CHAP. I.

THis Psalm is a Psalm of speciall excellency, and hath this mark on it, that (as some others) its form'd in Verses of it according to the Hebrew Alphabet. David was a man of a heavenly spirit, and truly he breaths much life in every word. This Psalm is a Prayer; David complains of [Page 2] Enemies; good men shal never want them, but this is their advantage, that as the world wil be sure to be their enemie, so God wil be more sure to be their friend. He had one to go to and could tel him how it was with him, and how men dealt with him, and that's but a bad business to the world, but its a great relief to the Spirits of the Saints, that they can go to God and speak their hearts. And in his Prayer observe his spirit: He doth not after the manner of the world, breathe out Affecti­ons moved meerly from the smart of the stroke, without sense of the cause; but cries out more of his sin then of his suffer­ing, and speaks more against himself then against his enemies, and begs more that he might walk in the sight of Gods coun­tenance and have his favor, then to be de­livered from his enemies. And as all Pray­er, the more spiritual, the more argumen­tative it is, (Prayer that is full of Affection, is full of Arguments;) so this. But while David was drawing down mercy upon himself, he was catcht up; Love fires in Prayer. His Faith is quickened in Prayer, and then Love's inflam'd: In the midst of his Prayer he breaks out and tells God in the words of the Text, that his eyes were ever towards him: While he was begging [Page 3] the eye of God toward him, he tells God, Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord.

Ever,] You cannot understand that actually and uncessantly his thoughts and heart were towards God, and his mind taken up with him; for by the necessity of this life, and the Law of it, he was some­times to be taken up with other things: But when he says, Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord, he means these three things.

1. That the disposition of his Soul was such, that he could be always looking upon God; he could wish, that when he is de­parted out of himself, and got up, that he might never come down more, and never have any other work in the world but this, to behold God. Thus always is taken in the Scriptures. In Acts 10.2. Cornelius is said to pray [always,] that is, he had a disposi­tion, his heart was ready to pray always. Acts 7.51. It's said of the Jews, They were stiff-necked and hard-hearted [always] to resist the Holy Ghost; this was their tem­per: like a stone that resists the hand of the workman, takes in no impression, but is wholly shut up to it self.

2. When he saith, Mine eyes are always towards the Lord, he means this, That upon all occasions, in every condition, in all places, his eyes were towards God. In [Page 4] Luke 18.1. Christ teacheth to watch and pray always, that is, upon all occasions, when ever Prayer is called for; watch to see the season, and have your hearts open: Making mention of you Always in my prayer, saith the Apostle, Rom. 1.9. and not seldom elsewhere; that is, as I have occasion I do intercede for you, as I pray for my self, its my dayly work: So in Psal. 88.9. Eve­ry day will I praise thee. Psal. 145.2. Every day will I bless thee: So here, Mine eyes are ever towards the Lord, that is, it's my every days work.

3. Mine eyes are [ever] toward the Lord, that is, continually; it is not only my or­dinary work and dayly course, but it's a work that shall last while I live, a work for life. 2 Sam. 9.10. David saith concerning Mephibosheth, He shall [Always] eat bread at my table; that is, while he lives he shall sit at my table: And in Psal. 146.2. While I live (he speaks in the sence of the Text) I will praise thee. So that now here you have the temper and practise of a godly man, his eyes are Ever toward the Lord. The Text holds forth these three things to us.

1. What it is upon which the eyes of Saints are set, upon what they are termi­nated; upon God.

2. Their great diligence and assiduity [Page 5] in this work of Eying God.

3. The continuance of it, Always.

Eying of God, in Scripture expression, as it's taken in a large sence, it's put for the mind of man, and not only for the mind, but for the heart; eying, seeing, and look­ing, signifies all manner of AffectionsSub ocu­lorum no­mine omnes affectus no­tari non ra­rum est. Calv. in loc.. I shall give you that sence only that is most comprehensive, as full and large as either the propriety of this phrase, or any Scripture of like expression, will reach to. There is an Eying of God in these six ways.

You shall see these all cleared in their order.

• 1. In way of Meditation.
• 2. In way of Affection.
• 3. In way of Observation.
• 4. In way of Expectation.
• 5. In way of Supplication.
• 6. In way of Intention.

CHAP. II.

FIrst, Eying of God is meditating, thinking, contemplating on God: Jerem. 3.2. Lift up thine eyes to the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien [Page 6] with. Lift up thine eyes; the meaning is not, that they should so much, or onely, exercise the Eyes of their Bodies, but of their Mindes; that they should consider and think well of this, how greatly they sinned against God. Prov. 24.32. Then I saw, and considered well, I looked upon it, and received instruction; speaking of the field of the Sluggard: I saw, that is, I diligent­ly weighed and viewed it: and considered it well; the word in the Original is, I set my heart to it, and made it my work to think of the matter: So that this Eying of God is thinking and minding of him, medita­ting upon him. Hebr. 12.2. Looking to Jesus, &c. The Apostle means, consider him, as he speaks in Chap. 3.1. Consider the High Priest of our Profession; looking to Jesus [...], The two preposi­tions shew that the mind should be drawn off from o­ther things and set on Christ. as one looks to his pattern, (which he doth with all diligence,) or as one looks to his refuge, hope, and help; all which import a solemn and serious employment of the minde about the thing. Exod. 2.11. It is said, when Moses grew old, he went out to see his Brethren, he looked on their Burdens: He did not onely come near, and cast an eye upon them, that's not the meaning of it, but he weighed and considered their condition; therefore it's rendered by the Septuagint by a word that signifies Consi­deration, [Page 7] ^c He considered their labor and travel. Psal. 25.18. [...]. Look upon mine Af­fliction, saith David; that is, consider it. Then to eye God is to consider him: I will express this duty in these few words; It's a course of voluntary and holy turning, and holding of the minde upon God. I'l a little open this in these three things.

First, This Eying of God is not onely a converting and pointing of the minde to­ward God,Contempla­tio est men­tis in Deum suspensae e­levatio, Bern. de scala clau­strali. but the abiding and staying of the minde with God: It's not some few and fleeting thoughts that are the discharge of this work, but thoughts resting, dwelling, fixing, and staying upon God. The truth is, there is a mighty rouling in the mindes and thoughts of men, their thoughts fly up and down like dust in the wind, and some of these may light sometimes upon God, but they vanish and abide not; these kinde of Visions may consist with the greatest forgetfulness of God. God hath his way open every where, and even they that live in the greatest unmindfulness of him, have their hearts and mindes open for him to pass in and through at pleasure. God hath his way through the spirits of the worst men, but he stays not there, that's a favor promised to some onely. Joh. 14.23. If any man love me, &c. We will come [Page 8] and make our abode with him: He comes to many, but stays not; he is in their eye, but passeth away: so that many have occasion to take up the Prophets complaint (in ano­ther case,) Jer. 14.8. O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldst thou be as a stranger, and as a way­faring man that turneth in but for a night? Thus God deals with most in the world, He is as a stranger to them: As one in a strange Country is there for his business, converseth with none but his friends, pass­eth by all the rest as so many strangers; so God is a stranger in the world, onely he knows some few; he findes out his friends, and passeth by all others. As a wayfaring man, [...] a traveller, comes to a place at night, and mindes his restDeclinat ad pernoc­tandum., when the night is gone he is gone; so (saith the Prophet) why art thou as a wayfaring man that tar­ryest for a night, and art gone in the morn­ing? Thus God deals with most, He hath indeed his accesses to them, but he hath like­wise his recesses from them; he is in their eye sometimes, but afterwards hides him­self, and is in darkness again, that men can­not see him. Look to it therefore, it's not a discharge of this work, when you have some transient thoughts of God, when you throw a thought upon him, then which no­thing [Page 9] is more fluent and vanishing, being the usual Emblem of greatest and most speedy fading vanity. How would you take it, that the Childe of your own bowels should only give you a look sometimes, and be gone, and not live in your presence! Minding of God is another manner of bu­siness then many are aware of. It's a think­ing with thought upon thought, a reitera­tion and multiplication of the thoughts of the minde upon God, [...] Ru [...]sus ego cum v de­rem. Jun. so the Scripture ex­presseth it: I returned, and beheld vanity under the Sun, Eccles. 4.7. and in Chap. 2. v. 11. I considered all my works, &c. and in the next Verse, I returned to see; he look'd upon and considered his works, and he re­turned to behold them; [...] et respexi ad viden­dendum, v. ut viderem. the force of that expression in the Hebrew is this, he renewed his work, and consider'd again; he thought on them before, but now he returned to think; he renewed his thoughts upon the matter, and took a new view of it. Indeed when the understanding works seriously, it will fetch things into sight; and not onely so, but holds them there, and fastens upon them, and when they are gone, will fetch them back again: Lam. 3.20. [...] Recordando recordabi­tur. My Soul hath them still in remembrance: My Soul in re­membering doth remember them; that is such a calling to minde as is exprest in the [Page 10] next Verse, This I recalled to minde; or as the word is in the Original, [...] Redire faciam ad cor. and in the Mar­gin, This I made return to my heart: Things are apt to be gone with most men, they are apt to lose the sight of God; but he did recall again the thoughts that were vanisht and sunk. This then is one thing that be­longs to the work, That Eying of God is not onely a turning of the minde towards God, and setting it upon God, but a fasten­ing and holding it towards him.

2. Minding of God is a willing work, the will is in it; there be many thoughts fly at random, they get out of the Mind, but are not sent out: The Mind of a Man is a most profuse thing, and nothing in the world spreadeth it self into so many act­ings as the Mind doth: The Sun is not so full of beams, as the Mind is full of thoughts, which spreads it self more then a thousand Suns. But these acts of the Mind, which flow forth as Bees from their hive, are not this work; but when the Mind is sent out upon this errand, the heart putting forth the understanding upon advice, and makes it mind God; when the heart puts the mind upon the wing, to fly upwards, within the vail, to see him that fits upon the Throne; this is somewhat.

And it's a chearful minding of God; a [Page 11] man is pleased in it, when he is himself. It's good for me to draw near to thee, Psal. 73. ult. Good; how good? better then perfume: My meditation of him shall be sweet, Psal. 104.34. My meditation, [...] or my word of thee is sweet; it signifies a word secretly spoken; the heart speaks of God, and those words are musick in the Soul; the word imports a sweetness with mixture; like compound Spices, or many flowers; such a sweetness this thought of God yields to him whose heart is towards him; every thought is pleasant, and the whole working of the Mind makes up a sweet delight. Again, It's better then wine: Cant. 1.4. We re­member his love more then wine: There is more content in contemplating on God, more refreshing to the spirit, then wine gives to the body. Psal. 63.5. My Soul is filled as with marrow and fatness, when or if I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches: When I do this, I am as one satisfied with marrow and fat­ness. Psal. 139.17. David tells you, there is a preciousness in the thoughts of God; [...] The word signifieth to be of weight, au­thority, or in honor. that word signifies, precious in every sence: Look in what kind soever you account a thing precious, so precious are the thoughts of God to a man, whose heart is in a right frame. Some thoughts are driven out to­ward [Page 12] God, as a messenger sent and driven out upon an unwelcome message, in a way, and to a person whom he loves not: Many cast an eye sometime upon God, because they think they must not always live in forgetfulness of him; they do it as a duty, not a refreshment to them; as a work, not wages; because they must do it, not because they love it. Yet by some men God will be thought on, though they would not: The Devils cannot forget God; God hath made such a stamp of himself upon their natures, that they can­not forget him; that's their unhappiness; they wish they could be out of Gods sight, and God out of theirs; and if it could be, their misery would be the less. So God will be in the eyes of some men, that they cannot cast him out of their thoughts, but the impression of God fastens and abides upon their Souls; so the sight of God followed Judas to a continual amazement and distraction of his mind. But the more a man that is right finds a conjunction of God and his mind, the more sweet it is to him; he reckons this like the gate of Hea­ven; such a day is as one of the days of Heaven: When the Soul is thus taken with God, it loves every glance of God; the more it sees, the more it loves: Abraham [Page 13] saw my day afar off, and was glad, [...] It signifies a rejoyc­ing with gesticula­tion; as much as Luke 6.13. Rejoyce and leap. or highly rejoyced, Joh. 8.56. This work then, of eying and minding of God, is a willing work; not a work whereto the heart is drawn and driven, and wherein it hath no content, but such a work that is both work and wages.

CHAP. III.

IT's not only a serious setling of the mind toward and upon God, but a [holy] pointing and fastening of the mind upon him; holy in the manner, and holy in the end of it.

1. In the manner; not like the bold practise of men that know not God, who cast an eye upon him with as little regard as upon a post or pillar: This minding of God must be according to the nature of God. You cannot look upon a friend, a stranger and a Prince with one and the same eye: You cannot look upon God as he is god, but you will love him; nor as power­fl, but you will fear him; nor as he is ex­cellent, [Page 14] but you will admire him, &c. These things will work with you; either in a way of assimilation, or delectation, or admira­tion, &c.

2. Holy in the end of it; a man may do think much of God, and yet do no work of holiness: There is a meditation of God that we may call the meditation of a Stu­dent, who studies God as he studies other things, by which means he heaps together many notions concerning God, but hath no impression of the holiness of God upon his heart, but is a stranger to God, and hath no communion with him. But this work is holy in the end of it: A man eyes God that he may have more of God: He that minds God truly, hunts and seeks after something of God; he would have more of his presence, light, favor, and Image; he is seeking the beloved of his Soul, and the love of his beloved; therefore would fain be near him, and looks toward him, that he may receive that from him which his Soul so much prizeth; he minds God, and as one that desires to present as an offering to him, those fruits of his love, which by the love of God are begotten in his heart, so that this work is holy.

4. This minding of God is a work of course; not to be done now and then, and [Page 15] layd down again, but it's the trade of that man that doth it right: It is his every days work, and his constant employment to be mindful of God. David describes the good man thus, Psal. 1.2. [...] Et adhuc. His meditation is in the Law of the Lord day and night. Psal. 139.17. When I awake, I am still with Thee. The mind may slip from God, and sometime be taken up with other things, but cannot be long kept from him, because God is its Center; and it's natural for a holy mind to move toward God, as for a needle touch'd with a Load-stone to point toward the North Pole. Psal. 16.8. I have set the Lord alway before me: This was the practise of Christ our Head, Acts 2. It's applyed to him, though spoken by David as the Type. You and I may suspect our hearts if there be an elongation of our minds from God, if our minds be scattered up and down the world: If our business be not with him, we have reason to look sadly upon our selves; for where God hath no place with us, wee have none with him. A good man must be with God, he hath ma­ny things puts him upon it, and inclines him to it; he wants much, and therefore cannot forbear. Can a man forget to drink that is athirst? can a man forget to eat his meat that is hungry? Certainly when Da­vid, [Page 16] Psal. 102.4. saith, He forgot to eat his bread, sorrow had taken away his stomack that he found not the want of his meat, but a man that feels his want cannot forget it; neither can a man forget God that lives in the sensible want of God, his Soul is still breathing after God. Love will send out a mans thoughts, and not suffer a man to live at home, but to be where it is best of all to be. Can a Bridegroom forget his Bride? or a Bride her attire? Jerem. 3.32. Men cannot forget what they love. Can a mother forget her childe? Isai. 49.14. and can a man forget God that loves God? There's a necessity that a man should be minding what he loves; he will send his under­standing on errands to Heaven, that it may bring him matter of delight from the Visi­ons of God to refresh his Soul: And not onely so, but Christ awakens the heart, and calls it forth. Indeed were it left to us, should we have no more heavenly-mind­edness, and meditations of God, then our own spirits bring forth, it would be little or none; but Christ calls to the spirits of his people, as he called to John, Come up hither and see; he knocks at the door that we may open and go forth with him: The King led me into his wine celler, Cant. 1. She was there, but how came she in? the King [Page 17] led me. Christ will not be long from his; if their hearts come not up to him, he will come into them; and if he be there, all is taken up with attending upon him; as you may see abundantly by experience. Though the heart stands still like a Clock when the plummets are off, and the wheels move not; yet when Christ comes in, he puts all into motion. If a Loadstone be cast among many Needles, though they did he still, yet now how do they all move and hang about it? So all the affections run towards him, and the thoughts go out like motes in the Sun; the mind is at work hard. The presence of Christ not only excites the mind, but contracts it, and makes the working of the mind more strong. It's reported of the Flower de luce, That when the Sun goes down, it opens and scatters it self abroad; but when the Sun appears, it shuts and contracts it self: There is in the presence of Christ such a contracting of the heart towards himself. Mary, when she saw Christ, though her mind were scattered before, and about the Sepulchre, yet now [...]t concenters in Christ. A man that loves God, cannot live in a course of forgetfulness of God; either want brings him, or love constrains him, or Christ draws him; here cannot be a lusting alienation of [Page 18] mind in those that belong to God.

CHAP. IV.

[...] Exer­ [...]ise.HAving spoken something to the open­ing of the thing, I shall now endevor that you and I may lay our selves to this pattern, and compare our selves with this Rule. Do you thus mind God? Let me ask you, where your Eyes are? The truth is, the Eyes of the whole World are mis­placed; all the World either wholly dwell out of God, or extreamly wander from God: all sorts of men are extreamly guil­ty of notorious forgetfulness of God; and of this God complains, and that often; and that not only in reference to the dead and dark part of the world, who have eyes and see not, but are like Images; but with re­spect to his own: My people [my people] have forgotten me days without number; Ier. 2.32. negligently have they suffered me to be out of their minds, and that for a long time. My work now shall be to lay be­fore [Page 19] you the Fault, and the Causes of it. The fault, with respect to the godly and un­godly, that both may see how guilty they stand, and may see whence it is that their understandings are so alienated and estran­ged from God.

As for the godly, their frequent excur­sions from God, their inordinate affections to the world, their sad dejections of spirit, their many withdrawings, and a world of these, are too clear and deplorable demon­strations that their eyes are not always upon God. The Fault I'le express in these four things.

1. In not sending out the understanding toward God, not pointing of the mind to­wards its Maker: The mind of man is a nimble thing, nothing is of that agility; it's the swiftest creature God hath made, next the Angels; yet towards God it must be moved, directed, ordered, and pointed. For though the way on high was natural, yet man not keeping his first state, it's now become a way hardly passable, that the Soul cannot walk it of it self, neither can it dwell on high, more then we can live in the Ayr, without the drawing and holding of divine Power. I have written, saith the Apostle, 2 Pet. 3.1. to stir up your pure minds, [to awaken you, [...].] and it was but [Page 20] need. See how David calls upon himself, Psal. 103. Praise the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all his benefits; be sure to remem­ber God. Psal. 5.3. In the morning will I [direct] my prayer unto thee; or I will set it in order, I will order my self in my ad­dresses to Thee. And in Psal. 57.8. Awake my glory: Though his spirit was holy, and set towards God, yet it had need to be called on, that it might be put forward in a right motion towards God, and answer the voyce that calls, Come up hither. A­wakening is a word imports rouzing; [...] as birds that provoke their young ones by flight, to make use of their wings; or as men call one upon another to their business. Judg. 5.12. Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song: Men do not thus call on themselves. It's a great fault, that a man loseth that watch and that command over his spirit which he should have, so that his mind either stands still, as a lake, or if it move, it runs at waste; as indeed a mans mind doth, if it be not toward God and for God: A great fault it is when men take not pains with themselves, as the Pro­phet complains, Isai. 64.7. No man stirs up himself to take hold on God. It's said in Exod. 35.28. They came every one whose heart stir'd him up. Your hearts had need [Page 21] be stir'd up, else they will not do their work. Is it fit that so noble a faculty (then which there is none under Heaven more glorious) as that understanding which God hath entrusted you withall, should be no more improved? Was this golden Candle­stick given you for any other light then that which is from above, that may shew you the way to union with God, and en­joyment of him? Were these golden Cabi­nets given you, and have you the keys of them, that you should keep them empty, when you might fill them with heavenly treasure, which is invaluable? David calls his Soul his glory; you stain the crown of your glory, when you make such glorious creatures to lacquey after every creature, which should be in attendance upon God, like Angels in the presence of their Father. When the mind runs after vanity, you be­come vain: Jer. 2. What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they run far from me, and walk after vanity, and are become vain? The vain out-goings of your minds and spirits will make you vain, yea worse then nothing. What injury do you do your selves, that have such nimble winged messengers, (that can mount up to the highest Heavens, can walk with Angels, can lodg themselves in the bosom of the [Page 22] glorious God, can present all your Cases to him, can bring back again reports of mercy to you,) if you use them not? Do you not see, how God is sending out to you continually? The thoughts of his heart are Love, eternal Love; and the fruits of his Love are always sent out, like the beams of the Sun: He hath sent out his own Son, and will not you send out your thoughts towards him? Will not you order your thoughts toward him, who hath directed his greatest Love towards you? What is your life, but a continual emanation and emission of divine Love? And is God thus flowing forth to you, and will you stand still, and not have your minds run­ing out to him?

