2. Cor. 4.11. De­cayed soul, comfort thine heart, the Cross comes▪ [Page 63] now thou shalt live; now thou shalt recover. This weakness will strengthen the things that remain, & are ready to die. Now Faith, & Love, & Patience, and Courage that have so long hung the wing, now lift up the head, the day of your redemption draweth nigh; this night is your day of hope.

2. A more clear revelation of special Love. Lovest thou me, Lord? there's enough. Let me hear thy voice, let me see thy face.

Kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth. Thy lov­ing kindness is better than life: send forth thy light, and thy truth, let these tell me, thou lovest me. Thy love sick Spouse is sick for love; O when wilt thou say, Thou knowest that I love thee? Why, come up with me on the Cross; that withered tree bea [...]s more blossomes of love, than all the green trees of the field. The whole Gospel is hung upon the Cross Where our Lord hung there is sin nailed, the Curse vacated, Death vanquished; Pardon, Peace Joy, Glory, shewed forth in open sight. There is love with all its tokens, go up and take. Fear not to be baptized with thy Lords Baptism, nor to drink of his Cup; this Cup also is the Communion of the Blood of Christ. Come with me into the wil­derness, there will I speak comfortably to thee. When thou most wantest it, where thou wilt most value it, there will I shew thee my loves.

Our Lord loves not to have love slighted; the full soul loaths the honey comb; thou hast yet too many Lovers to bid thy Lord welcome; he keeps his best Wine till all thine own be sowred; then [Page 64] it will relish, and then thou shalt have it. His oyl is for thy wounds The Child never knows so much of the Parents hearts, and bowels, as when it is sick, or in di­stress; then every look is love; every word is pity and compassion. O the soundings of Christs bowels towards his swooning children! when thou knowest hatred, then look to know love. When thou art persecuted, when thou art cast out, and trodden under foot of men, then will be take thee in and cherish thee.

3. A more full manifestation of glory. There is not a pri­son into which the Saints are cast, but hath a window in the p [...]ce. Calvary becomes a Tabor, where they have a sight of their Lord in his glory. Golgotha becomes a Pisgath, where they may look over Jordan into the Land of Pro­mise. Hast thou known little of Heaven? thou hast not yet been in the deep.

Of Stephen the first Gospel Martyr it is said, Acts 7.55. He looked up stedfastly into Heaven, and saw the Glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right-hand of God. And Chap. 6.1 [...]. All that sate in the Council, saw his face, as the face of an Angel. Such an admirable splendor and se­renity in his countenance, as spake him rather an Angel than a man. O what an Heaven was there within, that cast out such a Divine lustre on his face! His joy was too big for his heart, his face must have its share; yea his very adversaries, at second hand, behold the glory of God.

He looked up and saw heaven opened▪ Looking down he might see Hell opened, all his Tormentors about him; the jaws of death ready to devour and swallow him up; But looking up, he saw Heaven opened, and Jesus standing at the right-hand of God. O there he is, for whose sake is all this▪ My beloved my beloved is yonder. Behold the region of light, whither this dark Tempest is wafting me; his Hell▪ and his Heaven meets, but the light swallows up the dark. Hell ceases to be Hell, where Heaven appears [Page 65] to be Heaven. This is the Portion of suffering Saints. When you read what is written of those Armies of Mar­tyrs that have gone before; of their unspeakable joys, their undaunted courage, their admirable boldness; of their chearing their friends, confounding their foes; their re­joycing in their stripes, singing in their stocks, leaping in their chains, boasting of their Bonds, kissing their stakes, embracing the flames, riding up in triumph in their Cha­riots of fire, not repenting of their Faith, nor accepting of deliverance; what doth this speak, but that their eyes, as well as their Anchor, are within the Vail, whither Christ their fore-runner is gone before them. Oh who would [...] be with them? who would fear sufferings?

Soul, what art afraid of? whither art thou running? from what art thou hiding thy self? what is thine ease, or thy liberty, or [...] quiet? why so loth to loose from this shore? lanch forth into the deep. Fear not transportation into thine house of bondage; when thou art once there, 'tis but look up and thou art in Paradise.

Such are the sufferings of Christ, This is the Cross of the Covenant.

4. In summ; as that which comprehends all the rest, a more manifest exhibition of Christs special presence, Jer. 30.11. I am with thee to save thee, Isa. 43.2. When thou pas­sest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the Rivers, they shall not overflow thee, when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Through fire and water thou must go; We went through fire and water into a Wealthy place; but whi­ther ever thou goest, he will go with thee. When the Bush was on fire, the Lord was in the Bush; when the three children were in the Furnace, the Son of God was there with them. Isa. 63.9. In all their afflictions he was afflicted, he saved them by the Angel of his presence; in his love, and his pitty he redeemed them, and he bare them, and [Page 66] carried them all the dayes of old. Though all men for­sook me, the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, 2 Tim 4 16, 17. The Saint, shall never have this to charge upon the Lord, I was in prison, and thou vi­sitedst men not.

He is ever with them; to bear their burthens, and ease their shoulders; to plead their cause, and maintain their Innocence; to wash their stripes, to wipe off their tears, to heal their wounds, to bind up their broken bones, to revive their weary spi­rits; to perfume their Prisons, to lighten their Dungeons, to lead them in their wandrings, to converse with them in their Solitudes; to give down from above, in divine Smiles, in Illapses of spi­ritual joys, assurances of dearest love, tenderest Care, melting Sympathy, gracious acceptance, to give down from above whatever is wanting beneath. In fine, to preserve them from falling, by the presence of his Grace, till he present them faultless before the presence of his Glory. O its good being with Christ any where.

Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest and causest thy flocks to rest at noon. Where thou feedest? yea, where thou [art] whe­ther feeding or fasting, whether rejoycing or mour­ning; where thou causest thy flocks to rest at noon? yea, and where thou sufferest thy flocks to be scattered in the night. Where thy flocks are, thou art not far away; tell me where thou feed­est, tell me where thou art My beloved that feedeth among the Lillies, feedeth sometimes a­mong [Page 67] the Thorns. When his love is a Lilly a­mong thorns, there he feedeth. He feedeth among the Thorns; he feedeth with his Sheep, he feed­eth with his Lambs wherever they feed; when darkness and desolation, and Devils, & death feed upon them, even then he feedeth them, and takes his feeding with them.

O where ever my Lord is, there let my lot fall. Let me dwell amongst the Thorns, so my dwelling be with my Lord amongst the Lillies. Let me wander amongst the Mountains, whilst he is with me telling all my wandrings. Let me be scourged, so he will wash my stripes; let me weep, so he will wipe off my tears; I would not want wounds whilst I have such oyl to pour in. Come all ye Thieves and Robbers, I fear you not, my dear Sa­maritan comes by; come ye Bulls of Bashan, ye boars of the forrest, let my beloved kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, & I regard it not, though you kick me with the heel. O my Lord, bring me where thou feedest, let me live in thy face, let me feel thy smiles upon my heart, let me love thee, tell me thou lovest me, remembrest, pittiest, ac­ceptest, takest care for me, and then chuse my con­dition, my dwelling and entertainment for me.

Fainting Christian, lift up thine eyes, comfort thine heart; here is that thou fearest & torment­est thy sel [...] withal. Here is the inside of that for­midable Cross, the light side of those dark clouds, the Sunny side of that shady Thorny hedge that so wounds and afflicts thine heart. Fear not, be [Page 68] strong and of a good courage. Thou still sayest, Woe is me, I can find no such thing; Ah, Lord God, doth he not speak parables? O that I were as­sured it might be thus with me; Why, art thou in Covenant? believe, and all is thine. I believe, and therefore have I spoken; believe, and thou shalt see the salvation of God; as sure as the Cross is thine, all the comforts of the Cross are settled upon thee. Read over all the gracious words thou hast before thine eyes; view over all the instances of suffering Saints that have gone before thee, on whom these good words have been made good; in conspicuous increases of divine grace, in the sig­nal discoveries of Divine love, in the clearest and fullest revelation of divine Glory, in the intimate sense of the divine presence; quickning, enlarging, encouraging, s [...]pporting their spirits, in the darkest Dens, in the sharpest conflicts, with reproaches, Mockings, Bonds, Banishments, Torments, and Deaths; and know that all these things are written for thy learning, that through patience & comfort of the Scriptures mayst have hope.

Read over, Isai. 51 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the Rock whence ye are hewen, and to the hole of the [...]it, whence ye are digged, for the Lord shall comfort Zi­on, he will comfort all her waste places; he will make her wilderness like Eden, and all her desarts like the Garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be f [...]und therein, thanksgiving and the voice of Melody, lift up your eyes to the Heavens, &c. Verse 7, 8, 12, 13. [Page 69] Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my Law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings, for the Moth shall eat them up like a Garment, and the Worm shall eat them like Wool, but my Righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from Generation to Generation. I, even I am he that comforteth you, who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall dye, and of the Son of man which shall be made as grass? and forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the Heavens, and laid the Foundations of the Earth; and hast feared continually every day, because of the fu­ry of the Oppressour, as if he were ready to destroy, and where is the fury of the Oppressour? I, even I am he, &c. And where is the fury of the Oppressour? Where is the fury of the Oppressour? Where is it not ra­ther? is it not in the house, and in the field? is it not in the City, and in the Villages? is it not upon my Cattel, upon my Purse, upon my Body, upon my Children, upon my Friends? Where is not the fury of the Oppressour? I, but when thou remembrest the Lord thy Maker, the Oath, the Promise, and Covenant of God; the Presence, Protection and Comfort of thy God, when thou remembrest this, then, Where is the fury of the Op­pressour?

CHAP. V. The Angels of Light in the Covenant.

V. THe Angels of Light are in the Covenant, Heb. 1.14 Are they not all Ministring Spirits, sent [Page 70] forth for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation? Whilest our Lord himself was sent down to Minister, behold his servants are to be ministered unto, the Angels are made their Ministers, Psal. 91.11. He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy wayes: they have received a charge, and they have great advantages for the keeping the charge of the Lord.

1. They are mighty, Psal. 103.20. Bless the Lord ye his Angels, that excel in strength, an Angel is more than an Army, what slaughters have the Angels made in the Armies of the Aliens; an hundred four­score and five thousand Assyrians are slain by one Angel of the Lord, when encamped against Judah, Isa. 37.36. It is hard service indeed, that is too hard for an Angel.

2. They are numerous, there are great multitudes of them, Psal 68.17. Thousands of Angels, a multitude of the Heavenly Host, Luk. 2 13. An Angel is more than an Army, but what then are an Army of Angels?

3. They are faithful, They can do much for the Saints, but will they do it? yes, they are faithful; They do the Commandments of God. Psal. 103. God bids them keep, and they are faithful, they will keep his sheep; we are taught to pray, That the will of God may be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven; that men may be Faithful, as the Angels of God.

4. They are Favorites, they behold the face of God, they dwell in his presence, they are admitted to stand before his Throne, they can be heard; they have favour in Heaven, & therefore such power on earth, Mat. 18.10. Take heed ye despise not one of these little [Page 71] ones, for I say unto you, that in Heaven their Angels do alwayes behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven.

Touch not mine annointed, let alone my little ones, take heed, how you offend them, their Angels are before my Father, and are mighty with him, to engage his power, for their aid & deliverance.

O the great security of the least of Saints; These Mighty ones, these Multitudes, these Faithful Ones, these Favorites of Heaven, the Holy Angels of God, have all received a charge from the Lord, to preserve & defend them; Lord open their eyes that they may see. Behold the Mountains full of Chariots and Horses of fire round about Elisha, 2 King. 6.17.

Should a mighty Prince commit any Subject of his, to a potent and faithful Life-guard, with this charge: Look to this man, keep him in safety, see that he come to no harm; whoever offends, do you defend him; where ever he goes, go you with him; where ever he lodges stand you as a guard about the house, while he sleeps do you watch; see that he want for nothing, nor hurt come to him; If this were thy case, in what great security wouldst thou count thy self; But O? what is a Life guard of men to a guard of mighty Angels Fear not little flock, in Heaven your Angels behold the face of God, & in Earth have they pitched their Tents round about you.

CHAP. VI. The powers of Darkness delivered over in the Covenant.

VI. THe powers of Darkness are delivered over in the Covenant; Satan & all his Instruments. We are naturally in bondage to Satan, held captive by him at his Will, 2 Tim. 2.26. His Prisoners, his Slaves, his Vassals. By the Blood of the Covenant, the Lord hath brought forth his Prisoners, and re­deemed his Captives, Zech 9.11. & also hath spoiled Principalities & Powers, and led Captivity Captive. In this Covenant there is deliverance of the Prisoners, and a delivery over of them, by whom they were held; a Goal delivery, & a delivery of the Jaylors too, into their hands; & they are delivered over bound, the God of this world in Chains, limited, spoiled, banished, and cast out, Mat. 16.18. The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. The Gates of Cities were anciently their special strength, and in them were their great Councils held, for the contriving & ma­naging of all their concernments: by Hell understand the whole Infernal Corporation, all that belong to that dark Region, Satan and all his Instrument, the Dra­gon with his Armies, the Serpent and all his seed. By the Gates of Hell understand, the power and po­licy, the combination and counsels of Satan and his whole party. These Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it; that is, against the Church; neither against Head, nor any member of it; they shall not prevail, that notes two things.

[Page 73]1. They shall fight against it; they are all combined and listed against the Church, making a War upon it: Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof. Down with it root and branch, let it not have a being, let it not have so much as a name under heaven: particular quarrels there may be betwixt Devil and Devil; Herod against Pilate and Pilate against Herod; yet the tails of these smoaking fire-brands are united against the Lord and his anointed Ones. A­gainst their Profession, against their Religon, against the Soul of every Saint. Whatever vails or specious pretences they varnish their quarrel with, this is it that lies at the bot­tom of all their counsel and machinations, wherein all their aims are concentred, to root out godliness, and the Profes­sours of it, out of the earth; to deceive and destroy souls for ever.

3. Though they shall fight against them, yet they shall not overcome. They shall not prevail against it, that is, not fi­nally: in the end the victory shall be the Saints, Zach. 12.3. Jerusalem shall be a burthensome stone to all people. 1. Such a stone that they shall not be able to lift, or move it out of its place; it shall stand as a Rock, against which the impetu­ous waves may dash themselves, but they cannot move it.

2. They shall not be able to bear it. It shall not crush them that burthen themselves with it; those that shake the Church, they are pulling an house about their ears, a rock upon their loyns; it shall break the backs of all those that contend against it; they shall be cut in pieces (saith the text) that burthen themselves with it; though all the earth, yea and Hell too, be gathered together against it. It is a vain designe that Satan and his partakers are driving on, Psal 2 1. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine [a vain] thing? It is a vain designe, and it is a fatal design to them­selves: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potters vessel.

Gen. 3.15. In the first dawning of this glorious day-light, [Page 74] it's promised, that the seed of the woman shall break the serpents head. I will put emnity between thee & the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

John 12.31. Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

Cast out, whence? Why, cast out of his kindgome, out of his hold, cast down from his Throne and Dominion. His prison is broken, and now the prey is taken from the strong, the captives of the mighty are taken away.

But how was this now done, at the death of Christ, to which these words refer. Doth not Satan still reign? Is he not still the god of this world, and the prince of the power of the air? Yea, what hold hath he yet of the Saints that are in the earth? what a tyrant is he to them? how doth he entangle and ensnare them? what havock doth he make in their con­sciences? a lording it over them, leading them captive by lusts and temptations; what a strong party hath he still with­in them, bearing Arms against their Lord, fiighting a­gainst their souls? What sad spoyl doth he make upon their grace, upon their peace? they cannot rest for him day nor night abroad nor at hom [...], alone nor in company; he is ever following them; whether ever they go, the Devil is at their backs; they cannot pray, nor read, nor spend a thought, nor cast a look, nor dispatch a sight towards the Lord, but Satan stands by to resist, and hinder them: what a yoke hath he still upon their necks! what clogs & weights hath he still upon their loins? how do they mourn in their souls, whilst he vexes them from day to day? how do they groan, and travel in pain, sighing in themselves, and waiting for their redemption? How is it then said, Now is he cast out? Why now he hath received his judgment; the pince of this world is judged, Joh. 16. Now is the fatal blow given, now is the Serpents head broken, though he still may bruise and hang in the Saints. The blow he levelled at our Lord, [Page 75] hath rebounded on his own head. Though he be as Gad, a Serpent in the way, yet you may now tread upon this Serpent, and it shall not hurt you. The strong man is now bound, if he be a god still, he is a god in chains, a prince in fetters; he must ask leave of your Father, ere he can touch one hair of your heads. He cannot tempt you nor cast a bank against you, nor shoot an arrow at you, without a commission from Heaven, The Devils are subject to you. He is cast out, and in your Lords Name you may cast him out. In my Name shall ye cast out Devils; out of pos­sessed bodies, out of possessed souls; you may be in­struments to bring many a soul to repentance; that they may recover themselves out of the snares of the devil, who are held captive by him at his will. Every sinner that is converetd by you, you have cast out a devil out of that soul.

Though he be an adversary still, yet such an ad­versary as may be resisted; whom resist stedfast in the faith, 1 Pet▪ 5.9. And if you will resist, he shall flee from you, Jam 4.17. Stand, & your enemy runs.

Nay more, he is not only a conquered enemy, but made your servant. This Viper shall yield you me­dicine against his own poyson. His smitings shall be an excellent Oyl; his Messengers he sends to buffet you, his thorns he sticks in your flesh, shall be a prevention of greater evils. The very destruction he intends to bring upon you, shall promote your salvation, 1 Cor. 5.5. Deliver such an one t [...] Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Behold, the Devil is the [Page 76] Churches servant, & such a servant as in their pre­sent state, they cannot well want. The Executioner of their censures. A Common wealth may as well want a Jaylour or an Hang man, as the Church a De­vil. Behold Satan divided against Satan; the De­vil without, against the Devil within; the destroyer of souls, become the destroyer of sin. Deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.] Though much against his mind, his hand is against his own party. He's made to kill his own friends, which o­therwise would kill the soul. Whether he will or no, the very Tormentor is made a Saviour; that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Christians, as much as you feel of the Devils malice, you could ill want his service; there is many a soul lost and undone by a sleeping, that might have been recovered and rouzed by a raging Devil. His winds shall blow off your chaff, his floods shall wash away your filth, his earthquakes shall open your prison­ [...]ors, his tempests shall drive you to harbour. Some men want a tempest, to save them from a wrack.

Nay once mo [...]e; he is not low enough yet; he shall be yet brought lower. You have assurance of his total & final overthrow. Rom. 16.20. The God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly. Rev. 20.10. The Devil shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. 'Tis but a little while, and when he hath done his work, he shall be sent to his place, where he shall be shut up, & a seal set upon him; whence he shall come out no more for ever. He shall tempt no more, vex no more, deceive no more, destroy [Page 77] no more, torment you no more; he shall be thrust out, he shall be chained up; the tormentor shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Stand Christians, stand your ground a little while; follow your work, hold up your holy profession, hold on your holy course; keep your hearts, keep your garments, keep on your armour, keep under corruption, resist temp­tation, bear your affliction; hold out faith and patience, fight against your adversaries, watch with your Lord, this one hour, and behold, he that shall come, will come; he cometh quickly, and he that is in the world shall be con­sumed with the breath of his mouth, and destroyed with the brightness of his appearing. He shall be cast out, he shall be cast down, and rise no more for ever.

CHAP. VII. Death in the Covenant.

VII. GOD hath put Death into the Covenant. 1 Cor. 3.21 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or DEATH, all are yours. Death? there is a great purchase, you'l say; what advantage is that? Yes, Death is advantage: To die is gain. For,

1. The Commission of Death is changed. 'Twas once, Take him, Jaylour; away with him, carry him down, to prison with him, there to be reserved to the Judgment of the great day. It is now, Take him, Janitor, take him Porter, take him in, give him an entrance into his Masters Joy. Death doth but take the Bride when she is ready, and lodges her in the Chamber of the Bridegroom: this made Death the Apostles desire, Philip. 1 23, I desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better.

2. Death is conquered. What does this mean, Your enemy is yours? other than this, Your enemy is conquered [Page 78] to you, a conquered enemy, is made a Tributary, Death is disarmed, it hath lost its sting: When a Serpent hath lost its sting, you may take it into your bosome.

He that can say, Death, where is thy sting? may go on, and add, Thanks be to God, which hath given me the victory. A Signet sent from Heaven, with a Deaths Head, is a pre­cious token, Come, Christians, be of good courage, set your feet on the neck of this King of terrours.

3. Death is at once, The Destruction of all their enemies; when once Death hath done its office upon them, then farewel Edom, and Ammon, and Amalek, and Egypt; fare­well the pricking br [...]er, and the grieving thorn; then fare­wel sin and sorrow for ever, the Egyptians they have seen and feared and felt, to day, they shall never see again for ever. It destroys it self, their last enemy by destroying them, it hath its welcome, and farewel the same moment; it is but Welcome Death, and Farewel Death for ever. Death dies with them; once dead they die no more for ever: mortality is swallowed up of life, death is cast into the lake of fire; that is its Region; there, there they die, and die, and die again; over and over, for ever & ever; but for the Saints it doth but set them on the banks of that good Land, whether it cannot follow them; our Lord by death [by ours as well as his own] hath delivered those who for fear of death, where all their life time subject to bondage.

Christians, you may now not only with paience, but with desire, expect the assault of this King of terrours. What, shall tribulation, and persecution, and famine, and naked­ness, and peril, and sword? shall sorrows, and fears, and mortality die with me? Yea, shall sin die with me? then welcome death, Lord strengthen me this once, let me die with the Phi [...]istines Would it be good for thee to be with thy Father? in the bosome of thy bridegroom? the pre­sence chamber of thy Lord and Love? would it be a mercy to thee, to weep no more, fear no more, suffer no [Page 79] more, be tempted no more, sin no more? to be uncloath­ed of corruption, and be cloathed upon with immortality and incorruption? Then bid death welcome.

Blessed Souls, when you come ashore, and see the light, the love, the joy, the rest, the glory, that is on the other side, you will then more fully understand what this mean­eth, Death is yours. He knew something, who said, I can­not tell you what sweet pain, and delight some torments are in Christs love; I often challenge time, that holdeth us asunder, I have for the present a sick life, much pain, and much love-sickness for Christ? O what would I give, to have a bed made to my wearied soul in his bosome! O when shall we meet! O how long is it to the dawning of the Marriage-day! O sweet Lord Jesus, take wide steps; Come over the Mountains at one stride. O my Beloved flee as a Roe, or a young Hart upon the Mountains of separation? O if he would [...] the Heavens to­gether like an Old Cloak, and shovel Time and Days out of the way, and come away.

CHAP. VIII. The Kingdom in the Covenant.

VIII. GOD hath put the Kingdom into this Covenant, Mat. 5.3. Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, Luk. 12.32. It is your Fathers pleasure to give you the Kingdom; Glorious things are spoken of thee, O thou City of, God. I might here enlarge in describing the glory of this King­dom; but when I had said all, I must at last leave it with­in the Vail; and therefore shall only tell you from the A­postle, 1 Cor. 2.9. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nei­ther have entred into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, &c. Ephes. 1.18. When by the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, the eyes of your understandings are opened, ye shall know, what [Page 80] is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints.

CHAP. IX. All the means of salvation in the Covenant, both outward and inward, in special, [the blessing of a new heart.]

LAstly, God hath put into the Covenant all the means of salvation. And all things on their parts necessary, to the obtaining the everlasting Kingdom.

1. All the outward means of salvation. Ordinance, Word, Sacraments, and Prayer: Officers; Prophets, A­postles, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers▪ Eph. 4.11, 12. 1 Cor. 3.22

2. All the inward means of salvation. Every grace, e­very duty; their obtaining the one, and performing the o­ther, and perseverance in both. These are all comprehen­ded in the second part of the great promise, They shall be my people. Which though it be properly, the matter of their own stipulation, yet for this also the Lord himself undertakes.

You shall be my people. Two things are hereby signified:

1. I will accoun [...] you, and reckon you for mine. You shall have the priviledge and the blessing of my people. I will s [...]t you apart, and separate you to my self, out of all the tribes and kindreds of the earth; and will avouch you for my portion and peculiar possession I will set you as the apple of mine eye, as a seal upon mine heart, and up­on mine arm.

I will mark you out for the people of my love; of you will I take care, for you will I provide, with you are my delights, over you will I rejoyce, with you will I dwell, and you shall dwell with me for ever.

2. I will not only reckon you for my people, but I wi [...] [Page 81] undertake for you, that you shall consent to me, ac­cept of me, own me, follow me, and cleave to me as my people. I will not onely seperate you to my self, but I will fashion you for my self. I will sancti­fie you, and guide you, & teach you, and help you. I will fulfil in you all the good pleasure of my will. I will work all your works in you, I will avouch you for my people, and you shall avouch me for your God. You shall love me, fear me, obey me; I will keep you from falling, and preserve you to my heavenly kingdom.

Particularly, the Lord hath promised to give them,

• 1. A new heart.
• 2. An heart to know the Lord.
• 3. One heart.
• 4. An heart of flesh.
• 5. An heart to love the Lord.
• 6. An heart to fear the Lord.
• 7. An heart to obey the Lord.
• 8. An heart to persevere to the end.

1. A new heart. Ezek. 36.26. A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.

This new heart (I take it) is the genus of all the following graces; and therefore the less shall suffice to be spoken of it here. A new heart, that i [...] ▪ not physically new in regard of substance, but morall onely, in regard of qualities.

This new heart signifies both another heart, and a more excellent heart. 'Tis said of Caleb, Num. 14.24. that he had another heart. And this other [Page 82] heart is declared to be a more excellent heart than was in the rest of the people. Whilst they, either followed not the Lord, or but haltingly, he follow­ed the Lord fully, Prov. 17 27. A man of under­standing is of an excellent spirit.

There is another heart, that is not a new heart. Nebuchadnezzar had another, but no new heart; the heart of a beast, for the heart of a man; an evil heart grown worse, is not a new heart, but the old heart grown older.

We read 1 Sam 10.9. that when Saul was a­nointed King, God gave (him) another heart; this was a more excellent heart, than he had before, and yet not the heart here promised. He gave to him another heart, that is the spirit of government; the heart of a King, for the heart of a private per­son; a more publick, raised, heroick heart; the heart of a King fitted to the station and office of a King

The excellencies of this new heart are no natu­ral, but spiritual excellencies, as will appear more in the handling of the particular graces promised; and are such as fit them for their new

• state
• work
• reward.

1. For their new state; Christians are made [...] children of God, vessels of honour, a Royal prie [...]hood, an Holy Nation, a peculiar people; and God gives them an heart, answering the dignity of their High calling.

[Page 83]2. For their new work; a Christian hath other work to do, than other men; whilest their business lies all here below, in this Earth; in their Fields, and Vineyards, &c. Christians work lies above, with their God, and their Jesus; and within, about their nobler, and immortal part; their work is spiritual, and such is the heart that is given to them.

3. For their new reward. God intends better things to them; a better portion; a better hope, better comforts, joys, delights here; and a better inheritance hereafter; and he prepares them better hearts, to receive these better things; he will not put his new wine into old bottles.

The excellencies of this new heart may be re­duced to these three:

1. A new Light; discovering the dignity of their state, the spirituality of their work, the glory of their reward.

2. A new Law, or frame, or bent of spirit; in­clining disposing and fitting them to all that which they are made for. And this is the meaning of Gods writing his Law in the heart. The Law written in the heart, signifies, not onely the Law made known in the heart, but the heart made suita­ble to the Law; and adapted to the obedience of it. There is a kind of connaturalness betwixt the new heart, and all that the Law requires.

3. A new power. enabeling them for their new work. We have all these mentioned in one Scrip­ture, 2 Tim. 1.7. God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of Power, and of Love, and of a sound mind. [Page 84] [A sound mind] there's the new light; [a spirit of Love] there's the new Law, or frame and with these, [a spirit of Power.]

In summ this new heart is the divine nature; the image of God renewed; the life of God begotten, Christ formed in them. An heart after Gods own heart, containing in it all those graces of the Spirit, wherein stands their likeness to God, and their capacity of serving, and enjoying of him This is the heart the Lord will give. A new heart will I give unto you.

Against all those glorious things promised before, it would be objected; A Kingdom promised? glory and honour, and everlasting blessedness, granted? Alas, what is all this to me? to whom is it promised! or upon what terms? when I consider what is re­quired, 'tis all one to me, as if there had been no­thing promised. The way to this Blessedness is too narrow, the Gate is too strait for me ever to hope to enter. What ever the price be, the strictness, and severities of a Christian course, the very fore sight of them does amaze, and confound me. Live a new life? deny my self? take up my Cross? follow Christ? spend my dayes in Fasting, and Praying, and Mourning? live by Rule? look to every step, to every word, to every thought? &c. all these things are against me. A new life? a new course? if this be it, I shall never bear it. No man having tasted of the old, will endure this new way; for he saith, the old is better. 'Tis all one to me, as if there had been no Christ, no Gospel, no Kingdom pro­mised, [Page 85] if it cannot be obtained upon other terms than these. I were even as good sit down as I am, and run the venture of what follows, as to feed my self with hopes, of that which I see, I can never obtain. If I do but move Heaven [...]wards, the stream carries me down; If I do but take up a thought, make an Essay, set a foot forwards towards this new course, I find mine old things hang in my heels. My old customes, my old companions, mine old pleasures, and ease, and liberties, quickly pull me back. O what shall I do? I must be undone, I must be a lost and damned wretch. Fain I would be happy, but I cannot be Holy. I dread, I often tremble to think of loosing Christ▪ and the blessings of his Gospel; but this wretched heart is too hard for me, and will not come on towards it. I am a­shamed, I am plagued to think, what I am like to lose, and for how little; but I cannot help it; the way is such, that this Foolish heart will never en­dure it.

Why hearken soul: The Lord that hath called thee to this new course, will give thee a new heart. And there is not any thing required in an Holy life so Irksome, and so contrary to thee; but this new heart is so fitted, & suited to it, that it will become easie to thee. Its pain will be pleasant, its severity will be liberty, its very drudgery (as thou countest it) will be a great delight, Psal. 40 8. I delight to do thy will, O God, thy law is within mine heart. And Psal. 1.2. of the renewed soul us said, his delight is in the law of the Lord ▪ In the original, his will, his [Page 86] heart, is in the Law. The Law is in the Heart, & his Heart is in the Law. Gods will end his are the same, Whatever God bids him do, his heart bids him do; and his hand will never say his heart nay, He that delights in the Law, and as it is a Law, commanding such things, will never grudge to do what it commands. Where tis a pleasure to be commanded, tis no pain to obey. Whatever work the Law cuts him out, it is work he loves. Bid him pray, bid him watch, bid him walk humbly with his God; 'tis work he loves; 'tis in his heart to do it. Bid a Saint draw nigh to God in any duty; 'tis as if you bid the hungry to eat, or the thirsty to drink, the naked to be cloathed, the beggar to come for an alms, or the poor labourer for a dayes work. Bid a Christian to deny himself, to crucifie his flesh; 'tis the same as if you bid him, deny thine enemy, revenge thy self on thine enemy; such revenge is sweet: but O how pleasant is it to him, to be called to a life of praise? to live above in the light, in the love, in the joy of the Lord? to be searching, and studying & looking into, and admi [...]ing those ever­lasting treasures of spiritual and Heavenly delights laid up in God? to behold his face, to live in his presence, and to dwell in the light of his counte­nance? it is true, there is some remaining difficulty and Irksomness in the sweetest works of Religion, as far forth as the heart is unrenewed and is yet car­nal; deny my self? moritifie lust? forsake my com­panions? withdraw from iniquity? Why what is this but to cut off my hand? to pluck out mine eyes? [Page 87] to tear my flesh? walk with God? seek his face? dwell in his presence? [...] all one, as to bid me seed on the air, wander on the Mountains, dwell in the Wilderness; and as much pleasure can I find in the one, as in the o­ther. 'Tis so indeed, as far as thou remainest carnal; the Lord God and all his ways are a Wilderness, a land of darkness to thee; but as much as thou hast of this new heart, so much ease and pleasure, thou wilt find herein.

Desponding Soul; thou saist, thou art yet ignorant, and hast little knowledge of the way of the Lord; but behold a new light to lead thee. Thou art yet carnal, and thy heart is contrary, and ever quarrelling at it; but the new nature will end the old quarrel. Thou art weak and impotent, the work is too hard for thee, if thou lovedst it never so well; but what will this be, when thou art endued with power from on high.

O Friend wouldst thou indeed live this new life, get this new heart. But oh there lies the difficulty; how or where shall I get it? Why, have recourse to the Cove­nant, there it lies for thee. But how shall I get it thence? why hath the Lord promised to give it thee? take the word from his mouth, and put it into thine own; turn the word of promise, into a prayer? Doth he say [I will give] let thy soul answer, give Lord, give me this new heart. I am weary Lord, and thou art weary also of this wicked heart, at once ease thy self and me; Take away this, and give me a better heart. Turn the word of promise into a prayer, and then turn the word of prayer into a word of faith He says [ I will give] let thy faith say [ thou wilt give] I shall have it; since thou hast said, thy servant also may boldly say, Thou wilt do it. Thou wilt give me a better heart. Farewel my old sins, lusts and companions; farewell mine old pleasures, and ways; now for Heaven in earnest, now wellcome the strait gate, the new and living way. Old things are past a­way, [Page 88] all things shall become new. Turn the word of promise into a prayer, turn thy prayer into a word of Faith, and God will turn the word of Faith into a word of Command. Be it according to thy word. Let there be a new light, let there be a new Law, let there be a new Power; let there be no more a spirit of fear in his heart, but a spirit of Power, of love, and of a sound mind. And as when he said in the creation of the great world, Let there be light, let there be a Firmament, let there be a Sun and Moon, It was so: so when he shall say, in the New Creation of this little world, let there be light, let there be love, let there be power; let us again make man in our image, after our own likeness; It shall be so. The Lord hath said, I will, let thy Prayer say, Do it Lord; let thy Faith say, Thou wilt do it, and God will say, Amen, So be it.

CHAP. X. An Heart to know the Lord.

II. AN heart to know the Lord, Jer. 24.7 I will give them an heart to know me. The knowledge of God is the first excellency of the new heart. As in the old, so in the new Creation (as was said before) the first word is, Let there be light. There is not so glori­ous a preheminence of day above night, as of the know­ledge, above the ignorance of God. As the Firmament without a Sun, as the body without an eye, so is the soul without knowledge. What this knowledge of God here promised is, will appear, if we consider, Its

• Object.
• Act.

1. The Object of this Knowledge is, God, not only the Nature or being of God, manifested in his Essential Per­fections, [Page 89] his Glorious Attributes, his Infiniteness, Eternity, Omnipotenc [...], &c. In his Personal Relations, the Subsisten­ces in the God-head; but God in Christ, God in Cove­nant; yea the whole mind and will of God, all that which God hath revealed to us, as our Duty or Happiness.

God known in the heart, is the whole Bible opened; The Law opened, the Gospel opened; Duties, Comforts Priviledges made manifest. Christ opened in his Suffer­ings, in his Satisfaction, in his Spirit, in all the Riches of his Glory; the whole mystery of Godliness revealed. The Heart opened, Man made known to himself, all the depths of the heart, all the deceits of the heart, all the faculties and powers of the heart; with their motions, operations, inclinations, the rectitude, or obliquities of them. Heaven opened, the Crown, the Kingdom known; everlasting rest, glory, honour, immortality, brought to light. Hell opened, sin known, the Devil known, Wrath, Temptations, the Curse, Eternal fire known. All this, even all that God is, and all that he hath revealed in his Word and Works, are the object of this Knowledge of God.

2. The Act. To know, is to apprehend, or under­stand God, and the things of God; Jer 9.24 Let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he (understandeth) and knoweth me. Eph. 3.18, 19. That ye may comprehend with all Saints, what is the heighth and length, and breadth and depth, that ye may know the love of Christ: This ap­prehension of God, doth not barely note our having received some natural, or Metaphysical Notions of God, and the Truths that are in him; But further it notes:

1. An Approbation of him; an approving or liking the things that are excellent. Phil. 1.9, 10. That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all Judgments, that ye may approve the things tha [...] are excellent.

2. Appropriation. The knowing of God as a recon­ciled [Page 90] God; a God, and a God to me; good, and good to me; wise, and wise for me: My Lord and my God: To know God in Christ, reconciled through Christ; propitious through Christ, this is saving knowledge. To know, and not possess, to see and not eat, to know an angry God, a wrathful God, a God lost; to know goodness, mercy, loving-kindness, compassion, alsufficien­cy, and to have the heart recurre, what is this to thee? this is none of thine; the damned thus know and dye.

3. Affection. As Psal. 9.10. Those that know thy Name, shall trust in thee; So those that know thy name, will love thee, and fear thee, and rejoyce in thee, and bless thy Name; to know and hate God, to know and contemn God, to know and fly from God, to know and Blaspheme and curse God, the Devils thus know and tremble.

But especially that which distinguishes this saving from common knowledge, is; Its

• Power.
• Savour.

1. It's Power, [...]he knowledge of God is mighty; my preaching was not weak, but mighty, in you, 2 Cor. 13 it hath.

• A Transforming, Power.
• A Fructifying Power.

1. A Transforming power, 2 Cor. 3.18. We all with open face, beholding as in a Glass, the Glory of rhe Lord, are changed into the same Image, Rom. 12.2. Be ye not con­formed to this present world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, [by the renewing of your minds] the renovation of the mind, both is this change, and works it farther upon the whole Soul, this new light is the new creature; old things pass away, all things be­come new, where the mind is savingly enlightned; God known in the Soul, is God united to the Soul; Christ re­vealed in the heart, is Christ formed upon the heart; [Page 91] there's life in this light, it is no other than the light of life. The Knowledge of God comprehends in it, and is involved in, and spirits and animates every grace and duty; as the same Soul, in the eye sees, in the ear hears, in the palate tasts; as the same juyce which is in the Olive fatness, in the Fig-tree sweetness, in the Oak strength, in the Rose fragrancy, in the Lilly beauty; So the same grace, which in the mind, is light; in the heart, is love, holy desire, holy fear, holy joy; and one says, that as feeling is inseparable to all the Organs of sense; the eye feels and sees, the ear feels and hears, the palate feels and tasts, the nostrils feel and smell; So knowledge is involv­ed in every grace; Faith knows and believes, Charity knows and loves, Temperance knows and abstains, Pati­ence knows and suffers, Humility knows and stoops, Re­pentance knows and mourns, Obedience knows & does, Compassion knows and pities, Hope knows and expects, Confidence knows and rejoyces; And therefore we be­lieve, and love, and obey, and hope, and rejoyce, be­cause we know. God gives us this knowledge as the eye of our Souls, and by that eye, he enters with all his pow­er and Glory, Eph. 3.19 That ye may know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God. Day-light is not that light we receive by reflection from the Moon and Stars, at second hand; when the Sun is risen, and come in among us, then it is [...]ay; When the Sun of Righteousness is risen in the heart there is the light of life; God is, and God dwells in this light, and where God dwells, every unclean thing vani­shes; can Darkness dwell with the Sun? can Death dwell with Life? according to the measure of the mani­festation of God in us, so far forth is sin necessarily va­nished. Thou art but the carcase of a Christian, the light that is in thee is darkness, the life that is in thee is Death, if thou be not in the whole man renewed, after the [Page 92] Image of him that Created thee. If Christ be not formed in thy heart, if the Love, the Humility, the Meekness, the Pati­ence, the Compassion, the Holiness of the Lord Jesus, be not begotten in thee; whatever thou knowest, thou knowest no­thing as thou oughtest to know; if thou hast all knowledge, and hast not Charity; and so, if thou hast all knowledge, and hast not Humility, Meekness, Holiness, thou art nothing; thou art but as sounding Brass, or a tinkling Cimbal. Doubting Christian, that complainest of, and bewailest thine ignorance, and fearest that thou knowest n [...]t God, look upwards, where his Glory dwells; lift up thine eyes and see; or if thou canst not see, lift up thy heart for eyes; Lord, where dwellest thou? let me see thy face, shew me thy Glory, pity thy blind, let the eyes of this blind be opened, and the Tongue of this Dumb shall be loosed, and speak forth thy praise▪ Look upward, and if thou seest not thy God, look inward; canst thou see his Face in thy Soul? canst thou see his Image on thy heart? canst thou behold in (this) Glass the Glory of the Lord, and find thy self changed into his Image? Comfort thine heart, how short sighted soever thou seem­est to be, how dim soever thy Candle burns, how weak soever in the Knowledge of God, thou complainest thou art; thou hast seen God, thou hast seen his face in peace; God that commanded the light to shine out of Darkness, hath shined into thine heart, and given thee the Know­ledge of his Glory in the face of J [...]sus Christ.

2 A F [...]uctifying power, this Sun-shine makes a fruitful Soil, Col. 1.9, 10. my desire for you, (saith the Apostle) is, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful unto every good work, and encreasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all Might, according to his glorious power: unto all patience, and long sufferings, with joyfulness. And [Page 93] Phil. 1.11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. Full of Light, and full of Love, of Faith, of Patience, of Humility, and Fruitful in every good work: Mat. 12 35. A good man out of the good Trea­sure, of the heart, bringeth forth good things, an evil man out of the evil Treasure, bringeth forth evil things.

A good man hath a good treasure within him; a treasure of Heavenly Wisdom, of Divine Truth; a treasure of Light; God hath shined into his heart; He is filled with all the fulness of God; And what is laid up within, he brings forth without; An evil man hath an evil treasure, Satan hath been filling his heart, Acts 5.3. Why hath Satan filled thine heart? the treasures of Darkness are there; a treasure of Lust and Lies; Falshood & Folly are found with him, these treasures of darkness within, bring forth dark­ness; dark souls, lead dark lives, their way is dark, their deeds are darkness; O how fruitful are sin­ners in their unfruitful works; filled with all unright­teousness, Fornication, Wickedness, Coveteousness, Malici­ousness, Envy, Murther, Debate, Deceit, Malignity, &c. Rom. 1.29, 30. Their hearts are full, and thereupon their mouths full, their eyes full, their hands full; mouths full of Cursings, eyes full of Adultery, hands full of violence, filled with all unrighteousness: O Generation of Vipers, how can ye being evil, (having such hearts) speak good things? all is evil that comes from you, & how can it be otherwise? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks: And in like manner, O Generation of Believers! [Page 94] How can ye being good, but bring forth good things? Or how can you say, or think, there is a treasure of Grace, a Fountain of light within, when no streams spring forth? Penury in the life, speaks no great plenty in the heart; the Truths of God within you are the Seed of God, the good seed that he sows in his fields; where there is good seed sown in good ground, you will expect a fruitful Harvest; a barren crop, speaks a barren soil, or no good seed sown there.

1 John 2.3 Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his Commandements. We know God; but are you sure of it, are you not mistaken? No, we are not mistaken, we know that we know him: But how do you know it? Why, how are Trees known? By their fruits ye shall know them. How do ye know that this is indeed the Tree of Knowledge? Why, see what fruits are hanging upon it, we keep the Commandments; here is Obedience growing, here is Holiness, and Righteousness, and Mercy: Doubtless this is the right Tree, for behold all the Commandments, the two Tables, hanging upon the boughs of it, & not broken, but kept and observed: We may as well say, Obedience is no Obedience, Duty is no Duty, Faith, and Love, and Humility, and Patience are not what they are, as that the Tree that brings forth this fruit is not the Tree of Know­ledge: We know that we know him, because we keep his Commandments. Yea, and the Tree of Life too, both in one: A tree of life to them that lay hold up­on her, Prov. 3.18. Where these fruits are not found, [Page 95] where are nothing but shews, and sounds, painted fruits; where are nothing but the fruits of unrigh­teousness, contention, strife, covetousness, sensuality, and the like: he is very ignorant indeed, that is not able to say, Whatever I am ignorant of, this one thing I know, that I know not God. Christian, boast not of what thou hast, but consider what thou doest, try thy head by thine heart, and thy heart by thine hand: Judge of thy light by thy love, & thy love by thy life; say not that God hath shined into thine heart, unless thy light shine, thy works shine before men: The path of the just shineth, Prov. 4. It is but a form of Knowledge that brings forth but a form of Godliness: he that holdeth the Truth in unrighteousness, hath not the Truth, in truth in him: Thou sayst thou knowest the Lord, but what say thy ways? do these speak the same things? Action is the best Interpreter of the Inner-man, feel the pulses of thy heart, what watchfulness, what holiness, hath thy Knowledge brought forth? Hast thou received the Spirit, who yet walkest in the Flesh? What, Heaven in thine heart, & nought but Earth in thy hand? Truth in thine heart, and Lyes in thy mouth? Holiness in thy heart, Glory in thine heart, and in thy Tongue nothing but filth or froth? What, an heart so full, & a life so empty? How can these things be? Hath the light in thine heart given laws only to thine heart? or doth thine heart submit, whilst thy tongue rebels and thou kickest with the heel?

Wo to us, Christians, that sinners should be so [Page 96] full, and Saints so empty; that they should spea [...] what they have seen with their Fathers, and w [...] should speak no more what we have seen with our Father; that Oaths, and Lyes, and Blasphemies, and scoffs, and cursing▪ should be so rise in theirs; and that truth, and goodness, and holiness, blessings and praises, should be no more in our mouths; tha [...] there should be so much guile in theirs, & so little grace in our lips; that the shade should be more fruitful than the Sun; that the good should be onely the barren ground; that their habitations should be so full of violence, and oppression, and wantonness; and no more mercy, and righteous­ness, and sobriety in ours.

Wo to us, that we know so much to so little pur­pose; that we should be bushels to hide, and not rather candlesticks to hold forth the candle of the Lord, he hath sighted up in us! Oh how many dark souls might our candle lead on to the Sun▪ The light that is in Israel, might do much to the turning Egypt into a Goshen: speak, Christians, speak what you have seen, and testifie what you have be­lieved; bring forth out of your treasure; pity the blind world; or at least be more helpful one to another. Instruct as you have been instructed; convince as you have been convinced; comfort as you have been comforted of God. Out vie sinners, let not their mouths be so full of cursing, as yours of blessing; whilst theirs are so full of blasphemies, let it be said of you as of your Lord, Full of grace are their lips. Good words are not wind, you may [Page 97] reckon them not amongst the leaves, but the fruit. Whilst you are speaking of the things of God, you are therein doing the will of God. I confess the Proverb is true, The greatest talkers are not always the greatest doers. But 'tis true also, he is seldome a great doer, that hath no­thing to say. There is a speaking which is our doing, There is a speaking in a way of boasting, to magnifie and set up our selves; beware of that; and there is a speaking to the use of edifying, to build up our brethren. When we are thus speaking to instruct, to convince, to awaken, and whe [...] on our own, and others spirits to our work, we are then in doing our work. Speak, Christians, and speak often the things that you know▪ onely let me add, Let your lives speak also, and not onely your lips. If you would not be vain-talkers, be all tongue, let your lips speak and your hands speak, and your Feet speak, let your Works and your Ways speak the wonderful things of God. Bring forth what you have received; he that is all inside, & he that is all outside, are equally nothing. The one is a shadow without substance, the others substance is but a shadow: the one is a deceiver, the other a deceived Soul: the one boasts himself, the other thinks himself something▪ but neither is any thing.

Christians, be full of good fruits, and you will make full proof that your wisdom is from above, If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Weakling Christians, that knowest but little of God, and calling that little nothing; whilst thou doubtest the light hath not shined into thee, dost thou walk in that little light thou hast? dost thou shine as a light in the world? dost thou know how to be holy, and humble, and harmless, and honest? dost thou live under the Power of those truths thou knowest? dost thou fear the Lord, and obey the voice of his servants? trust in the Lord, and stay thy self on thy God; thou art a child of light, though through thy [Page 98] trembling heart, thou walkest in darkness. Having not seen thou lovest, and believing thou shalt rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

2. Its savour. 2 Cor. 2.14 And maketh manifest the sa­vour of his knowledge, by us in every place. The Knowledge of God is sweet-sented; it casts forth a fragrancy, where it comes It hath a gratefulness to the heart, leaves sweet im­pressions on the senses o [...] the Saints. They taste that the Lord is gracious As their breathings go up as sweet in­cense, so his beams come down with like sweetness to them. As 'twas said of Christ, so of God Cant▪ 1 3. The Name of the Lord is an Ointment, poured forth, Why what is his name? Exod: 34.6 This is his name. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful, and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and tru [...]h; keeping mercy for thousands, for giving iniquity, Transgression, and sin. Oh what a bundle of Myrrhe, what a garden of Spices, is here Enclosed? What a sweet smelling Savour doth it send forth to them who have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil?

The Name of the Lord is a precious Ointment, and the Knowledge of God, is this Ointment poured forth. Where God is known in the soul, there his sweet savour is shed abroad. The thoughts of God are precious, the ways of God are pleasant to them that understand them. His fruit was sweet unto my taste. O the ineffable plea­sures of Religion! the carnal world count it a jejune and insipid thing; they cannot taste; and no wonder, for they do not see the things of God, nor can they, because they are spiritually discerned. Let God be savingly known, and then you will find what the savour of his knowledge is. This light is sweet, it is a pleasant thing to behold the Sun. O my Soul, let thy walks, let thy dwelings be in this gar­den of the Lord; let the Sun shine, and the smell of his spices shall flow forth unto thee. O my Lord, shed abroad [...]hy sweet O▪, n [...]m [...]n [...]s, let the smell of thy garments refresh [Page 99] my soul. Let me taste and see, let me see, and I shall taste that the Lord is gracious.

Vanish all ye carnal pleasures, and sensual de­lights; these rose buds rot, the flowers of your gardens wither, dead flyes are in all your oynt­ments; the light of the Lord hath shined all your glories into darkness. The waters of the Sanctu­ary have made all your waters brackish; there remains no pleasure in them.

He that hath known the Lord, hath more or less according to the measure of his knowledge, received in the relish and sweetness of it; and what he hath received in, he sends forth before men; he hath received, and he is a sweet savour. As the Preachers, so the Practioners of Piety, are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, and hand down the sweetness of God unto men. They are of sa­voury lips, and of savoury lives; the savour of their graces is shed abroad in the Churches of Christ. Carnal hearts send forth a stench instead of a sweet smell; they are all rottenness, the sa­vour of a sepulchre is all they have. Their ways stink, their words stink, their very breath smells of a rotten heart. Yea, the very best they have, their pleasures stink, their garments, their gallan­try, their powders, and perfumes, & sweet odours stink, of their proud and vain, and sensual hearts. But O what a scent do their Ulcers, and their Ex­crements, their Oaths, and their Curses, and their Scoffs, and their Lyes send forth? Sinners, learn to know the Lord, and this will quickly change [Page 100] your savour. And you that know any thing of God, think not that your knowledge is saving till your souls have received in, and your ways do send forth the savour of his knowledge.

