tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of Serpents Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the Destroyer Now all these things happened unto them for exsamples and 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 us and must we not by them learn to fear 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 whatever thou thinkest as sure as thou thinkest thou standest take heed take heed lest thou fall That is not onely into the same sins but into the same condemnation that 's the sence of the place Rom. 11.20 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 judgments assoon as ever we are partakers of mercy Have we out-grown the use of the Scourge assoon as ever we are entred into Christs School Do we finde all too little Mercies Threatnings Judgments to keep our hearts in order And yet is it more then 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 Slave 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 There is 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 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 and 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 not contemn either Mercy or Judgment Beware thou be not Presumptuous neither in the former sences 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 over bold upon love or patience Laesa patientia fit 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 finde 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 't is to abuse patience and kindness his Arrowes 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 yet wilt 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 childe of his but 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 title of his Honour As God will have us love our Neighbour so he will love his childe but as himself First himself and then his childe 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 onely Children because God is good Children fear because they love Slaves fear although they hate Children fear to be unworthy Slaves onely to be unhappy and miserable There 's nothing more contrary to an ingenuous nature then 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
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 now thou shalt live now thou shalt recover This weakness will strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die Now faith and love and 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 bears 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 's sin nail'd the curse vacated death vanquished pardon peace joy glory shewed forth in open sight There 's 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 loathes 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 it will relish and then thou shalt have it His oyl is for thy wounds The Childe never knows so much of the Parents heart and bowels as when 't 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 he take thee in and cherish thee 3. A more full manifestation of glory There 's not a prison into which the Saints are cast but hath a window into the palace Calvary becomes a Tabor where they have a sight of their Lord in his glory Golgotha becomes a Pisgah 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 its 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. 6.15 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 then 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 beheld 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 wasting me his hell and his heaven meets but the light swallows up the dark Hell ceases to be hell where heaven appears to bee heaven This is the portion of suffering Saints When you read what 's 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 not 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 thy 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 't is but look up and thou art in Paradise Such are the sufferings of Christ This is the cross of the Covenant 4. In summe 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 pity he redeemed them and he bare them and 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 Saints shall never have this to charge upon the Lord I was in prison and thou visitedst me 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 sympathie gracious acceptance to give down from above what-ever is wanting beneath In fine to preserve them
spurres and goads in our sides to quicken us on our way calling to us arise sleepers put on sluggards stirre up your spirits mend your pace I will not bee 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 and hearing and 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 professe When the Lord hath been thus goading and spurring us on and though our flesh feels yet our hearts will not feel nor answer the Goad or Spur Is this an argument of tenderness When great duties are little and lesser are none when great sins are infirmities and little ones are nothing when lying and defrauding when false weights and false wares and false dealings when defaming back-biting tale-bearing 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 waies do pass for virtues and civilities when frothy vvanton discourse and communication vvhen scoffing and making a sport at the sins or infirmities of others vvhen sinful vain jesting vvherein rather Conscience than wit must bee 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 wee bid conscience take thy bill and write down a shekel where twenty or an hundred sins to be reckoned for take thy bill and write down ten or but one and that a little one when wee 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 's wanting have some influence upon the making it up let the sense 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. 4. 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 thy God with all thine heart and 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 hee that hath most of love hath most of God God is love In the opening of this love to God wee shall consider its Object Act. 1. It s 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 hee is infinitely excellent hee 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 fountain and pattern of all that moral good that is in the creatures hee is bountifull and gracious ready to do them good and hee 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 different and various appellations As it is freely bestow'd 't is Grace As it respect them as needy so 't is Bounty as in misery so 't is mercy and compassion as Provoking so 't is Patience as it intends their good so 't is love as it answers both their necessities and capacities so 't is Al-sufficiency All these his bounty mercy compassion patience love al-sufficiency 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 hee is infinitely excellent as before and so worthy of all love God is to bee loved in himself and for himself for his own worthiness God is good in himself and therefore to bee loved for himself 2. God in Christ In whom alone considering us as sinners hee can bee said to be good to us There is a four-fold incentive of love Perception Proportion Propriety Possession 1. Perception or the apprehension or understanding of the Object to bee loved wee must know before we can love now God cannot immediately be seen by mortals hee dwelleth in light but that light is to us invisible Christ is the glass in which this glory may bee seen We cannot see God but through a vail of flesh in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. No man hath seen God at any time but the only begotten of the Father who is in the bosome of the Father hee hath revealed him 2. Proportion And there is a double proportion requisite 1. In respect of quantity there must bee sufficiency 2. In respect of quality there must bee 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 onely being considered as lapsed creatures in a state of sin God in Christ is a God of pitty and compassion to us a God of patience a God of mercy with whom is plentious redemption A God pardoning iniquity and passing by transgression loving us in our low estate loving us and pittying 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 much is forgiven they will love much 3. Propriety What 's good good for us and our own good that carries our hearts Wee most love our own good because wee most love our selves Our love to God is heightened from our due self-self-love there is a sinful self-self-love when either wee love that for a self which is not our self when wee love our flesh and fleshly interest or when wee love our selves inordinately more than God and God only for our selves and there is a lawful self-self-love when wee love our selves in the Lord and for the Lord. And the more wee thus love our selves the