2. In the next place: As this is a fault, that there is not that sending out of the thoughts toward God, and that setting of the mind to this work; so this is another fault, that there is not a bending of the mind in this work. Oftentimes the mind looks up, but it's so feeble, that a mans thoughts are like an arrow shot from a Bow weakly bent, which reacheth not the mark. It's wise counsel that the Wise-man gives; Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. I am sure in nothing more it concerns us to act with all our [Page 23] might, then when we act towards God, in whom all our life is. 1 Chron. 22.19. Now set your hearts and souls to seek the Lord your God. This is our work, [...] give your hearts. to act with life and vigor, when you go to take into your eyes the greatness of that glory which you hear of God: The Apostle's phrase is, Have the loyns of your mind girt, when you are upon this work. I ask you that question, which Christ put to some in another case, What went you out to see? When you crawl and move, as if you had no heart, nor spi­rits, whom go you forth to see? What, him that is the Lord of Glory, the only Potentate? What are such heavy and la­zy aspects, to take in such a Glory? You see in what large streams your thoughts fly forth to other things, and are you only languishing, weak and feeble in things of so great concernment? Mal. 1.14. Cursed be the deceiver, that hath in his flock the sound and the strong, but offers the blind and lame. Certainly this is the way to procure a curse, to be so exceeding remiss in your ad­dresses to God; hence it is you get no more: Then God comes most to the heart, when the eyes are most set upon him: The child that draws with strength is soonest filled: The Brests of Consolation are full, but therefore you are empty and complain, [Page 24] because you bend not your selves to draw from the Wells of Salvation: You take not pains with your selves to make your way to God lively.

3. As this is a fault, not to send our your minds toward God, and not to bend your minds to the work; so this is another, the not binding of your minds to it: You should not only go to God, but stay with him. The right minding of God, is not a transient glance, and sudden cast of the eye, that is presently wheel'd off from God again. Psal. 143.5. I remember the days of old, I meditate on all thy works: I remember them, and not only bring them to remem­brance, but I meditate on them, my mind talks of them; [...] that is the force of the word; I muse, and stand looking on the works of thy hands: this is that which fires the heart, when a mans eye is fixed on God. Psal. 39.4, 5. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire kindled: then spake I with my tongue, &c. Indeed that is a season of kindling, when the mind is musing; but when the mind is fleeting and floating, little impression is made, little good comes of it. There are many days at Court, wherein strangers come to see, and are soon gone; and what get they? Nothing: But they that abide in the pre­sence [Page 25] of the Prince, live by him. It's not a pointing and casting of your eye towards Heaven, that makes God your portion: If you do not dwell with him, he useth you like strangers. Think well of it: Cer­tainly where the Eye abides not, it's be­cause either the thing displeaseth, or there is some better thing that draws away your hearts. What is there in Heaven or in Earth should draw away your minds from these Visions? When you look upon him who is most glorious, is he not worthy, on whom your Souls should dwell? and your minds rest themselves with all their might? Certainly what we love, that will hold us, that will be in our thoughts, we need not call out our minds; and if once the eye be set upon it, it holds; as the Load­stone, having drawn the Iron, keeps it fast to it self. Christ himself acknowledgeth such an operation of love upon himself; Cant. 6.5. Turn away thine eyes, Or, taken away mine heart. [...] excordiasti me. for they have overcome me: And in Cant. 4.9. Thou hast ravisht my heart, my Sister, my Spouse, with one of thine eyes: Christ was as one that had lost his heart, as the word imports; He is pleased so to express his deep af­fection toward his Church: He was held in the galleries, and captivated with love to his People, so that his eye was ever upon [Page 26] them, he loved to behold them, it satisfied his Soul as marrow and fatness to see them: He shall see of the travel of his Soul, and be satisfied, [...] Isai. 53.11. And indeed he saith he cannot get his eyes off them: Can a mother forget her child? Isai. 49.14. No more can I forget you. And is Christ so tender in his love toward us, that he ever minds us; and shall our minds be so loose to him? so flut­tering and fleeting? Shall there be no more care to bind our selves in cords of love to him, that we may ever behold him, who bears us in his brest before his Father always?

4. This is our fault, that whatsoever is done in sending, bending, and binding of our minds towards God, yet with some at least (O that it might not be true of all) it's not their course and trade: Now and then they are awakened, and get up into Heaven to see their Father, but it is not dayly; and here is their failing, that it's not their course as it was Davids: Psalm 145 Every day will I praise thee: And, I am ever thee, Psal. 73. I beseech you consider it; Is this now and then going to Heaven, within the vail, to live the life of Friends? Is this to carry your selves as children, to be so strange at home? What, now and then, once a month or week, seldom to be where [Page 27] you always should be? You should ever dwell with God, as the lovely Center and resting place of your Souls, and you are seldom with him; is this fair? Is Christ and the Father of Christ objects that are not worth the looking after? such mean things, that a visit now and then should serve the turn? What said the Queen of Sheba concerning Solomon? Blessed are these thy servants, that Always stand before thee, and hear thy wisdom: If she were so taken with Solomon, remember that a greater then Solomon is here. And will you deprive your selves of that blessedness, which you might enjoy by standing always in the presence of your Father, to hear his Wisdom, and be­hold his Glory?

But if this be a fault (as indeed it is) what shall we say of that voluntary retention of our minds, when the voyce of God within bids us go and visit Heaven, but we sit still in a voluntary reluctancy to the voyce that speaks? What shall we say to that voluntary diversion of mind, when God sets himself in our eyes, and our minds turn off from God, and pitch on other things, and have no content in beholding him? But above all, what shall we say to that voluntary effusion and vile expence of mind and strength of understanding upon [Page 28] vanities, when we send out thoughts in whole troops towards vanities, and do not spare one toward Heaven? Certainly this is a crime of a very high nature. You see in part what is your fault, and to know that is a great advantage; I have endevored to shew you it in the several degrees of it; I shall now shew you the Causes of it.

CHAP. V.

1. THe first is, Divine Permission: God pleaseth to leave his people much to themselves, for ends best known to himself; and oh, what work is made when this wilde Boar is let into the Gar­den? How doth he trample and tread down? What spoil doth he make, when he is got into the place where he most gladly would be? How did God let him in upon Job? so that his thoughts by visions in the night troubled him; how was he tost in his spirit? Solomon, how did the Devil run away with his understanding? and [Page 29] carry him almost into a total forgetfulness of God, that no good man I think ever since the Creation did run so desperate a race as he did? God was rooted out of his heart, as it were, he giving himself up to fulfil the lusts of his eyes and of his mind with all his might; but in the end he cries out, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vex­ation of spirit. Certainly it were better the Devil had power to run away with our estates and liberties, then with our thoughts, keeping them in captivity, and as the steers­man of our minds ordering their motions at his pleasure. Some mens understand­ings (by the mighty workings of these principalities and powers) are as swiftly carried to imaginations of evil, as Eagles when they fly to dead bodies, or as any creatures when they make haste to their prey. You shall see a man, when he is in this case, all his thoughts are beneath Hea­ven, and they roul up and down the world, and pitch sometimes here, sometimes there, as things suit, but are separated from God, and he cannot get off: but as Jael strook a nail into the head of Sisera, and fastened him to the ground; so mens thoughts and minds are fastened to something in the world, that they cannot deliver them­selves.

This is a woful day indeed, when God will not be seen; when God saith of a man, as David of Absalom, Let him not see my face. Truly if this be the condition of any, that their understandings are ridden by the Devil, and carried away from God; go to Christ, confess and humble your selves, seek his face, who is the Father of spirits, and hath command and power over Devils, that as by permission he hath suffered the unclean Spirit to enter, so by his command­ing word he may say to them, Come forth, that your understandings may be free for their proper work; for he only can cast down imaginations, and every thing that ex­alteth it self against the knowledg of God, and bring into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10.5. Many may complain as Job in another case, Chap. 17.11. My days are passed, my purposes are broken off; even the thoughts of my heart; or as it is in the Margin, [...] the possessions of my heart are broken off: as if a man should say, I had thoughts of Jesus Christ, I was wont to have sweet apprehensions of my Father, which took me much; God was wont to take up my Soul, and my mind was wont to be contentfully possest with the medita­tion of him; now these possessions are gone, and broken off. Pray then as David, [Page 31] Psal. 119.37. Turn away mine eyes from be­holding vanity; or, make mine eyes to pass, [...] that they be not held to gaze upon vanity, but that I may run with freedom the Race that is set before me, having God still in mine eyes.

2. A second cause of this great fault (not having our eyes bent and fixt on God) is Discouragements: Indeed Discourage­ments are called, a weakening of the hands, in Jer. 38.4. Melting of the heart, Deut. 1.28. Breaking of the heart, Numb. 32.7. All to shew, that a man under discouragements is made unfit and unmeet for service.

1. Says one, I like this well, and you speak to my heart, when you speak of this eying and minding of God, and my wishes keep pace with the Rule; I am ready to say, I would it were so with me; but the work is too hard for me, I find no strength to it.

Answ. Suppose you do not; [...]. indeed commonly the best things are hard; though this be hard, yet it's a necessary work, and you must never plead necessity against Du­ty: You are bound to it; all Law requires this. Is it hard? but is it not good? doth not the work pay you wages? My medita­tion of him shall be sweet, saith David.

Again, You say it's hard, but not so hard [Page 32] as is pretended; and all the hardship that is in it, we have brought into it; let us not then complain; though we sweat at the work, let us be willing to do it. And re­member what I tell you, though you have lost the command you had over your spirits, yet if you be in Christ it's in part restored to you. You see how you can send out your understandings, and how they can shout out thoughts upon other things; and will you not use a command over them in this, in directing them toward God, for the beholding of him? What is the renew­ing of your mind, but the giving it a power­ful propensity to move towards God, and the things of God? If then you are in part re­newed, the difficulty is in part removed: You have reason therefore, in regard of the necessity and sweetness of the work, to set your minds to it.

Besides, Your minds are swift of motion; you should not speak of difficulty, when in an instant you can start from Earth to the highest Heavens.

Again, When you look to God and Je­sus Christ, you look to one that opens to you: If you draw near to God, he will draw near to you; If the Journey be long, he will meet you more then half way: Isai. 64. He meets them in the way that rejoyce, and work [Page 33] righteousness. So that if you set to the work, you are not like to be as one that launcheth out into the deep Sea, where he sees no bounds; or like one in a Desart, wandering alone on foot; but you go forth to one, that comes forth to you.

CHAP. VI.

THere is a generation of men,3 Exer­cise. whose course is quite cross to Davids: Whereas he saith, Mine eyes are Ever to­wards the Lord, they may say, Mine eyes are Never towards the Lord; God is not in all their thoughts, Psal. 10.4. God reckons a thing as not done in several respects.

1. When it's not done to purpose; when a work is done, but reacheth not its end: Jer. 8.6. No man repents, saying, What have I done? Yet Isai. 59.12. God acknow­ledgeth something upon record to be done; they confest that their transgressions were [Page 34] multiplied before him, and their sins testified against them; yet he complains, No man repents, &c. because it was not done to purpose, the work was not home. Psal. 119.59. I considered my ways, and turned my feet unto thy Testimonies: I made haste, and de­layed not to keep thy Testimones. Here was a work to purpose. Then a man looks to­ward God to purpose, when the thoughts of God are the possessions of his heart; when the eye is so set on God, that the heart is changed into the likeness of God. Though a man should give a thousand glances every day toward Heaven, if there be no effectual impression upon the heart, God takes it as if a man ever lookt from him, and never cast an eye toward him: Psal. 50. They are called a people that forget God: Surely 'twas not a total forgetfulness; for the Law of God was in their mouths, and they had made a Covenant with him by sacri­fice; but their remembrance of God was not effectual, it did not subdue their hearts to God: therefore though they talkt of him, yet God chargeth them with forget­fulness of him. 1 John 3.6. the Apostle saith, that they that live in sin, have not seen God, neither known him: A true sight o [...] God separates a man from himself, it's the the destruction of the sins he lived in; as [Page 35] ignorance and forgetfulness of God is the strength of sin: Forgetting and not regard­ing are put one for another in Scripture; I forget (saith the Apostle, Phil. 3.) those things that are behind; i.e. they were of no weight with him, he regarded them not. So when men forget God, it argues they re­gard him not at all; as God is said to for­get men, when he will do nothing for them; then a man is as forgotten, as a thing that is not. Jer. 23.39. See how this is exprest; I even I will utterly forget you, Obliviscen­do oblivis­car. or in forget­ing I will forget you, and I will utterly for­sake you, and cast you out of my presence, and bring everlasting reproach upon you, and per­petual shame, that shall not be forgotten. A terrible place for all forgetters of God.

2. God reckons that as not done, which men would not have done. Sometimes men think of God, but they know not how to shun it, God breaks in upon their spirits; but their natural temper is to suffer them­selves to be drunk up, and diverted by o­ther objects: A natural man abhors the thought of God; nothing so sweet to a Saint, My meditation of thee shall be sweet. A good man could be content to live out of himself, to live in God. It's a good work, the work of Angels; they who once have been used to this employment, know not [Page 36] how to wish to change. One Eudoxius wisht, that he might be admitted to come near the body of the Sun, to have a full view of it, though it devour'd him; He was some­thing rash in his wish: But there is some­thing proportionable in a godly spirit; he so loves God, that he could be content to be swallowed up in the beholding of him. 'Tis said of some, Rom. 1.28. That they liked not to retain God in their knowledg, [...]. Haimo. and God gave them up to a Reprobate Mind: They liked not; that is, they not only neglected, but despised; it seemed not good to them: so the Syriac; It was a very unpleasing thing to them, to know and to mind God. It's usual in Scripture, that verbs negative are put for their contraries. Zech. 8.7. Love not a false Oath: Love not, that is, hate it. Heb. 13.2. Forget not to entertain strangers; that is, be sure you mind it, and have this in your hearts to be ready to it. Revel. 12. They loved not their lives to the death; Animarum suarum pro. digi. Beza. they did with their lives as with things they hate, not at all regard them. So when it's said, they liked not to retain the knowledg of God in their thoughts, the meaning is, they hated that God should have any room in them, or that there should be any knowledg of God in their hearts. Though the worst of men cannot but sometimes have God in [Page 37] their eyes, yet because they like it not, God counts it is not done, and takes it as if they gave him no attendance, or never lookt af­ter him. The Apostle Rom. 7.17. upon this account reckons, It's no more I, but sin that dwelleth in me; because the propention of my spirit, my better part, is all towards God, it is no more I: In this sence, when a wicked man thinks of God, it's not the man that doth it, but his conscience, or the power of God upon him; he doth what he would not do. As in another case,Quae quia non potuit non facit illa facit. when a man would do a thing, though he cannot do it, it goes for done with God; as it's said of Abraham concerning his son, and David concerning the temple: So that whether it be good or evil, it's not reckoned if the will be not in it. Let no man deceive him­self; though he cast his eyes toward Hea­ven all the day long, if he love not this work, he doth nothing.

3. That which is not done according to the Rule, God reckons it as not done. If a Ma­ster set his servant about a work, if he do it not according to the pattern and rule which is set him, nothing is done, it may be worse then nothing. This is not to eat the Lords Supper, 1 Cor. 11.20. Yet they did eat it; but because it was not done after its due manner, he saith, this is not to eat it. And [Page 38] mark it, what God faith in this case, Isai. 43.22. Thou hast not called on me, O Jacob, but hast been weary of me, O Israel: Thou hast not brought me the small cattel of thy burnt-offerings, neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices: I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense: Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices, &c. Yet they did these things, and God acknowledgeth it; Jer. 6.20. To what purpose cometh there to me Incense from Sheba? and the sweet Cane from a far Country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to me. He looks on the thing as not done, be­cause 'tis not done as it should be. Men think of God, but their thoughts are not holy, awful, and subjecting the spirit: they think of God, but their thoughts are no way proportionable to the Majesty of God; they look loosly, carelesly and carnally up­on God; they peep upon that glory with an unholy and undaunted spirit, and so its against the Rule, and God reckons it not done, nay it will be worse to them; God will recompence upon their heads even their thoughts of him; this he will punish severely: People think they do well when they have good thoughts, and think well; [Page 39] they are deceived: for if their thoughts be not as they should be, though they be for number as motes in the Sun, they do no good, but bring many sufferings and punish­ments upon them.

4. That which is a mans course and trade, denominates a man, and not any particular action. A man may come to a Carpenters house, and take up his tools, and do some­thing at his work, but this makes him not a Carpenter, it doth not denominate him, because that is not his trade. The best Saints sin; yet because it's not their trade and course, they are said not to sin, and are called blameless and holy, &c. And David is said to be a man after Gods own heart, (notwithstanding his many failings,) be­cause the habit of his spirit was so. Now the course of the world is a course of ha­bitual and voluntary forgetfulness of God, endeavoring to shut God out of their thoughts; and if their thoughts do run to­wards him, it's but as water out of its proper channel, not in its place; their way is alto­gether out of God, that we may say of God in reference to these, as Job of places not frequented, They are forgotten of the foot, Job 28.4. So the minds and spirits of these men converse not with God, but he is forgotten of the foot of their Souls: This [Page 40] is a dangerous state; when they are not with God, where are they? In the night tares are sown; and when is night, but when God appears not? (as the non-ap­pearance of the Sun makes darkness,) and then the night takes place, and now all evil is to be found in that man. Judg. 3.7. They did evil, and forgot God: Those two are joyned together, as the cause and the effect; they forgot God, and therefore did evil▪ Forgetfulness and unmindfulness of Gods is the womb of all sin, where every unclean spirit nests. A man that lives in forgetful­ness of God, is free to righteousness, as the Apostle speaks, Rom. 6.20. He is in no bonds to God, he feels no obliging power in any thing upon his spirit toward God.Non entis & non ap­pa [...]entis eadem est ratio.

As things that are not, so things that are unknown and not minded, are worth nothing. It's all one to me, whether things be not, or be forgotten. The spirits of those men are in a woful case, that live without God; they are as Sheep without a Shepherd, and like a Ship among Rocks; nothing but a divine hand can rescue them from ever­lasting Shipwrack. All affections of love, joy, fear and hope, flow from sight of God; therefore where there is no sight and knowledg of God, men are free to all evil: If thou forgettest God, thou clearly [Page 41] pronouncest, and the express language of thy course is, that there is no God; this ve­ry thing strips him of all loveliness and beauty, one not worthy to be minded. What is more contemptible, then that which no man will look on? Forgetfulness is the state of death: Psal. 31.12. That I be not as one forgotten among the dead. When God is not remembered by thee, he is to thee a dead thing: And what is thy mind, but as a grave, a place of darkness and forgetful­ness, where is nothing but pollution and corruption, and whatsoever is loathsom in it self, and destructive to thee? It's the speech of Bildad in Job 8.11, 12, 13, 14. Can the rush grow without mire? or the flag without water? Whilest it is yet in his green­ness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrites hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, &c. Though the marrow be fresh in thy bones, and thou be in the vigor of thy youth, though all be green and flourishing about thee, yet thou art but like the flag without water, and the rush without mire, in a withering, dying and wasting condition, though at present thou please thy self in beholding thine own greenness; so are the paths of all that forget God. Therefore it's good to consider of it [Page 42] betime. Psal. 9.17. David saith, God will turn all that forget him into [Hell;] Sheol. The word signifies, a state of death, yea a depth of deaths: Indeed to forget God, is a deep sin, and it brings deep death upon men that live in it, that dare walk so boldly, viewing every creature, and minding every vanity, and do not make it their work to mind God: All the good you do shall be for­gotten, and all the evil you do shall be re­membered, and God will say to you one day, I know you not; I was a stranger to you upon Earth, I could not have an eye from you, but when your lazy idle spirits plea­sed; and now, out of my sight, I'le never own you, nor look upon you more: and this will be the case of all that forget God. Having presented you with the Fault, I shall now lay before you the Causes, whence it is that men live so in a course of forgetfulness of God.

CHAP. VII.

1. MEn have lost the regiment of them­selves, that government which God had put into their hands over them­selves. Man was created in a good state, like a well ordered family, where there are some in command, and others under com­mand; some commanding, and others commanded: He made man upright, saith Solomon, Eccles. 7.27. When is a thing right? When it agrees with its Rule. God and man were alike, the Image of God was upon man: What is the Image of God? God is good and God is wise, and so was man; and this was the rightness of mans condition: God made man right;Aquin. all was in order; the reason of man was subject to God, and the spirit of man was subject to Reason; Man had the command of himself, that he could set his thoughts in order, and send them out upon their proper [Page 44] work and errand, and raise affections suita­ble to their objects, and command their motion. Now the case is altered: 1 Thes. 5.14. The Apostle speaking of some men, among other terms, [...]. he calls them [unruly:] This may be the name of the whole state of man; he is unruly; like an Army routed, where neither Commander nor Soldier are in their places: so is man, having swer­ved from his Rule. The truth is, the go­vernment is not utterly extinct, but utterly perverted; like a Change in a State, where though there be an alteration in the frame and constitution of it, yet there will be a Government still: So here; that govern­ment which man had over himself being perverted, now that which is good is tram­pled upon, and that which is evil is exalted; Serving divers lusts and pleasures, saith the Apostle, Tit. 3.5. This is the state of man: In Prov. 17.24. The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the Earth; wandering up and down like masterless creatures: God is forgotten, and man hath lost the command of himself, to set and hold his mind streightly in at­tendance upon God. This is one Cause.