The last of these, the savour of this knowledge, the pleasure that it brings into the soul, though taken alone, it is but of uncertain signification; there may be some pleasure and joy arise from the common knowledge of God; & sometimes but little taste, where there is the truth of Religion. But taken in conjunction with the former, where is found both the power, and the savour, the evidence of its sound­ness will be more full. Find all together, this transforming, this fruc [...]ifying, this savoury know­ledge, and you may rest satisfied, that this is the saving knowledge of God. And of this is the promise, I will give them an heart to know me.

Oh! how much need have we, still to wait, & beg, for the accomplishment of this promise? how little sound knowledge is there found among us? Some are weak in knowledge, who have been long taught of God, and yet are not taught of God: God hath been teaching them but they have not learned of him. They have had a good Master, but have been ill Scholars; weak men, so we call a man of low understanding a weak man. Oh! how many weak Souls a [...]e there, even among pro­fessing Christians? who, though for their time they might have been teachers of others, had yet need be taught the first Principles of the Oracles of God. Some men have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to their shame, 1 Cor. 15.

[Page 101]Others are men of knowledge, but of weak knowledge; who know much, but to little purpose; their great knowledge hath little power in them; their lusts are too strong for their light, Isa. 8.11. I spake unto thee with a strong hand, & instructed thee. If God have spoken to these men, yet his hand hath not instructed them; the nail hath not been struck deep enough, it dwells in the head only, it hath not reached their heart, they have an eye, but far enough from having an heart to know the Lord. Their knowledge doth not lead them on to Religion, but must serve them instead of Reli­gion: It is all the Religion they have, to know what it is: 'tis made to serve, and not suffered to guide, and govern; to serve their turns, to serve their interest, to serve their pride and their cove­teousness; their knowledge of God makes them Devils, it helps them to play the Hypocrites, to be Deceivers of others, yea and of their own Souls: It will seek them out acceptable words, put prayers into their mouths, praises into their lips, spiritua­lize their Language, furnish them with savoury Discourses; carry them plausibly through Duties; wherein, though God hath the Name, though Souls have the Name, yet are they all but sacrifices to their Lusts; The Knowledge of God humbleth, but this knowledge puffeth up, and lifteth up; puffeth them up in their own, and lifteth them up in others thoughts; and when it hath done this, it hath done them all the service they have for it to do, unless it may be, they have some worse [Page 102] work for it; To make rents and devisions in the Church of Christ, to maintain Disputes, to cavel and quarrel, to divide, and make parties, to make twenty Religions out of one, till at length they make that one to be none. Whilst the Apostle says, some men have not the knowledge of God: I spake this to your shame; I may say also, some men have the knowledge of God, I speak this to their shame. What, the knowledge of God, and no more Humility? The knowledge of God and no more Charity? I speak this to your shame. Have the Faith of Christ in respect of persons? have the knowledge of God in respect of Parties? Know God and yet divide and scatter, and con­found them that are of God? yea, and contend and quarrel about such small differences, as some­times is seen; here is God, and not there; with us, and not with you; when it may be a little Charity would tell you, for the main, he may be with both; and so much uncharitableness makes it a question, whether with either? The more such men pretend to the knowledge of God, the greater their shame.

Friends, beware you be not undone, either by your ignorance, or your knowledge. Love not dark­ness, call not darkness light; call not that the know­ledge of God which is not; mis use not that which is; hast thou no Knowledge? What, and such a promise before thee? I will give them an heart to know me; they shall all know me! What, and such a Gospel before thee, the work whereof, is to open blind eyes, and to turn from darkness to light▪ [Page 103] open thy mouth sinner, and God will open thine eyes; ask, and thou shalt have, seek, and thou shalt find; See, wi [...]k not at the light, that shines round about thee; Love not darkness, if thou love not death; This is eternal Life to know thee. What then is ignorance? there's death in thine heart, if there be no light in thine eye.

Hast thou Knowledge? be thankful, and be humble; be not high minded, but fear; prize it, but do not abuse it. Hast thou received the Knowledge of the Truth? Live un­der the Power of the truth, thou knowest; resign up thy self to it, to its transforming power; give it leave to work and to change thee into its own Image. Let this new light make thee a new man to its governing Power, let it teach thee and rule thee; let it teach as one that hath Authority, let it Rule, till it hath put all thine enemies under thy feet; till every thought, Imagination, every bi [...]ning be made low, and brought into captivity to Christ. Let not the light of the Lord, help thee to do the Devil's work; Let it not be fodder for thy flesh, lest it be fuel for thy flames; Let it not repent thy God nor thee, that ever thou hadst such a Talent commited to thee; Let it neither be loss to God, nor the eternal loss of thine own Soul: He that hath appeared on earth in beams of light, will be revealed from Heaven in flames of fire, rendering vengeance to all that [Know God] and obey not the Gospel of Christ: Wo to those that neither know nor obey, but Oh! what to those that obey not, though they Know?

Christians, know the Lord, but know and fear; know and serve, know and honour thy God; Know God, and know thy self, thy sin, and thy misery, thy dangers and thy Temptations; Know and mourn, know and be ashamed, know and fear, and watch, and fight, and overcome. Know God, and know his Will; thy Duty and thy Way, thy Pri­viledges and Opportunities, thy Race and thy crown Know and do, and run, and suffer, and wait, and hope, and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God. Know God, but God in [Page 104] Christ; God reconciled; pardoning, absolving, accepting, through him Know, and believ [...], accept, adventure upon resign, commit thy self to him Know thy God and be­hold Him, look upon thy God, in his Power, in his Wisdome, in his Holiness, in his Goodness, in his Loving-kindness, in his Mercy. Behold him in his Word, in his Works, in his Providence, in his Saints, in thy Soul, in his Son; Set him before thine eyes look upon thy God, and ne­ver leave looking, till thou art changed into his Image, and satisfied with his Visage; and when thou art brought up to this, then he hath done for thee, what he hath said: I will give them an heart to know me.

CHAP. XI. One Heart.

III. ONe Heart Ezek. 11.19. I will give them one heart; We read, Hos. 14.11. Ephraim is like a silly Dove; without an heart, Hath no heart at all; none for his God, that's as good as none; and Psal. 12.2. We read that Is­rael had a double Heart, an Heart, and an Heart; more hearts than one, but sayes the Lord, I will give them an Heart, and it shall be but one, and no more.

For the opening of this (to let pass the signification it hath, as it respects Christians collectively) as it respects each particular Christian: This one Heart may be taken as opposed.

• To A wavering Heart.
• To A divided Heart.
• To A double Heart.

1. As opposed to a wavering, unstable Heart, Jam. 1.6, 8. Wavering minded men have almost as many hearts as they live dayes, or meet with cases; An heart that changes with the weather, and tacks about with every wind, that [Page 105] resolves and repents, that chuses and changes; that like a wave of the Sea, is toss [...]d about with every wind: This you may call, either many hearts, or no heart, as you will: Thus this one heart is a fixed, established, resolved heart, Heb 13.9. It is good that the heart be [established] with grace Grace fixes, and establishes the heart, brings it to a con­sistency in it self, which before was any thing or nothing.

2. As opposed to a divided heart, Hos. 10.2. An heart cut in two as it were; some talk, that the Devil hath a cloven foot, but whatever the Devils foot be, to be sure, his Sons have a cloven heart, one half for God, the other half for sin; one half for Christ, the other half for this pre­sent World; God hath a corner in it, and the rest is for sin and the Devil: Thus this one heart is an intire heart; all the powers of it are united within it self, and go the same way; God hath the whole heart. Psal. 103.1. Bless the Lord, O my Soul and all that is within me, bless his holy Name. All its springs are in him and thither do all its streams bend their course.

3. As opposed to a double heart, or an Hypocritical heart, properly so called. Psal. 12.2, 3. that's it which is called an heart, and an heart; an heart in the breast, and another in the tongue. Our out side is presum'd to be an expression of our inside; what we speak, we pretend to be our very hearts. 'Tis the very heart in the tongue that speaks; the heart in the eye that weeps; the heart in the hand that works; the heart in the foot, that walks; no, 'tis not so with the Hypocrite, he shews another heart in his tongue, in his ways than that which is within him He hath an heart, and an heart, one in his tongue or life, and quite another in his breast. His course speaks him another man, than he is: and thus one heart signifies a single or a plain heart.

To sum up all together; this one heart is such as

• 1. Pitches on one end.
• 2. Has but one thing to do.
• [Page 106]3 Does what it does.

1. Pitches on one en [...]. God is its end. There it wholly bestows it self? I am [...]. Psal 1 19. And there only it takes up its rest. Psal. 39 7 And now Lord what wait I for? my hope is in thee God is both its work and its wages. To please God, this is its whole business, and to injoy God, this is its happiness. Thi [...] is the mark it hath in its eye, this is the sc [...]pe of all its motions, to honour and enioy God This it wills, this it loves, this it desires, designs, hopes, labours for, that the Lord may possess, and be the possession of it. Particularly, it gives God,

• The place
• The power

of the end.

1. The place of the end God is its first and last. He's first in the eye, and it looks no farther. It makes him not onely the chief, but in a sense its onely aim. It will have no other God, and therefore no other end, but the Lord. It makes all things else, not onely to stoop and stand by, but to serve to him Get you hence, stand off, is its language to all that stands up in his room, or stands in his way. Evil men, whatever honour they pretend to have for the Lord, they do but make him a servant to their other gods. Religion they will take up, but it is onely to serve their own turns, to bring about their carnal ends; they serve not the Lord, but their own bellies, saith the Apostle, Rom. 16.18. Phil. 3.19. Nay they make the Lord their fellow-servant. They serve, and their Religion must serve their sensual appetites. He that will have so much Religion only, as he may live up­on, (which is the measure of the most) makes the Lord no longer his God, but his servant A sincere Christian will set God upon the throne, and makes all things else his ser­vants or his foot stool Whatever will not be serviceable, must be trodden in the dirt. Nothing will be loved, and embraced, but what will set God higher or bring God near­er to his heart.

[Page 107]2. The power of the end; the end hath a four­fold power: it

• draws.
• directs.
• governs.
• rewards.

1. It draws the heart to it; God who is a Chri­stians end, is also his beginning. Our first step heaven ward, we owe to the influence of heaven upon us. Draw me, we will run after thee, Cant. 1. No man can come unto me, unless the Father which hath sent me, draw him. Nothing but God will do it, as nothing will draw the soul another way; the pleasures of sin, the wages of unrighteousness, are poor and low baits to entice a soul away from God; that is, so far as 'tis renewed; so it is no­thing but God that draws the soul on its way, and he will do it. God draws the soul not by an act of power only, but by moral swasion, that is the proper casualty of the end. Not by efficiency on­ly, but by sympathy; as by the water, the thirsty soul is drawn to the water-brooks.

It is God that draws hearts after him; there are Instruments, as his Word and Ministers; and there are arguments by which God draws; but whate­ver the instruments or arguments are, it is God that does it. What is the work of either Word, or Ministers, but to set God before them? & this draws. Instruments can do nothing, unless God be the Preacher by them; Arguments can do no­thing, unless he be the medium of them; as it was [Page 108] said concerning the peoples following Saul, so much more concerning those that follow the Lord.

Those only follow him, whose hearts God hath touched. It is not mans touching, but Gods touching the heart, that draws it heaven ward. The tongue of man may touch the ear, it is God only that touches the heart. And when he touches, then the heart will follow. As you know the Needle when it is touched with a Loadstone, then it turns after it. The Loadstone is not more natural at­tractive of the Needle, than God is of that heart which he hath touched. Cant. 5.4. My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved in me. He did but touch the door, and her heart felt him, and moved towards him.

O Christians, when you have been waiting up­on God in Prayer, Hearing, or any other spiritu­al Duty, or Ordinance; consider, Hath mine heart been touched this day? My tongue hath been touched, mine ear hath been touched, mine heart hath been treated with, but hath the Lord touched it? hath there Vertue come forth from him, which hath enticed and drawn my Soul af­ter him? Sometimes by a Message, or Visit from Heaven, the Lord hath drawn a good word from the lip, a tear from the eye; but O for touches upon souls, for turning of bowels, for the flowings out of hearts after the Lord; He is the only load­stone that prevails on gra [...]ious Souls.

Others that have many hearts, have many attra­ctives; every heart hath its peculiar god; twenty [Page 109] gods it may be, in one man; because so many hearts. Their pleasures are their gods, their profits their gods, their belly their god; their wives, or their children, their gods; & so many gods, so many ends. And every end is a loadstone to draw them after them. Every heart will after its god A Christian, that hath but one heart, hath but one God, and this is he that draws it on its way. Thou sayst, The Lord is thy God, thou acknowledgest, thou ownest, thou hast chosen him for thine; but what doth thy God whom thou hast chosen do upon thine heart? what will the sight of God, or thy love to God, or thy hope in God, do upon thee? how far will it carry thee? which way runs thy heart? which way dost bend thy course? dost feel thy God drawing thee? & is thy heart running after him? Running, notes motion, and a swift or violent motion.

I shall lay before you these six or seven expres­sions, the Scripture uses, to note the running of those hearts after God, whom he hath drawn.

1. The desiring of the Soul after God. Isai. 26.8, 9. The desire of our Soul is to thy Name.—With my soul have I desired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. Desire is the soul in motion God wards. Towards him are their desires, and they come deep, ab intimis, ab imo pectore, from their inwards, from the bottom of the heart. With my soul have I desired thee, with my spirit within me will I seek thee. Psal. 38.9. Lord, all my desire is before thee: 'tis not all my desires, but my desire; thou seest all, and 'tis all but one [Page 110] desire. He desires pardon, he desires peace, he desires help, and the healing of his wounds; but all this is but one desire. God is all. One thing have I desired, Psal. 19 4

2. The thirsting of the soul. Psal. 42.2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. Thirsting is the extremity of desire; hunger and thirst are the appetite of desire heightened; violent and painful appetites; My soul thirsteth, and is in pain till it be satisfied.

3. The longing of the soul. Psal. 63 1. O God, thou art my God early will I seek thee: my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. Longing causeth languishing, and abortions, if it be not satisfied. Psal 119.20. My soul breaketh for the longing desire it hath to thy judgments. My heart panteth, my flesh faileth, the light of mine eyes is gone from me Psal. 38.10.

4 Calling after God, Psal. 4.1. Hear me [when I call] O God of my righteousness. Calling upon God, is the voice of desires. The desiring soul will not keep silence; the tongue, the eye, the ears the hands, the knees, must all be Oratours, when the flame is once kindled within.

5. Crying after the Lord. This is an expression answering the thirsting of the soul. Crying is a passionate, and importunate praying. I cryed unto the Lord with my whole heart, Psal. 119.145.

6 Crying out after God. This is the manner of the longing soul. Crying out, notes more than bare crying; loud cries, strong cries, forced out by [Page 111] a proxism of love, or an agony the soul is in. Psal. 84.2 My soul longeth, yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh [cryeth out] for the living God.

7. Following hard after the Lord, Psal. 63.8 My soul followeth hard after thee. This expression is more comprehensive, it notes, both all the work­ings, and breakings, and breathings of the soul within, and its diligent pursuing in the use of all outward means, and pressing on after the Lord. All those labourings, and watchings, and runnings, all that holy violence, wherewith a Saint presses into the Kingdom of God.

Put all this together, and you will see the pow­er and influence the Lord hath on holy Souls, to the drawing of them after him; they are in moti­on Heaven-ward; desiring, thirsting, longing, cal­ling, crying, crying out, following hard after him. What aileth these souls? what is the matter with them? what would they have? Judg. 19.23. What aileth thee, said the Danites once to Micah, that thou comest thus after us? What aileth thee? Why, you have taken away my gods, and what have I more. What aileth these crying, longing, running Souls? Why, it is after their God they cry, it is after their God they run. 1 King. 19.20. Go back Elisha, said once the Prophet to him, when he had cast his Mantle on him: Go back, for what have I done unto thee? What hast thou done? enough to hold me from going back: there went vertue with the Mantle; the Mantle fell on his heart, as well as his back, and drew it [Page 112] after the Prophet. Should you say thus to these, Go back Soul, go back from following thy God, for what hath he done unto thee? Oh he hath gotten mine heart; No, no, I cannot go back, he is my God, and what have I more?

2. The end guides & directs to means: Whither shall I go from thee? thou hast the words of eternal life.

3. The end governs; I shall put these both to­gether: What is it that Governs sinners but their ends? this points them out their work, and their way; this holds them to their work, & keeps them in their way; whatever fetters & chains, their lusts are to them, 'tis their carnal ends to which they are in bondage; these are [...]hey that lord it over them, & hereupon it is impossible to perswade a sinner to make a through change of his way, till he hath changed his ends: herein stands the conversion of a sinner, [...] the changing of his ends; when he ceases to be any longer to himself, to his flesh, to the world, and for a worldly happiness, and is brought about to pitch on God as his portion and happiness, to whom he devotes and dedicates him­self: there is conversion; Sin is our turning away, and conversion is turning back to our God. Belo­ved, consider not barely how, but to what you live; not only what you do, but what you would have; and never count your selves truly godly, whatever of God be in your way, till God be in your heart and eye: He that hath first chosen God, & there­fore a godly life; whose godliness of life springs forth as the fruit of his choice of the Lord: that is a godly man.

[Page 113]God governs as our King, and as our End; as our King by his Soveraignty, as our End by his Excellency; by his worthiness and goodness, as our King by Laws, as our End by love. Love will find out our way, will tell all our wandrings, will check us for our sins, sweeten our labours, quicken us on our course, cut out our way through dangers and difficulties, and keep us in our way, till we come to the fruition of our end. Therefore it is said by the Apostle, 1 Tim. 1.9. The Law is not for a righteous man. Love will save the Law a labour; the Law is not for a righteous man, not so much at least as for sinners; not as to the Coertion of it, though still as to its Obligation: the constraint of Love will much super­sede the Coertion of Laws.

4 The end, Rewards, they have their reward, Mat. 6. that is, they have their end the reputation for devout and charitable men, was the end of their Devotion and Chari­ty. They prayed, and fasted, and gave alms, for no o­ther end; and the obtaining that reputation, was their reward. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

God is the reward of his Saints, Gen▪ 15.1. I am thy exceeding great reward, Isai. 46 4. My judgment is with the Lord, and my reward with my God. God is the re­ward they [ shall] receive, and the reward they look to receive, Heb 11.29. Moses had [respect] to the recom­pence of reward.

And therefore the Argument is weighty, which Christ used to disswade his Disciples from being in their Devo­tions, in their Alms-deeds, as the Pharisees and Hypo­crites are, who disfigured their countenances in their fasts, who sounded a Trumpet to proclaim their Alms; Be ye not like them, for they have their reward. The Argument was strong to the Disciples, who being men of another spirit, could not be satisfied with such a reward.

In these two things Saints greatly differ from the men [Page 114] of this world; 1. They are not willing to defer their Du­ties till hereafter. And

2. They dread it to have their reward here, they would dispatch their work, and are willing to go upon trust for their wages. Sinners would have their wages in hand, and be trusted for their work till hereafter; they would be hap­py here, and can be content to stay for holiness till here­after: it is soon enough to be Saints in Heaven. But Oh! it would be a dreadful word to Saints. There are thy good things; take them, these are thy [...] These are not their end; and therefore they cannot take them for their reward

Poor foolish Worldlings, how are you disjoynted? how are your weary hearts scattered through the ends of the earth? how many masters do you serve? how many matters have you to mind? you weary your selves in the greatness of your way, and what is your reward? What the fields can give, you have; what your sheep or your oxen can give, you have; what your beds or your tables, or your houses, or your cloaths can give, you have; here a little, and there a little, you get up, your beds give you ease, your houses shelter, your sports and companions pleasure, your parasites honour; and that little you can pick up here and there, this is your reward. Verily I say unto you, you have your reward; unhappy souls, you are troubled and careful about many things, for nothing; one thing is needful; and if yet ye wiil be wise, chuse that good part which shall not be taken from you.

2 This one heart hath but one thing to do, Phil 3.13. This one thing I do. There are all things in that one thing; all things needful. How many things soever his hand findeth to do, all is but one He intends in all, God A renewed heart designs God, and is making God-wards in all he does. Whatever journey he goes, [Page 115] 'tis God is his home; whatever race he runs, 'tis God is his mark and prize. Whatever battel he fights, a­gainst flesh and blood, against Principalities and Powers, 'tis that he may cut his way through all to his God. Whatever he does, he does it for God; whatever he suf­fers, he suffers for God. When he hears, or Fasts, or Prayes, 'tis all for God. When ye fasted, did ye [...] at all fast to me? Yes to thee, a Christian is able to say; he hath many things to pray for, and fast for; he hath bread and cloaths, and friends, and health, and safety, and li­berty, to pray for; but in all, he prayes for God. He entitles God to all he hath, and marks it up for him, and he sees and enjoyes God in all he has; he will not own that for a mercy, that hath not God in it, and is not a foot or wing, to carry him on towards him And there­fore whatever he begs to himself, 'tis that he may have it for God. What he gives, he gives to God; whom he forgives, 'tis for the Lords sake; whether he eats, or drinks, or works, or buyes, or sells, or whatever else he does, he does it all to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10.31. For him he prayes, for him he waits, for him he labours, for him he suffers, for him he lives, to him he dies. To me to live is Christ, Phil. 1.21. according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as alwayes, so now also Christ may be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. This is the one thing he intends, this is the one thing he seeks, in all, take his whole course together, he can say with the Apostle, This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

3. He does what he does. And that

• 1. Not feignedly but really.
• 2. Not faintly, but heartily.

[Page 116]1. Really. He pursues this end, in a plain & ho­nest way. He that hath this one heart, hath but one way. Heart & life go hand in hand; he makes strait steps to his heart and his heart makes strait steps to his feet. As he looks strait on, so he walks strait on to his mark. He doth not look one way, and row another. He is a Jacob; a plain man, a plain-dealing man; a Nathanael, in whom is no guile. He turns his inside outwards; his life is not a [...]loak, but a Commentary, on his heart. The Expositours of his inward man His end is in his heart, and his heart is in his face, in his tongue, in his duties, and all his wayes. He is no Politi­cian. 2 Cor. 1 12. Not in fleshly wisdom; his Reli­gion is not a blind, or a device to delude the simple, he is down right, and in earnest in all he does. He does the same thing he seems to do; his Praying is Praying indeed; his Fasting, and Alms, are such indeed; his very profession is practise; he would not believe, nor make others believe, but that he is what he is. He seeks not commendation from men, but approbation with God. His design is not inordinately to commend himself to the good opinion, though he would be made manifest in the consciences of others. He would not be a Lye or a Cheat. He abhorres all lying, but most of all a reli­gious lye. He would not lye for God, much less against him; such a lye is as Blasphemy to him. He loves not Images; he would have a soul in all his practices. A prayer wi [...]hout a soul, a sacrifice without an heart, a religious Carkass in an abomination to him. He would not make such a noble medium as Religion, to serve to so base an end, as the serving the flesh

[Page 117]He hath other work to do than to serve times or tables; than to please himself or men; than to serve will, or humours, or lusts; he hath a Soul, a Conscience, a God to look after; he hath but one business to do, but one Master to serve; if he be a Magistrate, he rules for God; if he be a Mini­ster, he preaches for God; it he be a Parent, he e­ducates for God; if he be a Master, he governs for God; to him he dedicates himself and his House; he writes on his doors, this is Bethel, th [...]s is none other but the house of God. If he be a Child or a Servant, he obeys in the Lord & for the Lord; he knows he hath to do with God in all he does; when he is dealing with men, with his friends, with his family, in his calling, in his recreations, in all he hath to do with God: and he can take comfort in nothing but what God will take pleasure in. Thou hast no pleasure in iniquity. Thou lovest truth in the inward parts. And there is no truth in the in­ward parts, but when there is truth also in the out­ward parts, when the heart, & tongue, & ways agree. 'Tis vain to say, Mine heart is good, when the ways are naught. A false tongue, deceitful ways, will give the lye to the heart. He cannot subsist longer than he hath smiles from heaven. Communion with God is his life, his all is in God. His heart dies, when that fountain is stopped, If he cannot have clearness, and boldness in the presence of God, he can no longer look himself in the face, but blushes and hangs down his head with shame. He values not either the applause or the scorns of men, so he may have a witness [Page 118] of his acceptance with God. O Lord, dost thou regard? wilt thou accept of me? It is enough. Let all the world call me, Thou fool, Thou Pharisee, Thou Hypocrite, so the Lord will say, My Child, it is well. It is falsly spoken, it is foolishly, it is weakly done; it is pride, it is singularity, it is scrupulosity: thus the world cry: Let them alone, O my Soul, I will hearken what the Lord God will say; if he says, Thou hast been faithful; I will hearken what Conscience will say, if it says Well done, let all else say what they please; this is my rejoycing, mine onely rejoycing, the testimony of my conscience, that in all simplicity and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God I had my conversation in the world.

2. Heartily. Whatever he does for God, he does it with a good will. He hath cast up all his business into one, & he is intent upon it. He works righteousness, a [...] sinners work wickedness, with both hands, earnestly, Micah 7.3. He is religious in good earnest, he prays in good earnest, he hears in good earnest, he runs in good earnest: the powers of his soul being all united in one channel, run more strongly, his many springs falling all into one stream, make a river, that bears down all bays before it. The psalmist prays, Psal. 86.11. Unite mine heart to fear thy Name. Unite my heart to thee, and unite mine heart in it self, that it may all run toward thee. Unite my heart to fear, & so unite my heart to love thy Name, unite mine heart to serve, and follow, and live to thee. As if he should have said, O my God, mine heart is divided, and discomposed, scattered up and down. I know not where; my pleasures [Page 119] have a part, my estate hath a part, my friends have a part, my family hath a part, there's little o [...] none left for God: I have too many things to fear, too many things to love and care for, too many things to serve & follow, to follow the Lord with any strength or intention of mind. Call in all, Lord, all my parts, all my powers, command their joynt and united attendance upon thee 1 Pet. 1.13, 14, 15 Gird up the loyns of your mind, & be sober and hope to the end (in the original 'tis hope perfectly) for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Gird up the loyns of your minds. Gird and be sober, gird and hope perfectly, gird and be obedient, gird and be holy. Here it is true, Ungirt & unblest, ungird and un­holy; the girding is the gathering in the strength of the heart to its work. Eph. 6.14. Stand with your loyns girt. Stand, do not gird & ungird, stand all­ways girt; call in your hearts, & hold them in; be always in a readiness to every duty, in a readiness against every temptation. Oh how loose are we [...]! what loose praying, & loose hearing, and loose meditation, and loose walkings, do we satisfie our selves with! our hearts are to seek, our thoughts & affections are gadding abroad, we know not where to find them; & our work is done there after. We excuse our non proficiency in Religion, by our many hindrances, by the difficulties of our work▪ [Page 120] but the great hindrance lies here, our loyns are ungirded, our hearts are not united in our work, nor intent upon it. When God and the things of eternity are gotten so deep into the heart, when there is such a deep sense of the weight & impor­tance of the things that are eternal, abiding upon us, as over-powers carnal objects, & loosens the heart from them; when we feel the evidence, & the consequence of these things commanding our whole souls after them, then there's Religion in earnest; then we go on & prosper. And thus 'tis with this one heart, there are not some light touches onely upon it; God is gotten deep into it, eternity is gotten deep into it, this is all; this is all I have to mind or do. My hope, my comforts, my life, my soul, all hang upon this one thing; if I speed well here, I am made for ever. What have I to do in the way of Egypt, or to drink of the waters of Sibor? what have I to ao in the way of Assyria? what have I to do in the way of pleasure? What have I to do in the way of the World? To build Taberna­cles for my self here below, or to drink the wa­ters of mine own Cistern? How little am I con­cerned in the interest of this flesh? What matter's it, what becomes of it, or which way it goes? My God, my God, my Soul, my Soul, there lies my concernment; of these let my care only be. Get thee behind me Satan, hold thy peace sinful flesh, keep silence worldly cares; hinder me not, speak no more to me of hearkening to you, away from me ye evil doers, I will keep the commandments [Page 121] of my God; Let others do what they will, run whither they please, chuse whom they will serve, what they will follow after; come my Soul, follow thou the Lord, gird up thy Loyns & come away; for the other world, for the other world; make haste, linger not; let others loyter as they will, e­scape for thy life, look not behind thee, get thee up to the Mountain and live.

Object. One heart, why 'tis never more two; two men, a new man and an old, two Nations, two selfs, the [...]e are twins in the womb of every Saint; the un­godly seem more one than they, all for sin, and for Hell; all dark, all hard, all but one stone.

Sol. Yet 'tis true, the Saints, and they only have but this one heart; For,

1. The old heart is not an heart, the old self is not the self; this old man is not the man, this is not he, that's the heart, that hath gotten the dominion, and the rule in the man. The new heart hath the dominion; though sin as Esau, be the first born, yet the elder must now serve the younger; the old man is but a dead man. Col. 3 3. Ye are Dead, that is, your old man is dead, your sin is slain & Crucified with Christ, and when 'tis dead, you may say 'tis not.

2. The meaning plainly is, I will give them one heart; that is, a single, sincere, upright heart; they shall be no longer an Hypocritical people. If there be something of Hypocrisie in them, yet Hypo­crites they shall no longer be; their hearts shall be upright before me; sincerity stands in pitching [Page 122] upon chusing, and giving up our hearts to God, as our chief good, and last end. When God is our all, there is perfection, and when God is our chief, there is sincerity I say, when God is our al [...], when the world ha [...]h nothing left in us, to entice or draw out our Souls after it, but God carries them wholly without any the least liking, or lusting after sinful objects, there's perfection; This is not attainable here; the heart cannot be thus perfectly one, till corruption hath put on incorruption; But though it be not perfectly, yet it may be sincerely one, and then 'tis lo, when however, the flesh hath too great an interest in it, & influence upon it, and often pulls it aside, & puts it back; yet it still bends its course Heaven-wards, and that way the stream, & strength of the Soul is [...]unning, the flesh will be putting in for a part; it would have all, it would not take its turns with God; God will not take his turns with the flesh, he will have all or none; and the flesh would not take its turns with him; it is not contented with now and then, it would not be served in the Fields, or in the Shop, or at the Table, or in the Bed only, but in the Church, in the Chamber, in the Closet; 'twould carry away all from God, but if it cannot have all, 'twill divide with God; where-ever God is served, the Flesh will be putting in for its share. The best of Christians feel too great a truth in this; their fre­quent Humblings, and Mournings, and Breakings, and self-shamings before the Lord, are mostly upon this account; This is the voice of their deepest [Page 123] groanings, and bitterest [...]eares; the burthens of their mournful groans. I cannot do the things that I would; whe [...] [...] [...]ould do good, evil is present with me: with my mind I serve the Law of God, but with my flesh the Law of sin; Woe is me my Soul, how am I straitned? how am I divided? Whither am I hurried? wherewithal do I come before the Lord? Oh! what halting, & heartless, and distracting duties, do I serve my God withal? This flesh eats up the fat, and the best; and only the lame, and the lean, and the sick, are left for a Sacrifice to the Lord. Wo is me, my leanness, my leaness: my God, my God, how art thou served? how art thou robbed of thy due? these strangers are gotten into thy Sanctuary, and eat up all thy pleasant things, and what have they left thee?

Such are their complaints, and their very com­plaints are their comfort, and the witness of their sincerity, whilst they can with openness of heart make their approach & appeal to God: yet thou art my Lord, thou art my God, and I will serve thee I have chosen thee as mine heritage for ever, and I will wait for thy salvation. Hear the sigh­ing of thy prisoner, deliver thy captive: [...] heart is with thee, let not this flesh intrench upon thy light, let sin no longer reign in my mortal body; let me have no more to do with the throne of iniquity, untie the cords, loose the fetters, bring my soul out of prison, search me, O Lord, & know mine heart, prove me, and know my thoughts. Is there any way of wickedness in me? do I willingly go [Page 124] after the Commandments? Do I regard iniquity in mine heart? Here it lies, it is true, it wars, & raises tumults, and insurrections against thee; but do I resign up my self to it? is it a pleasue to me? am I at peace with it? O Lord thou knowest. I cannot get rid of it, I cannot do the things that I would, I cannot pray as I would, nor hear as I would, nor think, nor speak, nor live as I would: whither I go, sin goes with me; where I lodge, it lodges; If I sit still, it abides with me; if I run from it, it follows me; I can neither rest nor work, I can do nothing for it, I can do nothing for it, and yet blessed be thy Name, this one thing I do; what I cannot attain, I follow after; I cannot conquer, yet I fight against it; I wrestle with it, though it so often give me the fall. I trust it not, though it flatter me; I love it not, though it feed me; I prostitute not my self unto it, though it commits so many a rape upon me: my heart is with thee, Lord, my foot is making after thee; I groan, I tra­vel in pain, waiting for thy redemption; till I die I will not give over. I will die fighting, I will die hoping, I will dye praying, Save me, O Lord, make no long tarrying, O my God.

And thus you have the description of this one heart. It pitches on one end, & God is that end. It gives him the place of the end, he is its first and last. It gives him the power of the end: this one thing, the obtaining of God to be theirs, draws them on, guides, governs them, in their whole course, and is accepted by them as their onely and [Page 125] exceeding great reward. This instructs them, this rules, and encourages them, calls them off from sin, calls them on to duty, carries them out in suffering; all their powers are united in this one business; all their arguments are resolved into this one argument, all their rewards are summ'd up in this one reward, God shall be glorified, and therein my soul shall be satisfied; God shall be mine, and glory shall be his.

In all this we see what this one heart means, but Oh how little of this Grace have we received! how many hearts have we? how many gods have we, to divide these hearts betwixt them? how small a corner?

How low a place must the Lord take up with us it he will have any at all? how often is he made to stand aside, or to stoop to a lust, God made to give place to the Devil? Is God our All indeed? have we none else to please, have we none else to serve? have we no por­tion, no inheritance, no other God but the Lord? Is he our Alpha and Omega, our first and our last, our Spring and our Ocean, our sum and our scope, the rise and the rest of all our motions? Whatever our tongues speak, do our hearts also and our lives say, To me to live is Christ? None but God, none but Christ, nothing but Heaven and glory? when we are driving so hard for our flesh, for our pride, for our ease, for our gain, when we are so busie this way, and so hearty and so zealous this way; when these must have so great a share in our Re­ligion, is this still the voice, To me to live is Christ? Oh how little power hath the Lord with us? how far is it that the single interest of God will carry our souls? how little is done purely for God? we have often many strings to our bow: there are some services, wherein there is something coming to the flesh, as well as to the Name of God. Some credit, or honour, some out­ward advantage to be gotten by Religion; but when [Page 126] all the other strings crack but this one; when there is nothing to move us but God, Oh how weak do our motions grow? The flesh often goes partner with God: there is a double trade driving in the same actions; a trade for Heaven, and a trade for Earth together: there is something to be gotten by our Religion, besides what is coming to God; there are Fields, and Vineyards, and Olive-yards, Friends and Honours, and Preferments: as it sometimes fall out, when Godliness is in the rising side and when it is thus we go smoothly and vigorously on. Come see the zeal that I have for the Lord of Hosts. But when the interest of God, and the flesh divide, and part asunder; when the flesh is like to be a loser by our Re­ligion; when God pu [...]s us on such duty, as will spend upon the flesh, and eat out and devour its interest; when our hearts tell us as Deborah did Barak, Judg. 4 This will not be for thine honour, or this will not be for thine ease, or thy safety; then what becomes of our zeal? Oh how heavily do we then drive on? how seldome is it that this word, [ Yet God shall be glorified,] will balance all the prejudices, and confute all the cross reasonings of the flesh, and carry us on our way, without and a­gainst it.

How little hath the Lord of the government of us? If he doth govern as a King, yet how little as our end? How little doth Goodness govern? how little will Love do with us? we must have Rigour and S [...]verity, we must have Spurs and G [...]ads, and Rods, and Stripes, & Scorpions too, and all little enough to drive us back from those o [...]her gods which we have chosen, & to bring us on after the Lord. If the Law be not made for the righteous, if they need not a Law, then what are we whom a Law will not suffice? If commands, threat­nings, terrours, penalties, judgments, can do no more upon us; if we are yet so loose, and so carnal, and so [Page 127] earthly, and so froward, and so false, & so formal, under severest Discipline; if we will not be whipped into more humility, spirituality, self-denial, watchfulness, care, acti­vity, zeal; but are such Drones, and such Sle [...]pers, such Earth-worms, and such Sensualists still, under all the corrections and compulsions of the Law; Oh what should we be, did we want a Law? where there no­thing but love to restrain us from sin, and constrain and quicken us to duty?

Christians, have we but one thing to do, in all we do? sometimes we are busie in doing nothing Though there be a Prayer in our mouths, the praises of God in our mouths; Christ, Heaven, Holiness, Glory, a new heart, a new life upon our tongues; there's nothing within; no prayer, no praise, no Christ, nor Heaven; what have we been often doing in the Closet, in the Fa­mily, in the Congregation, when we seemed to have been praying? Nothing, nothing, but sowing wind and good words. Sometimes we have too many things in our hearts; what a world of carnal devices, and fleshly projects have we wrapt up in the garment of our Religi­on? Peters sheet had not a more heterogeneous miscella­ny of creatures, four footed beasts, wild beasts, creeping things, and fowls of the air, than our religious duties have of designs and ends. We have men to please, our pride, our bellies, to offer sacrifice to; we bring our Farms, and our Oxen, & our Trades before the Lord; are not our hearts, which should be the houses of pray­er, the houses of merchandize? are we not talking, or pursuing, or in a journey, or asleep, or driving bargains? O Christians, if we were privy to one anothers hearts, as God is privy to them, what abominations should we see brought into the holy places? What monsters would our most sacred services appear? Which whilst the out­side is only viewed, are applauded and admired. Is [Page 128] this our singleness of heart? Oh! for shame, and blush­ing, and confusion of face; Oh! for a Vail to hide such hearts from the jealous eyes of the holy God: a varnish, a fair out-side, hides all from men; but noting but a dark Vail of shame, and sorrow, and tears, and repentance: a Vail dipt in blood, in the blood of Christ, will hide them from the eyes of the Lord.

Oh how little plainness and singleness of heart is there, in our ordinary course, in our dealings, and conversings in the World? How little Faith, or truth is there in us? How little Trust is there to us? What doubling, what deceitful dealing, defrauding, over-reaching, undermi­ning, are we guilty of? how false are we in our promi­ses? how insignificant are our words? what an uncertain sound do they give? Our Yea may often stand for Nay, and our Nay for Yea, Psal. 12.2. They speak vanity, e­very one with his neighbour, with flatterings lips and a dou­ble heart do they speak: trust ye not in a friend, put not confidence in a guide.

Blessed be God, the Lord hath a Generation, on whom this cannot be charged Children that will not lye nor de­ceive, though Satan and this evil world bind up all in a bundle, they are all naught, they are all false, vain boa­sle [...]s, and deceitful workers, there is none upright, no not one: but thanks be to God, Satan is a lyar, the accuser of the Brethren, is a false accuser. God hath his children that will not lye. But wo be to those professors by rea­son of whom the offence cometh.

Christians, hath God promised to give you one heart? Let it be once said, This day is the Scripture fulfilled; O may you be the accomplishment of this good word. Hath God promised to give you one heart? Do you not say, but I will not take it; two are better than one: I have found so much the sweet of deceit, that there is no life like it; Hath God said, I will give one heart? let not [Page 129] any one among you say, but I fear he will not. Make not the promise of God of none effect, either by your impi­ety or unbelief: Doth God promise to give this one heart? he that promised it, doth also require it. Be thy self Christian: Let it be said thou art what thou art, be true, be but one; have but one heart, and let thy one heart have but one tongue, but one face; and but one thing to do. Beware of Hypocrisie, beware of carnal policy; make not thy God to serve thy flesh; call not the serving of thy flesh, a serving of God, and make not thy s [...]ving of God to be a serving of the flesh. Be not divided betwixt God & the World: O how easie would our lives be, did we find our whole Souls running one way? taking up with God as the adequate object of all our Powers? the mark of all our motions, and the re­ward of all our labours? did all our streams empty them­selves into this Ocean, and all our lines meet in this one centre? Did God only draw and allure our hearts, and the sincerity of our hearts, give motion to all our whe [...]? Guide our eyes, govern our tongues, order our steps, a­nimate our duties, direct and quicken us in all out go­ings? Oh how sweet, Oh how beautiful, were such a life? the Sympathy betwixt our hearts and end, there is sweetness; the Harmony of our hearts and wayes, there is beauty. O how sweet are the drawings of love, the free and full closure of our Spirits with God, dissolving themselves into his Will acquiessing, resting satisfied in his goodness, is a sweetness which no man knows, but he that tastes it; the harmony of the power of the Soul within it self of its motions and actions in the life, there is the beauty which will eclipse the glory of the world. Christian, be it thus with thee, and thou hast the blessing that covenant blessing, which the Lord hath promised, in saying, I will give them one heart.

CHAP. XII. An Heart of Flesh.

IV. AN Heart of Flesh, Ezek 36.26. I will take aw [...] the stony heart cut of your flesh, and I will give [...] an Heart of flesh. The old heart is a stone, cold as [...] stone, dead as a stone, hard as a-stone; but I will take away the stone, and give an heart of Flesh.

An heart of flesh, is a soft and tender heart; Flesh [...] feel any thing that is contrary to it, puts it to pain; Si [...] makes it smart; it cannot kick, but it is against th [...] pricks, by its rebellion and resistance against the Lord it receives a wound; it cannot hit, but it hurts it self. A soft hand gets nothing by laying on, on an hedge o [...] [...] A soft heart when it hath been medling with [...] sure to smart for it It can neither escape the pain▪ nor yet endure it and what it cannot bear, 'twill take w [...]rning to avoid it.

Flesh will bleed. A soft heart will mourn, and melt, & grieve, when hard hearts are moved at nothing. Flesh will yield. It's apt to receive impressions The power of God will awe it; his justice fear it; his mercy melt in his holiness humble it, and leave the stamp and image of i [...] upon it. And as the Attributes, so the Word and Works of God, will make sign upon it. Who sets a seal upon a stone? or what print will it receive? upon the wax, the print will abide. God speaks once & twice, but man, hardned man, will not regard it. Neither his Word, nor his Rod, neither his speaking, nor his smi­ting will make any sign on such hearts. 'Tis the heart of flesh that hears and yields. And with such hearts the Lord delights to be dealing▪ Act. 28. The heart of this people is waxed gross; they will not hear, they will [Page 131] not understand; and the next word is, away to the Gen­ [...]les, they will hear. He will no more write his Law on Tables of Stone: he'l write in Flesh; there the impres­sion will take, and go the deeper: and therefore where­ever he intends to write, he prepares his Table: makes this stone Flesh, and then engraves upon it. Particular­ly this tenderness admits of a double distinction.

1. Respecting the object of it: so there is a tenderness,

• 1. Of Sin.
• 2. Of Duty.
• 3. Of Suffering.

1. Of Sin; and that's twofold, such as discovers it self.

• Ante factum.
• Post factum.

1. Ante factum. Or before the commission. Whilst it is under a temptation, or feels the first motion to sin. A tender heart startles, starts back at the sight of a sin▪ as at the sight of a Devil. Gen. 39.9 How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God? the manner of the speech, presents Joseph as a man in a fright, startled a [...] the ugliness of the motion. So David, when he had an opportunity and a temptation to slay Saul, 1 Sam. 20.11. rejects it with an absit, God forbid. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lords Anoin­ted. And that not only at the higher and greater, but it resists the little ones, the smallest of sins. Is it not a little one? is no plea with it. Little or great, 'tis a sin, and that's enough.

2. Post factum. After the commission; if it hath been brought on upon sin, yet it cannot go out with it. The skirt of Sauls garment, was too heavy for Davids heart to bear. His heart smote him presently. 1 Sam. 24. [...] Sin in the review, looks dreadfully. Its pleasant How­ers quickly turn to thorns; it pricks the heart how much soever it pleas'd the eye. It ordinarily enters by the eye [...] [Page 132] and often runs out the same way it came in; run out in tears. When he thought thereon, he wept. At least, it warms, and makes more watchful after. Thou seest what it is, take heed; take it for a warning, and do no more. The pain of sin, if i [...] do not [...]o [...]ce a Tear, it will set a watch.

2. Of Duty A tender heart will neither slight a sin, nor neglect a duty. It is loth to grieve & offend, and careful to serve and please the Lord. It would not that he should suffer by it, nor so much as [...]ose his due. It watches against sin and unto duty. It cares how to please the Lord, and its care is tender It would not dis­please by its neglects or performances; all must be done that ought, & as it ought to be done. It will neither stand out with its offering, nor will it offer as unclean thing. It considers not only what, but how. Both matter & manner, substance & circumstance, all must be right, or it is not at ease. It will keep time, and as much as may be, keep touch with the Lord in every point. It is not satisfied that it prayes sometimes, it would not loose a praying time. God will not, and it cannot lose a duty. It would neither lose b [...] non per­formance, not lose what is performed. It would nei­ther leave undone, nor do amiss; any failing, not only in the matter, but in the Principle, End, Affection, Intention; any failing palns.

3 In point of suffering. A soft heart will not be careful, what, or how much, but why, and upon what account, he suffers. Will neither sinfully shun the cross, nor run upon it unwarrantably. He waits for a call, and then follows. He is patient [Page 133] under the hand of the Lord, but not insensible; can be touched with an affliction tho' not offended at it. The hand of the Lord hath touched m [...] He suffers more than his own, his brethrens suf­ferings His brethrens burthens, all lye on his shoulders. He weeps in their sorrows, bleeds in their wounds, his heart is bound in their Chains. As the care, so the trouble of all the Churches come daily upon him. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, & I burn not? he espouses all the sufferings of Christ as his own. In all his afflicti­ons he is afflicted.

2. Tenderness may be distinguished in respect of the subject of it; & so there is a tenderness of

• the Conscience.
• the Will.
• the Affections.

1. Tenderness of Conscience stands in these three things.

• 1. Clearness of Judgment.
• 2. Quickness of sight.
• 3. Uprightness or faithfulness.

1. Clearness of Judgment. When its well instruct­ed, & understands the rule; and can thence discern betwixt good & evil. Heb. 5.14 There is a tender­ness that proceeds from cloudiness scrupulosity, that fears every thing, stumbles at straws, starts at shad­dows: makes sins; picks quarrels at duties; & so sometimes dare not please, for fear of offending God. This is the sickness or soreness of conscience; not its soundness. It is the sound conscience that is truly tender.

[Page 134]2. Quickness of sight, and watchfulness. I sleep, but my heart waketh. It can espie the least sins, and smallest duties. It can see sin in the very tempta­tion; it can discover the least sin under the fairest face, and the least duty, under the foulest vizor. Call it singularity, nicety, cloud it with reproaches; yet conscience can discover light shining through all the clouds; duty within, whatsoever unhand­some face it be presented in, the former stands in consciences understanding the rule, as was said, this in strait applying the rule to cases; and distinguish­ing of them by it. The truly tender hath his eyes in his head; and his eyes open to discover and discern all that comes, be it good or evil, little or great. If but a thought comes in, what comes there, sayes conscience? what art thou? a friend or an enemy? whence art thou? from God, or from beneath? it will examine whatever knocks, before any free admission. O what a croud of Evils do thrust into loose & careless hearts; the Devil comes in in the croud, and is never discovered. If the eye be either dim, or asleep, there is entrance for any thing. Little do we think oft times, who hath been with us, what losses and mischiefs we have sustained, while our hearts have been asleep; which had they been Wakeful and Watchful, might have been prevented.

3. Uprightness, and faithfulness. Which discovers it self▪

• 1. In giving charge concerning Duty,
• 2. In giving warning of sin.
• 3. In giving check for sin when committed.

[Page 135]1. In giving charge concerning duty, look to it Soul, there is a Duty before thee, which God calls thee to: do not say it is no great hurt to let it alone, it is no great hurt to do it, it is questionable, whether it be a duty or no? Many wiser than I think o­therwise; do not say, it is a nicety, it is but a punctilio, it is meer folly, and preciseness; and there will be no end of standing upon such small matters; see to it, it is thy Duty, beware thou neglect it not, th [...] baulking of the least Duty, is the neglecting of the great God of Glory.

2. In giving warning of Sin; Take heed to thy self, sin lies at the door, thou art under a Temptation, the Devil is entring upon thee; do not say, it is but a little sin; as little as it is, there is Death and Hell in the bow­ [...]ls of it, look to it, it is sin, have thou nothing to do with it, keep thy self pure, and though it run upon thee, shake it off.

3 After commission, it gives check for it; reproving, judging and lashing the Soul for it, where hast thou been Ga [...]azi? say not thou hast been no where; went not this heart with thee and saw thee, running out after thy covetousness, gadding after thy pleasures, feeding thy pride, dandling thy Lusts, playing the Hypocrite, play­ing the Hariot from thy God, pampring thy Flesh, plea­sing thy Appetite? and where hast thou been? What hast thou done Soul? think not to excuse or mince the matter, it cannot be excused; thou hast sinned against thy God, and now bear thy shame. This is our heart smiting of us, 2 Sam. 24 Our hearts condemning of us, 1 John 3.20. If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.

2. Tenderness of the Will, that stands in its flexibleness, and pliableness unto the Will of God And this is that tenderness wherein chiefly stands the blessing of a soft heart; an hard heart is stubborn and obstinate; Thy [Page 136] Neck is as an Iron Sinew, and thy Brow brass. Thou wilt not be ruled, there is no bending thee, or turning thee out of thy course, thy Iron is too hard for the fire, it will not be melted, and for the Hammer, it will not be bro­ken; there is no dealing with thee, thou art an untracta­ble piece, thou wilt go neither led nor driven; thine heart is set in thee to do evil, thy will is set upon sin, & thou art set upon thine own will. The word which thou hast spoken to us in the Name of the Lord, we will not do, but we will do whatever proceeds out of our own Mouth; Jer. 44 16, 17. We will do what we will do; who is Lord over us? Psal. 12. And Jer. 2.25. Thou saidst there is no Hope: No, for we have loved stran­gers, and after them we [will] go, come what will of it, say what thou wilt against it; Be silent Scriptures, Hold thy Peace, Conscience, it is to no purpose to speak more, there is no hope of prevailing; we are at a point, we will take our own course. These are hard hearts, stubborn, obstinate hearts.