more is the Lord loved by us and the more hee is our own the more love hee 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 wee therefore love him the Lord is good gracious merciful and wee therefore love him yea and ought to love him whether he bee ours or no but when both meer hee is God and our God hee is good and our good gracious merciful all-sufficient and all this to us hence is our love made perfect in us 4 Possession wee can love a distant an absent good A good that 's 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 ' t is 'T is then most in our hearts when 't is 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 judg'd better than they are are lov'd most at a distance because when they come to hand wee see our mistake But that which is what it seem'd much more that which is above our thoughts beyond our expectations infinite good by how much the nearer 't is ever the dearer to us All worldly good is most valued at least by carnal hearts at a distance they promise themselves more contentment in it than it hath to pay them their possession is their disappointment Whilest they lusted they idoliz'd they ador'd 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 surfeited or hungry still Is this all all you can do for mee 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 hee is ours by so much the more wee prize and love because now wee find when wee have him wee enjoy him that before the one half was not told us Now in Christ wee have not onely a propriety in God but in some degree a present possession Hee that hath the Son hath the Father also We see his light wee feel his love wee taste of his goodness wee enjoy his presence wee have God with us wee have God in us wee have fellowship with him he dwelleth in us and wee in him and hence wee love and herein wee rejoyce 3. God in all the things of God in his Word Ordinances Sabbaths Saints in graces duties in all his waies the Saints love God and love his word 't is God in the word they love they love God and they love Ordinances and Sabbaths and Saints 't is God in all these they love They love the waies and works and all the dispensations of God and 't 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 eye and therefore embrace them with another heart then other men The Saints love to the things of God is their love to God for 't is God in them as was said 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 are 〈◊〉 they come down from above and therefore may also bee called as the Apostle stiles them 〈…〉 things above Phil. 3.1,2 If yee bee 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 and belongs to his Heavenly Kingdome is divine and heavenly and hee that loveth him that begets therefore loveth those which are begotten and whatsoever proceedeth from him 2. The Word and the Saints are the Images of God the character and impresse of God are upon them the Grace in the Saints and 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 Hee that makes the Clouds his Chariots makes also his Word and his Ordinances and his Ministers his Chariots wherein he rides down into these lower parts to give the World a meeting When Ministers come and the Word comes down God comes down in them to visit his people as 't was said of Paul So 't is true of Apollos and Cephas and all the dispensers of the Gospel they are chosen Vessels to bear his Name before the Sons of men and as they are the Chariots in which God comes down so are they also the Wagons which hee hath sent them to fetch them up to himself 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 hee saw the Wagons which Joseph had sent Oh what love doth the Psalmist expresse to the House and Courts of the Lord O how amiable are thy Tabernacles I was glad when they said unto mee let us go up into the House of the Lord. Hee was glad to go thither because thence hee hoped to bee carried higher from the Mountain to the Mansion from Mount Zion here below to Jerusalem which is above It 's the duty and the delight of the Saints to bee ascending Heaven-wards they are dead with Christ they are risen with Christ and 't is not as they would with them but when they are ascending up with Christ they are dead with Christ by repentance 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 and 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 hee that hath felt this will say here let mee dwell let others bee where they will amongst their flocks amongst their herds upon their beds or at
God dwells and therefore there his soul takes up its 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 bee beloved to accept and to bee 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 wee can never take comfort in any thing but in that which wee love When take wee pleasure in eating but when we have meat that wee love what is a friend or a wife or a childe when wee love them not what is society or communion where love hath not first made an union can two walk together except they bee agreed with little comfort sure they would bee better pleased were they parted asunder 'T is love that is the pleasure of our lives 'T is love that makes heaven sweet there wee shall have our fill of joy because there wee have our fill of love Heaven would bee no heaven God himself could not bee the joy if hee 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 't is meat they love God is nothing Christ is nothing to them What is thy beloved more than other beloveds Religion is a bondage to them holiness a weariness not the labours onely but the joyes of the Saints are empty and unsavoury things there are no feasts but love-feasts Love is both the best dish and the onely sauce to every dish 't is the best dish he that feeds on divine love will never complain of a short meal and 't is the onely sauce for every dish 't is but unsavoury meat that is not seasoned with love wee may a little change the proverb love is the best sauce Bee the meat never so excellent it will not relish if it bee 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 't will 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 hee 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 mee to bee a servant a door-keeper a servant of servants for thee I will bee nothing but what thou wilt any thing that thou wilt have mee What wilt thou have mee to do Lord let mee know thy vvill appoint mee my vvork O that my waies were so directed that I might keep thy statutes What vvilt thou have of mee vvilt thou have mine Idols mine ease or mine honour or my pleasure or my house or mine estate vvilt thou have mine Isaacks is there any thing dearer to me than other that might bee 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 bee 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 bee 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 bee generous yet it would bee just it would levell all accounts and pay all debts love would have nothing but love owing It would give to all their due it would not die 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 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 wayes The fire kindled then spake I with my tongue Love is to a Saint what malice is to Sathan that which gives force to all his actings Sathans temptations are called fiery darts and this not onely 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 'T is the malice of Sathans heart that fires out all his darts What malice doth with Sathan 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 mee as fire it hath kindled a fire there I was weary with forbearing An heart of love is weary but 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 heart is fixed saith the Psalmist I will sing and give thanks Love will adde 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 'T is the delight of love to be speaking of the perfections of the vertues of the beauties of the excellencies of her beloved The Spouse in the book
