above all your Sin where Sin hath abounded Grace doth much more abound where Sin hath abounded there is a superabounding Grace superabounding Righteousness and superabounding Life Adam received the Promise of the Woman's Seed before he had done any Work or Sacrifice to the end that God's Truth might stand fast namely that we are justified before God altogether without Works and do obtain Forgiveness of Sins meerly by Grace who so were able to believe this well and stedfastly the same were a Doctor above all the Doctors in the World said Luther Again All Hereticks have failed in this point that they do not rightily understand nor know the Article of Justification how we are justified before God for if that were lost then manifold errors of necessity would ensue O then how rich is Christ How rich in Merit to pay God all that is due to him from the Sinner O saith one I am a great Sinner saith another I have great Imperfections in my Duties I am so carnal so dead so wandering so indifferent I am afraid to come to God I am so sinful Why poor Soul here is a Christ for you to live upon here is Righteousnes for Sin Life for Death Pardon for Condemnation Then go to Christ lay hold of him by Faith as given of God to you and then you will say with Paul For me to live is Christ Secondly As Christ is rich enough to repair all your Losses So you are inricht with all the Treasure of Christ 1 Cor. 3. ult For all is yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods As if he should say have you a Christ with God Is your Christ God's Son and is he Heir of all things Then all is yours Paul and Apollos and Cephas are all yours all the Ministers of Christ are sent for the good of the Redeemed ones all that are Christs Then the Saint may say Is all mine Is Life mine Yes Life is yours for while you live you shall live a sanctified Life Well but is Death mine many are afraid to die Yes Death is yours Death is made your Friend Death is conquered in Christ and when Death comes you need not be afraid to entertain your Lord's Messenger that he sends to fetch you home to his Glory Death is sent to fetch you out of your Houses of Clay to meet your Redeemer and sit on the Throne with him and to enjoy your Lord in Glory Saith the Believer But how comes all this to be mine Why your are Christ's and Christ is Gods All things are yours the Crowns above the Thrones above the Saints above the Angels above Fulness of Joy above Rivers of Pleasure above and how comes all this to be yours in Christ Because Christ is Gods and God hath possessed him with all things and made him Heir of all things therefore he enriches his Members with all things Then well may a Saint desire neither Life nor any thing in Life any futher than he enjoys Christ Thirdly As Christ repairs all your Losses and as you are enriched with the Treasures of Christ so he enriches your Souls also As you have Riches above and Riches below so he enriches you within When a Soul knows Christ what a glorious Knowledge of the things above comes into the Soul He enriches your poor dark beggerly Understandings for while a Man is ignorant of Christ what poor low things does he study and seek after but when a Soul comes to have Christ revealed to him then the Soul comes to aspire and inquire after God and Christ and the things above he enlightens the Understanding that before did lead on the Affections to grasp after a little vain Pleasures and Honors and Profits in this World and now causes the Soul to pursue after higher things then he enriches the Will I will make them a willing people in the day of my Power Psal 110.3 It is a glorious thing to have the Will subdued the Will renewed to have a perverse stubborn Will now to serve in the Beauties of Holiness Secondly he enriches the Affections with Joy and Peace and Delight O what a Glory is it to have the Affections raised up the Heart set on things above on Jesus Christ the Soul is seeking after Glory the Heart is seeking after Heavenly things When Jesus Christ comes he enriches all the Affections of the Soul The Kings Daughter is all glorious within Christ is so rich a Pearl such Riches in him that he sets open Doors to all that come whoever come shall find welcome there is enough in him for the Sinner to live upon while he lives here and to all Eternity Thirdly Christ is an Heart-chearing Pearl O saith the Soul could I but have Christ for mine enjoy Christ how would my Heart rejoyce Now when Christ shines with a glimps of his Righteousness into the Soul O saith the Soul that I could enjoy more of this Christ more of his Grace of his Love Saith the Spouse He brought me into the Banqueting-House and his Banner over me was Love Cant. 2.4 Banners of Love O what a chearful Feast I have now I think