When the iron sinew is broken, when the rebellion and stubbornness of the spirit is subdued, and tamed, and made gentle and pliable, then it becomes a tender heart.

There may be some tenderness in the Conscience, and yet the Will be a very stone; and as long as the Will stands out, there is no broken Heart. Conscience may be scared and frighted, Conscience may fly upon the Sin­ner, What dost thou mean Soul? whither are thy rebellious carrying thee? look to thy self, hearken or thou wilt be lost ere thou art aware. But however, God hath gotten Con­science on his side, yet the Devil still [...]ides the Will; & there sin takes up its rest. There is a double resting of sin in the soul,

• In Peace.
• In Power.

[Page 137]1. In Peace, When it dwells and rules in the soul without disturbance or contradiction; when it carries all smoothly before it; when God lets it alone, & Con­science speaks not a word against it; when notwithstand­ing those armies of lusts, fighting against the soul, there is not so much as one weapon lift up against them, not a prayer, nor a tear, nor a wish for freedom, nor the least fear concerning the issue; this is the most dreadful hardness.

2. In Power, When though it can have no Peace, yet it hath still a Place in the heart. Though [...]t can have no quiet, but Conscience is still quarrelling with it, & warn­ing it away; yet it still holds its power over the Will; the Master of the house is content to be its Servant. O how many persons are there, even amongst the Profes­sors of Religion, who cannot sin in quiet, they are proud, or passionate, or intemperate, or covetous, or false in their words, in their dealings; they are formal, and hypocritical, and slight, in their Duties, but they cannot go with it with any quiet. Conscience smites them for it, they feel many a pang, and deadly twing in their heart, insomuch that sometimes they cry, & gro [...], and roar in their spirits, O for Redemption, O for De­liverance from this False, this Proud, this Covetous and wicked heart, and yet after all this, the Will remains a Captive still▪ Sin holds its Power there, though i [...] cannot carry it on in peace, though it cannot be proud, or play the Hypocrite, or be covetous, or an oppresso [...], without some galls, and gripes in the Soul; yet on i [...] goes, the same trade is kept up the same cou [...] is held on. God commands, cast ye out, cast ye out, come off from all your wickedness, and evil wayes, and I will receive you; No, though Conscience would, the Will cannot come, whate­ver rendings, and tearings; whatever terrours & torments, and worryings, such Sou [...] are at any time under; whatever [Page 138] stings and plagues, and fires, they find their sins to be in their Souls and Bones; whatever wishings and wouldings they wring forth, that they were well rid of these Plagues; whilst the Will is still from them, there is an hard heart; damnably hard; there is none of this heart of flesh. When the will is once broken loose from sin; when it will be content to let all go, and give up its self to the domini­on of the Lord, there is a broken heart▪ Now speak Lord, and I will hear. Now call Lord, and I will an­swer. Now command me, impose on me what thou wilt, I will submit▪ None but the Lord, none but Christ; no other Lord, nor lover. I am thine Lord, thine own, do with thine own, demand of thine own, whatever thou pleasest. What God will have me be, what God will have me do, that will I do, and be. No longer what I will, but the will of the Lord be done. When it is come to this, there is a render heart; there is the blessing of a broken spirit; the stone he hath taken away, he hath given an heart of Flesh

Christians, never trust to Tears, never talk of Ter­rours, trouble of Conscience, of the passionate workings and meltings, which at any time you feel upon your spirits; though there be something in these, as you shall see more by and by; yet these are not the things you are to look at. A subdued, tractable, willing; obedient heart, that is the tender heart. Isa. 1.19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the Land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be slain with the sword; the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

3. Tenderness of the affections. I shall instance only in three, viz.

• Love.
• Fear.
• Sorrow.

The Tenderness of love is seen in its

• [Page 139]Benevolence.
• Jealousie.

1. In its Benevolence. Our goodness extends not to the Lord, but our good will does. Our love can add nothing to him; can a man be profitable to God? Job 22. If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him? Chap. 35.7. Yet though it can add nothing it would not that any thing be detracted from him? whilst he can have no more, it would that he should have his own; all that is due; his due Praise, his due Honour, and Homage, and Worship; and subjection, from every Creature; it would have no abatement, not the least spot or stain upon all his Glory. What is an affront to God, is an offence to Love. Love beareth all things, saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 13. all things from God, all things from men. And yet there are two things, the love of God cannot bear.

• His Dishonour.
• His Displeasure.

1. His Dishonour. Love would have God to be God, to live in the Glory of his Majesty, in the hearts and eyes of all the world. His reproach is grievous to him that loves, for this is the cloud that takes God out of sight. He loves and honours, and would that God should be loved and honoured of all; he fears, and would that the whole World should fear him. He would receive in his own breast, every Arrow that is shot against his Ma­ker; he would that his own name and Soul might stand betwixt his God, and all reproach, and di­shonour. He would be vile, so the Lord may be [Page 140] glorious, so God may increase, he is content to decrease. He is not so tender of his own heart, and bowels, as of the holiness of his God. He would suffer, and die, and be nothing, rather than that God should not be all in all. He would ra­ther never think, nor speak, nor be, rather than not be in word and thought, and life, holiness is the Lord. But O what, or where would he be, rather than his own hand should be lift up against him!

To see the Lord robbed of his holiness, wronged in his wisdom, or his truth, or his soveraignty: to see sin, that Devil, to see the world, that Idol, set up in the Throne, and the God of Glory made to stand aside as insignificant: to hear that Blasphemy God is not worth this lust; or not worthy this labour, (and what is said less in every sin) is a sword in his breast. The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Love hath tasted of God, it hath led on his fulness, it hath its nourishment from his sweetness, it hath been warmed in [...] bosome, all his goodness hath passed before it; up­on this it lives and feeds; and having found and felt what the Lord is, its impatient that all this goodness should be clouded or belyed. Love kin­dled from Heaven, is keen; and the keen is a ten­der edge; the least touch of what offends, will turn it. Lam. 1.20. I am in distress, my bowels are troubled, mine heart is [turned] within me, for I have grie­vously rebelled, Psal. 42.3. My tears have been my meat, continually, while they daily say unto me, where [Page 141] is thy God! Where is that care, and help, and that salvation of thy God, thou t [...]ustedst in! thy God is not such an one, as thou boastedst him to be: when I remembred when I hear such things, my soul is poured out within me. Love is large; he that loves hath a large heart, he can never receive or do too much; he would have all he can, and he would give all he hath to the Lord. He is tender how any thing be with held that is due, how any thing be wasted else where, that might be useful, to the Lord.

2. His displeasure. The displeasure of men it bears and rejoyces; the wrath and rage of Satan, it bears and triumphs; though all the world, and Hell to boot, be displeased, and provoked, so God smiles, 'tis well enough. Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me, and mine heart is glad, Psal. 4. Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled, Psal▪ 30.7.

Let him correct me, but O not in fury; let him smite, but not frown; let him kill me, so he will but love me. And though he smite, though he kill me, yet will I love and trust in him. O my God, let me rather die in thy love, that live in thy displeasure; there is life in that death, this life is death to me. Let me not be dead whilest alive; turn away thine anger which kills my heart.

It is impatient of divine displeasure, and thence 'tis grievous to it that it does displease; thence it quarrels with sin, and falls so foul with it self for it. Is this thy kindness to thy friend? lovest thou God, Soul? what, and yet provokest him thus dayly? love, and yet neglect to seek, & follow thy God? [Page 142] love, and yet so lame, and so slow, & so heavy, and so sparing in thy services to him? Is this all thy love will do? not deny thine ease, or thy pleasure, or thy liberty, or thine appetite, or thy companion, for the sake of the Lord? chuse rather to pleasure thy friend, or thy flesh, than to please God? Is this thy love? Is this thy kindness to thy friend? O false heart, O unworthy, unworthy spi­rits; how canst thou look thy God in the face? how canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is no more with him?

2. In its Jealousie He that loves the Lord is jealous; and Jealousie hath a tender edge; he is Jealous, not of, but for the Lord, not of his God, [...] of himself; lest any thing should steal away his heart from God. Love would be chaste, would not bestow it self else where: and yet is in great Jealousie, it may be en [...]iced and drawn away▪ He that loves the Lord there is not any thing, whether Wife, or Child or Friend, or Estate, or Esteem, that gets near his heart, but he is jealous of them, l [...]st they steal it away: Get you down, keep you [...]ower, [...]hi [...] Heart is neither yours nor mine; O my God, 'tis thine, 'tis thine Lord, take it wholly to thee, keep it to thy self, let no other Lovers be sharers with thee.

2. There is a tenderness of fear; The tender heart is a trembling heart: the Tenderness of fear is manifested in its

• Suspition.
• Caution.

[Page 143]1. In its Suspition, the fearful are suspitious; they look farther then they see, he that is in dread, will be in doubt, what may befall him, he suspects a surprizal; every Bush is a Theef, every Bait, he doubts may have an hook under. There is a fool­ish, and a causeless fear; and there is a prudent, & an holy fear; this fear is a principle of wisdom, Psal. 111.10. Prov. 22.3. The prudent man fore seeth the evil, but fools go on; the snare is never nearer, then to the secure; bold venturous sinners never want woe, the Devil may spare his cunning, when he hath to do with such; nothing that looks like sin, offers it self to a tender heart, but he presently suspects it; every pleasant morsel, every pleasant cup, every pleasant companion that comes; any thing that tickles, and gratifies the flesh, he looks through it ere he will touch with it, lest it betray his Soul from God; there may be a snare in the dish, a snare in my cup, a snare in my company; and what if there should? he feeds himself with fear, dwells, walks, converses, works, recreates himself with a trembling heart, & jealous eye.

2. In its Caution, Fear is warie; some Comman­ders have set their scout-watches unarmed, that fear might make them watchful: a fearful Chri­stian, will take heed what, and whom he trusts▪ he dares not trust himself in such company, as may be a snare unto him; he dares not trust his heart among Temptations, he [...]l keep the Devil at a distance, he will not come near where his ne [...]s do lye. Blessed is he that thus feareth always? [Page 144] O the unspeakable mischief! O the multitudes of sin that we run upon, through ou [...] secure hearts! I ne [...]er thought of it, I never dreamed of any such danger; O I am undermined, I am over­reached, I am surprised; my foot is in the snare, the Grin hath taken me by the heel, my Soul is among Lyons; sin hath gotten hold on me, mine heart is gone ere I was aware, the enemy hath come in and carried it away; hath given it to lust, to the world to pleasure, to divide it amongst themselves, my Faith hath [...]ailed, my Conscience is defiled, my Love is grown cold, my Grace wi­thered, my Comforts wasted, my peace broken; and my God, O! where is he become? Woe is me, the evil that I feared [not] is come upon me, had I feared, I had not fallen: O that I had been wise, had kept my watch, had stood upon my guard; had I thought, had I thought, I had escaped all this dan­ger: O Christians, be wise in season, and take heed of the fools, too late [had I wist]

3. There is a tenderness of sorrow; Sorrow is the melting of the heart, the stone dissolved, sorrow is the wound of the heart, a wound is tender, love is tender, & therefore Godly sorrow, which is the sorrow of Love; you may call it a Love sickness. Love is both the pain & pleasure of a mourning heart, it is love that wounds, & love that heals; it is both the weapon & the oyl; this sorrow hath its joy, the melted is the most joyful heart; it is love that makes it sad, it therefore weeps because it loves, and it is love that makes it glad too; It therefore joys because [Page 145] in it's sorrows its sees it loves. 'Tis love that make the wound, the matter of this sorrow being love abus'd, what hast thou done Soul? who hast thou despised? against whom hast thou lift up thy self? thou hast sinned, thou hast sinned and hast thereby smitten & grieved thy God that loves thee, and whom thou lovest; Thou hast but one friend in Heaven, and earth, and him thou hast abused; to pleasure thy lust, thou hast pierced thy Lord, thou hast transgressed his Commandments, & tram­pled upon his Compassions; hast broken his Bonds, and kick'd at his Bowels; his greatness, & his good­ness; his Law, and his very Love hath been despis­ed by thee; him who loved thee hast thou smitten. Is this thy kindness to thy friend? O vile ungra­cious, unkind, unthankful, unnatural heart; what hast thou done?

Put all this now together, and you have the heart of flesh which the Covenant promises, a Tender Heart; an heart that is tender of sin and duty, that carefully shuns sin, or is sure to smart for it; that neither slights sin, nor duty; that say, not of the one or the other; 'tis but a little one; that can feel sufferings, but not free at them, a Tender Conscience; that will neither wink at sin, nor excuse the sinner, that will not hold the sinner guiltless; nor say unto the wicked, thou art righ­teous; that will not be smitten, but it will smite again, that will give due warning, and due cor­rection, a flexible tractable heart; that will not resist and rebel; that sayes unto the Lord, what [Page 146] wilt thou have me to do? and will not say of any thing, he will have; any thing but this. A willing, duct [...]le heart, stiff against nothing but sin, that a word from Heaven, will lead to any thing. An Heart of Love; that bears good will to the Lord, & all that he does or requires; in which good will lies, radically every good work; that says not of any duties or sufferings, this is too great, or of any sin, this is nothing; that would be any thing, or nothing; So God may be all. That would rather be displeased, than displease; that is not displ [...]ased where God is pleased. A trembling Heart, that fears more th [...]n it se [...]s, & flies from what it fears, whom fear makes to beware. A melting Heart, a mourn­ing heart that wounds it self in the wounds it hath given to the Lord, and his Name; that can grieve in love, and can love and grieve, where it cannot weep. In summ, 'tis an heart that can feel, that can bleed, that can weep; or at least that can yeild and stoop, where it cannot weep, nor feel but little, that will easily be commanded, where it is not sen­sibly melted, this is a soft heart, this is the heart of flesh; I will take away the stone, and give them an heart of flesh.

Oh what a blessing is such an heart! what a plague in an hard heart! Oh what prisoners are the men of this world: in prison under Satan, in prison under sin, bound, under a curse, shut up under unbelief, and impenitence: the hard heart, is the iron-gate, that shuts them in that they can­not get out. Rom. 2. Oh what an hospital is this [Page 147] world become: of blind, and lame, and sick, and creeples, and wounded creatures! whence are all the calamities and distresses that befall them, but from the hardness of their hearts? the stone in their hearts breeds all their diseases, brings all their calamities: hath blinded their eyes, and broken their bones, and wasted their estates: there is not one misery that befalls them, but they may write up over it, this is the hardness of my heart. Oh what a Sodom is this world bec [...]me, for wickedness as well as for wrath: what drunkenness, what adul­teries; what oaths, what blasphemies, and all sores of monstrous sins do every where abound! whence is all this, but from the hardness of mens [...] if you say 'tis from other causes: 'tis from unbelief from ignorance, from impotence, from temptati­ons; let it be granted: yet still [...] from hardness of heart. They are wilfully ignorant, wilfully weak, wilfully run into temptations; they [...] their eyes, and stop their ears, they will not see, they will not believe. Oh what losses do they sustain! how many Sabbaths are lost? how ma­ny Sermons are lost? how many reproofs, coun­sels, corrections are lost? a Gospel lost, & [...] thereby like to be lost for ever! Oh what prodi­gies are they become? under all this sin & mise­ry? and yet merry, jolly, laughing, and singing, and sporting, and feasting, and braving it out, as if nothing ailed them. Feeling nothing of all that is come upon them, and fearing nothing of all that is coming. Warn them, reprove them, [Page 148] beseech them, it is all but preaching to a stone. It may be you have sometimes wondered, to see a company of Theeves in prison, to be Drinking, and Carousing, and making merry, when they know that in a few dayes they must be brought out, and hanged. Wh [...]n thou wondrest at these wonder at thy self. What bitter complaints do we sometimes hear, even from the best of Saints! Oh this hard heart, Oh this stubborn spirit; I cannot mourn, I cannot stoop, I cannot submit, Isa. 63.17. Why hast thou hardned our heart from thy fear? Or why hast thou left us, or given us up to an hard heart? why hast thou not softned, and humbled and broken us? thou hast humbled us, and we are not humbled; broken us, and we are not broken; thou hast broken our Land, broken our Peace, broken our Backs, but the stone is not yet broken; Oh for one b [...]each more Lord; our hearts, our hearts, let these be once broken; our streets mourn, the Cities of our So­lemnities mourn, the wayes of Sion mourn, Oh! when wilt thou give us a mourning Spirit?

Oh what sorrow bitten Souls are the Saints, for want of sorrow! I mourn Lord, I lament, I [...], but it is because I cannot mourn, or lament as I should; If I could mourn as I ought, I could be com­forted; if I could weep, I could rejoyce; if I could sigh, I could sing; if I could lament, I could live; I die, I die, mine heart dies within me, because I cannot cry: I cry Lord, but not for sin, but for tears for sin; I cry Lord, my Calamities cry, my Bowels cry, my [Page 149] Bones cry, my Soul cries, my Sins cry, Lord, for a broken heart; and behold, yet I am not broken.

The Rocks rent, the Earth quakes, the Heavens drop, the Clouds weep, the Sun will blush, the Moon be a­shamed, the Foundations of the earth will tremble at th [...] presence of the Lord, but this heart will neither break nor tremble; O for a broken heart? If this were once done, might my Soul have this wish, thenceforth my God might have his Will; what would be hard, if my heart were tender? Labour would be easie, Pains would be a pleasure, Burthens would be light; Neither the Command nor the Cross would be any longer grievous, nothing would be hard but Sin. Fear, where art thou? come and Plough upon this Rock; Love, where art thou? come and [...]haw this Ice, come and warm this dead lump; come and enlarge this st [...]ained Spirit, then shall I r [...]n the way of his Commandments.

Oh Brethren, how little, how very little of the Ten­derness is there to be found amongst the most of Chri­stians? The Sacrifice of God is a broken heart; Oh how far must the Lord go to find himself such a sacrifice? we do but cast stones up to Heaven, when we lift up our hearts; it is a wonder, that such hearts as we carry do not break themselves; that our Marble weeps not; that if nothing else will do it, our Hardness doth not make us relent; that we should so labour under, and complain of, and yet not be sick of the Stone

Broken hearts, yielding and relenting Spirits, tender Consciences, Oh where are they? afraid of sin? tender of Transgressing? or mourning under it? when shall it once be? our Lusts no more broken? our Pride, our Passion, our Envy, our Earthliness no more broken? So venturous on Temptation, so bold on Sin, such Li­berty taken to Transgress, such mincing and palliating, and excusing of Sin, as we find: Is this our Brokenness? [Page 150] we are tender, 'tis true; but of what? of Dishonouring God, of abusing Grace, of neglecting Duty, of defiling Conscience, of Wounding our Souls? No, 'tis of our flesh, that we are so tender; tender of Labour, tender of Trouble, tender of our Carkasses, of our Credits, of our Names and Reputations, a tender Shoulder, a tender Hand, a tender Foot; they can bear nothing, nor do nothing; nothing can touch our flesh, nothing can touch our Idols, our ea [...]e, or our Estates, but we shrink, and smart, and are put to Pain. God may be smitten, & we feel it not; the Gospel may be smitten, the Church may be smitten, Conscience may be smitten, and it moves us not; We can fear an affliction, fear a reproach, Oh did we so much fear a Temptation, or a sin! we cannot want Bread but we feel it, we cannot want Cloaths, or an House, or a Friend, but we feel it; We cannot want our Sleep, our quiet, our Pleasure, our Respects from men, but we feel it, any thing that pinches upon our Flesh pierces our heart. We cannot pine, or languish in our Bodies, but we feel it; a [...]aver or an Ague, or a Consumption, or Dropsi [...], or any bodily sickness; Oh, it makes us sick at heart, a froward yoke fellow, an un­thrifty servant, an ill neighbour, a scoff, a sleight cannot be born; but [...] how much sin can be born, while our flesh will bear nothing? Oh! how can Conscience bear and never complain?

Christians consider, when our flesh must be thus ten­dred, whatever come of it; must be tenderly fed, must have soft Ra [...]ment, soft Lodging, soft usage, deal gent­ly with it, though to maintain [...], Conscience must be racked and wracked and wasted.

When our wills cannot be crossed, our appetites can­not be denied, but a tumult follows, the Soul is in an uproar; and conscience mean while, must be denied, [...], and must go away in silence.

[Page]When the Word works no more, when the prints of it are not received; the power of it is resisted; when the rod works no more; when our stripes make no sign, when the lashes on our backs fall all besides our hearts; when we remain so vain, & so wanton, so wilful and so carnal, and so earthly; after the Lord hath been preach­ing, and whipping of us into a bitter frame, when we stand upon our terms, keep our distances, our animosi­ties, our hea [...]s, and heights of spirit, our censurings, our q [...]arrellings one with another, Christian with Christian, Professor with Professor, after the Lord hath been beat­ing us together, to make us friends, and all to learn us more Humility, and Charity; Is this our brokenness? is this our tenderness? when upon any the Lords rough­er dealing with us, spitting in our faces, throwing us on our backs, trampling us in the dirt, we are yet no more brought on our knees; Is this our brokenness? when the Lord hath been awakening us out of sleep, putting his spurrs and goads in our sides, to quicken us on our way; calling to us, Arise sleepers, put on [...]luggards, stir up your spirits, mend your pace. I will not be put off as I have been; no more such loitering, and idling, and trifling, and halting, as hath been; I must have other manner of service, other manner of praying▪ & hearing & walking, and working, than hath been; be zealous and amend, more labour, more care, more watchfulness, more activity, more of the Spirit, and Soul of what you pro­fess: when the Lord hath been thus goading, and spur­ring us on, and though our [...]l [...]sh feels, yet our hearts will not feel, nor answer the Goad or Spur; Is this an argument of tendernes [...]?

When great duties are little, & lesser are none; when great sins are infirmities, & little ones are nothing; when lying and defrauding, when false weights, & false wares, and false dealing; [...] defaming, back-biting, tale-bearing, [Page 152] railing, reviling, do stand for little more than cyphers; when fellowship, and familiarity, with evil men in their sins; when compliance with, or connivance at their wickedness; when sinful courtings, and complement­ings of such, to the fleshing them, and hardning them in their wayes, do pass for virtues, and civilities; when frothy, wan on discourse, and communication; when scoffing and making a sport at the sins, or infirmities of others; when sinful vain j [...]sting, wherein rather Conscience than wit must be deny'd; when all these pass for our ornaments, rather than our evils. Where's our tenderness?

When upon the auditing of our accounts, the examin­ing our Books, and reckoning up our scores; where a Talent is owing, we bid conscience take thy Bill, and write down a Shekel; where twenty or an hundred si [...]s to be reckoned for; take thy Bill, and write down ten or but one, and that a little one, when we are so free in mul­tiplying, and so false in numbring our iniquities; where's our tenderness.

Well Christians, the Lord hath promised a tender heart, to make these stones flesh; and something possibly is done already upon you, towards it; O let this sad sight now laid before you, this view of what is wanting, have some influence upon the making it up; let the sence of no more done, work what is yet undone▪ as is said before, let your unbrokenness break your hearts; let the stone that yet re­mains, make your flesh to bleed. If you yet feel no more, may you at least feel this that you feel not.

CHAP. XIII. An Heart to love the Lord.

IV. AN Heart to love the Lord. Deut. 30.6, The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord th [...] [...], with all thine heart, and [Page 153] with all thy soul. Love is the Soul of the new creature; the closure of the Soul with God. He that hath most of God, is most a christian; and he that hath most of love, hath most of God. God is love.

In the opening of this love to God, we shall consider Its

• Object.
• Act.

1. Its Object. The Object of Divine love is God. God is good, and good is amiable. God is all good: There is none good but one, that is God. God is essentially good, goodness in the abstract; he is infinitely [...], he is all perfection. In this one Attribute, all the rest of the Attributes of God are included, and this in each of them. However, the Scriptures, speaking to our capacities, de­scribe God and his glorious Attributes, in several and distinct notions; yet in each one all are included; each one is infinite, and infinite perfection is essentially all per­fection. God is originally good▪ the [...]ou [...]ain and pattern of all that moral good that is in the creatures; he is bounti­ful, and gracious, ready to do them good, and he is the felicitating end, or the blessedness of the soul. The good­ness of God to his creatures, according to its different re­spects to them, hath its defferent and various appellations. As it is freely bestowed, it is grace▪ as it respect them as needy, so it is bounty, as in misery, so it is mercy and com­passion: as provoking, so it is patience: as it intends their good, so it is love: as it answers both their necessities and capacities, so it is all-sufficiency. All these his bounty, mercy compassion, patience, love, all-sufficency, all these are in one word, his goodness, and goodness calls for love. The Object of this love is God, Particularly.

• 1. God in himself.
• 2. God in Christ.
• 3. God in all the things of God.

1. God in himself, as he is infinitely excellent, (as be­fore) [Page 154] and so worthy of all love. God is to be loved in himself, and for himself, for his own worthiness, God is good in himself, and therefore to be loved for himself.

2. God in Christ. In whom alone considering, us as sinners, he can be said to be good to us.

There is a four-fold incentive of Love.

• Perception.
• Proportion.
• Propriety.
• Possession.

1. Perception; or the apperhension or understanding of the object to be loved; we must know before we can love; now God cannot immediately be seen by mortals▪ he dwelleth in light, but that light is to us invisible. Christ is the Glass, in which this glory may be seen. We can not see God but through a vail of flesh, in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor 14. No man hath seen God at any time, but the only begotten of the F [...]ther, who is in the bosome or the Father, he hath revealed him.

2. Proportion. And there [...] double proportion requisite.

• 1. In respect of quantity▪ there must be sufficiency.
• 2. In respect of quality▪ there must be suitableness.

God himself is proportioned to us, consider us as rational creatures, and in our state of innocency; is both a sufficient and a suitable good; but God in Christ only, being con­sidered as lapsed creatures, in a state of sin.

God in Christ, is a God of pity, and compassion to us; a God of patience, a God of mercy, with whom is plentious re­demption. A God, pardoning iniquty, and passing by trans­gression; loving us in our low estate, loving us and pitying us, loving us and pardoning us; loving us and washing us, loving us and saving us from our sins, and from the wrath to come. And such love is the great flame that kindles love; love break­ing forth out of a cloud of wrath, and fury, and displeasure; abused love, provoked love, and yet forgiving love; to whom [Page 155] much is forgiven, they will love much.

3 Propriety What's good, good for us, and [our own] good, that carries our hearts. We most love our own good, because we most love our selves. Our love to God is hightened from our due self-love; there is a sinful self-love; when either we love that for a self, which is not our self; when we love our flesh and fleshly interest; or when we love our selves inordinately, more than God, and God on­ly for our selves; and there is a lawful self-love; when we love our selves, in the Lord and for the Lord And the more we thus love our selves, the more is the Lord loved by us, & the more be is our own, the more love he hath. Now in Christ the Lord is [our] God. Our own God; even our own God. Psal. 67.6. O God thou art [my] God, and I will praise thee. Thou art my God and I will love thee.

The Lord is God, and we therefore love him; the Lord is good, gracious, merciful, and we therefore love him, yea, and ought to love him, whether he be ours or no; but when both meet, he is God and our God; he is good and our good; graci­ous, merciful, all-sufficient, and all this to us; hence is our love made perfect in us,

4 Possession; we can love a distant, an absent good· A good that is only possible; there's love in hope; but by how much the nearer good is to us, (that is really so) by so much the more attractive and acceptable it is. 'Tis then most in our hearts, when 'tis most in our hands. In­deed those things which have only speciem boni, that are fancied good; or those things that are finite good; and good over-rated; that are judged better than they are, are loved most at a distance; because when they come to hand, we see our mistakes But that which is what it seemed; much more, that which is above our thoughts, beyond our expectations, infinite good; by how much the nearer, it is ever the dearer to us. All worldly good is most valued, (at least by carnal hearts) at a distance; [Page 156] they promise themselves more contentment in it, th [...]n i [...] hath to pay them; their possession is their disappointment. Whilst they lusted, they Idoliz­ed, they adored; but when they have tasted, and eaten, it comes out at their Nostrils. Or else they sit down, with the shame of the disappointed; they are either furfeited, or an hungry still. Is this all? all you can do for me? all the pleasure, and comfort, I shall have of you? is all my expectation of Delight, and Satisfaction, come to no more but this? Miserable Com­forters are you all! possession and fruition is the proof of all things. And vanity proved, is the less loved. But God being an all-sufficient, incompre­hensible good; by how much the nearer to us, by how much the more he is ours, by so much the more we prize and love, because now we find (when we have him, we enjoy him) that before, the one half was not told us.

Now in Christ, we have not only a propriety in God, but in some degree, a present possession. He that hath the Son, [hath] the Father also. We see his light, we feel his love, we taste of his good­ness, we enjoy his presence, we have God with us, we have God in us, we have felloship with him, he dwelleth in us, and we in him, and hence we love, and herein we rejoyce.

3. In all the things of God, in his Word, Ordinances, Sabbaths, Saints, in graces, duties, in all his ways, the Saints love God, and love his word, 'tis God in the word they love; they love God, & they love Ordi­nances, and Sabbaths, and Saints: it is God in all [Page 157] these they love: They love the ways, and works, and all the dispensations of God, and it is God in them all they love, they see God in every thing, and they love God where ever they see him. They look on all these things with another e [...]e, and there­fore embrace them with another heart then other men.

The Saints love to the things of God, is their love to God: for it is God in them (as was said) that that they love, their love to them is founded either on.

Their

• Participation of God, or,
• Relation to God.

Or else you may say they love the things of God, because they are,

• The Off-spring
• The Images
• The Chariots

of God.

1. The things of God, are the Off spring of God, as the Saints are born from above, so all the things of God, they come down from above, and there­fore may also be called as the Apostle stiles them, things above, Phil 3.1, 2. If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things that are above, set your affections on things above; things above, and the things of God, come all to one whatsoever is from God, & belongs to his Heavenly Kindgom, is divine, & Heavenly; and he that loveth him that begets, therefore loveth those which are begotten, and whatsoever proceedeth from him.

2. The Word & the Saints are the Images of God, the character, & impression of God are upon them; the Grace [Page 158] in the Saints, & the holy truths in the Word, are the very face of Christ, who is full of Grace and truth, and this is their Rule, love God, and love his Image.

3. The things of God are the Chariots of God. He that makes the Clouds his Chariots, makes also his Word, & his Ordinances, and his Ministers, his Chariots, wherein he rides down into those lower parts to give the world a meeting When Ministers come, & the Word comes down, God comes down in them to visit his people; as 'twas said of Paul, so 'tis true of Apollos, and Cephas, and all the Dispensers of the Gospel, they are chosen Vessels to hear his Name, before the Sons of men; and as they are the Cha­riots in which God comes down, so are they also the Waggons which he hath sent them, to fetch them up to him self; The Saints send up their hearts in their Duties, their hearts in their Prayers, in their praises unto God. Old Israel 's heart leap [...]d, when he saw the Waggons which Joseph had sent. Oh what love doth the Psalmist express, to the House and Court of the Lord! O how amiable are thy Tabernacles! I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go up into the House of the Lord He was glad to go thither, because thence he hoped to be carried higher▪ from the mountain to the Mansion; form Mount Zion here below, to Jerusalem which is above.

It's the Duty, and the delight of the Saints to be ascending Heaven wards, they are dead with Christ they are risen with Christ; and 'tis not as they would with them, but when they are ascending up with Christ, they are dead with Christ, by Repentance [Page 159] and Humiliation, they are risen with Christ, by Faith and Sanctification, and they ascend with Christ by Love and holy affection; this is their Chariot of fire, a Chariot within a Chariot, that through Duties and Ordinances rides up in its own flames to the God of Love

Or if you will, the Ordinances of God, are our Jacobs Ladder reaching from Heaven to Earth; by which, Angels descend▪ and Souls ascend. God comes down, and hearts go up, Praises go up, & Blessings come down; thou hast not prov'd what an Ordinance is, what Prayer means, or Preach­ing means, or Sacraments mean, that hast not seen God coming down, nor felt thine heart ascend­ing by them; he that hath felt this, will say, Here let me dwell; let others be where they will, a­mongst their flocks, amongst their herds, upon their beds, or at their cups, amongst their Harlots, or in their Houses; It is good for me to be here.

No wonder Christians, that carnal hearts are such strangers to the Word, can so well sit out at Duties, & can want Ordinances; Preaching and Praying, and Sabbaths, they can spare, and not feel their want, what wonder? What is Heaven to Earth? What is God to Flesh? these Chariots would carry them away from their Gods, carry them out of their own Country, into a strange Land, where they have nei [...]her possession nor ac­quaintance. But oh! what a sad wonder is it, that Saints should go up so often into the Chari­ots and yet be gotten no nearer home, that they [Page 160] should be still so much on the Earth, that have been so often mounted for Heaven; that those hearts should still be on the dunghils, whose feet are so often on the Mountain of the Lord; that the Waggons should be so often sent down, and go up empty; scarce an heart sent up in them; yea, that they should be so far from God, when God is among them. Where's your love, Chri­stians? how is it that it is still below? what have you here? your City is above; your home is a­bove; your God, your Jesus, your Treasure is a­bove: On how is it, that where your Treasure is, your hearts be not also? hear from God, and not God with the messenger? send up to Hea­ven your eyes, your hands, your Prayers, your complaints, your promises, and still leave your hearts below? send up hearts to Heaven, and let them return again [...]own to this Earth? remain Earth, and Flesh, and Filth, and Vanity, after so much converse or pretence to it, with the holy God of Spi [...]its? lovest thou God? when thou canst so often go where he is, and not care to see him? or if thou meet him, canst let him go without a blessing? or if he bless thee, canst go presently and exchange thy Fathers blessing for a mess of Pottage? canst lose a duty in a dinner, the comforts and revivings of a Sermon, of a Sacrament, of a Sabbath, in an hours carnal con­verse in the world? did we love our God more, certainly we should be more with him, and to better purpose. His meetings would be more pre­cious, [Page 161] and the fruits of them more lasting. We should neither go away without his blessing, nor throw it away when we had gotten it.

Thus much for the object of Love.

2. Its Act. Love is a natural Affection. The love of God is the Souls clasping or closing with the Lord▪ It is the expansion, or going out of the heart, in its strength, after God, the uniting or knitting of the Soul with God, with a complacency and acquiescence in him.

There are three things included in this love.

1. The strength of the heart making out after God. This is that which is commonly called our amor desiderii, or our love of desire, the breathing or thirsting, or panting of the heart, after God, Psal. 42.1. The hearts working God wards with its might; loving him above all things, desiring him above all things; and that both intensive with the greatest vigour and intention: and adaequate as its compleat and adequate Object. God is its All. Whom have I in Heaven but thee, and there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee.

2. The uniting of the Soul with God. Our clea­ving to him. By love heart cleaves to heart, Soul cleaves to Soul. Its said of Shechem, Gen. 34.3. that his heart clave unto Dinah. He loved her with his heart, she was gotten into his heart, and there his heart holds her. Acts 11.23. Barnabas exhorts the Church, that with purposse of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. It is the knitting of the Soul with God. Its said, 1 Sam. 1.18. That the [Page 162] Soul of Jonathan was knit with the Soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own Soul. And of Jacob, Gen. 44.30. to express his tender love to Benjamin, 'tis said, his life was bound up in the lads life. Of the multitude of believers we read, Acts 4.32. that they were all of one heart and of one Soul. Their love had knit them up all into one. By love we are one with God and he with us. It is the souls willing of God, as I may so speak. Willing of God to it self, and willing it self, and all to God. All praises, all honour, all blessedness to him. Be thou mine, Lord; nothing less, nothing else. Be thou mine, I need no less, I desire no more. Let me be thine, be to thee, be for thee, thy servant, thy sacrifice, or what thou wilt; and let all mine be thine; mine heart, and my hand, and my tongue, and my time, and mine interest. Let all thine be to thee; thy Heavens & thy Earth, with every person, with every creature in them. Let every heart, every mouth, every limb, every creature be a praise to the Lord. Let the Lord live, and blessed be my rock; let the God of my salvation be exalted. Let every knee bow, let every tongue confess unto God. This is the amor unionis, our love of union, as 'tis called. And 'tis the heart, the very essence of saving love, wherein are included both our accep­ting of God, and our surrender or resignation of our selves unto God. Amor non est nisi donum a­mantis in amatum. And our wishing and willing all glory, dominion and blessedness to him. And so here also is our amor benevolentiae, our love of [Page 163] benevolence. All these may be included in that opening of the heart, mentioned, Acts 16.14. It's there said, that the Lord opened Lydia's heart. The heart is then savingly opened, when it freely sets out its self upon God, all its streams run in to the Lord; and when it takes in, and takes down God into the depth of the soul. The heart thus opened to the Lord, when God is come in, will close upon him. Abide with me; thou hast entred upon thine habitation, Oh let this be thy dwelling for ever. Only this must be farther ad­ded, that with God it takes in all things of God; his Word, his Ordinances, his Wayes, and all his Dispensations: With his Love, his Laws; with his comforts, his Counsels; with his Counsels, his Corrections; with thee, I accept of all that's thine; both thy yoke and thy cross, thy self, Lord, thy love Lord, and what thou wilt with thee.

3. The souls taking pleasure, and taking up its rest in him. This is call'd our Amor. complacentiae. Where we love, there will be a delightful stay or immoration of the mind upon God. Ubi amor, ibi oculus. The object dwells in the eye; we are still looking where we love. Anima est ubi amat. When I awake, I am still with thee; there his thoughts are, of him is his meditation all the day long.

My meditation of him shall be sweet. He that loves, dwelleth in God. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. And why there? why there his God dwell, & therefore there his soul takes up its [Page 164] dwelling. There is also an acquiescence of the heart in him. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. But this is not felt, till love hath obtained: Till the soul feels it self to love, and to have what it loves; to love, and to be beloved; to accept, and to be ac­cepted of God. When it comes to this, then I have enough. I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. And here is the sweetness of Religion, the marrow and fatness of godliness, the pleasure of love: When I love, I can rest; when I can rest, I can rejoyce; when I feel my self to love, I know I am beloved; and then what is there wanting? Where love is a stranger, joy is not known; we can never take comfort in any thing, but in that which we love. When take we pleasure in eat­ing, but when we have meat that we love? What is a friend, or a wife, or a child, when we love them not? What is society or communion, where love hath not first made an union? can two walk together except they be agreed? with little comfort sure; they would be better pleased, were they parted asunder. 'Tis love that is the pleasure of our lives. 'Tis love that makes Heaven sweet, there we shall have our fill of joy, because there we have our fill of love: Heaven would be no Heaven, God himself could not be the joy, if he were not the love of his Saints. What bitter draughts will love sugar? sin, and lusts, and all the filth of the flesh, are sweet morsels to carnal hearts; 'tis meat they love; God is nothing, Christ is no thing to them; What is thy beloved more than other [Page 165] beloveds? Religion is a bondage to them, holiness a weariness; not the labours only, but the joys of the Saints are empty and unsavoury things; there are no feasts but love feasts. Love is both the best dish, and the only sauce to every dish; 'tis the best dish; he that feeds on divine love, will never com­plain of a short meal; and 'tis the only sauce for every dish; 'tis but unsavoury meat that is not seasoned with love; we may a little change the proverb, love is the best sauce: Be the meat never so excellent, it will not relish if it be not loved. Love will make any thing down. When it puts such a sweetness into sin, that even death and hell will down with carnal hearts for its sake, Oh what a feast will love make of holiness and glory! get love to Christ, love to Religion, and you will never demand, Where is the blessedness? where is the sweetness?

Love will sweeten both the comforts and the exercises of Religion; 'twill make duties sweet; yea, and sufferings sweet: there are two things that are naturally sweet to love,

To please. To praise.

1. He that loves, will please, and observe whom he loves: How careful are such to watch them­selves, that they grieve not their friend? what study does love put them upon, to find out what's grateful and acceptable? Acceptable looks, accep­table language, acceptable entertainment? what wilt thou Lord? what wilt thou have me to be? a servant? a door-keeper? a servant of servants [Page 166] for thee? I will be nothing but what thou wilt, any thing that thou wilt have me. What wilt thou have me to do, Lord? Let me know thy will, appoint me my work. Oh that my ways were so directed, that I might keep thy statutes. What wilt thou have of me? wilt thou have mine Idols, mine ease, o [...] mine honour, or my pleasure, or my house, or mine estate? wilt thou have mine Isaacks? is there any thing dearer to me than other, that might be an offering to the Lord? wilt thou have my liberty or my life? behold all is at thy feet; I can keep back nothing thou cal­lest for?

Hence love is said to be the fulfilling of the law; there is in this good will, radically every good work. It would walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work. Love is generous, it would do great things, noble things; what shall I do for him whom my soul honours? Oh for a gift that might be worthy of him! but I have nothing, my goodness extendeth not to thee; it would give more than it owes; but where it can­not do so, where it cannot be generous, yet it would be just; it would level all accounts, & pay all debts; love would have nothing but love ow­ing. It would give to all their due; it would not dye in the debt of a servant, of a stranger, much less (could it help it) would it defaulk from the God of glory. That's the daily charge of love, pay what thou owest. Its receipts and re­turns are a pleasure to it; any thing that comes [Page 167] down from Heaven, and every present it has to send thither, is a joy to love. This is the mes­sage that both speak, happy soul, thou lovest, and art beloved. It catches at all opportunities to send up Messages of Love, and knoweth no fitter Mes­senger to send by, than by the hand of Duty; e­very duty is dispatched with this superscription, The tribute of love.

Love is the spring that sets all our wheels a go­ing, the womb in which all our works are formed; the fire in the heart, that vents it self in our words and ways. The fire kindled; then spake I with my tongue. Love is to a Saint, what malice is to Sa­tan; that which gives force to all his actings. Sa­tans temptations are called fiery darts; and this not only because they are headed, and barbed with fire: as poysoned arrows, they burn where they hit; they set sin on fire, they set the soul on fire? burning with lust and wickedness, but because they are winged with fire, and forced with fire; the bullet is fired out of the Gun, and thence it flies so fiercely. 'Tis the malice of Satans heart, that fi [...]es out all his darts. What malice doth with Satan, that doth love with Saints. It sets the heart in a flame of holy zeal and activity for God, Jer. 20.9. Thy word was in me as fire, (it hath kindled a fire there) I was weary with for­bearing. An heart of love is weary, not of action, but of idleness. Weary with forbearing, not with doing; never weary of doing much, ever weary of doing nothing O God, my heart is fixed, my [Page 168] heart is fixed, saith the Psalmist, I will sing & give thanks. Love will add, O God, mine heart is fier­ed, my heart is fiered; there's a flame kindled; mine heart burneth in holy desires and zeal for thee; and where love hath set the heart a burn­ing, the heart will set the hand a working and the feet a running.

2. He that loves, will praise whom he loves. Praise is comely, and praise is a pleasure to the upright in heart. 'Tis the delight of love, to be speaking of the perfections, of the virtues, of the beauties, of the excellencies of her beloved. The Spouse in the Book of Canticles, whose whole lan­guage is a love, her heart is so full, that her lips overflow [...] the mention of the excellencies of Christ: My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand: His head is fine gold, his eyes Doves eyes, his cheeks a bed of spices, his lips are lilies, his hands are gold rings, his legs pillars of marble, his countenance excellent, his mouth sweet, yea, he is altogether lovely; this is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem, Cant. 5. Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the City of our God. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the hea­vens, thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, thy judgment [...] are a great deep. How excellent is thy loving kind­ness, O Lord? therefore the sons of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. I will speak of the [Page 169] glorious honour of thy Majesty, and of thy wondrous works▪ the Lord is gracious, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. Let all thy works praise thee, O Lord; let thy Saints bless thee; let them speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; let them abundantly utter the memory of thy goodness, and sing of thy righteousness. O my God, thou art all love, all goodness, all grace, all glory: O let thy servant be all praise. Let this heart be an altar, and every service a sacrifice; let this mouth be a trumpet, and every word a Psalm; let my breath be as incense, and e­very member a censer. Let all that is within me, my soul, with all its powers; let all that is with­out me, my body with all its members, shout for joy, and sing forth the high praises of God. This is the voice of Love.

And now you have another excellency of the new heart laid open to your view; Love: An heart to love.

Christians, prize this precious grace, prize it, & you will write down this word also among the great and precious promises; and if you would prize it aright, take your estimate of it from its worth, and its want; as we use to prize Jewels from their

• Excellency.
• Ra [...]ity.

1. Prize it according to its worth and excellency. Why, what is the worth? Cant. 8.7. If a man [Page 170] would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be contemned. The whole world is not of that value, to be a price for love; no, it must come by gift; it's not to be bought for mony; love is worth as much as a soul; and that's more than all the world. What shall it profit a man to win the whole world, and lose his own soul? Love is as much worth as all Religion; 'tis the soul and the sub­stance of all Religion; all the Graces, the duties and exercises of it, are only valued according to the love that is in them; What is knowledge, faith, hope, patience, without love? what is pray­er, fasting, alms, without charity? They are worth nothing, shall I say? nay they are nothing; if I had all knowledge, and all faith, and were all prayer, and all labour, and all suffering, and had not charity, I were nothing. Love is worth as much as Heaven is worth, as Christ, as God is worth to us. God is love, and God is not, if love be not in us. Dost thou prize thy substance? Is thy house, or thy money, or thy lands, any thing to thee? Dost thou value thy soul? Is Re­ligion, is Heaven, is Christ, is God himself, of any account with thee? Then prize the love of God; without love, God is no God to thee, Christ is no Christ to thee, Heaven is no Heaven for thee; better thou hadst no soul, no being, than no love. O prize the love of God, prize and seek, prize and pray; pray as for thy life, as for thy soul, as for thy everlasting Kingdom, Lord, let me love thee; Get love, and get all; love, and thou wilt [Page 171] be holy; love, and thou wilt be humble; love, and thou wilt be fruitful; love, and thou wilt please, praise, and enjoy thy God; love, & thou wilt fear, serve, suffer and dye for him; love, and thou shalt live; prize love, prize it according to its worth. And

2. Prize it according to its rarity. Things ex­cellent are rated something the more for their scarcity; scarcity raises the Market, the Word of God was precious in those days, 1 Sam. 3.1. that is, when there was a Famine of the Word, wh [...] there was no open Vision: O were the love of God as precious as 'tis rare! What a spiritless carkass is the Religion of many Professors? what's become of the soul of it? Oh! we freeze in our Duties, we freeze in our Devotions, we are almost frozen out of them all; if we have a Sacrifice lest, what fire is there to offer it up? The God that answereth by fire, let him be God, said Elijah; the heart that asketh by fire, that ascendeth in fire, let that be the heart for God: Behold the wood and the fire, but where is the Lamb for the Sacrifice? We may say, Behold the wood and the sacrifice, but where is the fire to offer it up? our Spirits have taken a cold, the ch [...]ll of them appears in all our duties. Rabbi, where dwellest thou? Love, where dwellest thou? zeal of God, where is thy abode? how many houses must we search? how many hearts must we walk through, ere we find thine habitation? The Apostle tells the Romans, Rom. 10.2. that they have a zeal of God, but not according [Page 172] to Knowledge; we have the Knowledge of God, but oh▪ where is the zeal? the Zeal of thine house. saith the Psal­mist, hath eaten me up, but is not that eater, eaten? The house hath burnt up the fire, or if there be any fire left, is it not strange fire? not the fire of love, but of lust, of pride, or covetousness, or that wild-fire of envy and contention that heats our spirits? Jehu was also on fire against the house of Ahab; Come see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts That fire was fury, not love; or if 'twas love, 'twas self-love; not the love of God that made all that flame; such hearts are like the evil tongue, James 3. set on fire of Hell. Such heats are not from above, but are earthly, sensual, devillish▪ we freeze still, while we thus fry; our praeter-natural heats have extinguished the super-natural.

Oh! how little kindly warmth do we find in our spi­rits? do we feel our hearts working upwards, ascending in our flames? we all pretend to love, but consider, are our hearts making out in their strength after God? We wish well to his Name and Interest, we wish he were ours, we wish our selves his: O! if wishing were loving, what Christians should we be? But doth the Kingdom of God suffer violence? who are they that so run▪ as if they would take God by force, take Heaven by force? The Kingdom of Heaven may offer violence if it will, & take us by force; but how little violence doth it suffer? We say, we love God, but is there not something else we love more? we desire to be holy, but is there not some­thing else we desire more?

Oh how few hearty friends hath Christ in the world! and how little love from these few? so little that we can­not tell our selves whether it be any thing or nothing; how hard are we put to it? What a narrow search must we make? how many arguments must we consult? how many marks must we consider, e're we can prove [Page 173] we love him? and yet at last are still in doubt whether we love him or not

When we love our carnal friends, our Wives, our Children, we can feel that we love them; when we love our Ease, or our Estates, or our Liberties, we can feel that we love them; but our God, we cannot tell whe­ther we love him or no: How few of us can boldly make our appeal to him, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.

Oh how many wounds doth Christ receive in the house of his Friends! how many sleights must he put up? how often when he hath sate down in his own (in the highest) Room, have we said to him, Give this man place: Give this Friend, or this business place! and so made him take the lower room?

How hath he, when he hath come to our doors, (his love hath often brought him thither)▪ how often. hath [...] both stood, and knocked, and called, open to me my love, my Sister; and there been made to stand & wait, when strangers have been gotten in, and taken up all the rooms? The World can never come out of season, but Christ is fain to wait his seasons, when he can find us at leisure; if there be any other guest with us, our Lord must wait; Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season, I will send for thee; how often have we agreed and appointed to meet the Lord at such an hour, in our Chamber, in our Closet, to have converse and communion with him in duty; and if any thing come in to carry us another way, then presently, I pray thee, have me excused; or, if we do keep▪ our time, and shut in our selves with the Lord, and sit down to duty, what a multitude of thoughts presently fall a knocking at our doors? and away our hearts go presently with them to the ends of the earth, and leaves nothing but our car­ [...]ass behind with the Lord. O were our love stronger, [Page 174] our cries would be louder, and would [...]rown the noise of these knockings, that they would not be heard nor heeded, it would command silence to every impertinent thought. I charge you, O Daughters, that you stir not, that you disturb not my Beloved, and my Soul; more love would command their attendance upon the work of the Lord, would gird up the loins of the mind, and ga­ther in all its scattered Messengers: Come all ye powers of my soul, come and do you homage, come and help in the service of my God.