2. Another is this, God is not the object that suits them: The eye is not pleased, therefore it withdraws. What is in God, is above man: Man was created in a state of [Page 45] obedience to God, and communion with him, but now is sunk into such a state of dark­ness and depravation, that what was his life, is now too high for him; that as our bodies cannot live in the ayr, so the under­standings of men cannot now feed upon God who is their proper bread, and is so indeed to those who are delivered from this polluted and defiled, perverted and impotent state. As beasts take no pleasure in beholding heaps of gold, and rich cabinets of precious Jewels (which are excellent and glorious in the eyes of men) because they suit not with their condition: So the eye of a man is not taken with beholding God, though he be good beyond all expres­sion, even he that made and keeps all good in Heaven and in Earth, the blessed Foun­tain of all; because there is now an un­suitableness between this excellency that is in God, and the present state of man; that as the best food in the world will not please a sick stomack, so neither will this Angels food go down with men; as Solo­mon in Prov. 24. saith, Wisdom is too high for a fool: [Wisdom,] whether he means the actions that are to be governed by wisdom, or the dictates and rules of wisdom, every thing of wisdom is too high for a fool. Creatures cannot go higher then their ap­pointed [Page 46] and natural station: A fish in the water enjoys it self, but put it in another element it dyes presently. Men are natu­rally of that constitution and frame, that they cannot live but on low things, they cannot live above: What is the life of a Saint, is death to the world: to rise toward God, is the resurrection of their spirits, and the elevation of all their life; but its death and destruction to natural men. And they are not only averse to this, because there is in God that which is above them, but that which is against them. What dreadful ap­prehensions hath a man that looks upon the Power and Wisdom of God, his Eternity, Omniscience? &c. These are visions that fright him, and strike his heart through like a dart; This God is holy, therefore he will destroy me, and there is no escaping, because he is Omnipotent and Omnisci­ent. There is in the nature of man a neces­sary motion (that it puts it self upon flight) from every thing which it conceives to be hurtful; it will not endure a cohabitation with what is contrary to it. Who can dwell with everlasting burnings? God is a con­suming Fire to the world, and their thoughts and apprehensions take fire at the remembrance of him, and scorch their Souls, and they cannot endure it. It's a [Page 47] great pain for a man to be where he would not: Wo is me, saith David, that I dwell in Meshech. It's a perpetual dis-rest to a man, when the place of his abode displeaseth him. Though a thing be never so good, yet if a man be sunk out of that state where­in formerly he had a sweet enjoyment of it, it delights not. Bury her out of my sight, saith Abraham of his wife when she was dead: Though he loved her dearly while she was living, yet when she was dead, bury her out of my sight. So men love not God, therefore they bury him out of their sight; and God buries such out of his sight: Jer. 15.1. I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out your brethren, the whole seed of Da­vid, &c. Man, as he is in his depraved state, hates his being, and wishes himself rather to be nothing, then to behold such an one as God, that is everlasting burnings, and hath an unchangeable Will, eternally and severely to punish sinners.

3. A strong cause of mans unmindful­ness of God, is that distance into which the nature of man is sunk from all good, especi­ally from the greatest good; and as any thing lies near that, and hath most tenden­cy to it, so the heart of man draws back most from it. As a man that is renewed loves that best that is best, and then that [Page 48] which is next to it: so an unregenerate man loves that best which is worse; and hence they give themselves up to all vani­ty, setting open their Souls, and prostitu­ting themselves to every thing that is evil, and become a common habitation and rest­ing place for every thing that is not good; and the more unlike any thing is to God, the better entertainment the heart of man gives it: By this voluntary tradition of himself, he is so captivated to those things that he had once a power over, and his back so bowed down, and he so held under, that he cannot come out of this state, ex­cept God bring him out: That in Mark 6. doth something resemble the state of these men, They were in the desart, where were many comers and goers, and they had no leasure to eat: It's so with worldly men, they have many thoughts coming and going, that they have no leasure to do that which is best for them.

4. The last Cause is this, God doth some­times give men up, and leave them to be at the will of Satan, to raign and order their motion as he pleaseth; so that he is master of their affections, and lord of their imagina­tions; and he calls back, and sends them out hither and thither as he pleaseth: He is called the strong man; and as he is strong, [Page 49] so he works strongly: He is said Eph. 2.2. to work effectually in the children of disobedi­ence: Where he hath possession of the mind, he picks up the seed sown, that it may take no root, nor spring up; he pre­possesseth the mind, and holds it in perpetual employment; like Sampson, that was made to serve in a mill: so Satan makes the Soul to run a round which way pleaseth him, that it hath no time nor leasure to look towards God, which is a very sad thing: Joh. 13.2. It's said of Judas, The Devil having put into his heart to betray Christ, &c. When once the Devil hath got the regiment of a poor creature in that kind, he puts in and puts out at pleasure; and the truth is, when he put this thought into Judas, Satan him­self entered into him, vers. 27. he came in with those thoughts, he entered when they entered, and then the man was perpetually and mightily employed by him. The mind of man is naturally fruitful in thoughts, tending from God: Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, Mat. 15.19. It is with the nature of man, as 'tis with some ground, that brings forth some things of it self; but if it be drest by a skilful man, it a­bounds much more. When Satan be­comes the Gardiner of the Soul, every plant there multiplies and fructifies ex­ceedingly, [Page 50] and there will be a mighty en­crease. Hence it is, that man lives in a course of forgetfulness of God, because by a voluntary diverting of himself from God, at length God is provoked to divert from him, and then Satan takes possession of the heart and thoughts, he enters and com­mands the man at his pleasure.

This may suffice to set before you the Causes of that unnatural and that hateful forgetfulness of God, wherein most in the world live; I beseech you mind it, it's a business of exceeding great weight. My next work is to perswade you to practise the Duty held forth, That you would al­ways have your eyes toward God.

CHAP. VIII.

LIve in a more close attendance upon God: You never live rightly, till you live in the world as in a place consecrated to God. It's an extream wrong to the end of our Being, when we let our minds loose unto vanity: To be extravagant and open to vanity, is worse then that the Temple should have been opened to all abominations. This work is little regarded in the world, little of it is done: The Children of the night are altogether in the dark, and shut out from God; the Children of the light very much found in forgetfulness of him: And truly these days in special manner abound with this fault; men stand more remote from God now then ever: Forgetfulness of him from whom all our Being is, and [Page 52] upon whom we all depend, reigns; yea much of it is there where men think them­selves to be raised most unto God, and brought into more conformity to him, and communion with him. My counsel to you is, to look to your eyes: My eye (saith David) is ever towards the Lord: And oh that all our eyes were so fixed. The work that I now call for is, the willing, holy and frequent emanation and outgoing of your minds towards God, and contentful and effectual abode with him. I shall give you a few Arguments to press this Duty; and indeed we had need have Arguments urg'd with all force, and it's well if a hun­dred Arguments draw one man; the most argumentative discourse in the world is not strong enough alone to prevail with men.

1. The first Argument is from the na­ture of the work; it's that which you may do, it's a work possible, it's a work that you have power to do: When God calls for your eyes, it supposeth your eyes are not so set and fastened in your heads, not so fixt and immovable, but you may look up to him, you may eye him and mind him; God never gave a Command impossible: But here is this threefold fault, which I'le but touch.

That men having understandings to mind God, their minds stand still like stand­ing water, or like a clock whose wheels move not at all; which fault however sometimes it may be from a meer distem­per, yet oftentimes it is from a sinful prin­ciple: There is no list in mens hearts to look to God, nay there is a withdrawing from God, and rather then the understand­ing shall be employ'd upon God, it shall run at waste (like water,) or stand still, and not move.

Men sometimes do look to God, but as it's not their dayly course, so they do it not with strength, but weakly and faintly: Slight visions leave but very shallow impres­sions: These men live according to the sight they have of God; Slight men are of poor spirits, because they do not enoble themselves in a vigorous beholding God.

A third fault, which is worst of all, when men send out their thoughts and lay out their understandings in an ill way, when the matter of their thoughts and ima­ginations is evil. There are thoughts of good that are evil thoughts, and thoughts of evil that are good: When a mans mind looks on God, but the heart withdraws, when it looks upon God with contradictions and quarrellings at him, these are evil thoughts [Page 54] of God. There are thoughts of evil that are good, as when a man looks on evil, but his end is the separation of his heart from it, and that he may destroy it. But when a man looks upon evil with affections and desires after it, when his mind is employed [...] the bellows to the fire, when he is con­ [...]ing and devising how he may compass [...] [...]vil, this is most notorious wickedness; [...] doth mightily habituate and root the Soul in a deplorable elongation from God: He that thinks and deviseth evil, makes haste to it with all the strength he hath: Prov. 24.8. He that deviseth evil, shall be called a mischievous person; a Master of evil [...], so some read it: this is the fruit; a man by employing his understanding in a sinful way, he becomes to be a sinner in grain, a Master sinner, a Leader of others, a man transcendent, going beyond others; as Saul was higher then the people by the head and shoulders. David describeth such an one, Psal. 36.3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he hath left off to be wise, and to do good: He deviseth mis­chief upon his bed, he sets himself in a way that is not good; he abhors not evil, that is, he loves it, as those phrases import, (verbs negative are put for their contrary, affirma­tive.) Prov. 30.32. If thou hast thought evil, [Page 55] lay thy hand upon thy mouth: for as the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood, so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife: It's but to shew what degrees sin hath. When a man hath thought an injurious thought against another, it's time for him to lay his hand upon his mouth, and stifle it there; for if the thought be entertained, it inflameth the tongue, and then much evil comes into act. As the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose blood; so, saith Solomon, the Forcing of wrath brings forth strife. As Vipers dye by the young ones bred in them; so do men dye by the evil thoughts bred in their minds. The Apostle Peter speaks of some men, 2 Pet. 2.14. so sunk in sin by the exercise of their under­standing and senses about it, that they could not cease from sin [...].. This I am sure of, the more you wander from God, the more you run into sin; and every thought you have of evil this way, is a step from God. Stop betimes, before you go so far that there can be no return, that you be not held in the cords of your own iniquity; pray, that the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee, which was the Apostle's counsel to Simon Magus, Acts 8.22. Men come to be in a remediless state by giving way to evil [Page 56] thoughts: Isa. 44.20. it is said of Ephraim, A deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his Soul, nor say, Is there not a lye in my right hand? Now a man is in a woful state, when he is so turned aside by his deceitful heart, that he cannot extri­cate himself. You have a power, and may do something; and by how much more you are enabled to it, by so much the greater your sin is if you neglect it: When God calls on you for this work, if you can be profuse on other things, in a great ex­pence of your minds and thoughts towards them, and you will not mind him in all your ways, your sin is the greater.

2 Argu.2. This work is a work of the noblest power and faculty you have; and as any thing is more excellent, so it stands in the greater obligation towards God; for as a man receives, so he owes; we owe much, that receive much. Seeing then you have received so noble a faculty from God, you are more engaged to lay it out when called for, according to the Will of him that gave it: You have other faculties that are not under such a tye; you have a power of breathing, a power of motion in all your members, you have many powers; but these lie not under that obligation as this, because this excels all; the more careless [Page 57] and unfaithful you are in improving it for God, the greater your sin and fault is. This faculty is, as one calls it,Divinae particulam aurae. a divine breath, a beam of the immortal Light, the very Image of God: Nothing comes near­er unto God, then the mind of Man and Angels: When you suffer therefore your understandings to run from God, you de­base your glory; your excellency is now deflowred and dishonored. It's recorded as a reproach upon Domitian the Emperor, that he would be spending his time to catch and kill flies; too childish a work for a man in so high a place: It is much worse for you to employ that excellent faculty your understanding about flies and trifles, that was made to behold God, and in behold­ing him to be filled with him. It's the most excellent and highest faculty, and the workings of it are so much the more easie: The works of the Soul are more easie then those of the body; therefore you should be encouraged to put your selves on the ex­ercise of it. The eyes of the body can by one glance reach the stars, and see further in a moment, then the body can move in all its time: The mind is quicker then the eye, and in a moment can glance into Heaven to the beholding of God; therefore this should be a motive to prevail with you to [Page 58] the practise of this Duty, because it's a thing whereunto you are so enabled: O dulcis confabula­tio Dei in anima & cum anima quae sine linguae & labiorum formatur strepit [...], & sine aure percipitur, & subsilen­tio, solus qui loquitur & cui lo­quitur au­dit illum, omnis alie­nus exclu­ditur. Ber. Opusc. c. 5. Vita con­templativa incipit in hoc seculo, perficitur in futuro. Bern. It's a most excellent power, conducing most to your life; the actions of the body do more weakly and remotely conduce to your life. This faculty is spiritual, and herein differs much from the actions of the body, which have their seasons, their proper time and place; but the acts of the Soul may be done in any place, at any time; you may start into Heaven when no eye sees you; you may be on the wing towards God, though among a croud of men; no busi­ness is such but you may be with God, and yet your business not suffer.

Again, It's an eternal faculty, and the work of it is everlasting: A contempla­tive life is the life of Heaven, it's that which Angels do; they ever behold the face of your Father in Heaven. If you like not this work, how will you live in Heaven? The dislike of it is a bar against your entrance: The life of blessedness is a life of Vision, and seeing God; which if you take no de­light in, Heaven is no place for you.

Again, It's a faculty very active; your minds must be somewhere else, if they be not with God; and if they be not on God, they are upon something of less concern­ment. Why should you follow after drops, [Page 59] and neglect the Fountain? Why should you fly after shadows, and neglect him who is the true Substance? Truly if the mind have its current from God towards other things, these things are not only of less concernment, but destructive, and from whence you will reap nothing but corrup­tion and depravation, and defilement of spirit; you will grow worse and worse into the form of the Devil, by how much your minds stray from God, and pitch up­on other things: Jer. 2.5. They are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain.

Again, It's a faculty that hath received in the Saints a tendency towards God. You do extreamly wrong your selves, when you make not use of that propensity, and put not forth your selves to have commu­nion with God, whereby you might bless your selves in the enjoyment of him. See how David expresses the propensity of his spirit towards God, Psal. 63.1. O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee, my Soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longeth for thee: When shall I come and appear before thee, to behold thy Glory, as I have seen it in the Sanctuary? This is the course of the spi­rits of the children of God, in whom that propensity which was natural, is now in part [Page 60] restored; so that they are bent towards God, they thirst after God; as a man thirsts for water in a dry and thirsty Land.

Again, There is a blessing in this work: God blesseth what he likes, as he curseth what he hateth: He likes it well. Mal. 3.16. Then they that feared the Lord, spake often one to another, and a book of remem­brance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord, and thought on his Name. He will be sure to mind those that mind him, and be a friend to those that seek after him. When you are bid to look upon him, it is but to receive from him: Is it any thing else, but to call and invite you to look on the most pleasing and delightful Object, that in the beholding of it, it may convey it self unto you, and you be de­lighted and filled with it? It is all one as if he should bid you sit down by a Well of Life, and drink, and to be as Christ and the Angels are, who are blessed in the be­holding of him; as if he should bid you come and pluck Apples off that Tree of Life that is in the midst of Paradise.

God loves this work: Cant. 2.14. Let me see thy face, my Beloved, and hear thy voyce, for thy voyce is sweet, and thy counte­nance comely. In one act you may do that [Page 61] which pleaseth God, and makes you bless­ed: Set your eye towards him, and his eye will be more towards you, and he will refresh you as with Manna; there is enough in him, come and take freely: Reflect upon your own experience, have you ever found this way like a wilderness? If it be a blessed work, why will you un­bless your selves? If the work will exalt you, why will you debase your selves in not closing with it? And if you might live above in Heaven, why will you live below? Let all the sweetness you have ever found in this work provoke you to enlarge your self toward it. When thoughts of God are moving in you, God himself is not far off, he will come and enter too; and how sweet is it for God to come and take up his habitation in the Soul?

CHAP. IX.

ANother Argument is from the Exam­ple of our Lord Jesus, whom we are to mind and imitate; He is your Pattern: What saith Christ? Learn of Me: And, Be you perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. How can you follow Christ the Captain of your Salvation, if you mind him not? When the Apostle perswades them in Heb. 12. to run the race that is set before them, he bids them look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their Faith. Mariners at Sea, that they may run a right course, keep an eye on that ship that bears the light. Your course cannot be right, when your eye is not upon Jesus Christ, your Pattern. Would it be with us as it is, when the for­getfulness of God lodgeth in our hearts, if we did more mind Christ? We should say in our selves, Is this the course that he steered? David tells us of Christ, Psal. [Page 63] 16.8. that he set the Lord always before him; or as Luke expounds it, applying those words to Christ, Acts 2.25. I foresaw the Lord always before my face: The Father was Ever in his eye; whatsoever came in­to his sight, he ey'd him first, and fix'd up­on him. Now Christ is not only ap­pointed to be our Pattern in this thing, but he takes notice of us, whether we imitate or no; His eye is upon us, to see whether our eye be upon the Father, as his was and is for ever. It was the counsel of Seneca, that when men are about to do evil, they should think on Plato, or some such emi­nent man, as present to behold them. Cer­tainly if Christ were more minded, as such a Pattern, God would be more the object of our most affectionate thoughts.

Again, If we consider the Object, it is the greatest reason in the world that our eye should be upon God: God is our friend, he loves us, he bears us in his heart; and shall not he be in our thoughts? This is ill requiting of him, whose eye is always on us, seldom or never to eye him: This is a great contradiction to the Law of Friend­ship, which consists in reciprocation of loves, Jer. 29.11. I know my thoughts toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end: Oh that [Page 64] we could say so, I know my thoughts to­wards God, are thoughts of love and care to please him: Job 19.14. See how hai­nously Job took it, that his friends had for­gotten him, My kinsfolk have failed and my familiar friends have forgotten me, &c.

As God is your friend, so all you have is in his hand: My times, saith David, Psal. 31. are in thy hands, O God: And can you forget him, in whose hands are all your concernments? If you had but a piece of your estate in a mans hand, you could not but mind him. God hath all that you have for Soul and body to Eternity in his hands, and shall we forget him? It was the ag­gravation of the sin of Belshazzar, in Dan. 5.23. that he did not glorifie God, in whose hands his life was; Thy God, in whose hands thy breath is, thou hast not glo­rified.

Again, You have all from him; all the good of every kind that you receive, is all from God, and will you not mind him? Deut. 32.18. God complains, that the peo­ple were unmindful of the Rock that begot them, and forgot God that formed them. Shall we so dishonor our selves, and live so cross to all principles of Reason and Justice, as to be taken with the things we receive from God, and forget him? Shall we receive all [Page 65] that comes from him, and shut him out of doors? It was never Gods intent, that when he had deckt our ways with all flow­ers of comfort, we should sink into an un­grateful unmindfulness of him: These are so many memento's to excite us to remem­ber him. It was the commendation of A­braham, Heb. 11. that he sojourned in the Land of Promise, as in a strange Country: He did not sit down as at home, and make glad his heart in the enjoyment of mercies; but reckoned himself as in a strange Coun­try, that he might enjoy him that is better then all.

It is upon record, that God had said of­ten to his own people the Jews, Beware lest you forget me, when you come into that good Land: It is spoken to you also, Take heed you forget not me in your habitations, in your relations and friends, in your goods, in all your enjoyments. Isai. 44.21. Thou art my servant, O Israel; I have formed thee, thou art my servant, thou shalt not be forgot­ten of me; or not forget me: the force of the word is, thou shalt not bear me away, [...] Non oblivi­sceris mei. but let me be in thy heart, and in thy mind, and remembrance always; as I'le not bear thee away, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. Thus you see much in him, whom you are to mind, to draw and hold your eyes toward him.

The last Argument: It is a very funda­mental Duty; all your intentions, purposes, dispositions and affections in your whole course comes to nothing, except they re­ceive life from this, for this is the founda­tion of all: In the sight of God lies your Rule of direction for all your actions, and all the Reason of your holy walking: The mind is the Leader, and it leads according to the object where it is set. Job 31.7. My heart hath not followed my eye: That is the natural course, for the heart to follow the eye; where the eye is set, there the heart will be also. See how the Prophet express­eth, Isai. 59.2. I have stretched out my hand to a rebellious people, that walk in a way that is not good; they follow their own thoughts. They walkt in a way that was not good; What led them? Their own thoughts: Thoughts do mould men; a man that thinks much of the world, grows worldly; and a man that thinks much of God, grows godly; as he thinks, so he is, saith Solomon, Prov. 23. And we beholding the glory of Christ, saith the Apostle, 2 Cor. 3.18. are changed from glory to glory. If there be any comfort of hope, if any flames of love, if any life of faith, if any vigorous dispositions or mo­tions toward God, if any meltings of a softened heart, these flow from the know­ledg [Page 67] of God, not habitual, but actual: Quod appo­sitio vel a­daptatio ligni est ad ignem cor­poralem, hoc est rememo­ratio, & re­cogitatio be­neficiorum ad ignem spiritualem. Gul. par. de virtut. c. 11; [...]. Ha­bitual knowledg is as meat in the Cub­board, and as precious water in a glass; but actual knowledg is those things in use and enjoyment: We are renewed day by day, saith the Apostle; how? by looking on things that are eternal, 2 Cor. 4.16. Heb. 11. it is reported, that Moses did many excellent things; How came he by that excellent spirit? he saw him that was invisible. Plato saith, that it is Philosophy to love God; for that is the end of it, to bring men unto God. Upon all these considerations, and many more that might be urged, give up your selves unto this work: There is not a man free, but the bonds of this counsel are upon him. The sum of it is this, Often have your eye on God, dwell in the con­templation of him, let that day be as one of the days of Hell and of darkness where­in you have nothing to do with God: This is certain, if God be your God, you can­not let your minds run at waste: To turn aside from God, will be very chargeable and expensive to you, you will pay dear for it: Children that wander from home get the rod: The rod is not far from that man that loves not to stay with God.

God can make the thoughts of thy heart to be like Hell it self, and to minister more [Page 68] bitterness to you, then if a whole legion of Devils were about you: I beseech you therefore mould your selves into this Doc­trine, that you be not found Despisers of the great God, who will not speak in vain: One of these two things will be made good upon all; either the Word will subject your Souls unto the Command of God, or unto the Vengeance of God; and if you cannot now look up to him with de­light, you may know the day in which you may look up and curse, Isai. 8.21. Now you may look up towards God and live; but the time may come, that you may be in that distress, that you will curse God, and the world, and your selves, when bit­terness shall be on your Souls for your neglect of this work.