all the Afflictions and Temptations I have in the World can never cast me down the Heart is cheared What is Christ mine What is God mine Is Grace mine and Righteousness mine and Glory mine This is an Heart-chearing Pearl O it is such a Pearl drink it in all your Potions and bring Christ in every Duty Then a Soul may take comfort and reason thus with himself though I am dead in Duty Christ lives though I am sinful Christ is righteous though my Corruptions abound Christ's Grace doth much more abound Take Christ in every Portion and in all Duties let Christ be there still I have set the Lord always before me saith David so should you set Christ always before you and when Satan or Conscience accuses set Christ before you as your perfect Righteousness Saith the Plalmist Psal 16.8 I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Verse 9. Therefore my Heart is glad and my Glory rejoyceth my Flesh also shall rest in hope Verse 10. For thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption If Christ shall be raised up to Glory then I will live in hope of being raised up to Glory with him The Psalmist speaks Prophetically of Christ Neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption Now saith the Believer if Christ conquers Death and Hell and did not see Corruption I may well rejoyce for I set the Lord always before me and whatever he enjoys I shall have a glorious share in Fourthly He is an Everlasting Pearl Many have rich Pearls live on them and spend them but live on Christ as long as you will you will never waste Christ's Stock All the Sinners that ever came to the Gate of Mercy and have been supplied with Mercy ever
had strength to hope and I had strength to live upon Christ for all Have you not experienced this that you have come weak to an Ordinance yet have found strength as one that hath drank new Wine Therefore the Lord is pleased to give you strength that you may go from Duty to Duty from Mercy to Mercy from Peace to Peace O you that wait on Christ in a way of dependence for new Revivings and new Manifestations to your Souls what Comfort will it be to you tho you have but little strength to go from strength to strength The Lord hath promised it Psal 84. They shall go from strength to strength till they appear before God in Sion This was spoken of the willing Israelites many tarried at home to worship Jeroboam's Gods they would not come to Jerusalem the Journey was too far and the cost and pains too much they would rather serve the Calves that Jeroboam had set up But the Godly Israelites went to Jerusalem and what did the Lord do for them See vers 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose heart are the ways of them whose Heart is found believing and waiting for Christ whose Heart is united to Christ and found waiting in his appointments What then They go from strength to strength every one of them in Sion appeareth before God not one shall faint by the way every one shall appear before God in Sion if they have never so far to go as sure as if they had but a Mile to go So it is in this day of our Gospel-worship in our waiting on Christ in the means the Soul saith I have many Duties on my Hand to perform and I do not know how to do them but if your Soul desires to believe in Christ to live in Christ to rowl upon Christ to wait on him in his Ordinances you shall go from strength to strength you shall every one come to Glory though you go through the Vally of Bacha tho you have dark places and barren places you shall have Wells of Salvation and they shall refresh your Souls Christ will be dropping his Comforts and Grace that you shall be filled with Comfort you shall go from strength to strength till you appear before God Again As for your Strength so for your Victory and Conquest over Corruption Have not you found in your waiting that the Life of Christ hath been manifest in the Death of your Corruptions in your Conquest that when you have cried out O wretched Man or Woman O how unfit to wait on Christ O how dark and dead am I Yet have not you through the Grace of Christ found the Life of Christ made manifest that you have gone away conquering and Victorious Though you do desire to live upon Christ yet you are not brim full of him at once but do receive your Joy and Comfort from him drop by drop that you may live on Christ in the way of his Appointments Thirdly The third Reason is that your Souls shall not be filled as you desire but drop by drop because we are not able to bear much of God's Glory at once we shall be over-set with the Feast if it be too much we are not able to drink much of this new Wine it is a Joy unspeakable and full of Glory therefore the Saints are called to enter into the Joy of their Lord because this Glory is unspeakable