Oh! at what distance are we content to live from the Lord, sometimes for many days together? Our souls & our God are grown strange, and yet we can be mer [...]y and quiet; we can be without the presence of God, and yet never miss it; not a smile from his face, nor a look of love from us to him, and yet no trouble follows: The Sun may be eclipsed, or under a Cloud, and yet no darkness upon our spirits: we do not walk in dark­ness when we have no light; sorrow and sadness is as far from us, as God is from us; we can warm our selves at our own fires, & rejoyce in the light of our own sparks, as if these were the Sun; we can do as well in a mist, as in the sun-shine; day and night are both alike to us: The Children of the Bride-chamber do not Fast, but can Feast and make merry, when the Bridegroom is ta­ken from them; their carnal contentments they can make a shift with, to supply the room of their Lord. Can we not sometimes go where our Lord feeds, and never find him? go to pray, or go to hear, or go to a Sacrament, and the Lord never meet us there, and yet can return well enough satisfied? When we thus want communion with God, and [can] want it; where's our love? what love is that which can so well bear the ab­sence of her Beloved? Call me no more Naomi, plea­sant, but call me Marah, bitter; I went out full, but I re­turn [Page 175] empty: Full of grace, full of joy, because full of the Lord; but behold all is gone, my Hu [...]band is lost, my God is departed from me: Call me no more Naomi, but call me Marah, for the Almighty hath dealt bitterly with me, hath hid his face from me; for these things I weep, mine eyes, mine eyes run down with tears, because the Comforter that should relieve my soul; is far from me; such are the tears of Love for her absent Lord.

Oh how little Conscience it there made of bestowing that on the Lord, which we have bestowed on him! We give and take; we pretend to have given all to God; but are we not often taking away what we have given, and bestowing it elsewhere? Love would have all we have, running into God, and would have nothing run besides; but oh what waste is there made of our time, of our parts, and other Talents, which were they well husbanded, would come to much, and be given to the Lord! when so many days and hours run out, and no account taken of them, on what, or on whom they are consumed; when our eyes, and our ears, and hands, & tongues, which were made for God, the Devil & Lust must so often have the using of them; when back and [...]elly, and friends and companions, must carry away what should be spent on God and Souls; when what [...]hould be allowed for Religion, and Charity to have the [...]pending of, must be at the disposure of Pride, Prodiga­ [...]ity and Gluttony; when our Prayers, our Fasting, our Preaching and hearing; all our Duties must become sa­crifices to our Lust, our Idols are suffered to devour the Sacrifices of the Lord; When our pride and fleshly [...]nds must have the offering, and eating of our Sacrifices, his must make our Prayers, and preach our Sermons, [...]nd keep our Fasts, and give our Alms, and wear the credit and honour of them as its own Crown; When God is thus robbed, and we let the thief run away with [Page 176] all, and is never pursued or questioned, Oh! where is our love?

Oh! how little pleasure do we take in the Lord? what a weariness is it to us, to wait upon him? how glad are we when we come [back] from the house of the Lord? When we come off our knees, come out of our Closets? When the Sabbaths are gone, and the new Moons are over, and we make our returns from Heaven to Earth? How much work have we to keep our hearts by the Lord? How do they slink away ere we are aware? And whilst we are in his presence, hovv seldome do we rejoyce in his presence? What hungry meals, what jejune feasts do we make before the Lord? We relish not his Dainties; his Wine is but Lees, his Mar­row and his fat things, are but leanness to our Souls; i [...] little love would sweeten every drop, would season eve­ry morsel that comes from his Table; would make our very Fasts to be pleasant bread: We feed upon the Dish or the Trencher, and not the Mea [...]; on the Bone, and not the Marrow; Ordinances, and the External Exercises of Religion, are but the bone, or the shell, or the dish, it is God that is the Kernel, the Marrow and Fatness. How little Communion have we with the Lord, in our approaches to him? And how little sweet­ness do we find in the little we have? Communion is the Pleasure of Love, and Love is the sweetness of Com­munion, Novv I am vvhere I vvould be. O! hovv amiable are thy Tabernacles? Very pleasant art thou to me, O Lord; that is the voice of Love. Had vve more love, vve should be more spiritual; and spiritual things vvould be more grateful to spiritual hearts: Divine love is like the fire, it ratifies and changes hearts into his ovvn likeness, and then there's svveetness. O vve are carnal, and that's enough to evidence, that there's little of the Love of God abi­ding in us.

[Page 177]Consider these things, and you will see that love is a rarity; there's but little true love in the world. O prize the love of God; let its want make it prized; shall it be so rare, and yet so cheap? prize it, and press on after it.

What do these hearts below? are they not still below? so cold, such clods of clay, and yet above? so carnal, so sensual, and yet in Heaven? so hungry, and so greedy in sucking the juice of this earth, in taking in its pleasures; so busie in digging out the wealth of the Earth, and search­ing for its treasures, [hearts] so busie this way, and yet not here? how canst thou say, I am wal­king with the God of glory, when thou art still worshipping the gods of the Earth? How canst thou say, this heart is risen, it is not here; when it may be said to thee, Behold the place where it lyes; it is still in the field, in the ridges and furrows thereof; it is still in the Mines, in the heart of the Earth, see the place where it lies: We sow our hearts with our Seed; we send them down to dig in the heart of the Earth.

But what do these hearts below? Sursum corda, get you up, get you up; leave nothing but the Mantle here, your carkasses, Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust. Come, have these souls Heaven-ward; let them take the wing and be gone: O that I had the wings of a Dove, that I might fly up, & be at rest; be lower than ever by humility; but let love be on high.

Behold those cords of love, that are let down [Page 178] in every Ordinance, in every Providence; there's a cord let down to gather up hearts; hea [...]ken to those calls of love, come up hither, come up hither; we come Lord, thou bidst us come; O lend us thy hand, and lift us up.

Come on Christians, come let's be happy; if we love, we are happy: come let's rejoyce, if we love, we joy: come let's live, we dye, we dye; while we linger on this earth, i [...] we love, we live; let's live, and let our life be love; let our works be labour of love, our sufferings seals of love, our sorrows the sorrows of love, our wounds love scars, our prayers the cries of love, our praises love-songs to our Lord and God. Let every duty, every exercise, let every member, every power, let our bodies, let our souls be loves sacrifices; as we see in all his, so let the Lord see love in all our ways.

Canst thou not love? look till thou canst; look up to thy God, send up thy thoughts thither; let thy Meditations be of him, these will not be long before the Throne ere they fetch up thy heart: Look on thy Jesus, behold his hands; and his feet; come and put thy finger into the print of the nails, and thrust thine heart into his side, and there let it lie ti'l thou feel it warm; look up to thy Jesus, lift up a prayer, Lord let me love thee; if thou lovest, let me love thee; I will seek, till I can see; let me see, till I can love. What have I here Lord? My All is with thee, my help, my hope, my treasure, my life is hid with Christ in God: And yet behold, this all is nothing to me, while [Page 179] mine heart is no more with thee, take it Lord, take it up; where my Treasure is, there let mine heart be also.

Doubting Christian, who because thou lovest so little, fearest thou lovest not at all; cry for more, [...] be thankful for what thou hast; be a­shamed thou lovest no more, but be not dismayed; thou complainest thou canst not love God, but dost thou love his Image, his Saints, his Word, his Works, his Ways? Whilst thou saist thou lovest not God, dost thou love Godliness? if thou canst not love, canst grieve, canst lament after him? hast thou chosen, dost thou hang upon, trust in the Lord? If thou canst not love, canst fear and follow the Lord? If he be not sensibly in thy af­fection, is he in thy thoughts, in thy mouth, in thy eye? Is he thy aim, and thy scope? Doth thy course bend towards him? Comfort thine heart in these things, thou mayest see, though thou canst not feel thou lovest.

CHAP. XIV. An heart to fear the Lord.

AN heart to fear the Lord. Jer. 32.40. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. I shall proceed to the opening of this by these steps; I shall shew, 1. That the Lord God is a dreadful God. 2. That the Lord hath put the dread of himself upon the hearts of all the [Page 180] earth. 3. That yet by sin the heart of man is much hardned from the fear of the Lord. 4. That God will recover his honour, and again put his fear into the hearts of his people. 5. What this fear of the Lord is that he will put into them.

1. The Lord God is a dreadful God; he is dreadful in the Excellency and Glory of his Ma­jesty, Job 13.11. Shall not his Excellency make you afraid, and his dread fall upon you? His Power is dreadful. Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? Will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the Sand for the bound of the Sea, by a perpetual Decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the Waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? He that did this, what can he not do? His wrath is a dread, Jer. 10.10. At his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the Nations shall not be able to abide his Indignation. Yea, his Holi­ness, his Truth, his Righteousness, & all his Name, Deut. 28.58. That thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful Name [the Lord thy God.] The Lord God is a dreadful God.

2. The Lord God hath put the dread of him­self upon the hearts of all the earth. Not the best only, but the worst of the sons of men. I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my Name is dreadful among the Heathen. This dread of the Lord breaks forth upon them.

1. From the impress of God upon the natures of all men. As the Law, so the Being of God is [Page 181] written in their hearts, he hath his Witness in their Consciences. If the Atheists of the Earth could answer all the Arguments from without, proving that there is a God; yet they can never confute their own Consciences. If the works of God do not, their Reins shall instruct them; if they will not see, whether they will or no, they shall feel that there is a God; and where-ever God is felt, he is feared; even when their mouth speaketh proud things, their heart shall meditate terror; and when nothing else is, they shall be a terror to themselves.

2. It is encreased by the great works of God, his wonders that he doth in the World; his Thun­der and his Hail, his Wind and his Waves; his Earth-quakes, make an Earth-quake in hearts.

3. It's further heightned, by his Judgments which he executeth on the Earth. The Judg­ments of God, are God revealing himself from Heaven, against the ungodliness and unrighteous­ness of men, and do then strike most terror, 1. When he smites suddenly, and makes quick work with sinners: as when Herod was smote by an Angel of God, Nadab and Ab [...]hu consumed by fire from God, immediately upon their Sin. Sud­den strokes shake secure hearts. 2. When he ex­ecutes strange Judgments, makes a new thing, as in the case of Korah and his company, he made the Earth to open her mouth upon them, and swallow them up; so he made the flies and the frogs, and the lice, &c. to be the Executioners [Page 182] of his wrath on Pharoah. 3. When he executes great wrath for little sins, as men account them; as in the case of Uzzah, whom he struck dead for but touching the Ark when it shook 4 When he exercises great severity on his own, on those that are near him. If he spareth not his Sons, what will he do with his Enemies? If these things be done on the green Tree, what shall be done on the dry?

4. Yet further, By their Conscience of guilt, and their binding over to the Judgment to come. The sin of Judah is written with a Pen of Iron, with a point of a Diamond, it is graven upon the Tables of their heart. The sin of Judah is written; yea, & the sin of the Gentiles also, Rom. 2.15. Their Con­science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing. And where their sin is written, there their Judgment is written, which even nature it self will teach, doth inevi [...]ably follow upon sin; and this is the great dread that is upon them. The very mention of Judgment to come, made a Fae­lix tremble at the face of a poor Prisoner. This is the terror of the Lord, mentioned by the A­postle▪ 2 Cor. 5.10, 11. We must all appear before the Judgment-Seat. — Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we perswade men. Death is said to be the King of terrors: and this is the terror of death, after that the Judgment. All these, the impress of God upon their hearts, the wonders of God in the world, the vengeance of God executed on sin, the sence of guilt, and of a Judgment to come, do preach to the Consciences of sinners, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[Page 183]3. Yet by sin the hear [...] of man is much hardned from the fear of the Lord. Sin blinds the eye, and hardens the heart, brings into danger, and puts out of fear. Who in such danger, and yet who so bold as the blind sinner? When the understan­ding is darkned, the next word we read is, Past feeling, Eph. 4.19. There is included in the very nature of sin, a slighting of God▪ and by once slighting, we learn to slight him more. Slight the command, and you will quickly slight the Curse. Laugh at duty, and 'twill not be long ere you laugh at fear. And when sin hath thus hardned, God will also harden let's the sinner alone, sus­pends his Judgments, smi [...]es the sinner with judici­al blindness, and gives him up to a Reproba [...]e mind, Rom. [...].28. And when once they come to this, then Hell is broke-loose: For what follows? ver. 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, and what not, Psal. 36 1. The transgression of the wicked saith with­in my heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes. Gen 20. When Abraham had such a thought, Sure­ly the fear of God is not in this place, what thought he, was there then? Murther, Adultery, Rapes, all manner of Villany. What sawest thou amongst us, that thou hast done this thing? What hurt, what evil didst thou see among us? What evil? Evil enough to make me afraid: I thought the fear of God was not here, and there needs no more to make me afraid. Say of any person, The fear of God is not in this man, and you therein say, The [Page 184] Devil is in him; here dwells sin, and all manner of wickedness.

Say of any place, The fear of God is not in this place, and if you find it an Egypt or Sodom for a­bominations, you will not wonder, Psal 19 9. The fear of the Lord is clean; that is, not only, f [...]r­m [...]liter, but effective, it cleanseth: Where this is not, every unclean thing may dwell. The rea­son why this world is such a world as 'tis, such a wicked world, such a treacherous, deceitful, un­godly world; why there is so little Faith, or Truth or Mercy, or Charity, or Sobriety, is, Because there is so little of the fear of God. Sin hath cast out fear, and this hath brought forth sin in abundance. The Law is nothing, Threatnings are nothing, Conscience is nothing, God is no­thing to men, because he is not their fear. Wick­edness is as righteousness, [...] as honesty, pro­digality, debauchery, as temperance and sobriety; yea, and hath gotten the start of it: it faceth the Sun, it lifts up the head, it wears the Garland; it paints it self Vertue, Generosity, Gallan [...]ry, the beauty and ornament of the World, where the fear of God is departed.

God may promise, threaten, command, Heark­en to my voice, turn at my reproofs, cast away your transgressions: Awake from your wine, be chaste, sober, be humble; let your merriment be turned into mourning your jollity into heaviness. Re­member your Creator, remember your souls, why will you dye? Turn and live: God may speak [Page 185] thus once and twice, and ten times, but is not re­garded; his words have no weight, his counsels have no credit, his warnings are of no value with hardned, fearless hearts. If the Devil speak but once, he is heard; if Lust speak but once, 'tis o­beyed; if a proud companion speak but once, he is followed, whilst the word of the God of glory is made a reproach and a scorn. O the intollera­ble contempt that's poured out upon the Most High, by men that fear not God: Make thy pro­mises, and give thy gifts to whom thou wilt; give Grace, and give glory where thou pleasest; the world for me; my Pleasures, mine Honours, my Liberty for me; this world for me, look after the other who will Let the Lord threaten, let the day of the Lord come; let it hasten that we may see it, let the Almighty do his worst, I will not hearken nor turn. This is the blasphemy of hard­ned, fearless hearts.

4 God will recover his Honour in the hearts of his People. He will put his fear in their hearts, whilst others are hardned, they shall tremble; whilst others kick, they shall stoop; whoever de­spise me, of these will I be had in honour.

5. What this fear of the Lord is, that he will put into their hearts. The fear of God is taken in Scripture.

1. Sometimes more largely, as it comprehends all Religion. Job was said, Chap 1. to be a man fearing God, that is a godly man; but in this sense I shall not here speak of it.

[Page 186]2. Sometimes more strictly, as a distinct grace, as di­stinguished from Faith, Love, Hope, and other graces of the Spirit. And being taken in this sense, there are these two things included in it.

• 1. A Reverence of God.
• 2. An Abhorrence of evil for God's sake.

1. A reverence of God To fear God, is to have the awe of God abiding upon the heart, to be under a sense of the Majesty and Glory of the Lord, shining forth in all his Attributes, especially in his Holiness and Omnis­cience; the glory of his Holiness; and the sense of such an holy eye upon the soul, strikes it with dread and con­sternation. This is exprest in Scripture, by Sanctifying the Lord in the heart, Levit. 10.3. I will be sanctified in them that draw nigh me. Isa 8.13. Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. There is mention in Scripture of a Sanctify­ing of God, and a justifying of God. As God doth justifie and sanctifie his people, so they are to justifie and san­ctifie God. These two, the justifying and sanctifying of God, though they be much the same; yet there is some difference betwixt them: To sanctifie God, is to reve­rence him in our hearts, and to represent him in the glo­ry of his Holiness before men. To justifie God, suppo­seth a sinful judging, and foolish charging of God in the hearts of men, and is our vindicating of him from such charges. Is God righteous? How is it then that he is so partial in his dealings with the righteous and unrigh­teous? that he deals worse with those that fear him, than with those that fear him not? Is God good? How is it then that he is so hard, not only in imposing, but inflict­ing such hard things upon his own? Is God true? How is it then that he fails his people so often, when he hath said, I will never fail them nor forsake them? Our flesh hath failed, and our heart hath failed, yea, and our God [Page 187] hath often failed us too; we have often called, and have had no answer; we have often trusted, and have had no deliverer. Yet God is righteous, yet God is good, yet God is true; he hath not been unrighteous, he hath not been an hard Master, he hath not failed nor forsaken; this is to justifie God.

Our justifying of God, hath some kinds of resemblance with Gods justifying of us. Gods justification of us, stands in his not imputing sin to us, and accepting us as righteous; and our justifying of God, stands in our not imputing evil to him, and our acknowledging him to be true, just and good. God hath justified me from my sins, and that's enough to proclaim him good and faith­ful, whatever his other dealing [...] be: Let him afflict me, let him chastifie me, since he will not judge me, nor con­demn me with the world. God hath justified himself in my Conscience. I have found that the Lord is gracious, I have found that God is faithful; he hath said he will not, and I must say he hath not forsaken: He hath not failed, when he hath most failed me; when he hath been farthest off from my help, he hath even then been a pre­sent help in trouble: He hath answered, when he hath been most silent; he hath been most good, when he hath been most hard. I have never found more sweet, than in his bitter Cup. I must judge my self, not my God: I have sinned, I have sinned against him, and therefore I must justifie him when he speaketh, and clear him when he judgeth. Hold thy peace querulous heart, be silent all the earth before the Lord, for truly God is good to Israel, and to them that are of a clean heart. There be few among the worst of sinners, but if Conscience might be suffered to speak, it would justifie God. 'Tis Lust that quarrels, not Conscience; 'Tis vain to serve the Lord, and what profit is there to keep his Ordinan­ces. His wayes are unequal and hard, his promise fails, [Page 188] take one time with another, oftner than 'tis made good. Who is it that plagues and disappoints, and crosseth and vexeth us? This evil is of the Lord, why should I wait on the Lord any longer? Nay, whom doth he punish more than those that are nearest him? Who hath sorrow, who hath trouble in the flesh, who are reproach'd, scorn'd, hunted up and down the World but these? This they may thank God for, and their following of him 'Tis better being the servant of sin, than the ser­vant of Christ. Thus Lust blasphemes. But speak Con­science, Is God unrighteous? Is God false of his word? Are the pleasures of sin better than the gain of godliness? Have the children of this world made a wiser choice than the children of light? Speak sinner, let thy Con­science speak whether it be thus or no. God hath not left himself without witness in the hearts of sinners, much more with his Saints, when they do speak their hearts, speak good of his Name. But this by the way.

To return to the matter in hand. To sanctifie God, is especially to reverence him in the heart; to have such an high, an holy and honourable esteem of him, as commands an awe upon the heart; and that

1. At all times: My son, be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. [My son] 'Tis not only for slaves, but for Sons to fear. [Be thou in the fear of the Lord] 'Tis not only, Let the fear of the Lord be in thee, habi­tually in thy heart; but actuate, and stir up this holy fear, keep up an holy awe, a deep sence of God alwayes upon thee; let the fear of the Lord be before thine eyes; be possessed and swallowed up of this fear [all the day long] where-ever thou art, with whomsoever thou hast to do, remember thou hast still to do with God. A Christi­an should stand always pro tribunali; every day should be as the last day, the day of judgment to him. So speak ye, and so do, as those that shall be judged, James 2.12, [Page 189] The Judge stands at the door, yea and thou mayst see him through every window, yea, through e­very wall; every wall is a window, through which God may see, and be seen. A Christian, (when he is as he should be) cannot wink God out of sight; can look no where, but he beholds that eye that strikes an awe upon his spirit.

This abiding reverence of God, what an influ­ence will it have upon the whole course? we shall then serve God acceptably; when we fear, we shall please God: That we may serve God (acceptably) with reverence and godly fear. We shall then serve God universally in every thing. When we fear, we shall watch unto every duty, against every sin, Gen. 42.18. This do, and live, for I fear God, said Joseph to his brethren; as if he should have said, Do not you fear to find falshood or any evil deal­ing from me, for I fear God. I dare not be false to you; you may trust me, you may take my word, for I fear God. We shall then walk be­fore the Lord steadily. When we fear, we shall fix, and hold in an even frame and course. Fear will be our Ballast, whilst Love fills our Sails, Fear will Ballast our Vessel. How are slight and fro­thy spirits, tossed up and down? Whither do they wander? How many hearts, and faces, & frames have they every day? What contradictions are they to themselves? The reverence of God upon them, would fix them, and hold them in a more even and equal poise. We should then serve the Lord more honourably. When we fear, we shall [Page 190] shew forth the vertues of God before the world; so much of the reverence, so much of the holi­ness of God upon us. The presence of a Christi­an walking in the fear of the Lord, is as the pre­sence of God; the reverence of God upon his heart, casts a beam of Divine Majesty into his face, and oftentimes begets an awe and reverence of him in the hearts of the worst of sinners; they reverence, even whilst they revile and perse­cute him.

John Baptist, who was a man of a just, holy, austere life; 'tis said of him, Mark 6.20. That He­rod feared him, and observed him. The austerity and holiness of his life, commanded a respect from an Herods heart. Such Christians, their ways are a conviction, and their very countenances are a rebuke to the wanton world; they speak with authority, they exhort with authority, they re­prove with authority; and sin often hides it self from them, even as from the face of God.

2. Especially in our drawing nigh to God, Psal. 89.7. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the Saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. I will be sanctified in them that draw nigh me. He that fears God, trembles at the word of God; and God loves he should, Isa. 26.2. To this man will I look—that trembles at my word. That which makes him tremble, is, that he sees the Word carrying upon it

• The Holiness,
• The Authority of God.

[Page 191]He reads the word, as the Epistle of God sent down to the world; his Epistle Commendatory, that sets forth the Excellency and the glory of God, & his Letters Mandatory ▪ that charge subjection and obedience upon him; he takes every word as co­ming from the mouth of the Holy One of Israel; he lies prostrate before the Lord, his soul bows the knee, his heart falls down at the feet of the Almighty. The word, by how much the more it's considered as the word of God, by so much the more awe it works upon him. Every look he casts upon his Bible, is a looking into Heaven. He that fears God, fears when he comes to worship; reverences his Sanctuary: In thy fear will I wor­ship, Psal. 5.7. That which works this fear, is, that he looks upon the Duties and Ordinances of wor­ship, as

• The Institutions of God.
• His Application unto God.

This is that which the Lord hath sanctified; be­hold his Image and Superscription; here he hath appointed me to wait for him; here he hath ap­pointed to meet my soul; now I am going up to the Mount of God (the Mount of God is every where, where the Worship of God is) My soul, where art thou? I am before the Lord of the whole Earth. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, the place where thou standest is holy ground. I am before the High and Holy One, the God of all the Earth; and upon transactions of Eternal consequen [...], to do my Homage to the everlast­ing [Page 192] King, to kneel before the Lord my Maker to kiss the golden Scepter, to beg my life at hi [...] hands, to behold his goings in his Sanctuary, hi [...] wisdom and his mercy, and his goodness are all passing before me. How dreadful is this place? This is none other but the house of God, and the gate of Heaven, Gen. 28.17. How dreadful is this Word! This is none other but the Word of God. How dreadful is this Ordinance? This is no other but the door of glory. Tremble thou heart at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.

2. Abhorrence of evil for the Lords sake. Here we shall consider.

• Its Object.
• Its Ground.

1. The Object of this Abhorrence in general, is e­vil, Rom. 12.9. Abhor that which it evil, cleave to that which is good. Good is the Object of Love, evil of Fear. Evil is twofold, present, or to come. The fo [...]m [...]r is the Object of Grief, the latter of Fear. Particularly, the Object of this abhorrence is

• The wrong of God.
• The loss of God.

1. The wrong of God. The great & only wrong of God, is sin. Sin is the turning away of the heart from God. The great thing in all the world which God respects, and requires as his own, is Hearts. My son give me thine heart. Keep thine heart with all diligence, Prov. 4.23. Keep thine heart, that is, keep it for me; keep it clean for [Page 193] God, and keep it safe for God; see that it be not defiled nor carried away. When the heart's gone, all's gone with it. If the world hath gotten hearts, if Satan hath gotten hearts, let them take all, saith God; let me have either an heart, or nothing; and all they are like to have, that have the heart. The heart where ever it goes, carries all with it. Where we bestow our hearts, we bestow all that we have. Sin is the turning away of the heart. This is the very nature of sin, The hearts departing from the living God, Heb. 3.12 And therefore this is the great wrong of God There is but one thing in the world that God re­spects, and this sin steals away.

Sin is the insurrection and rebellion of the heart against God; it turns from him, and turns against him; it runs over to the Camp of the Enemy, and there takes up arms against God. Sin is a running from God, & a fighting against God, it would spoil the Lord of all the Jewels of his Crown. It op­poseth the Soveraignty of God. A sinful heart would set up it self in Gods Throne, it would be King in his stead, and have the command of all. Sinners would be their own gods; Our tongues are our own, who is Lord over us? God shall not be God, where sin is gotten up as Lord. It assaulteth the wisdom of God. Vain man would be wise, wiser than his Maker. It charges the Lord with folly, and proclaims it self the only wise. Sinners pre­tend to know how to chuse for themselves, and order themselves to their advantage, better than [Page 194] God. If God would let me alone to my self, to be at mine own finding, at mine own ordering, it should quickly be better with me. If every thing might be with me, as I would have it, my case would be well mended from what 'tis now, that every thing must go as God will have it. All our quarrellings at Providence, all our murmurings and discontents at our Lot, are our hearts charging the Lord with folly. It casts di [...] on the holiness of God, it disparages the goodness of God; it abuseth mercy, violates his Justice, despises his Power. In sum, it disgraceth the Throne of his glory, and layes his honour in the dust; sets the Almighty below the lowest of his crea­tures.

Every companion shall be respected more than God; every pleasure shall be loved more than God; the Devil shall be feared more than God. Where is his love? Where is his fear? Where is his honour? Nay, where were the Lord, might sin carry it? Sin is the wrong of God, and this wrong is the especial Object of this abhorrence. A gracious heart would do no wrong, he would not wrong his Neighbour, he would not wrong his Servant, [...]is Enemy, no not his Beast that he possesses. But oh! should I wrong my God? Hath he ever done me any wrong? Hath he not been just to me? Yea, hath he not been ever good to me? Kind, pitiful, patient, bountiful? Who hath fed me, clothed me, kept me, succoured me, comforted me▪ What friend have I in all the [Page 195] world? What Father, what Portion, what Hope [...] but the Lord? What were I, What had I, but vanity, but wo and misery, had I not a God? I cannot wrong my God, but I wrong my self, Prov. 8.36. He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. But if I did not, if my Arrows would not recoil, could I go out with all this injury, & suffer nothing by it: Yet he is God whom I wrong; he is holy, he is righteous, he is good, he is glorious, he is excellent; he only is God, and shall I be injurious to him? He is worthy, he is worthy of all that I have, of all the service I can do, of all the respect I can give, of all the praise I can offer up; if I had a thousand tongues, if I had a thousand hands, if I had a thousand lives, if I had a thousand souls, if I had all the Earth for an offering to the Lord, all would be nothing to shew forth the praise that is due to his Name, as he is God, and I his creature: and when I owe so much, and have nothing to pay, shall I steal from him? shall I rise up against him? Wast thou not afraid to lift up thy hand against the Lords Anointed? 2 Sam. 1. Shall I not be afraid to lift up mine hand against the Lord himself? to kick against God? Oh the Lord forbid? what art thou O my soul? What servest thou for? If thou canst not tremble, if thou dost not turn with­in me, if thou dost not start back at the very thought of so great wickedness?

2. The loss of God. As was said before, He that sinneth against God, wrongeth his own soul. His loss [Page 196] is thy loss, and more thine than his; though (no thanks to thee) the Lord will be no loser at last, when sinners have done their worst; he can get up his Honour out of Dishonour, he can recover his spoils out of the ashes; if he had lost all the world, he had lost nothing, he is all things in himself. When Earth and Hell have spent all their malice, God will be God, holy, wise, glorious, blessed for ever▪ Though such be the malignity of sin, that it would not give over, till God ceaseth to be God; yet God is above, too high for sin to reach; its Darts fall short of its mark; God cannot, God will not sit down a loser by all that sin can do.

But what dost thou suffer, what dost thou lose that sin­nest against God? The carnal world understand not what, nor would make much reckoning of it, did they understand it. The loss of two-pence goes oftner near­er them, than the loss of God. But now a Christian knows no other fear, fears no other loss; let God be se­cure, and all is well, Sin will be the wrong of God, and the loss of God; it may be a total and eternal loss for ought he knows, at least if not assured; God lost, is the soul lost, the Kingdom lost; this is Hell, the loss of God. Better have no being; better be a Dog or Toad, than a man without a God; or if he be not utterly lost, yet to his present sence, 'twill be all one as if he had no God; his peace is lost, his comfort is lost, and his soul is often given for lost, from whom God is departed; though but for a season; he can take pleasure in nothing, he can find rest no where, whose God is out of sight. He knows not what a God mean [...], who can spare him t [...]ll D [...]ath or Judgment. A Christian cannot live a day without him; 'tis night, 'tis all dark, he knows no day while the Sun is set upon him, How grievous do they [...]nd this loss, who have proved what it is? What wilt thou do for me, whilst I go childless? What can be done [Page 197] for me, whilst I go fatherless? here is my house, here are my friends, and my lands, but where is my God? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? now I see what this earth is without an heaven; now I see what ease, pleasure, and carnal friends are, and how little they can do for me; yea, what is Prayer? what are Sabbaths? what are Sermons, Sacraments, Promises, whilst God looks not down? Oh I was wont to meet with God here! these glasses were my windows into Heaven; and then how pleasant were they to me? Sabbaths were a delight, the Word was a Treasure, Sacraments were the clusters of Canaan. But now, now all's dark and dry; Ordinances are Wells without water; Promises are Breasts without Milk; Ministers are Stars without light: On the Stars are but Clods, whilst the Sun is a Cloud to me; wo is me, I had a God.

I am pained, I am pained, my head is sick, my heart is faint, my bowels are turned, my liver is poured out, the light of mine eyes is gone from me. I am weary of my groaning, I am full of tossings and turnings there is no soundness in my flesh, no rest in my bones, while my soul says daily to me, Where is thy God? And if the sence of this loss worketh such grief, what wonder if the hazard of it worketh fear? Now sin divides, breaks the peace, makes God and the soul two; sin alienates, breeds a distance and estrangement betwixt God and the soul. That soul can either not see him at all, or not as a friend whom sin hath drawn away. Sin will either cloud the face of God, or clothe him with fury; will cause him either to turn his back upon the soul, or set his face a­gainst it. He that knows what 'tis to enjoy God, wi [...]l dread his loss: He that hath seen his face, will fear to see his back; he loves, and therefore would not lose.

2. The ground and reason of this abhorrence, that is two-fold.

• [Page 198]Gods Jealousie.
• His Peoples Ingenuity.

1. Gods Jealousie The Lord thy God is a jealous God, Exod. 20. The same Arguments which the Lord useth to keep up, and enforce his Authority upon the Consci­ences of his people, the same Arguments they do, and ought to make use o [...], to press it upon themselves. I am a jealous God, saith the Lord; 'tis true, saith Conscience, the Lord is jealous; and therefore take heed to thy self, soul, how thou fallest into his hands. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Jealousie of the Lord includes in it, His

• Tenderness of his Honour.
• Terribleness in case of Dishonour.

1. His tenderness of his Honour. The Honour of God is very tender to him, he will not lose a tittle of it, Jer. 48 8. My glory will I not give to another, nor my praise to graven Images. I will not, and look you to it, that you do not give away my glory. What was the reason that God dealt so severely with Eli and with Merod? What was Eli's sin? Why, that he gave away the Honour of God to his Sons? 1 Sam. 2.29. Thou honourest thy sons above me. He was so tender to his sons, that though they were become sons of Belial, and dealt so wickedly before the Lord, yet they must be dealt gen [...]ly with; Nay, my sons, it is no good thing that I hear of you. Such a slight reproof must serve in so dreadful a case; he was afraid to displease his sons by a sharper reproof; this the Lord interprets an honouring of his sons above him. In­dulgent Parents, stand and tremble, you that can see your children sin, and let them go out with a Nay my sons, it is not good; a slight or cold reproof; this is no other but your honouring your sons above your God. What was Herods sin? Acts 12.22▪ 23. that he gave not God the glory. He made an Eloquent Oration, [Page 199] and the people thereupon made him a God: The voice of God, and not of man, and he accepted of the applause; & thereupon the Angel of the Lord smote him, that he dy­ed. Eli sinned in giving the honour of God to his sons; and Herod in taking it to himself; but God taught them both, how dear his glory is to him

2. His terribleness in case of his Dishonour. The men­tioned instances speak him both tender and terrible. Deut. 4.24 The Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even [...] jealous God. The jealousie of a man, is the rage of a man, Prov. 6 34 and the jealousie of God is the rage and fury of a God. Our God is a consuming fire; that's the fire of his Jealousie. The wrath of a King is as the roaring of a Lyon; when the Lyon roareth, the Beasts of the field tremble: what then are the terrors of the Lord? The threatnings of the Lord are terrible, Psal. 50.22 Consi­der this, ye that forget God, lest he [tear you in pieces] and there be none to deliver. Hos 5.14 I, even I, will tear and go away. Tearing, and tearing in pieces, the very expectation of it is enough to tear the heart in pieces. I will tear them, saith God; I my self will do it, [I even I] will tear. It's terrible to be torn of men, or of wild beasts; but take heed of Gods tearing, I will tear [in pieces] I will not tear off their hair, or their garments, or their ornaments; I'le tear their flesh from their bones, limb from limb, yea soul from body; I'le tear them in pieces. I will tear them [and go away,] tear them, and leave them; wound and not heal; I will tear them, and deliver them who can; yea, I will tear them, and trample upon them, Isa. 63.3. I will tread them in mine an­ger, & trample them in my fury. Trampling notes contempt and indignation. I will make them as the dirt in the streets; the mark of my scorn and fury.

His Judgments are terrible, he doth terrible things in righteousness. Go to Jerusalem and Mount Sion, and [Page 200] behold the Monuments of his fury there. Go to Shiloh (saith God) and see what I did to it, Jer. 7.12. But if you go down to Sodom, or look down to Tophet, and be­hold the terrors of the Lord there; or if you look on particular Persons, let Nodab and Abihu, Corah, Da­than and Abiram, Ʋzzah, Ʋzziah, Ananias and Sap­phira, Herod, &c. be for instances of his dreadfulness and severity. This jealous God, this terrible God, is the God that his people fear; and they therefore fear him, because he is such a jealous God. Who would not fear thee, thou King of Nations? Who can stand before thee when thou art angry? My flesh trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments.

Christians, Let none say, this fear is not the fear of his Children; this be to his Enemies and Slaves, not his Children; Fear ye not their fear. But are not all these things written for our learning? Is this written only for their sakes? Or saith he not also for our sakes? For our sakes no doubt this is written, saith the Apostle in ano­ther case. Consider that full Scripture to this purpose, 1 Cor. 10.6. to the end of v. 12 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted; neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, The people sate down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornicati­on, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of Serpents. Neither mur­mure y [...], as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the Destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples, & they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.

Mark, these things are our examples. Are they exam­ples to us, and not warnings too? Are they warnings to [Page 201] us, and must we not by them learn to fea [...] and beware? Let him that thinks he standeth, take heed lest he fall. My Soul standeth in a sure place, my mountain is so strong, that I shall never be moved. I am safe enough: I am in Christ, and shall not come into condemnation. But what ever thou thinkest, as sure as thou thinkest thou standest, take heed, take heed lest thou fall; that this is, not only into the same sins, but into the same condem­nation; that's the sense of the place, Rom 11. [...]0. Be­cause of unbelief, they were broken off; thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear.

No need of fear? No need of threatnings? What may we burn half our Bibles? Can we spare so great a part of what is written? Have we out-grown the use of judgment, as soon as ever we are partakers of mercy? Have we out-grown the use of the S [...]ourge, as soon as e­ver we are entred into Christs School? Do we find all too little, Mercies. Threatnings, Judgments, to keep our hearts in order? And yet is it more than needs? There are two Parties in us; we are flesh as well as spirit, and must not the flesh be frighted? Will Love prevail with lust? This salve sure, this son of the Bond-woman, must be kept in awe. Hath God no wanton children, no rebel­lious children? And must these have no other Discipline, but stroakings and dandlings?

Believe it Christians, God will not have his terrors lost, nor lost to you; God will sometimes make his children feel, that he is a terrible God. He is Terrible out of his holy place. Beware you be not presumptuous children. There is a threefold Presumption. A Presumption upon Temptation, in confidence of strength. Upon sin, in con­fidence of Mercy. Upon sin in contempt of Mercy and Justice.

1. A Presumption upon Temptation, in confidence of strength. Some unwary souls, not knowing what spirit they [Page 202] are of, supposing themselves too hard for the De­vil, will be venturing within his reach; as if they would dare him to try his skill and power; who having forgotten this Prayer, [ Lead us not into temptation] put themselves into the Tempters hand; the falls of such will teach them to under­stand their folly.

2. Presumption on sin, in confidence of Mercy. And that either in confidence of Mercy already obtain­ed; I am in Christ, and my sin shall not separate me from him; whatever I do, I have a pardon in my hand. Or in hope of mercy at last; I have to do with a merciful God, and therefore may venture on a little farther: hereafter I will repent, and, then I need not doubt of remission.

3. Presumption on sin, in contempt of Mercy and Justice. I will have my sin, though I never find mercy. I will have my will and my way, & run the hazard of what follows: I will take my course, and come on me what will.

This last sort, who presume to sin in contempt of Mercy and Judgment; who are so drunken with their sensual delights, and given over to the hardness of their hearts, that they neither value Mercy, nor fear Wrath: What do you talk to me of Mercy and Judgment to come? Give me my pleasures, and my liberties, and my mirth, and my money: think not to make me such a fool, to let go the pleasure and comfort of my life, for I know not what uncertain fears or hopes. Such as these have one foot already in Hell. If it be not yet thus with thee, thou darest [Page 203] not contemn either Mercy or Judgment; beware thou be not presumptuous neither in the former sense. Be not bold upon temptations; think not that thou art strong to overcome a temptation, when thou art so weak as not to fear it; he that fears not a temptation, understands not it, or him­self. But especially beware thou presume not up­on sin, in confidence of Mercy. Grow not over­bold upon Love or Patience; Laesa patientia sit furor. God loves me, therefore I may be bold to take the more liberty, the less care, the less watch­fulness, the less fear, because so much Love! Spit in thy Fathers face, because he weeps over thy neck! Smite him on the face, because thou hopest he will not strike again! Tear his bowels, because they are so tender towards thee! Be froward, stub­born, wanton and idle, because thou hast found him so indulgent.

Christians consider, whether such wickedness hath not sometimes been found in some of our hearts. But take heed, you will find, though he be a tender, yet he will not be a fond Father; where he loves, he will be feared. Some as bold and as confident as you, have felt to their cost what ' [...]is to [...]use pa [...]ience, and kindness; his Ar­rows in their hearts, his Terrors in their souls, hath made them to know, that the God of love is a terrible God. And look to it, if thou wilt yet ad­venture, wilt be a wanton still, froward, or idle, or heedless still, he will either lash thee into better manners, or cast thee out as no child of his, but [Page 204] a Bastard and Rebel. If thou wilt not take war­ning by others, take heed lest he make thee a warning to them which shall come after.

Christians know, that though God be tender of his Saints, yet he is jealous for his Name; he tenders them as the apple of his Eye, but not a­bove the least tittle of his Honour. As God will have us love our Neighbour, so he will love his child, but as himself; First himself, and then his child. He will not bate an Iota of his glory, to save a world. As little offences done to his little ones, so little sins allowed by them, are as Mill stones about the neck. If they allow it in themselves, yet Heaven and Earth shall pass away, and fall to nothing, ere he allow it in them. God will not, and therefore his children dare not indulge them­selves in little sins. They therefore fear, because he whom they serve is a jealous God.

2. Their own ingenuity. This fear is from Love and good Nature, and is most properly the fear of children. Children fear, because God is jea­lous, and so do Slaves; but only Children because God is good. Children fear, because they love; Slaves fear, although they hate. Children fear to be unworthy; Slaves only to be unhappy and mise­rable. There's nothing more contrary to an in­genuous nature, than to abuse goodness and kind­ness; to abuse goodness, hath as black an aspect with him, as to provoke wrath. Hos. 3.5. They shall fear the Lord and his [goodness] in the latter dayes. But how can goodness be the Object of [Page 205] fear? We fear evil and not good. The meaning is, they shall fear to wrong or abuse goodness: They shall fear to wrong the Lord, because he is good. [In the latter dayes.] These latter dayes that this Promise refers to, shall be days of more grace; wherein there shall be, not only a more clear revelation of the goodness of God; they shall know the Lord and his goodness; but a more plentiful communication and diffusion of the good­ness of God; they shall love the Lord and his goodness: They shall see themselves both more obliged by goodness, and shall feel themselves more seasoned with goodness. By grace they shall be better natured. Religion doth not make morose, but more generous, free and ingenuous. There's nothing more abhorrent to an ingenuous spirit, than to be base and unworthy. Abuse of good­ness is an unworthiness, which an ingenuous na­ture abhors as death to be guilty of; 'tis its de­struction, 'tis disingenuity. The abuse of the goodness of God, is great unthankfulness; and unthankfulness is great disingenuity.

Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris. Call me un­thankful, and you call me all that's naught. Call me any thing else but unthankful. Indeed, were I all thanks, I should be still unthankful; I should still be behind hand with the goodness of the Lord; my debt is greater than I can pay; yea greater than I can acknowledge; but shall I re­turn evil for his good? If I cannot pay, should I deny my debt? He that is unthankful, whatever [Page 206] God requires of him, saves wickedly, This is more than I owe thee. God I owe thee nothing, I care not for thee. Oh this is dreadful to a gra­cious heart.

If this be in sin (for all sin is unthankfulness) if this be sin, if this be the signification of all my neglects of God, and my duty to him; then the Lord forbid, whatever I suffer, that I should yield to sin. How shall I do this wickedness? How shall I neglect this duty, and sin against God? How should I look my God, or my own soul in the face, should I be so unworthy? For thy sake, Lord, let me not sin against thee; thou art good, thou art kind, thou art gracious, thou art holy; O let me not be a Devil; what heart, where a Devil is not, but such goodness will charm it into love? Shall I sin? shall I re­bel? For thy sake, Lord, I will not do it; I will not for mine own sake; for where then shall I appear? In sinning against God, I sin against mine own soul; I dare not for my life; Sin and Death, Sin and Hell are link'd together; but were it not so, might I sin and escape, sin and not dye, yet for thy sake, Lord, I will not do it: Thou art good, good in thy self, good to me; thou art my God, thou art my Father; love, care, tenderness, compassion, kindness, is all that is in thine heart towards me; what I am, what I have, what I hope for, that I breathe, tha [...] I live, all is thy goodness, thy bounty to me. Oh let me not rise up against the Womb that ha [...]e [Page 207] me, and the Paps that give me suck. I would not to my child, to my servant, to my friend; but oh let me never to my Father, to my God, return evil for good, and hatred for his good will. Let not this evil which I fear, ever come upon me; put thy fear into mine heart, O Lord, that I may not sin against thee.

CHAP. XV. Obedience in the Covenant.

7. OBedience, Ezek. 36.27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my Sta­tutes, and ye shall keep my Judgments, and do them. Obedience is of the Heart, or of the Life. In this Scripture God undertakes for both.

1. For the obedience of the heart, he under­takes in the former words, [I will put my Spirit in your heart] where the Spirit dwells, he rules. Where Satan dwells, he rules; and where the Spi­rit of the Lord dwells, there God rules; the Spirit in the heart, is the Law in the heart. Those two Promises, I will put my Spirit in your hearts, and I will write my Law in your hearts, signifie the same thing. The Law in the heart is the will of man molted into the will of God. The Law of God may be in the mouth, and the heart a Rebel; its reception into the heart, notes the hearts subjection to it.

The Obedience of the heart includes two things.

• 1. The opening of the heart to the Word.
• 2. The resolution of the heart for the Work of the Lord.

[Page 208]1. The opening of the heart to the Word. What wilt thou have me to do, Lord? That's the voice of an obe­dient heart. Veniat verbum & submittemus. Speak Lord, command Lord, what wilt thou? And when he speaks, whatever it be, the word is embraced and accepted of the heart, Dan. 4.27. Let my counsel be acceptable to thee. The acceptance of the Word in the heart, is signified by its hea [...]kening to it. To hearken, is more than [...] hear; though they sometimes note the same thing, ye [...] [...] hearing is of the ear, hearkening of the heart. Psal. 81.11 Israel would not hearken, my people would none of me. They heard what the Lord spake, but they would not hearken that is, as 'tis there interpreted, they would none of th [...] Lord. They rejected the word of the Lord which h [...] spake unto them. When the Word is let come in with Authority, suffered to rule in the soul; when the hea [...] gives up it self unto it, then it is accepted; there's its hear­kening to it.

2. The resolution of the heart for the work of the Lord Psal. 110 106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous Judgments I have vowed, and I will perform; I have covenanted, and I am determined to keep thy statutes. The word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not do; that's the rebellious. Whatsoever the Lord shall speak we will do, that's the obedient heart.

Where the heart is thus resolved to obey, this is that obedience which shall be accepted unto salvation. Where this resolution is, as there is opportunity, there will be practice; and where there's not opportunity in Gods account, this is it. This is Praying, this is Hearing, this is giving, and feeding, and cloathing, and visiting, this is walking circumspectly, working righteousness, shew­ing mercy, exercising faith; and patience, and repentance; this is our keeping the commandments of God and walk­ing in his Statutes; an heart to obey, is our obeying; [Page 209] an heart to do; is our doing; an heart to suffer in Gods account, [...] our suffering for his Name.

But here it must be carefully noted, that though sincere resolution for Obedience, be Obedience; yet every resolution is not that resolution. Reso­lution for Obedience is then sincere, where

• 1. It flows from an inward and rooted incli­nation.
• 2. It's bottomed on a firm belief of Scripture Revelation.
• 3. It's built on the highest and weightiest Rea­sons.
• 4. It's the result of the most mature and deep deliberation.

1. A sincere resolution flows from an inward rooted inclination, Psal. 119.112. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy Statutes. Our new purpose is from our new nature: It is not produced by some sud­den fright, or sense of danger; or meerly by a present force of Argument: but by a Divine pow­er, working the heart to a suitableness to the will and ways of God, and an habitual propension & inclination thereto. Resolution for holiness, with­out an holy inclination, is a blade without a root; as fresh and as green as it looks, 'twill wither and come to nothing; no Root, no Fruit, nor lasting. The heart is the root of action, and grace is the life of the root: When our Resolutions are the blade sprouting forth of this living Root, then they will abide and bring forth the Ear, and an Harvest.

[Page 210]2. A sincere resolution is [...] on a firm Assent to the truth of Scripture Revelation. A Christian resolves for godliness, because he believes God, that he is as he hath said, the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him. He is built on the Scrip­tures; as his hopes, so his purposes have the foun­dation of the Prophets and Apostles, on which they stand. Whatever Resolution hath not this Foundation, is but an house upon the Sands.

3. A sincere Resolution is founded on the highest Reason▪ Where we resolve without Reason, we will quickly find a Reason to change. Where we resolve we know not why, we shall change we know not how soon. To resolve we know not why, and to resolve on we know not what, will be alike unstable. Though there be Reason for Religion, yet Religion may be taken up with­out Reason. Whatever Reason there be for it, yet if it be not understood, or considered, 'tis all one as if there were no Reason at all. And if there seem some Reason for it, yet if it be not the highest Reason, when a stronger than it comes we quickly change our purpose.

The Reasons we have for our serving and following God, are the highest of all Reasons; and that whether we respect it as our duty, or our happiness: For,

1. There's none lay such claim to us as God. Whose am I? Who hath made me? Who hath bought me? 1 Cor. 6.20. Glorifie God in your bodies and in your spirits, which are his. Psal. 100.2, 3. Serve the [Page 211] Lord with gladness; for the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, not we our selves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. What reason have you to serve men, or to serve sin or the world? Men think they have reason for it, but what reason? Are any of these gods? Are men your gods? Is sin or the world God? Do you owe your selves to them? It is he that hath made us, and his [...]e are. As the Apostle concerning o­bedience to Parents, much more may it be said here; Children obey your God, for this is right: This is his due, and your duty; if any one can lay as good a claim to you, le [...] him carry you a­way for servants.

2. There's none can be better to us than God. None [...]an require, none can reward our obedience I as he▪ Where can you be better than with God? He'l require no more, than that you serve him till you can find a better Master. He that saith, 'tis best to serve sin and the world, is a fool, and hath said in his heart, there is no God. If God be God, he is the chief, yea, the only good [...] If any thing in the world, upon what account [...] soever, he thought better than the Lord, that's set up for a God in his room.

3. Whomsoever we serve, 'tis God must pay us our wages at last. God is Judge, he is the Rewarde [...] both of the evil and the good; both of those that serve him and those that serve him not. If you receive the Lord, he will be your reward; if you serve him [...], he will reward you▪ but what [Page] reward have you? These mine Enemies which will not have me reign over them, bring them and stay them before me; there's their reward. Sin hath its rewards, but what are they but vanity and vexation? Or if they were better, how long will they last? But when sin hath paid the most it can, Oh what a reward is there behind, that God hath to pay you! This shall ye have of mine [...]nd, ye shall lye down in sorrow.

4. The wages which God will give, shall certainly be blessed or dreadful, according to our Obedience or Disobedience. The reward that God hath to give, is an eternal reward; Eternal salvation to them that obey him; everlasting destruction to him that serveth him not.

I have a soul; this carkass is the least part of me; there's another world, a world to come; a few years is the most I have to spend in this; I must abide eternally, eternally in the other world.

