the Nature or Life of the Soul they are carnal sensible things and so are suitable to the flesh and sensual part and are pleasing to it but they have nothing suitable in them to an immortal Spirit nothing that an eternal Soul can feed upon the Body may as soon feed upon Air and Ashes as the Soul upon Creatures But now in God there is that Good that is every way suitable to the Soul to the Nature Life and Wants of the Soul the Soul is of a Spiritual Nature and God is a Spiritual Good God is a Spirit Joh. 4.24 The Soul is of a vast capacity 't is next to Infiniteness in its capacity and desires and God is a vast and comprehensive Good having as has been shewn all good in him Without suitableness in the Object to the faculty there can be no Rest Would you have an original independent Good such a Good is God Dulcius ex ipso fonte petuntur aquoe Waters drink most pleasantly at the Fountain-head In God you have all Good all Sweet all Comfort at the Fountain-head Hence he is said to be a Fountain of Living Waters and the Creatures broken Cisterns Jer. 2.13 the Fountain has all in and from it self but Cisterns you know have no more than is put into them all that Good that is in God he has it in and from himself but the Creatures yea the best of Creatures Angels themselves not excepted have no more than he puts into them Now how much is the Fountain to be preferred before a Cistern Would you have a pure and an unmixed Good Gold that has no Dross Wine that has no Water in it such a Good is God God is light and in him there is no darkness at all 1 Joh. 1.5 All things on this side God have their mixtures they have a dark as well as a bright side all this Wine is mixt with Wormwood this Gold with Dross Who of us did ever meet with the Creature-Injoyment that had not many allayes the sweetest Rose has its prickles and the rarest Beauty its spots among the Creatures but now God is every way a pure and an unmixed Good he is all Light Life Love Holiness and the like Would you have a sweet and satisfying Good Such a Good is God yea indeed there is infinite sweetness and satisfaction to be found in him he can infinitely delight ravish solace and satisfy the Soul for ever O how sweet how satisfying are the Sights of God the Tastes and Descents of his Love what an Heaven does one sight of God one descent of his Love make in the Soul David casting his eye upon God as his in Covenant is even ravished with it and cryes out the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places I have a goodly Heritage Psal 16.5 6. and elsewhere we read of Pleasures of Rivers of Pleasures of Satisfaction of abundance of Satisfaction and all as that which Souls do or may find in God and communion with God Psal 36.8 and David over and over tells you of Sweetness and Satisfaction and Satisfaction as with Marrow and Fatness in but the very thoughts and meditation of God Psal 63.5 6. and Aug. I remember speaking of God and to him often breaks out into such language as this O my God my Life Deus meus Vita mea Dulcedo mea c. my Sweetness O Sirs holy Souls who live in Communion with God will tell you that there is no sweetness like that in God no Love like his Love no Comforts like his Comforts They will tell you that one sight of God one sensible token of his presence in the Soul has more solace and sweetness in it than al the delights of this world yea than many Worlds and they accordingly chuse and desire it Oh how sweet is it to be led into the Banquetting House by Christ and there have the Banner of his Love displayed over us and Flagons of that Wine poured out unto us How sweet is it to have one sight of the King in his beauty how much more to walk and converse with him in his Galleryes How sweet is it with God in his Sanctuary and have him revealing Himself his Love his Beauty his Glory to us O taste and see how good the Lord is Would you have a sure eternal and unchangeable Good a Good that never fades failes nor has any period such a Good is God and God alone From everlasting to everlasting be is God Psal 90.2 But this has been sufficiently spoken to elsewhere Well you see what a blessed Rest God is for Souls Why then should we ever think of looking out any where else for Rest O wretched hearts of ours that will leave this God and go out to a vain World and dying Creatures for Rest and Happiness In a word if God has all that in him which thou needest or art capable of to give thee Rest and Happiness than retire solely to him for it Now what dost thou want or what art thou capable of to give thee Rest and Happiness Dost thou want and desire Life With God is the Fountain of Life Psal 36.9 Dost thou want Peace God is the God of Peace Rom. 16.20 and frequently elsewhere is he so called Dost thou want pardon he is the God of pardons so the words are in the Psalms when he is said to be ready to forgive and you know he has promised to pardon iniquity transgression and sin sins of all sorts and sizes all degrees and aggravations if Souls come to him Heb. 8.12 Dost thou want Grace he is the God of all Grace 1 Pet. 5.10 Dost thou want comfort he is the God of all Consalation Dost thou want Mercy he is the Father of Mercies 2 Cor. 1.3 Dost thou want strength strength to do to suffer to live to die