vexations afflictions plague thee on this earth whatever horrour 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 sayes to thee Fury is not in me he faith also Fear shall be no more to thee That hour the Lord saith I am thy friend Death and Hell vanish The day is broken the shaddows 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 Friendship 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 on somthing without him not onely for the continuation of his being but of the comfort of his being he cannot live upon the aire though he hath scaped the fire the soul of man is too big for all the world like Noah's Dove it can finde no rest below and where shall it finde it or on what shall it subsist Why God will not starve his friends he that hath saved their lives will finde 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 is their subsistence Jer. 10.16 he writes himself the portion of Jacob and as such his Saints accept him Psal 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 onely 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 Psal 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 then enough is never full till it runs over while it can contain and measure and number all that it has this is its judgement of all Pauperis est numerare pecus In God is enough for filling up and running over enough there is in him to fill up all their faculties their 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 it s nonplust 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 't is an height without top a depth without bottome 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 bottome in them 1 Cor. 2. the deep things of God All the raptures and extasies of glorious joyes 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 affections there 's infinite goodness incomprehensible love marvellous loving kindness unspeakable delights glorious joyes Psal 31.19 Oh! how great is the goodness which thou hast laid up for those that fear thee Oh! how great is the goodness 'T is vox admirantis an admiring word great beyond expression great beyond imagination Eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither have entred into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him and 't is 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 as 't is in the margin There hath not been heard or seen a God besides thee which doth so for him that waiteth for him There 's 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 Psal 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 't is little in his eyes that thou shouldest 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 than nothing might satisfie 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 nôrint Poor what and yet hast a God! In want what and yet hast all things Is he a God that is thine and art thou still in straits Would a few sheep and oxen vineyards and 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 the 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 dunghil 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 shaddows and apparitions feeding on ashes warming themselves at their painted fires sporting themselves with the wind rejoycing in a thing of nought their crackling thorns their glozing pleasures their drinkings and dancings and riotings 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 chaffe to the wheat What is a Comet to the Sun What is the night to the day What are bubbles and childrens toyes to â—…e durable riches What are things that are noâ— to hâ—m 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 and 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 livedst 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 couldest thou lay such a claim to any thing thou possessedst to house or wife or childe 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 Christian here 's now thy poâ—tion the light of thine eyes the lifting up of thinehead 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 and in the earth there is none that I desire besides thee My flesh 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 thine 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 tells 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 but as in a glass and darkly we know but in part and while we know but in part we love but in part and 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 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 Aegypt 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
bee willing and obedient yee shall eat the good of the Land but if yee refuse and rebel yee shall bee slain with the sword the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it 3. Tenderness of the affections I shall instance onely in three viz. Love Fear Sorrow The tenderness of love is seen in its 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 bee profitable to God Job 22. If thou bee righteous what givest thou to him chap. 35.7 Yet though it can adde nothing it would not that any thing be detracted from him whilest hee can have no more it would that hee 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 's 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 bee 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 Hee loves and honours and would that God should bee loved and honoured of all hee fears and would that the whole world should fear him Hee would receive in his own breast every arrow that 's shot against his maker hee would that his own name and soul might stand betwixt his God and all reproach and dishonour Hee would bee vile so the Lord may bee glorious so God may increase he 's content to decrease Hee 's not so tender of his own heart and bowels as of the holiness of his God Hee would suffer and die and bee nothing rather than that God should not bee all in all Hee would rather never think nor speak nor bee rather then not bee in word and thought and life holiness to the Lord. But O what or where would hee bee rather than his own hand should bee lift up against him To see the Lord robb'd of his holiness wrong'd in his wisdome 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 mee Love hath tasted of God it hath fed on his fulness it hath its nourishment from his sweetness it hath been warmed in his bosom 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 mee for I have grievously rebelled Psal 42.3 My tears have been my meat continually while they daily say unto me where is thy God! Where is that care and help and that salvation of thy God thou trustedst in thy God is not such an one as thou boastedst him to bee when I remember when I hear such things my soul is poured out within mee Love is large hee that loves hath a large heart hee can never receive or do too much hee would have all hee can and he would give all hee hath to the Lord. Hee 's tender how any thing bee withheld that is due how any thing bee wasted elsewhere that might bee useful to the Lord. 2. His displeasure The displeasure of men it bears and rejoyces the wrath and rage of Sathan it bears and triumphs though all the world and hell to boot bee displeased and provoked so God smiles 't is well enough Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon mee and mine heart is glad Psal 4. Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled Psal 30.7 Let him correct mee but O not in fury let him smite but not frown let him kill mee so hee will but love mee And though hee smite though hee kill mee yet will I love and trust in him O my God let mee rather die in thy love then live in thy displeasure there 's life in that death this life is death to me Let mee not be dead whilest alive turn away thine anger which kills my heart It is impatient of divine displeasure and thence 't is 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 daily love and yet neglect to seek and follow thy God love and yet so lame and so slow and 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 spirit 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 Hee that loves the Lord is jealous and Jealousie hath a tender edge hee is Jealous not of but for the Lord not of his God but of himself least any thing should steal away his heart from God Love would bee chaste would not bestow it self elsewhere and yet is in great Jealousie it may bee enticed and drawn away Hee that loves the Lord there is not any thing whether Wife or Childe or Friend or Estate or Esteem that gets near his heart but hee 's jealous of them least they steal it away Get you down keep you lower this heart is neither yours nor mine O my God 't is thine 't is thine Lord take it wholly to thee keep it to thy self let no other Lovers bee sharers with thee 2. There 's a tenderness of fear The tender heart is a trembling heart the tenderness of fear is manifested in its Suspition Caution 1. In its Suspition the fearful are suspitious they look farther then they see hee that is in dread will bee in doubt what may befall him hee 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 and an holy fear this fear is a principle of wisdome Psal 111.10
Prov. 22.3 The prudent man fore-seeth the evil but fools go on the snare is never nearer than to the secure bold venturous sinners never want woe the Devil may spare his cunning when hee hath to do with such nothing that looks like sin offers it self to a tender heart but hee presently suspects it every pleasant morsel every pleasant cup every pleasant companion that comes any thing that tickles and gratifies the flesh hee looks through it e're hee will touch with it least it betray his soul from God there may bee 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 vvith a trembling heart and 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 hee trusts hee dares not trust himself in such company as may bee a snare unto him hee dares not trust his heart among temptations hee 'l keep the Devil at a distance hee will not come near where his Nets do lye Blessed is hee that thus feareth alwaies O the unspeakable mischief O the multitudes of sins that wee run upon through our secure hearts I never thought of it I never dreamed of any such danger Oh I am undermined I am over-reach'd I am surprized my foot is in the Snare the grin hath taken mee by the heel my soul is among Lyons Sin hath gotten hold on mee mine heart is gone e're I was aware the enemy hath come in and carryed it away hath given it to lust to the world to pleasure to divide it amongst themselves my faith hath failed my conscience is defiled my love is grown cold my grace withered my comforts wasted my peace broken and my God O! where is hee become Woe is mee the evil that I feared not is come upon mee 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 bee wise in season and take heed of the fools too late had I wist 3. There 's 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 and therefore Godly sorrow which is the sorrow of love you may call it a love sickness love is both the pain and pleasure of a mourning heart 't is love that wounds and love that heals it is both the weapon and the oyle this sorrow hath its joy the melted is the most joyful heart 't is love that makes it sad it therefore weeps because it loves and 't is love that makes it glad too It therefore joyes because in its sorrows it sees it loves 'T is love that makes 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 and 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 Commandements and trampled upon his Compassions hast broken his Bonds and kick'd at his Bowels his greatness and 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 ungratious unkinde 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 sayes not of the one or the other 't is but a little one that can feel sufferings but not fret at them a Tender Conscience that will neither winck at sin nor excuse the sinner that will not hold the sinner guiltless nor say unto the wicked thou art righteous that will not bee 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 wilt thou have mee to do and will not say of any thing hee will have any thing but this A willing ductile heart stiffe 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 and all that hee does or requires in which good will lies radically every good work that saies not of any duties or sufferings this is too great or of any sin this is nothing that would bee any thing or nothing So God may bee all That would rather bee displeased than displease that is not displeased where God is pleased A trembling Heart that fears more than it sees and 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 summe 't is 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 bee 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 is an hard heart oh what prisoners are the men of this evil world in prison under Sathan 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 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 become for wickedness as well as for wrath what drunkenness what adulteries what oaths what blasphemies and all sorts of monstrous sins do every where abound whence is all this but from the hardness of mens hearts if you say 't is from other causes 't is from unbelief from ignorance from impotence from temptations let it bee granted yet still 't is from hardness of heart They are wilfully ignorant wilfully weak vvilfully run into
their cups amongst their Harlots or in their houses It is good for mee to bee here No wonder Christians that carnal hearts are such strangers to the Word can so well fit out at Duties and 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 neither 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 should be still so much on the Earth that have been so often mounted for Heaven that those hearts should still bee on the dunghils whose feet are so often on the mountain of the Lord that the Wagons should bee 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 oh how is it that where your treasure is your hearts bee 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 down to this earth remain earth and flesh and filth and vanity after so much converse or pretence to it with the holy God of spirits lovest thou God when thou canst so often go where hee 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 wee love our God more certainly wee should bee more with him and to better purpose His meetings would bee more precious and the fruits of them more lasting Wee should neither go away without his blessing nor throw it away when wee had gotten it Thus much for the object of love 2. It s 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 vvith God vvith 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 vvhich 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 vvorking God-vvards with its might loving him above all things desiring him above all things and that both Intensivè vvith the greatest vigour and intention and adaequatè 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 It s said of Shechem Gen. 34.3 that his heart clave unto Dinah Hee loved her vvith his heart shee vvas gotten into his heart and there his heart holds her Acts 11.23 Barnabas exhorts the Church that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. It is the knitting of the soul vvith God Its said 1 Sam. 1.18 That the 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 't is said his life was bound up in the lads life Of the multitude of believers wee read Act. 4.32 that they were all of one heart and of one soul Their love had knit them up all into one By love wee are one with God and hee 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 Bee thou mine Lord nothing less nothing else Bee thou mine I need no less I desire no more Let mee bee thine be to thee bee for thee thy servant thy sacrifice or what thou wilt and let all mine bee thine mine heart and my hand and my tongue and my time and mine interest Let all thine bee to thee thy heavens and thy earth with every person with every creature in them Let every heart every mouth every limb every creature bee a praise to the Lord. Let the Lord live and blessed bee my rock let the God of my salvation bee exalted Let every knee bow let every tongue confess unto God This is the amor unionis our love of union as 't is called And 't is 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 amaetum And our wishing and willing all glory dominion and blessedness to him And so here also is our amor benevolentiae our love of benevolence All these may bee included in that opening of the heart mention'd Acts 16.14 It s there said that the Lord opened Lydia's heart The heart is then savingly opened when it freely lets out it 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 bee thy dwelling for ever Onely this must bee farther added that with God it takes in all the things of God his Word his Ordinances his waies 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 staff and thy rod both thy yoke and thy cross thy self Lord thy love Lord and what thou wilt with thee 3. The souls talking pleasure and taking up its rest in him This is call'd our Amor complacentiae Where wee love there will bee 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 bee sweet Hee that loves dwelleth in God I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever And why there why there his
of Canticles whose whole language is all love her heart is so full that her lips overflow with the mention of the excellencies of Christ My beloved is white and ruddy the chiefest amongst ten thousand His head fine gold his eyes Dove's eyes his cheeks a bed of spices his lips are lillies his hands are gold-rings his legs pillars of marble his countenance excellent his mouth sweet yea hee 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 judgments 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 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 kingdome 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 bee all praise Let this heart bee an altar and every service a sacrifice let this mouth bee a trumpet and every word a Psalm let my breath bee as incense and every member a censer Let all that is within mee 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 and 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 excellencie rarity 1. Prize it according to its worth and excellency Why what is the worth Cant. 8.7 If a man would give all the substance of his house for love it would bee contemned The whole world is not of that value to bee a price for love no it must come by gift it 's not to bee bought for money 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 't is the soul and the substance of all Religion all the Graces the Duties and Exercises of it are onely 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 bee not in us Dost thou prize thy substance Is thy house or thy mony 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 Kingdome Lord let mee love thee Get love and get all love and thou wilt bee holy love and thou wilt be humble love and thou wilt bee fruitful love and thou wilt please praise and enjoy thy God love and thou wilt fear serve suffer and die 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 VVord of God was precious in those daies 1 Sam. 3.1 that is when there was a Famine of the Word when there was no open Vision O were the love of God as precious as 't is rare what a spiritless carkass is the Religion of many Professours what 's become of the soul of it Oh! we freeze in our Duties we freeze in our Devotions wee are almost frozen out of them all if vvee have a Sacrifice left vvhat fire is there to offer it up The God that answereth by fire let him bee God said Elijah the heart that asketh by fire that ascendeth in fire let that bee the heart for God Behold the wood and the fire but where is the Lamb for the Sacrifice Wee may say behold the wood and the sacrifice but where is the Fire to offer it up our Spirits have taken a cold the chill 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 wee search how many hearts must wee walk through e're wee finde thine Habitation The Apostle tells the Romans Rom. 10.2 that they have a Zeal of God but not according to Knowledge wee have the Knowledge of God but oh where is the Zeal the Zeal of thine house saith the Psalmist hath eaten mee 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 wilde fire of envy and contention that heats our spirits Jehu was all on fire against the house of Ahab Come see my zeal for the Lord of Hosts That fire was fury not love or if 't was love 't was 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 devilish wee freeze still while wee thus fry our praeter-natural heats have extinguished the super-natural O! how little kindly warmth do wee find in our spirits do wee feel our hearts working upwards ascending in our flames wee all pretend to love but consider are our hearts making out in their strength after God Wee wish well to his Name and Interest wee wish hee were ours wee wish our selves his O if wishing were loving what Christians should wee 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 Kingdome of Heaven may offer violence if it will and take us by force but how little violence doth it suffer We say wee love God but is there not something else wee love more wee desire to be holy but is there not something else wee 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 wee consult how many marks must we consider e're we can prove 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 hee put up how often when hee 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 hee when he hath come to our doors his love hath often brought him thither how often hath hee stood and knock'd and call'd open to mee my Love my Sister and there been made to stand and 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 finde us at leisure if there bee 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 â—o carry us another way then presently I pray thee have mee 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 carkasses behind with the Lord O were our love stronger our cries would bee louder and would drown the noise of these knocking 's that they would not bee heard nor heeded it would command silence to every impertinent thought I charge you O Daughters that you stirre 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 yee powers of my soul come and do your homage come and help in the service of my God Oh! at what distance are wee content to live from the Lord sometimes for many daies together Our souls and our God are grown strange and yet wee can bee merry and quiet wee can bee 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 bee Ecclipsed or under a Cloud and yet no darkness upon our Spirits wee do not walk in darkness when wee 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 and rejoyce in the light of our own sparks as if these were the Sun wee 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 wee not sometimes go where our Lord feeds and never finde 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 wee 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 mee no more Naomi pleasant but call mee Marah bitter I went out full but I return empty Full of Grace full of Joy because full of the Lord but behold all is gone my Husband is lost my God is departed from mee Call mee no more Naomi but call mee 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 farre from mee such are the tears of Love for her absent Lord. Oh! how little Conscience is there made of bestowing that on the Lord which wee have bestowed on him wee give and take wee pretend to have given all to God but are wee not often taking away what wee 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 bee given to the Lord when so many daies 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 and tongues which were made for God the Devil and Lust must so often have the using of them when back and belly and friends and companions must carry away what should bee spent on God and Souls when what should be allowed for Religion and Charity to have the spending of must bee at the disposure of Pride Prodigality 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 ends must have the offering and the eating of our Sacrifices this must make our Prayers and preach our Sermons and keep our Fasts and give our Almes and wear the credit and honour of them as its own Crown when God is thus robbed and wee let the thief run away with all and is never pursued or questioned Oh! where is our love Oh! how little pleasure do wee take in the Lord what a weariness is it to us to wait upon him how glad are wee when wee come back from the House of the Lord when wee come off our Knees come out of our Closets when the Sabbaths are gone and the new-Moons
are over and wee make our returns from Heaven to Earth How much work have wee to keep our hearts by the Lord how do they slink away e're wee are aware and whilst wee are in his Presence how seldome do wee rejoyce in his Presence What hungry meals what jejune feasts do wee make before the Lord Wee relish not his Daintys his Wine is but lees his Marrow and his fat things are but leanness to our Souls a little love would sweeten every drop would season every morsel that comes from his Table would make our very Fasts to bee pleasant bread Wee feed upon the dish or the trencher and not the meat 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 wee with the Lord in our approaches to him and how little sweetness do wee finde in the little wee have Communion is the pleasure of Love and Love is the sweetness of Communion Now I am where I would bee O! how amiable are thy Tabernacles very pleasant art thou to mee O Lord that is the voice of Love Had wee more love wee should bee more spiritual and spiritual things would bee more grateful to spiritual hearts Divine Love is like the fire it rarifies and changes hearts into its own likeness and then there 's sweetness O we are carnal and that 's enough to evidence that there 's little of the love of God abiding in us 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 bee 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 busy in digging out the Wealth of the earth and searching for its treasures hearts so busy 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 bee 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 lyes 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 heave 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 and be at rest Be lower than ever by humility but let love be on high Behold those cords of love that are let down in every Ordinance in every Providence there 's a cord let down to gather up hearts hearken to those calls of love come up hither come up hither we come Lord thou bid'st us come O lend us thy hand and lift us up Come on Christians come let 's be happy if wee love wee are happy Come let 's rejoyce if wee love wee joy come let 's live wee dye wee dye while wee linger on this earth if wee love wee live let 's live and let our life bee love let our works bee labours of love our sufferings seals of love our sorrows the sorrows of love our wounds loves scars our prayers the cryes 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 bee loves Sacrifices as we see in all his so let the Lord see love in all our waies Canst thou not love look till thou canst look up to thy God send up thy thoughts thither let thy Meditations bee of him these will not bee long before the Throne e're 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 till thou feel it warm Look up to thy Jesus lift up a prayer Lord let mee love thee if thou lovest let mee love thee I will seek till I can see let mee 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 mee while mine heart is no more with thee take it Lord take it up where my treasure is there let mine heart bee also Doubting Christian who because thou lovest so little fearest thou lovest not at all cry for more but bee thankful for what thou hast bee ashamed thou lovest no more but bee not dismayed thou complainest thou canst not love God but dost thou love his Image his Saints his Word his Works his Waies Whilst thou sayest thou lovest not God dost thou love Godliness if thou canst not love can'st grieve can'st lament after him hast thou chosen dost thou hang upon trust in the Lord If thou canst not love can'st fear and follow the Lord If he be not sensibly in thy affection is he in thy thoughts in thy mouth in thine eye Is hee 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 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 dreadfull God he is dreadfull 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 dreadfull 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 perpetuall 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
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 shadowes Heaping up vanities No no thou mistakest thy self these shadowes 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 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 delayes 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 an excuse instead of an 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 t is too late or t is cold and 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 trouble 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 forward 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 evill 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 men indeed an Excuse instead of a Duty 'T is all one as if when the Lord calls to thee Come to me and be saved thy Answer should be I pray thee excuse me 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 ro 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 sloathful servant and this for a slighter of God Whilest the Apostle sayes I reckon that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed But I reckon saist 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 me but whence then is thy care to please God Whence are all thy labours of love Do'st watch and pray and work and run Can'st spend and be spent for God and yet not love him Do'st live to God can'st dye for God and yet not prize him What greater proof can'st give of love then such labour 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 too deep to be gotten out by a wish There 's many a poor man in this world that would be the richest man in the Countrey if riches may be gotten by a wish he may assoon with 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 and 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 sluggs at doing will shrink back from suffering Say not There 's a Lion in the streets overcome the Lion and you will not fear the Bear Get over Difficulties and there 's but one still more Distress betwixt thee and glory Pass the first and 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 be lost Take heed of Soul take thine easie lest the next word thou hear be This night shall thy soul be required of thee Well this is a second thing included in Obedience Activity 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 onely 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 Commandements 1 Pet. 1.14,15 As obedient children be ye holy in alâ— manner conversation Matth. 28.20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you But of this having spoken more largely elswhere 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 have 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 Affections But sin now hath made a mutiny and Insurrection the Will rises against Reason and will not be guided the Passions rebell against Conscience and will not be governed nay they do not onely resist but take upon them to command and impose upon Conscience What the Will would have Conscience must say t is Reason it should have must
to abide in my house for ever o o Ioh. 8.35,36 Whatever love or care children may look for from their father that may you expect from me p p Mat. 6.31,32 and so much more as I am wiser and greater and better then any earthly parents If earthly fathers will give good things to their children much more will I give to you q q Luke 11.13 If such cannot forget their children much less will I forget you r r Esay 49 15. What would my children have your Fathers heart and your Fathers house Å¿ Å¿ â—ob 7.17 Ioh. 14 2 your Fathers care and your Fathers ear t t 1 Pet. 5.7 Mat. 7,9 your Fathers bread and your Fathers rod u u Luk. 12.30,31,32 Heb. 12.7 these shall be all yours He promiseth his fatherly affection You shall have my fatherly affection my heart I share among you my tenderest loves I bestow upon you w w 1 Iohn 3.1 Ier. 31.3 Esa 54.8 His fatherly compassion My fatherly compassion As a Father pittieth his children so will I pittie you x x Psa 103.13,14 I will consider your frame and not be extream to mark what is done amiss by you but cover all with the mantle of my excusing love y y Psal 78.39 His fatherly instruction My fatherly instruction I will cause you to hear the sweet voice behind you saying This is the way z z Esay 30.21 I will tender your weakness and inculcate mine admonitions line upon line and seed you with milk when you cannot digest stronger meat a a Esay 28,13 1 Cor. 3.2 I will instruct you and guide you with mine eye b b Ps 32.8 His fatherly protection My fatherly protection In my fear is strong confidence and my children shall have a place of refuge c c Prov. 14.26 My Name shall be your strong Tower to which you may at all times flie and be safe d d Prov. 18.10 To your strong hold ye prisoners of hope e e Zec. 9.12 I am an open refuge a near and inviolable refuge for you f f Ps 48.3 Deut. 4.7 Ioh. 10.29 His fatherly provision My fatherly Provision Be not afraid of want in your Fathers house there is bread enough g g Ps 34.9 Luk. 15.17 I will care for your bodies Cark not for what you shal eat drink or put on Let it suffice you that your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all things h h Mat. 6.25 to the end Luke 12.22 to the 34. I wil provide for your souls Meat for them and Mansions for them and Portions for them i i Ioh. 6.32 to 59. Ps 15.12 Lam. 3.24 Behold I have spread the Table of my Gospel for you with priviledges and comforts that no man taketh from you k k Esay 25.6 Mat. 22 4. Prov. 9.2 I have set before you the bread of life and the tree of life and the water of life l l Joh. 6.48 Rev. 2.7 and 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 smiles and hints now and be contented with glimpses and glanses here but you shal be shortly taken up into your Fathers bosom and live for ever in the fullest viewes of his glory m m 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 n n 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-Covenanâ— for ever o o Esay 9.6 and 42.6 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 p p 1 Cor. 1.30 I bestow him upon you with all his fullness all his merits and all his graces He shal be yours in all his Offices I have anointed him for a Prophet Are you ignorant he shal teach you he shal be eye-salve to you q q Esay 49.6 and 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 r r Luk. 4 18. I have established him by Oath as a Priest for ever Å¿ Å¿ Psal 110 4. If any sin he shall be your Advocate He shal expiate your guilt and make the Atonement t t 1 Joh. 2.1,2 Zech. 13.1 Have you any sacrifice any service to offer bring it unto him and you shal receive an Answer of Peace u u 1 Pet. 2.5 Heb. 13.15 Present your Petitions by his hand him will I accept w w Ioh. 14.13.14 Having such an High Priest over the house of God x x Heb. 10.19,20,21,22 you may come and wellcome come with boldness Him have I set up as King upon my holy Hill of Sion He shal rule you he shal defend you y y Esay 9.6,7 Mat. 1.21 He is the King of Righteousness King of Peace and such a King shal he be to you z z Heb. 7.2 Jer. 23.6 Eph. 2.14 I will set up his Standard for you a a Esay 49.22 I will set up his Throne in you b b Psal 110 2. He shal reign in righteousness and rule in Judgment and he shal be a hiding place from the wind a covert from the tempest and the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land c c Esay 32 1â—2 He shal hear your causes judge your Enemies d d Esay 11.3.4,5 and reign till he hath put all under his feet e e Psal 110.1 1 Cor. 15.25 Yea and under your feet for they shal be as ashes under you and you shal tread them saith the Lord of Hosts f f Mal. 4.3 Yea I will undo them that afflict you and all they that despised you shal bow themselves down at the soles of your feet g g Esay 60. â—4 Zeph. 3.19 And you shal go forth and behold the carkasses of the men that have transgressed against me for their Worm shal not die neither shal their fire be quenched and they shal be an abhorring to all flesh h h Esay 66.24 God the Spirit to be Counsellour and Comforter to us My Spirit do I give unto you for your Counsellour and your Comforter i i Ioh. 16.7 Rom. 8.14 He shal be a constant Inmate with you and shal dwel in you and abide with you for ever k k Ezek. 36 27. Iohn 14.16,17 I consecrate you as Temples to his Holiness l l 1 Cor. â— 16,17 and 6.19 He shal be your Guide he shal lead you into all truth m m Gal. 5.18 Ioh. 14 26. He shal
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 Summer delights do follow the Winters severities as sure as the wisht-for Harvest doth follow the toilsome and costly Seeds-time so sure shall thy Lord return and bring thy reward with him Revel 22.12 Therefore my soul love and long for the approaching Jubile and wait all the daies 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 Dunghill 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 that ever I was born to partake of this endless dignity Hebr. 12.22,23,24 O my Lord it is no little thing thou hast given me in hand 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 Gal. 4.6 Luke 5.20 My heart reviveth as Jacobs when I behold the tokens which thou hast sent me the spirit of Adoption the pardon of my sins my patent for Heaven the chain of thy Graces the Son of thy Bosome and the New Testament in his blood 1 Cor. 11.25 Luk. 12.32 Cant. 1.10 Joh. 3.16 Joh. 14.21,23 and the Letters of his love My Lord hath said that he will love me and manifest himself unto me and that the Father will love me and both will come unto me and make their abode in me But is it true indeed Will the Lord dwel on Earth Or if he will shal so foul a Stable so unclean a Stye as my heart hath been shal 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 these things be But he hath said it and I do and I will believe it Psal 31.19 Yet all this is but the earnest of what is to come Oh how great is thy goodness laid up for them that fear thee Yet a little while and my warfare shal be accomplished and the Heavens must receive me till the time of the restitution of all things 2 Pet. 1.14 It is but for a short term that I shal dwel in this dirty flesh