How inconsiderable is it, what I have here, whether little or more, better or worse? In a short time that will come all to one. But Oh my Eternity! whats that like to be? Why 'tis God that must determine it, and he will certain­ly reward every man according to his works, Rom. [...].6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Who will render to every man according to his deeds. To th [...] which by pati­ent [...]ontinuance in well doing, seek for glory, honour and immortality, eternal life. But to th [...] that are mention [...], and obey not the truth, tribulation and, [Page 213] anguish, &c. There's glory and shame, mercy and wrath, li [...]e and death set before me; there's no third state, one of the two must be my lot; and this is it that doth determine which, If I obey, I live; if I disobey, I dye for ev [...].

Now when my resolution is founded on such reasons as these, than which none can be imagi­ned higher and more weighty; (till Eternity be­come of less regard than time; and an immortal soul be set below a perishing body) and when the question being put, Shall I follow God or not? God or the world? God or my lust [...] speak soul, give in thy answer; when this is the answer it gives, Why there's none can lay such claim to me as God; there's none can be as good to me as God; whomsoever I serve, its God must be my Rewarder, my everlasting blessedness, or eternal ruine depends on him, and must be in­fallibly determined, according to my obedience or disobedience: This is the plain case, Obey & Live; Obey, or dye for ever. And therefore what can I say less or more, but that I am the Lords, and will be his Servant. Let others chuse whom they will serve, as for me, O my soul, serve thou the Lord. This resolution thus foun­ded, is like to stand.

4. A sincere resolution, is the fruit of mat [...]re dili­beration. Deliberation gives Reason its full weight, makes the strength of it appear; it lays all things in the Ballance; it's the comparing of Reasons for, and against; the weighing of Arguments and [Page 214] Objections, Encouragements & Discouragements; casting the cost, as well as the gain, particularly. In this deliberation there must be a considering,

• 1. What there is in this Obedience.
• 2. What it is attended with, that may encou­rage.

1. There must be a considering, What there is in this Obedience; or otherwise we resolve upon we know not what. Now there are five things in this Obedience:

• Subjection.
• Activity and Industry.
• Integrity.
• Circumspection.
• Spirituality.

1. Subjection. Servants must be subject, must not be at their own wills, but at the will of another: The heart of man naturally affects Dominion; that's the great controversie of sinners with God, Wh [...] shall be Lord? We are Lords, (we would be at least) we will come no more unto thee, Jer. 2.31. Obedience yields that God should be Lord; yea, and all others also whom he hath made Lords o­ver us. The servants of Christ must not be, and yet must be the servants of men; they must not serve the lusts, but must be subject to their righ­teous Laws and Commands. God must be obey­ed, and Magistrates, Ministers, Masters, Parents must [...]e in the Lord, and for the Lord; yea, and they must be, when God will have it so, the Ser­vant of servants.

[Page 215]While they must not serve the humours of the greatest, they must serve the necessities of the meanest, must stoop to the lowest of Offices, e­ven to the washing of the feet of the least Disci­ple: All this the Lord expects of them, and they must be subject. They must not dispute, but do his will; only it must be considered, that there is a double disputing the will of God. There is a disputing whether that which is pretended to be the will of God, be so or no; this ought to be done: And there is a disputing or questioning that which is granted to be the will of God, whether it be fit to be done, or safe to be done? Is it not better to let it alone? What advantage is there in it? What reason is there for it? No, they must not thus dispute; this is Reason e­nough, God will have it so. Gods will is ever reason, and it must be our Reason. It's enough for thee to say, This is that which the Lord hath commanded, and must I be subject? This is one thing that must be considered, I will obey, but can I be Subject?

2. Activity and Industry. The servants of the Lord must be Active and Industrious. Whom he sends into the Vineyard, he sends to work, & not to sleep. The life of a Christian is labori­ous; whilst others are in their beds, he must be on his knees; whilst others take their pleasure, he must take pains; whilst others take their times, now a little, and then a little, he must sit to it, be ever about his Masters business. An active [Page 216] spirit, is an excellent spirit, and 'tis necessary in a Christian.

1. An Active spirit, is an Excellent spirit: slug­gards are the refuse of the Earth.

But here it must be considered, that there is a double Activity, Gracious and Natural.

1. Natural, which arises from an innate vigour and vivacity of some mens spirits: There needs not industry in such, to bring forth action; 'tis but leaving nature to its course, and that will flye high enough of it self. It requires more industry to regulate, and sometimes to restrain, than to put forth into Action. Its more labour for them to rest, than to be doing.

2. Gracious: Which is either Natural Activity, managed and improved for God, turn'd into a right course, running into a right Channel; or a naturally unactive spirit, raised and quickned by Grace and Religious Industry. This gracious, this holy Activity, this is the Excellency; it is the extract of the spirits and life of all our parts and graces, and will go further, and do more high honour, and more abundant service to God & his Gospel, than is done by a thousand others.

An Active sinner, is by accident the worst of men: How much service for the Devil will he dispatch in a little time?

An Active Sinner is life and death met together. He is all life, and yet dead; and the more he hath of death, because so much of life; like poy­son in Wine, he destroys the more effectually: [Page 217] Yet the evil is not in his Activity, but in the mat­ter wherein he is employed; the good mettal, as keens of a Weapon, is its Excellency: but in a mad mans hand, better a wooden than an iron sword. An Active Spirit is so excellent, that it's pity that ever sin should have the using of it; 'twas well for Religion, if the Devil were a Drone, and had no other Servants, but the Slug­gards of the Earth. But Activity when set right, is of great price in the sight of God, because it sets a great price upon God. Slothfulness puts a slight upon God; when the Scriptures have set forth a Magnalia Dei, the great things, and the deep things of God: when the Lord Jes [...] is e­vidently set forth as crucified before our eyes, as the Propitiation for sin; when the preciousness of his blood, the tenderness of his bowels, the riches of his Grace, the sufficiency of his righte­ousness, his satisfaction and pardons, are all held forth in open sight; when the beauties of holi­ness, the joys of the spirit, that peace which pas­seth all understanding, are laid forth to view; when the most glorious things are spoken of the City of God, Jerusalem which is above; when God in his Word calls to us, Awake sleepers, a­rise sluggards, see what's before you; all this may be yours, if you will; slothfulness puts this slight upon all. Tush, all this is not worth the breaking my sleep for; 'tis not all worth my labour to seek after; my ease and my quiet is better to me, than God and all his glory.

[Page 218]We may best understand the value we put on things, by the pains and the cost we are content to be at, to purchase them. When sinners bestow themselves so upon the world, will bear such la­bour and travel, are so constantly, so indefatiga­bly industrious in the pursuance of it; and withal, run such hazards and dangers for it, they make it evident enough what rate they put upon it; he whose time and his strength, whose days and his nights, yea, whose soul, and his hopes, must all be laid out in a purchase, must all go for a piece of a Land, or a little money, or pleasure; we need no other proof, what a bargain he thinks this [...]ld to be. I care not much for this world; 'tis a vanity, a shadow, the fashion of it passeth away; I hope 'tis far enough off my heart, however I am charged with greediness after it. But what then mean all the expences of thy time, of thy strength, of thy spirits, that thou daily layest out upon it? What means so much hunting after, and heaping it up for thy self? What, hast thou been hunting all this while after shadows? Heaping up vanities? No, no, thou mistakest thy self, these shadows are thy substance; these vanities are the God whom thou adorest; if thou didst not prize, thou wouldst not venture so deeply for them.

And so on the other side, when so little is done for God; when any thing must suffice to be spent on souls, or Eternity; what cheap things do we count them! I love God above all, with all my heart, with all my soul; he is all my hope, and all [Page 219] my desire: What a miserable creature were I, if it were not for my hope in God? What would all the world be to me, should I lose my soul? But dost thou speak in earnest? Dost thou think what thou speakest? What, and so very a Drone in seeking of God? What, and so indifferent, so cold, and so spiritless in thy enquiries after him, in thy motions towards him? So sparing of thy labour, so negligent of duty, so seldom at it, so soon weary, so many delays, so many excuses: How many times hath God called thee after him, and all thine answer hath been an excuse? An excuse instead of an Ordinance, an excuse instead of a Prayer, an excuse instead of Action, [...] ex­cuse instead of Alms, an excuse instead of an Ad­monition or a Reproof; if he will be served with excuses, he shall have service enough, but little besides. I am weary, or 'tis too late, or 'tis cold, and so a short and hasty Prayer must serve, or none at all. I have much business upon me, a Family, a Farm, and the cares and troubles of it, that I cannot have so much time nor freedom to attend upon God, as others have, and so a Ser­mon lost, a Sacrament lost. I live amongst ill neighbours, if I should be so froward, and so act­ive for God, so zealous, and so spiritual in my Discourse, in my Way, I should be but a scoff and a reproach, and it may be a prey to evil men. I want ability to speak to the edification of others, I have not the boldness as others have, to reprove or admonish; I pray thee have me excused. Wise [Page 220] men indeed, an Excuse instead of a Duty! 'Tis all one, as if when the Lord calls to thee, Come to me, and be saved, thy Answer should be, I pray thee excuse [...] I must to the Devil, and be damned.

But is this thy love? Is this thy zeal? Is this thy valuing of God above all?

Tremble sluggard; whatever excuses thou find­est out, to substitute in the room of duty, this is that thou canst never excuse, nor acquit thy self of, a slighting of God. Thy very excuses will ac­cuse thee for a slothful servant, and this for a sligh [...] of God; whilst the Apostle says, I reckon that [...] sufferings of this life are not worthy to be com­pared with the glory that shall be revealed: But I reckon, sayst thou, that all that glory to come, is not worthy to be compared with the present la­bour.

But now Activity and Industry puts a great price upon God; this is written upon all our la­bours, He is worthy for whom I do all this. Some of the most humble, watchful, laborious Christi­ans, do sometimes complain, Oh, I fear I love not God; his Favour, his Honour, is little set by, by me; but whence then is thy care to please God? Whence are all thy labours of love? Dost watch and pray, and work, and run? Canst spend and be spent for God, and yet not love him? Dost live to God, canst dye for God, and yet not prize him? What greater proof canst give of love, than such labour?

[Page 221]2. Activity is necessary. It is a vain thing to think of making any thing of Religion, without it; the work of it is too great to be done by ly­ing still; the comforts of it lye to deep too be got­ten out by a wish. There's [...] poor man in this world, that would be the [...]est man in the Country, if riches may be go [...]n by a wish; he may as soon wish himself into wealth, as thou into grace and comfort. This one thing, mens not being able to bear the labour of Religion, is a Rock, at which many a soul hath split, and suffer­ed an Eternal Wrack.

He that hath some love to holiness, & yet not so much as to carry him through the work of Holiness, is short of sincerity; and short of since­rity, short of salvation. He that sticks not at la­bour, will not stick at suffering: He that slugs at doing, will shrink back from suffering. Say not, There's a Lyon in the streets; overcome the Ly­on, and you will not fear the Bear. Get over (Difficulties) and there's but one style more (Di­stress) betwixt thee and glory. Pass the [...]irst, & thou wilt be the more bold to venture the latter. Holy Activity will be a witness of thy sincerity; carry this witness in thine heart, and then which way ever the world does go, and what storms so­ever may fall, thou wilt have this to uphold thee, Integrity and uprightness shall preserve me, and Eterni­ty reward me. Where sincerity is the root, and holy activity the blossom, an eternal weight of glory shall be the fruit. Lye idle, and all will [Page 222] be lost. Take heed of [ Soul take thine ease] lest the next word thou hear, be, [ This [...] shall thy soul be required of thee.]

Well, this is a second thing included in Obedience, [...]; and this also must be con­sidered ere thou resolvest. I will Obey; but can I Labour.

3. Integrity. The Obedience which God ex­pects, must be entire Obedience; not only the Obedience of the whole man, but to the whole will of God. Psal. 119.8. Then shall I not be a­shamed, when I have respect to all thy Command­ments. 1 Pet. 1.14, 15. As obedient children, be [...] holy [...] (all manner) conversation. Mat. 28.20. Tea­ching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you. But of this having spoken more largely elsewhere, it shall suffice to give some short hints.

1. Of one comprehensive duty, wherein all the rest are included, and on which they depend; and that is, The holding up and maintaining Gods Au­thority in the soul. As God hath set up his Autho­rity over the soul, his Word, which is to ha [...] the Government of it; so hath he set up an Authority in the soul, the Understanding and the Consci­ence. These Powers, as they are under Authori­ty, under the Authority of the word; so they are set in Authority over the subordinate and in­feriour faculties, the Will, and the Passions or Affection [...]. But sin now hath made a Mutiny and Insurrection [...]; the Will rises against Reason, [Page 223] and will not be guided; the Passions rebel against Con­science, and will not be [...]ned; nay, they do not on­ly resist, but take upon them to command and impose upon Conscience: What the Will would have, Consci­ence must say 'tis Reason it should [...]; must be put upon it, to find out Arguments, [...] [...]ove Will to be Reason, and to determine, that what the Will would have done, ought to be done, facile [...]redimus quod nimis volumus: We easily bring our Opinion to our Affecti­on; bring our selves to believe that to be right, which we are unreasonably willing to have to be right: But if it cannot prevail thus far, to gain Conscience to say that's right, which it would have to be right, then it will put hard for it, to carry it, whether it be right or wrong. And this rebellion of the Will, and so of the Passions a­gainst the Reason, is the great Reason of the souls rebel­lion against God.

When Conscience hath lost its Authority, Gods Au­thority is gone. Whilst the Understanding and the Con­science are maintained in their due Authority, where the Will & Affections are held in their due subjection, there the Lord reigneth. While Conscience rightly inform'd, hath its due, God shall have his due: Where the Will and the Passions have no more than their due, he shall have his own. God shall be will'd the more, where nothing else is will'd too much, God shall be lov'd the more, and feared the more, where nothing else is lov'd and fear'd too much. The more Anger, the more Ha­tred, the more Grief will be spent upon sin, if it be not inordinately spent elsewhere. Oh how much service might be done, and how much quiet would be enjoyed in the heart, were this Authority and Subjection main­tained and held up.

We way say of our Affections, as men say of Fire & Water, They are the worst Masters, but the best Servants. [Page 224] How much should the Lord have of us, were these only the Executioners of his will? If Conscience be command­ed by the word, and the Will and Affections would be commanded by Conscience, what would more then [...] wanting? We [...] then not only be abundantly se [...] viceable, but all [...] be serene and sweet, and comfor­table within us▪ If nothing were will'd, but what should be will'd, we should ever have our will. If nothing were desired, but what should be desired, and no more than it should be lov'd or desired, we should ever have what we love. If we were not angry, or grieved, or a­fraid, but where we ought, and no more than we ough [...] what a calm would there be upon our spirits, even i [...] such cases wherein the spirits of others are like a trou­bled Sea, that cannot be at rest, whose waters cast fort [...] mire and dir [...]: But where there is such disorder, such re­bellion of the Inferiour against the Superiour Facultie [...], there we are at a perpetual loss, both in point of du [...] and comfort. This therefore is necessary, if we will b [...] obedient; and those that have prov'd what there is i [...] it, do understand that this is hard work.

2. I shall instance in some few particular duties th [...] are harder than others. He that will be entirely obe [...]i­ent, must stick at nothing that God will have. There scarce any thing that God requires, but Lust will be qua [...] ­relling at, as too hard; but there are some duties harder than others. It shall suffice only to name them: To denial of our selves. The disob [...]iging our nearest Friend▪ The loving our Enemies. The disobeying all the world [...] their unrighteous Commands. Obeying God rather th [...] men. Returning good for evil. Reproving men for sin, [...] ­pecially if they be Superiours, or such on whom we have [...] pendency. The sacrificing our Isaacs, yea, parting with [...] that we have.

Well, this also must be considered, ere you resolve [Page 225] You will obey; but are you for any thing, for every thing the Lord requires.

4 Circumspection and care, Eph. 5.15. See that ye [...] circumspectly A little labour [...] go far with care, but will be nothing without it. [...] he that is hot, and busie, and active at all adve [...] he that keeps to his Line, and his Rule, he's the ob [...]dient Christian 'Tis not so much action, as regular actio [...], wherein the life of Christianity lies He that lives by rule, peace be on him, and mercy. Activity without care, is Extravagancy. 'Tis care that keeps within compass. He that is all Act­ion, has the more need of Caution. A Christian must have his eyes in his head, as well as a soul in his body. H [...] that resolves well in generals, and comes not off in particulars, does but build Castles in the Air. What we ordinarily are, pro hic & nunc, in particulars, will b [...]st prove what we are. He that is for any thing but this, any time but now, is for nothing

Circumspection notes two things:

• Taking notice.
• Taking heed.

He that will be circumspect, must eye and observe what's before him; must have his Eye upon his End ▪ his Rule, and his Goings, must eye duty and sin, oppor­ [...]unities & temptations, his times and seasons; he must [...]ke heed, as well as take notice; must keep a strict eye [...]n himself, and hold a strict hand on himself, that he [...]ap not over a duty, nor turn aside to enquiry; must [...]t a guard upon himself, upon his tongue, upon his eyes [...]pon his appetite, upon his company, upon his habit, [...]pon his thoughts, upon his passions, upon all the moti­ [...]ns of his soul, and the actions of his body.

This will require something. What, not a word but must be weighed? Not a look but must be look'd to? [...]ot a thought but must be examined? Not a sin to be [Page 226] allowed? Not a duty to be abated? Not a circumstance to be neglected? Must all be in Weight and in Mea­sure, by Line, and by Rule, and this always too? If something might serve, if sometimes might suffice, it might be born; [...] to keep touch in every point, and that every day, [...] an hard saying indeed. But thus it must be, to [...] Christian, and to walk exactly, accurately, [...], is the same thing Duty and sin, though they be as far distant as Heaven and Hell, yet there is but an hair betwixt them. The least latitude is a transgression, either all this, (that is, as to the purpose of the heart) either all this or nothing▪

Well, all this must be considered; You will be Obe­dient, but will you be circumspect?

5. Spirituality. This must be the Obedience of faith, Rom. 16 26. It is the very life of Jesus made manifest in our mortal flesh. I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the Flesh, I live by the Faith of the Son of God. Christians Obedience is their walking in Christ, Coloss. 2.6. All the acts of it are exerted and performed in the strength of Christ. I will go in the strength of the Lord; without him they can do no­thing, but can do all things through Christ which stren­gthneth them. I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. I work, I wrestle I run, yet not I, but Christ in me; as the Apostle speaks of his sins. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 'Tis sin that sins; so may it be said of Duty It is no more I that do it, but Christ that dwelleth in me. Though both be the act of the Person, both the sin and the duty; yet the Princi­ple of the one is Lust, the power of the other is of Christ. Christians cannot go through, and they dare not set upon duty, without looking up to Christ, and leaning upon him for assistance. They cannot go through, and therefore they will not set forth, but in the [Page 227] strength of the Lord. All their Acts of Obedience are ex­hibited, and offered up in the name of Christ. Their ser­vices are their Sacrifices to God, and Christ is their Al­tar. What is a Sacrifice without an Altar? Christ is our Altar, which sanctifies our [...] looks on all, and so they do, as nothing [...] Christ; God will not accept, and therefore [...] not offer other than the Lamb for their sacrifice. All their acts of Obe­dience are acknowledged to the praise of Christ It is no more I that do it, but the Grace of God which was with me. Grace does the work, and Grace shall carry away the praise. Christ is all in the race, and therefore on his head the Crown is set. Not unto us Lord, not unto us, but to thy Name be the praise. Not of us, and therefore not unto us; of him, and therefore unto him. If I am any thing, what others are not; if I have done any thing more than others, no thank to me, & therefore no praise. To him be all, who is All in all to me. Christians O­bedience, is their walking in Christ.

Christians Obedience is their walking in the Spirit. They have received the Spirit, and they walk in the Spi­rit, Gal. 5 16. they have not received the spirit in this world, (their spirit is not flesh) but the spirit which is of God, 1 Cor. 2.12. They are dead to things carnal, the spirit of the world is departed, they have given up this Ghost: it is the spirit of the living God that lives in them, and in this they live and walk. They walk in the Light of the Spirit, in the Power of the Spirit; the Spirit of the Lord steers their course, & fills their Sails; is their Pilot, and their Star, and their Wind that carries them on. When they pray, they pray in the Spirit; when they hear, they hear in the Spirit; through the Spi­rit they mortifi [...] the flesh, are crucified to the world; they obey, they suffer, they fight, they overcome, through the Spirit of the living God that is in them: They live [Page 228] in fellowship with the Spirit, and by him with the Fa­ther and the Son. They dwell in the invisible world, their acquaintance and converse is in Heaven, thither they have access; and there they have acceptance; thither they have their recours [...] [...] thence they have their returns. Duties and [...] the tokens that are passing be­twixt Heaven and Earth. Their life is Love and Joy, and Praise, these are the most noble acts of their Obedi­ence, and these give Wings to their hearts, carry them on more swiftly, and more sweetly through all their course.

Oh how heavily do we drive on, how slowly do our Wheels move, when the Spirit of the living God is not in the Wheels! Oh how dead are our Duties, how lame are our walkings, what low and poor spirited creatures are we: How weak are our hearts, how unripe our fruits; we do but half do what we do, there is no heart in our life, we are as bodies without souls, whilest our soul is without a spirit Oh how sad is it with many of us, up­on this account! By our estrangement from God, we have even lost our selves; we are not what we are, be­cause [...]o more where he is. By our distances from Heaven, we are even choaked with the damps of the Earth. We are f [...]t for little, we prosper in nothing, God takes no pleasure, and we take no comfort in any thing we do, our spirits are so chill'd and benummed within, as that we neither make sign in our work, nor r [...]d [...]ance of our way. And what are we in our Socie­ties? To how little profit do we meet? How little heat do we get; ye [...], how much do we lose at our brethrens fires? We serve often, but to damp and [...]ool each others spirits; as if it might be no longer said, Wo to him that is alone; but wo be to him that is in company: alone he's [...] warm

Christians, I solemnly profess I am ashamed of my [Page 229] self, and my heart is pained within me, to observe how insipid, how spiritless, how carnal our converses are; how often may we meet? How long may we sit, Chri­stian with Christian, ere any thing that savours of the spirit of a Christian comes from u [...] [...], how hard must we strain for a few gracious [...] ▪ How little does come? How heartless when it comes? How very few of us are there, whose ordinary converse speaks us to be men of another world, whose business, and whose de­light lies above, and are in good earnest pressing on to­wards Heaven? How seldom, and how short breath'd are [...] spiritual discourses? How little must suffice? How quickly are we diverted to things carnal and sen­sual? Sure 'tis our little communion with God, that hath thus incarnated the communion of Saints.

Oh let us live more in the fellowship of the Spirit, and we shall have fellowship one with another, to better pur­pose. Let's warm our selves at the Sun, let's dwell more in his Beams, and we shall get and give more Light and Heat. Thus must it be considered, ere we resolve, what there is in this Obedience.

2. It must be considered, What is it like to be attended withal from without. What suffering it may cost us, what scorn and contempt, and reproaches, and persecuti­ons of all sorts; it's like to set Earth and Hell upon our backs; if carnal counsels, and fleshly policies; if all the powers of darkness, if might and malice can do it; this way will be made too hot, and too hard for thee; Tri­bulation, great tribulation thou must expect, and canst not escape; and the more strict and circumspect the hotter must thou look thine Assaults will be.

Professors of Religion that are of the largest size, that are not so strict to their Rule, but they can dispense with Duty; nor so forward in point of zeal and Activity, but they can remit and abate, as occasion serves; may escape [Page 230] this persecuting world the better; but he that will be fai [...]hful, whoever escape, is sure to be made a prey. This also must be well considered, I will follow Christ, but can I drink of the Cup that he drank of? Can I be bap­tiz [...]d with the Bap [...], the Baptism of Blood that he was baptiz [...]d with.

There are persons, who sometimes take up the pro­fession of Religion, and resolve all on a sudden they will follow Christ; not understanding what there is in [...], or what Christianity may stand them in; who by that they have lo [...]k'd a little farther, and find it another manner of difficulty, than at fi [...]st they imagined; and withal, find the Armies of the Aliens to fall on, the Dogs to tear, the Wolves▪ to worry the Eagles, and the Vultures and all the Birds of Prey, to pitch upon them; and be­gin in earnest to feel the smart of Religion, in those perse­cutions that are rais'd upon them for it, presently make their retreat, and go back, Where am I? What have I chosen? Is this to be a Christian? Doth Christ look for al this from his followers, and will he leave them to such violence and [...], as the reward of their faithfulness to his Name? I never thought it had been such hot service, and if I cannot be a Saint at a cheaper rate than this, follow Christ who will for me; let those that have nothing to lose, or can bear so much labour, and pains, and violence, take it up if they please; for my part, I must look to my self, I must not be undone.

Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest, said that Scribe. Mat. 20.7. Man thou understandest not what thou saist. Doest know whither I am going, where my dwelling, what my lodging is? The Foxes have holes, and the Birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head: And behold, there's an end of the Scribes Christianity, we hear not one word more of it.

[Page 231]But now, he that both knows what 'tis to be a Disciple, that hath look'd through Religion, thro' the length and breadth of it, hath duly weighed all that can be said for, or against his taking it up, hath examined the grounds and reasons he hath for it, what weight there is in them, hath conside­red the Objections, hath cast up the cost & charges of it, and as the issue and result of the most seri­ous debate, stands setled in his judgment, that all things considered, it is indisputably the best, and wisest, and safest course he can take; it's beyond all controversie, without all dispute incomparably better for me to hearken to the Lord in all that he shall require, and to run all hazards with him, and that presently, from this day forward, to the end of my life. He that stands thus setled in his judgment, and thereupon feels his soul fixing it self in this peremptory resolution; Well, through the Grace of God I will be his Servant, I give up my self to the Government of his Will, to follow him in righteousness and holiness all my dayes. I am sensible it's no light thing to be a Christian; I see I must be subject, I see I must be circumspect, I see I must be active, I must stick at nothing that God will have; I see this flesh will be pained and put hard to it, will fling and groan under so severe a yoke. I see the Devil and this evil world will be upon me, laying on more load, to make my bargain as dear as they can: But be there in it what there will, let it cost me never so dear, I am at a point; I will [Page 232] venture all upon it, the Lord is my God, and him will I follow in all things that he shall speak; I put my self into the everlasting Arms; I trust upon everlasting strength, I will go forth in the Name of the Lo [...] ▪ and now speak Lord, for I will hear.

This sincere resolution, this will hold out; when our holy inclinations are so rooted and strong, that they bear down all fleshly inclinati­ons; when our assent to be Scripture is so firm, that it over-ballances all objections against it; when our Reasons for Religion are so high and weigh­ty, that they weigh down the highest pretences against it; when we have throughly considered what there is in it, and compa [...]d all that can be said for, or against our following the Lord, and upon the whole matter we judge it our best course, and accordingly resolve for it, this is sincere reso­lution▪ this is the Obedience of the heart.

2. Obedience of the Life. This is the Decree bring­ing forth, or holy inclination and resolution spring­ing up into action, and is a necessary proof of the soundness of the resolution.

Though sincere resolution be Obedience in Gods account; yet that resolution which (sup­posing there be time and opportunity) does not break forth into act, is undoubtedly unsound and deceitful. There are two things infallibly inclu­ded in spiritual life; a Will, and a Power. Grace is the disposing, and the enabling the heart for an holy life; and where there is both a Will and a [Page 233] Power, performance will certainly follow. This sincerity of actual Obedience, is that which the Prayer of the Psalmist lo [...]ks to, Psal. 119 80. Let my heart be sound [in thy Statutes] that I be not a­shamed.

There is a soundness in the Faith; and a soundness in the Statutes of the Lord. Faith notes in Scrip­ture, either the Doctrine of Faith, or the Grace of Faith. And accordingly, soundness in the faith, signifies both the receiving and entertaining sound Doctrine; and the sound or sincere embracing that Doctrine. Soundness in the Statutes of the Lord, notes especially the Practice, the living or walking uprightly under the Power of that Do­ctrine, under the Government and Obedience of the Statutes of the Lord. What this Obedience of life is it's easie to gather out of what hath been spoken touching the Obedience of the heart; I shall only add, that this Obedience, is then sound and sincere, when

1. In General, the whole course of life is the issue of the mentioned sincere resolution; when the life is the birth of the purpose, the fruit grow­ing up out of that holy Root. There may be actions Materially good and holy, that yet are not gracious actions, because they arise not from a right spring. When the soul hath devoted it self to God in Christ, and believingly, understand­ingly, and deliberately decreed, and determined in his strength to keep his word; and this decree or determination, goes into the performances of the [Page 234] life, and is the root and soul of that holy course we walk in; there's sincerity.

Some persons may be found, who have taken up the Profession, and go far in the practice of Godliness, abstaining from gross sins, yea, and making attempts upon the mortification of in­ward lusts; applying themselves to the duties of Religion, Praying, Hearing, Reading, Medita­ting, Discoursing of God, and the things of God▪ exercising themselves in the works of righteous­ness and mercy; being Meek, Temperate, Pati­ent, and if all this do arise only from the advan­tages of a good Nature, good Education, good Society or Acquaintance, a powerful Ministry, or the workings of natural Conscience; as possibly it may, and doth not spring forth from such a fixed, well bottomed resolution, it is short of sin­cerity. Whatever the Blades be, they have no Root, and will certainly wither away.

2. In particular Actions, when they are done in simplicity and singleness of heart unto the Lord; when whatever sinful mixtures there may sometimes be of carnal respects, that may have an influence upon the exerting and bringing them forth; yet the great poise that moves the Wheels, the swaying motive that brings us on, is God, & our respect to his Will and Honour.

Now for this also the Lord undertakes, promi­sing not only assistance, but success; sufficient Grace, and efficacious Grace: I will cause them to walk in my Statutes, and they [shall] keep my Judgments, [Page 235] and do them. I will not only teach them my Statutes, I will not only encline their hearts to my Testimonies; I will not only strengthen them for my Work; but I will cause them to walk in my Statutes. The event shall be sure, they (shall) keep my Judgments, and do them; my Word shall fail, my Promises shall be of none effect; let me be accounted unfaithful, if I do not make them faithful to me.

CHAP. XVI. Perseverance in the Covenant.

8. PErseverance. Jer. 32.40. I will make an ever­lasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

The Perseverance of the Saints, is founded on the Election of God, and the Immutability of his Counsel; The foundation of the Lord standeth sure, Rom. 8 38. Whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified. This Golden Chain will hold, not a link of it shall be broken; on whomsoever the first link Election, hath taken hold, it will in [...]allibly bring him up to the last, Glory. God is not as man, that he should repent. But not to w [...]de farther into the deep, our business lies in the Promise of God.

[Page 236]There are two sorts of Promises concerning Perseverance. There are Promises

• To Perseverance.
• Of Perseverance.

1. The Promise of Eternal Life is made to Perseverance. Hold out to the end, and be saved Overcome and reign. Be faithful to the death, and I will give thee a Crown of life. Rev. 2.10. If th [...] forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. 1 Chron. 28 9. If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Christians, beware of A [...]ostacy, beware of Presumption; Pass the time of your so­journing here in fear. Let it not be said of you, ye (did) run well. He runs well, that gives not off that sits not down on this side the goal. So run that ye may obtain.

2. There are Promises of Perseverance. The Covenant of God is an everlasting Covenant. He hath commanded his Covenant for ever, Psa. 111.5.

There are two things in the fore-mentioned Scripture, Jer. 32.40. secured to Believers, which secure their Perseverance.

• 1. God will not depart from them.
• 2. They shall not depart from him.

1. God will not depart from them. I will not turn away from them. God is with me, but I fear I shall provoke him away: I shall weary him out by my sins, and drive him from me. No, saith the Lord, I will not turn away from them, to do them good. I will never fail thee, nor forsake thee.

[Page 237]2. They shall not depart from him. 'Tis true the Lord will be with me, but 'tis only while I am with him; if I depart, he will depart; it I forsake him, he will cast me off for ever. Here's my great fear, that I shall turn away from him; there is in me an evil heart of unbelief, that's e­ver departing from the living God. Oh this false and fickle heart, I dare not trust it for an hou [...]; I doubt it will be gone ere I am aware; my cor­ruptions are strong, my temptations are many, every day brings its temptations; and I am in great fear, that by one means or other, one day [...] other, I shall fall before them, and depart [...]rom the living God! No, sayes God, fear not, [...]hou shalt not depart; I will put my fear in their [...]earts, that they shall not depart from me. They shall be kept by my Almighty Power, through faith unto salvation. My grace shall be with them, and my grace shall be sufficient for them, and shall pre­serve them to my heavenly Kingdom.

And here is the Sain [...]s security: The Lord God will not turn away from them, nor ever suffer them to run away from him If the Promise fail, then may their faith also fail. It's true, there may be gradual declinings and departures of the Saints from Christ for a season; but total or final there shall not be: They shall not be of them [...]at draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Though they [...]all, they shall rise again; they may turn, but they shall return. As Hypocrites will not stay [Page 238] (with) Christ alwayes, so neither will Saints al­ways stay from him. And there's a like reason of both: Sinners sometimes will step aside, and salute Religion, and take some turns with Christ; but after a while, away they must again: And there is a double reason of it.

• 1. There's that within them that will fetch them back.
• 2. There's one without them that will fetch them back.

1. There's that within them that will fetch them back. Corrupt nature, the power of unmortified Lust, this is it that bears the sway in their hearts▪ and however for the time, the stream may be somewhat turn'd out of its course, or bay'd up▪ however by the impetus of some external Motives or Arguments, or the impulses of an awakened Conscience, or some sudden heat of affection, they are carried on after, and in some fair com­pliance with the Lord Jesus; yet when the Bay is removed, when the external force is spent, Conscience laid to sleep, the heat affection allaid, which is often almost as soon out as in, their very natures will reduce, and bring them back to their old course. What is it that pulls a Stone, or a lump of Clay down again, that that is thrown in­to the Air? Why when the vis imp [...]essa by which they were forc'd up, is spent, their natures, their innate gravities will bring them down to their place. Sinners need no other weights to pull them down to this Earth, than their earthly hearts.

2. There's one without them that will fetch them off: Satan the god of this world, whose they are, [Page 239] and whom they serve; who though he indulge them so much liberty for their Religion, as is consistent with their captive state, and may pos­sibly secure them the more under his Dominion. (Hypocrites are often the faster to Satan, for being so near to Christ) the very Religion they have, is but the Devils snare, by which he holds them back from Religion; yet lest by venturing them too far, they should be lost to him at last, he that first tempted them so near to Christ, (Hy­pocrites are often beholding to the Devil for the Religion they have) will quickly tempt them back again.

And so on the other side, there are the like Reasons why Saints cannot always wander, or stay away from Christ.

1. The [...] that within them, which will bring them back. The grace of God within them will bring them home. The Grace of God, is now their nature. Sinners whilest walking with Christ, and Saints whilest wandring from Christ, are both under a force, they are carried against the stream; when the winds are down that carried them on, they will return to their course. The grace of God is the seed of God, He that is born of God, sinneth not; (that is, not unto death) the seed of God remaineth in him. The seed of God is immortal seed; it may languish, and be ready to dye, but it shall not dye, it shall recover.

2. There's one above them which will bring them back, though he suffer them for a time to wan­der [Page 240] from the way. Of those whom thou hast given me, have lost none. He hath lost none, and he will lose none. H [...] sends a word of commandment after them, Jer. 3.14. Return O back sliding children, for I am marryed to you. Whi [...]her are you running? Whom are you following after? Come back from your lovers, return to you [...] Husband I am marryed to you, and we may not part▪

After the word of Command, he sends a word of pro­mise, ver 22 I will heal your back slidings. Return from your back slidings, and I will heal them. I will forgive your back slidings, and I will cure you of your back slid­ing heart. All the breaches they have made, shall be made up; I will pass by all that you have done, and b [...] reconciled to you. If you will turn, return and I wil [...] receive you. And this word of Promise, is a Word o [...] Power. I will bring you to Zion: then shall she say, I wil [...] go and return to m [...] first Husband Hos. 2▪ Behold we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God, Jer. 3 22 He that will not leave his Israel after the fl [...]sh, with their I­dols, much less will leave his Israel after the Spirit, Phil. 1.6· Being confident of this very thing, that he that hath begun a good work, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

A good work may be said to be begun in a double sence.

1. When there is some good thing a doing: O [...] when something is done towards i [...]; when it is in fieri. When the Lord hath been plo [...]ghing up the fallow ground, making his Batteries against the strong Hold, shaking secure hearts, breaking false hopes, awakening Consci­ences, convincing sinners, spreading sin, and death, and [...]ll before them, entring upon a Treaty with them, and perswading them over to Christ, to make an escape: There may be hopes in this, the pains of Travel gives hopes of a Birth. But this may go back, and after the [Page 241] highest hopes, prove an abortion. Sinners, awa­kened Sinners, beware you make not a stand at the Threshold; beware that your plough'd ground be not left to lie fallow. Beware that the Womb prove not the Grave of all your hopes. Mistake not Conviction for Conversion: make on, let not your God, nor your souls los [...] the things which have been wrought.

2. When there is some good thing done. When 'tis in facto esse. When the Rubbish is removed, and the first stone is laid; when the Plough hath been going, and the good Seed is sown; when the New-creature hath passed the Birth; when Christ is formed, and the light of life is newly sprung up in the soul; if there be but a grain of Mustard seed, the least and lowest degree of saving Grace broken forth in the heart, the question is not, whether it be much or little; if it be grace, there's the immortal seed, there's the good work begun, which shall be carried on till the day of Jesus Christ. Grace is a security for Glory: Yet be­ware Christians, let not this security make you secure; though there be an Harvest in the seed, yet the seed must be cherished, watched & well [...]ooked to, that it may grow up to the Harvest: He that lets it dye for want of looking to, proves [...]hat it was dead whilst alive. Let not your fall­ [...]ng short of Glory, prove that your Grace was not Grace.

Christian, lay hold on the Promise, and lift up your heads, you are under fears; however it be [Page 242] with you for the present, you are in doubt how it may be; your way is long, and dangerous; yet your hearts are deceitful and unstable; you are going on at present, but doubt how you shall hold out: I may meet with Lyons in the way, which may fright me back; I may lose my way, and never recover; I may be a weary, and faint in the way, and lie down and give off: My Lord, and my soul, have been often upon the parting [...]in; I have been almost gone; and I tremble to think what may yet become of me: Yet remem­ber who it is that hath said, I will no [...] turn from you to do you good; I will put my fear in your hearts, and you shall not depart from me. Rise soul, take care for to day, and take no thought for to mor­row. Mind the present du [...]y, go on thy way, though weeping and trembling, and hard bestead: go on thy way, and then commi [...] thy way, and thy self to him, by whose mighty Power thou shalt be kept through faith unto salvation. Faith­ful is he that hath called you, and will do it.

And now you have all▪ Let us hear the conclu­si [...]n of the whole matter. God hath made a Cove­nant with his people, hath given himself for their Portion, his Son for their price, his Spirit for their guide in the way, his Earth for their accommo­dation by the way, his Angels for their Guard, the Powers of darkness and death for their spoils, Ever­lasting Glory for their Crown▪ And because their way is difficult, and their work is contrary [...]o them, he hath given them all that grace that is [Page 243] necessary to bring them to Glory. In General, a new heart, in all things suited to their way, and throughly furnished for every good work. In Particular, Knowledge to guide; oneness to fix and intend; tenderness to sub­mit to, and yield, love to constrain and bring on; fear to fence and hold in; obedience to perform and bring forth; and perseverance to go through, and hold out to the end; and there grace and glory meet. This is the Covenant of Grace, this is the word which by the Gospel is prea­ched unto you.

It will be said, But if God hath undertaken all this for us, what is there then left on us to do? Here's a Doctrine according to sinners hearts; if this be Gospel, then soul take thine ease, take thy liberty, cast away care, make much of thy body, God will take care of the rest.

But is there nothing required of us? Let the Scrip­ [...]ures speak, Ezek. 36 37. Yet for all this will I be en­quired of, or sought unto by the house of Israel; otherwise let them look for no such things. He that will not ask in faith, let not that man think he shall receive any thing of the Lord, Jam. 1.7. And can he think to receive any think, that neither believes nor prayes? That neither prayes in faith, nor prayes at all, Phil. 2.12, 13. It's God works in you, both to will and to do. What then? Therefore sit you still and do nothing? No such mat­ter: therefore work out your salvation with fear and trembling, saith the Apostle. The promise of God was never intended to make the command of God of none effect. God in promising grace, promises a power for duty; and as he doth not give, so we must not receive that power or grace of God in vain. Whilst he gives what he requires, he still requires what he gives. That promise of God ( ye shall be my people) though he un­dertake to make it good; yet it is also the matter of our [...]tipulation. And in this promise wherein the Lord as­sures [Page 244] us, what de facto we (shall) be, is included a Pre­cept, wherein we may understand what de jure we (ought) to be.

In undertaking to give us a new heart, a tender and obedient, a persevering heart, the Lord doth promise, both to make us what we should be, and to help us in what we are bound to do; and gives us at once a clear hint, both of our mercy and duty. This is the sence & sum of that promise, The Lord will work all that in us, and will help and cause us to perform all that which (is required) unto salvation; and so the Promissum on Gods part, doth not make void, but establish the Debi­tum on ours, Do we then make void the Law through Faith? Nay, we establish the Law.

Though it be certain as to the event, that all that's ne­cessary to salvation, shall be accomplished in us; God hath undertaken that, yet it is altogether as certain, that God hath made our loving him, fearing him, obeying his whole will, and our sincerity and perseverance herein so necessary, that we cannot otherwise be saved:

Christians, mistake not, nor abuse the grace of the Gospel. The Lord never meant your mercy should make void your obligation to duty. Redemption from sin, was never intended as a toleration of sin. He gives not his Spirit in favour of the flesh. What he under­takes to work for you, was never with a mind to main­tain you in idleness, Tit. 2.11, 12. The Grace of God that bringeth salvation, teacheth us, that denying ungod­liness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righte­ously, and godly in this present world.

Though you are saved by grace, yet you are still (in a sense) debtors to the whole Law▪ Perfect obedience to the whole Law, even to the utmost Iota, is still due from you; and if it be not in your hearts to pay all that you owe, that is, if there be any duty commanded in the [Page 245] whole Book of God, that you must be dispensed with, that you will not set your hearts to observe and obey; if there be any one sin that you mast be excused in, and will not part with; if there be any, the highest pitch of holy Care, Activity, Industry, Zeal for God and Holiness, that you will not be perswaded to press hard after; this is an evidence of such an unsound heart as hath no part in the Gospel, or the salvation thereof. Perfect­ion is still due, though sincerity will be accepted. Sin­cerity shall be accepted, but what is sincerity less than an hearty willingness to be perfect, attested by a striving & pressing on to that mark which is set before us.

O admire and bless the Lord, the Lord for Grace; but do not turn the Grace of God into licentiousness Shall we continue in sin, because Grace that abounded? Will ye thus requite the Lord? Will ye thus deceive your selves, O foolish people and unwise? Will you slight him, because he hath loved you? Kick at him, because he hath cared for you? shake of his yoke, be­cause he hath secured you the Crown! Will you serve his enemies, because he hath saved you from them? Will you nourish your diseases, because he hath said he will cure you? Will you live and not eat? Reap and not plough? Will you not eat, because he hath given you meat? Will you not run, because he hath given you legs? Nor work because he hath given you hands? Nor watch, because he hath given you eyes? Or will you tempt the Lord, and call that your trust in him? Awake from such madness.

Christians, say not (if God will, I shall) whether I take care or no, believe or no, repent or no, be obedi­ent, or rebellious, whether I wake or sleep, work or be idle; my unbeleif, my disobedience, my negligence shall not make the faith of God of none effect. But rather, since God hath said, (you shall) let thine heart answer [Page 246] (I will) walk in his statutes. Arise O my soul, up and be doing; work out thy salvation, because it's God that worketh in thee, to will and to do: shake off thy sloth, set to thy work, run out thy race, since God hath said, thou shalt not run, nor labour in vain. And look to it, for however thy Idleness, or greatest Unfaithfulness, will not make void the Covenant of God; yet will it make manifest, that thou hast no part nor lot in it.

But to all these glorious things that have been spoken, possibly some will reply; O, if all this be so, then happy Saints indeed: Happy are the people that are in such a case, yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. But will the Lord indeed do all [...]hese things for Mortals? Will he take notice of Worms? shall such dry bones live? Will he set such vile dust as the Apple of his eye? Is not this too good to be true? Too great to be believ­ed? Are we not all this while but in a Dream, or a fools Paradise? Oh that I were sure the one half were as it hath been told me. Too great to be believed? As if it must be questioned whether the Sun be light, because it dazles our eyes. But what certainty would you have? Is all this too great for the great and Almigh­ty God to do, who hath said, Isa. 55.9. As the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways▪ and my thoughts, then your thoughts. Can he not do it, who can do all things? Will he not do it, when he hath said he will? Will the Lord mock? Can God deceive? Shall his word, yea and his Oath too, those two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lye, can these fail? If you should hear the Lord himself speaking to you from Heaven with audible voice, my Covenant I make with thee, and it is my intent and pur­pose to perform every word that is written in it accord­ing to the plain import and meaning thereof; there shall not a tittle fail, neither will I alter the thing that is gone [Page 247] forth of my lip [...]. Heaven and Earth shall fail, but my word shall not fail; trust to it, trust everlasting truth, trust to everlasting strength. Fear not, for there shall not fail one word of all that I have spoken by all my ser­vants the Prohets.

If you should hear the Lord speaking thus to you from Heaven, what would you say? Would not this sa­tisfie you? Why search the Scriptures, that more sure word of Prophesie, 2 Pet. 1.19. Read them diligently, understand what thou readest, and then say, if thou doest not there find the Lord speaking fully to thee the following words.

CHAP. XVII. God speaking from Mount Gerizim. Or, the Gospel in a Map; being a short view of the exceeding great and precious Promises * by another hand. Mr. J. A.

The voice of the Herauld. O All ye Inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the Earth; Come see, and hear; gather your selves together unto the Proclamation of the great King. Hear, you that are far off, and you that are near: He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. I am the voice of one crying in the Wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Let every Valley be exalted, and every Mountain made low, for the glory of the Lord is to be re­vealed. Go thorow, go thorow, the Gates, prepare the way: Cast up, cast up the High-way; gather out the Stones, lift up the Standard for the people; for the Lord proclaimeth salvation to the ends of the Earth. Tydings, tydings, O ye Captives! Hear all ye that look for salvation in Israel; be­hold I bring you glad tydings of great joy which shall be unto all people. Blessed news! Prepare your ears, and hearts; [...] hath commanded me, saying; Go unto the people, [Page 248] and sanctifie them, let them wash and be ready, for the Lord is coming down upon Mount Sion, in the sight of all the Nations: Not in Earthquakes and Fire; not in Clouds, and Darkness; not in Thundrings and Burnings, rending the Mountains, and breaking the Rocks in pieces: He speaks not to you out of the Black­ness, & Darkness, and Tempest; you shall say no more; Let not God speak to us, lest we dye; He cometh peaceably, the Law of kindness is in his mouth, he preacheth peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near.

Behold [...]ow he cometh, leaping upon the Mountains, he hath pa [...]d Mount Ebal, no more wrath or cursings; he is come to Mount Gerizim, where he standeth to bless the People: As Mordecai to his Nation be writeth the words of truth and peace, seeking the wel­far [...] of his people, and speaking peace to all his Seed.

Behold how he cometh, cloathed with flames of Love, with bowels of Compassion, plenteous Redemption, and multiplied Pardons. O how pregnant is his Love! O the rollings of his Bowels! Oh how full are his Breasts, even aking till they are eased by the sucking of his hungry Children.

Hearken therefore O ye Children, hearken to me. To you it is commanded, O People, Nations and Langua­ges, that at what time you hear the joyful sound, the Trump of Jubilee, the tydings of peace in the voice of the everlasting Gospel, that you fall down before the Throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever.

[Page 249]Arise and come away, Prepare, prepare you; H [...] not with an uncircumcised ear; you are not upon a com­mon thing. Behold the Throne is set, the Throne [...] grace, where Majesty and Mercy dwell together from thence will the Lord meet you, from thence will he com­mune with you, from the Mercy sea [...], from between the Cherubims, upon the Ark of the Testimony. L [...] the Lord cometh out of his Pavilion, the mighty God from Sion. Selah. His glory covereth the Heavens, the Earth is full of his praise. A fire (of love) goeth be­fore him, mercy and truth are round about [...] righ­teousness and peace are the habitation of his [...]; he rideth on his Horses and Chariots of Salvati [...] [...]e Co­venant of life, and peace is in his mouth.

Rejoyce ye Heavens, make a joyful noise to the Lord all the Earth. Let the Sea roar, the Floods clap their hands, and the multitudes of the Isles rejoyce. Stand forth the Host of Heaven, prepare your Harps, cast down your Crowns, be ready with your Trumps, bring forth your golden Vials full of Odours, for our voices will jarr, our strings will break, we cannot, we cannot reach the note of our Makers praise.

Yet let them that dwell in the dust arise and sing. Bear your part in this glorious service, but consider and attend. Ca [...] out your soul, and all that is within you. Lift up your voices, fix your eyes, enlarge your hearts, intend all their Powers; there is work for them all. Be intent, and seaious, you cannot strain too high.

Come forth ye graces, beset the way, be all in readiness. Stand forth Faith, and Hope: flame O Love, come ye warm desires, and break with longing: Let fear with [Page 250] all veneration do its Obeysance. Joy prepare thy songs, [...]all up all the Daughters of Musick, to salute the Lord [...] he passeth by. Let the generations of the Saints ap­pear, and spread the way with Boughs and Garments of Salvation, and songs of deliverance. Deut. 29.10. to [...] 12. Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord yo [...] God, your Captains, your Elders, your Officers, with all the [...]en of Israel; your litle Ones, your Wives, and the stranger that is within thy Camp, from the hewer of Wood, to the drawer of Water: That [...]ou shouldest enter into [...] with the Lord thy God, and into his Oath, which [...] thy God maketh with thee this day: That he [...] establish thee to day for a people unto him­self and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn.

I have done my errand. The Messenger of the mor­ning disappeareth, when the Orient Sun cometh forth out of his Chambers, I vanish, I put my mouth in the dust. The voice of the Lord! The soft and still voice! O my soul, wrap thy face in the mantle, and bow thy self to the ground, and put thee in the cliff of the Rock, while Jehovah proclaimeth his Name, and maketh all his goodness to pass before thee.