CHAP. X.

I Shall now set before you some helpful Counsel, that may enable to this great work, from which the heart of man doth so hang off. Certainly there is nothing which men are more hardly brought to, then to this, to keep the remembrance of God fresh in their spirits, and to let their understandings run in this channel con­stantly. As men do intend an end, so they eye the means; indeed the means lie in the way to the end, yea they are the way it self, and the end is in them: I will therefore offer some means to you.

First, Entertain the Rule in the power of it: When any Command of God comes armed with his own strength, it makes man weak, he cannot make resistance, but falls [Page 70] down conquered in the assault. The heart naturally stands out against and is estranged to every voyce of God; it will give him the hearing, and admit the sound, but not the strength; it will keep the Word at a distance, either by non-attending, or by voluntary diversions and forgetfulness. Indeed the things of God are very strange to us, though they were our best and nearest acquaintance in our primitive state; and therefore now we are hardly brought to own them and receive them.

The not entertaining of the Truth in the power of it, is that which frustrates so many thousand Sermons; so that though everyday one thing or other is called for and pressed, yet matters are as they were: God speaks, but few regard; he cals, but few answer; He saith, Do this, and do that, but all is undone still. Then the Word and Counsel of God is received in its power, when a man doth acknowledg it, and hath the sense of the weight and efficacy of it; and this was the commendation of them, 1 Thes. 1.5. that they receive the Gospel, not in word only, but in power: and what was the effect of it? see vers. 6. And they became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction. And observe, John 8.37. what the Reason was that the Jews were in [Page 71] so desperate a course against Christ, that they sought to slay him; Christ himself gives the Answer, [...]. My word hath no place in you: Christ had preached unto them, as he doth unto us; but that word which he then spake had little entrance or little abode at least in the spirits of men: And so at this day, either the door is shut against the Word, or it is soon cast out of doors again: It is not a faint yielding of your spirits unto the call of God, when he speaks of such a thing as this is: The thorny ground had much of this; When the Gospel came and call'd on them to look to God and Je­sus Christ, they were very yielding, there was a sprouting of many affections, and great appearances of the efficacious work­ing of the Word on them; [...]. but all came to nothing. Many, while they are under the ministration of the Word, are under some operation of the Spirit that attends it; and they are ready to say as they in Exod. 19. We will do whatsoever the Lord saith: But I may take up that wish, O that there were such a heart to do even this one thing now call'd for, to walk in more mindfulness of God, and that it might be said of you, as it is of them, Rom. 6.17. Thanks be to God, [...]. that you have obeyed from the heart that form of Doc­trine, into which you were delivered. The [Page 72] receiving of the Counsels of God in their power, is not, as you may think, only a pre­sent entertaining of them, nor is it the pre­sent taste of the sweetness and vigor of them in your spirits; but it is the abiding of this Word in the power of it upon your hearts. There are many that are much struck in their spirits by the Word, but yet what saith the Scripture of them? They cast the Word of God behind their backs, and no more look after it; therefore they are unfruitful hearers of it all their days. 1 John 2.24. see what the Apostle John saith, Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning: if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye shall also continue in the Son, and in the Father. Men know not what they do, when they let their hearts depart from the Word; many invaluable Counsels from Heaven, in which their Souls are bound up, are lost, and made nothing of as to them: This is Satans gathering of the Corn that is sowed, before it come to ma­turity. Those whom God carries through obedience to eternal life, he doth cause to lay up his Word, to be their companion, and unto them as the Covenant that was layd up in the Ark of God: I have hid thy Word in my heart, saith David, Psal. 119.11. [Page 73] It is such a hiding as men are wont to use when they hide their treasure, that by no means it may be lost. God writes on the minds of those whom he loves his Law, and he leaves impressions of himself, that he will be minded: He that is our Pattern hath said, that the Law of God was in his heart, Psal. 40.9. And it is the name that the Prophet gives unto the people of God, Isa. 51.7. that they are such in whose heart is his Law. This then you should do, lay up the Word, and have often recourse to it; and lay your selves and your practises to this Rule, and often say, Where am I? where is my mind? whither is my understanding wandering? what path hath my Soul been treading in? have I been walking with God? have I been minding him? have I been serious in my spirit in the contempla­tion of him? Thus often have recourse unto the Word; it is a dangerous thing to let our minds go far without a check: It was the great fault charged upon those that were near to destruction, Jer. 6.8. No man repented, saying, What have I done? This Commandment of minding God, is a Commandment backed not only with Au­thority and Reason from the equity and ex­cellency of it, which all Precepts have; but it is also accompanied with special Ordi­nances, [Page 74] besides the natural Ordinance of the Creation, which is a memorial of God, that you may be ever promped unto the fountain of it: There are special instituted Ordinances appointed to this end, that you may remember him. What is Baptism? and what is the Lords Supper? but the re­presentation of Jesus Christ to us? memo­rials of him, that in the celebration of them you might remember him? Therefore la­bour to make your hearts sensible of the Authority and Majesty that is in this Com­mand, when God speaks from Heaven un­to you, that you would walk in all mind­fulness of him: and that is the first thing.

The second thing that I would commend to you, is this, To get and keep your hearts in a meetness and fitness for this work: As God hath put work on his people, so he doth expect that there should be a fitness in them for it; as the Apostle speaks, 2 Tim. 2.21. A vessel made meet for his Masters use and service. I will express this meetness in a few particulars.

One is, to keep the mind as free as you can: Our understandings, though they are mighty things, yet they are limited: When they are held much unto other things, there cannot be much of them left for God: [Page 75] Take heed of being too prodigal, in cutting out too large portions of your selves o­therwise: When you fill your spirits with the world,Intus exist­ens prohibet alienum. you are put into an incapacity of communion with God; that which is within, keeps out that which is without: Mark what Christ saith, Luk. 21.34. Take heed to your selves, lest at any time your hearts be over-charged with surfeiting and drunken­ness, with the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. What ever doth put you out of possession of your selves, what ever incapacitates you to that obedi­ence whereunto you are called, these things, as you would not have the evil day come upon you unawares, are to be taken heed of. O what a dread is it to the Soul of a man, when the evil day, the day of af­fliction, the day of temptation, especially when the day of dissolution comes on him before he looks for it? while he is busie in the world, in hunting after this and that vanity, snatcht away, like a fish taken in the net that it lookt not for? The cares and the pleasures of this world are unto the spirit of a man as wine; it doth intoxicate, and put a man out of himself, and under the power of Satan; he is a man in bonds; the Devil hath his foot upon his head, and his hand upon his heart; he hath the possession [Page 76] of him, when he is taken with any thing in this world: You know what Christ saith, that these cares and pleasures choak the Word. Hear and read never so much, let the wis­dom of Angels speak to you, let men put themselves to the utmost improvement of Reason and understanding, and lay out their bodies to the very last to perswade you; yet if your hearts be taken, if the world hath gotten you away, you are choa­ked: that as the corn that is over-grown with weeds faints away, and as a man that is surfeited cannot breathe; so is a man in this case. The effusion of your self upon the creature weakens you towards God; that as a drunken man, that hath not the use of his limbs, nor of his Reason, that is like a child in strength, and a fool in understand­ing; so is a man whose mind is cut out and shared among the creatures; he is separa­ted from God, that he cannot draw near to him. The body cannot be in two places at once; and your understandings and spirits cannot be strongly in Heaven, and strongly in the world: The streams will run strong­ly but one way; If you will therefore be in the world, you must be content to own your selves banished from God: You have set your selves from God, you make your selves strangers to your own life, and put [Page 77] your selves at a distance from your own eternal good. Take heed therefore of fill­ing your selves with the world; take heed of sinful fulness: worldly fulness takes up the whole capacity of the Soul, that there will be no room left for God. Tell me I pray you, what use are your Chrystal glasses for? do you keep them to be filled with puddle water? Will you fill your stomacks with chaff or carrion? and will you fill your precious and glorious minds, those high and excellent creatures, with the va­nities of the world, nay the things of Hell it self? Take heed of prepossessing your selves; for if you be not free, we speak to dead men; it is all one to bid you look to­wards God, as to bid a deaf man look East­ward when his eyes are fixed Westward; it is all one to bid a man walk with God and in mindfulness of him, as to bid a man that is bound in chains of Iron, rise up and walk.

Another thing is, Maintain in your selves a deep sense of those divine Engagements that lie upon you: Indeed we have all of us many bonds upon us, but yet we are too free and disobliged to God; and whence is it, but because we forget our Engage­ments?

Another Discouragement: Alas, say some, [...] [Page 78] this troubles me,Soepe in li­bro experi­entia legi­mus quo­modo a cor­de nostro re­linquimur, nunc est no­biscum, nunc alibi, nunc avo­lat, nunc re­currit in so­la lubricita­te manens in nullo un­quam sui soliditate consistit. Bern. O­pusc. c. 33. I cannot hold my self to the work; I am oftentimes assailing and putting on toward Heaven, forcing on and driving out some thoughts, but I cannot lodg them there, they roul down again, and I cannot fasten them; truly this is my grief.

I beseech you consider it: This rouling of the mind downwards, is either from re­misness of heart, or from weakness; if from the former, it's very sinful, and imputed; if from weakness, it is sinful, but not im­puted; the evil is not charged upon you. What think you of your selves? if you had a child that hath a palsie hand, that can­not hold fast what is put into it, you are not angry with your child, but pity him. He that is soTam pius n [...]m [...], tam pater ne [...]o. Bern. a Father, that there is none like him, who saith, he will accept according to what we have, and not according to what we have not, 2 Cor. 8.12. he will not charge his children with their weakness. All the Saints on this side Heaven, are troubled with dim­ness and instability of sight; when they look upwards, there is a turning and wheel­ing of their minds downwards, of which they shall be perfectly cured when they come to Heaven: in the mean time be not discouraged, but do as well as you can; the more weak your eyes are, the more fre­quently [Page 79] do you look; he had need look often, that cannot look long.

Another Discouragement is this; I would look up to God; but what sweetness will it be, when I have not an Interest in him? 'Tis true, he is a glorious Father, but the more unhappy I, that he is not my Father: He is a blessed fountain, but the more unhappy I, that I may not sit and drink of those waters.

What though thy case be so, that God be not thy Father? yet he is thy Lord; if he be not thy Portion, yet he is thy Pattern, and thy Rule; thou must mind him: But withall consider, It's your minding of God that is the means to bring God and you in­to one, that he may be yours, and you his: We are transformed from glory to glory by beholding him, 2 Cor. 3.18. Sights of God are of great force; and therefore men lie dead, because they are in the dark: Light hath something of an awakening and a quickening power; therefore if your minds were more in conjunction with God, this would form and fashion your hearts more unto God, and bring God more into you.

Again, saith another, This disheartens me, that though I endeavor dayly this course of bending my self to eye God, yet [Page 80] I get no good by it; I know my pride, and the stoutness of my spirit, and many evils that are in me, and I think by presenting my self before God to be bettered, and to get more quickening and enlarging, a heart more prepared to seek and to see God in all my ways; but I find still a crooked spirit, and a heart unwrought up­on; I get no good by it.

But is it so indeed? dost thou get no good? at no time? then there is no life in you; certainly thou art dead, if thou get no good from him that is all good. But yet there are that get good, that know it not: Be not discouraged, but endeavor to have your eyes set toward God, and toward him alway.

One Cause more I shall name, why this Duty is so much neglected and omitted, and that's this;

That the heart is set upon some other ob­ject: Observe this; For where the heart is set, the thoughts of the heart run out, and are poured forth: You have got something that pleaseth you more then God, and that hath entertainment and place in your un­derstandings. Where a mans treasure is, 'tis Christs rule, Mat. 6.21. there will the heart be also. If God be in your hearts, he will be in your eyes; if you love him, you will [Page 81] mind him; what you mind most, you love most; Love makes the mind quick in mo­tion, and strong in resting on the thing whereon 'tis set.

They that are taken with the glory of divine goodness, cannot keep themselves from the remembrance of it; nay they will force on themselves, and spur up all their powers unto it: Praise the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me bless his holy Name: Praise the Lord, O my Soul, and for­get not all his benefits, Psal. 103.1, 2. If you would mind mercies more, you would mind more the God of mercies: If you did remember the sweetness and fulness of this stream of grace by which you are maintained, you would eye more the foun­tain from whence they flow; and if you would get your selves under the engage­ment of this love, it would constrain you, that you could not live forgetters of God, but your eye would turn readily toward him: If we were sensible of our engage­ments, could we deny God that attendance that he calls for from us as his servants? Could we deny him dwelling in his own house? Could we shut the doors of our hearts against him, that is the place where he should rest? Could we deny him com­munion, who is our Lord, who is our Hus­band, [Page 82] who is our Friend and Father? A heart under the effectual impress and strong touch of divine grace and mercy, will not be able to keep from minding of him. David was a man that had a strong touch of this, and therefore saith he in Psal. 145.2. I will praise thee, O Lord, my King, and I will bless thy Name for ever and ever: Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever, &c. Where bonds of love take hold, they bind to God, as well as draw.

Another thing is, Keep your hearts in a lively sense of your own necessities. You need much: The world groans; whence is it? it is from want. You want much; even they that have received much, want much: and you want nothing so much as God; and here your wants are great and con­stant; and it were good you did always live in the sense of this want. Can a hungry man forget his bread? Can the heart that pants for thirst forget the river? Can a man in bonds forget freedom? Can a child in distress forget a father in honour and wealth? And if you lived in the sense of your necessities, could you forget God that is the fountain, and he by whom all your wants are to be supplyed, according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ?

Again, Keep your hearts pure, and then you will be meet for this work: Guilt brings fear, and fear brings torment. The natural effect of guilt is flying and hiding from God, and dying in our selves: Adam would not be seen when he had sinned: David was afraid to come before God when under guilt: In Psal. 32. see how he did contend with fear; Go, saith Consci­ence, and fall down before that God against whom thou hast sinned: I dare not, saith David, I am afraid to stand in his presence; he saith it was his torment; for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moi­sture was turned into the drought of summer: so in vers. 5. I said, I will confess my sins: Fear said, Do not; but saith David, I will do this. But this is sure, a man that hath a spirit that is sullied by sin, a spirit that hath guilt upon it, a man that is under the power of an accusing Conscience, that man will be afraid of God, as a Prisoner of the Judg: And certainly sometimes if God did not by a mighty power draw in his people, they would rather hazard their eternal life, then look up, when they have lift up their heel against him; so dreadful is the sight of God, that it exceeds the strength of any creature, not only the natural strength, but also the spiritual. It is with man in this case, [Page 84] as with servants; when they have com­mitted some notorious fault against their Master, away they run, forsake their ser­vice, and Master too: This is the disposi­tion of man; when he hath rebelled against God, he is apt to take a run from him, and go with those that wander from God, and live without God in the world. See what is said in 1 Sam. 12.20. The people sinned, and Samuel said unto the people, Fear not; ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your hearts: and turn not aside, for then shall you go after vain things, that cannot profit, nor deliver, for they are vain: For the Lord will not forsake his people, &c. He saw such a disposition in them, that through discouragement of heart finding themselves in sin, they were ready to sink and fall off from their attendance and ser­vice unto God; and therefore he gives this counsel, by no means to harken to this suggestion of an evil and a torturing spirit.

Let me add this as another means, That you must pray for sanctification of mind: What a strange wilde thing is the mind of man by nature? Sanctification is the taming, the composing, the ordering and seasoning of the understanding; it is the [Page 85] bringing of the mind into a right frame, and the setting of it in its proper course; until that be, it lies open for all comers; all the powers of darkness snatch, and catch, and rend it in pieces, and bear it away, and every vanity commands it: but when grace comes, that appropriates it unto God, so that it becomes the Lords. Therefore pray for Sanctification, which is the induc­tion of a new nature into the spirits of a man, and a new propensity; so that as natu­rally it had its tendency towards vanity, now it will have its tendency toward God. Sanctification is a great thing: What is the body until Sanctification comes, but an un­tamed monster, as a wilde beast? O with what numberless outragious passions doth it blind and carry away the Soul? Until it be sanctified, it puts a man into an incapacity of conversing with God; it lies not only open to all temptations, but it snatcheth after them; it's a weight that lies upon the spirit of a man. Pray for Sancti­fication, which is the sequestration of the spirit of a man from vanity, and the conse­cration of it unto God; it is the putting of it into his possession, the planting in it a new disposition to move towards God, and to converse with God: this the Apostle calls the renewing of the mind.

CHAP. XI.

NOw let me add another Help; Weigh well with a deep sense the high Advan­tages which a due discharge of this work doth bring upon you; this will facilitate the work: The more you mind God, the better you may. Men cry out, the work is hard: It is good and sweet; but hardest to those that do it least, easiest to those that do it most: Living in this work doth ad­vantage and enlarge your spiritual strength, and put you into more meetness and fit­ness, into more proportion of ability for the discharge of it: That as the Apostle speaks of the sinful use of the eye, and of the sinful effusions of the spirit in way of evil, that it works unto a necessity of sinning, so that they have eyes full of adultery, [...]. that cannot cease to sin, 2 Pet. 2.14. So the more you [Page 87] live in mindfulness of God, the more are you wrought into a most excellent and sweet necessity of living in this course: Gods entertainment is very gracious unto a friend that minds him, that he cannot long have God out of his eye. De coelo descendit, [...]. This advan­tage you will also have by it, the discovery of your self; and truly that is a great mat­ter, for a man to know himself: We are therefore so little our selves, because we know our selves so little; all that mon­strous pride and self-love, that foolish in­dulgence that is usual toward our selves, is because we know not what we are. This will make you know your selves more: for when your eye is on God, it is upon your Rule, the Rule of all perfection, the most absolute Pattern of all spiritual beauty; therefore you may see what proportion and similitude there is between God and you: This will breed a self-abhorrency, because of that infinite disagreement that is in the spirit of a man and his ways to the holy God: Job in the sight of God abhor'd himself in dust and ashes, Job 42.4. Here you may see how your hearts and the Rule agree.

Now also you may observe what im­pressions the sight of God leaveth upon you. You say you mind God: Well; and [Page 88] I pray what comes of it? what fear? what faith? what hope? what tenderness? What watchfulness is there wrought in your spi­rits by your minding of God? What a hard heart is that which is layd under the very beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and melts not? What an obdurate spirit is that which in the sight of God yields no more? We should come to see better what we are, if we were more in this work.

This advantage too you shall have, you shall be filled more with God: What is the moaning of your Souls? O, saith the Saint, that I might enjoy him! O that God might be my God! and that his pre­sence might be with me where ever I am! All spiritual life hath its birth and growth in this work; the first sight of God lays the foundation, all after-sights do super­struct: The first sight of God is the plant­ing of holiness in the Soul, after-sights are waterings unto more encrease and fruitful­ness; at the first sight of God, God enters into the Soul, but the after-sights of God fills and fills until they fill up the Soul. If therefore it be so great an advantage, con­sider it, and let it provoke you unto this work.

One Rule more to help unto this work; Possess your selves deeply with the apprehen­sions [Page 89] of the great sinfulness of the neglect of this: Therefore men and their sins are so near together, because they see not their sins more sinful; When sin appears out of measure sinful, then it sets the heart at the greatest distance from it. Look on the sinfulness of it in the Cause of it: Whence is it, thou wandering Soul, thou sleeping spirit, thou man possessed with the world, that thou sayst thou breathest after God, and yet shuttest thy eye from him? It is from a most woful frame of spirit: Faith is dead, and love dead; all princi­ples of life are put into a state of astonish­ment: it is deep night; all the spiritual powers are asleep, bound up; hence it is thou mindest God no more. Poor Crea­ture, thou art not thy self, thy heart is gone, other things have born it away; thou art like the Prodigal, until God brings thee unto thy wits and right mind again.

Now see what the state of that man is, by the true original of the sin of neglecting to remember God; and look a little fur­ther into this matter, to see it in the Effect of it: Forgetting of God dissolves the bond between the Soul and God, and sets it free from God: It is the minding of God that doth beget and preserve a capacity of him, and propensity toward him; then forget­ing [Page 90] of God shuts up thy heart from him, and doth byass thy Soul unto a contrary motion, to a departing from him, puts thee into a state wherein thou canst not be ac­cording to the calling whereunto thou art called: Thou canst not walk in the place of a servant toward thy Lord; for how canst thou do his Will whom thou re­memberest not? If all the Reason of holy walking lies in this, then the nerves and sinews of Holiness are cut in sunder, when forgetfulness of God raigns in men. There is this evil also, thou betrayest thy Soul as much as in thee lies into the state of the Devils themselves: What makes Hell, but want of God? and what makes the un­happiness of Devils, but separation from God? And this thou dost practise upon thy own self. I could give a notorious and sad Instance of this truth to every one that doth voluntarily forget God, in an Apo­state Professor whom I knew, who said, The turning point and first beginning of his declining from God, was his neglect of communion with Jesus Christ. Therefore when you give your selves to a voluntary forgetfulness of God, you betray your selves into a state of Apostacy and back­sliding from God; and if once the Devil get the possession, and can back thy spirit, he [Page 91] will ride thee post into the pit where there is no bottom, and from whence there is no return. I will shut up all with that expres­sion of God in Isai. 17.11. Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy Salvation, and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shall set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plants to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish; but the Harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. You may in your forgetfulness of God enjoy your de­sire, trim up this world to your own con­tentment, and make all your ways like pleasant walks in delightful gardens; you may make your paths to be as fruitful fields; But what shall the end be? When the Harvest comes in the appointed time thereof, there shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow. If you would have a Harvest of Rejoycing, if you would reap that which may be the Refreshing of your Souls, if you would not sow gall and wormwood for you to reap hereafter, take heed of betraying your selves into a for­getfulness of God.