in an earthen Tabernacle Joh. 12.26 My Lord hath shewed me that where he is there shal his servant be Now the living is tyed to the dead and my Soul is a Stage of strife and a Field of war 1 Cor. 13.10 But t is but a little moment and that which is perfect shal come perfect Holiness and perfect Peace eternal Serenity and a Serene Eternity O my sins Rev. 21.27 I am going where you cannot come where no unclean thing shal enter nor any thing that defileth Methinks I see all my Afflictions and Temptations all mine infirmities and corruptions falling off me as Elijah's 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 Luk. 16.22 Be thou as poor as Lazarus 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 Gen. 45.16 If there were Joy in Pharaoh's Court when it was said Joseph's Brethren are come surely it will be welcom newes in Heaven when it s told Jesus his Brethren are come 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 Joh. 16.27 I am sure of welcom for the Father himself loveth me I have tasted and tryed his love Luke 15. and when I had played the wicked Prodigal yet he despised not my Raggs but fell on my neck and kissed me 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 Countrey 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 shall I see the glorious preparations of Eternal Love and the blissful Mansions of the Heavenly Inhabitants Doubtless it shal be thus These are not sick-mens 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 then think that the living God will deceive me or that his unchangeable Covenant will fail 1 Joh. 3.2 Now I am a son of God but it doth not yet appear what I shal be but this I know I shal be like him and see him as he is I know it shal 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 Heits of Promise the immutability of his Counsel confirmed it by an Oath Heb. 6.17 that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye I might have strong consolation O unreasonable Unbelief What shal 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 bold 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 shal be mine onely Associates and Love and Praise mine onely 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
I know thou hast prescribed for the Death and utter Destruction of all my Corruptions And whereas I have formerly inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the World I do here resign my Heart to thee that madest it humbly protesting before thy Glorious Majesty that it is the firm resolution of my heart and that I do unfeignedly desire Grace from thee that when thou shalt call me hereunto I may practice this my resolution through thy Assistance to forsake all that is dear unto me in this World rather then to turn from thee to the wayes of sin and that I will watch against all its Temptations whether of Prosperity or Adversity least they should withdraw my Heart from thee beseeching thee also to help me against the Temptations of Satan to whose wicked Suggestions I resolve by thy Grace never to yield my self a Servant And because my own righteousness is but menstruous Rags I renounce all confidence therein and acknowledge that I am of my self a hopeless helpless undone creature without righteousness or strength The Terms to which we must turn are either ultimate or mediate And forasmuch as thou hast of thy bottomless Mercy offered most Graciously to me wretched sinner to be again my God through Christ if I would accept of thee I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that The ultimate is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost who must be thus accepted I do here solemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God and with all possible veneration bowing the neck or my Soul under the feet of thy most sacred Majesty I do here take thee the Lord Jehovah Father Son and Holy Ghost for my portion and chief good and do give up my self body and soul for thy servant promising and vowing to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life The mediate terms are either principal or less principal The Principal is Christ the Mediator who must thus be embraced And since thou hast appointed the Lord Jesus Christ the onely means of coming unto thee I do here upon the bended knees of my Soul accept of him as the onely New and Living Way by which Sinners may have access to thee and do here solemnly joyn my self in a marriage covenant to him O blessed Jesus I come to thee hungry and hardly bestead poor and wretched and miserable and blinde and naked a most loathsome polluted wretch a guilty condemned Malefactor unworthy for ever to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory But sith such is thine unparallel'd love I do here with all my power accept thee and do take thee for my Head and Husband for better for worse for richer for poorer for all times and conditions to love honour and obey thee before all others and this to the death I embrace thee in all thine Offices I renounce mine own unworthiness and do here avow thee to be the Lord my Righteousness I renounce mine own wisdome and do here take thee for mine onely Guide I renounce mine own will and take thy Will for my Law And since thou hast told me that I must suffer if I will reign I do here covenant with thee to take my lot as it falls with thee and by thy grace assisting to run all hazards with thee verily supposing that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me The less Principles are the Laws of Christ which must be thus accepted And because thou hast been pleased to give me thy holy Laws as the Rule of my life and the way in which I should walk to thy Kingdome I do here willingly put my Neck under thy Yoke and set my Shoulder to thy Burden and subscribing to all thy Laws as holy just and good I solemnly take them as the rule of my words thoughts and actions promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel yet I will endeavour to order and govern my whole life according to thy direction and will not allow my self in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty Onely because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings I am bold humbly to protest That unallowed miscarriages contrary to the setled bent and resolution of my heart shall not make void this Covenant for so thou hast said Now Almighty God searcher of hearts thou knowest that I make this Covenant with thee this day without any known guile or reservation bebeseeching thee that if thou espiest any flaw or falshood therein thou wouldest discover it to me and help me to do it aright And now glory be to thee O God the Father whom I shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father That ever thou shouldest find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners Glory be to thee O God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in thine own blood and art now become my Saviour and Redeemer Glory be to thee O God the holy Ghost who by the finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned about my heart from sin to God O dreadful Jehovah the Lord God Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Ghost thou art now become my Covenant-friend and I through thine infinite Grace am become thy Covenant-servant Amen So be it And the Covenant which I have made on earth let it be ratified in Heaven 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 Likes are fallen to you in a pleasant place yea you have a 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 these 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 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 VVhat 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 what ever duties you perform what ever ease or hope you finde hereupon what ever transportation of affection you feel in your hearts in the midst of all enquiry But am I in Covenant How shall I know that you 'll 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