[Page 251]HEar, O ye ends of the Earth. The Voice of the LORD. The mighty God, the Lord hath spo­ken: Gather my Saints unto me, those that have made a Covenant with me by sacrifice. Psa. 50.1, 5. Behold I establish my Cove­nant between me and you. Gen. 17 7. By my Ho­liness have I sworn, that I will be your Covenant friend. I lift up my hand to heaven, I swear I live for ever; and be­cause I live, you shall live also. Joh. 14 19 I will be yours: Jer. 32.38, 40. Yours to all intents and pur­poses: Your refuge and your rest, Jer 50.6. Psal. 90 1 Psal [...]6 1 your Patron and your Portion; Psal. 73 26 Isa 25 4, 5 your Heritage and your Hope; your God & your Guide. Psal 4.8.14 While I have, you shall never want; and what I am to my self, I will be to you. Psal 34 9, 10 And you shall be my Peo­ple, a chosen generation, a Kingdom of Priests, an holy Nation, a peculiar Trea [...]sure unto me above all people. Exod. 19 5, 6. 1 Pet. 2.9 I call Heaven and Earth to witness th [...]s day, that I take you for mine for ever. My Name shall be upon you, and you shall be Pillars in the Temple of your God, & shall go no more out▪ Rev 3.12..

My Livery shall you wear, and the stamp of my own Face shall you carry: Ezek 36 25, 26. with Eph. 4 24. and I will make you my Witness and the Epistles of Christ unto the world, Isa. 24.8 2 Cor. 3.3 and you shall be chosen Vessels, to bear my Name before the sons of men. [Page 252] And that you may see that I am in ear­nest with you, lo I make with you an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; 2 Sam. 13, 5 and do here solemnly deliver it to you, as my act and deed, sealed with sacred blood, 1 Cor. 11 25 and ratified with the Oath of a God; Heb 6.17 a God that cannot lie, that knows no place for repentance. Pro. 1, 2 Come ye blessed, receive the In­strument of your salvation: take the wri [...]ings, behold the seals; here are the conveyances of the Kingdom. Fear not, the donation is free, and full. See, it is written in blood, founded on the All-suf­ficient merits of your Surety. Heb 9 Lam. 1.8 in whom I am well pleased; Matth. 3 17 whose death makes this Testament unchangeable for ever; so that your names can never be put out, nor your Inheritance alienated, nor your Legacies diminished; nothing may be altered, nothing added, nothing substra­cted, no not for ever. Gal. 3.15, 16, 17 The bles­sings of the Covenant, are either its glorious Liberties, & immu­nities, or its Royal Priviled­ges & pre­rogatives. Happy art thou, O Israel! Who is like unto thee, O Peo­ple! Deut 33 29. The im­munities & Liber­ties of the Covenant consisting in 1 Our general discharge from all our debts, Only believe, & know your own blessedness. Attend O my Children, un­to the blessings of your Father, & hear, and know the glorious immunities, and the Royal Prerogatives that I here con­firm upon you.

Here I seal you your [...] Tho you sins be as many as the [...] [Page 253] mighty as the Mountains, I will drown them in the deeps of my bottomless mer­cies; Micah 7 1 [...] I will be merciful to your unrighteousness; I will multiply to pardon, Heb 8 12 Isai [...] 5 7 where you sins have abounded, my grace shall super-abound; though they be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isa 1.18 Behold I declare my self satisfied, and pronounce you absolved: Job 33 24 The price is paid, your debts are cleared, your Bonds are cancelled. Isai. 43.25. Col. 2.13, 14.

Whatever the Law, or Conscience, or the Accuser hath to charge upon you, here I exonerate you, I discharge you. I, even I am he, that blotteth out your transgressions, for my Names sake. Who shall lay any thing to your charge, when I acquit you? Who shall impeach, or implead you, when I proclaim you guilt­less? Rom. 2 33, 34▪ Sons, Daughters, be of good chear, your sins are forgiven you. 1 Joh 2 12 Mark 9.2. I will sprinkle your consciences, and put the voice of peace into their mouths; Ezek 36 25 Heb 9.14 Isa 57.19 2 Our re­lease from the house of bondag [...], particular­ly, and they shall be your Registers, in which I will record your Pardon, and the voice of Guilt, and Wrath, & Ter­rour shall cease. Heb 10.22. Isa. 27.4, 5.

Here I sign your release from the house of Bondage; Rom. 6 17, 18 1 Cor. 7 22. Come forth ye captives, come forth ye prisoners of hope; for I have found a ransom: Job 33 24.18I proclaim liberty to the cap­tives, [Page 254] & the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Isa. 61 1. & 42 7. Behold I have broken your bonds, and shook the foundations of your prisons, and opened the iron gates. Luke 4 18 By the blood of the Covenant have I sent forth the prisoners out of the pit wherein there is no water. Zech. 9 11. From the dark and noisome prison of sin. Arise, O redeemed of the Lord, put off the raiment of your captivities, arise and come away.

The dark and noisome prison of sin shall no longer d [...]ain you▪ John 8 34, 35, 36. I will loose your fet­ters, and knock off your bolts. Sin shall not have dominion over you Rom. 6 14..

I will heal your back-slidings, I will subdue your iniquities Mic 7 19. Jer. 3.12, I will sanctifie you wholly 1 Thes 5.23, 24., and will put my fear in your hearts, that you shall not depart from me▪ Jer 32 40. Though your corruptions be strong and many; yet the aids of my Spirit, and cleansing-vertue of my word, and physick of my corrections shall so work together with your prayers and endeavours, as that they shall not finally prevail against you, but shall surely fall before you. Ezek 36.37 Eph. 5.26 Isa 27▪ 9 From the strong and stinking goal of the grave.

From the strong and stinking goal of the grave do I deliver you, O death▪ I will be thy plague, O grave, I will be thy destruction, Hos. 13 14, my Beloved shall not ever see corruption. Psal. 16.10.

I will change your rottenness into glory, and make your dust arise and praise me Dan. 12 2, 3. Isa 26▪ 19.. What is sown in weakness, I will raise in power: what is sown in corruption, I will raise in incorruption: what is sown a natural body, I will raise a spiri­tual body. 1 Cor. 15.42, 43, 44 This very flesh of yours, this cor­ruptible flesh shall put on incorruption; and this mortal shall put on immortality. 1 Cor 15.53 Death shall be swallowed up in victory, and morta­lity [Page 255] of life. 2 Cor 5 4 1 Cor 15.54 Fear not, O my children; Come, and I will shew you the enemy that you dreaded. See, here lies the King of terrours, like Sisera in the tent, fastened to the ground, with the nail struck through his temples. Behold the grateful present, the head of your enemy in a Charger. I bequeath you your con­quered adversary, and make over death as your Legacy. 1 Cor. 3 22. O death where is thy sting? where now is thine armour where­in thou trustedst? 1 Cor. 15.55 Come my people, enter into your chambers: Isa. 26 20 Come to your beds of dust, and lay you down in peace, and let your flesh rest in hope; Isa. 57.2 for even in this flesh shall you see God. Psal. 10 91. Job 19.25, 26, 27 O ye slain of death, your carkases, now as loathsome as the carrion in the ditch, will I redeem from the power of the grave, Psal. 49 15 and fashion those vile bodies like unto the glorious body of your ex­alted Redeemer. Phil 3.21 Look, if you can o [...] the Sun, when shining in his strength, with such dazling glory will I cloath you O ye of little faith Matt. 15 43. From the Dun­geon of e­ternal darkness.

From the terrible dungeon of eternal darkness do I hereby free you, Fear not, you shall not be hurt of the second death, Rev. 2.11 Rom 8.1 you are delivered from the wrath to come, and shall never come into con­demnation 1 Thes. 1.10. Job. 5.24. The flames of Tophet shall [Page 256] not be able to singe the hairs of your heads, no nor the smell of the fire pass upon you. Stand upon the brink, and look down into the horrible pit, the in­fernal sprion, from whence I have freed you.

See you how the smoke of their tor­ments ascendeth for ever and ever. Rev. 14 11 Hear you the cursings and ravings, the roarings and blasphemies? Mat 25 30 What think you of those hellish fiends? would yo [...] have been willing to have had them for your companions and tormentors? Mat. 25 41 what think you of those chains of dark­ness? of the river of brimstone, of th [...] instruments of torment for soul and bo­dy, of those weepings, and wailings, and gnashing of teeth. Can you think of an everlasting banishment of a go ye cur­sed? could you dwell with everlasting? could you abide with devouring fire Isa. 33.14.? This is the inheritance you were born to. Eph. 2.3. But I have cut off the entail, and wrought for you a great salvation. I have not ordained you to wrath, 1 Thes. 5 9. but my thoughts towards you are thoughts of peace. Jer 29.11 3 Our pro­tection from all our ene­mies.

Here I deliver you your protection. From all your enemies will I save you. 2 King 17.39 From the arrest of the Law. I grant you a protection from the ar­rests of the Law: your surety hath ful­ly [Page 251] answered it; Gal. 3.13. Ro. 4.10. my Justice is satisfied, my wrath is pacified, my honour is re­paired. Dan. 2.24. 2 Cor. [...].19, 20. Behold, I am near that justifie you, who is he that shall condemn you?

From the usurped dominion of the powers of darkness. I will tread Satan shortly under you, and will set your feet in triumph upon the necks of your enemies▪ Rom 16 20. Let not your hearts be troubled; Esa 50 8 From the powers of darkness. though you be to wrestle with principa­lities and powers, Col. 1.13 and the rulers of the darkness of this world: Eph 12 for stronger is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4 4. He may bruise your heel, but you shall bruise his head. Gen. 3.15 Behold your Redeemer leading captivity captive, spoyling principalities and powers, and triumphing over them openly in his Cross. Col. 2.15 See how Satan falleth like lightning from Heaven, Luk 10 18 and the Samp­son of your salvation beareth away the gates of Hell posts, and all upon his shoulders, and setteth them up as Tro­phies of his Victory: how he pulleth out the throat of the Lion, and lifteth up the heart of the Traytor upon the top of his spear, and washeth his hands, and dyeth his robes in the blood of those your enemies. Isa 63.1, 2, 3 From the victory of the world From the victory of the world, 1 John 5.4. neither its frowns, nor its flatteries shall be too hard for your vi­ctorious [Page 252] faith. Gal. 1.4 Though it rais [...] [...] [...]gypt, and Amulek, and Moab, and all its whole Militia against you: yet it shall never keep you out of Canaan. Be of good comfort, your Lord hath overcome the world. Joh 16.33 Though its temptations be very powerful, yet this upon my faith­fulness will I promise you, that no such shall come upon you, but what you shall be able to bear. But if I see such try­als (which you fear) would be too hard for your graces, & overthrow your souls, I will never suffer them to come upon you; nay, I will make your ene­my to serve you, 1 Cor 10.13 and do bequeath the world as part of your Dowry [...]o you 1 Cor 3 22 From the curse of the Cross.

From the curse of the Cross▪ Psa 119 91 Affli­ction shall prove a wholesome Cup to you; your Lord hath drunk the Venome into his own body: & what remains for you is but a healthful Portion, which I will promise you shall work for your good. Rom 8 28 Be not afraid to drink, nor de­sire the cup should pass from you: I bless the cup before I give it unto you. Job 5.17, &c. Drink you all of it, and be thankful; you shall find my blessing at the bottom of the cup, to sweeten the sharpest af­flictions to you. Jam 5 1, 12 Psa. 94 12 I will stand by you in all conditions, and be a fast friend to you in every change. Esay 43 2 In the Wilder­ness [Page 253] I will speak comfortably to you, and in the fire, and in the water▪ I will be with you. Hos 2 14 I will be avstrength to the poor, and a strength to the needy in his distress; a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the heat, when the blast of terrible ones is as a storm against the Wall. Esay 25 4 Your sufferings shall not be a cup of Wrath, but a Grace-cup; not a Curse, but a Cure; not a cup of trembling, but a cup of blessing to you. Heb 12 6, 7, 8 They shall not hurt you, but heal you Psa 119 67 My blessing shall attend you in every condition. Gen 26.3 I say not only, Blessed shall you be in your Basket, and blessed in your store; but blessed shall you be in your Poverty, Gen 28 15 and blessed shall you be in your streights: not only blessed shall you be in your Cities, and blessed shall you be in your fields; but blessed shall you be in your bonds, and blessed shall you be in your banishment. Mat. 9 29, 30 1 Pet. 3 14 Bles­sed shall you be when you are persecu­red, and when you are reviled, & your name is cast out as evil: Yea, then dou­bly blessed. Mat 5 10, 11, 12 My choicest blessings, greatest good, and richest sweets, will I put into your evil things. 1 Pet 4 13, 14 Luk 6.20 21, 22 These happy immunities, these glorious Liberties of the Sons of God, by this immutable Charter, I do for ever settle upon you; [Page 254] and do in, and with my Covenant, [...] ­alterably, irrevocably, everlastingly con­vey unto you, and confirm upon you.

Yea, I will not only free you from your miseries; but will conferr upon you Royal Priviledges and Prerogatives, The Pri­vileges & Preroga­tives of the Cove­nant. He gives himself to us for our God and instate you into higher and greater happiness than ever you have fallen from. Loe I give my self to you, and all things with my self.

Behold O ye Sons of men! Behold and wonder. Be astonished O Heavens! Be moved, ye strong foundations of the Earth!. For you shall be my wi [...]nesses. This day do I by Covenant bestow my self upon my servants. Gen 17▪7 I will be your God, for ever and ever; Psa 48 14 Jer 32 38 Rev 21 3 Your Own God; Psa 67 6 Psal 16 2 Nothing in the world is so much your own as I. The Houses that you have built, that you have bought, are not so much yours as I am. Here you are Tenants at will; but I am your e­ternal Inheritance. Psal 16 5 with 73.26 These are loans for a season, but I am your dwelling place in all Generations. Psal 90 1 You have no where so great a Propriety, so sure and unalterable claim, as you have here. What do you count your own? Do you count your bodies your own, your souls your own? Nay these are not your own; they are bought with a price. [...] Cor. 6:19, 20 But you [Page 255] may boldly make your claim to me? you may freely challenge an Interest in me Jer. 3 19 Esay 63 16 Come near, and fear not; where should you be free, if not with your own? where should you be b [...]ld, if not at home▪ You are never in all the wo [...]ld so much [...] [...]ome, as when you are with me. You may freely make use of me, or of any of my Attributes, when ever you have need. Psa 50 15 Jer 49 11. Psal 145 18 To be to us instead of all Rela­tions▪ Our Friend. I will be all to you that you can wish. Esa 41 8 Jam 2 2, 3 I will be a friend to you. Psa 25 14 John 15 15 My secrets shall be with you, and you shall have all freedom of access to me, and liberty to pour out all your hearts into my Bosom Eph 3 12 Heb 4 16 Our Phy­sician..

I will be a Phisician to you. I will heal your back-slidings; and cure all your diseases. Hos 14 4 Psal 103.3 Our She­pheard. Fear not, never did soul miscarry, that left it self in my hands, and would but follow my prescriptions.

I will be a Shepherd to you Ps. 23.1 & 80.1 Be not afraid of evil tidings, for I am with you; my rod, and my staff shall comfort you. You shall not want, for I will feed you; you shall not wander, (to be lost) for I will restore you. I will cause you to lie down in green Pastures, and lead you beside the still waters Psa 23 I will gather you with mine arms, and carry you in my bosom, and will lead on softly, as the flock and the children be able to [Page 256] endure. Esa 43.14 Gen 33 31, 14 If Officers be careless, I will do the work my self. I will judge be­tween cattel and cattel. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven-away, & bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and will feed them with Judgment. Ezek 34, 16, 17 with vers. 2, 3, 4▪ I will watch over my flock by night. Esa 27 3 Behold, I have appoin­ted my Ministers as your Watchmen and Overseers that watch for your souls. Heb 13.17 Act 20 28 Yea, mine Angels shall be your Wat­chers, and shall keep a constant guard upon my Flocks. Dan 3 17.23. Ps 34.7 And if peradventure the servants should sleep, Mat 13 25.27 mine own eyes shall keep a perpetual watch over you, by night; and by day. Psal 34 15 and 33.18 2 Chron 16.9 The Kee­per of Israel never slumbereth, nor sleep­eth, Ps 122 3, 4, 5 nor withdraweth his eyes from the righteous. Job 36.7 I will guide you with mine eye; I will never trust you out of mine own sight. Ps 32.8 Our So­veraign.

I will be a Soveraign to you. The Lord is your Judge, the Lord is your Law giver, the Lord is your King. Esa 33 22 Fear not the unrighteousness of men, I will judge your cause, I will defend your rights. Deut 32.36 psa 140 12 & 94 You shall not stand at mans Bar; you shall not be cast at their Vote; let them curse, I will bless; let them [Page 257] condemn, I will justifie. Isa. 50.9. Gen. 12.3. When you come upon tryal for your lives, to have your eternal state decided, you shall see your friend, your father, upon the Bench. Psal. 88 9. Eccl. 3.16, 17 Into my hands shall your cause be cast and you shall surely stand in judgment, and be found at the right-hand among the sheep, and hear the King say, Come ye blessed, inherit the Kingdom. Mat. 25.33 34 Matt 10 32. Our Husband

I will be an Husband to you. Isa 54.5. In loving kindness, and in mercies will I betroth you unto me for ever. Hos. 2.19, 20 I will espouse your Interest, and will be as one with you, and you with me. Matt. 25▪ 40.45· Acts 9 4, 5 Zach 3. [...] You shall be for me, and not for another; and I also will be for you. Hos. [...] 3 Though I found you as an helpless Infant, exposed in its blood, all your unworthiness doth not discourage me. I [...], I have look'd up­on you, and spread my skirt over you, and put my comeliness upon you. More­over, I swear unto you and enter into Covenant with you▪ and you shall be mine Ezek 16.4 to the 10 Behold, I do (as it were) put my self out of my own power, and do here solemnly, in this my Marriage Co­venant, make away my self to you, Jer▪ 24 7 & 30 21, 22 & 21, 33, 34 and with my self all things. Rev 21 7 I will be an everlasting Portion to you. Ezek 44 28 Jer 51 19 Psal 119 57 Li [...] up now your Eyes Eastward, & Westward, and Northward, and Southward. Have [Page 258] you not a worthy Portion, He mak­eth over himself to us, in all his Essen­tial Per­fections, and Perso­nal Relati­ons. His Eter­nity as the date of our Happiness a goodly he­ritage? Can you cast up your riches, or count your own happiness? Can [...] fathom Immensity, or reach Omnipo­tency, or comprehend Eternity? All this is yours. I will set open all my treasures to you, I will keep back no­thing from you.

All the Attributes in the God-head, and all the Persons in the God-head, do I hereby make over to you. I will be yours in all my Essential Perfections, and in all my Personal Relations.

In all mine Essential Perfections.

Mine Eternity shall be the date of your happiness.

I am the Eternal God, and while I am, I will be life and blessedness to you. Psal 90 1, 2 with Ps [...]3.19. 1 Tim 1 [...]7 with 1 Pet 5 10 I will be a never-failing Fountain of Joy and Peace, and Bliss unto you. Psa 36.7, 8, 9 & 16 11 I am the first, and last, that was, and is, and is to come, and mine eternal Power and God-head shall be bound to you Isay 35.10 Jer 32 40.

I will be your God, your Father, your Friend, while I have any being. Isa. 9 Jer 10.10 I have made mine everlasting choice in pitch­ing upon you. Psa▪ 132.13, 14 Hos. 2.19 Fear not, for the Eter­nal God is your Refuge, and underneath are the Everlasting Arms. Deut 33 37 My durable riches and righteousness shall be yours. Pro [...].10. Though all should forsake you, yet will I [Page 259] not forsake you. Heb 13 5 Psal 27 10 When the World, and all that is therein, shall be burnt up, I will be a standing portion for you. When you are forgotten among the dead, with everlasting loving kindness will I remember you Isa. 54.10 His Ʋn­change­ableness as the Rock of our Rest.

Mine Unchangeableness shall be the Rock of your Rest. Mal. 3 Psal 62.6, 7. & 92 15 When all the World is like the tumbling Ocean round about you, here you may fix and settle. I am your resting place. Jer. 50 6 2 Chron 14 11 2 Tim. 2 19 Heb▪ 6.17, 18▪

The Immutability of my Nature, and of my Counsel, and of my Covenant, are sure footing for your Faith, and a firm Foundation for your strong and e­verlasting Consolation. x When you are afflicted, tossed with Tempests, Isai. 54 11 and not comforted; put into me: I am an Haven of Hope, I am an Harbour of Rest for you; here cast your Anchors, and you shall never be moved. Jer. 17 13, 17 Psal 46.1, 2, 5 & 125 1. His Omni­potency for our Guard

Mine Omnipotency shall be your Guard. I am God Almighty, your Almighty Protector, your Almighty Benefactor. Gen 15 1 & 17.1

What though your Enemies are ma­ny; more are they that are with you, than they that are against you; for I am with you. 2 Chro 32 7, 8 2 Kings 6 16 Joh. 10.29 What though they are migh­ty? they are not Almighty. Your Fa­ther is greater than all, and none shall pluck you (pluck while they will) out [Page 260] of my hands. c Who can hinder my power, or obstruct my salvation? Isa 43 13 Dan 4.35 2 Pet. 2.9 Who is like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth on the Heaven for your help, and in his excellency on the Sky? I am the sword of your strength, and the shield of your excellency. Deut 33 26.29 I am your rock and your fortress, your deli­verer, your strength, the horn of your salvation, and your high tower. Ps 18.2 I will maintain you against all the power of the Enemy. You shall never sink, if Omnipotency can support you. 1 Pet 1 5 Exod 28.12 The gates of Hell shall not prevail against you. Mat 16 18 Your enemies shall find hard work of it. They shall overcome Victory, or enervate. Omnipotency, or corrupt Fi­delity, of change Immutability, or else they cannot finally prevail against you, either they shall how or break. Rev 3 9 Isa 66 24 Tho' they should exalt themselves as the Ea­gle, though they should set their nest a­mong the stars, even there will I bring them down, saith the Lord. Obad 4. Jer 49 16 1 His faith­fulness for our Secu­rity

My faithfulness shall be your security, Psal 89 33, 34, 35 my truth, yea, my oath shall fa [...]l if ever you come off lose [...]s by me. Isa 64.9, 10 with Mar 10 29, 30 I will make you to confess, when you see the iss [...]e and upshot of all my providences, that I was a God worthy to be trusted, worthy to be believed, worthy to be [Page 261] rested in, and re [...]ied upon. Psa 34 4.5, 6, 8▪ & 84 [...]2 & 146. [...] Jer 17▪ 7 8 Psal [...] 4, 5 If you walk not in my Judgments, you must look for my threats and frowns, yea and blows too, and you shall see that I am not in jest with you, nor will indulge you in your sins. Psal 89 30, 3 [...] 32, &c. Amo [...]. [...] & 2 Sa [...] 12 to 15 1 Pet. 4.17 Nevertheless my loving-kind­ness will I never take from you, nor suf­fer my faithfulness to fail. My Cove­nant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

My mercies shall be your stone Isa. 47.7 & 63.7 [...] 119. [...] I am the Father of mercies, and such a Father I will be to you. 2 [...] 1.3 [...] 36. [...] I am the fountain of mercies, and this [...] shall be ever open to you. Rev. 21.6 My mer­cies are very many, and they shall be multiplied towards you, Neh 9.7 with Isa 5 [...] 7 very great, and they shall be magnified upon you; 1 Cor 21 13 with Gen 19 9 very sure, and they shall be for ever sure to you; very tender, Isa 5 [...] 3 & they shall be infinitely tender of you. Psal. 119.1 [...]6 with 103 4 Though the Fig-tree do not blossom, not the Vine bear, nor the Flock bring forth, fear not, for my compassions fail not. Heb 3.17 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the daies of your lives Ps 23 6 Even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made and I will bear, even I will carry and deliver you. Is 43.4 I will make an everlast­ing Covenant with you, that I will not [Page 262] turn away from you to do you good. Jer. 32 40 I swear that I will [...]he [...] you the kind­ness of God 1 Sa 20.14, 15, 17 with 25.9 10 I can as soon forget to be God, as forget to be gracious. Psal 77.9 While my name is Jehovah, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness & truth, I will never forget to shew mercy to you. Psal 103 17 with 34 6, 7 Psal 25 10. All my ways towards you, shall be mercy & tru [...]h. e I have sworn that I would not be wrath with you, nor rebuke you; for the mountains shall depart, and the hill [...] be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed, His Omni­ [...]nce as [...] saith the Lord that hath mercy on you.

Mine Omniscience shall be your O­verseer, mine eyes shall be ever open, observing your wants to relieve them, and your wrongs to avenge them. 1 Pet 3 12 Exod 3.7 Mine Ears shall be ever open to hear the prayers of my poor, the cries of mine oppressed, the clamours, calumnies and reproaches of your enemies. Ps [...]4.15 Exod▪ 2 24, 25 Zep 2.8, 9, 10 Sure­ly I have seen your affliction, & know your sorrows. And shall not God a­venge his own Elect? I will avenge them speedily. Luke 18 7, 8 I see the secret Plots, and Designs of your Enemies against you, Jer. 18 23 and will disannul their Counsels. Isai 8.10 with 29.14, 1 [...] Psal. 33.10 I see your secret integrity, and the [Page 263] uprightness of your hearts towards me, while the carnal and censorious world condemn you as Hypocrites. Job 1.8 9, 10, 11 2 Chron 15 17 Your se­cret Prayers, Fasts, and Tears, which the world knoweth not of, I observe them, and record them. Matt▪ 4 6, 18 Act 10.4 Your secret care to please me, your secret pains with your own hearts, your secret self-searchings, and self-denial; I see them all, & your Father which seeth in secret, shall reward them openly. Matt. 25.34, 35, 36 2 Chron 34.27 His Wis­dom is our Counsellor.

My Wisdom shall be your Counsellour James 1 5 If any want wisdom, let him ask of me, and it shall be given him. I will be your Deliverer. When you are in dark­ness, I will be a light to you. Mic. 7.8 I will make your way plain before you. Isa. 43.19. & 57.14 You are but short sighted, but I will be eyes to you. Isa 42 6, 7 & 49.6 I will watch over you, to bring upon you all the good I have pro­mised, Jer 31 28 with 3 [...].24 and to keep off all the evil you fear, or to turn it into good. Psal. 91 10 14 Jer. 24 5. You shall have your food in its season, and your Phisick in its season: Mercies, Afflicti­ons, all suitable, and in their season. Psal 23 2, 3 1 Pet 1.6 Isai 27 7, 8, 9

I will out wit your Enemies, & make their Oracles to speak but folly. Isa 19.11. to 15 The old Serpent shall not deceive you. I will acquaint you with his devices. 2 Cor 2.11 The deceitful hearts you fear, shall not undoe you, I will discover their wiles.

[Page 264] I know how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished. 2 Pet 9 Trust in me with all your hearts, and lean not to your own understanding. Prov. 3 8.9 I am God that performeth all things for you. Ps 57.2 I will forfeit the reputation of my wisdom, if I make you not to ac­knowledge, when you see the end of the Lord, James 5 11 (though at present you won­der, and reach not the meaning of my proceedings) Jer. 12 1 that all my works are in Weight, and in Number, & in Time, and in Order: Eccl 3 14 if I force you not to cry out, Manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all. Psal 33 4 & 145 10 Psal 104 24 His Jus­tice as our Avenger and Re­warder

My Justice shall be your Revenger and Rewarder. 2 Thes 1.6 2 Tim 4 8 Fear not to approach; fu­ry is not in me. Isa. 17 4 My Justice is not on­ly appeased towards you, but engaged for you. I am so fully satisfied in the sacrifice of my Beloved, that Justice it self, that was as a flaming sword drawn against you, doth now greatly befriend you; and that which was an amazing, confounding terrour, shall now become your relief and consolation. Eccl 3 16, 17. & 5.8 Psal 96 10, 11, 12, 13 Psal. 97.1 with 99 1 Under all your Oppressions, here shall your refuge be. Psal 6 9 & 103. [...] Let me know your grievances, my Justice shall right your wrongs, and reward your services. Psal 146.7 Heb 6 10 You may con­clude [Page 265] upon your Pardons, conclude up­on your Crowns, conclude upon reputa­tions for all your injuries, and all from the sweet consideration of my Justice; 1 Joh. 1.9 2 Tim 4.8. 2 Thess 4 5. 1 Pet 2 23 His Om­nipresence as Compa­ny for us. the thought of which, to others is as the horrour of the shadow of death. If you sin, despair not; remember I am just to forgive you. If you are at a­ny pa [...]s or cost for me, do not count it lost; for I am not unrighteous to forget you. I am the righteous Judge, that have laid up for you, and will set on you the Crown of righteousness. Are you reviled, persecuted, defamed? For­get not that I am righteous to render tribulation to them that trouble you, & to you that are troubled, rest with me. Though all your services and sufferings deserve not the least good at my hands; yet as I have freely passed my promise to reward them, so I will as justly keep it.

Mine Omnipresence shall be company for you. 1 Chro. 22.18 Josh 1.5.9 Isa 41 10 Surely I will be with you, to bless you. Gen 26 24 No bolts nor bars, nor bonds, nor banishment, shall remove you from me, nor keep my presence, and the influences of Heaven from you. Gen 29 21 23 I am always with you: Mat. 28 26 in your darkest nights, in your deepest dangers, I am at hand with you, a very present help in [Page 266] the time of trouble. Psal 46 1 & 34 18 I am not a God afar off, or asleep, or in a journey, when you need my counsel, mine ear, or mine aid: I am always nigh unto them that fear me. q

No Patmos, no Prison shall hinder the presence of my grace from you. Rev 1 9, 10 Act 16.25, 26 My presence shall perfume the noysomest Wards, and lighten the darkest Dunge­on where you can be thrust. Acts 12 7 Isa 58 10 His Holi­ness as a Fountain of Grace to us.

My Holiness shall be a Fountain of Grace to you. Joh 1 16 2 Pet 1.4 I am the God of hope, Ro 15 13 the God of love, 2 Cor. 13.11 the God of pati­ence, Rom 15 the Author and finisher of faith, Heb 12 2. the God of all grace, 1 Pet 5.10. and I will give grace to you. Psal 84 21 My design is to make you partakers of my Holiness. Heb 12 10 I will be a constant spring of spiritual life to you. Gal 2 20 Joh 14 & 8 12 & 10 10 & 14 6 The water that I shall give you, shall be in you as a Well of water, springing up into everlasting life. The seed of life, that I shall put into you, shall be so [...]ed and cherished, and main­tained by my power, Joh 4 14 that it shall be im­mortal. 1 Joh 3 9 1 Pet 1 23 Col 2 19 The Unction that you shall receive from the Holy One, shall abide in you, and teach you all things (ne­cessary for you) and as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. Joh. 14 16, 17 & 1 Joh 2 20, 27

Keep but the Pipes open, and ply the means which I have prescribed, and [Page 267] you shall flourish in the Courts of your God. prov 8 34 Ps 9 [...] 13 Yea, I will satisfie your souls in drought, Isa 58: 11. and make fat your bones, and you shall be like a watered Garden▪ Loe, I will be as the dew unto you, and you shall grow as the Lilly, and cast forth your roots as Lebanon; Psa 92 14 His Sove­raignty to be (as it were) command­ed by us▪ and your branches shall spread, & your beau­ty shall be as the Olive-tree. Hos 14 5, 6. You shall still bring forth fruit in old age, you shall be fat and flourishing.

My Soveraignty shall be commanded by you. Gen [...] 26.28 Deut 9 14 You shall be my Favourites, men of Power, to prevail with me. Hos 12.4 James 51 17▪ 18 All mine Attributes shall be at the command of your prayers. Isa 4▪ 5▪ 10 His All-sufficiency to be the lot of [...] inheri­tance

In [...], Mine All-sufficiency shall be the lot of your inheritance▪ Gen 17 1 Lam [...] 14 psa 16 5, 6 My fulness is your treasure. Num 18.20 Deut 10 9 psa 16.5, 6 My house is your home. psa 91 1, 9 You may come as freely to my store, as to your own Cl [...]pboard. Eph 3.12 You may have your hand as freely in my Treasures, as in your own purses. You cannot ask too much, you can­not look for too much from me. Eph 3 20 Mat 7.8 I will give you, or be my self t [...] you instead of all com­for [...]. Gen 15 1 psal 84.11 You shall have children, or I will [...] better to you than ten children. Isa [...]6.3, 4 You shall have riches, or I will be more to you than all riches. 2 Cor 6.10

You shall have friends, if best for you, or else I will be your Comforter in your solitude, Isa 51.3 John 14 26 2 Cor [...] 3, 4 your Counsellour in your distress. psal▪ 7 [...].24 If you [Page 268] leave Father, or Mother, or houses or lands for my sake, you shall have an hundred fold in me, even in this time. Mark 10.30 When your ene­mies shall remove your comforts, it shall be but as the letting the Cistern run, and open­ing the Fountain▪ or putting out the Candles, and letting in the Sun. The swelling of the waters shall raise higher the Ark of your com­fort. Ro 5 9 Heb 10 34 Acts 5 41 I will be the staff of bread to you, your life, and the strength of your dayes. Deu 30 20 Isa 33 16 I will be the house and home to you, you shall dwelt with me; yea, dwell in me, and I in you Deut 33.12 John 14 [...]3 1 John 3 24 I will stand and fall with you psal 37 17, 24 and 54 4 Isa 41 10 I will repair your losses, and relieve your needs. phil 4 19 Mark 8 35 Mat 19 27, 28 29 Can you burn out the Lamp of Heaven, or lave out the boundless Ocean with your hands? why, the Sun shall be dark, and the Sea be dry, before the Father of Lights, the Fountain of Mercies shall be exhausted.) Be­hold, though the world hath been spending upon the stock of my mercy ever since I crea­ted man upon Earth, yet it runs with full stream still. My Sun doth diffuse its rayes, and disburse its light, and yet shines as bright as ever: much more can I dispence of my goodness, and fill my creatures b [...]im full, and running over, and yet have never the less in my self: and till this Al-sufficiency be spent, you shall never be undone. I am the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and whatever I was to them. I will be to you.

Are you in want, you know whither to go I am ever at home, you shall not go away empty from my door. Never distract your selves with cares and fears, but make known [Page 269] your requests by prayer and supplication unto me. Phil 4. [...] I will help when all do fail Psal 73.26. Isa. 63.5 Psalm 102.17 When friends fail, and heart fails; when your eye-strings crack, and your heart-strings crack; when your acquain­tance leave you, & your souls leave you, my bosome shall be open to you. Psal 49.15 2 Cor [...].1 Luke 16.9, 2 [...] His infi­niteness to be the ex­tent of our inheri­tance. I will look up your dust, I will receive your souls.

And mine infiniteness shall be the ex­tent of your inheritance. Can you by searching find out God? can you find out the Almighty to perfection? It is as high as Heaven, what can you do? deeper than Hell, what can you know? Job 11. 7, 8, 9. with Psal 50.7 This height incomprehensible, this deep unfathomable, shall be all yours, for e­ver yours.

I am your inheritance, which no Line can measure, no Arithmetick can value, no Surveyor can describe. Ezek 44.2 [...] Eph 3 8 1 Tim 6 16. Psalm 145.3

Lift up now your eyes to the ancient mountains, and to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, all that you can see is yours: but your short sight cannot [...]en the moyety of what I give you; and when you see and know most, you are no less than infinitely short of the disco­very of your own riches. Job 2 [...] 14 In all his Personal Relations God the Father to be a Father to us

Yea further, I will be yours in all my Personal Relations.

I am the Everlasting Father, and I will [Page 270] be a Father to you. Joh. 20 17 I take you for my Sons and Daughters. 1 Cor. 6.18. Behold, I receive you not as servants, but as Sons, to abide in my house for ever. Joh. 8 25, 26 Whatever love or care Children may look for from their Father, that may you expect from me; Mat, 6 31, 3 [...] and so much more as I am wiser, and greater, and better than any earthly Pa­rents▪ If earthly Fathers will give good things to their Children much more will I give to you. Luk 11.1 [...] If such cannot forget their Children, much less will I forget you, Isa. 49.13 What would my Children have? Your Fathers heart, and your Fathers house: Job 7.17. Joh. 14. [...] Your fathers care, and your Fathers ear: 1 Pet. [...].7 Mat. 7.9 Your Fathers bread▪ and your Fathers rod, Luke 12.30, 31, 32. Heb. 12 7 He promi­seth his fathely af­fection. these shall be all yours.

You shall have My fatherly affection, my heart I share among you, my tende­rest loves I bestow upon you. 1▪ Joh. 3 1. Jer. 31 3. Isa. 45 8 His fatherly compas­sion.

My fatherly compassion. As a Father pittieth his Children, so will I pity you Ps. 103 13, 14 I will consider your frame, and not be extreme to mark what is done amiss by you, but cover all with the mantle of my excusing love Psal. 78 39 His fatherly instruction.

My fatherly instruction. I will cause you to hear the sweet voice behind you, [Page 271] saying, This is the way. Isa. 30.21 I will tender your weakness, and inculcate mine ad­monitions, line upon line, and feed you with milk, when you cannot digest stronger meat. Isa. 28 13 1 Cor 3.2. I will instruct you, and guide you with mine eye. P [...] 32.8 His fatherly protection.

My fatherly protection. In my fear is strong confidence, & my Children shall have a place of refuge. Pro 14 26 My Name shall be your strong Tower, to which you may at all times flie, and be safe. Prov 18.10 To your strong Hold ye Prisoners of hope Z [...]ch. 9 12. I am an open refuge, a near and inviolable refuge for you. Psal. 48 3 Deut 4.7. Job 10 29 His fatherly provision

My fatherly provision. Be not afraid of want, in your Fathers house is bread enough. Psal. 34 9. Luk 15 17 I will care for your bodies. Cark not for what you shall eat, drink, or put on. Let it suffice you, that your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all things. Mat 6.25. to the end. Luk 12 22, to the 34 I will provide for your souls, Meat for them, and Mansi­ons for them, and Portions for them. Joh 6 30, to 59 Ps. 15 12 Lam 3.2.

Behold, I have spread the table of my Gospel for you, with priviledges and comforts that no man taketh from you Isa. 23.6 Mat. 22 4 Prov. 9 2. I have set before you the bread of life, & the tree of life, & the water of life. Joh. 6 48 Rev 2 7. & 22 17 Eat O Friends, drink abundantly, O Beloved.

But all this is but a taste of what I have prepared. You must have but [Page 272] smiles and hints now, and be contented with glimpses and glance here; but you shall be shortly taken up into your Fa­thers bosome, and live for ever in the fullest views of his glory. 1 Thes 4 17. His fatherly probati­on.

My fatherly probation. I will chasten you, because I love you, that you may not be condemned with the World. 1 Cor. 11.32 Prov. 3 11, 12 God the Son to be a Husband to us.

My Son I give unto you, in a Marriage-Covenant for ever. Isa 9.6 & 41 6. 2 Cor 11.2 I make him over to you, as Wisdom, for your Illumination, Righteousness, for your Justification; Sanctification, for the Curing of your Corruptions; Redemption, for your Deliverance from your Enemies. 1 Cor 1.30 I be­stow him upon you, with all his fullness, all his merits, and all his graces. He shall be yours in all his Offices. I have anointed him for a Prophet. Are you ignorant, he shall teach you; he shall be eye-salve to you: Isa 49 6. & 42 16 Rev. 3 18 I have sent him to preach the Gospel to the poor, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised. Luk 4 18 I have established him by Oath, as a Priest for ever. Psal 110 4 If any sin, he shall be your Advocate: He shall expiate your guilt, and make the Atonement. 1 Joh [...].1, 2 Zech. 13 1 Have you any sacrifice, any service to offer, bring it unto him, and you shall receive an answer of peace. 1 Pet 2.5 Heb 13.15

[Page 273]Present your Petitions by his hand, him will I accept. Joh. 14 13, 14 Having such an High-Priest over the house of God, Heb 10.19, 20, 21, 22. you may come and welcome; come with boldness. Him have I set up as King, upon my holy Hill of Sion He shall rule you, he shall defend you. Isa 9.6, 7 Matt. 1.21 He is the King of Righteousness, King of Peace; and such a King shall he be to you. Heb. 7.2. Jer. 23 6 Eph 2 14 I will set up his Standard for you▪ Isa. 4.9.22 I will set up his Throne in you Psal 110 2 He shall reign in Righteousness, and rule in Judgment: and he shall be a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, and the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land. Isa. 32.12. He shall hear your Causes, judge your Enemies, Isa. 11.3 4, 5 and reign till he hath put all under his feet. Psa 110.1 1 Cor. 15 25 Yea, and under your feet; for they shall be as ashes under you, and you shall tread them, saith the Lord of Hosts. Mal 4.3 Yea, I will undoe them that afflict you, and all they that despised you, shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet. Isa. 60.14 Zeph 3 19 And you shall go forth, and be­hold the carcasses of the men that have trespassed against me, for their Worm shall not dye, neither shall their Fire be quenched; & they shall be an abhorring to all flesh. Isa. 6 [...] 25 God the Spirit to be Counsel­lor and Comforter [...]o us

My Spirit do I give unto you, for your [Page 274] Counsellor, and your Comforter. Joh. 16.7. Rom 8 14 He shall be a constant Inmate with you, and shall dwell with you, and abide with you for ever. Eze 36 27 Joh 14 16, 17

I consecrate you as Temples to his Holiness. 1 Cor. 1 3.16, 17 & 6.19. He shall be your Guide, he shall lead you into all truth. Gal. 5 18 Joh 14.26 He shall be your Advocate, to endite your Pray­ers, and make intercession for you, and shall fill your mouths with the Argu­ments that he knows will prevail with me. Rom. 8 26, 27 He shall be Oyl to your Wheels, and strength to your Ancles, Wine to your Hearts, and Marrow to your Bones, and Wind to your Sails. He shall▪ wit­ness your Adoption. Rom 8 16 He shall seal you up to the day of Redemption, and be to you the earnest of your Inheritance, un­til the redemption of the purchased Pos­session. He giveth all things with him­self both present, & to come Eph. 1.30 & 13 14 2 Cor. 1 22.

And as I give you my self, so much more all things with my self. Rom. 8 32 Earth, Heaven, Life and Death, things present, and things to come. 1 Cor 3 22. Things present ours

Things present are yours: Lo, I give you Calebs blessing, the Upper Springs, and the neather Springs. I will bless you with all spiritual blessings in heaven­ly places in Christ. Eph 1.3

To you appertaineth the Adoption, and the Glory, and the Covenants, and [Page 275] the Service of God, and the Promises. Rom. 9 4 The up­per springs or blessings spiritual, as Adopti­on, Access, Audience, Peace, Perseve­rance, &c. To you will I give the white Stone, and the new Name, Rev. 2 17 access into my pre­sence, Eph 3.12 the acceptation of your Persons, Eph 1.6 the audience of your Prayers. 1 Joh 5 14, 15.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Joh. 14 27 I will undertake for your perseverance, and keep you to the end, and then will crown mine own gift with eternal life. Jer. 32 [...]0 Joh 10.28, 29 1 Pet. 1.5 Phil. 1 6 I have made you heirs of God, and co-heirs with your Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall inherit all things. Rom 8.17 Rev 2 7 The Pro­tection of his Angels

I have granted you mine Angels for your Guardians. The Courtiers of Hea­ven shall attend upon you; they shall be all ministring Spirits for your good. Heb. 1 14. Behold, I have given them charge over you, upon their fidelity to look after you, and as the tender Nurses, to bear you in their arms, and to keep you from com­ing to any hurt. Psa 91.11, 12 These shall be as the careful Shepheards, to watch over my Flock by night, and to encamp round about my Fold. Psa. 34.7. The Inspection of his Ministers.

My Ministers I give for your Guides. Eph▪ 4.11. Paul, Apollos, Cephas, all are yours. 1 Cor. 3.12. I am alwayes with them, and they shall [Page 276] be alwayes with you, to the end of the World. Mat. 28.20 Eph. 4 13 You shall have Pastors after mine own heart, Jer. 3.15 & 23.4. and this shall be my Covenant with you, that my Spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put into your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor the mouth of your seed, nor of your seeds seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth, and for ever. Isa. 59 21

In short▪ All my Officers shall be for the profiting and perfecting o [...] [...]ou. Eph 4.12 All mine Ordinances shall be for edify­ing and saving of you. Acts 10 32 Rom 1 16 The Rod of his Disci­pline. The very se­verities of my House, A [...]monition, Cen­sures, &c. And the whole Discipline of my Family, shall be for preventing of your infection, cu [...]ing of corruption, procuring your salvation. 1 Cor. 5.5, 6, 7. Mat. 18 15 The Light of his word

My WORD have I ordained for con­verting your soul, enlightening your eyes, rejoycing your hearts, cautioning you of dangers, cleansing your defile­ments, and conforming you to mine I­mage. Psa. 19 7, 8, 9, 11 Eph 5 26 2 Cor 3.18 To you I commit the Oracles of God. Rom. 3 2 Here you shall be furnished against Temptations, Mat. 4.47 Eph. 6.7 hence you shall be comforted under Distresses and Af­flictions. Ps. 119 92, 93 Here you shall find my whole Counsel. Acts 29 [...]7 This shall instruct you in your way, correct you in your wan­drings, direct you into the truths to be [Page 277] believed, direct you to the errors to be rejected. 2 Tim. 3 16 Psa 119 10 [...] The Pled­ges of his Sacra­ments.

My Sacraments I give you, as the pled­ges of my love. You shall freely claim them, they are Childrens bread. Loe, I have given them as Seal, to certifie all that I have here promised you; Rom 4 11 and when these sacred signs are delivered un­to you, then know, and remember, and conside [...] in your hearts, that I therein plighty▪ [...] my troth, & set to my hands, and do thereby ratifie and confirm eve­ry Article of these Indentures, and do actually deliver into your own hands his glorious charter, with all its Immuni­ties and Priviledges, as your own for e­ver. 1 Cor. 11.25 Gen 1 [...] 10

And having sowed to you so largely in Spiritual blessings, The nei­ther springs, or mercies temporal The sup­ply of his Creatures. shall you not much more reap the Temporal? Be you not of doubtful mind, all these things shall be added unto you. Luk 12.29, 31 My Creatures I grant for your servants and supplies. Psal 8.3. to the end. Heaven and Earth shall minister to you. All the Stars in their courses shall serve you, and (if need be) shall fight for you. Jud 5.20. And I will make my Covenant for you with the Beasts of the field, and with the Fouls of Heaven; and you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and all shall be at peace with you. Job 5.23 Hos. 2.18 I [Page 278] will undertake for all your necessities. Do I feed the fouls, and cloth the grass, and do you think I will neglect my Children? Mat. 6.25. to the [...]nd. I hear the young Ravens when they cry, shall I not much more fulfil the desires of them that fear me? Psa 145 19 with the 147 9 Fear not, you shall be sure to want no good thing; Psal. 34.10 and you would not your selves desire riches, pleasures or prefer­ment▪ to your hurt. I will give meat to them that fear me: I will be ever mindful of my Covenant. Psa. 111 [...] The Co­operation of his Pro­vidences.

My Providences shall co-operate to your good. Rom 8.28 The cross winds shall blow you the sooner and swifter into your harbour. You shall be preferred, when you seem most debased; and then be greatest gainers: when you seem to be deepest losers; and most effectually pro­mote your good, when you seem most to deny it. 2 Cor. 4.17 Mar. 10 29 Phil. 1.29. Things to come ours. At Death in Glorifi­cation In­itiate. Things to come are yours, the perfecting of your Souls, the Re­demption of your Bodies, the Consum­mation of your Bliss.

When you have glorified me for a while on Earth, and finished the work I have given you to do, you shall be caught up into Paradise, and rest from your labours, and your works shall fol­low you. Rev. 14 13. Luke 23.43 The Con­vey of An­gels. I will send of mine own Life-guard, to conduct home your de­parting [Page 279] Souls, Luk 16.22. and receive you among the Spirits of just men made perfect. Heb. 12 23 Redempti­on from all Afflict­ions & cor­ruptions And you shall look back upon Pharaoh and all his Host, and see your enemies dead upon the shore. Then shall be your Redemption from all your Afflicti­ons, and all your Corruptions. Luk 11 28. Eph 4 30 The thorn in the flesh taken out. The sweat wiped off from our brows. The [...]horn in the flesh be pulled out, and the [...]our of temptation shall be over, and the Tempter for ever out of work.

The sweat shall be wiped off from your brow [...], and the day of cooling and refreshing shall come, and you shall sit you down for ever under my shaddow. Act. 3.19. Heb. 4.9. For the Lamb that is in the midst of [...]he Throne shall feed you, and lead you [...] the living Fountains of waters. Rev. 7.17 The tears wiped a­way from our eyes.

The tears shall be wiped away from your eyes, and there shall be no more sorrow nor crying, neither be any more pain; for the former things are passed away, and behold I make all things new. Rev. 21 4, 5 I will change Marah into Naomi, and the cup of sorrow, into the cup of salva­tion; and the bread and water of affli­ction, into the wi [...] of eternal consolati­on. Joh· 16.20, 21, 22 Luke 6 21. You shall take down your harps from the Willows, and I will turn your Tears into Pearls, and your Penitential Psalms into Songs of Deliverance. You shall change your I [...]habods into Hosanna's, [Page 280] and your Ejahs of sorrow into Halle [...]ja [...]s of Joy. Rev. 1 [...] [...], 4, 6. The Cross ta­ken off from our backs.

The Cross shall be taken off from your backs, and you shall come out of your great Tribulations, & wash your Robes▪ and make them white in the blood of the Lamb; and you shall be before the Throne of God, and serve him night & day in his Temple, and he that sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among you, and you shall hunger no more; and thirst no more, neither shall the Sun light upon you, nor any heat. Rev. 7 14, 15, 16. The load taken off from our Conscien­ces.

The load shall be taken off from your Consciences. Sins nor doubts shall no more defile you, nor distress you. Rev 21.27 Heb [...]2 23. I will make an end of sin, and knock off the [...]etters of your corruptions, and you shall be a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but holy, and without blemish. Eph 5.27 Rev 7, 9, 13, 14. The souls Admission into the Chamber of Presence & Vision of God

Thus shall you be brought to the King all glorious, in raiment of Needle-work, and cloathing of gold; with gladness and rejoycing shall you be brought, and enter into the Kings Palace. Psal. 4 [...] 9.13, 14, 15 So shall the beloved of the Lord dwell safely by him and you shall stand conti [...]ually be­fore him, and behold the beauty of the Lord, and hear his Wisdom. 1 Cor. 13.12 Then will I open to you an everlasting spring [Page 281] of Joy, and you shall break forth into singing, and never cease more, nor rest day nor night, saying, Holy, Holy, Ho­ly. Rev. 4 8 Psal. 16 [...]1.