and cannot enter into them as good Mr. Whelch when he was in Prayer and Communion with God Hold Lord saith he it is enough So the Spouse complains of being sick of Love not for an absent Christ but for the great Enjoyment Cant. 2.4 He brought me into his banqueting House and his Banner over me was Love What then Stay me mith Flagons comfort me with Apples for I am sick of Love But in the 5th Chapter she was sick of Love for an absent Christ for a withdrawn Christ not absent in Union then she could not be sick of Love nor for Communion but over-set with manifestations not in that manner as she enjoyed when she sat under his Shadow in the third Chapter that she tasted his Fruit to be sweet for then she had it by degrees but here in more abundant manner vers 3. As the Apple-tree among the Trees of the Wood so is my Beloved among the Sons I sat under his shadow with great delight and his Fruit was sweet to my taste While the Fruit drops from the Tree the Spouse could eat it taste it relish it and that with delight and was not over-set with it but she wants more Communion He brought me into his Banqueting-House to the Love-Feast there his Banner over me was Love First You see a Believer in a state of Grace cannot move one Foot till Christ move him how much less can a Soul that is in a state of Sin move after Christ Christ brings a Soul on from lesser to greater enjoyments from lesser to greater manifestations he brought me into his banqueting house where it was sweet to sit where I had an Apple a drop of his Love a taste of his Grace But he brought me I could not get thither of my self he brought me to his banqueting house what Sauce to the Feast His Banner over me was Love What would have been the Banquet without the Banner of Love His Banner over me was Love What then I was made so much of filled with such joy such comfort filled with such assurance filled with such delight that she was fain to cry out Stay me with Flagons comfort me with Apples my narrow Vessel will not hold it I must have new strength Stay me with Flagons new Wine that is the thing containing for the thing contained in it By Flagons is meant the Wine contained in the Flagons as we speak in the Lord's Supper We say this Cup is the New Testament in his Blood that is the Wine in the Cup. So here the Spouse Stay me with Flagons I have such a Love Feast I want Flagons of Wine to strengthen me yea and let me have some of the Apples too that before dropt from the Tree I am sick of Love Do you not wish sometimes O that I were filled with Christ O that I could praise him love him behold his Face and enjoy him as they do above Could our poor weak Vessels bear this No. When the Lord passed by Moses was to lie in the Clefts of the Rock and John fell down before him therefore he gives drop by drop that we might not have our Hearts over-set but with an Appetite long for more of him But for the full manifestation of him that is reserved for you in Glory where you will have strength for Vision and where you will have support for Fruition there you will have your fill of him when he brings you to the Throne of his Glory Fourthly The Lord Jesus Christ is pleased not to come down with those full Streams and pour
in the Glass of the Gospel this glorious Lord how glorious Christ is then the Soul cries out O let me live in Christ Let me glorifie Christ Surely now you are thriving Souls in the knowledge of Jesus Christ I mean saving knowledge sanctified knowledge such as the Sun of Righteousness reveals when he rises with healing under his Wings There are some places that have not the Sun for many Months and O how dark and uncomfortable are they then How dark are Souls till Christ comes into them Whatever knowledg you have though you could discourse whole Bodies of Divinity yet you are dark and ignorant till Christ comes to enlighten and teach you The weakest Believer is brought to this Frame to thirst after Jesus Christ and to desire him with his whole Soul most do not believe the Report Ministers give of him Isa 53.1 Who hath believed our report and to whom hath the Arm of the Lord been revealed for he shall grow up as a tender plant and as a root out of the dry ground he hath no form nor comliness and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him many see something in good Duties they would be doing something for their Salvation and think to patch up a Righteousness thereby but for to know Jesus Christ so as to live on him they see no desirableness in him How much did the Pharisees do Yet Jesus Christ was rejected by them We shall see his Glory as the Glory of the only begotten Son of God full of Grace and Truth O what a Christ full of Grace and full of Truth and full of Love and full of Clory did these Jews