CHAP. I.

THE Church was now sad, and there was cause enough, for God frown'd upon her; If she look'd upward, she saw God displeased; if downward, there was no­thing but violence, one devouring another [Page 93] with the tongue and with the hand: And therefore she makes her retreat unto God; [Therefore,] because men are so injurious, so false, so treacherous, therefore I'le look to the Lord.

It's an excellent spirit which is in the Saints, that the world knows not of; they make such Therefores, such Conclusions as the world is not acquainted with: The froward man says, Therefore I'le do so too; the politick man says, Therefore I'le be wise, and look to my self; the good man says, Therefore I'le look to the Lord. Observe how the evils of this world put the Saints upon the improvement of their power with God, and how the sight of propriety in God gives strength and life to the spirits of Saints; I'le look up, I'le wait for the God of my Salvation, my God will hear me. That which I am to speak to then, is,

That the sight of God, as our God, is that which lifts up our heads and chears our hearts against all discouragements, and carries us through all difficulties, and what­soever is dismall: When a man can say, God is mine, that man shall live when no­thing else lives.

I'le give you some few Foundations of this.

The first thing I'le instance in, is, That [Page 94] this propriety of the Saints is a propriety with community; there is much in that: In 1 Cor. 1.2. Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, sanctified in Christ Jesus, call­ed to be Saints, with all that call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. The force of this lies thus; That which serves for most is best: The Sun is better then a Tapor; because that serves all, the other serves but one, or a few: A Spring is better then a Cistern, because all my drink of that, but few of the other. That which all want is best; Universal want ar­gues that thing which we need to be uni­versally good. That may be wanting to one man, which another wants not: A Mariner may want a rudder, or a sail, which others want not; but all men want bread: That thing is good to him, but this is good to all. This Propriety therefore being with Community, to wit, that God is not my God alone, but of all the Saints in Heaven and in Earth, and of all the Angels; this shews, that a Propriety and Interest in God is the best Propriety: Hence it is, that the Saints having their portion in such an one are so refreshed, and their comforts much advanced, because they know that others drink of the same River of Life together with them.

Secondly, This Propriety is in that which is best, by a Confluence of all excel­lent things: As for example, Love, Good­ness, and Kindness, there is none like that which is in God; here it is transcendent: You may reason so, not only from what God is, an infinite Being, but from what God doth. Look on those high operations of his Wisdom and Power, you shall see they are clear demonstrations of his Goodness; the most excellent things have flowed from thence; Pardon of sin, Peace that passeth all understanding, and everlasting life; these have flowed from this Good­ness. God in his Love hath gone to the ut­most to set it out; He never intended so full a demonstration of his Power, as of his Love; Therefore though he hath not gone to the utmost of his Power, yet he hath gone to the utmost of his Love: It's Love that passeth knowledg, all knowledg, Eph. 3.19. It's possible to imagine how some things in the Creation might have shewn forth more of the Power of God, as if he had made men equal power with An­gels, &c. But it's not devisable, which way there should be a greater demonstration of his Love, then he hath shewn; partly in what is the enjoyment of his Saints in this world, but principally in that which he [Page 96] hath promised in the other. Now where the greatest Goodness and Love is, an In­terest in that Person is most precious and excellent. There is in God a descending Love: You shall seldom find, that love in a child carries that worth and excellency in it, as the Love of a Father doth; because descending love chiefly seeks the good of another, ascending love seeks our own good: The love of God greater, because descending love.

Further, There is not only Goodness and Love in God, but Wisdom also for the man­aging of these; this adds to the Propriety. The best Prince may not have wisdom enough to know all his Subjects: but God knows all his, as Christ saith, Joh. 10. I know my sheep, and am known of them. He that tells the stars, and calls them all by their names, knows every one of his, and their cases; he knows what fears, what wants, what pressures, what straits they are in: The Lord knows how to deliver the righ­teous out of all their troubles, 2 Pet. 2.9. Again, He is present with all his; all things in the world are confined and limited, God only is every where: The Sun reacheth to the whole Hemisphere; But Gods Power is infinite, and himself omnipresent; He fills Heaven and Earth, He is not confin'd [Page 97] to any place, or limited within any bounds; Therefore to have a Propriety or Interest in this God, must needs be a very great Re­freshing and Consolation.

CHAP. II.

THe Propriety that the Saints have in God is perfect; I mean, it extends throughout to all that God is. Among friends and acquaintance this is the Law, their friendship reacheth to some things, not to all; but the Interest of the wife and children reacheth to the full compass of the husbands estate: Much more our Propri­ety in God reacheth to all that God is. As the Law of Communion between the Fa­ther and the Son was this, John 17.10. All mine are thine, and thine are mine: So is the Law of the Interest between Christ and his people; 1 Cor. 3. ult. All things are yours, because all is Christs. If there be enough in God for the spirits of just men [Page 98] made perfect, whose capacities are greater then ours; if there be enough in God for Angels, whose capacities are greater then theirs; if there be enough in God for Jesus Christ, whose capacity is yet far wider; if there be enough in God for God himself; then there must needs be satis­faction to a man: If he can say, that God is his God, he needs no more, this will con­tent and fill his spirit.

Fourthly, This Propriety is that which will hold out. All our interest in men and things is very fleeting, experience shews it; the Anchor comes home again, because the ground was not firm: All friends are but like flowers in the hand, they are mine now, anon they are good for nothing, and are no bodies. You have this given as a reason, why we should not trust in Princes, in Psal. 146. Because they pass away, and their thoughts perish: What ever they intended and had contrived for your good, all dye with them. The Israelites that found favor in Egypt for Josephs sake, suffered when an­other Pharaoh arose that knew not Joseph. But if our friends live, nothing is more common then to have an eclipse and a damp brought upon the love of friends. But Christ loves to the end; and if he loved his people when he was in this world, [Page 99] how much more doth his love continue now he is in the other world? Because here his love met with many difficulties, but there he hath nothing hard to do; his work lies plain and easie before him. The affections of men are subject to a natural, I may call it an unnatural, mutability, which is not only a torment to others, but to themselves; for that man that changeth his heart, suffers as well as he from whom his heart is changed: and this is help'd on by many things.

1. By offences that ripen and quicken that fickle mutability of this poor, frail, mortal, changeable creature, Man; You shall have him now like the Sun in his full shining, and anon some cloud of offence darkens all his love: We were the unhap­piest creatures that could be, if God should be so to us; but he hath expressed himself in Isai. 55.7. that he will abundantly pardon, and that he will multiply pardons.

2. Distance many times takes off the edg of love and friendship among friends, friends oftentimes dye one to another while they live: The child sometimes is forgotten of his Father, and the wife of her husband: But the eye of God is ever upon us, and we cannot but be satisfied in his love, whose eye is ever fixt upon us; as [Page 100] you have his promise in the last of Mat­thew, Lo I am with you always to the end of the world.

3. There is a love that is fastened only by a short relation, as between the Master and the servant, and those that are in a Bro­therhood for a time; when the term of years is out, that relation ceaseth: But it is not so between Christ and the Saints.

In the fifth place. This Propriety that the people of God have in him is most ef­fectual, because there is neither want of love nor power in God. In Isai. 48.14. All ye assemble your selves and hear; which among them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him; he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Caldeans. Whether we understand it of his love to his people, or of his love to Cyrus, it is not much material as to the setting forth the efficacy of this Propriety. If we under­stand it of his love to Cyrus, who perhaps was yet a stranger to God, that notwith­standing this, he would do so great things, as he had spoken, for him; how much more effectual will his love be to those to whom he is engaged by relation? He will stick at nothing, because his love is so great; no offences shall hinder, because he hath engaged to pardon: You are sure to [Page 101] speed when you come to God; they that see this their Propriety in him, therefore must needs rejoyce.

Sixthly, This Propriety in God is not onerous and burdensom. Indeed our relati­ons to men, and our propriety in them, is oftentimes costly; and not without charge can we either preserve or act our friendship toward them: We usually lose by recei­ving; A man accepts a benefit, and loseth his liberty, as a wise Heathen once said. A man by his engagement is put oftentimes upon hard services; he is made to do eve­ry thing, that receives every thing; the more you take from a friend, the more he is discharged, and he things he owes you the less, and that you owe him the more: But indeed whatsoever God doth, is an engagement upon him to do more for you. Expressions of friendship from friends come many times mingled with much bit­terness, harshness, and rigidness; But when God dischargeth the part of a Father and a Friend, he doth it like himself, it comes pure, like water out of a pure fountain, no sadness, no bitterness mingled with it; He doth it with all his heart; as in Jer. 32.41. I'le rejoyce over them to do them good, and with my whole Heart, and with my whole Soul. Oh when kindness comes so, it comes [Page 102] sweetly! What refreshing is it then to Be­leevers in all their conditions to look upon divine Love, that's sweet, and clear, and pure? All these joyn'd together make but one head of Arguments from that Excel­lency that is in God.

CHAP. III.

ANother Argument is this, We have nothing else to live upon; we must either live here, or no where: If we live not upon what we have in God, we are dead men, for God is our life. The life of every creature is maintain'd proportiona­bly by a threefold Law.

1. Some by the Law of Nature: so fishes live not but in the water, and beasts in their pastures, and cannot live in the Sea: And indeed there is something of the di­vine new nature in Christians; they must [Page 103] live in God, or they dye.

2. There is the Law of Love: The child loves the mother above all women, though it may be there be many better▪ the Lord hath placed the life of the child in the mo­ther: how much more the life of a Chri­stian in himself? for there is no love like that love.

3. Life is cut out by the Law of Reason and Judgment, by which men chuse their portion, upon which they feed, and upon which they make their lives. This way no­thing but God is eligible to a good man; He saith, some other things serve for other uses, but not to live on. Nothing but God can be made our own, nothing out of God is properly our own, but our sins: How can a man say that is his own, which he can­not command and hold? Nothing can be made full enough, strong enough, answer­able to our desires, but God: Hence it is that a good man lives in God, because he can live no where else; Though he make use of his bed to sleep on, of his meat to re­fresh him, and do as others do in the use of these things, yet he would be a very dead man, worse then a man layd in the grave, if his life were not in God.

I would exhort you then, Ʋse Ex­hortat. that you would thus live in God; it is a riddle to [Page 104] the world, but a truth to Saints, and that which their Souls can witness to: The world knows no other life then friends, estate, and such like enjoyments; the Saints know that there is no life in these; they live another life which the world knows not of. Live this life, that is, make this to be the strength, reason and rule of all your walkings, to be the pillar and prop of your Souls, whereon you may lean and rest; make this your ultimate rest, that after all the troublesom turnings and tossings of this world you may take rest here, in this peace of God which passeth all underestanding, that you may say as David in Psal. 34. He was in trouble; but, saith he, I trusted in the Lord, and said, O Lord, thou art my God; and this was all to him against all trouble: They seek my life, and make me a derision; but I said, O Lord, thou art my God. Two things I premise in this Exhortation.

1. That you make your Interest in God sure, that you may be able to say without fear and trembling, thou art my God.

This Interest is mutual; if God be yours, then you are his; He is yours by gift of himself to you, and you are his by gift of your selves to him: Remember the day when, how, and by what act you did give your selves to God: Have you put [Page 105] by your selves, and all your sinful propen­sions, dispositions, and resolutions? Have you layd an absolute denyal upon them, never more to observe them, much less to serve them? And have you resolved that you will have no purposes or desires but such as are according to God? Be sure if you cannot say you are his, you cannot say he is yours: You may please your selves indeed with fancies, and vain imagi­nations of that which is not; but know this, that such a kind of Contract with God as we speak of, hath evidence in it; It's not a cold and liveless acting, but there is pow­er and efficacy in it. These two things will be of power in that man that hath in truth given himself to God.

1. Conscience with Love; Conscience without Love hath very much power in it, but Conscience with Love is very potent: Indeed Conscience will tell thee, O man, thou hast given thy self to God, therefore thou shouldst walk as his: And Love will take thee aside, and sound the same alarum in thine ears too, but more effectually.

2. A second thing is the power of God in them and over them; There is a power of God in such: You have received, saith the Apostle, the spirit of power, 2 Tim. 1.7. This is the difference between the relation [Page 106] that is between God and his people, and all other relations: This relation conveys the Spirit of God into men. The husband and wife that are never so closely knit, cannot convey their spirits one to another; the husband may wish that his wife were wise and meek, but he cannot give her such a spirit: But the relation between God and his people always works a communica­tion of spirit; the Spirit of God is given to them.

Besides, There is a power of God over such, because he sees that there is a great power against them: They are kept by the power of God through faith unto Salvation. Certainly if you have not such a Consci­ence joyned with Love, and find not such a power of God watching over you, and the Spirit of God guiding you, you are none of his.

Another thing to be premised is this, That a Christians life, whether we consi­der the life of peace, or the life of holiness, depends much upon his minding of his In­terest in God. The Apostle in Hebr. 2. tells them, they had lost much of the life of Christianity; how came that? because they had forgotten the Exhortation that spake to them as unto Children. And in Prov. 2.27. Who forsakes the guide of her youth, and [Page 107] forgets the Covenant of her God. The latter is the cause of the former; because she for­gets the Covenant of her God, therefore she forsakes the guide of her youth.

You have need to seek much in God; your sins are many, your dangers great, you know it well enough: You have this encouragement, Whatsoever you go for, you knock at the right door; whatsoever you ask, you ask that which is as much your own, as any thing you enjoy: God hath made over himself to you, in becom­ing yours; He hath said he will be your God: All particular promises are but streams from this Spring, and branches from this Root. Your Interest is larger then Heaven and Earth; Heaven and Earth are nothing to God: Therefore if God be yours, you have more cause to re­joyce, then if he had made you actual and sole Possessors of Heaven and Earth. In the world they that have little of their own, comfort themselves that they have something in their friends; such a Lord, such a Duke is their friend: So if you have not much in this world, comfort your selves in this, that God is your God. The Lord thought this enough to comfort his people with, when they were afflicted and tossed with tempests: He that takes not [Page 108] comfort in this, either knows not what God is, or denies what he professeth to know. Live by Faith; or as some render these words in Psal. 37. Feed on Faith. When you come to God, you come not to ask a title, but to plead a title; you come not to ask any thing that was not your own before, but you come to ask the possession of it. You cannot ask more then he is in­tended to give you: He takes more con­tentment in giving (I do not say then you can take in asking, though that be much, but) then you can have in enjoying. The Propriety you have in God is by a Media­tor; so that he by whose means you come by this Propriety, hath all things put into his hand, and he is in stead of God to you; as it is said of Joseph, that he was in stead of God to his Brethren. He that hath obliged us to be whatsoever we can to those that are ours, hath much more obliged himself to be all that he can for us. Christ was made so great, not for his own sake, but for our sakes; if he be set on the Throne, it is for our sakes: What shall we need to fear, when we come to ask any thing of him? He stands more obliged to us, then we can be to ours; because it is easier for him to do what his place calls upon him for, then it is for us; for the engagement is strongest, [Page 109] where the performance is easiest; and be­cause we are dearer to him, then ours are to us; the dearest child is not so dear to its mother, as we are dear to him: and the hurt that would come to those that are be­loved of God, if he should fail them, is greater then can come to children by the neglect of their parents. Again, The honor that Christ hath engaged is of infi­nite more concernment: If a father be un­natural, that is a stain upon him; but what is a spot of dishonor upon a piece of dirt? But if the Prince of Glory should be un­natural, this would highly reflect dishonor upon him. How may we walk with con­fidence and security, and account our selves richer then Princes, and stronger then Armies? Though all this, nothing concerns those that stand out, and are as strangers and aliens, that will call God Father whether he will or no, that are not taught it from above, but have learned it of themselves. If a man cannot call God his Father and his God upon good grounds, what a miserable state is that man in? He is nothing, he hath nothing, and there is nothing between him and ever­lasting misery, but a moment of time: He goes up and down pleasing himself with vain shews, pleasing himself with painted [Page 110] Butterflies; but hath nothing to live on, he is utterly unprovided for Eternity.

CHAP. IV.

Ʋse. 2d IF the sight of our Interest in God be the life of Saints, then let those who plead an Interest in God walk worthy of it: It is precious, for it is their life; it is worth all that is required of you: That which God calls for at your hands, takes nothing from your happiness, but adds much to it. It is the Apostle's exhortation, Col. 1.10. Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Let me propound to your Considerations a few things, to put you on to this.

First, You are deeply obliged to please God, and thereby to walk worthy of him; for being in so near relation to him, you have not only the portion, but the spirit of children: Because you are sons, therefore he [Page 111] hath sent the Spirit of Adoption into your hearts, Gal. 4. Other relations,This was touched in the fore­going Ser­mon. because they want strength, are not always beautified and sweetened with a convenient spirit: The relation of a husband cannot commu­nicate a meek spirit to his wife, nor the re­lation of a parent to the child, because of their impotency; their will is strong, but their hand is short: But God in that graci­ous relation wherin he stands unto his own, gives them a Spirit like unto himself, that so he may have Children answerable to himself and to his Will: In Rom. 8.9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He that is joyned to the Lord, saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 6.7. is one Spirit. As persons conjoyned in marriage are one flesh, so he that is married to the Lord, that is brought into that near relation unto him, is one Spirit; they are one in their af­fections, propensions, dispositions, and de­signs. As we say of a multitude, they are of one heart and of one spirit when they conspire in one: so God and his people are one Spirit, because they center in one; he in governing them, and they in subjection and subordination to him, so one, as things ruled and the Rule is one. This argument the Apostle urgeth in 2 Tim. 1.7. God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear, but of Power, [Page 112] Love, and of a Sound Mind. He had in the words before exhorted to this, Therefore, saith he, I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God that is in thee, by the putting on of my hands: But Timothy might say, How can I do that? Why, saith the Apostle, we have received not the spirit of fear, but of power. It is a time of danger indeed, and a hard work to preach the Go­spel in such days as these; but he that is gifted and fitted by Christ to that work, hath received a spirit of courage and power, by which he is able to mannage the things that he hath received of God.

Then I say, having received the Spirit of children, the obligation lyes the stron­ger upon you to walk as children. This is a Rule; The more proportionably a man hath received strength and ability to his work, the more he is bound to it: there­fore the more of the Spirit you have re­ceived, the more you are obliged. And this Spirit of Christ in his people acts ac­cording to its primitive original Pattern; as it wrought in Christ, so it will work in you according to your proportion. This moving will be strong, because it moves upon the highest grounds, that which is most taking and prevailing; it moves up­on hopes and sense of eternal life. If you [Page 113] walk not so as to please God, you walk with much frowardness of heart, and your sin is the greater. It's true, though you have received this Spirit, yet there is much of the spirit of this world in your hearts; but this is our duty and our work, not to suffer the better Spirit to be quel'd and damp'd by the other.

But yet again, that you may see it more fully, remember, if you please not God, you act against your own Interest and ad­vantage, for your life is bound up in the favor of God; when you therefore act a­gainst God, you act against your selves. The Apostle useth such an argument in Ephes. 5. where he exhorts husbands to love their wives, for no man ever hated his own flesh: He means this, that they being one, the husband cannot cease to love his wife, but he loseth so much of his own life, because they are one; therefore cross­ness and untowardness between them strikes them dead.

In unequal relations the inferior is more dependant, and so should be more subor­dinate: In the relation between the father and the child, the child is the lower part, and lives more upon the father, and there­fore ought to live more according to the Father, according to his Will, or else he [Page 114] acts against himself, he offends his father to his own hurt: And the goodness of Su­periors is of greater influence and force, then that of Inferiors: Take a child in the goodness of a child, be it never so high, that cannot work so much to the good of the father, as the goodness of the father doth for the child.

The love, goodness and mercy of God, who is infinitely greater then we, is of un­speakable influence to our good, and there­fore to be tendered and preserved. Sin in the nature of it is a violation of the Law, that is, of the Will of God; the effect of sin is a provocation of wrath and anger: Hence it is that the Wise-man speaks so in Prov. 8. He that sins against me, wrongs his own Soul: He offers violence, he spoils his own Soul, he becomes a robber of him­self. The nature of sin aims at the destruc­tion of that against which it is set, although it do not attain this effect, because of the power of him against whom it is; for it's a denying of all that God is, as that he is infinitely wise, infinitely good, &c. There­fore the Apostle speaks of some in Tit. 1.16. that profess they know God, but in works they deny him; how is that? that is, by their works they declare that they do not acknowledg him as he is. Men therefore [Page 115] that seek not to please God, do no other­wise then as if men in a Ship should with Axes, or such like Instruments, seek to cut holes in the Ship wherein their lives lie. To act therefore against God, is to act most desperately against our own good; and by this we see how we are engaged to please him.

Again, take this in, that God will more easily be pleased with his people then with others, therefore they are the more bound: He takes that well from some hands, that will not pass from others: It is true, we are all under one Law and Rule, God did not destroy the Law by taking his people into a Gospel state, but established it; nay, the Law binds more then it did before, only as the binding power of it is encrea­sed, so the rigor of it is abated, that is, the terms of obedience required are changed: God said before, If you do not this and this, and every thing to the height of it, you shall dye: but he doth not hold his people to those terms now that we are reconciled to him; all is due that is commanded: but he accepts of what we can perform; so that here is the difference: The Law speaks to one sort, to those that are in the flesh, that are out of Christ, as in Gal. 3.10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things [Page 116] written in the Law to do them. To the other sort, whom God accepts in Christ, he speaks as in 2 Cor. 8.12. He accepts accord­ing to what a man hath, if there be a willing mind. Now if less will pass with God, and be well taken from thine hand then from others, thy sin is greater then others, if thou dost it not.

Further, You are engaged much, be­cause you have had tastes of the sweetness of walking with God. This is that which made that aggravation of their sin, which God hath said he will not forgive; Heb. 6. That they had tasted of the powers of the world to come: But it's a greater engage­ment to have a taste of God himself, then to have a taste of the things of God; to have a taste of that excellency and good­ness that is in him, is far a greater bond then to taste of all his favors.

Nay, you have had a taste of the bitter­ness of wandering from God, and neglect­ing him; witness the blows and stripes of your own spirits, and the frowns of God upon you: How hath your unwary walk­ing led you into a wilderness of darkness and fears? and will you yet sin thus against God? Have you not said in those dismal days, as in Hos. 2.7. I'le return to my first husband, for then it was better with me then [Page 117] now? And have you given your selves to God again and again, and do you now neglect him? Will you not endevor to fulfil your promises? Mark how God carried himself to his people that neglect­ed him, Jer. 2.20. Of old time I broke thy yoke, and burst thy bonds, and thou saidst, I will not transgress; thou saidst thou wouldst not, but thou didst; for under every green tree, and upon every high hill thou wanderest, playing the harlot: Yet I planted thee a noble vine; How then art thou turned into the de­generate plant, of a strange vine unto me? It is a dangerous thing to break promise with God; he will plead your own words against you. That then is one main Con­sideration, why such as plead an Interest in God should labor to walk in all pleasing to him, from that Engagement that lies upon such to God.

A second Consideration is this, Other­wise you will weaken the comfort of your hope and expectation in prayer. How can you rationally, with any satisfaction to your own spirits, expect that God should fulful your will, that are not willing to ful­fil his? How dis-ingenious and base is it for a man to wish in his heart, that God would act so as to please him, when in the mean time he is not careful to please God? [Page 118] It doth horribly impose upon God, it ar­gues a most vile and base spirit; it imposes upon Gods Wisdom, upon his Goodness, and indeed upon all that God is: and God takes it very ill to be thus dealt with; as he expresseth himself, Mic. 3.11. The heads thereof judg for reward, and the Priests teach for hire, and the Prophets divine for mony; yet they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. What followed? Therefore Zion for your sakes shall be plowed like a field. God will not be so put off. This sin borders upon that in Deut. 29.20. If any man say, I shall have peace, though I walk after the imagina­tions of mine own heart; my wrath and jea­lousie shall smoke against that man, and I will strike out his name from under Heaven. You come to me, saith God, and say, O Father, arise and save us, in Jer. 5.3. but you do all the evil against me that you can; or, as some read it, you do evil, and you can; or, and you prevail: that is, Whereas be­fore I told you how ready I was to do you all good, you have now so tempted me and provoked me with your sins, as to pre­vail with me to resolve to give you over. This sin was that which bred in David such discouragement to come to God, that he had rather stay till his bones waxed old [Page 119] through roaring, then go to God; this is that guile of heart, which he speaks of in Psal. 32.2, 3. Against this it was that Sa­muel reasoned with the people in 1 Sam. 12. That after all their former evils they should not depart from God. Take heed therefore of such a state, lest you fall into those evils that the Conscience of unholy walking will bring you into.

CHAP. V.

3. A Third Consideration is, the Nature of your Interest in God: I'le set it before you in a few Expressions.

First, He is one that is above you, great­er and higher then you are. Now the Law in unequal relations is this, That he which is of the strongest side, be a relief; that he that is of the weaker side, be subject; if therefore you walk not in obedience, you do what in you lies to destroy your Inte­rest, to make God not to be yours: for in Mal. 1.6. saith God, If I be a Father, where [Page 120] my fear? If I be a Master, where is my ho­nor? As if he should say, I cannot reckon my self a Father to you that do not fear me, nor a Lord to you that do not honor me; therefore if I be a Father, and if I be a Lord to you, where is my fear? and where is my honor? And upon this reason he speaks to them in the first of Hosea, Lo­ammi, you are no more my people. This is the utmost misery the Creature is capable of, to be in a state of separation from God. Wo to them, saith God, in the day when I de­part from them, in Hos. 9. Indeed all woes lie in that woe, as all evils lie in that evil of departing from God. Of other relations some are natural; but that relation between God and us, is of will, from grace; we are his now, we were not; but he hath chosen us, called us, renewed us, and adopt­ed us. In relations the better side hath often need of the weaker; Kings need their Subjects, and cannot be without them: But God had no need of us; he is so far above us, that he doth not stand in need of us, or any thing in the whole Creation. My goodness extends not to thee, O God, saith David in Psal. 16.

It's an happiness to have an Interest in one greater then our selves; an Interest in a Begger is of no worth, because he is of no [Page 121] power; but Interest in a Prince all men seek: Therefore in Psal. 33. it's said, Bless­ed are the people whose God is the Lord; and blessed are the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

And as our Relation is thus to one above us, so our Interest is the best and nearest that can be in God. God was free to let out his love to every thing as he pleased; all Creatures have an Interest in him, ex­cept such who have been expelled and ex­terminated. In a Kingdom every Subject hath an Interest in the Prince; but those of his family, especially those of his blood, his children, have the best Interest in him. The Interest that the people of God have in him, is the highest, and the nearest, the noblest Interest, that such Creatures are capable of: In Psal. 148. ult. They are a people near unto him: Near, not only in re­spect of employment, but in respect of affec­tion; they are in God. They are called a peculiar people, Tit. 2.14. So in Exod. 19.15. Though all the Earth be mine, yet you are my Treasure. We might have had the Interest of servants, and truly that had been much for us; we had reason to say as the Prodigal, We are not worthy to be called thy Sons, make us as thine Hired Servants: But now he hath set us so near to himself, [Page 122] as we could not be nearer; this should much oblige us to him.

Again, It is a renewed Interest: The Propriety we had in God was lost; but as he said in mercy concerning Jerusalem, Zech. 2.12. I have chosen Jerusalem again, so he hath said concerning us, I have chosen them again, and taken them in the second time. We were afar off, as the Apostle speaks, Ephes. 2.12. but now we are made nigh. That may be said of us, which the father spoke of his prodigal child, Luke 15.24. This my son was dead, but he is alive; he was lost, but is found. Our state of righteousness is by regeneration, by renovation and reception; we were cut off, but we are planted again into the Tree of Life: Therefore now to neglect God, is the greater sin. In Judg. 4. it is said, That after God delivered them from the yoke of the Ammonites and the Moabites, they sinned again; and that is set down as an aggravation of their sin. And for us, after pardon, and after reconcilia­tion, after reception into grace and favor, not to please God, is a sin of an higher na­ture then the sin of the world.

Further, Concerning the nature of our Relation to God, look upon the Cause of it; it is by Jesus Christ: We are made near in him, saith the Apostle, Ephes. 2.13. [Page 123] and that by a strange way.

1. God contrives an Attonement to be made by Christ for us.

2. Then God contrives a Match be­tween Christ and us, that we might be­come one with him, and so become one with the Father. And upon this Reason Christ spake those words in John 20.17. Now I ascend to my Father, and to your Fa­ther; to my God, and your God. Not to take care to please, is a token of one afar off: It's a mark of those wretched ones men­tioned in 1 Thes. 2.15. that they please not God.

Take but this in too, viz. the Effects of this Interest; All your former sins are done away, and all good is become yours: All things are yours, saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 3. ult. Whatsoever you ask is yours: In Joh. 14.13. Whatsoever you ask the Fa­ther in my Name, I'le do it.

CHAP. VI.

4. A Fourth Consideration is this, The Nature of Gods Interest in us.

1. It's an Interest that hath suffered vi­olence: There was a great violation made, and much dishonor cast upon it; for God was rejected and cast off by us. In the pri­mitive Apostacy, the whole nature of Man cast him off quickly, and upon a small temptation; and since that every one of us in our own persons have often cast him off, and denyed him when he hath pleaded his own right, and have said, he should not bear rule over us: This might have set him against us, and the rather, because our offence was not acknowledged by us, we bore it away stifly: God found us in this state, We were enemies in our minds by evil works; or, by our minds on evil works, Col. 1.21. If a woman depart from her husband, and be married to another, will he receive her again? saith God in Jer. 3. Yet he hath re­ceived [Page 125] us, though we have offered violence to that Interest which he had in us upon all accounts. The Angels did thus indeed, but God never pardoned them, when he reached forth his hand to the lost World, 2 Heb. 16. He did not take hold of them, he took hold of man, to bring him unto repent­ance, and so to bring him back again to his first Estate. If the greater force the lesser, the lesser is pitied; if the lesser force the greater, every one wonders at him, and condemns him. Oh what condemnation is this worthy of, that the Creature should force the Creator! and deny God that made him to be his God! And yet this we have all done.

Again, It's an Interest that hath suffer­ed detriment and loss: We are not what we were, when we were first his. At first we were a glorious structure, as we came out of his hands: But since we gave our selves to other Lords, there is nothing but darkness and confusion, and what ever is vile and unlovely in us. You are degenerated, saith God, into a strange vine unto me, Jer. 2.20. [Strange,] that is, not only new, or what it was not; but [strange,] that is, one that I know not, that I approve not: as we use to say when we are offended with one, You are a strange man; that is, not [Page 126] according to mine expectation or desire. So we were gone into a condition strange to God, yet he hath taken us in again. If a servant run from his Master, and when he is become poor, blind, lame, deformed, and altogether diseased, shall find re-admit­ance; what an act of grace is this? This is our case; we went from God when we were well, and are become altogether de­praved, deformed, and in an absolute con­trariety unto God. The Father took in the Prodigal when he had spent all; he gave him indeed a goodly portion, but he mis-spent it, and mis-spent himself; yet he re­ceived him again as a Son: So God hath dealt with us; therefore this should be an engagement upon us to please God.

Again, It is an Interest with charge: The Prodigal when he returned had nothing to live on, but must live on his Fathers alms: When God took us in again we had no­thing, we must wholly live upon him.

Again, It is an Interest by free choyce: God takes in not all, but some; and what mercy is it that any of us should be of that some, if any of us should make any of that few which God hath restored to favor?

One Consideration more is this, that God will have it so: If God be your God, he calls for this, that you be careful to [Page 127] please him; he will make you to do it. It is a most absurd thing to dream of such a state of grace, that gives licentiousness, to walk in sinful inordinate affections contra­ry to God: it's against the Wisdom, Goodness and Power of God; and he having Power in his hand will never suf­fer it.

Three things God will do to those that please him not.

1. He will suspend the sweetness of his pre­sence, which you have expressed in the words of that good Prophet, 2 Chro. 15.2. He went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Now hear thou me, and all Judah and Benja­min, The Lord is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

A second thing is a denyal of success to you: What you hope for, shall be blasted; what you desire, shall be broken; that which you fear, shall come upon you. Thus God dealt with this King Asa; because to shun War he swerved from God, and took a wrong course, therefore, saith God, thou hast done very foolishly; henceforth thou shalt have War.

A third thing is, that he will deny such the testimony of his favor; for want of which [Page 128] David in Psal. 51. so complains, looking upon himself as a man spiritless and for­saken.

CHAP. VII.

THat which I shall next speak to in a few words, is this; That every one would look after the getting of an Interest in God: And then that you would clear up this Interest to your own Souls, that you may be able to say, My God will hear me.

Labor for an Interest in God: Nothing is more necessary: for it is not here as it is in other cases; if you cannot have one man to be your friend, you may be without him; though he will not be for you, he will not be against you: God stands not neuter in any state of indifferency towards his Creatures, either he is with them, or against them; and to have God against us, is the greatest evil that can be. Two ways this will vex and torment the spirit.

[Page 129]1. In respect of the sight of the excel­lency that God is: If that be hid from our eyes now, know that a day of Revelation is coming, when God shall shew forth him­self in his Glory, and then he will appear to be what he is, when there is no more hope left for the enjoyment of him. Do not turn that into the greatest misery, which in its own nature is the most attrac­tive worth, the most refreshing comfort and true happiness, that is, God. The en­joyment of God in Heaven makes that life, that high life, that eternal life: It must needs therefore be death, the worst of death, all death, to have him against us.

But it is not only the Contemplation of his Nature, the sight of what he is, that shall afflict; but his Power shall be visibly put forth against such as have neglected him; and he will act against those that did not act toward him, and seek to get an In­terest in him: Where he saith not, Come ye blessed, he will say, Go ye cursed into everlast­ing fire.

Besides this, Remember that we are made for this end, to have an Interest in God, and converse with him; we were naturally and originally designed to this; now if we at­tain not our end, we are lost. We many times make things for such ends as they do [Page 130] not reach; but if they cannot serve one end, they may serve for another: but if you attain not this end, you attain nothing, you are lost. When God made thee first, he made thee in a capacity for the enjoy­ment of himself; that capacity remains, but nothing can fill it up but himself: So that the spirits of men shall roar and weary themselves to Eternity in restless motion after that which they cannot attain. It is true; as the Prodigal when he was gone from his fathers house made a shift to live on husks and such trash for a time, so do many now; but the day will come, when God will take these husks away from you, wives, children, pleasures and estates, and what ever it is that gives you some re­freshment in this world; and then you will be left worse then nothing, you shall neither have God nor the world.

Yea, such a necessity there is to look af­ter this, that you have indeed no true inte­rest in any thing till you get a [...] Interest in God, though you think you have: That man that hath not God, hath nothing; it is most sure; for he is under sentence: A condemned man loseth all his estate. Men will perswade themselves they are Lords, and that they have this, and they have that; but indeed they have nothing: what they [Page 131] have, is but prisoners allowance; something is allowed to condemned men till the stroke comes: and this is the case of all men that have not God for their God.

Know also, that a man is not said to have any interest in any thing that doth not add something to him, if it be not something that contributes to his well-being. A man doth not reckon his sickness, diseases, pains, and such evils and miseries to be his; interest in these things no man accounts of, it is unhap­piness: Whatsoever adds not to a man, stands for a cypher, is nothing: Interest in nothing, is nothing. That which we claim Interest in, must have some good in it to give out unto us. But now the real good of a man is no way promoted by any thing, while he lives without God in the world. It is the priviledg of Saints, that all things work together for their good, Rom. 8.28. And it's as true otherwise, that nothing works for the good of those that love not God. Children and estate may tend to the goodness of one mans condition; there may be good work­ing out of them to one man, and yet may prove to the hurt of another; as the best good may be evil to this or that man: to a man that is under the Curse, all turns to bit­terness and death. The truth is, that which kills life, doth less hurt the senses then that [Page 132] which only destroys the peace and rest of a man. A man feels more by a stroke some­times, then he doth by a Consumption or an Apoplexy. That which destroys most ef­fectually, is oftentimes least felt; and there­fore what men feel not, because of their out­ward enjoyments, they consider not, they lay not to heart: But if God be your God, then all is yours, 1 Cor. 3. Then comes an In­terest in all. As he that marries the heir be­comes Lord of the estate; servants, and cattel, and lands are his, he commands all the family: So if God be our God, the whole Creation becomes ours. Men come to have much by coming to God: The A­postle gives some account of this in Heb. 12. where he saith, We are come to Mount Zion, to the City of the living God, to an innumerable company of Angels, to the spirits of just men made perfect, &c. We come to all these, to communion with these, when God becomes ours. We begin therefore at the wrong end, when we seek any thing in this world, and seek not God first; for saith Christ, Mat. 6.33. Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given to you. When therefore you seek estates, and the accommodations of this life, and do not indeed seek to make God yours, you act very crosly to your own good.

There is a simple necessity to look after this; for besides what hath been said, you all live and are in a state of absolute depend­ance upon God, who hath the power of life and death: we are all in his hands; and that Key by which he shuts, and none can open, you shall see put forth one day, when you shall know what a loss it is to miss an Interest in him, who hath all power in Hea­ven and in Earth. That's one thing which should make us serious to get an Interest in God, that it's simply necessary.

CHAP. VIII.

A Second Argument is, That it is an In­terest most attainable; for it is Good­ness and Fulness by which we come to have Interest in any thing; these are the Springs of all Communication between one and an­other; and where these are greatest, there is a wider door opened, a fuller, easier and [Page 134] sweeter entrance into Communion, and the enjoyment of each other. It's the nature of goodness to be communicative; and the more goodness, the more ready to communicate. Look through the whole Creation, and you shall find it so, that as any Creature is more noble and excellent, so it is the more hospi­table and bountiful, the more ready to give out it self. The Sun, the Air, the Sea, how li­beral are they? Things of a more confin'd and straitened nature, are but like a small Cottage, into which one or two, or a few may enter; but it cannot give habitation to many: But as Creatures abound in the goodness of God and his fulness, they be­come like a stately Palace, that gives open, ready, and liberal entertainment to many. Now God is greatest in all Excellencies, and therefore his Propensions to Mercy and Goodness towards his Creatures are un­speakably, unconceiveably greater, then any Propensions in the Creature can be.

In these two Glories God infinitely tran­scends all Creatures, in the glory of his Be­ing, and the glory of his Working. Nothing more sets out God and exalts him, then his readiness to do good, and communicate himself to his Creatures. He hath said, It's a more blessed thing to give then to receive. In­deed it's sometimes a more blessed thing to [Page 135] give, then to have and enjoy. Take one that hath great power to do good, and no love, what is he but like a meer Iron Chest, a Foun­tain sealed? Now God is most ready to do good; it's his glory. It's said in Prov. 19.23. That the desire of a man is his kindness. [The desire of a man,] that is, that which is most to be desired, the most precious thing in a man, that thing which makes him desire­able, that renders him glorious and beauti­ful, is his kindness; that he is a kind man: such an one wears a Crown and Garland up­on his head. This Crown God wears above all; the desire of God is his kindness. And to make it yet more apparent, that an Inte­rest in God is most attainable, Consider,

That by which we come to have an Inte­rest in another, is usually the manifestation of our desire, with the tender of our love and affections to him; and this is best done, and with most efficacy, with God: for the breathings and operations of a mans spirit lie more open to him, then to any creature. One may wish good-will to another, and may want skill to make his mind known; but you cannot have an ingenuous and hear­ty wish in your Souls, O that God were my God! but he hears it, and knows it; He hears spirits, and reads spirits, as we do words. In Psal. 138.9. My groanings are not [Page 136] hid from Thee. If thou lovest God, and thine heart be towards him, he needs no Interpre­ter or Spokes-man to tell him what thine heart is. The Apostle saith, He knows the meaning of the spirit: When it can but sob and sigh within it self, O that God were my God! he knows the meaning of that lan­guage, Rom. 8.22. When Christ asked Peter, Lovest thou me? Lord (saith he) thou knowest that I love thee.

Add to this, That there cannot be that assurance of speeding upon the manifestati­on of our spirits to any, as there is with God. I may make my mind known to another for the enjoyment of his friendship, yet I may fail and come short of it: but now if I come to God with an ingenuous and sincere desire to have God to be my God, I shall not fail in that. You seek many things in vain; but God never frustrates his poor people in their desires after him; He crosseth them in many of their other desires, but never in that: If he be so good that he satisfies the desire of all things, of every living creature, as in Psal. 146. much more will he satisfie desires after himself; for these are from his best love, they spring from his own bosom, and he'l be sure to bless them, they shall at­tain their end.

Other desires may be satisfied with other [Page 137] things; if you cannot have one thing, ano­ther thing may serve you in its stead; if a man cannot have this friend, he may have another: But we must either have Gods love and his friendship, or we dye for ever. He hath engaged himself, that those that thirst after him, shall never go without him; the word stands upon record, the Lord Je­sus Christ spake it from his Father, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteous­ness, for they shall be satisfied, in Mat. 5. And let him that thirsteth come, in Revel. 22. In­deed these desires are given not only to be as a byass or principle of motion in our Souls after God, but are planted in our Souls as indubitable pledges of his love, and of his habitation there. Other things are first desired, and then obtained; but God is first ours, before he be desired. Divine love works downward, it begins in Heaven; and that Communion that is wrought be­tween God and us, begins in himself and from himself: He loves first, and speaks first; and our love is but the answer of his love: If we can say to God, Lord, I am thine, this is but the eccho of what he hath said first, I am thine. So in Zech. 13. latter end, I will say (saith God) Thou art my people, and they shall say, Thou art my Father. Oh, this assurance of obtaining mercy with God for [Page 138] poor thirsty Creatures, it is the honey and milk of our Souls, our greatest joy, and the satisfaction of our spirits in this life. They that seek God, shall glorifie him: If they seek once, the next thing is praise; their hearts shall live for ever. The manifestation of this grace, mercy and goodness that is in God, is the life of such as seek him. In Isai. 38.15, 16. What shall I say? he hath spoken to me, and himself hath done it; I shall walk softly all my years in the bitterness of my Soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit; so wilt Thou re­cover me, and make me to live. He speaks of Gods goodness appearing to him, in that act which was not a single, but a compound act; and it was not a meer natural good, but a spiritual and inward communication of him­self; it took him much; What shall I say? I shall be at rest, as one quieted and satisfied in spirit, after my bitterness: I have had sor­row, but now I have seen the love of God towards me, I rejoyce: I was tumultuous before, and unquiet, and unsatisfied; but now I shall be satisfied. Hitherto you have been looking upon the feasibleness of this Interest, that no Interest is so attainable as Interest in God. And if you will look once more, consider how many bars there are to our Interests with men, and you shall see [Page 139] how these things that are such impediments with us, are of no force with God. Many times a poor man, a begger, one in rags, knows it would be his happiness to have an Interest in such a Prince; but how shall he come at it? In Prov. 14.20. Solomon tells us, The poor man is hated of his neighbor; he is afraid, if he should ask something of him, he should burden him: Nay he is hated of his Bro­ther, and though he speak with intreaties, yet he is answered roughly; What, thou a Begger, and come so boldly to ask of me? And yet we that are but poor beggers, and in our rags, may have free access to God. In Prov. 19.7. it is said, All the brethren of the poor do hate him; how much more will his friends de­part far from him? But God turns not back our prayers; though we be poor and mise­rable, yet our Lord Jesus Christ is not a­shamed to call us Brethren, Heb. 11.6.