Thus shall the grand enemy expire with your breath, and the body of death be put off with your dying body; and the day of your death shall be the birth day of your glory. Phil. [...].23. Luk. 23 43

Have faith in God. Mark 11.12 At the Re­surrection. In Glorifi­cation co [...] s [...]mmate. Redemp­tion com­pleat. Wait but a little, and sorrow shall cease, and sin be no more.

And then a little longer, and Death shall be no more; Rev. 20 14 & 21 4. The re­turn of the Re­deemer but your last ene [...]my shall be destroyed, and your victory compleated. Yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and you also shall appear with him in glory. Heb 10 37 Col 3 4 This same Jesus which is taken from you into Heaven, Acts 1.11 shall so come as he went up into Heaven: and when he cometh, he will receive you to himself, that where he is, there you may be also. Joh 14▪ 3 Behold his sign; he cometh in the Clouds of Heaven with power, and great glory; and every eye shall see him, and all the Tribes of the Earth shall mourn because o [...] him, Rev. 1.7 Mat. 24.30 but you shall lift up your heads because the day of your Redemption draweth nigh. Luke 21.28 The rising of the body Joh. 5.28 Then shall he sound his Trump, 1 Cor. 15.52 1 Thes. 4.16 and make you to hear his [Page 282] voice in your dust, i and shall send hi [...] mighty Angels to gather you from the four winds of Heaven, Mat. 24 31 who shall carry you in the triumphant Chariot of the Clouds, to meet your Lord▪ 1 Thes 4 17 and you shall be prepared for him, and presented to him, as a Bride adorned for her Hu [...] band. Rev 2 2 And as you have born the I­mage of the Earthly, so shall you bear the Image of the Heavenly; 1 Cor 15 49 Fu [...] Con­formity both in bo­dy & soul to our glo­rified Sa­viour. and yo [...] shall be fully [...]nformed, both in body and spirit, to your glorious Head▪ Then shall he confess you before his Angels, Rev. 3:5. Publick Approba­tion & Ab­solution. and you shall receive your o [...]pen Absolution before all flesh, Phil 3 21 Heb. 12 23 and be owned, approved and applauded in th [...] publick audience of the General Assem­bly. Mat 10.32 & 25 32, 34, 35· &c▪ Solemn E­spousa [...]s And you shall be, with all Royal solemnities, espoused unto the King o [...] Glory, in the presence of all his shining Courtiers, Rev 19 7, 82 Co 4.14 Mat 25 31 to the envy and gnashing & terrour o [...] your Adversaries. Luk 13.28 The Coronation and Enthronement of th [...] Saints. Their sitting in judgment upon the world.

So shall your Lord, with his own hand crown you, Rev 2 1 [...] and set you in Thrones, Rev 3 21 Mat 19 28 and you shall judge Men and Angel 1 Cor 6 2, 3 and you shall have power over the Na­tions, Rev 2 26, 27 and you shall [...]et your feet upon the ne [...]ks of your Enemies. Psal. 4 9 14

[Page 283]Loe, I have set the very day for your [...]nstalment, Act 17:31 I have provided your Crowns, 2 Tim 4.8 I have prepared the Kingdom. Mat 25 34 Wherefore do you doubt, O you of little faith? these are the true sayings of God. Re 19.9 Are you sure that you are now on Earth? so surely shall you be shortly with me in Heaven. Are you sure that you shall dye? so surely shall you rise again in glory. Loe, I have said it, and who shall reverse it? You shall see me face to face, and be with me where I am, and behold my glory. 1 Cor 13.12 For I will be glorified in my Saints, and admired [...]n all them that believe; 2 Thes 1.10 and all flesh shall know that I have loved you. Rev 3.9 For I will make you the instances of my grace, Eph 1 5, 6 in whom the whole World shall see, how unutterably the Almighty God can advance the poor Worms meat, and dust of the ground. And the despisers [...]hall behold, and wonder, and perish: Act 13 41 Luk 16 23 for they shall be witnesses to the riches of my magnificence, & exceeding great­ness of my power. * They shall go a way into everlasting punishment, but you into life eternal. Mat 25.46 Our tri­umphant Ascension into Hea­ven

For no sooner shall their doom be past, but the Bench shall rise, Mat 25 41, 46 and the Judge shall return with all his glorious train, with sound of trumpet, & shouts [Page 284] incredible shall he assend, and shall lead you to your Fathers house. Psal 4 5, 14, 15 Mat 25 23 John 14 2 with 2 Cor 5 1 Then shall the triumphal Archers lift up their heads, and the everlasting Gates stand open, & the Heavens shall receive you all, and so shall you ever be with the Lord. Joh 12:26 1 Thes 4 17

And now will I rejoyce over you with singing, and rest in my love; and Heaven shall ring with joyes and accla­mations, zeph 3:17 because I have received you safe and sound. Luk 15 10, 23▪ 25, 27

And in that day you shall know, that I am a Rewarder of them that diligent­ly seek me; Heb 11 6 and that I did record your words, Mal 3:16 and bottle your tears, and tell your wandrings, Psal 56 8 and keep an account, even to a cup of cold water, of whate­ver you said or did for my Name. Mat 10 4 [...] Blessed Eternity You shall surely find, that nothing is lost; 1 Cor 15:58 but you shall have full measure pressed down, and running over, thou­san [...]s of years in Paradise, for the least good thought, and thousand thousands for the least good word; and then the reckoning shall begin again, till all A­rithmetick be non plust. For you shall be swallowed up in a blessed Eternity, and the doors of Heaven shall be shut upon you, and there shall be no more going out. Dan 12; 2, 3 Rev 3 12 Luk 16 26 Glorious Company

The glorious Quire of mine holy [Page 285] Angels, the goodly Fellowship of my blessed Prophets, the happy Society of triumphant Apostles, the royal Hosts of victorious Martyrs, these shall be your Companions for ever. Mat. 8 11, 12 Heb 12 22, 23 And you shall come in [...]ite Robes, with Palmes in your hands, every one having the Harps of God, and golden Vials full of O­dours, and shall cast your Crowns before me, and strike in with the multitude of the heavenly Hosts, glorifying God, & saying, Hallelujah; the Lord God Om­nipotent reigneth. Rev. 7 9▪ 10, 11, 12 and 19.5, 6 Blessing, honour, glory and power, be unto him that sit­teth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Rev. 5 13

In short, I will make you equal to the Angels Luke 20 36 of God, and you shall be the everlasting Trumpets of my praise. Rev. 7.10, 11, 12, 15 You shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of my house, and I will make you drink of the rivers of my pleasures. Psa. 36 8 You shall be an eternal excellency, Isa. 60.15 Beatifical Vision. and if God can dye, and Eternity run out, then, and not else, shall your joyes expire. For you shall see me, as I am, 1 John 3.2 and know me, as you are known; 1 Cor. 13.12 and shall behold my face in righteous­ness, and be satisfied with my likeness. Psal 17▪ 15 And you shall be the Vessels of my Glory, whose blessed use shall be to receive [Page 286] the over flowings of my Goodness, and to have mine infinite love and glory poured out into you brim full, and run­ning over for evermore. Rom 9 23 2 Tim▪ 2 2 [...] R [...]v 22▪ 1

And blessed is he that hath believed, for there shall be a performance of the things that have been told him. Luk 1 45 The Lord hath spoken it, you shall see my face, and my Name shall be written in your fo [...]e-heads; and you shall no more need the Sun, nor the Moon, for the Lord God shall give you light, and you shall reign ever and ever. Rev 22, 3, 4, 5 He taketh us for his People.

And as I give my self to you for your God, and all things with my self▪ so I take you for my Covenant-people, Heb 8 10 Isa. 43.1 & you shall be mine in the day when I make up my Jewels, saith the Lord of Hosts; and I will spare you as a man spareth his own Son that serveth him Mal 3 17 The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, Surely they are my Chil­dren. Psa. 87▪ 6 Isa 63 8

I do not only require you to be mine, if you would have me to be for you: but I do promise to make you mine, Lev. 20 26 Ez [...]k 20 28 & to work in you the conditions which I require of you▪ I will circumcise your hearts to love me. Deut 30 6 I will take out the heart of stone. Ezek 36 26 My Laws will I write within you. Jer. 31 33

[Page 287]Yet you must know, that I will be sought unto for these things, Ezek 36 37 and as ever you expect to partake of the Mercies, I charge you to lye at the Pool, and wait for my Spirit, and be diligent in the use of the means. Prov. 2.3 4.5 & 8, 8 Luk 11 13

I am content to aba [...]e the rigour of the old terms. Rom. 4.6 I shall not stand upon satisfaction. Luke 7 42 I have received a ransom, and do only expect your acceptance. Rev. 22 17. 1 Tim. 2 6 I shall not insist upon perfection. 1 Joh 1.8, 9 Walk before me, and be upright, and sincerity shall carry the Crown. Prov. 11 20 Gen. 17.1 Psa 97 11 Yea, both the faith and obedience that I require of you, are mine own gifts. Eph 2.8 Phil. 2 13

I require you to accept my Son by believing: but I will give you an hand to take him, Phil 1.29 Joh 6.65 and to submit to and obey him: but I must and will guide your hands to write after him, & cause you to walk in my statu [...]es. Ezek 36.27 I will take you by the arms, and [...]each you to go: Hos. 11 3.4 I will order your steps. Ps 37 23, 31 Yea, those things will I accept of you, as the conditions of Life which, viewed in the strictness of my Justice, would deserve Eternal Death Eph 3.8 with 1 Thes. [...] 10 Heb 5 9 with Eccles 7 20

Grace! Grace!

[Page 288] The voice of the Redeemed. AMen, Hallelujah. Be it to thy servants according to thy word. But who are we, and what is our Fathers House, that thou hast brought us hitherto? And now, O Lord God, what shall thy servants say unto thee? for we are silenced with Wonder, and must sit down in Astoni [...]hment, for we cannot utter the least title of thy praises. What meaneth the heighth of this strange love? And whence is this unto us, that the Lord of Heaven and Earth should condescend to inter into Co­venant with his Dust, and take into his Bosome the viperous Brood, that have so often spit their venome in his face? We are not worthy to be as the Hand­maids, to wash the feet of the servants of our Lord: how much less to be thy Sons and Heirs, and to be made partakers of all these blessed Liberties and Pri­viledges, which thou hast setled upon us? But for thy goodness sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things. Even so Father, be­cause so it seemed good in thy sight.

Wherefore thou art great, O God, for there is none like thee, neither is there any God besides thee. 1 Sam. 7.18 to the end. And what Nation on Earth is like thy people, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a Name, and to do for them great things and terrible? For thou hast confirm­ed them to th [...] self, to be a people unto thee for ever, and thou Lord art become their God.

Wonder, O Heavens, and be moved, O Earth, at this great thing! Rev. 21.4. For behold, the Taber­nacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with [Page 289] them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Be astonished and ravished with wonder, for the infinite breach is made up; the Offender is received, and God and Man recon­ciled, and a Covenant of peace e [...]ed, and Heaven & Earth are all agreed upon the terms, and have struck their hands, and sealed the Indentures O happy Con­clusion! O blessed Conjunction! Shall the Stars dwell with the Dust? Or the wide distant Poles be brought to mutual embraces and cohabitation.

But here the distance of the term [...] is infinitely great­er. Rejoyce, O Angels, shout, O Seraphims. O all ye Friends of the Bridegroom, prepare an Epithalami­um, be ready with the Marriage-Song. Loe, here is the Wonder of Wonders: For Jehovah hath betrothed himself for ever to his hopeless Captives, and owns the Marriage before all the World, and is become one with us, and we with him. He hath bequeathed to us the precious things of Heaven above, and the precious things of the Earth beneath, with the fulness thereof, and hath kept back nothing from us.

And now, O Lord, thou art that God, & thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servants, and hast left us nothing to ask at thy hands, but what thou hast already freely granted. Only the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servants, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said, and let thy Name be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of Hosts, he is the God of Israel.

Amen.

Halleluiah.

A SOLILOQUY. Representing The Believers Triumph in Gods Covenant: And the various Conflicts, and glorious Conquests of Faith over Unbelief. By the same Author. CHAP. XVIII.

The Soul taketh hold on Gods Covenant.YEA, Hath God said [I will be a God unto thee?] Is it true in­deed? Will the Lord be mine? Will he lay aside the Controversie, & conclude a Peace? Will he receive the Rebel to mercy, and open his doors to his Prodigal? I will surely goe unto my Father, I will take unto me words, and bow my self before his Foot-stool, and say, O Lord, I have heard thy words, and do here lay hold on thy Covenant. Isa 56.4 I accept the kindness of God, and will adventure▪ my self upon thy Fidelity, and trust my whole happiness here and hereafter upon these thy Promises.

Farewel deceitful World, get thee under my feet. Too long have I feared thy vain threats; too long have I been deluded with thy flattering Promises. Canst thou promise me or deny me such things as God hath Covenanted to give me? I know thou canst not, and therefore I renounce thee for ever, from being the Object of my Faith or Fear. Nor longer will I lean to this rotten Reed, no longer will I trust to this broken Idol. Avoid Satan with thy tempting Baits. In vain dost thou dress the Harlot in her Paint and Bravery; and tell me, ALL THIS WILL I GIVE THEE. Mat. 4, 8, 9. Canst thou [...]hew me such a Crown, such a [Page 291] Kingdom, as God hath promised to settle upon me? Or that will ballance the loss of an infinite God, who here gives himself unto me? Away deceitful Lusts and Pleasures, get you hence; I have enough in Christ and his Promises, to give my Soul full content. These have I lodged in my heart, and there is no longer room for such Guests as you: Never shall you have quiet entertainment more within these doors.

Thou God of truth, I here take thee at thy word▪ Thou requirest but my acceptance and consent, and here thou hast it. Good is the word of the Lord which he hath spoken, and as my Lord hath said, so will thy servant do. My Soul taketh hold▪ of thy Promises. These have I taken as my heritage for ever. Let o­thers carry the Preferments and Possessions of this World; it shall be enough to me, to be an Heir of thy Promises.

O happy Soul, how rich art thou! What a Booty have I gotten! She maketh her boast in God. It is all mine own. I have the Promises of this Life, and of that which is to come. Oh what can I wish more! How full a Charter is here! Now my doubting Soul may boldly and believingly say with Thomas, My Lord, and my God! 1 Tim 4.8 What need we any further witness? We have heard▪ his words. He hath sworn by his Holiness, that his Decree may not be changed; and hath signed it with his own Signet.

Rejoyce ye Heavens, strike up Celestial Quires. Help Heaven and Earth: Sing unto the Lord, O ye Sai [...]s of his. Bless the Lord, O my Soul. Oh had I the tongue of Men and Angels, all were too little for my single turn. Had I as many tongues as hairs, the whole Quite were not sufficient to utter my Creators praises.

[Page 292]My Beloved is mine, and I am His. Cant. 2.16. The Grant is clear, and my claim is firm. Who durst deny it, when God himself doth own it? Is it an hard adventure to speak after Christ him­self? Why, this is the Message that he hath sent me; John 20.17. I ascend to my Father, and your Father; my God, and your God. He hath put words into my mouth, and bid me to say, OUR FATHER.

I believe, Lord help mine Unbelief. O my God, and my Father, I accept thee with all hum­ble thankfulness, and am bold to take hold of thee. O my King, and my God, I subject my Soul, & all its Powers to thee. O my Glory, in thee will I boast all the day. Oh my Rock, on thee will I build all my confidence and my hopes. O staff of my life, and strength of my heart; the life of my joyes, and joy of my life; I will sit and sing under thy shadow, and glory in thy ho­ly Name. Cant. 2.3.

O my Soul arise and take possession. Inherit thy blessedness, and cast up thy riches. Thine is the Kingdom, thine is the Glory, and thine is the Victory. The whole Trinity is thine. All the Persons in the Godhead, all the Attributes in the Godhead are thine. And behold here is the E­vidence, and these are the Writings, by which all is made sure to thee for ever

And now, return to thy Rest O my Soul, Psal. 116.7. Psal. 16.6. She quell­eth Discontent, & reasoneth down Ʋnbelief in Se­quentib. for the Lord hath dealt bounti­fully with thee. Say if thy Lines [Page 293] be not fallen to thee in a pleasant place, and if this be not a goodly Heritage! Oh Blasphemous Dis­content! How absurd and unrea­sonable an Evil art thou, whom all the fulness of the Godhead cannot satisfie, because thou are de­nied in a petty comfort, or crost in thy vain ex­pectations from the World? O my unthankful Soul, shall not a Trinity content thee? Shall not All sufficiency suffice thee? Silence you murmu­ring thoughts for ever. I have enough, I a [...]ound and am full. Infini [...]eness and Eternity is mine, and what more can I ask?

But me-thinks I feel some se­cret Damps upon my joy, The Assaults of Ʋn­belief. 1. It questi­ons the truth of the Promise. and when I would soar aloft, and triumph in the riches of my portion, a secret diffidence plucks me back as the string doth the Bird, and Unbelief whispers in mine ear, Sure this is too good to be true.

But who art thou that disputest against God? The Triumph of Faith in the cer­tainty of Gods truth. The Lord hath spo­ken it, & shall not I believe him? Will he be angry, if I give my assent, and speak it confident­ly upon the credit of his word?

Oh my Lord, suffer me to spread the Writing before thee. Hast not thou said, Thy Maker is thy Husband, Isa. 54.5. I will betroth thee unto me? Hos. 2.19. Thou shalt call me, My Father? [Page 294] Jer. 3.19. I pray thee, O Lord, was not this thy saying, I am God, even thy God? 2 Cor. 6.18. I will be a Father unto you, and ye my Sons and Daughters? Why then should I doubt? Is not the truth of the living God sure footing for my Faith?

Silence then O quarrelling Unbelief. I know in whom I have believed, Isa. 31.3. Not in friends, though numerous and potent; for they are men, and not God, Prov. 23.5. Not in Riches, for they make themselves wings. Not in Princes, for their breath is in their Nostrils, Psal. 146.3, 4. But let God be true, and every man a lyar. In God have I put my trust, in his word do I hope. O sure Word! Heaven and Earth shall pass a­way, but not one jot nor tittle of this, Mat. 7.25. 2 Tim. 2.19. I have not built upon the sand of mortality. Let the rain descend, & the floods come, and the winds blow, nevertheless the foun­dation of God standeth sure. His everlasting Counsel, and everlasting Covenant are my stay. I am built upon his Promises, and let Hell and Earth do their worst to blow up this Foundation.

Now shall my Faith triumph, and my heart be glad, and my glory rejoyce, 1 Kings 18.39. I will shout with the exulting Multitude. The Lord he is the God, Heb. 11.16. and he is not ashamed to be called, My God. He is not ashamed of my Rags, nor Poverty, of my Parentage, nor Pedi­gree; & since his infinite condescention will own me, will he take it ill if I own him? Though I [Page 295] have nothing of my own to glory in, 1 Cor. 1.29, 31. (unless I should glory in my shame) yet I will glory in the Lord, and bless my self in him.

For who is like unto the God of Jeshurun? Deut. 33.26: Bring forth your Gods, O ye Na­tions. Lift up your eyes, and behold, who hath created all these things? Can any do for their Favourites, as the Lord can? Or if he be angry, who is that God that shall deliver out of his hands? Will you set Dagon before the Ark? Or shall Mammon contend with the Holy One! O ambitious Haman, where is now thine Idol-ho­nour? O rich Glutton, that madest a God of Pleasure▪ where is now the God whom thou hast served? O sensual Worldling, that knewest not where nor how to bestow thy Goods; Do riches profit thee? Could Mammon save thee? Deceiv­ed Souls! Go now to the Gods that you have chosen. Alas, they cannot for ever administer a drop of water to cool your tongues.

But the Portion of Jacob is not like them, Jer. 10.16. From everlasting to everlasting he is God, Psal. 90.2. His power is my confidence, his good­ness is my maintenance, his Truth is my shield and my buckler.

But my clamarous Unbelief hath many wiles, 2. It confounds the Soul with amazing greatness and diffi­culty of the things. & afresh as­saults me with the difficulty of the things promised, & labours to non-plus, and confound me with their amazing greatness.

[Page 296] The Triumph of Faith in Gods Om­nipotency and Vera­city.But why should I stagger at the Promises through Unbelief, robbing at once my Master of his glory, and my Soul of her comfort? It is my great sin to doubt and dispute, and yet shall I be afraid to believe? O my Soul, it is the highest honour thou canst put upon thy Lord, to believe against difficulties, and to look for, and reckon upon great things and wonder­ful, passing all created power, and humane faith.

Let not the greatness, nor the strangeness of the be­nefits bequeathed unto thee, put thee to a stand. It is with a God thou hast to do, and therefore thou must not look for little things; that were to darken the glory of his munificence, and the infiniteness of his power and goodness. Knowest thou not, that it is his design to make his Name glorious; and to make thee know he is able to do for thee above all thou canst ask or think? Surely they cannot be any small or ordinary things that shall be done for thee, when the Lord shall shew in thee what a God can do, and shall carry thee in triumph before the World, and make Proclamation before thee. Thus shall it be done to the man whom the Lord de­lighteth to honour. What wonder if thou canst not comprehend these things? If they exceed all thy ap­prehensions and conceptions? This is a good Argument for thy Faith: for this is that which the Lord hath said, That it hath not entred into the heart of man, to con­ceive what things he hath prepared for them that love him. Now it thou couldest conceive and comprehend them, how should this Word be made good? It is enough for thee, that the Lord hath spoken it. Is not the Word nigh thee? Hath God said, I will receive you? You shall be Kings and Priests unto God, and inherit all things; and shall sit on Thrones, and judge [Page 297] Angels, and be ever with the Lord, and shall I dare to say him Nay? Ʋnreasonable Ʋnbelief! What never sa­tisfyed? Still contradicting and blaspheming? False whisperer, no more of thy tales. I believe God, that it shall be as he hath told me. Acts 27.25.

And now thanks be to God, who alwayes causeth us to triumph in Christ, 2 Cor. 2.14. therefore my lips shall praise thee, and my soul which thou hast redeemed. Psal. 71.23. For thou hast made me glad through thy Word, and I will triumph in the works of thy hands. Psal. 92 4. I will praise the Lord whilst I live, I will sing praises to my God, whilst I have any being. Psal. 104.33.

Oh my Soul, if thou couldest wear out thy fingers upon the Harp, and wear thy tongue to the roots, thou couldest yet never sufficiently praise thy Redeemer.

O mine Enemies, where is now your confidence, & where is your Armour, wherein you trusted? I will set Christ alone against all your multitudes, and all the power, and malice, and policy wherewith they are armed. The field is already won, and the Captain of our salvation returned, with the spoyls of his Enemies, having made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in his Cross. Col. 2.15. And thanks be to God, who hath given us the Victory, through our Lord Je­sus Christ. 1 Cor. 15 57.

Of whom then should I be afraid, Behold, he is near that justifieth me, who shall plead with me?

O ye Powers of Hell! You are but chained Captives, and we have a sure Word, that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us. Matt. 16.18. Though the World be in Armes against us, and the Devil in the head of them as their Champion; yet who is this un­circumcised Philistine, that he should defie the Armies of the living God? 1 Sam. 17.45, 46, 47. Behold, I [Page 298] come out to thee, as the Stripling against Goliah; not with sword, and with spear, but in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, in whose strength I am more than a Conquerour.

O Grave, where is now thy Victory? Christ is risen, and hath broken up thy Prison, and rolled away the stone, so that all thy Prisoners have made an escape. Rejoyce not against me, O mine E­nemy; though I fall, I shall rise again; though I lye in darkness▪ the Lord shall be a light unto me, Mic. 7.8. Enlarge not thy desires, O Tophet, but shut up thy flaming mouth; for there is now no condem­nation to them that are in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8 1.

O deceitful World, thou art already overcome, John 16.33. and the conquered Enemy is be­come my servant, 1 Cor. 3.22. and I am fed with the honey taken out of the carkass of the slain Lyon. I fear not thy threats, nor the en­chantments of thy Syren Songs, being kept by the power of God, through a victorious faith unto salva­tion, 1 Pet. 1.5. 1 Joh. 5.4.

O my sins; you are already buried, never to have any resurrection, and the remembrance of you shall be no more Heb. 8.12. I see my sins nailed to the Cross, and their dominion is taken away though their lives be prolonged yet for a little season. Awake therefore O my glory; awake Psaltery and Harp, and meet the deliverer with triumph; for his right ha [...], and his holy ar [...] have gotten u [...] the victory, Psal. 98.1.2. and al the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

[Page 299]Yet methinks my Unworthiness flies in my face, 3. It upbraids the tr [...]mbling Soul with its Ʋnworthiness. and I hear my ca­velling Unbelief thus upbraiding me, and crying out, O proud Pre­sumption! That thou that art conscious to thy self of thy own unworthiness, shouldest pretend a claim to God and glory! Shall daring dust think to share with the Almighty? and say of his endless Perfections. They are my right? Bold sinner, stand off, and tremble at thy presumptuous Arrogance.

O my God, I lay my hand upon my mouth. Faith sub­scribes the Charge, and triumphs in Gods free▪ Grace. I confess the charge of mine un [...]orthiness. My guilt & shame is such as I cannot cover, but thou canst, and dost. Thou hast cast a mantle upon my nakedness, and hast promised my transgressions shall not be mentioned, and that thou wilt multiply Pardons. And shall I take up wha [...] thou hast buried, and then affright my self with the Ghosts that infidelity hath raised? Is it Pre­sumption to take the Pardon that thou dost offer? or to receive and claim thee as mine, when it is but what thou hast promised. I durst not have approached thee, but upon thy Call; nor have pretended a Title, but upon thy Grant. I should have thought it Diabolical Pride, to have pleaded an Interest in thee, and claimed Kindred to thee, but that thou hast shewed me the way.

And thou, my Soul, art thou ignorant of Gods [Page 300] great Design? Knowest thou not, that it is his purpose to glorifie Free Grace? And how should Grace appear to be Grace indeed, where there a­ny worthiness in the subject. Thine unworthi­ness is but a foyl, to set off the beauty and riches of free Love and Mercy.

But I cannot shake off this Bryar. 4. It questions the Believers Title to Gods Grace and Interest in the Pro­mise. Alas, what a cavelling Sophister is Unbelief! And will never be answered! Now is it ready to tell me, What if the Promise should be a sure Foun­dation? Yet thou mayest not build upon another mans ground. What though the grace and mercies of God are infinite? Yet Doggs may not catch at the Childrens bread. Thou hast not right nor title to the Promise, therefore cease thy pretended claim.

But, O my Soul, wherefore shouldest thou doubt? The Triumph of Faith in the clearness of the Belie­vers Evidences. Whose Image and Super­scription is this [...] Dost thou not bear upon thee the marks of the Lord Jesus? I have given up my name to him, and taken hold of his Covenant, Isa. 56.4. and therefore may claim an interest.

I have accepted the matter, and closed with the Mediator, and subscribed to the Conditions of the Covenant, and therefore cannot question but it is mine.

The Lord hath offered to be my God, and I [Page 301] have took hold of his offer; I have taken him as God, and given him the Supremacy. O my soul, look round about thee, in Heaven and in Earth; is there any thou dost esteem or value in comparison of God? Psal. 73.25, 26. Is there any thou dost love like him, or take that content, or felicity in, that thou dost in him? Are not thy chief desires and designs to glorify and enjoy him? Phil. 3 8 Phil. 1.20▪ Psa. 86 8. & 84.1, 2, 3. Psal. 27.4. and 119.57. Psa. 119.38 2 Cor. 5 Act. 24.16. with Rom. 6 19 Luk 14 33 Psal. 16 5.6. John. 1.12. Thou canst not deny, but it is truly thus: I am sure no­thing but God will content me. I am never so well in all the world, as in his company. My Soul, seeketh him above all, and rest in him alone, as my satisfactory portion. He offereth to take me as one of his people, and I have resigned my self accordingly to him as his, and have put both my inward and outward man under his Govern­ment, and given up all to his dispose, and am resolved to be content with him, as my All-sufficient happiness.

Besides, I have taken him in his own way through Christ, whom he hath tendered to me as my Head and Husband, and I have accordingly, solemnly, and deli­berately taken him. O my soul, dost thou not know thy often debates? Luke 14.26. to the end. Hast thou not put Christ, and all the world, into the ballance? Hast thou not cast up the cost, and reckoned upon the Cross, and willingly put thy neck under Christs yoak, Matt. 11.29. and ventured thy salvation upon Christ alone, Phil. 3.9. and trusted him with all thy happi­ness, and all thy hopes? 2 Tim. 1.12. Hast thou not over and over resolved to take him with what comes, and that he shall be eno [...], though in the loss of all things? 1 Cor. 1.20. Thou canst not but know, that these have been the transactions between Christ and [Page 302] thee, and therefore he is thine, and all the Promises. Yea and Amen to thee through him.

And for the terms of the Covenant. I love and like them; my Soul imbraceth them; neither do I desire to be saved in any other way, than by repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, Act 20.21▪ and sincere obedience to his Gospel, Rom 2 7.

I am willing to go out of my flesh, and do look unto Jesus for righteousness and strength, and trust my [...] wholly in this bottom I am content to deal upon trust, Phil. 3.3 to the 10 2 Cor. 5.7. 2 Cor 4.18. 1 Thes. 1 9, 10. Tit. 2.13. Heb. 10.34 & 11.35. and ven­ture all in hopes of what is to come, and to tarry till the next world for my preferment. I am willing to wait till the coming of our Lord Je­sus Christ, and have laid up my hap­piness on the other side of the Grave.

And though my sins be many, yet I should belye mine own knowledge, If I should say they were not my con­stant trouble and burden, and the enemies against which I daily watch, and with whom my soul hath no peace. Rom. 7.24. Gal. 5.17. Psa. 39.1. and 17 3. Mine own heart knoweth that I hate them, and desire and endeavour their utter destruction, and do resolve against them all, and am willing to use all Gods means (that I know) to mortifie them. 'Tis too true that I often fall, and fail; yet my Conscience beareth me witness, that I confess and bewail it, and do not ordinarily and deliberately allow my self in any sin whatsoever against my knowledge. Psal 119.101.104 Rom 7.15, 16. &c. 1 Cor. 9.26, 27 1 John 1.9 Rom 6.16 Psal. 119.6. Psal. 119. [...].30.123. 2 Cor. 5 9. Psal. 18.23. and 19.13 & 119 133. Mat 5.6 Psal. 119 14, 15, 16.111, 112. And though my o­bedie [...]e be miserably lame, yet O Lord, thou knowest, that I have respect unto all thy Command­ments, [Page 303] and to strive to come up [...]o what thou requirest. The Holy Ghost is witness, and my Conscience also, that I first seek the Kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, Mat. 6.33. and that it is my chief care to please God, and keep from sin. Speak O my Soul, is not holiness thy design? Dost thou [...] thirst for it, and follow after it? Dost thou not, in thy setled choice, prefer the holy wayes of God before al [...] the pleasures, and delights of sin? Thou knowest it is thus, and therefore no more disputing; thou hast sincerely taken hold of Gods Covenant, and without controversie it must be thine.

O my God, I see thou hast been at work with my soul, I find the prints, I see the footsteps. Surely this is the finger of God. I am thy servant, O Lord, truly I am thy servant, Psal. 116.16 and my soul hath said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, Psal. 16.2. It must be so Wouldest thou ever set thy mark upon anothers goods? Or shall God disown his own workmanship? My Name is written in heaven. Thou hast written thy Name upon my heart, and therefore I cannot question but thou hast my Name on thine heart▪ I have chosen thee, O Lord, as my happiness and heritage, and therefore I am sure thou hast chosen me, for I could not have loved thee, except thou hadst loved me first, 1 John 4 19 O my Lord, discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the Signet, the Bracelets, and the Staff! I know thou wilt acknowledge them.

And now blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of his abundant mercy, hath begotten me again to a lively hope.

And thou, my soul, believe and wait, Faith makes its claim to all the Benefits [...] Cove­nant and [...] up the Soul [...] [...]oy and thankful [...]ss, in se­quen [...]. look through the window, and cry [Page 304] through the lattice, and rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God. The vision is for an appointed time, wait for it. It will come in the end, and will not tar­ry. Hab. 2.3. Behold the Husband­man-waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth. Jam. 5.7. Be thou also patient. He hath long pati­ence, and wilt not thou have a little patience? He for the fruits of the Earth, but thou for the Joyes of Heaven. He upon meer probabilities, but thou upon infallible certainties. He for a Crop of Corn, but thou for a Crown of Glory. Were he but sure, that every Corn would bear a Crow, how plentifully would he sowe, how joyfully would he wait? Why such is thy har­vest. As sure as the Summers delights do follow the Winters severities; as sure as the wisht for Harvest do follow the toilsome and costly Seeds-time, so sure shall thy Lord return, and bring thy reward with him. Rev. 22.12. Therefore my soul, love and long for the approaching Jubile, and wait all the days of my appointed time, until my change shall come.

O blessed state that my Lord hath translated me into! O happy change that he hath made! I was a stranger, and he took me in, and made me an heir; and preferred me from the Dunghil to the Throne, and from a Hewer of wood, and Drawer of water, to attend his Court, and know his Counsels, and do his pleasure. Happy am I [Page 305] [...] I was born to partake of this endless [...]

[...] my Lord, it is no little thing thou hast gi­ven me in hand. Heb. 12.22, 23, 24 I am al­ready come to Mount Zion, and the City of the Li­ving God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innume­rable company of Angels, to the general Assembly and Church of the first born, and to God the Judge of all, and unto the spirits of just men made perfect, and un­to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and un­to the Blood of sprinkling. My heart reviveth, as Jacobs, when I behold the Tokens which thou hast sent me, the Spirit of Adoption, Gal. 4.6. the Pardon of my Sins, Luk. 5.26. my Patent for Heaven, the Chain of thy Graces, 1 Cor. 11.25. the Son of thy B [...]s [...]me, Luk. 12.32. and the New Testament in his Blood, Cant. 1.10. and the Let­ters of his Love. My Lord hath said, that he will love me, and manifest himself unto me; Joh. 3.16. and that the Father will love me, and both will come unto me, and make their abode in me, Joh 14.21, 23. But is it true indeed? Will the Lord dwell on Earth? Or if he will, shall so foul a Stable▪ so unclean a S [...]ye, as my heart hath been, shall this be the place that the Lord of Life will take up his▪ Lodging, and keep his Court in? Will he indeed come with all his Train of Graces, and live and walk in me? How can all these things be? But he hath said it, and I do, and I will believe it.

Yet all this is but the earnest of what is to [Page 306] come. Oh how great is thy goodness, [...] for them that fear thee? Psal. 31.19. Yet a [...]l, [...] while, and my warfare shall be accomplished, [...] the Heavens must receive me, till the time of the restitution of all things. It is but a short term that I shall dwell in this dirty flesh, in an earthen Tabernacle. 2 Pet. 1.14. My Lord hath shewed me, that where he is, there shall his servant be. Joh. 12.26 Now the living is tyed to the dead; and my Soul is a Stage of strife, and a Field of war. But 'tis but a little moment, and that which is perfect shall come; 1 Cor. 13.10. perfect Ho­liness, and perfect Peace; eternal Serenity, and a Serene Eternity.

O my sins. I am going where you cannot come; where no unclean thing shall enter, nor any thing that defileth, Rev. 21.27. Methinks I see all my Afflictions and Temptations, all mine Infirmities and Corruptions falling off me, as Eli­jahs Mantle at his translation.

O my Soul▪ dost thou not see the Chariots of fire, and the Horses of fire, come to take thee up? Be thou as poor as Lazarus, Luk. 16.22. yet God will not disdain to send a Party of Angels to conduct thee home. How canst thou doubt of ready reception, who hast such a Friend in Court who will lead thee with boldness into his Fathers presence? If there were joy in Pharaoh's Court, when it was said, Josephs Brethren are come; Gen. 4 [...].16 surely it will be welcome news in Heaven, when it's told, Jesus his [...]thren are come.

[Page 307]My Soul, fear not to enter, though the Lord be clothed with Terrour and Majesty: For thy Redeemer will procure thee favour, and plead thy right. I am sure of welcome, for the Father himself loveth me, Joh. 16.27. I have tasted and tryed his love; and when I had played the wick­ed Prodigal, yet he despised not my Rags, but fell on my neck, and kissed me, Luk. 15. and Heaven it self made merry over me. Much more will he receive me gladly, and let out his loves upon me, when presented to him by his Son, in his perfect likeness, as a fit Object for his ever­lasting delight. Fear not, O my Soul, as if thou wert going to a strange place. Why Heaven is thy Country, and thy home: wilt thou doubt of leave, or fear of welcome, when it is thine own home? Why, my Soul, thou wast born from a­bove, and here is thy Kindred, and thy Fathers house, and therefore thou shalt surely be admit­ted. And then I shall see the glorious preparati­ons of Eternal Love, and the blissful Mansions of the heavenly Inhabitants.

Doubtless it shall be thus. These are not sick­mens dreams, or Childrens hopes. The living God cannot deceive me: and may not I certain­ly promise my self, what the Lord hath promised me? I will sooner think that all my senses are deluded, and what I see, and feel, and taste, is but a fancy, than think that the living God will deceive me, or that his unchangeable Covenant will fail. Now I am a Son of God, but it doth [Page 308] not yet appear what I shall be: 1 Joh. 3.2 but this I know, I shall be like him, and see him as he is.

I know it shall be thus. Why, what security, should I ask of God? He hath given me all the assurance in the World. And though the Word of God be enough, yet he willing to shew, more abundantly to the Heirs of Promise, the Immu­tability of his Counsel, confirmed it by an Oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lye, I might have strong consolation, Heb. 6.17. O unreasonable Unbelief! What shall not the Oath of a God put an end to thy strife?

O my God I am satisfied: it is enough. Now I may be without presumption, and boast with­out pride. And will no more call my Duty Ar­rogance, nor my Faith a Fancy.

O my Soul! There is but a short life betwixt thee and Glory, where holy Angels, and glorified Saints, shall be mine Associates, and Love and Praise mine only Employment. Job 38.7. Me­thinks I hear already how the Morning-Stars sing together, and all the Sons of God shout for joy. O that I could come in for one! But it was said unto me, I should rest yet for a little season, but I shall stand in the lot at the end of the dayes, Dan. 12.13

It is well Lord, thy Word is enough. Thy Bond is as good as ready payment. The Holy Ghost tells me, that life and glory abide me; Luk. 23.41. that look what day I loose from the [Page 309] body, the same day I shall be landed in Paradise. Amen. It is as I would have it.

But this is not all. When my body hath slept a short Nap in the dust, Christ will call to it, Come up hither. Ah true Yoke fellow, it will be hard parting▪ but welcome meeting. I could not leave thee, but to live with Christ, Col. 3.4▪ But he will raise thee a glorious Temple; and when he shall appear, will bring me with him­self in glory; and then I shall re-enter thee as a Royal Mansion, wherein I shall abide with the Lord for ever. For as we have served our Re­deemer together, so we must be glorified toge­ther with him. And when the Lord hath marri­ed us both together again, then will he marry us both unto himself. For I know that my Redee­mer liveth; and that he shall stand at the last day over the Earth. And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Whom I shall see for my self, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my Reins are consumed within me. My Lord hath alrea­dy told me how it shall be. He hath set down the time, and shewed me the Robes of immorta­lity, and the Crown of life, that I must put on; and the Throne of glory, and the Seat of Judg­ment, that I must sit in. He hath told me the manner in which I shall be presented to him, and espoused by him. He hath told me where he will [...]et me, and what he will say to me, and how he will acknowledge my mean services, and [Page 310] remember what I have forgotten, Matt. 25.35, 37. how he will praise the works, that I have been ashamed of, and reward me openly, for what I have buried in secrecy; Matt. 6.4. and not forget the poorest Alms that I have given for his Name. Then will be confess me before his Father, and before the Angels of God. Thus saith the true, and faithful witness, and we know that his Testimony is true.

Ah my Soul, see that thou make not God a Lyar. 1 Joh. 5.10.

O my God, I have believed thy report, and do look for all these things, according to thy Promise. I know thou intendest me but for a very little while in this lower Region. This world is but the house of my Pilgrimage, and my soul now is but like a Bird in the shell: but when the shell is crackt, then shall she take wings like a Dove, and soar aloft to thee, and flee away, and be at rest.

Yet I doubt not thy care for my despicable dust. Joh. 6.39. I know that nothing will be lost; I know not where they will lay me: but thy wakeful eye observeth, and will not be to seek at what door to knock, not at what grave to call for me. I believe, and am sure that I shall come a glorious piece out of thy hands, fair as the Moon, clear as the Sun, crowned with honour and glory. And when my Absolution is read, and sen­tence past upon the World, then must I be taken up to dwell with thee.

Let not my Lord be angry, that thy dust and ashes speaketh thus unto thee. Thou Lord hast raised my expectations, and hast made me to look for all these great things from thee. In vain hast thou written all these things unto me, if I should not believe them; and a distrustful diffidence would put a high dishonour upon thy Truth.

O Lord is repenteth me; it repenteth me of my jea­lousies [Page 311] and my doubtful thoughts about thee. I know tho [...] [...]ovest an humble confidence, and delightest in no­thing more than to see thy children trust thee. I know the building of my hopes lyes not a hairs breadth over the foundation of thy Promises; yea, 'tis sure, my ex­pectations are infinitely short of what I shall find.

O my God, my heart trusteth safely in thee, and I [...]ere set to my seal, that thou art true Joh 3 33. Christ is my Bottom in which I venture, Eph 2 20. and the Corner-stone on which I built, Matt. 7.25. and there­fore my Fraught is ensured, and my Building shall challenge the winds and floods▪ Psal. 39.7.

And now, O Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. O my blessedness, let me enjoy thee. O my life, let me possess thee O desire of mine eyes, let me see thy face and hear thy voice; for thy voice is sweet, and thy countenance is comly. I ask but what thou hast promised: for thou hast told me, that I shall see God, and thou wilt speak to me mouth to mouth, Matt. 5.8. even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of God shall I behold.

So shall my knowledge be perfected, 1 Cor. 13 9, 10. and I shall see the inaccessible light; and my tender eye shall not water, nor my sight dazle; but I shall with open face look stedfastly on the Son of Righte­ousness, and behold his glory. Then shall Faith be turned into Fruition, and Hope into Possession, and Love shall arise like the full Moon in her brightness and never wax nor wane more.

O thou God of my hopes, I look for a new Body, and a new Soul; for new Heavens, and for a new Earth, according to thy promise; when my whole Soul shall be wholly taken up with thee, and all mine affections strained to the highest P [...]gg, and all the wheels of my [...]ised powers set in most vigorous and perpetual motion [Page 312] towards thee, still letting in, and still laying out; and thus shall there be an everlasting communi­cation of joy and glory from thee, and of love & praise from me.

O my Soul, thou art rich indeed, and increas­ed in Goods. Thou hast no reason to envy the glory nor grandeur of the mightiest on Earth: For their glory shall not descend after them; like sheep shall they be laid in their grave, & Death shall feed upon them, and there's an eternal end of all their pomp and excellency. But my Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom. My Robes shall ne­ver wear, my Crown shall never totter, my Throne shall never be vacant, my Bread shall ne­ver mould, my Garland shall never wither, my House shall never moulder, my Wine shall never sowre, but everlasting joy shall be upon my head, and sorrow and sighing shall flie away.

O my God, how happy hast thou made me! It is better than I could have wished. Thou hast done all things well. Thou hast setled them for ever. The whole Earth cannot shew any such Heritage or Tenu [...]e. The World can state out her possessions but for years, nor can she make a good title for that neither. But mine inheritance is for ever, and none can put me out of possessi­on. The thing is established in Heaven, and in the Volume of the Book it is written of me. My Evidence cannot be lost; it is recorded in the Court above, and en [...]o [...]led in the sacred Leaves of the Word, and entred upon the Book of my [Page 313] Conscience, and herein I do and will rejoyce.

Now, my Soul, wipe up thine eyes, and go a­way with Hannah, and be no more sad. What though mine House be not so with God, so hap­py, so prosperous as I could wish? What though they be increased that trouble me, and my temp­tations and afflictions be like the rolling billows, riding on one anothers backs for hast? Yet shall my Soul be as a rock unmoved, and sit down sa­tisfied in the security and amplitude of my porti­on. For God hath made with me an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things, and sure; and herein is all my salvation, and all my desire.

And now what remaineth, O Lord, but that I should spend the remainder of my days in loving, praising, and admiring thee? But wherewith shall I come before the Lord, or bow my self to the most high God? What shall I give thee, to ex­press my thankfulness, though not to require thy bounty? Alas my poor little Soul! Alas that thou art so little. How narrow are thy capacities! How disproportionate are thy powers! Alas that my voice can reach to no higher a note! But shall I do nothing because I cannot do all?

Lord I resign to thee. With the poor Widow I cast my two mites (my Soul and Body) into thy treasury. All my powers shall love & serve thee. All my members shall be weapons of righ­teousness for thee. Here is my good will. Be­hold, my substance is thy stock, mine interest is for thy service. I lay all at thy feet: There thou [Page 314] hast them, they are thine. My Children I enter as thy Servants. My Possessions I resign as thy Right. I will call nothing mine but thee. All mine are thine. I can say, My Lord, and my God, and that is enough; I thankfully quit my claim to all things else. I will no more say, My House is mine, or my Estate mine; I my self am not mine own: Yet it is infinitely better for me to be thine, than if I were mine own. This is my happiness, that I can say, My own God, my own Father. And O what a blessed exchange hast thou made with me! to give me thy Self, who art an infinite Summ, for my self, who a [...] but an insignificant Cypher.

And now, Lord, do thou accept and own my claim. I am not worthy of any thing of thine, much less of thee. But sith I have a deed to shew, I bring thy word in my hand, and am bold to take possession. Dost thou not know thi [...] hand? wilt thou not own this name? wilt tho [...] not confirm thine own grant? It were infidelity to doubt it. I will not disparage the faithfulness of my Lord, nor be afraid to averr, & stand to what he hath said and sworn. Hast thou said Thou art my God, and shall I fear thou art mine enemy? Hast thou told me, Thou art my Father, and shall I stand aloof, as if I were a stran­ger? I will believe. Lord silence my fears; and as thou hast given me the claim and title of a Child, so give me the confidence of a Child. Le [...] my heart be daily kept alive by thy promises, & [Page 315] with this staff let me pass over Jordan. May these be my undivided Companions and Comfor­ters: When I go, let them lead me; when I sleep let them keep me; when I awake, let them talk with me. And do thou keep these things for ever upon the imaginations of the thoughts of the hearts of thy people, and prepare their hearts into thee. And let the Heart of thy Servant be the Ark of thy Testament, wherein the sacred Records of what hath passed between thee and my Soul, may for ever be preserved.

Amen,

Thus far my Friend,

So be it.

CHAP. XIX An Exhortation to Sinners.

O Earth, Earth, Earth, hear the Word of the Lord. Ye Men of this World, Ye Spirits that are in Prison, held captive to iniquity, under the Prince of this World; in a Covenant with Death, at an agreement with Hell? without Christ, Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel, Stran­gers from the Covenant of Promise, having no hope, without God in the World; who have said, We will not have this man to rule over us; [Page 316] let us break his Bonds asunder, and cast his Cords from us; who are joyned to Idols, have chosen you other Gods, are following after other Lovers; who walk after the course of this World, accord­ing to the Prince of the Power of the Air, [...] Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Diso­bedience; having your conversation in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and being still as you were by na­ture, the Children of wrath, in the gall of bitter­ness and bond of iniquity.

O ye Sons of Death, ye Children of the Night, and of Darkness, Hear and your Souls shall live: to you also is the Word of this salvation sent; even the Strangers, and those that are afar off, that will lay hold on the Covenant, and choose the thing that pleaseth God, these also shall have a Name in his House, even the glorious Name of Sons and Daughters. The Lord hath sent a Word into Jacob, and it shall light upon Edom and A­malek, and the uncircumcised Philistines, even as many of them as the Lord our God shall call, Acts 2.39.

Hearken, O People, you that are polluted in your blood, written in the Earth, free among the Dead; come in, let your Covenant with Death be made void, and your agreement with Hell be disanulled, strike a L [...]ague with the Almighty, & your Names also shall be written amongst the li­ving in Jerusalem.

Stand ye before the Lord, come, and let us rea­son together.

[Page 317]Where are you? What is your Portion and Inheri­tance? Ye are cursed with a Curse. Fire and Brim­stone, and an horrible Tempest, this shall be the portion of your cup, Psal. 11.6. What [...] seeking? whether are you travelling? After a few years of your vanity are over, where must your dwelling be? Who can dwell with the devouring fire? Who can dwell with everlacting burnings? Look before you, behold that smoaking Fur­nace, that burning Lake, that bottomless Pit that's gaping for you, and at your next step may swallow you up. Escape for your lives; why will ye dye? Turn & live.

Do you believe the Resurrection from the Dead, the Judgment to come, and the invisible World? Is it to the spirit of a man, as to the spirit of a beast? Doth it pe­rish with his carkass? Dyeth a Man as a Dogg dyeth? Dyeth a wise man as a fool dyeth? Fall all things alike to all, just and unjust, good and bad, after this life, as well as in it?

Do you believe the Scriptures? Are they but a fable? If you hope they are, are you sure they are? Dare you venture your souls upon it? Whilst the Saints venture on the Truth, dare you venture your souls on the Fals­hood of it? Dare you stand forth, and say: if this word be not a lye, let me be damned for ever? I am content that the everlasting worm shall gnaw my heart, that the internal fire shall burn my flesh, and bones, & soul for ever and ever, if it prove not at last a meer forgery, and imposture.

Do you believe the Scriptures to be true indeed? If you do, what do they preach to you? Do they speak any thing, if not this, That there is another life and death, besides that which is within the kenn of mortal eyes; that the other life, and the other death, are eternal; that upon your being found within or without the Covenant of God, hangs your eternal judgment, either for life or death; that [Page 318] whilst you are in a covenant with death, and in a course of iniquity, you are without the Covenant of God and can have no benefit by it; that under sin, and out of Covenant; out of Covenant, and out of Christ; out of Christ, and under Condemnation?