he is the Lord Jehovah with whom is everlasting Strength Isa 26.4 Dost thou want Joy in his presence is fulness of Joy Psal 16.11 Dost thou want Salvation Salvation Temporal Salvation Eternal â—e is the God of Salvation and as such the Church glories in him Psal 68.20 Thus no Rest â—â—ke that in God Souls need not look elsewhere for Rest and Happiness for there is all in God alone 4. Consider what a restless World you live in â—nd what a troublesom time you are fallen upon The more restless this World is and the more troublesom the times are which we are falâ—â—n upon the more we are concerned to take up our Rest in God Now certainly the World was scarce ever more restless nor the times moâ—â— troublesom than now In Zech. 1.11 we reaâ— of a time when the whole World was at Rest excepting only the Church of God but 't is eveâ— quite contrary now for now the whole World Church and all are in a restless troublesom state We see and hear of little but Wars and rumours of Wars and as 't was of old destruction upon destruction is cryed and what and when the end
his Power his Wisdom his Holiness his Justice his Goodness his Faithfulness his All-sufficiency and the like all which are not distinguished in him either from himself or from one another but are all one and the same God revealed and manifested to us under various notions and that to help us the better to conceive and apprehend him as also to perform our homage and worship to him accordingly we may say the Holiness of God is God the Wisdom of God is God the Power of God is God the Goodness of God is God And to come to my Text the Unchangeableness of God is God and indeed the unchangeableness of God is God manifested and revealed under a sweet and blessed as well as a glorious Notion to us under such a Notion as conduces-much to the quickning and incouraging of our Faith and Love our Comfort and Obedience in him and to him and so indeed the Text represents it I am the Lord I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed In which words we have two things to be noted 1. Here is a Display or Representation of God in one Ray or Beam of his Divine Glory and that is his Unchangeableness I am the Lord I change not or I the Lord am not changed for it may be read either Actively or Passively and the sense will be the same I change not I am not alter'd or varied at all what I was I am what I am I still shall be Deus hic se tacitè mortalibus opponit et a se Procul repellit omnem inconstantiam Calv. God here as a judicious Expositor observes tacitly opposes himself to mortal men and removes and renounces all wavering and inconstancy from himself I change not as if he should have said Men die but I live men change but I change not I am still the same 2. Here is a Mention or Declaration of the blessed Fruit or Issue of this Glorious Perfection of God in reference to his Church and People and that is their preservation from destruction Therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed Here two things must be enquired into First Who are we to understand by the Sons of Jacob And secondly What by their being not consumed 1. Who are we to understand by the Sons of Jacob By the Sons of Jacob here we are to understand God's Professing Church and People We read in Scripture of the House of Jacob the Seed of Jacob and the Sons of Jacob by all which are meant God's Church and People whom he takes into Covenant with himself and makes the Objects of his Love and this will be evident by comparing my Text with Cap. 1.2 where God sayes expresly that he loved them And again I loved Jacob. 2. What are we to understand by their being not consumed It imports and carries in it these two things 1. An Exemption from Temporal Ruine 2. A Preservation from Eternal Destruction 1. An Exemption from Temporal Ruine Therefore ye are not consumed that is therefore you are not cut off from being a People therefore you are not utterly broken by my Judgements 't is true some afflictions you have had yea great afflictions but yet still you live still you are a People you are preserved from utter ruine and destruction And why so Not because you have not deserved to be utterly cut off and destroyed but because I am unchangeable I am the Lord I change not therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed 2. A Preservation from Eternal Destruction Therefore ye are not consumed that is therefore you are not in Hell therefore you are not under the eternal Revelations of my Wrath which alas is what you have deserved As if God should say to them True you have had affliction but alas it has been nothing to the desert of your sin your sins have been many and great against me such as deserved utter ruine yea eternal destruction an utter Consumption both of Body and Soul for ever and this had been your portion long since had you not had to deal with an unchangeable God not your desert but my unchangeableness is the sole cause why you are not utterly and eternally destroyed In short the design of the whole was to upbraid them with their sins and particularly their ingratitude and withall to let them know that the reason why it was not worse with them than it was yea why they were not totally and eternally destroyed was not because they did