reject The Sun of Righteousness though he was come he had not risen with his Glory upon them Ah glorious Lord that any should be so blind as not to see some Beauty in this glorious Christ And yet so blind is the most of the World and many Professors that though they have the glorious Light of his Word yet how dark are their Souls We may say as the Prophet When they see him there is no beauty that they see in him that they should desire him Tell a carnal Heart of Christ and Grace and Heaven they go away and have no desire to him but when Christ comes in his Word and shines into the Soul and rises with healing under his Wings O then saith the Soul let me have a Christ let me live to Christ Before they saw no Beauty in him that they should desire him no Beauty and yet altogether beautiful What is the most glorious Object when a Man is blind What is the glorious Sun to a Man that cannot see So what is this glorious Christ this lovely Christ this precious Christ to a poor blind Sinner But for the Believer that hath Christ his Life he cries out for more Knowledge more Grace more Communication with Christ Christ doth daily shine more and more in a Believers Understanding removing Ignorance and Darkness The poorest Believer in Knowledge cannot but give God praise for healing his Understanding though I know we are rather crying out for what we want than giving thanks for what we have receiv'd The Lord Jesus heals the gross Ignorance of your Understanding and heals it more and more Though God is pleased to give to every one according to their place and station yet every one shall have a saving Knowledg There is Milk for Babes and Meat for strong Men. Secondly You shall prosper and thrive because the Sun of Righteousness when he arises on your Souls heals your Affections Before the Heart was as dead and as cold as a stone no love for Christ whatever you loved no love for this Lord of Glory But now when this Sun of Righteousness is risen with healing under his Wings he heals the Affections of the Soul that now the Soul is let out in affection to Jesus Christ now the Soul cries out How lovely is thy dwelling-place as David did and why is it so lovely David Because there I enjoy God So saith a Believer How lovely are the Ordinances of Christ Why Christian what makes them so lovely Oh saith the Christian I meet with a lovely Christ there Saith the Spouse Tell thou me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou feedest where thou makest thy Flock to rest at noon Why would you be there I would be where the Flock is because Christ is there Cant. 1.7 When the Soul feels the warm Divine Beams of the Sun of Righteousness then the Soul comes to see a Loveliness in Christ Before you can love Christ you must see that Christ loved you first he first darts his Divine Love into your Souls When Elijah cast his Mantle over Elisha saith Elisha Let me I pray thee kiss my Father and Mother and then I will follow thee Why what have I done to thee What hast thou done Enough to draw me after thee It was not any vertue in the Mantle but a Divine Power from Heaven that did draw his Heart after the Prophet Away he runs after him and when he was taken from him he cries out My Father my Father the Chariots of Israel and the Horsemen thereof When the Divine Beams of the Love of Christ are cast into the Soul then the Soul cries out For me to live is Christ O that I may live to the Lord O that I may die in the Lord O that I may have upholdings that I may have strength in every Trial Then I care not what I go through that I may enjoy the Lord. Sometimes a Believer comes with an Heart very cold dead and narrow and doth not Jesus Christ send him away as a burning Lamp When he rises with healing under his Wings what Divine Love does he draw forth in your Souls after him The Spouse was so cold she could not so much as open to Christ but when Christ had left his Myrrh upon the handle of the Lock she runs after him crying out She was sick of Love So sometimes a Believer is in a very dead frame a very cold frame a very narrow frame but the Lord Christ comes in the Ordinance with his Divine Beams and the Soul is warmed and transformed into the very Image of the God of Love As for Example the Disciples were walking in a freezing condition Christ was among them but a little while and their Hearts were burning hot within them Was it Christ's bodily Presence only No no that many Thousands enjoyed but he came to them with the healing Beams of his Divine Love to their Souls he darted Divine Beams of his Grace into their Hearts O then they talk after another manner With what fervency and delight did they discourse of the Kingdom of Heaven to what they did before Sometimes when Believers meet together how dead and cold and narrow are they But when Christ arises with new healing Beams of Divine Grace in their Hearts how thriving is their Discourse How
profitable How warmly do they discourse of the Kingdom of God How longing after it Luke 24.32 And they said one to another Did not our Hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the Scriptures He might have talked of the Scriptures long enough and opened the meaning of them and no warmth come to their Heart till he shined into their Souls You that are united to this Sun of Righteousness you that live on him by Faith you are under these thriving Beams though you have not always the same manifestation But when these glorious Beams dart into your Souls how lively are you in your walking and in your talking Though you may have some frosty Nights some cold Fits yet while you are united to this Sun of Righteousness you shall have some warm Beams that shall make you thrive and grow All means of Grace are like the Prophet's Staff which will not bring the dead Child to Life until the Prophet comes When the Prophet came and lay on the Child the Child was warm and it breathed and stirred and rose up and walked Poor doubting Soul is there Breath in thee Dost thou breath after Christ Dost thou desire no means mercies nor blessings but what thou mayest enjoy Christ in them I say Christ hath already breathed on you and his Divine Beams of Grace will cause you to rise up and walk I mean to grow stronger and stronger so that the Sun of Righteousness heals the Affections of many A poor Soul cries I cannot love Christ it is impossible I should ever love him But if you desire to love Christ with your whole Heart you love him already The Soul that hath a spark of Faith that works by Love shall be sure to increase in Love When Christ comes down when he puts in his Finger by the hole of the Door saith the Soul Draw me I will run after thee his Love is better than Wine Christ sometimes gives you drops of Wine sometimes Flagons of Wine sometimes but a Sip and sometimes full Draughts Draw me and I will run after thee as if she had said Draw me and I will commend thee to others As Melancthon said when he was converted He thought that he could have converted all that he conversed with but he found the old Serpent was too hard for young Melancthon When the Soul comes to know this glorious Christ by Faith and to live upon him the Soul thinks he could so commend him that he could make all about him to love Christ Draw me I will run after thee Why what is the matter Thy Love is better than Wine vers 3. Because of the savour of thy good Oyntments thy Name is as Oyntments poured forth therefore do the Virgins love thee vers 4. Draw me we will run after thee When the Lord Jesus Christ witnesses to the Believer by the Spirit that he is united to him when he sends forth Divine Beams from this Glorious Light and Life and Warmth the Soul hath his Love drawn out abundantly When Peter was freezing by the Fire in the High Priest's Hall one look from Christ melts his Heart Ah my Friends you may have the Fire of Ordinances kindled yet have an Heart as cold as a stone but when Christ looks on you then does he melt your Souls into the very Image of Love then he draws the Heart after him in Divine Acts of Love that what the Soul hath often thought of now it comes more and more to the Soul that Love is stronger than Death When the Divine Beams of Divine Love are darted into the Soul and the Soul comes to consider First What unconceivable Love the Love of Christ is O saith the Soul Christ hath loved me with an unconceivable unspeakable Love So Paul saith who loved me and gave himself for me Not I live but Christ lives in me the Soul is acquainted this is an unspeakable Love John 1.3 Behold what manner of Love is this that we should be called the Children of God! O what unspeakable Love is this saith the Soul that I should be called a Child of God! How comes it about O the Wonders of this Love O that I should be called a Child of God What me to be made like Christ For God to be my Father in Christ What manner of Love is this How unspeakable how wonderful is this love Secondly When Christ comes to shine on the Soul it comes to see what distinguishing Love this is Why me O Lord Who gave himself for me Saith the Apostle There is an application of this Love Why me Lord Why not many thousands chosen and I left out Why I chosen and many thousands left O that Christ should love me redeem me die for me O my Soul love thou the Lord live to this Lord let him be all in all who loved me before the World was That I am not among the Damned in Hell is a wonderful mercy But that I should be one of the Lords redeemed ones that I should be chosen out of the Kindred and Tongues and Nations of the Earth O what Love is this The Expressions and Impressions of Divine Love A Believer would live with it all his days and die with it and go to Glory with it Why me Lord Why hast thou pardoned me sanctified me O that God should give Christ for me That Christ should go through his Sorrows for me Through his bloody Sweat for me That I should have a part in Christ's precious Merits What though Christ loved sinners if I am not the sinner that Christ loves But when the Beams of Divine Love are darted into the Soul it cries O that Christ hath loved me more than his own Life more than his own Glory and love me above others in the World O what distinguishing Love is this Then the Soul must needs have an endeared Love to Christ O that for me to live may be Christ O that I may enjoy him in all my enjoyments Thirdly The Soul sees the Love of Christ is undeserved Love O wretch that I am that ever Christ should love me It is an heightning our Love when the Divine Beams of his Love shines on our Souls to reveal how unworthy we are of Christ's Love This is that the Apostle speaks of and nothing more heightens our Love than that Christ loved us when we were unworthy of his Love 1 Tim. 1.12 13. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the Ministry who was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercy It is a glorious Beam of Divinity shines on the Soul when the Soul comes to see its own Unworthiness Why me Lord so wretched and miserable a sinner What Christ come from his Glorious Throne from Heaven to Earth to heal my Heart To come here to die for me a wretched Soul O when the Sun of Righteousness rises on the
Soul to draw out its Love to Christ then the Soul sees its own unworthiness then a Soul loves Christ really when he sees Christ loved him unworthy How unworthy is my Soul of his Love This was Paul's Cry and so it is every Believers and the more Christ shines on your Soul the more do you see your unworthiness of his Love and Grace and the Soul cries out Lord hast thou passed by all my unworthiness crown'd me with Love enriched me with Love and shall I have my fill of Love O what Love is this Fourthly The Soul finds it a Love that passes Eph. 3.14 And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Truly saith the Soul I cannot tell you wherefore Christ loved me nor I cannot tell you the Depths of his Love but this I can tell I shall ever shine in the Ocean of his Love to all Eternity The more they meditate the more they consider the more they think of it the more they wonder what was from Eternity in the Breast of God that was manifested in time in giving Christ If you ask me to tell you from whence it comes it was from Eternity Secondly The Sun of Righteousness with his glorious Beams heals the affection in giving the Soul an humble and contrite Heart Many think when they are not shooting up they are not growing but there may be a taking Root though not a shooting up the golden Mines are not seen above the Earth they lie low By the Influence of the Sun the Seed takes root in the Earth and springs up Thus it is with the Sun of Righteousness the Lord Jesus Christ in changing the Heart of a Believer when he is increasing in the inner Man not shooting forth not growing in the apppearance yet he takes Root is growing in Humility When once the Lord Jesus Christ comes with his Grace and shines into the Soul it humbles the Soul and makes it low in its own Eyes and then the Soul sees its self wanting in Grace wanting in Love wanting in Enlargements and Delights but it grows humble When Christ appears the Soul sees its own Deformity the Soul thinks it is decaying in Grace when it is not acting those Graces as we may say above ground The Fruit-Trees do not bear Fruit all the Year yet are alive all the Year So I say to the Believer it is the surest way of Growth when they grow in Humility When a Soul comes to see Christ the more he shines with the Divine Lustre of his Grace and Righteousness the more the Soul is contrite Saith Paul When the Law came sin revived and I died Paul was it the Law in the Letter that shewed you your sin then why does it not teach those poor Creatures that read it and have it read to them No but it was the Power of Christ in the Law the Spirit of the Law of Life in Christ that shined into his Heart and brought home the Law to him to be a condemning Judge on the Bench to give the Sentence of Death that Christ might be there to be the Object of Life and Salvation to his Soul Saith he Sin revived and I died Persons will strain what they can to keep an even reckoning with the Law by doing some outward Duties Such as the Lord Jesus hath not risen upon they are yet in Darkness Children of the Night they walk at uncertainty they know not whether they