Are there any things, which that Word which you profess to believe to be as true, and to stand as sure as Heaven and Earth; are there any things that this speaks more plainly, than these things & such like? What, and yet secure in a state of sin? Aliens from God, Enemies of all Righteousness, and yet in quiet? Are you resolved to sell eter­nity for time, life for death, a soul for the plea­sures of sin? Is this the choice you have made, and are you resolved to stand to it? Let me have this world, my portion here, my good things here, and then let me be damned in the other world: Let me sin here, and suffer hereafter; let me laugh here, and lament hereafter: Let me flourish, and prosper, and live at ease, and in honour, and in pleasure, and at liberty here; and let my prison, and my pain, and my anguish, and my plagues be beneath; there let me be torn, let me burn, let me roar, let me dye; so I may be rich, and be merry, and rejoyce a while here; let t [...]e be my Heaven, and eternity be my Hell; speak in ear­nest, is this your choice? Or that you may not be put to it to make a new choice, will you take up­on you to make a new Gospel? And dividing what God hath joyned together, will you joyn what he hath divided? Will you write this for [Page 319] Gospel? Holiness and Hell, sin and glory, Christ and the Curse the Devil and the Crown: Let the wicked [...]ld on his way, and the unrighteous his thoughts, let him [...] run away from the Lord, and he shall have mercy; and from his God, and he will abundantly par­don Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto death, and few there be that find it; but broad is the gate, and wide is the way, that leadeth unto life, and the whole world are going in [...]ere [...]t. Blessed are the proud in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdome of Heaven. Blessed are they that laugh now; blessed are the froward, the merciless, the impure in heart, the persecuters for righteousness sake, for great is their reward in Heaven. Within shall be the Doggs, and the S [...]r [...]me, the Wh [...]re [...]ngers, the Sorcerers, the Dru [...] ­kards, the Ruff [...]ns, the Blasphemers, the Gallants, the Idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lye: And without shall be the Lambs, and the Doves, the holy, and the humble, and the meek, and the merciful, and the upright in heart, and the [...] in spirit, and Peace-makers, the persecuted for righteousness sake, and whosoever loveth truth, and maketh God his [...]; these shall go into everlasting [...], but the ungodly [...] ­life eternal

Are these the Articles of your Creed? Is this your Gospel? If it be, O what is your Heaven? If it be not, if the old Gospel must stand, Oh where are your souls? Are your souls lost, and are they not worth the recovery? Why will ye dye? Turn and live; Oh when shall it once be?

As an Embassador for Christ, to whom is com­mitted [Page 320] the Word of Reconciliation, having hinted to you what's Law, so in the name of the Eternal God I publish to you the everlasting Gospel.

The Lord God having entred into a Covenant of life, with the first Adam, for himself and all mankind in him; this Covenant being broken, whereby sin hath entred, and death by sin, and all the world is now become guilty before God; bound over to the vengeance of eternal Fire, and under an utter impossibility of recovery, by ought that that Covenant can do; hath out of his abun­dant grace, made a new Covenant, on which whosoever shall lay hold, shall be delivered out of the state of death, and wrath, into a state of Life and Blessedness, Rom 8.3. What the Law could not do, being weak through the flesh, God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh; and with him this gra­cious grant, that whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life, Joh. 3.16. And this is the Covenant that hath been declared un­to you.

This new Covenant is a Marriage Covenant, Hos 2.10. I will betroth thee unto me for ever, yea, I will betroth thee to me in righteousness, and in loving-kind­ness, and in mercies. In it the Lord makes offer, and invites you to accept of an Husband and a Dower; the Husband is the Kings Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and with him the last Kingdom, and all that belongs to the Kingdom of God for a Dower. Liberty for the Captives, the opening of the Prison to them that are bound; riches to the [Page 321] poo [...], eyes to the blind, feet to the [...]e, healing to the diseased, and life to the dead.

And whoever among you all, who are persons under the Law, held by the cords of your sins, whose souls are fast bound in setters of Iron, who are willing that your Covenant with death be made void, and your agreement with Hell be dis-annulled, and will joyn your selves to the Lord, and be brought within the bonds of this Covenant, all the blessings of this Covenant are made over, and stand sure unto you.

The Grant is made, the Deed is drawn, and sealed; the Lord hath set to his Seal, come you in, and seal the Counter-part; set to your seal, and the match is made up▪ Christ, and with him all things are yours, and you are his. Accept and live, refuse and dye for ever.

Come on then, sinner, what sayest thou? Dost thou consent? Dost thou accept? Or as Laban to Rebeckah, Wilt thou goe with this man? Let me [...]spouse thee to this one Husband; only let me first tell thee, The matter is solemn, and thou must be serious. 'Tis for life, 'tis for Eternity.

Consider therefore, and let thine heart, lying prostrate before the Almighty, come in and make answer to these demands, which from him, and in his great and dreadful Name I make unto thee.

1. Wilt thou have Jesus for thine Husband? Under­stand before thou answer. Taking of Christ for thine Husband, implies

• Intimate Union.
• Ingenuous Subjection.
• Total Dependance.

1. Intimate Ʋnion; by choosing and accepting of him for thine, and resigning and giving up thy self to him, for his own; to co-habit and live with him, in the dearest conjugal affection for ever.

[Page 322]2. Ingenuous Subjection; by a free and chearful putting thy self under him, as thy Lord whom thou wilt obey, and be subject to, in all things. The Wife must be subject to her Husband; yet not as a slave by constraint, but freely, and by consent.

3. Total Dependance; holding of him as thine head, expecting nothing, owning nothing, but what descends upon thee from him. Depending on him for all things; the bearing of thy Debts, thy discharge from thy Bonds, & thy whole provision for a livelyhood & maintenance.

Consider then, what sayest thou? Doth thine heart choose, and accept, and resign up it self unto Christ? Dost thou choose him as an Husband? Thou canst choose him as a Refuge, to hide thee from danger; thou canst choose him as a Friend, to help thee in thy need; but dost thou choose him for thine Husband? Wilt thou cleave to him, love, honour and obey him? Dost thou un­derstand his manner, the Law of his House, his Family order and discipline? Dost thou know his commands and expectations; how holy, how spiritual, how strict, and self-denying, how humble and submissive he looks thy whole carriage should be? Wilt thou be at his finding? Wilt thou look unto him, and lean upon him for all thou needest? Shall all thy desire be to him, and thy dependence on him? Thou art a Bondman, who shall be thy Redemption? Thou art a Malefactor, who shall be thy Satisfaction? Thou art a Leper, whence dost look for cleansing? Thou art a Beggar, whence dost expect an inheritance? Wilt lean upon thy Belov­ed for all! Shall he be thy Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption, and Inheritance? Wilt do him this honour, to trust him for all this; to cast all thy burthens, thy care, thy fears, thy sins, thy guilt, thy hopes upon him? Canst say, O my God, I have sinned, I have sinned, thy Law have I broken, thy love have I [Page 323] slighted, I have fallen from thee, and run over to thine Enemies; I have fallen under thy displeasure, wrath is provoked, justice hath taken hold of me, my soul is un­done? How dreadful is thy controversie with me? And I have nothing to answer, but this, My Jesus shall answer for me.

O my Jesus, thou hast wooed and invited sinners unto thee; thou hast sent forth thy Messengers, and thy Word, into the high wayes and hedges, into the Goals & Hospitals of the world; among the poor, the blind, and the bound, and the diseased, and those that are in debt & distress; to take from among them, a Wife for thy bosome. Behold, thy word hath found among the Captives this wretched Adulteress, my poor Harlot soul, which hath dealt treacherously with thee, and hath followed after other Lovers, hath fallen among Thieves and Robbers, is bruised, wounded, and undone; having prodigally spent and wasted all that I had.

But behold, I come at thy word; if thou sayest, I have no pleasure in thee, if thou spit in my face, and spurn me with thy foot, and trample me in the dirt, or send me back to my Prison, and leave me to bear the shame of my Whoredomes, I must be silent and speechless.

But wilt thou receive me? wilt thou take me into thine house? wilt thou spread thy s [...]irt over me? shall I be called by thy Name? wilt thou love me, and be joyned unto me? wilt thou be Surety for thy servant? wilt thou that my Debts be upon thee, my Bonds be upon thee; my wants, my sins, my sorrows, my fears, my plagues, my help, my soul be upon thee? Wilt thou Lord, and can I say thee Nay? Wilt thou take them, and can I refuse to lay them upon thee? I consent, Lord, I consent to thee; be thou mine Husband, and mine helper; love me, discharge me of this guilt, loose me from these fetters, cleanse me from this filthiness, and [Page 324] then ask what thou wilt, impose upon me what­ever thou pleasest. Love thee, honour thee, obey thee? Oh what is my Love, what is my obedi­ence, that thou shouldest accept, or I should deny it to thee? 'Tis but little that I can do, this heart is so false, and so feeble that I am afraid how I undertake for it, but such as it is, take it to thee. I bestow it wholly upon thee, with this promise, that if thou wilt help me I will love thee, if thou wilt help me, I will be subject to thee, & lay up all my hopes and expectations with thee. Now Soul, now that thou knowest what it means, now say, wilt thou have Christ for thine Husband?

2. Wilt thou take him for better for worse, for richer for poorer.

Though thy Lord be a King, yet his Kingdom is not of this world. He came not to be mini­stred unto, but minister; he came to serve, and to suffer, and all those that will follow him, must suffer with him. He came not to divide lands, and spoils, and crowns, and temporal dignities, & honours amongst his Disciples; but crosses, and prisons, and scourges, and wants. Thou wilt joyn thy self to the Lord, but wilt thou take up thy lot with him? Thou wilt live with him, and abide with him; but dost know where he dwells, and what his Entertainment is? Sometimes he hath bread, and sometimes he is hungry; some­times he hath cloaths, and sometimes is naked; sometimes he hath an house, and sometimes he hath none, sometimes he hath friends, and some­times [Page 325] he hath none; he is sometimes used kindly, and sometimes as coursly; sometimes 'tis Hosanna, and sometimes Crucifie; sometimes he is cried up as a King, sometimes cried out against as a Devil; and as it is with the Master, so it will be with the Scholar; as with the Lord, so with the Disci­ple; where he is thou must be also. Canst thou say, Whither thou goest, I will go with thee; where thou feedest, I will feed with thee; where my Lord dwelleth, if in a tent, if in a cave, if in a dungeon, if in a wilderness, where­ever my Lord dwelleth, let me dwell with him? Consider what thou sayest, and be not over hasty. May be thou dost not yet know, what hunger & thirst, and nakedness mean; what the wrath of man, what their reproachings, and spittings, and stripes, and bonds means; may be thou hast thought, this may be far enough off, and may ne­ver come upon me; or hast taken up a resoluti­on through incogitancy, not weighing how sharp and how pinching they may be to thee. But suppose thou wert now just come to it; and that thou sawest, that thy first foot Christ ward, would be the parting point betwixt thee and all that is dear unto thee in the world; that thy first step Heaven-ward would be into the fire, or the wa­ter, or into the camp of the Philistines, whose faces were all fill'd with fury against thee. Hast thou yet such a far deeper sence of the eternal sufferings, thou art in danger of; such a settled belief, of thy absolute necessity of Christ to thy escaping these; such an high value of the love of [Page 326] Christ, and the everlasting salvation thou expectest by him, as does over-ballance and swallow up the sharpest and the quickest sence thou hast or canst have of the greatest things thou shalt suffer by him? Hast thou cast up all afflictions imagina­ble, and then put thy soul to it? Now resolve what to do; either this, or no Christ; either this, or no Crown; either this Cross, or the Curse, ei­ther the wrath of man, or the wrath of God; Scorpions, and Dragons, and Devils; shrieking, and howling, and gnashing of teeth for ever and ever. Confess Christ, and be confessed by him; suffer with Christ, and reign with him; weep with Christ, and rejoyce with him; dye with Christ, and live for ever; deny Christ, forsake Christ, and perish for ever. Hast thou thus put thy self to it? And after the most solemn debate thou hast had, what is the result? Now tell me, Christ, or no Christ. Wilt thou have Christ for better for worse, how dear soever he cost thee.

3. Wilt thou forsake all others?

Thou hast three Husbands that lay claim to thee; Sin, the World, and the Devil. Wilt thou renounce and be divorc'd from all these? There's no compounding betwixt Christ and them, he or they must go.

The renouncing of sin stands,

• In the dis engaging of the heart from it.
• In the engaging of the heart against it.

1. In the dis-engaging or loosening of the heart from sin. 'Tis an hearty willingness to let it go; a [Page 327] willingness to part, is our parting with sin. A breaking the Peace, the cutting off the League betwixt sin and the soul, when a sinner stands so clearly convinc'd of the worth of Christ, of the value of a soul, of the enmity of sin against Chri [...] & the Soul, of the unworthiness of sin, with all its pleasures, & advantages, to be laid in the ballance with Christ, is willing to be rid of it. What is there in it? what can it do for me; how long will it last me? where will it lead me? O the af­ter-births of sin: O the tail of these Locusts, the sting, the sting that I see there! Can I want a Christ? Or can I hope that he'l dwell with such Neighbours? Can I bear the loss of my soul? Or can it escape if these escape? I see its vain to think of keeping both Christ and Lusts, its vain to think of saving both my sins and my soul; its all one, as to be saved, and to be damn'd, I may as well bring Heaven and Hell together. Well, let them go; henceforth hold thy peace sin, plead no more with me for entertainment, be a stranger for e­ver to me, henceforth I know thee no more.

2. In the engaging the heart against sin. When the heart is not only content to let it depart, but gives it a bill of divorce, and sends it away.

When it can want it, & cannot bear it. When it deals with it as the Egyptians with Israel; at first they have only leave given them to be gone, but at length they thrust them out, Exod. 12.33. They were urgent upon them, that they might send them out of the Land in hast, for they said, we be all but dead men.

[Page 328]Be gone sin, I am but a dead man if thou abidest with me; and so it will no longer Court it as a friend, but curse it as an enemy; fears it, hates it, and is resolved to be its mortal enemy; and to this end is determined to use all Gods means.

To discover, To destroy it.

1. To use all Gods means to discover it; to bring to light the hidden things of darkness. Sin goes under a disguise; 'tis hard to know friends from enemies; they had need have their senses about them, and well exercised too, that can discern betwixt good and evil. Heb. 5.14. Who can understand his errours? Psal. 19 12 Sin lyes in the dark. The heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it? There's too much wickedness, and it lyes too deep to be discerned by every eye; he that means in earnest to cast out, must first search out his iniquities. Let us search and try our wayes, Lam. 4 40. He must search the Scriptures which describe these Enemies, and mark them out, what they are, and how many, and how they may be known, wherever you find them, and under what disguise soever they appear; must search the heart, where if they walk no more openly, they will hide them­selves, that they be not discovered or suspected.

Thou art a fool, a self deceiver, Sinner, who takest thy self to be an adversary to sin, and takest no care to find it out; much more who willingly hidest it out of sight. He takes part with sin, which will not take pai [...]s to know it. I hate the Devil and all his works, I repent, I forsake all my sins; and though I have [...] iniquity, by the grace of God, I will do so no more. Thus vain men talk, but dost know what thou sayest? what is sin? Dost know a friend from an enemy, good from evil? What are ( thy) sins? What? What hast thou done? Where­in hast thou transgressed? what are they that have done thee mischief? what are their names? May be thou wilt [Page 329] say, their name is Legi [...], for they are many.

In many things I have transgressed, in many things I have offended; but in what things? Dost know thine enemy when thou seest him? Or wouldest thou know him if thou couldest? Dost thou make any search or enquiry after him? When thou readest of a proud heart in the Scrip­tures, art able to say, there's one of them that have done me mischief? Or of a covetous heart, there's another of them; or of an envious, mali­cious, froward heart, there are more of them; or of an hard and hypocritical, ignorant, unbelieving heart, this is he, this is my great enemy; Or if thou canst not tell, dost ask, Is not this he? Are not these they? O that I could understand mine errours, Lord make me to know my transgressions.

Sinners, never make your selves believe you are enemies to sin, till you make narrow and par­ticular enquiry after it; after all sin, the several kinds of it, whether of omission or commission, whether outward or spiritual, open or secret, grea­ter or smaller, sins of ignorance or knowledge, of infirmities or presumption; your beloved, your most pleasing sins, your most gainful sins, whate­ver they be, you never renounce, till you resolve to make a diligent search after them.

2. To use all Gods means to destroy and overcome them. He that hides his Enemy, and he that will spare him when he hath found him, is not an E­nemy, but a Friend. He that saves, I will de­stroy, and will not use his weapons, either knows [Page 330] not what he sayes, or says what he never means. Thou sayes thou wilt renounce and resist all thy sins, but art thou in earnest? What course dost mean to take? Wilt thou take Gods-way? He bids thee [...], believe, pray, [...]ast, mourn, strive, watch, &c. Wilt thou hearken to his Counsels? Wilt thou be healed of thy diseases? But wilt thou take the counsel of the Physician? Wilt thou use his Medicines? Thou wilt overcome thine e­nemy, but wilt thou take heed of him? Wilt thou fight against him? Wilt thou take in all the help that's offer­ed thee? Wilt thou not only believe; and lean upon God for his help, but wilt thou pray, and lift up thy heart for his help? Wilt thou not only pray against thy sins, but watch against them? against the occasions, temptations, and beginnings of sin? Wilt thou use (all) Gods means, and against (all) thy sins? Shall not thine eyes spare any of them? Wilt thou make thorough work with them root and branch, old and young? Shall there be neither the [...]ing of the Oxen, nor the bleating of the sheep heard with thee? Wilt thou destroy the greater, & dash the little ones also against the stones?

Wilt thou avenge thy self of thine Adversaries, & wilt thou never again agree with thine Adversaries? Wilt thou never again say, Is it peace, Je [...]? Is it peace, Je­zabel? So if thy sins say to thee, Is it peace, sc [...]l? Wilt thou answer, What have you to do with peace? get you be­hind me. Wilt thou neither make a truce with sin, nor embrace a parley, nor entertain a Treaty for peace with it? Wilt thou not draw back thine hand, nor put up thy Weapons, nor give over thy Watch, nor go off thy Guard, till all thine Enemies become thy footstool; all this is included in the renouncing of Sin.

Beware you be not mistaken here, this is the damna­tion of the world, their mistakes about repentance. They easily say I repent of my sins, I forsake the Devil and [Page 331] all his works; and they as easily perswade them­selves that they do as they say: But did they un­derstand what there is in this repentance, a search­ing out their sins, dividing their souls from them; [...] painful and watchful shunning and resisting [...]hem in their whole course; did they know what their particular sins are, how near they are to their hearts, how they have been nursed in their bo­ [...]omes, and how hard 'twill be now to part; even [...]is Covetousness must go, even this sensuality [...]ust go, these dear pleasures, these beloved gains, [...]hese pleasant companions, must all be sent away, [...]ot one to be spared, not so much as once more; [...]id they understand this, they would then see [...]hat wind all their good words be. They as [...]uch mean to pluck their eyes out of their heads, [...] their flesh off their bones, as to repent, if [...]is be repentance. Well now say, Wilt thou re­ [...]ent? Wilt thou now renounce sin?

Wilt thou renounce the world also? By the world understand all the substance of the world, [...]ouses, Lands, Money, and whatsoever Worldly [...]ossessions: all the shadows of the world, is Ho­ [...]urs, Pleasures, Pomps, with all its glory; the [...] of this world, the friendship of the world, all [...]eshly Relations, Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Si­ [...]ers, Children, all sinful Companions and Socie­ [...]es whatsoever is in, and of the world.

These are then renounced, when we are resol­ [...]ed that they shall neither be

• Our Gods or Idols.
• [Page 332]Our Devils or Tempters.

1. Not our gods. Then we make the world a god to us, when we make it our happiness, or end. When we bless our selves in it, and count that our very life consists in the abundance of the things which we possess. When we devote our selves to it, making it as the blessedness, so the great business of our life. He that can want the world, and yet he blessed; he that can want, or have the world, and yet not serve it; he hath renoun­ced it, even whilst he hath it; though 'tis his still, yet 'tis not his God.

2. Not our Devils or Tempters. The world tempts in a double way

1. Per modum Objecti; as Objects, which by something that is apprehended desirable in them, entices and invites out the heart after them; or by something apprehended as formidable, affrights us out of our way. Thus pleasant meats tempts the Glutton, and wine the Drunkard, and a Ly­on in the streets the Coward.

2. Per modum causae Instrumentalis; as under de­vils, or the devils instruments, or Agitators by which he betrays and beguiles unstable souls: In the former sence the things of the world, in the lat­ter, the men of the world are temptations & Tem­pters to us. He renounces the world, that will not be tempted by the world; that takes up with Christ, & will not be [...]ib'd off by worldly advan­tag [...]s, not p [...]oselyt [...]d by worldly companions.

He that is resolved for Christ, though with the [Page 333] loss of all, & with the displeasure of all the world. He that can be poor for Christ, that can be vile for Christ, that can go hungry and naked with Christ, that can go alone with Christ, and that even then, when 'tis but turning away from Christ, and he may be rich, and honourable, and be cloathed, and be filled, and have company e­nough, as much as he desires, he forsakes the world.

He that (can) renounce the world, whenever it comes to be a case, either Christ must be for­saken, or all things for Christ; he that [can] whose heart is brought to it, he [hath] renoun­ced the world. What saist thou now Soul?

Thou wilt have Christ, but what if thou must leave all behind thee? What if he say to thee, Sell all that thou hast, and follow me? Canst thou be poor? Canst thou be naked? Canst thou be hun­gry for Christ? Thou wilt have Christ, but how wilt thou leave thy Companions? What will all thy carnal friends say of thee? He's a fool, he's mad, he's besides himself. How wilt look thy Fa­ther, or thy Mother, or thy Wife in the face, who are all against it? who will be perswading, beseeching thee, weeping over thee, hanging up­on thy neck; or it may be scoffing and reviling, and spitting in thy face, to discourage and hold thee back. What saist thou now? Art thou yet for Christ? Wilt thou forsake them all, cast off all that stands in thy way?

Wilt thou forsake the Devil also? But I need not now ask thee that, that's done already, fare­wel [Page 334] Devil, when once sin and the world are cast out. If thou wilt not be tempted to sin; if the world ceases to be a temptation, the Devil were as good cease to be a Tempter. There be many that say, I defie the Devil, and yet defie not sin, and the world; wise men▪ They like not the Devil, but yet will lick up his Excrements; they hate the Devil, and yet are never well longer then they are dancing in his chains. Defie the Devil, and yet love sin? Such defiance is his de­light. Let sin be defied, let the world be despised and the Devil is conquered.

4. And lastly, Wilt thou cleave unto Christ from henceforth unto death?

Thou wilt have Christ, but when? Shall this be the Marriage-day? Wilt thou from henceforth be the Lords? Or when shall it be? Must it be to morrow first, or next month, or next year, or some time or other thou knowest not when? May we not take thy promise as they did the Prophesie, Ezek. Is it not for many days to come? is it not of the times that are afar off. To morrow thou wilt, hereafter thou wil [...], as good as thou hast said nothing. As good thou hadst [never] as [not yet] Speak soul, wilt give thy self to the Lord? wilt presently? if thou wilt, how long wilt thou abide with him? wil [...] thou not endorse on thy Deed of Gi [...]t, a power of revocation? wilt thou not repent, not return again from Heaven to Earth? wilt be chast, and play the Harlot no more? wilt be faithful to the death, obedient to the death? Is this thy voice, I have opened my [Page 335] mouth to the Lord, and I cannot go back? As the Lord liveth, nothing but death, no not death it self, shall part thee and me. I am perswaded, I am resolved, that neither life nor death, Angels nor Prin­cipalities, nor Powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other Creature, shall separate me from the love of God, or withdraw me from Jesus Christ my Lord.

Now Soul, gather up all this together, stand thou before the Lord, the God of all the Earth, & this once more say; Wilt thou have Jesus Christ for thy Husband? Dost thou chuse him for thy Lord? wilt thou cleave to him in love▪ wilt thou lean upon him for righteousness and strength? for righteousness to pay thy debts, and for strength to pay thy vows? wilt thou be subject to him? thou knowest the Command­ments, how holy, how strict they be. Wilt thou obey them in all things? wilt exercise thy self to godliness in the strictness of it? wilt be a thorow pac'd Disciple? wilt not content thy self with such a cold or luke warm indifferency in Religi­on, as thy lazy flesh will bear, as thy credit, thy safety, or the temper of the times will bear? wilt follow thy Lord fully? Wilt take up thy Lot with Christ, be it better or worse? Shall his Father be thy Father, his Inheritance be thy Inheritance? yea and his Sufferings thy sufferings? his stripes, his bonds, his poverty be thine? wilt thou espouse not his Crown only, but his Cross too? whither ever he goes, wilt thou go? where he dwells, [Page 336] wilt thou dwell? wilt say, where [...]ever my Lord is, there let his Servant be? Wilt thou forsake all others? all thy sins? wilt thou be made clean? wilt give up thy sores, and thy ulcers, thy filthy and fleshly lusts to be purged out? Does thine heart stand disengaged from every sin? Is there not any one iniquity, concerning which thine heart sayes, Let this stay with me? wilt search out thy sins? wilt accomplish a diligent search, sweep every corner, search every chamber of thine heart and life? wilt go down to the bottom of thy great deep, to find out what lodges there? wilt faithfully endeavour no more to allow thy self in any known iniquity? Wilt use all Gods means for the conquering and casting them out? Wilt forsake the World? wilt cast away thine Idols? Shall thy Mammon be no more a god, nor a demi-god to thee? shall it neither carry away thine heart from him, nor so much as share with him in it? Wilt thou not bow down to this golden Image, nor serve it? Wilt thou no longer serve thy greedy appetite? Shall thine heart no longer go after thy Covetousness? Wilt thou abandon thine Estate, thy pleasures, thine honours, thy friends & com­panions, so far forth as any of these divide or entice, or steal away thine heart from thy Lord? Whenever they say, Come away, wilt thou say, Get you hence? Wilt forsake the Devil? wilt fear, and fly from, and no longer hearken to his temptations? wilt no longer regard his promises nor his threat­nings? his flatteries nor his frowns? Coming off [Page 337] from the Tents of all these, wilt cleave unto thy Lord from henceforth, from this day forward, and not depart from him for ever? Wilt hold on thy course, wilt run out thy race, wilt be faithful to the death, wilt hope to the end for the Grace that shall be brought unto thee at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

What sayest thou? if thou sayest ( No;) as the Lord liveth, thou speakest this word against thine own life. If thou refusest to enter into this Co­venant, thou sayest, I will not be the Lords, I will none of him, I will not live; let death and wrath, and chains, and plagues, be my portion for ever. I will not be the Lords, I will not leave my sins, and my pleasures, and my companions for his love; that is, I will be a Fool, & a Beast, and a Devil; I will dye, and will not see life. Mistake not thy self, be not deceived, 'tis a mat­ter of life and death that is before thee. 'Tis whether Heaven or Hell, a God or no God, a Christ or no Christ, a soul or a lost soul, everlast­ing life, or everlasting fire shall be thy portion, that stands now to be determined, by thy consent or refusal; look to it, be wise this once, for eterni­ty. Consent and thou art blessed; consent and he is thine, and with him the Kingdom. Thy Lord hath given his consent already, view the hand writing, the whole New Testament, which is written in blood, and sealed, as 'tis written: There thou hast this ( I wi [...]l) in every line al­most, visible before thee, put to thine hand, and [Page 338] 'tis done. What sayest thou? Dost thou consent Shall thine heart come in, and put to thine hand and subscribe for thee?

I Will.

Let that be done, and then say after me.

CHAP. XX, and Last. An Exhortation to the Saints.

COme ye people, beloved, you that are highly favoured; The Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst men and women. The Lines are fallen to you in a pleasant place, yea, you have goodly heritage. Come and enter upon your Lot; let your hearts be glad, let your glo­ry rejoyce, but that your joy may be full, hearken to those following counsels:

Make sure your interest in the Covenant.

Rejoyce not in that that's none of thine. Make sure, all lies upon this: Your life, and all the comforts and concernments of it, both your eter­nal safety hereafter, and your success in all the parts of your Christian course here, depend on your interest in the Covenant. What have you if Christ be not yours? and what have you in Christ, if you be not in Covenant? whence are your hopes, either of mercy at last, or of prospe­ring in any thing at present, but from the Covenant of Promise? And what have you thence, if your name be not in it? Oh give not rest to your selves, till this be put out of doubt; whatever duties you [Page 343] perform, whatever ease or hope you find hereup­on, whatever transportation or affection you feel in your hearts, in the midst of all enquiry.

But am I in Covenant? How shall I know that, you'l say? why make a strict and narrow enqui­ry, whether those special graces already mention­ed, be wrought upon you. Common mercies, though even these be Covenant mercies to the Saints, yet will they not prove themselves so to be; but special graces will be their own evidence. Things outward, fall alike to all; No man knows love or hatred by ought that befals him, Eccles. 9.1. Thou mayest be a son or a bastard, notwithstan­ding all that thou enjoyest or sufferest here; but not one of the fore-mentioned graces, but is a Childs portion, Gods mark upon the heart, to di­stinguish children from strangers. Prove that thou truly knowest the Lord, hast one heart, a tender heart, &c. and thou therein provest thy self to be a child of Promise. Read over the de­scriptions that have been given of these graces; observe diligently where the main difference lies betwixt common and special grace; compare thine heart with it, and thereby thou mayest give a judgment of thy state. If it be yet questiona­ble, whether it be sound or no? sit not down till thou hast obtained; but having obtained;

2. Keep your evidences clear. Have you peace? maintain it carefully. The hidden Manna will never breed worms by long keeping. Content not your selves that you once had peace; 'twill [Page 344] be but a poor livelihood you will get out of what's wasted and lost. Get you good evi­dences that God is yours, and keep them by you, till you need them no more. Grace is your best evidence, cherish and preserve it. Get a seeing eye, and keep your eye open; get a single heart, and let it not be again divided; get a tender heart, and keep it tender; let the love and fear of God be acted in holy Obedience. An Obedient, Gracious, Watchful, Active life, will keep Grace in heart; and flourishing grace will speak for it self and you. Look not that the Lord should so far countenance your de­clinings to a more fleshly careless state, as to smile upon you in such a state; God will not be an Abettor to sin. Count upon it, that your grace and peace, your duty and comfort will rise and fall together; suspect those com­forts that accompany you into the Tents of wickedness, and forsake you not, when you forsake your God. Keep up your spirits, and then lift up your heads; keep heedfully on your way, and your joy shall no man take from you.

Particularly,

• 1. Keep close to God.
• 2. Keep hold on Christ.
• 3. Keep touch with the Spirit.
• 4. Keep in with Conscience.

[Page 345]1. Keep close-to God. Keep thy self under his eye and influences. Both thy grace and thy comforts as they had their birth, so must they have their nourishment from Heaven Lose the sight of the Sun, and darkness follows. Let thine eyes be toward the hills. Let divine love be the pleasure of thy life. Let it be thy Lords cord upon thine heart, lot it bind thee to him; he loves Captives let thine ear be bor'd to the threshold, be familiar in Heaven, keep thine acquaintance there, and be at peace; chide back thy gadding heart. Soul, whither art thou going? who hath the words of eternal life? let the interviews of love betwixt thy Lord and thee, be constant; let them not be onely on some few holy dayes of thy life.

Count not thou hast lived that day, in which thou hast not liv'd with God.

Keep close to God, by keeping close to duty. Keep close to duty, and keep close to God in duty. Call not that a duty, which thou canst not call Communion with God. Make not duty to do the work of sin, to take God out of sight. Let not Prayer, or Hearing, or Sacraments, be instead of a God to thee. Such praying and hearing there is amongst many, but know not thou any thing for Religion, wherein thou meetest not with God.

Behold the face of God, but behold his face in righte­ousness, Psal. 17.15 'Tis ill looking on God with a blood-shot eye. Guilt upon the heart, will be a cloud that will make the Sun as darkness to thee. Walk in the light of the Lord. Walk in the light, as he is in the light. In thy light (the holiness of thy li [...]e) thou shalt see his light. The light of his holines [...] in thee, will be attended with the light of his countenance upon thee. By the light of his countenance, thou wilt both see thy self in thy way to thine hopes, and learn thy way more perfectly, Psal. 119.135. Make thy face to shine [Page 346] upon thy Servant, and [...]e [...]ch [...] thy statutes. God hath many wayes of teaching; he teaches by Book, he teaches by his Finger, he teaches by his Rod; but hi [...] most comfortable and effectual teaching, is by the light of his Eye. Sen [...] forth thy light and thy truth, let them lead me, let them bring me to thy holy Hill.

2. Keep hold on Christ. He i [...] thy peace. Appear no [...] before God, but in the blood of the Lamb; let him carry up thy duties, & own not that for a comfort, which is not brought thee by his hand. Let him be thy way to the Father, and thy Fathers way to thee. Keep fresh upon thine heart, the memory of his death and satis­faction, and let that be thy life, and thine hope. Ha [...] thou cast Anchor on this Rock, lose not thy hold; han [...] upon the horns of the Altar. Thou canst not live but there; if thou must dye, say, but I will dye here▪ Put forth fresh Acts of faith every day and hour. Be­lieve, believe, believe, and thou shalt be established Fall not into Unbelief, then thou art gone; thou de­partest from the living God, Heb. 3.12.

3. Keep touch with the Spirit. Observe and obey hi [...] motions; when he excites, get thee on; when h [...] checks, get thee back; know the holy from the evi [...] spirit, by its according or differing with the Scrip­tures; reject that spirit in the heart, that is not the same with the Spirit in the Word. Try the wind, what and whence it is, by the Card and Compass; To the Law and to the Testimony. And when thou perceivest it's from above, hoise up thy sails, and get thee on. Quench not the Spirit: Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby thou art sealed to the day of Redemption.

4. Keep in with Conscience. Make not thy witness thine enemy. Dea [...] friendly with it; thou wilt need its good word, which thou canst not have, if it receive blows from thee; it will not learn this Lesson, to speak [Page 347] good for evil: or if thou shou [...]est beat it into it, thou art undone; if an abused conscience speak peace, it becomes thy Traytor.

Give due respect to Conscience. Let it abide with thee, in Peace, and in Power. Keep up its Au­thority, as Gods Vicegerent. Next under God, commit the keeping of thy soul to conscience, as the Lord hath, so do thou make it superintendent in thy soul: the Judge and Overseer of all thy mo­tions and actions. Let conscience counsel thee, and tell thee thy way; let conscience quicken thee, & put thee on in thy way; let conscience watch thee, that thou turn not out of thy way; let con­science check thee, and reduce thee into thy way. Whither ever thou goest, carry conscience along with thee; carry Conscience into thy Closet, let it watch thee how thou behavest thy self there; carry conscience into thy shop, let it eye thee what thou dost there; carry conscience into thy fields into the market, amongst thy friends, a­mongst thine enemies, let it observe how thou behavest thy self amongst them; carry conscience with thee to thy recreation, to thy bed, to thy table; whither ever thou goest, there's like to be out sad work, if conscience be not with thee. Commit the keeping of thy Covenant to conscience; [...]et it be the Ark in which the Tables of the Te­stimony are kept and preserved; let it be the Executor of thy Testament ▪ Conscience is bound by the Covenant, the Covenant lays hold on it, [...]et it lay hold on thee. Is thy conscience bound? [Page 348] seek not to be loosed; is thy conscience bound, give it leave to bind thine whole man: let it bind thy thoughts, and bind thy will, and bind thy affections, and bind thy tongue, and thy whole practice; thou never livest as a man in Covenant, longer then thou livest as a man of Conscience. What becomes of the Covenant, when a breach is made upon Conscience? Oh what is there in the world when conscience is not! what faith, or truth, or peace is there left alive? what are Vows, and Covenants, and Pro­mises? what are our duties to the Lord, our dealings with men, when there is no conscience towards God? Keep thy conscience, and thou keepest thy soul; keep thy Conscience, and thou keepest thy Covenant; keep thy Covenant, and thou keepest thy Peace: let that go, and all's lost.

Let Conscience govern what God hath put under its power, and let it resist all adverse power. Let it resist temptations. Whenever Satan, and thy flesh, fall upon thee, and tempt thee, Pity thy self, spare thy self, take thy liberty, take thine ease, take thy pleasure, provide for thy safety; what need it there of so much adoe? Why canst not take the same liberty, and allow thy self the same latitude as others do? They have souls, as well as thou; and they have dangers, as well as thou; and they have hopes as well as thou; and they have reasons, and understandings to know what they do, as well as thou; and why canst thou not be content to do as they? Why let this be [Page 349] thy answer, But what Conscience is there for it? With what Conscience can I be idle, when I have said, I will be doing? With what Consci­ence can I take mine ease, when I have said, I will take pains? With what Conscience can I serve my flesh, when I have said, I will crucifie it? With what Conscience can I love this world when I have said, I will renounce it? With what Conscience can I walk at liberty, when I have said, I will walk circumspectly? If all this were more than needs, (far be it from me to have such a thought, till the serving my God, and the sa­ving my soul, be more than needs.) But if it were more than needs, yet is it any more than I am bound to? Are there any such Liberties put into my Indentures? Was there any exception made of this duty, or that duty? Was there any limita­tion made, to this measure, or that measure; hi­therto will I go, and no further; this little I will do, and no more? Was there any such proviso put in, I will serve the Lord, provided I may with ease, or with safety? Have I not solemnly engaged to the Lord, to obey him in all things, to follow him fully, to love him, and serve him, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and this to the death? And Oh shall I lye unto God? Is it more than needs to be righ­teous, and to keep my faith? Come, O my soul, come on; thou hast opened thy mouth to the Lord, and thou must not go back. Be true, be honest; be honest, though thou must swear for [Page 350] it; though thou suffer for it▪ Remember what thy mouth hath spoken, and see that thou fulfil it with thine hand.

Keep Conscience pure. Its the Book in which all thy Records are written, let no blot be upon thy Book. Beware of sinning against Conscience. Every sin against Conscience, is a blot upon Conscience; and blots upon Conscience, are blots upon thy Covenant evidence; thou wilt not be able to read, whether there be any thing written there for thee or not. Ah foolish soul, what art thou doing? Dashing out all thine hopes with thine own hand. Beware thou content not thy self with blotted Evidences.

Christians, forget not this counsel, keep your Evidences clear. He who hath his whole estate in bonds or writings, how charily will he keep them! If these be torn, or lost, or so blurred, that they cannot be read, he's undone. What­ever else be lost, if his money be gone, if his goods be lost, if his house be burnt, yet if his writings be safe, he's well enough. Oh take heed, and keep your writings safe and fair; keep your. Title to your God cl [...]ar, and you can never be poor or miserable Whatever earth or hell can do against you, ti [...]l they can tear the Cove­nant of your God, or make you blot out your own names they have left you abundantly e­nough, even when they have left you nothing.

O how highly are we concern'd to be tender of Conscience, and yet how little care is there [Page 351] taken of it! What's become of the authority of Conscience, when thy thoughts and thy passions, when thine eyes, and thine ears, & thine appetite, and thy tongue, are left unbridled and unconque­red; when every Servant is set up to be Master, and bears rule in thee, where is thy Conscience▪ what's become of its authority? When thy soul hath be [...]n no better kept (what poverty and lean­ness is there grown upon it, what a starveling is it become both in grace and peace, eaten out wi [...]h lust, evaporated into vanity, sunk into sen­suality, thy spirit even transubstantiated into flesh, ready to perish, and dye away, for want of good looking to.) When thy Soul hath been no better kept, where is thy Conscience? when thy Cove­nant hath been no better kept, when thy duties thou hast vowed to perform, are so hastily and heed­lesly shuffled over, if not totally thrust aside; when thy hours of prayer are such short hours, thy Sabbaths such Winter days, so short and so cold too; when thy God is so shamefully neglect­ed, can never hear of thee; but when thou hast nothing else to do, no nor it may be then neither, when thy spare hours are hardly spared for God; when this earth, thy Corn, and thy Cattle, and thy Pleasures, and thy friends, which thou hast vowed to renounce, are let in again upon thine heart, and have stollen it away from Heaven, where is thy conscience? When thou sleepest so, and hast let the enemy come in and sow his [...]are [...] in thy field; when thou art such a busie▪ [Page 352] body in other mens ma [...]ters, and thine own Vineyard thou hast not kept, but hast let it lie fallow, like the field of the Sluggard, all over-grown with thorns and nettles; when both thine heart and thy house are so much out of order; when thy Wife and thy Chil­dren, and thy Servants are left at randome, to do all, what's right in their own eyes; when more care is taken for the Asses, then for thy Sons and Daughters; when thy house is a very hospital▪ of blind, and lame, and sick Souls, ready to die for want of instruction and good discipline; where is thy Conscience? and if Con­science be not, where is thy Covenant? and if thy Covenant be not, Oh where is thy God, and thy peace?

Ah Conscience! where art thou become? what is become of that good thing committed to thee, yea what is become of thee?

Ah Soul! where is thy peace? how is the keeper of thy peace laid low, and the covenant of thy peace broken? what peace, whilst no Conscience, and what hast thou left, whilst no peace? Ah Lord! thy treacherous dealers, how treacherously have they dealt with thee? thy Children have forgotten thee, thy Ser­vants are run-aways from thee; thou art our Father, but where is thine honour? thou art our Master, but where is thy fear? we are thy Servants, but where is our fear? Ah Lord! we have dealt falsly in thy Co­venant.

Return, O Lord, return; repair thy watches, re­cover thine honours, reduce thy wanderers, restore conscience, revive our peace, cause us to return and renew our Covenant; and remember, break not thou thy Covenant with us.

Christians, let us bewail lost Conscience, and let it be recovered; let us weep over our dead, and let their souls return into them. Let those of [...] [Page 353] have obtained grace to be fai [...]hful, and watchful, and tender, rejoyce, and take heed: let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall. Goe on in the Name of the Lord: Remember his counsels; keep close by God, keep hold on Christ, keep touch with the Spirit, keep in with Conscience; keep thine heart, keep thy gar­ments, keep up thy watch, keep on thy way, finish thy course, keep the faith; and then let the Devil do his worst, thy peace shall be extended to thee as a river, and established as a rock; and thou shalt be able to say, in the words, and in the faith of the Apostle, Hence forth is laid up for me a crown of righte­ousness, which God the righteous Judge shall give [...] me at that day, and not to me only, but to all that love his appearing.

3. Add to your Covenant, your Sacrifice, Psal 50 5. Gather my Sain [...] together unto me, those that have made a Covenant with me by sacrifice. God hath made with you, and he expects that you make a Covenant with him [by Sacrifice.] Sacrifices were the Seals of the Covenant. As Gods part of the Covenant, so our part also must [...]e [...], and [...]led with blood; his with the bloo [...] of his Son, ours wi [...]h the blood of our [...]

Rom 12, 1. I beseech you therefore, Bret [...]ren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sa­crific [...], holy, acceptable to God. The sacrificing of our selves to the Lord, comprehends in it three things.

• Alienation.
• Dedication.
• Oblation.

1. Alienation, or the passing away of our selves from our selves. Ye are not your own you are bought with a price. Thus he hath said, and he expects that we should say also, True Lord, I am not mine own.

2. Dedication, or the passing over our selves to the [Page 354] Lord, 2 Chron. 29.35. [...] consecrated your selves to the Lord. His we are by purchase, but he expects that we should be his also by donation: his we are by con­quest, but he expects that we should be his by con­sent also. Though he may chall [...]nge us as his right, yet the most acceptable claim is, when he hath us by gift. When our hearts say, I am thine Lord; then his heart will answer, Soul, thou art mine.

3. Oblation, or the actual surrender or offering up our selves to him. In the offering this sacrifice, is in­cluded the Immolation, or slaying of it: We must slay our selves (in a spiritual sense) be mortified, be cruci­fied with Christ, and so offered up a sacrifice to him. You will say, How is it then required, that we offer up our selves [a living sacrifice?]

Answ. We are never truly alive, till we are dead, Col. 3.3. Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When our flesh is dead, our spirit is life, Rom. 8. As the Apostle, 1 Cor. 15. That which thou sowest, so that which thou sacrificest, is not quickened, except it dye. Mortificatio est mors viva. Alapid. 'Tis only the mortified Christian that is a living sacrifice.

Christians, come and sacrifice your selves to the Lord. Come and slay your sacrifices, and so offer them up. Your sacrifice is then slain (as before 'tis inti­mated) when your carnal self, your old man is crucified with Christ, and the body of sin destroyed, Rom. 6. When the wisdom of the flesh is crucified, and made to vanish before the wisdom of God; when the will of the flesh is subdued, and swallowed up of the will of God; when the lusts of the flesh are vanquished, and made captives by the Law of God.

Christians, It may be you are willing to make your claim to the Covenant of God, but have you made covenant with him? You have entred into Covenant [Page 355] with God, but will you conf [...]m your covenant by sacrifice? You will give you [...] [...]lves a sacrifice to the Lord, but is your sacrifice slain? Is the wisdom of the flesh made foolishness? How is it with your car­nal wills? Is the will of the flesh broken, & brought into subjection, yielding it self up to the Lord? O for an exinanition of wills, an emptying them into the will of God! What wilt thou do? what wilt thou have? Nothing but what God will. What the Lord will have me do, or avoid, or suffer, I can no longer say him Nay. Is this the will of God, my sanctifi­cation? so 'tis mine. Is this the will of God, my hu­miliation? so 'tis mine. Is this the will of God, my tribulation? so 'tis mine. Is God for holiness? through grace so am I. Is God for his own will? so am I. This is all the will I have, that the Lord may have his will of me; may be all to me, have all from me, rule all in me, and dispose of all that concerns me.

How is it with your carnal affections, and fleshly lust? are these slain? Is your covetousness, your sen­suality, your pride and envy; are your carnal joyes, and fears, and worldly sorrows, are these destroyed? those wild-fires of passion, and fury, and rage, are these quenched? Come put the knife to the throat of all these, and then there's a sacrifice for God. Goe and offer it up; and let it be.

• A Free-will Offering.
• A Thank Offering

1. A Free-will Offering. Offer your selves willingly to the Lord, Psal. 1 10. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. O may that glorious day dawn upon us, God loves a chearful giver; offer up your hearts, with all your heart; grudge nor that the Lord requires, but bless God, that he will accept of an [Page 356] Offering; this hath [...] comfortable signification. If the Lord had [...] [...]o destroy us, he would not have accepted an Offering at our hands, Judg. 13.13.

2. A Thank-Offering. Offer unto God thanks­giving, and pay thy vows unto the most High. Offer up your selves in token of your thankful­ness to the Lord. Be ye both the Priests, and the Lambs for the sacrifice. Present your selves to the Lord, as the accomplishments of his Cove­nant, as the fruits of the death of your Redee­mer, as the Trophies of his Victory, as the spoyls which he hath recovered from Death and Hell, making a shew of them openly, that it may be seen that the promise of God is not of no [...] ef­fect, and that Christ did not dye in vain. Let your Lord Jesus, when he comes down [...] his Garden, where he left his blood, reap his plea­sant fruits, and carry up your purified souls, as the signals of his glorious atchievement. Offer up your sins to the Lord; these unclean beasts will be an acceptable sacrifice. There's more real honour growing up to the Lord, from one mortified Saint, then from ten thousand Anthems from the most seraphick tongues. Offer up your duties to the Lord; your obedience for a sacri­fice. To obey is better than sacrifice; than thousands of Rams, and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl. Let your whole life be this sacrifice let every day be a Sabbath, every duty an Eucharist, every member a cymbal, sounding out the praises of [Page 357] God. Offer up the calves of your lips unto the Lord. O let your souls be filled with wonder, and your mouths with praise. Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? Oh, whence is this to us, that the Lord our Fa­ther should come, and come so near to us; Oh whence is it, that the mighty God should indent and come into bond with sinful man! That he who was free from all men, should make himself debtor to any! That the high and lofty One, that inhabits Eternity, should dwell in houses of clay, and pitch his tabernacle in the dust! That he who humbleth▪ himself to behold the Heavens, should come down into the Earth; and after what is he come down, but after a dead Dog, or a Flea? That he should make a league with the stones of the ground, with the beasts of the field, and creeping things? Should espouse dust and ashes, and gather up vile worms into his bosome? Should set his heart upon shadows, and adopt the refuse of the Earth for Sons and Daughters to himself? Should raise the poor out of the dust, and the beggar from the dunghil? Should do such great things, and should choose the foolish and the weak, and the base, and the contemptible, and be­stow on [them] among all the world, these high honours▪ Should make them the Head, and the honourable, whom the World hath made the Tail, the filth, and the off-scouri [...] of all things? Should give himself to be the p [...]on, his Son to be the ransome, his Kingdom to be [Page 358] the heritage of Bankrupts, Prisoners and Captives? Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mindful of him! Soul, what is God, that thou shouldest be unmindful of him? How is it, that the tongue of the dumb is not yet loosened, that the feet of the lame do not leap as an Hart?

Oh what is that love, whence this strange thing hath broken forth? This this is the womb that bare thee; hence hath thy righteousness sprung forth; hence have they dignities, thy astonishing hope, and joys arisen to thee; this is it that year­ned upon thee in thy mercy, that reprieved thee from death, redeemed thee from darkness, rescu­ed thee as a brand out of the burning; that piti­ed thee in thy blood, washed thee from thy blood; spared thee, pardoned thee, reconciled thee, and brought thee, an enemy, a rebel, a traitor into a Covenant of Peace with the God of glory. Ah contemptible dust! that ever there should be such compassionate contrivements, and such asto­nishing condescentions of the eternal Deity, to­wards so vile a thing! O love the Lord all ye his Saints! O bless the Lord ye beloved, ye people near unto the Lord. Alas that our hearts should be so narrow, that the waters should be so shal­low with us; where are our eyes, if we be not yet filled with wonders; what hearts have we, if we have not yet filled our lips with praise. O­pen all thy springs, O my soul, let them flow forth [Page 359] in streams of love and joy; let every faculty be tuned and strained to the height; let heart and hands, and tongue, and eyes lift up their voice; be astonished O Heavens, be moved ye strong foundations of the earth, fall down ye Elders, strike up ye heavenly Quires, lend poor. Mortals your Notes, to sing forth the high Praises of God, who rideth on the Heavens, and hath caused us to ride on the high places of the earth, & made us sit together in heavenly places, shewing forth the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Awake up my glory, awake Psaltery & Harps, I my self will awake right early, My soul doth magnifie the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour; for he that is mighty hath done for me great things, and holy is his Name. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath vi­sited and redeemed his People; who hath raised up an horn of salvation for us, in the house of his Servant David, who hath laid help on one who is mighty, and exalted one chosen among the People, and hath given him for a Covenant to them. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me bless his holy Name, who hath redeemed thy life from death, and crown­ed thee with loving kindness and tender mer­cies. Salvation to our God, that sitteth on the Throne, and to the Lamb. Let the Re­deemed [Page 360] of the Lord say so, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and glory, and honour, and blessing; for thou livedst, and wast dead, and art alive for evermore. Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and peo­ple, and nation; and hast made us Kings and Priests unto our God for ever.

HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH.