our God and Portion and to get an interest in his Holiness Does God reveal himself to be a gracious God a God of Grace and Love This calls upon us to choose him for our God and Portion and to get an interest in his Love Doth he reveal himself to be a faithful God a God that keepeth Covenant and Mercy This calls upon us to choose him for our God and Portion and to get an interest in his Faithfulness so here Does God reveal himself to be an Unchangeable God This calls upon us to chuse him for our God and Portion and to get an interest in his Unchangeableness taking up the rest and happiness of our Souls in him and accordingly O that we would look and live above changeable Creatures taking up our rest and happiness in this unchangeable God which to do is even infinitely our safest and sweetest course for pray consider who or what will you chuse for your Portion and wherein will you place the rest and happiness of your Souls if not in the Unchangeable God Sure I am you have but God or the Creature to make choice of Now what is the Creature to God What is the changeable Creature to the unchangeable God Alas the one is infinitely short of the other God indeed is every way and in all respects a most desirable Good He is an original Good a full Good a suitable Good a satisfying Good an unmixed Good an all-sufficient Good and which crowns all an Unchangeable Good a Good that never fades never failes He is the Living God and stedfast for ever Dan. 6.26 The Creatures are all changeable and perishing An Heathen could say Inter peritura vivimus Sen. We live among perishing things And 't was a great saying of one of the Aucients We have nothing Nulla res longa mortalium est omnisâ—â—â— faelicitas saeculi dum tenetur amittitur here sayes he of any long continuance and all the felicity of this world is gone while we hold it and lost even while we injoy it Such and so great is the changeableness and uncertainty of all these things But God as you have heard and all that Good that is in him is alwayes and for ever the same which speaks him to be infinitely sweet and desirable and so infinitely worthy to be imbraced by us for our God and Portion This indeed crowns and perfects all that good that is in God Look as the changeableness of the Creatures lowers and allays that good and sweetness that is in them so the Unchangeableness of God does infinitely raise and commend that good and excellency that is in him Had the Creatures ten thousand times more good and excellency in them than they have yet this one consideration that they are changeable were enough to damp all and quash all though the Creatures had never so much sweetness and goodness in them and though I had never so full free and ample injoyment of them though the streames ran never so pleasantly on each hand of me yet this one thought that all this is fading and changeable and will last but for a season were enough to allay my joy and even imbitter all to me So on the other hand though God be such an infinite Ocean of Goodness Sweetness and Blessedness as he is yet that which crowns all is his Unchangeableness in all and without this 't is not the whole of God could make us happy Now shall the consideration hereof induce you to chuse him for your God and Portion and take up your rest and happiness in him for ever Possibly you have never yet chosen God to be your God and Portion nor have you taken up the rest and happiness of your Souls in him you have chosen the Creatures you have chosen this World you have chosen carnal sensual things and in these have you placed your rest and happiness but as for God he has hitherto been far from your Reins you have centred in changeable Creatures and forgotten the Unchangeable God But will you now change your Choice and take up a new Rest Oh now let an Unchangeable God not changeable Creatures be your God and Portion your Rest and Happiness O that the language of your Souls to God might now be that of the Psalmist Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven but thee And there is none upon Earth that I desire besides thee Lord thou and thou alone shall be my God my Rest my Portion my Happiness and my All for ever Indeed I had chosen the Creatures for my Portion and Happiness but now I renounce that choice I 'le have no more to do with changeable Creatures the World was my happiness and I sat down with it so foolish was I and ignorant but now I have done with the World this flitting fading dying World and thou Lord alone shall be my All for ever Oh that you would indeed thus chuse the Unchangeable God and take up your rest and happiness in him this day And you that have chosen him and taken up your happiness in him make a new choice of him and take up your rest more purely and entirely in him say over this Unchangeable One This God is our God for ever and ever Psal 48.14 Oh labour to get more above the Creatures and live more in God and upon God The more purely and entirely you take up your rest in God the sweeter will he be to you and the more satisfaction will your souls find in him Now to quicken you thus to chuse God and live upon him and his Unchangeableness 1. Consider what a changeable World we live in we live in a changeable World in a World that rings changes every day many changes and great changes the truth is This World is a very changeable world and 't is not long e're it will be changed once for all the day is coming when all these things shall be dissolved the Heavens shall pass away with a noise the Earth shall melt with fervent heat 2 Pet. 3.10.11 and in the mean time the world is not without its changes and how great changes we may live to see who knows such changes seem to be coming upon the world as that nothing but an Unchangeable God will be able to bear us up under them In Luk. 21.25 26. we read of distress of Nations which shall be upon the Earth with perplexity mens hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that shall come to pass upon the Earth The sum of which amounts to this that there shall be such changes such rendings such shakings such terrible convulsions and concussions wrought in the Nations of the World such desolations shall be made and such terrible storms of wrath and vengeance shall fall upon the World as that men shall be even exanimated and driven to their wits end they shall fall under a deliquium Animi a swooning of Spirit they shall breath out their very Souls or they shall be
have been pursuing Rest and promising our selves Rest in and from the Creature yea and others of the Saints have experienced and asserted the same thing Dura sunt omnia tu solus requies All things saies Aug. are full of trouble and difficulty thou alone O God art the true Rest And 't is a great Speech of his worthy to be written upon the Table of all our Hearts speaking to Souls who are gone off from God Return ye prevaricators saies he to your selves Redite prevaricatores ad cor Haerete illi qui fecit vos state cum illo stabitis requiescite in eo quieti eritis quo itis in aspera quo it is non est requies ubi quaeritis eam quaerite quod quaeritis sed ibi non est ubi quaeritis beatam vitam quaeritis in regione mortis non est illic quomode enim beata vita ubi nec vita Aug. and cleave unto him that made you stand with him and ye shall stand Rest in him and ye shall Rest And again saies he Rest and Happiness is not to be found where you seek it seek what you seek but know that 't is not to be found where you seek it You seek a Blessed Life in the Region of Death and 't is not there for how should a blessed Life be found there where there is not so much as Life it self The sum of all seems to be this that those that desert God do go from the true Rest and Happiness of Souls and to seek Rest and Happiness any where but in God and Christ is to seek the Living among the Dead Once more will you have recourse to your selves and be your own Rest Indeed we read that a good man shall be satisfied from himself Prov. 14.14 but how from himself from himself in Union and Communion with his God from himself as in Communion with him that is the chief Good that has all Good in him and not otherwise and therefore observe the good man here stands in opposition to the back-slider one that is gone off from God our selves considered abstractly in themselves are most insufficient to give rest to the soul being most vain changeable In omnibus quae videntur requiem quaesivi veram requiem in eis invenire non potui deinde rediens ad me consistere in meipso non possum quoniam mens mea valde leris est Ber. and deceitful Every man in his best state is altogether vanity Psal 39.5 'T is a great saying I have read in Bern. I have sought Rest saies he in all things that are seen but I could not find Rest in them then returning to my self I found I could not possibly subsist in my self because my mind is most light and vain In nothing without in nothing within could he find any Rest but in God alone I 'le close this Argument with a weighty speech which I have read in a worthy Divine of our own Blessed Mr. Burroughes Who speaking of God's being the Rest and Portion of his People speaks thus Suppose saies he that God should cause all the Kings and Emperors in the World to come and cast down their Crowns at the foot of an holy Soul and say all these are thine he would answer this is not enough for this is not God himself Suppose God should bring all the splendours of all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth and they should be cast at the foot of an holy Soul as his he would say This is not enough this is not God himself Suppose God should cause all the Glory of Heaven not only of Sun Moon and Stars but also of the highest Heaven abstract from God to be laid before an holy Soul as his he would say This is not enough this is not God himself Once more Should all the Angels come and say to an holy Soul We are sent to put all our Glory upon thee he would say This is not enough for this is not God himself O nothing but God in Christ can give Rest to Souls 3. Consider what a blessed Rest God is for Souls or that Souls may find in God As there is an utter impossibility of finding Rest any where but in God so in him there is a blessed Rest to be found for Souls a full a perfect an eternal Rest O my Beloved what can your Souls desire or what are they capable of that is not to be found in God Would you have Good it must be Good that can give Rest to the Soul God is Good he is the chief Good the best the highest Good he is Goodness it self he is Good in himself and he is the Spring and Fountain of all that good that is in the Creature he is so Good as that he is the Good of all Good and nothing has any thing of Goodness in it but as it resembles him and participates of him Bonus est qui secit me ipse est bonum meum illi exulto omnibus bonis meis There is none Good but one that is God Mat. 19.17 he is Good that made me saies Aug. and he is my Good and in him do I exult and rejoyce before all my other good things whatever and in all my other good things Would you have a full Good such a Good is God there is a fulness of all Good in him He that overcometh shall inherit all things How so I will be his God I 'le be his and in having me he will have all in me Rev. 21.7 Whatever good beauty or excellency there is in the Creature yea in all the Creatures put together 't is all but a small drop or ray to that Good Beauty and Excellency that is in God 'T is but a small spark to the Ocean of the Divine Goodness Lord saies Austin all those things which thou hast made are beautiful Pulchra sunt omnia faciente te Domine ecce tu inenarrabiliter pulchrior qui fecisti omnia Aug. but thou thy self art infinitely more beautiful God has all kinds and all degrees of Good in him he is Light and Life and Love and Peace and Joy and Holiness and Salvation and what not that good is or that conduces to the happiness of eternal Souls Thou Lord Tu bonum'nullo indigens bono semper quietus es quoniam tua quies tuipse es Aug. art that Good where no good is wanting saies Aug. and thou art alwayes at Rest because thou art thine own Rest That little good that is found in the Creature is narrow scanty and but here and there a drop but God has all Good in a blessed Union and conjunction in him O how glorious a Rest may the Soul find in him Would you have a suitable and convenient Good such a Good is God he is a suitable and convenient Good a Good suitable to the Nature Life and Wants of the Soul Among all your Creature-Injoyments and Contentments there is nothing suitable either to
doctrinal Corollaries or Deductions from the consideration of God's Unchangeableness HAving thus far asserted opened and vindicated the Unchangeableness of God our next work shall be to deduce some useful Corollaries or Conclusions thence and indeed many things of weight and very momentous to us may be drawn from what has been said As 1. See here the Glorious Excellency and Perfection of God and that he is infinitely distinguisht from all the creatures in Dignity and Glory God my Beloved is every way above and distinguisht from the creatures He is the excellent Glory 2 Pet. 1.17 and there is hardly any thing wherein his Glorious Excellency and Perfection does more brightly illustriously and transcendently appear and shine forth than in his Unchangeableness The Creatures are all changeable one way or other the Heavens and the Earth with all the furniture of the one and the other are changeable they shall perish yea all of them shall wax old like a Garment and be changed as a Vesture Psal 102.26 The day is coming wherein all these shall be dissolved 2 Pet. 3.10 11. Men also they are changeable they indeed are Changeableness it self as it were they are changeable in their Nature and changeable in their Condition changeable in their Spirits and changeable in their Wayes changeable in their Counsels and changeable in their Comforts changeable in all they are unstable as water as 't is said of Reuben Gen. 49.4 Great Men are changeable Psal 62.9 Yea good Men are changeable the best Men are changeable the best Men at their best in this world are changeable Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity that is subject to change Psal 39.5 Men are not to day what they were yesterday nor will they be to morrow what they are to day yea Men are to day and to morrow they are not so changeable are they Yea the Angels the Blessed Angels themselves are changeable God puts no trust in his Saints and his Angels he charges with folly Job 4.18 that is with possible though not actual folly with change and folly in their Nature though not in their Condition there is my Beloved a peccability in the very Angels I mean in their Nature The best of Creatures in themselves are subject to the worst of changes the glorious Angels are in their Nature capable of sinning indeed in their Condition they are not being confirmed in both all Holiness and all Happiness by the grace of the Second Covenant but in their Nature they are Hence that saying of one of the School-men Cuicunque Creaturae hoc convenit ut peccare non possit hoc habet ex dono gratiae non ex conditione naturae Aquin. Whatever Creature there is that is impeccable and cannot sin he has not this from himself or in his Nature but from the Gift of free Grace Thus all the Creatures are changeable but God is unchangeable he is for ever the same And O how glorious does this speak him to be And how does it distinguish him from all the Creatures in Perfection and Glory The truth is this is a glorious Excellency and Perfection in it self and this puts a lustre and glory upon the Excellencies Perfections of God for this as one speaks is an Attribute which like the silken string through the Chain of Pearl runs through all the rest and puts a glory upon all God's Holiness would not be half so glorious were it not unchangeable Holiness his Love would not be half so sweet were it not unchangeable Love his Justice and Wrath would not be half so terrible were it not unchangeable Justice and Wrath Indeed what were any of all his Attributes in comparison were they not unchangeable O! let us learn to see and adore God in this glorious Excellency and Perfection of his 2. From the consideration of God's Unchangeableness