Strangers have a bar in their way: Come to a great one, I know you not, saith he, I never saw you before; what have you to do to come to me? Therefore Ruth was much taken with the kindness of Boaz, because she was a stranger to him. What are we but strangers and aliens, afar off? and yet he rejects us not when we come near him. God will not say to men, I know you not, though they have been strangers, except when they come too [Page 140] late. In Luke 13.25. saith Christ, Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many (I say unto you) shall seek to enter, and shall not be able; that is, they seek too late. When once the Ma­ster of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door; if then you come and say, Lord, Lord, open to us, he will say, I know you not. But seek him while the door is open, while he may be found, and he will be ready to re­ceive you.

Impotent persons that are fit for nothing, how shall they get an Interest in great ones? What can he do? say they, though it be but for a servants place. What would become of us, if God should put that question to us? He receives us when we are good for no­thing, fit for us: Nay when we were Ene­mies, then he was reconciled to us, Rom. 5. Now then you see that God hath received such persons; indeed be never receives any other: So that upon all accompts an Inte­rest in God is more attainable, then any o­ther Interest. That's a second Argument: I'le name one more.

Interest in God is better enjoyed then any other Interest whatsoever. There is no In­terest to be enjoyed with that sweetness, se­curity, usefulness and consolation, as our Interest in God is. For besides that un­speakable and infinite Fulness that is in God, [Page 141] know that this Interest is not subject to any dissolution. Interest in God now, is better then it was in our first estate, when we came out of Gods hand. All other Interests may cease: If our love, or others loveliness cease, our Interest is gone; and the loveli­ness of every Creature under the Sun will have an end, but God abides. Take a man, the most wise, the most learned, the most amiable, the richest man, all these things will pass away: but our Interest in God is not subject to any separation, that is, we shall be never from him. The absence of our friends is like the setting of the Sun; they are life to us in their presence, but when they are gone from us, they cannot help us, they are so far dead to us: but God is ever with us.

Interests with men are oft-times very ex­acting: A man must do this, and do that, and much ado to please. Men do tye up their Interest so strait, that except things be done at this time, and after this mode, we indan­ger a flaw. God doth not impose upon his people after this manner.

And again, Other Interests are apt to be tyred, and so fall into a dull sleep of mutual forgetfulness, because the goodness that is in us is but little; a shallow Cistern is soon drawn dry. But with God there is no diffi­culty at all to give out love; and if he spend [Page 142] himself never so much this way, he is not at all diminished; He rests in his love, Zeph. 3. His joy and self-contentment is always flou­rishing. So that as this Interest is more at­tainable, so it's better to be enjoyed.

CHAP. IX.

THat which follows next is Exhorta­tion, That you would not only seek this Interest and get it, but that you would seek to know it, and to be satisfied that you have indeed an Interest in God. Live not upon hopes mingled with uncertainties and anxieties: Let not this suffice, It may be God is my God, or I hope he is; but put it out of doubt. Give all diligence (saith the Apostle) to make your Calling and Election sure, 2 Pet. 1.10. Sure, as firm ground, that you may so know it, that there may be no trembling of heart about it, that it may be a certain con­clusion made up in your own spirits, that you are the called and chosen of God. For if you do these things (saith the Apostle) you [Page 143] shall never fall, but an abundant entrance shall be administred to you into his Kingdom: You shall never fall; or as it is sometimes ren­dered, you shall never offend: So the Apo­stle James, Chap. 2.10. He that Offends in one, is guilty of all. Indeed the sight of Inte­rest in God carries a man with more even­ness and strength in his way, and keeps him in more compliance with, and conformity unto God. Sometimes the word is rendered [stumble;] Rom. 11.11. Have they stumbled, that they should fall? If a man know God to be his God, he walks with a more even and steady foot, all his ways are more plain be­fore him, mountains of difficulty and dan­ger will be layd level, there will be nothing to dash his foot against, to hinder him in his race; and an entrance in abundance will be administred to him into the Kingdom of Heaven: Fears and doubts straiten our way, and hinder our passage to the Kingdom of God. Suppose a man were to go into an house where he fears he shall not enter, this would very much hinder his endevor: But when a man shall have a blessed pro­spect into Heaven, and see his place there, that must needs further his more abundant and free entrance into it. But more parti­cularly, that I may perswade you (if God will) to be very serious in this thing, to make [Page 144] your Interest in God more certain, let me tell you,

In the first place, That no man that be­leeves in Christ wants it, but through his own fault; I say, it is a mans own fault, if he be not able to say that God is his God. I speak now according to the ordinary course of God demeaning himself to his people. There is nothing of greater concernment, either to his peoples welfare, or the advance­ment of his own design which he hath upon them, then the manifestation of his Love, and the satisfaction of their spirits, in that great Question, Whether God be their God. And that Spirit, upon whom lies the Office of bringing from darkness to light, hath this Office also, of refreshing and reviving the spirit, and therefore bears that name, the Comforter: He not only espouses us to Christ, but maintains a perpetual entertain­ment; that is his work: He is not only the bond of our Union, but the light of it, by which we see our selves one with Christ, and so one with the Father. Many com­plain, they find not God to be their God; but it is not because God is not willing to shew himself what he is, but because they are wanting to themselves. There are two great faults that oftentimes wrong us, and keep us in the dark, and make that seem a [Page 145] secret, which otherwise might lie open to our eyes.

One Error concerneth seeking:Some ne­ver put their Inte­rest in God to the question. Some seek not at all, and never put the question, whether God be their God, but run the ha­zard, live and dye venturing their Souls to Eternity. Others complain, they seek, but they cannot find; fain they would be satis­fied in this thing, but they cannot: Now I say, the complaint must fall upon our selves, there is perhaps a fault in our seeking. This is the word that must stand fast for ever, God will be found of them that seek him: In Jer. 29.13. Then you shall find me when you seek me with all your heart. To seek with all the heart, is not only to seek truly and sin­cerely, (some seek but in words only, making verbal prayers without any inward sense,) but to seek him strongly above all things; and not only from an ardent thirst of spirit, but to seek him without ceasing, till we find him. In due time we shall reap, if we faint not, Gal. 6. The Rule of Scripture you know is this, that we pray incessantly, 1 Thes. 5.17. Mark that in Hos. 6.3. After two days will he revive us, and in the third he will raise us up; Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morn­ing, and he shall come unto us as the rain; as the former and latter rain unto the Earth. If [Page 146] you follow on, if you follow the business, you shall obtain: God hath appointed his go­ing forth as the morning; that is, as the Sun riseth and fails not, as the Sun goes forth in its light, and grows; so will Gods appear­ance to his people be: And as the rain comes upon the thirsty Earth, and causeth all things to spring afresh; so shall the manifestation of Gods love be to those that seek him with­out ceasing. What if God appear not pre­sently, and you have not that full answer to your desires? Though he come slowly, yet he will be sure to come; his staying is not a denyal; and his not shewing himself, is not an hiding himself; He is uncovering him­self, and making way for the appearance of that which you would fain have a sight of; He stays a while, to make his love the more visible afterward; by his absence he raiseth the mind, and enlargeth the heart, to desire and long after his presence; and then his manifestation will be fullest. God is as rea­dy, nay more ready to open, then you are to knock; he loves that thirst in you, which is after himself; he loves to be loved: let him be pleased as well as you. It may be seeking Christians are not so ingenuous as they should be: We are not to seek him only, but to please him. Psal. 119.2. Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies, and that seek him with [Page 147] their whole heart: That seek him, and his Love, and keep his Law. Or it may be offences have been, but not bewailed: Im­potency is the continuation of sin; You are ever doing that evil which you have not been humbled for; nothing nulls it but re­pentance, and humbling your selves in the sight of God. With what face can you say to God, Let thy love, O Lord, be upon me, when as you cannot say to God, Lord, I love thee? That man cannot say he loves God, that desires not to please him. Can he say his heart is with God, who suffers his heart to go out after other things? Why should he desire so to impose upon God, that God should love him, whom he desires not to love and please? it is unreasonable. What father would be so dealt with, that the child walking in stubborn courses would have his father shew nothing but clearness of coun­tenance and love to him? David, all the while he was under clouds of guilt and sor­row, wished that God would shew forth the light of his countenance to him; but he suf­fered many wrackings in his Soul till he confessed his sins, Psal. 32. What God hath said, he will have fulfilled. Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but not one tittle of his Promise. If he hear not, it is not because he is not a God hearing prayer, but because you [Page 148] hear not him. Isai. 45.19. I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right: I speak as I mean, my words and my heart agree in one. What ever our of­fences have been, if we be ingenuous in our approaches to God, God will not look upon our offences, but upon our persons: In 2 Chron. 7.14. you have this promise, If my people that are called by my Name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their Land. If thy Soul be sick, and thou mournest after God that hideth himself from thee, and humblest thy self, and re­pentest of thy sins with abasedness of spirit before him, he will hear.

CHAP. X.

A Second Fault is, That God doth give the manifestation of his Love, and we [Page 149] receive it not; we accept it not. I will, for the more full clearing of this, lay down these Considerations.

First, That God hath given to his people sufficient means for the knowledg of their Interest in him; for he hath told us who they are that he loves, whom he hath chosen and called out of this world, and made his peculiar people. If he had carried on a de­sign of love to particular persons in his own brest, no man could have known who was loved of him, then we had been left in the dark; for no man knows the things of a man, but the spirit of a man, as the Apostle speaks. But as the Angel marked those in Jerusalem that were to be spared, so there is a mark that God hath set upon his own, by which they may be known to what fold and flock they do belong. And indeed the end of the Scrip­ture, so discovering and setting forth the marks of the people of God, is for this pur­pose, that we may know our Happiness. So in 1 Joh. 5.13. this was the end of writing his Epistle; These things, saith he, have I written unto you that beleeve on the Name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may beleeve on the Name of the Son of God. Wherefore was it that he had told them how many ways they might know that God dwelt in them [Page 150] and they in God? Wherefore did he make so many descriptions of those whom God had set his love upon? but that you may know, saith he, that you have eternal life, be­cause you are such.

And he hath not only done thus, but hath given us understanding also, by which we are able to know not only other things, but our selves; by which we may judg our selves, and our actions, and what is within us. Neither hath he given us an understand­ing meerly natural, but it is raised, being il­luminated with his own light, that we may be able to find out the work of God in us; an understanding that can reflect upon it self, not only in way of simple vision and apprehension of what is within us, but by way of argumentation and reasoning: 1 Joh. 2.3, 5. Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his Commandments: And whoso keepeth his Word, in him verily is the love of God per­fected; hereby we know that we are in him. God hath given us understanding to reflect upon our selves in a way of reasoning, to make certain to our selves our Interest in these things. Nay he hath given us his Spi­rit, that bears witness to our spirits that we are the sons of God, Rom. 8. We must not think that was a special favor given to the Saints then, but it's common to all the people of [Page 151] God. The Spirit of Adoption hath a double office, of quickening and comforting; and whosoever is a son, hath the testimony of that Spirit.

There is a double Testimony: A Testi­mony of the things themselves; so that which is of God in us doth bear witness; as the effect bears witness of the cause.

There's another Testimony, and that is of God himself by his Spirit; and that Testimo­ny doth help our spirits; it helps the testi­mony of the things themselves, and clears them; it leaves them without doubt; it strengthens and fixeth fast the Soul in the knowledg of its Interest in God.

God stands obliged for this unto his peo­ple, for their comfort lies in it, and that makes to the fulfilling of his last end, which is his glory; for how shall we give him praise, if we know not that God is ours?

Besides, he hath given us visible Seals to ratifie all the Promises to us: He hath given the earnest of his Spirit to his; He hath set Christ on the Throne for us, an indubitable Pawn of his Love; and many other, which are still with us.

Secondly, A second Consideration is this, That the people of God in the want of this knowledg and assurance do not what they may, they do not improve that ability and [Page 152] those means which God hath put into their hands; and so they spin out their days in heaviness, mourning and anxiety. Either there is slothfulness of spirit, or some discou­ragement of spirit upon them.

Slothfulness, and so they are careless, idle and vain; having lost the sweetness of the enjoyment of God, their hearts are poured out upon vanities; they have gone a who­ring after other things, and have placed their Souls upon things that will not profit, and are not industrious to seek after God. When the Soul is thus gone out from God, then it commits folly under every green tree; there's no plant that may yield any kind of refreshing, but they will suck something from it: Whilest the Soul is busied about other Interests, and securing them, the other great business lies by.

Another sort are under discouragement; they say, The work is hard, it's a very hard thing to find out this matter, to do that whereby it should be found. Saith another, I have endevored and sought and done all I can, and cannot compass it.

Consider, you that say it is hard; what a vain thing is it for a man to plead, that a thing is difficult which must be done? Will you plead difficulty against necessity? You must do it, or your life will be as death; you [Page 153] will lose the comfort of all Promises, of all Performances; the Promises will be as a sealed Fountain, that you cannot drink of them.

But again, It is false to say it is hard: That false Prophet within us communicates of his own spirit to us, and we oftentimes speak untruths against God. Is it hard to walk in the way of life? Is it hard to enquire after God? Is it easie to be hunting after the world, and getting something in this life? Is it hard to reach after the fruit of the Tree of Life? When you seek after God, you are in that very way of Life, wherein they now are, that shall enjoy God to all Eter­nity.

Another Discouragement is this; I have endevored, but it is a fruitless thing; I see I shall never be satisfied. Poor Soul! Wilt thou indulge that remissness of spirit that is in thee, to a contradiction against the God of Truth? He hath said, If thou seek him, thou shalt find him; He hath said he will com­fort the mourners; He hath spoken as much as can be desired: What would you have God to do more? Rather blame your seek­ing, then your success: Say not, It is in vain to seek, because I have not found; nay ra­ther say, Because I have not found, therefore I must seek more and seek better. What [Page 154] saith Christ in Joh. 14.23. If any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. If any man love me, be he what he will be; though he hath been a notorious wretch, though he hath been a grief and burden to me, and offended me days without number; yet if he love me, my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him. Will you rather blame the truth of the Promise, then your selves? The fault must be layd on us: Let God be true, and every man a lyar. It is mani­fest that we do not what we might do, in these particulars.

1. We do not call our minds in, and bend them to this work of enquiring after God, and setling this great question of our Inte­rest in God for ever. And indeed if we do not call in and bend our minds, and use some enforcements upon them, they will never do their work: There is upon our minds anatural fluidness and dulness; they go out easily to all things but unto God. The mind must be summoned, prest, bound and buckled to this work: Saith the Apostle, 2 Pet. 3.1, 2. This second Epistle, Beloved, I now write unto you, to stir up your pure minds: [To stir up your pure minds;] The Apostle was afraid of them, lest dulness and sluggishness should [Page 155] fall upon their minds: If you do not stir up your selves to the work, and gird up the loyns of your minds, the work will not be done.

Another fault is, That as men do not bend their minds to the work, so they do not hold them in a way of beleeving and cheerful expectation of what they seek for: Saith the Church in Micah 7.9. I will bear the in­dignation of the Lord until he plead my cause: So long as I seek the Lord, I will wait and expect that he will hear me, and answer my desires. In Hos. 10.12. saith the Prophet, Sow to your selves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. You must seek the Lord till he come. In Isai. 62.7. This is the counsel of God by his Prophet, That you give him no rest until he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise.

Again, There may be this fault, We do not bring things to an effectual judgment. Many queries are raised about this business, but there is not a full hearing and determin­ing of them; but either the Court breaks up before things are concluded, and so the Soul is left to hang upon a poor thred of a feeble hope, I hope God is my God; or else the Soul is contented to bear the burden [Page 156] of many fears and sorrows, not stirring up it self as it ought to get free of them. So that doubtless it's our fault that we have not so clear a knowledg of our Interest in God, as to make us to triumph or glory therein. One way or other we are defective; either in our seeking of God, or in our not receiving what God gives unto us.

Thirdly, A third Consideration is, That we have often offended and sinned against the Spirit; and then God weakens his Te­stimony towards us, and doth not so make himself known to us as we desire. David by his sin brought himself into that sad condi­tion, that he knew not what to make of him­self; as appears by that prayer of his in Psal. 51. He lookt on himself almost as one in bonds, estranged from God, a man with­out spirit. In Isai. 59.2. saith God, Your sins have separated between me and you. Certainly God leaves us very frequently, and some­times when the manifestation of his love is very needful. In Micah 3.4. the time was an evil time, and saith the Prophet, Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them; he will even hide his face from them at that time.

A fourth Consideration is, That we do not seldom or not a little reject the testimo­ny of God, and oppose the light and the [Page 157] clear manifestations of his Love to us. The Comforter comes many times; but that may be said of us, that he said of himself in Psal. 77. My Soul refused to be comforted; would not be comforted. As against the conviction of the Spirit in wicked men there is a great deal of contest, a great fight, as in Jer. 2.34. Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the Soul of poor Innocents; I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these: Yet thou sayst, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me: I say, as wicked men rise up in opposition to the conviction of the Spirit; so good men likewise have their op­positions against the consolations and comforts of the Spirit; not only against the counsel of it, but against the comfort of it. In Isai. 49.13. you have an instance of this, see how sweetly God speaks, Behold, these shall come from far: Sing, O Heavens, and be joyful, O Earth, and break forth into singing, O Moun­tains; for God hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But what saith the Church? But Sion saith, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me. What ever God said, yet she said God had forsaken and forgotten her. A like in­stance you have in Lament. 3.45. There are strong holds in our spirits against the inward comforts, as there are against other opera­tions [Page 158] of the Spirit; and it requires the mighty power and operation of God to set­tle our hearts in peace, as well as to convince us of our miseries and dangers. The work of Conversion is quickly done, because it is of greatest concernment; I'le give it you in this simile. A mother finds her child among devouring Hogs or Dogs, or what you will; she makes haste to snatch her child out of danger, but he is all bemoiled and dirted, and his clothes; she makes not so much haste to get him clean, and to put other clothes upon him. So God quickly finisheth the work of Conversion and Regeneration; he makes haste to free us from danger and misery; but he makes not such speed to comfort us, and to establish our hearts in the assurance of our Interest in him; that may be done at leasure.

As there is a reluctancy in us against the work of grace, so there's a reluctancy against the testimony of grace; we are apt to turn all that God speaks and doth for us against our selves; the reason is, because dejection is most natural to us, considering the state of our Apostacy, and what we are judged to. A slave doth naturally torment himself with fears, and with sad expectations. It's easier to us to believe the sentence of condemnation, then of Justification: Sin is more visible [Page 159] then Grace. The greatness of the things promised are such, that they make the Soul at a stand: To have pardon of sin, to be adopted, to be raised from the depth of mi­sery to such a state of blessedness, this makes the Soul to be like those that dream: Be­sides, there is a concurrence of forreign power to heighten all this.

CHAP. XI.

A Second Argument is taken from the encouragement we have to put us on, to put this out of question, that God is ours: Certainly there is more ease in this then we are willing to beleeve. I speak it to the glory of God, and our shame, That the things which God hath spoken and done for our encouragement should be so great and high, and yet we should lie so low in the satisfac­tion of our spirits about this question.

First, Consider, whatsoever excellency there is in any love, that is in Gods love transcendently. Love is very fruitful, it [Page 160] brings forth much for those towards whom it is set; it will not be hid; it is compared to fire, which is known by its heat; and you shall know the warmth of love where it is. A man may use the words of Solomon, Prov. 27.16. which he speaks concerning the fro­ward woman, Whoso hideth her, hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand which bewrayeth it self: That as the wind cannot be concealed when it is up, and as a sweet ointment cannot be concealed, but it will discover it self; so wrath and love (for there is the like reason for both) they cannot be hid. A friend is contented not to have his beneficence known, he would do much more then his friend should know of; but he would have his benevolence, his love and good-will, known and manifested: There­fore the Apostle, Ephes. 3.8, 10. saith, He obtained this grace to shew forth among the Gentiles the unsearchable Riches of Christ. Near relations live upon the manifestation of love; those which are more remote need less, and less is due to them. The child will have but an ill life, unless he have the light of his fathers countenance: The husband and wife will have their life imbittered, if there be not mutual love. As life is visible, so is love; it will discover it self, and the highest love will most discover it self.

A second Encouragement is, That what may be easily done, may be easily obtained of a friend. What is more easie with God, then to make us know that he is our God? It is but one beam of light from Heaven that doth it, but a word spoken; Soul, be of good comfort, thy sins are forgiven thee. Love stands not at small matters, especially great Love: The Love of God is the high­est Pattern of Love, and the most glorious Spring of Love; all Love flows from it: Therefore if the love of a creature can do so much, how much more will the Love of God do? If your child should beg of you to give him a good look, could you deny him? would not your love constrain you? And shal not the Love of God much more? Certainly it is more for him to love you, then to tell you he loves you: He hath put forth his love already in a strange way, to give his Son for you; and do you think he will be so unwilling to speak a word of peace to his people where it is duly sought?