go Alas many a poor Soul thinketh he is as sure to go to Heaven as he is to die when he is in the very Road to Hell only some go in the broad trodden Path open profane impudent sinners some steal thither behind the Hedg they are going to Hell but in a closer walk hidden from others and from many that are said to be Children of the Kingdom Mr. Murcot on Mal. 4.2 that are Strangers in Heart to an inward Revelation of Jesus Christ But when Christ comes to the Soul he comes to the inward part then the Soul is unhorsed of it self and laid low before the Lord. It was the Saying of an Holy Divine We may sooner call twenty from Profaneness than one from his own Righteousness For saith he sin is a feverish Distemper to the Soul and when the Man hath sinned he knows he is out of order But for a Man 's own Righteousness it is so born and bred with him that he makes it his grand Idol till Christ appears to the Soul with Divine Beams of his Righteousness and Grace this lays a Soul low and humble before the Lord and makes a poor Soul behold its own Ignorance Saith the Soul I am foolish but Christ is my Wisdom I cannot manage my Salvation nor I cannot chuse aright but Christ is my Wisdom to chuse for me Thus a Soul is humbled under its own Ignorance he beholds Christ that glorious Sun that gives Light to see his Fathers Face and to have all the glorious Will of God revealed to the Soul in him The Sun is the Glory of the Heavens but one Star differs from another Star in Glory but there is none like the Glory of the Sun O the Lord hath put the Excellence of Glory on the Lord Jesus He is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the shining forth of his Fathers Glory He speaks here of Christ as Incarnate As the Glory of God did shine in the Face of Moses so that the People could not behold so now the Glory of the Lord shineth in the Face of Jesus Christ as the Apostle hath it so that we cannot behold it it dazles our Eyes stedfastly to hold his Glory as it doth to behold the Sun in its Glory Here is the Glory of his Grace the Glory of his Wisdom of his Mercy of his Power and all in Christ he is the Glory as it were of Divine Attributes they all shine forth in him each with his peculiar Glory The Temple the Glory of the Lord filled it so that they could not stand to Minister before him sometimes So Brethren now the Lord hath placed us in Jesus Christ he hath filled him with his Glory Therefore saith the Prophet The Glory of the Lord is risen on thee Isa 60.3 Mr. Murcot that is Christ manifested to thee Secondly The Soul sees its self unrighteous therefore it is humbled under its sinfulness till Christ is made its Righteousneses Thirdly The Soul sees its self cloathed with Rags like a Man that works hard yet cannot cloath himself with any thing but Rags Saith a Soul notwithstanding all that I have done I have not a Righteousness to cloath me to stand with before God But Christ is my Robe of Righteousness therefore when the Soul is humbled when he does not grow in enlargements yet he grows numble under the sense of his own Unworthiness and of Christ's Excellency Many Trees are planted in shady places that grow up tall tho they bear no Fruit. When a Soul knows not Christ there may be some
Food of Christ livest on Christ I believe there are many poor doubting Souls among you If you were asked when you are an hungry if you were invited to a great Feast would you not leave that to go and hear Christ preached would you not leave your Meal to hear Christ's preous Word Saith Job Chap. 23.12 I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary Food Then if thy Soul longs for the Word of Grace it is a sign that your Souls are made alive by Christ Whoever can say of the Word of Christ My Soul longs for it I long for the Courts of God I long for the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ I long for the Pot of Manna that I may taste of the Golden Manna I long for the day when Manna comes down from Heaven if it is so I say from God's Word though you may have many castings down your Souls are made alive by Christ and he is become your Salvation A Saint makes Religion his Meat and Drink It is one thing 〈◊〉 be waiting on God 〈…〉 and another thing to 〈…〉 Meat and Drink An 〈…〉 perform many things and be large in Duty and yet not make it his Meat and Drink John 4.31 32. His Disciples prayed him saying Master eat But he said unto them I have meat to eat that you know not of Alas his Meat was to do his Fathers Will The Word of Christ his Ordinances and Duties are Meat and Drink to the Believer I live a Life that you do not know of I have Meat and Drink that you do not know of I live in doing my Fathers Will. Saith a Believer I live on Christ and his Word and of all Mercies I enjoy nothing so sweet to me as Christ and his Word who is better to me than all outward Mercies If it be so with you you may take comfort in this that Christ is become your Life where the Word of Grace and means of Grace is become as Meat and Drink to your Souls Secondly A Soul that lives Christ and hath made Christ his Life he lives above the World He may have some Fears and Doubts But it is the Desire of a Saint to live above the things of the World If ye then be risen with Christ Saith a Reverend Author Amor meus pondus meum Every Man goes where his Love carries him seek those things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affections on things above and not on things on the Earth Col. 3.1 2. When I was in my natural state saith a Believer when the World went well with me I was mightily content but now I am risen with Christ made alive with Christ now my Heart is set on seeking things above had I but Communion with Christ could I but walk with Christ live upon Christ let the World go which way it will tho I have many Fears and Discouragements when I have Communion with Christ my Heart is above them all O my Soul what a good Day it is when thou canst enjoy Communion with Christ The Believer lives above Though many times a Soul hath his gloomy days in the World when Fears surround his Faith but he gets above it again When they look above where their Glory and Comfort is Set your affections on things above and not on things below There is an Exhortation and Dehortation Set your affections on things above there is the Exhortation And not on things below there is the Dehortation Christians are often forbid That they should not love the World and commanded positively that they should set their Hearts on things above Tho a Believer is many times complaining that his Heart is too much on this present World but saith a Believer I desire my Heart may be above O that it might never be below again O were it my Duty I would wish to be always in the House of God Therefore when your Heart is carried up above the World you have an Interest in a better Life than this is below Thirdly To perform Duty and to live on Christ above all Duties is another Character of one that makes Christ his Life They are carried up above Duty they pray and yet live on Christ by Faith they hear yet live on Christ for Righteousness Paul was a Man prizing Duty and loving Duty as much as any Saint preaching all night praying night and day preaching in season and out of Season he was much in praying and fasting yet saith he I count all my own righteousness but dung and dross without Christ It is rare Wisdom to be a Student in the Knowledge of Christ An exact walking Christian and yet to live above Duty upon Christ For one to neglect Duty and yet profess Christ that is a Delusion To profess Christ and live upon any thing below Christ is Confusion but to walk circumspectly in our Duty and yet to live above all upon Christ is a Character of a true Believer Fourthly If Christ is become your Life you will be diligent under all means of Grace under those means where Life is begotten and preserved The Impotent Folks lay at the Pool of Bethesda waiting for the moving of the Waters if ever they had healing it must be there A Soul must be diligent about Christ's Table where Crums fall to feed their 〈…〉 And Simon answering â—â—d unto him Master we have 〈…〉 the night and have taken nothing nevertheless at thy word I will let down the Net A diligent waiting at Wisdom's Gate a diligent hearkning when Christ will speak peace We will hear what the Lord will speak are the Words of gracious Soul Fifthly They that have Christ their Life Christ is very precious unto them O how precious is a Mans Life The Devil could tell God Behold skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his Life A Man would give any thing for his Life So a Believer would give any thing for a 〈◊〉 The Devil appears before God What is Job alive Tho be is 〈◊〉 of all thou hast spared his 〈…〉 Man will give all that 〈…〉 his â—â—fe Saith Paul I count 〈◊〉 but dung and dross that I may win Christ convinâ—◠〈…〉 will do any thing for a Christ part with any thing that they might but know Christ to be theirs When a Man is set on by Thieves saith he Take all so you save my Life Job 2.4 And Satan answered the Lord and said skin for skin all that a man hath will he give for his Life If Job had a thousand Treasures all that he had should go for his Life How willingly doth the Mariner unlade his Ship and cast all his rich Wares over-board that he may preserve that precious Jewel his Life A Man will give Skin upon Skin Gold upon Gold Treasure upon Treasure that he may save his own Life Let Life be at stake and a Man will give all the things he hath in the World for