we conclude the transcendent excellency of Spiritual Things beyond Carnal Heavenly things beyond Earthly and accordingly we should prize and pursue the one and the other This take for an eternal Rule That the nearer things come to God and the more they resemble him and partake of him the more excellent and desirable they are Indeed as God is the Fountain so he is the Measure and Standard of all true Worth and Excellency and here is nothing that has any real worth or excellency in it any further then it resembles him and partakes of him Now what things do most resemble God and partake of God are they Spiritual or Carnal Heavenly or Earthly surely Spiritual and Heavenly Things God is unchangeable and so in their kind are these as for Carnal and Earthly things they are fading and changeable the best of them are Treasures which moth and rust doth corrupt and which Theives do break through and steal Mat. 6.19 They are all fadeing dying transient things The World passeth away sayes Saint John 1 Joh. 2.17 that is fleeting and perishing 'T is a good Observation which Calvin has upon these words * Quia in mundo nihil est nisi caducum et quasi momentaneum ex eo colligit quam male misere sibi consulant qui hic sibi faelicitatem constituunt praesertim quum al beatam aeternae vitae gloriam nos Deus vocet Calv. Because sayes he in the World there is nothing but what is fading and as it were but for a moment the Apostle thence concludes how ill they consult and provide for themselves who carve out to themselves their happiness here especially when God calls us to the blessed Glory of eternal Life and 't is as if he should say The true happiness which God offers to his Children is eternal and therefore most unworthy is it in us to incumber our selves with this World which together with all its good things will anon vanish away Pray let us lay this Observation to heart The world passeth away that is Riches Honours and Pleasures they all fade and change are short-lived Alas how soon many times do Riches change into Poverty Pleasure into Pain Honour into Disgrace and Contempt Friends into Enemies Fulness into Want there is no stability in any of these things they are subject to change every moment but now Spiritual and Heavenly Things they are lasting and durable they are Treasures which neither moth nor rust doth corrupt nor can Theives break through and steal them Mat. 6.20 The Riches of this World are uncertain Riches vanishing disappearing Riches 1 Tim. 6.17 but the Riches of Heaven and the Covenant of God's Love are certain durable and abiding Riches Grace is a durable Thing the Righteousness of Christ is a durable unchangeable Thing Pardon Justification Acceptation with God through that Righteousness are durable Things Union and Communion with God through Christ these are unchangeable these live and last for ever where attained and being so they do come nearer God they more resemble him and partake more of him than Carnal and Earthly Things do and so are
despise and contemn it but God has other thoughts and other values of it he highly esteems and honours it he looks on it as one of the choicest Ornaments as one of the highest excellencies of any Soul Now certainly that is best which God values and honours most As that which honours God most so that which God most honours must have most of true worth and excellency in it A restless unquiet Spirit on the one hand or a Spirit at Rest in the Creature on the other hand is what God abhors and despises but a Spirit at Rest in himself he highly values 8. To live at Rest in God is a heavenly Frame and Posture of Soul a frame and posture of Soul which carries much of Heaven in it 't is indeed in a great measure the Life of Heaven here on Earth and what then more excellent than this Pray my Beloved what is Heaven and the Life of Heaven the Life which the Saints and Angels live in Heaven Heaven is a state of Rest Heb. 4.9 and what is that Rest True there is an external Rest there is a Rest from Labour and Trouble from Conflict and Temptation but the main of it is the inward Rest of the Soul that Rest and Complacency which the Soul injoys in God and shall injoy in him and with him for ever there the Soul is filled with God he is perfectly swallowed up in the Divine Will being thorowly conformed thereunto and he has the perfect Vision and Frnition of the Divine Glory and Fulness seeing him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 And in both these he is filled with even an infinite content and satisfaction of Heart this is the True Rest of Heaven and what is the Life which the Saints and Angels live there 'T is a Life of Perfect Rest and Solace in God such Rest and Solace in God as that they never think of going out to any thing else whatever God is all in all to them 1 Cor. 15.28 Thus to be at Rest in God is an heavenly frame and posture of Soul and O what an excellent frame must this be Well then lay all these eight Things together and you shall find an incomparable Worth and Excellency in it which is a further evidence of the Saints Duty and Interest to live therein CHAP. V. The Truth particularly improved The Saints called upon to live thus at Rest in God Arguments urged to induce them so to do WHat it is for the Soul to be at Rest in God what Obligations the Saints are under to live at Rest in him the excellency of this frame and posture of Spirit you have seen laid open before you Now what shall we say to these things O that all who profess themselves to be Saints or would be accounted so would give all diligence always to live thus at Rest in God Possibly some of us are quite off our Centre our Souls are full of stormes and tempests tossings and tumblings they are not only cast down but also disquieted within us as holy David's sometimes was Psal 42.11 Others of us perhaps are at Rest but 't is a sinful Rest at Rest in the Creature and not in God at Rest in carnal sensible things we are of those who are at ease in Zion yea perhaps we are even singing that mad Requiem to our Souls that that fool sometimes did Luk. 12.19 Soul take thine ease eat drink and be merry thou hast Goods laid up for thee for many years But now this truth and the things declared about it do call upon the one and the other of us to return to God as our Rest and to centre purely and entirely in him alone This Truth calls off the one from all those unquiet Motions and Agitations that are within us from all our tossings and tumblings to an holy Calm and Quiet of heart in God and it calls off the other from all our false Rests and Reposes to an holy Rest and Repose in God and Oh that both the one and the other would hear and obey this Call taking up our Rest in God alone O my Beloved are you under such obligations to live at Rest in God as you are and yet will you not live at Rest in him On the other hand Is the frame and posture of Soul so excellent and will you neglect it and not study to be found alwayes therein Let me recapitulate a little particularly Has God freely made over himself in all his Fulness and Riches in his Covenant to you as your Rest and Portion for ever and yet will you not live at Rest in him Have you chosen God and voucht him for your God and Portion and yet will you not live at Rest in him Is God so much as you have heard at Rest in you and yet will you not live at Rest in him Shall you and do you hope to live at Rest in God and with God for ever in Heaven and yet will you not live at Rest in him here O me thinks these things should constrain you On the other hand should not the excellency of the frame alure you would you live forth much of the life and power of Grace then live at Rest in God Would you be ready for every call of God to you whether to do or to suffer to live or to die then live at Rest in God Would you be fenced and fortified against Temptation then live at Rest in God Would you injoy much Spiritual Comfort and Communion with God then live at Rest in God Would you be like God Would you resemble God and grow up into his Life and Blessedness then live at Rest in God Would you honour God you have greatly dishonoured him Would you now honour him then live at Rest in him Would you live in Heaven and begin the Life of Heaven here on Earth then live at Rest in God O why should we think of any other Rest but God or why should we live in any other posture of Soul but this of a Rest in him is there any so sweet so amiable so becoming as this Oh let us labour as near as possible alwayes to be found in this posture Blessed be God that we may Rest in him Two things we should bless God for one is that there is a Rest remaining for us in the other World whether we find Rest here or no yet there is a Rest to come a blessed Rest Heb. 4.9 The other is that there is a Rest in God for us and that we may enter into and live in that Rest even here when there is no Rest to be had in this Worlds Injoyments no Rest in or from the Creature yet then there is a Rest to be had in God and from God We that have believed do enter into Rest Heb. 4.3 there is a Rest in God in the Will the Presence the Love the Fulness of God which we do or may enter into even here in this World and blessed be God for this Rest
is but a little while and Man and his Wrath both shall change and die but God and his Wrath will live for ever O learn to fear and tremble at his Wrath and beware how for a little fading changeable delight in sin you throw your selves under unchangeable wrath and fury Poor sinner thou makest light of God's Wrath as if it were an inconsiderable thing witness thy wilful and daily provoaking of it against thee by sin witness thy insensibleness of and under the tokens and revelations of it witness thy neglect of Christ and of making thy peace with God by him and the like but Soul view it in the Glass of his infinite Unchangeableness and then see whether it be a thing to be made light of or no the Saints they tremble but in the apprehension of it Who knows he power of thine Anger says Moses Psal 90.11 They sigh they bleed they groan yea they die and are even distracted under a little temporal sprinklings and droppings of it Psal 88.15.16 yea they dread and tremble many times at but the revelation of it against others I was afraid sayes Moses of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wrath against you to destroy you Deut. 9.19 Moses could contemn the Wrath of man yea of Man whose Wrath of all men is most terrible the Wrath of a King Heb. 11.27 but yet he trembles at the Wrath of God when 't was provoaked against others thus the Saints tremble at God's Wrath yea more the Devils themselves do dread and tremble at God's Wrath the Devils believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 they believe there is a God and they tremble at the apprehension of the Wrath of that God And sinner whoever thou art how light soever thou mayest now make of God's Wrath yet know that there is a time coming when thou and the stoutest sinners in the World must and will tremble at it See that one text Isa 33.14 The sinners in Sion are afraid fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrite Why what is the matter Verily nothing but the sight and apprehension of God's Wrath and Vengeance coming upon them so much the following words shew Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire Who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings They saw God's Wrath to be as a devouring fire they saw the terror of it in the Glass of God's Unchangeableness and therefore call it everlasting burnings and this filled them with dread and trembling Take one place more Rev. 6.15 16 17. in vers 16 17. We find some crying out to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb For say they the great day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Well but who are they that thus cry out Surely they are onely a company of low-spirited Creatures thinkest thou they are only some Women and Children or some base cowardly Ones that never had the Spirit and Courage of Men No Soul they are no such Persons they are the Kings of the Earth and the great Men and the rich Men and the chief Captains and the mighty Men and every bond-man and every free-men all sorts of Men Men of the highest place the highest estates the highest courage and valour as well as others these all are said to hide themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Mountains and call unto the Mountaines and Rocks saying Fall on us Oh but we shall fall heavy no matter fall on us but to what purpose Why to hide us from the Wrath of God why what is the matter are you afraid of the Wrath of God Time was you slighted and disregarded it as an inconsiderable thing and do you so dread it now and tremble at it now that you cry to us Rocks and Mountains to fall on you to hide you from it Oh yes good Rocks good Mountains fall on us you will lie light and easie upon us in comparison of what the Wrath of God will do How Why should you think so You had other thoughts of God's Wrath a while agoe why do you so dread it and tremble at it now O because the great day of his Wrath is come and none can stand before it say they We lookt on this Wrath a while agoe at a distance and then it seemed a light thing but now the day yea the great day of his Wrath is come and there is no standing for us while we lookt at it at a distance we could stand before it and make light of it yea in some lesser dayes of Wrath we have born up well enough but now his Wrath is come near us yea and the fulness and fierceness of it is breaking forth against us now we see this Wrath to be more dreadful and formidable and that we can never stand up either under it or against it Say ye so reply the Rocks and Mountains then no wonder you cry to us to hide you from it but truly 't is more then we can do for you you must now bear and graple with that wrath for ever as to any relief we can afford you in the case O sinner when the great day of God's Wrath shall come then if not before thou also wilt tremble at his Wrath Indeed now wouldest thou see it and tremble at it thou mightest cry to a Rock that could and would hide thee from it provided thou gettest into it I mean Christ that Rock of Ages he being imbraced by Faith and thy Soul having union with him would hide and secure thee against the Wrath of God for ever but if thou wilt go on to make light of this Wrath and to provoke it daily against thee by sin thou wilt at last sink under the weight and burthen thereof for ever 6. In the Glass of God's Unchangeableness we see the true reason why the best of us all are not consumed and accordingly let us give the glory of it where 't is due Beloved why are you and I and others not consumed True we meet with some afflictions and are exercised with some disticulties now and then but why are we not utterly consumed and destroyed Verily 't is not because we are able to save our selves nor is it because we deserve that God should save us but 't is purely and solely because our God is unchangeable This account the Text it self gives of it I am the Lord I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed All our security lies in God's Immutability we perish not because he changes not Pray give me leave a little to be free with you and my self Why are we not consumed with an external consumption We are sorely broken many of us 't is true we are broken in our Estates in our Healths in our Comforts in our Relations but why are we not utterly destroyed Why are we alive Why have we any one comfort about us
of these things will be who can tell In Jer. 16.5 we read that God had taken away his Peace from that People I have taken away my Peace from this People saith the Lord and truly now he seemes to have taken away his Peace from the World I 'le leave only two Scriptures with you one out of the Old and the other out of the New-Testament both which I am apt to think may have a great aspect to the present dayes and may in a great measure receive their accomplishment in them One is Zeph. 3.8 Wait ye upon me saith the Lord untill the day that I arise up to the prey for my determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdoms to pour out upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger for all the Earth shall be devoured with the fire of jealousy The other is that Luk. 21.25 26. There shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars and these we have had and upon the Earth distress of Nations with perplexity the Sea and the Waves roaring mens hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken I say nothing only I fear I fear as we have seen some of these things accomplisht so there will be a more full accomplishment of them and that ere the present generation passes away Doubtless great stormes are a coming and happy they that have an Ark to hide themselves in God has now great Works to do he has the Kingdom of Antichrist utterly to destroy the Kingdom of his Son Christ to set up in its Lustre and Glory the final Redemption of his People to work out his ancient Ones to call in and his suffering Name Attributes and Glory fully to right and vindicate and these things are not like to be brought about without great Stormes Convulsions and Concussions in the World Well and what is the language of all this to us Verily this Souls retire into God take up your Rest in him make him your All both here and in eternity and Oh that we would do so Then should we Rest in the day of trouble When Noah fore-saw the Deluge a coming he prepared him an ark to the saving of both himself and Family Heb. 11.7 Surely he s blind indeed that does not see a Deluge coming upon the World a Deluge of outward Troubles and Calamities O why do we not enark in God by making him our Rest this God invites his People unto Isa 26.20 Come my People enter thou into thy Chambers and shut thy Doors about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment until theindignation be overpast for behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their iniquity What is it for God's People to enter into their Chambers hide themselves but to retire more into him live at Rest and in Communion with him to put themselves under his protection and the like 't is for them to retire from the World and worldly Concernes and to make him all living and resting wholly in him and upon him O let this viz. the restlesness of the World you live in draw your Souls into an holy rest in God 5. Consider what enemies you are to your own Souls by not living at Rest in God He that sinneth 't is said wrongeth his own Soul he that lives not at Rest in God greatly sinneth and thereby greatly wrongeth his own Soul On the one hand you hereby deprive your Souls of much Good and on the other hand you expose your Souls to much Evil. 1. Hereby you deprive your Souls of much Good yea of much of the best Good Solomon found this in experience and tells us that pursuing Rest and Happiness in the Creature and not in God he did thereby bereave his Soul of Good Eccles 4.8 and what Good Verily the best Good the Good of Grace of Holiness of Communion with God of the Comforts of his Spirit and the like and Oh how much of this Good do you bereave your Souls of dayly This is that which hath bereaved you of much Grace much Love much Spiritual Comfort many Imbraces in the Armes and Bosome of Christ's Love This namely our pursueing Rest from the Creature and not living at Rest in God is that which hath made us so lean so dead so dry so barren in our Spirits as we are O my Beloved while we have been off our Rest in God and have taken up in other things what have we been doing but feeding upon Husks and Swill when we might have eaten Bread and drunk Wine in the Fathers Kingdom what have we been doing but following after lying vanities to the forsaking of our own mercies Oh did you know how sweet a Life it is to be at Rest in God you would then know what Good you have bereaved your Souls of by not living at Rest in him 2. Hereby you expose your Souls to much evil I remember a saying of Austin * In hoc peccabam quod non in Deo sed in creaturis ejus me atque caeteras voluptates quaerebam atque ita irruebam in dolores confusiones errores animae Aug. In this I sinned says he that I sought my Happiness not in God but in his Creatures and so I rusht upon all manner of Dolours Confusions and Errors of Soul and have not we done So O the wounds the Confusions the Errors of Soul which we have exposed our selves unto while we have been off our Rest in God! Sin and Satan have made great waste and desolation upon our Spirits and 't is what exposes us to nothing but sorrows snares and Death and as we would not wrong our Souls let us retire to and live at Rest in God 6. Consider that your living at Rest in God here will be a clear and unquestionable evidence to you that you shall live at Rest in God and with God for ever O how sweet is it to have any one clear evidence of living at Rest in God and with God in Heaven and what would some of our Souls at some times give for such a blessing yea how sweet is a small glimpse of Hope a secret whisper an inward hint or intimation of such a thing from the Spirit of God in our Souls O live at Rest in God here and this will be a broad evidence of it to you and truly unless you do live at Rest in him here I know not however you will make it out to your Souls that you shall live at Rest in him and with him in the other World In short my Beloved if we do indeed desire to live at Rest with God for ever in Heaven why should we not desire to live at Rest in God here Sure I am the thing is the same and we should desire the one as well as the other and the one as the