not deserve to have had it so but because their God was unchangeable I am the Lord I change not therefore c. In which God seems thus to bespeak them You complain of me and have hard thoughts of me because 't is with you as it is and I do not presently arise for your help but let me tell you 't is well for you that 't is not ten thousand times worse with you than it is 't is well you are a People 't is well you are not among the Damned Sure I am you highly deserv'd to have had it so with you you are a sinful sinning rebellious people a people that have deserved to be destroyed ten thousand times over I have done great things for you above any people I have shewn you much love but you have not walked sutably and answerably to the great things I have done for you nor the great love I have shewn to you No you have abused all and sinned against me under all and that with an high hand whereby you have deserved to be utterly consumed and destroyed and indeed had I not been an unchangeable God consumed and destroyed you had been long agoe I see that in you and among you for which I might justly destroy you and that for ever and nothing but my own Unchangeableness keeps you alive Should you therefore complain of me Should you not rather admire at my patience and forbearance so long with you and towards you Truly 't is a Miracle of Grace Goodness and Patience in me that you have not been long since destroyed once for all This I take to be the true scope and meaning of the Word the sum of which together with the foundation of my intended Discourse from them I shall give you in this short Position Namely That the Lord Jehovah is an unchangeable God or how changeable soever the Creatures are yet God the Lord changes not Whoever changes I the Lord change not I am alwayes and for ever the same Now that God is unchangeable wherein he is unchangeable why or whence 't is that he is unchangeable as also the vindication of his unchangeableness from all Cavils and Objections that seem to lye against it with the practical improvement of all are the principal matters that will fall under consideration in the prosecution of this Argument and I hope by the assistance of God we shall find some light and much comfort and quickening in our going through them CHAP. II. Which containes a
will I make my refuge and being thus at Rest in God his heart is prepared 'T is in a ready posture for duty and service O 't is the restlesness and discomposure of our hearts that unfits and indisposes us for our Work and Duty When the Israelites were filled with anguish of Spirit they could not hear Moses Exod. 6.9 and when Jonah his Spirit was off its Rest though he were an eminent Prophet of God he could not pray but very peevishly and unbecomingly Jon. 4.2.3 A restless Spirit is unfit for the ordinary duties of Christianity But now take a Soul that is indeed at Rest in God and he is fit not only for the general Dutys of Christianity such as Prayer Hearing or the like but even for whatever Work or Duty God shall call him out unto though never so difficult or never so mean Such an one may in his place and station say as I Remember one brings in David speaking to God Lord saies he if thou wilt make me a Shepherd to keep Sheep or if thou wilt make me a King to govern thy People behold mine heart is prepared I am in a ready posture for the one or the other Oh what a sweet frame is this God may also call us to what Condition he pleases to a Condition of Fullness or of Want of Prosperity or Affliction and the like now whatever Condition he calls to the Soul that is at Rest in him is ready for it Does God call him to sufferings to take up and bear the Cross He is ready for this Call of God for he can rejoyce yea glory in the Cross Rom. 5.3 He can sing in a Prison as Paul and Sylas did Act. 16.25 Does God call him to Fulness He knows how to abound Does God call him to Wants He knows how to be abased as Paul did Phil. 4 12. Does God call him to Mourning he is ready for it for he and indeed he alone knows how to weep as if he wept not Does God call him to rejoycing He is ready for it for he and he alone can rejoyce as if he rejoyced not which is the fittest posture and carriage for each condition 1 Cor. 7.30 In a word he is fit to live and fit to die and let me tell you that is a great Word yet a true one he is fit to die ready in a good measure for another World 'T is a great thing to die and 't is a great attainment to be ready to die and that that Soul is that is at Rest in God I scarce know a more desirable frame and posture to die in than this of being at Rest in God Now if it be a frame of Soul which thus renders a man ready for every Call of God to him surely it must then be an excellent frame 3. To live at Rest in God is a safe frame and posture of Soul a frame and posture of Soul that secures a man against danger and therefore an excellent frame There is no Soul in the World so secure from danger as he that is at Rest in God such an one is set aloft as you have it Prov. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous flee thereunto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat exaltare in tuto collocare Gejer. and are safe or as the word is are set aloft set aloft above the reach of danger They flee to the Name to the Nature to the Attributes of God they retire there and Rest there and are secured against danger This is what guards and fences the Soul and that against his grand enemy the Devil 'T is a great and sweet Scripture that Phil. 4.7 The Peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall guard or garrison your Hearts and Minds through Christ Jesus it shall fence and fortifie you against temptation and indeed no Soul so fenced and fortified against temptation as he that lives at Rest in God Those temptations which wound others and lead them captive into sin cannot fasten upon him A true Rest in God is a kind of life-guard to the Soul and no guard like it in the World it keeps temptation from entering in and it keeps corruption from breaking out 'T is a sweet exposition which one gives of that place * Pax Dei i. e. illa tranquillitas animi fidelibus a Deo conceditur quasi militari praefidio custodiet ipsorum corda adversus Satanae Mundi tentationes mentes ipsorum stabiles in Christo conservet Dix in loc the Peace of God shall keep your Hearts and Minds that is saies he that Rest and Tranquillity of Soul which the faithful have in God shall preserve their hearts as with a military guard and power against the temptations of Satan and the World and it shall keep their minds stable in Christ And to the same purpose also Calvin upon the place The Peace of God saith he shall keep you lest by wicked thoughts or desires you should revolt from God O my Beloved there is scarce any thing gives the Devil and his Temptations greater advantage against us than a disturbed restless discomposed Spirit So much is evident from Eph. 4.26 27. Be ye angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath neither give place unto the Devil Where is clearly intimated that by an unquiet disturbed Spirit we give place unto the Devil and their is scarce any thing on the other hand that so fences and fortifies the Soul against Satan and his Temptations as an holy Rest of Soul in God The Saints in Heaven are out of all danger either of sin or temptation and why so Truly for this reason among others because there they are perfectly at Rest in God they find that perfect solace and satisfaction in God that they cannot possibly admit of sin nor have they the least tendency to turn aside to any thing else What shall I say A Soul that is off his Rest is off his Watch and being off his Watch he is in the mouth of danger whereas 't is quite otherwise with a Soul at Rest in God 4. To live at Rest in God is a very comfortable frame and posture of Soul a frame and posture of Soul which is attended with much Spiritual Comfort and Communion with God which also speaks the excellency of it A Soul living at Rest in God has usually the fullest Comforts and the sweetest Communion with God of any on this side Heaven The truth is the thing it self carrys unexpressible sweetness in it besides God's delight to manifest himself to those that live in the exercise of it God you know was in the still voice and there the Prophet found Him Deus ubique presens est sed non in vento se patefeeit Mart. He was not in the great and strong Wind He was not in the Earth-quake He was not in the Fire But he was in the still Voice 1 King
19.11 12. The good Prophet had been off his Rest in God he had been in a passion and under great discomposure of Spirit as you may see vers 4 and now God gives him this vision of the Wind the Earth-quake and the Fire to let him see that that was not the way to Communion with him Admonetur Eiias ut sibi ab ira caveat ad quam natura suapte ferebatur Groti in loc and so to caution him against passion and all discom posure of Spirit which he was naturally very prone unto O God loves to dwell in and meet with a sedate serene composed Spirit a Spirit composed and at Rest in himself and those that are so are the Souls who usually have the clearest sights the sweetest tasts and the fullest communications of love from him of all others those are they who have the most close and constant communion with him who are most in his Bosom and the imbraces of his everlasting arms who have most of his Spirit his Presence his Consolations given to them Acquaint thy self with God and be at peace so shall good come unto thee Sedatiore animo esto Beza in locum Job 22.21 be at peace Animum quietum habe nec per impatientiam eum turbes Scult to wit in thine own Spirit be of a sedate mind do not rave do not rage do not distemper and discompose thy self as thou hast done Acquiesce in castigationibus Dei satis repugnasti satis proterveque reluctat us es ergo mitesce c. but be quiet and sedate in thine own Soul Well but what shall I gain by it Why Thereby good shall come unto thee And what Good Not only outward temporal Good but also Spiritual Good the Good of Grace the Good of divine Consolations the Good of Communion with God and the special manifestations of his Love O the more a Man's Soul is at Rest in God the more full will his Comforts and the more intimate will his Communion with God be As for a restless disturbed Spirit 't is so like the Devil as by and by you will hear that God cannot tell how to be much with it nor yet to do much in a way of special Grace and Spiritual Comfort for it Christians complain many times that they have but little Communion with God but little experience of his Love and presence with them and one reason among others why they have cause so to complain is because they are no more at Rest in God were they more at Rest in him he would Rest more in his Love his Grace his Presence with and upon them 5. To live at Rest in God is a God-like Frame and Posture of Soul which greatly resembles God and is suitable to Him and which brings us up into the very Life and Blessedness of God himself and what a choice frame must it then needs be the more likeness and resemblance any thing carries in it to God and the more any thing brings us into the Life and Blessedness of God the more excellent it is now there is nothing does more resemble God or is more suitable to him nothing that brings us more up into the life and likeness of God than to be thus at Rest in him in our own Souls This indeed is the very Life and Perfection of God the posture if I may so speak which God himself lives in for he is ever at Rest in himself he is infinitely well-pleased with what he himself does and Rests infinitely satisfied with his own Fulness and Excellencies God is his own Rest his own Centre God is infinitely delighted with his own Will and infinitely satisfied with his own Fulness and so is at Rest in himself which indeed is his blessedness Accordingly the more our Souls are at Rest in him the more do we resemble him and are brought into his Life and his Blessedness A restless unquiet Spirit does above all things resemble the Devil and is suitable to the Devil 't is indeed the very life image and spirit of the Devil for the Devil is a restless unquiet Spirit always acting in opposition to God and always fretting at the Dispensations of God He seeks Rest but finds none Mat. 12.43 As wicked ones cannot Rest so neither can the wicked one Rest but is perpetually disturbed Now as a restless unquiet Spirit resembles the Devil and is the very Life and Image of the Devil so to be at Rest in God is what resembles God and is the very Life of God in the Soul 't is what brings us up in t the Divine Life the Divine Blessedness and O what an excellent frame must this be 6. To live at Rest in God is a God-honouring frame and posture of Soul a frame of Soul that does much honour God and give Glory to Him and therefore must have much worth and excellency in it Of all Frames as well as Actions that is the best that does honour and glorifie God most and what frame of Soul does more honour and glorifie God than this of being at Rest in him This gives to God the glory of his Sovereignty and the glory of his Sufficiency two of the brightest Jewels in the Crown of Heaven it owns and acknowledges God to be both best and greatest the highest Lord and the chiefest Good and so it glorisies God as God it sets him up as God in the Soul and gives him the honour due unto his Name as such Restless disturbed unquiet Spirits do darken and obscure the Glory of God they are Censores Divinitatis as one of the Ancients speakes of them they censure the Blessed God and do in effect deny and disown the Sovereignty of God the Wisdom of God the Goodness the Faithfulness of God the Fulness Sufficiency and Perfection of the Holy One they do in effect say that God's Will is not a Good a Wise and an Holy Will that there is not enough in God to satisfie Souls and make them happy and O what an affront dishonour is this to the Majesty of Heaven But now the Soul that is indeed at Rest in God he gives him the Glory of all he sets the Crown where it ought to be and Oh how much does this speak out the worth and excellency of this frame of Soul 7. To live at Rest in God is an honoured and highly esteemed Frame and Posture of Soul and that by God himself a frame and posture of Soul which God has a great honour for and puts a great value upon which also speaks the excellency of it there is scarce any frame of Soul that God more values honours and delights in than this of an Holy Rest in Himself this is in the sight of God of great price Put on the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit which in the sight of God is of great price 1 Pet. 3.4 In the sight of men at least unholy and unspiritual Men 't is of little price of no price they
of these things will be who can tell In Jer. 16.5 we read that God had taken away his Peace from that People I have taken away my Peace from this People saith the Lord and truly now he seemes to have taken away his Peace from the World I 'le leave only two Scriptures with you one out of the Old and the other out of the New-Testament both which I am apt to think may have a great aspect to the present dayes and may in a great measure receive their accomplishment in them One is Zeph. 3.8 Wait ye upon me saith the Lord untill the day that I arise up to the prey for my determination is to gather the Nations that I may assemble the Kingdoms to pour out upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger for all the Earth shall be devoured with the fire of jealousy The other is that Luk. 21.25 26. There shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars and these we have had and upon the Earth distress of Nations with perplexity the Sea and the Waves roaring mens hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the Earth for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken I say nothing only I fear I fear as we have seen some of these things accomplisht so there will be a more full accomplishment of them and that ere the present generation passes away Doubtless great stormes are a coming and happy they that have an Ark to hide themselves in God has now great Works to do he has the Kingdom of Antichrist utterly to destroy the Kingdom of his Son Christ to set up in its Lustre and Glory the final Redemption of his People to work out his ancient Ones to call in and his suffering Name Attributes and Glory fully to right and vindicate and these things are not like to be brought about without great Stormes Convulsions and Concussions in the World Well and what is the language of all this to us Verily this Souls retire into God take up your Rest in him make him your All both here and in eternity and Oh that we would do so Then should we Rest in the day of trouble When Noah fore-saw the Deluge a coming he prepared him an ark to the saving of both himself and Family Heb. 11.7 Surely he s blind indeed that does not see a Deluge coming upon the World a Deluge of outward Troubles and Calamities O why do we not enark in God by making him our Rest this God invites his People unto Isa 26.20 Come my People enter thou into thy Chambers and shut thy Doors about thee hide thy self as it were for a little moment until theindignation be overpast for behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their iniquity What is it for God's People to enter into their Chambers hide themselves but to retire more into him live at Rest and in Communion with him to put themselves under his protection and the like 't is for them to retire from the World and worldly Concernes and to make him all living and resting wholly in him and upon him O let this viz. the restlesness of the World you live in draw your Souls into an holy rest in God 5. Consider what enemies you are to your own Souls by not living at Rest in God He that sinneth 't is said wrongeth his own Soul he that lives not at Rest in God greatly sinneth and thereby greatly wrongeth his own Soul On the one hand you hereby deprive your Souls of much Good and on the other hand you expose your Souls to much Evil. 1. Hereby you deprive your Souls of much Good yea of much of the best Good Solomon found this in experience and tells us that pursuing Rest and Happiness in the Creature and not in God he did thereby bereave his Soul of Good Eccles 4.8 and what Good Verily the best Good the Good of Grace of Holiness of Communion with God of the Comforts of his Spirit and the like and Oh how much of this Good do you bereave your Souls of dayly This is that which hath bereaved you of much Grace much Love much Spiritual Comfort many Imbraces in the Armes and Bosome of Christ's Love This namely our pursueing Rest from the Creature and not living at Rest in God is that which hath made us so lean so dead so dry so barren in our Spirits as we are O my Beloved while we have been off our Rest in God and have taken up in other things what have we been doing but feeding upon Husks and Swill when we might have eaten Bread and drunk Wine in the Fathers Kingdom what have we been doing but following after lying vanities to the forsaking of our own mercies Oh did you know how sweet a Life it is to be at Rest in God you would then know what Good you have bereaved your Souls of by not living at Rest in him 2. Hereby you expose your Souls to much evil I remember a saying of Austin * In hoc peccabam quod non in Deo sed in creaturis ejus me atque caeteras voluptates quaerebam atque ita irruebam in dolores confusiones errores animae Aug. In this I sinned says he that I sought my Happiness not in God but in his Creatures and so I rusht upon all manner of Dolours Confusions and Errors of Soul and have not we done So O the wounds the Confusions the Errors of Soul which we have exposed our selves unto while we have been off our Rest in God! Sin and Satan have made great waste and desolation upon our Spirits and 't is what exposes us to nothing but sorrows snares and Death and as we would not wrong our Souls let us retire to and live at Rest in God 6. Consider that your living at Rest in God here will be a clear and unquestionable evidence to you that you shall live at Rest in God and with God for ever O how sweet is it to have any one clear evidence of living at Rest in God and with God in Heaven and what would some of our Souls at some times give for such a blessing yea how sweet is a small glimpse of Hope a secret whisper an inward hint or intimation of such a thing from the Spirit of God in our Souls O live at Rest in God here and this will be a broad evidence of it to you and truly unless you do live at Rest in him here I know not however you will make it out to your Souls that you shall live at Rest in him and with him in the other World In short my Beloved if we do indeed desire to live at Rest with God for ever in Heaven why should we not desire to live at Rest in God here Sure I am the thing is the same and we should desire the one as well as the other and the one as the