Again, where a thing is most needed, where one stands in much need of what a friend can do for one, that will be soon granted. What do you need more then re­freshment of spirit in the sense of the Love of God? All the fears and tremblings of the hearts of his people are for want of the [Page 162] light of his face. Pharaoh's daughter look­ing upon a strange child, found her bowels and compassions moved within her. Do you think Gods compassions are not richer and fuller to his own? A child sometimes may complain (but it's not to the honor of his fa­ther) My life is uncomfortable, because my father loves me not, shews not his love to me; though perhaps there be cause for it: And there is cause that God should deal so with us; but he hath said he will not: If we turn from the evil of our ways and repent, he will multiply pardons, Isai. 55.

Again, A thing that may be easily done, will not be denyed when it's asked; when it's not only what we need, but what we beg: This Christ shews in the Parable of the un­just Judg. Importunity will move a stone; how much more will the affectionate tears of an ingenuous child move the compassion­ate heart of a tender father?

A third Encouragement is, That this is simply necessary to the right fulfilling of the Law of our Relation, and to the enjoyment of the priviledges of it. What is thy relation to God, but of a child to his Father? What Law lies upon a child but to obey? and that not as a slave, but with a filial spirit. How can you be cheerful in your work, when you have this cloud upon your spirits, this pang [Page 163] upon your Souls, I know not whether God be my God?

Again, The Law of a child is to live a life of cheerful dependance upon his father: But how can a man live thus upon God, when he doubts whether God be his or no? How can I be confident to receive great things of a stranger, much less of an Enemy? But God appears in these forms to me, so far as he appears not to be my God.

Again, This Law lies upon a child, to live with cheerfulness of heart upon his fathers fulness. This the Scripture calls for; We are to rejoyce, and rejoyce evermore; and with all joy, Colos. 1.11. and in the worst times: Account it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, Jam. 1.2.

I'le add but this, That those desires that are after God, after the knowledg and assu­rance of his being our God, are from him­self; God hath planted them in us, and God hath invited, called and set us a longing and a thirsting after him: And will he tell us of a Fountain of Life, and not let us drink of it? Will he call us to himself, and when we come to him, will he hide himself? Cer­tainly we are very much mistaken, when we go to God to beg this grace, to have our Souls refreshed with the sight of his Love, if we go ingenuously, with a cheerful resigna­tion [Page 164] of our selves to him, if we go not with a cheerful expectation, that God will hear our prayer.

CHAP. XII.

A Third Argument is this; If you seek not, and that industriously and in ear­nest, to put this Question out of question, you are not right. It's an Evidence against a mans sincerity, and his real fellowship with that invisible world, when he is not careful to know what Interest he hath in it. The Saints desire nothing more, with them there is nothing above the Love of God that they seek, and nothing beneath it that they can rest in. Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? and there is none in all the world that I desire in comparison of Thee, Psal. 73. David had whatsoever the heart of man could desire in this world, he had all sorts of accommoda­tions and contentments, and yet he was still athirst till he could come to the Well-head and drink of the Water of Life; He was [Page 165] painfully athirst in Psal. 63. There are two great Springs of these desires and tendencies of Soul after God.

1. A spirit of Wisdom, that represents God as he is, in that amiableness and glory which takes them; it represents him in goodness and greatness, as one in whose hands all things are: so that nothing is concluded to be of that concernment with them, as to have God to be their God: They that know thy Name, will put their trust in Thee, Psal. 9.10.

2. The second is a spirit of Love: The Saints have their hearts knit to God; there is nothing which they so much prize as him, they are taken with him above all things, therefore cannot be content without him; their desires after him are infinite, till his in­finite goodness fills up their whole capaci­ties, and leave no more place for hope; till he hath blessed them with the full enjoy­ment of himself. You know, Reason in things of importance will not be easily sa­tisfied. While we are in any doubt, we have no rest. Men must have things cleared to them that are of weight; and much more should they in this, which is the greatest of all. They say, and cannot but say, as David doth in Psal. 86.17. though his own spirit often told him that God was his God, yet [Page 166] he looks up to Heaven, and saith, Shew me a token for good. And so in Psal. 80.3. Cause thy face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved. The shining of Gods face puts a man into a state above men, and Devils, and all things.

Love is both eager in the prosecution of its end, and very curious in its judgment. It is eager in the prosecution of its end, it will not be easily put off; it finds out its Object, and knows it, and will not take a shadow for the thing: if it be not satisfied, it rouls restlesly, and sinks and dyes in it self; like Noah's Dove, that fluttered up and down the world, but found no rest for the sole of her foot. It is death to the man that loves God, not to see that God loves him. They therefore are not right, they are not Believers in earnest, there is not a through work upon their spi­rits, that can dally with God and be at rest, when they are not clear in this, that God is their God. There be two very great Evils in this thing.

1. That such a man lives in contempt of God: This is contempt to be content to be without God. That which I know not to be mine, I am without: That which I know not to be mine, is as if it were not; if I be con­tent therefore to live so, that I know not God to be my God, I am content to be without God.

There is a contentment that is opposed to murmuration, to froward perturbation of mind and fretting; this must not be: no not in the midst of clouds and darkness, and in the depth of our disputes about this great thing, Whether God be my God, and my sins pardoned, and whether my Soul shall be saved: And in case I be not satisfied in the thing, there must be a patient waiting for Jesus Christ, and the glory of his appear­ance; though we be mournful, yet we must be patient, quiet and humble: As in Isai. 26. In the way of thy Judgments, O Lord, we have waited for thee; and the desire of our Souls are unto thy Name, and the remembrance of Thee: With my Soul have I desired thee in the night, yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. And in Isai. 8.17. I will wait upon the Lord that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him [or, I will stay for him] till he come.

There is another kind of contentment of dulness and stupidity, from darkness, which over-clouds the Soul, and bears it down. Now I would argue thus; The doubts thou findest in thy spirit, are either weak or strong; if they be not great, but some little anxieties, they are more easily overcome, and thy fault is the greater that thou sufferest those clouds to remain, which thou mayst so easily [Page 168] scatter: when the question is not much dis­putable, when there is not much against it, thou art the more negligent that thou dost not draw it to a full determination. It is with many Christians, as it is with a Con­quering Army in a Nation, that hath beaten down all Forces round about them, only there is a weak party now and then appear­ing, who cannot do much; but when the Militia in a Commonwealth hath beaten down the Enemy before them, it cannot stand with their faithfulness to suffer the least party to remain in opposition to them: No more can it stand with our faithfulness with God, and our own Souls, to suffer the least party of doubts to continue, but to make all clear and sure. We will not suffer the least flaw in a Lease, or any security for the things of this world.

I grant, that we are like to live in disputes all our days. There's no vacation with a Christian, but always Term time; still suits, strifes and contentions: But you must strive to hold your own; you must be employed to quench all the fiery darts of Satan. As a man that is in possession of an Estate, when one comes and lays claim to one part of it, and another comes and challenges another part, and so a third, and a fourth, he keeps his Suit a foot against them all, and so holds [Page 169] his own: So must we go on conquering, till we have subdued all fears and doubts that rise within us. Satan is a cunning Sophister, as full of subtilty as he is of malice; if he cannot draw men to gross prophaneness, he will tempt them to fears and doubtings. Now as holiness works against sinfulness, so it strives against doubts. Doubting is as truly a sin in a Believer, as any other miscarriage: A good man cannot rest till he see all well. Psal. 41.11. By this I know that thou lovest me, &c. If he cannot lay hold on something to draw this conclusion, he thinks himself a most miserable man.

Again, Suppose thy doubts be strong, that thou canst not make out this, that God is thy God; if thou canst notwithstanding sit down, and make a life of sweetness and contentment in other things, thou contemn­est God; this shews you care not much for him: for what a man cares for much, that he loves much; and what he loves much, that he will have as near to him as may be: Therefore if thou goest sighing and mourn­ing after other things, and canst sit down with contentment in the enjoyment of other things, this shews thou dost prefer other things before God, and so dost contemn him. If you can live without his love, you can live without his fear; and what is more [Page 170] horrid, then for a man to live without the love and fear of God? In Jer. 5.22. God argues this matter with his people; Fear ye not me, saith the Lord? will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetual decree? &c. But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone: Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth the former and latter rain in his season, &c. It is extream darkness that is upon you, even the darkness of Hell, when you can live quietly in the enjoyment of o­ther things, without the knowledg of the love of God in Christ. All that have known God to be their God, when they are under doubts concerning this, when they are under the frowns of God; oh! how do they mourn? Lay but your ears to their closets, and hear their secret complaints, who can measure their tears, or number the sighs and groans that are found with them, when they seek after God? David in Psal. 32. tells you how it was with him; he made his bed swim with tears, and his moisture turned to dryness, his strength was gone through the bitterness of his Soul, because he could not see the love of God as formerly. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when that ineffable shadow was upon his spirit, how did he cry out, My God, my God, [Page 171] why hast thou forsaken me? It is therefore a contempt of God, when you can be without the knowledg that he hath pardoned you and accepted you in his Beloved.

CHAP. XIII.

IT will further appear, that they are not right Christians that can live without the knowledg of the love of God, if we consi­der that such live in unexpressible violence offered to their own Soul, and in most hor­rid practises against themselves. To instance and clear it. Are you content to live so basely and vile in this world (when you know not that God is your God) as to rob and spoil your Souls of their truest Life, and to consent and yield to that evil disposition in them, to live on things that are dead, and that have but a shew of life? The spirit of a man will fasten on something; if the spring of his life be not in God, if he have not life there, he will seek it where he can find it. When Cain went from the presence of the [Page 172] Lord, he fell to building of Cities. When Demas forsook Christ, what did he imbrace? even this present world. The Prodigal when he went from his fathers house fell on some­thing, and what was it but Hogs meat? When the Jews were driven from Zion, they made much of Babylon. Wilt thou see thy Soul feeding thus upon vanities, and not deal ef­fectually with thy self to labor for self-conviction, that thou mayst return unto God? Say with thy self, Where am I now? what am I doing? Is this to live on God? is this Eternal Life? Know you not that your life lies in the sense and taste of divine Love? Do you not find all other things to be dark and empty? And will you suffer your Souls against Nature to live out of God, when you are called to live on him who is the Fountain of Life? I may say un­to you, as Eliphaz spake in Job 15. Are the Consolations of God small to you? And is it so light a matter to have the knowledg of the love of God, and your Interest in him? In Jer. 14.18. the Prophet speaks of spoiling and wasting; but if it doth come, saith he, thy ways and thy sins have procured these things unto thee, therefore know that it is an evil thing and bitter to forsake the Lord. You may thank your selves, if a day come where­in there will be bitterness to your hearts, and [Page 173] the pangs of death upon you, because you know not that God is your God; know that this is your wickedness, because you will not now look after it, and so you rob your Souls. That is one thing.

2^dly. When you are not sedulous and in­dustrious in this thing, to make sure that God is your God, you leave your selves in the high way of Apostacy. What is that which will make us able to stand? the Apostle Pe­ter tells us, 2 Pet. 1.10. Give all diligence to make your Calling and Election sure; for if you do these things, you shall never fall. You expose your selves to offences, to stumbling and falling, when you are content to live in the dark, not knowing what Interest you have in God. For consider, you are now out of the shine of the Sun, you are in the cold evening shade; your life is much weakened, and your strength abated: It is the know­ledg of divine Love that is the spirit and strength of our love; this lays bonds upon our spirits, by which we become one with God; it is the wing of our Souls, the spring of our activity, by which we are born up to an enjoyment of God. The joy of the Lord is your strength, saith Nehemiah: And by this Paul was more then a Conqueror; yet Paul had many Enemies: Through this Abraham was able to do so great things; by this Moses [Page 174] was able to despise the wrath and favor of Pharaoh, and all the pleasures and riches of his Court. While a man walks in the shine and sense of divine Love, he will feel a strength in two Principles of great use.

1. To cleave fast to the chief good: now that chief good is God to that man that en­joys him; he hath the truest taste that sees God to be his God, and no man else hath such a taste as he; this will hold him to God. Where the Creatures have but a Judgment of Sense, they will not depart from what they find good: A Beast will not change his pasture for gold, that is best for him. It's the astonishment of the world, that the Angels should fall from their state of Glory; and it's matter of amazement, that man should fall from his Creator, when he had a full enjoyment of him. It's that which God calls Heaven and Earth to tremble at, Jer. 2.13. That men should depart from him the Fountain of living Water, &c. The sense of acceptation with God, makes a man that he cannot go from God: Whither shall we go? saith Peter, Joh. 6. Thou hast the words of eternal life. That Soul that lives under the influence of divine Comforts, can­not but say, Lord, it's good for me to be here; he desires no change, it cannot be better with him: Change proceeds from want; [Page 175] for if want were not, the creature would not change. That Soul that enjoys God is pleased, and he saith with David, Psal. 16. He hath a good portion, and his lines are fallen in a good place: Nothing is dear to that man to part with, that he may enjoy God; he bids all things stand by, and saith, I charge you, wife and friends, estate and all things, do not molest me in my enjoyment of the light of Gods face; let all the world go which way it will, let me enjoy this blessed­ness, to know assuredly that God is my God. When a man lives without this knowledg, his life is but a poor shadow of life; all without God is but a dead thing to him.

Another Principle receiving strength from the knowledg of Gods Love, and our Interest in him, is, That a man should be friendly to his friend, that he should walk with an harmony of spirit to his friends de­sire: Love pleaseth not it self. Now when a man enjoys the sweetness of friendship with God, this makes him true to his Maker, and to cleave close to God as to his Father: Indeed the sense of this constrains; the A­postle, 2 Cor. 5.14. saith, The love of Christ constrains us. How can I do this evil, saith Joseph, and sin against my God? But now if thou be careless, and canst make a shift to live I know not how, a dull stupid dark [Page 176] sensless kind of life, thy heart not witnessing that thou endeavorest to make good thy In­terest in God, thou art not under the bond of Love; and then what art thou under? Other Lovers have taken away thy heart, but as for God thou art a stranger to him, and art contented to be without him; this is a woful state. And as a man that lives out of the shine of divine Love starves and wastes away, so fears in this case are apt to turn into hatred; when the Soul is gall'd and tormented with fears of the displeasure of God against him, this is apt to turn to hatred. Naturally whom we fear we hate; and naturally the stronger fear is, the more men hate. The Devils hate God to the full, being past doubting of his displeasure. What the Soul fears, it flies from; and what is the flight of the Soul but hatred? Judas would chuse rather to go out of the world, and sink into nothing, then endure his condition, when he saw God not to be his God. I'l shut up this Argument with these few things.

All that is in a Christian makes to this, that he would get a clear knowledg of his Interest in God. Hath he Faith? why by that he believes God to be his Happiness, and that will put him on: Hath he Love? Love is restless but in clear enjoyment: Hath he desire and thirst? what are they but [Page 177] the Souls sickness till it hath health and life in the enjoyment of God? Hath he Fear? what is that but the Soul seeking to be se­cure and safe in God? Hath he Reason? what's that but the voyce of God calling him unto God? Hath he a sense of the sweetness of God? what's that but the comfort of divine Love drawing the Soul to himself? So that all that is in a Christian puts him on to this, to make this clear, that God is his God. And therefore they that can rub out their days, and make a shift, to busie themselves in other things, without the knowledg of God to be their God, have great cause to pronounce this heavy sen­tence upon themselves, that surely they are separated from the love of God. So I have done with the third Argument.

CHAP. XIV.

A Fourth is this: Doubts in this case are very sinful and grievous, especially to [Page 178] a Soul in light, and to a Soul in trouble. To clear this, I will shew first, That they con­tain in them exceeding great evil against God, in these things.

1. They are contrary to the Truth and Faithfulness of God: They are a denyal of the Truth of God manifested in the Promi­ses, and by the testimony and witness of his Spirit: God hath made our way open to himself, and we are apt to say most wretch­edly as the Church in Lament. 3.44. He co­vereth himself with a Cloud, that our prayers should not pass through. He hath left upon you perhaps some marks of his love, he hath put into you some earnest of his favor; what are these but the voyce of God from Hea­ven, that God is your God? and yet you say as the Church in her frowardness, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath for­gotten me.

Again, It is not only opposite to his Truth, but to his Love. When a friend comes to one (passionately affected in suspicion of his friendship) and saith to him, Sir, I love you, you are very dear to my heart; and he will not beleeve him, he takes it ill. God may say to us in the matter of his Love, as he said to them in the matter of obedience, What could I have done more? God may say, I have given them the knowledg of my self, I [Page 179] have given them a heart to love me, I have given them all the pledges of my dear Love; and yet they will sit down in corners, and spend and waste themselves in mourning, because I love them not: What can I do more? In Deut. 1.32. God took it ill when his Word could not be taken, and when the manifestation of his Love was of no force: Yet in this thing ye believed not the Lord your God, who went in the way before you, to search out you a place to pitch his tent in, &c. Surely, saith God, there shall not one man of this evil generation go to see that good Land, that would not believe me. It may be our hearts may be somewhat like Jobs, in Job 9. saith he, If I have called, and he hath answered me; yet I will not believe that he will harken to my voyce. What a strange thing is this? Though he hath heard me when I came to him, and hath given me entertainment of a Father, and I did receive pledges of his Love; yet I will not believe that He loves me, and that he will hear me.

Again, They are diminutions of divine Favors: He that doubts his Interest, cannot so bless God in the enjoyment of wife, chil­dren, and estate, and whatsoever carries sweetness in it; but bitterness of Soul over­flows, and makes all things bitter; and he is apt to overlook all, who is not perswaded of [Page 180] his Interest in God. In Esth. 5.13. you read of the froward spirit of Haman, and such a spirit is usually in him that feareth; What is all this to me, seeing Mordecai sits still at the gate?

Another evil against God is, That these doubts cause mis-interpretation of all di­vine Actions: They make a man mis-con­strue God in all things, whatsoever he saith or doth: God shall not be taken aright by that man that doubts his Interest in him. O Job! how wert thou mistaken, and what meanest thou to speak those words, Job 13.20. Wherefore hidest thou thou thy face from me, and holdest me for thy enemy? Why, did God ever take thee for his enemy? So ma­ny, because God crosseth them in their de­sires, and frustrates them in their hopes; O, say they, God is angry with me, he doth not love me. I might tell you the same in other dispensations of God; indeed that man can­not be pleased.

Now we may consider how painful and vexing doubting is in that man that is alive, that is in a living state; and especially in an evil day: There are these three things that clear it.

1. This is a matter of greatest consequence, it's a business of the greatest weight. See you not a man sometimes, how heavily he [Page 181] walks when his estate is in question? but much more when his life is in question: But what if his life and estate too be in question? That man that knows God truly, would ra­ther endure the loss of ten thousand lives and estates, then the loss of Gods favor.

2. Another thing that makes it exceed­ing heavy, is the loss of the sweetness of former experience. David in Psal. 42. complains of this, When I remember these things, I pour out my Soul in me; for I had gone with the multi­tude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voyce of joy and praise, with the multitude that kept holy-day. And Job in Chap. 29.2. O that it were with me as in the days of old, and in months past, as in the days when God pre­served me! when his Candle shined upon mine head, and when by his light I walk'd in dark­ness: As I was in my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle, and when the Al­mighty was yet with me. Thus that man that loseth the sweetness of his former experi­ence, remembers the days of old, and that afflicts him.

Again, God will have it so, that where this thing is not yet driven home, and the Soul hath not duly sought, and so not found satisfaction concerning his Love, it shall be bitterness to him: I say, God will have it so, the Soul shall not enjoy it self. He doth [Page 182] this, partly to give a demonstration of his own Excellency, and to vindicate it in the Soul; that a man may surely know and find that there is none like him: therefore saith he, I will take away the light of my face from that man; he shall have his house, and land, and estate, and see what he will do with them, what he can make of them: And by this the love and favor of God appears to be excellent.

Besides this, God loves his people; he will have their love, and will have his love sweetened to them, therefore it shall be bit­terness to them when it is lost. Be perswaded then to make this your work, and rest not till you know that you have Interest in God: plead with David in Psal. 35. Lord, say unto my Soul, thou art my Salvation; not only be my Salvation, but say thou art my Salvation: And then though you may have many sad thoughts accompanying you, yet this will refresh you in the midst of all, as it did Da­vid in Psal. 94.14. In the multitude of my thoughts thy comforts delight my Soul.

CHAP. XV.

BEfore I propound the Directions, how they who are sincere and ingenious to­ward God, and indeed have him for their God, may know that they have a sure Inte­rest and Propriety in him, I will premise two things of moment.

First, That our Interest in God is more knowable then any other Interest in the world: There is no Interest that a man hath, which is so discernable: Whatsoever it is that belongs to an Interest in any thing, or any friend, and doth discover it; is much more here. Examine it in a few parti­culars.

1. Where there is an Interest with men, there is a mutual closing of their spirits, by which they know one another, and come to rest secure in each others good intentions and hearty wishes. Here also is this mutual closing, and in a far more high and excellent degree, then is or can be with any creature: For that affection and love which God dis­covers to his people, and which he doth act [Page 184] upon them, is a Love that is transcendent; that is, not only beyond all other love, but beyond all understanding: That entire clo­sing that is between a Beleever and God in Jesus Christ, is above all that which can be found in any other; his whole Soul runs this way. In Psal. 119.10. I have sought thee (saith David) with my whole heart. That is the proportion which God hath cut out for himself. Deut. 6.5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy Soul, and with all thy might. Christ challenges the same proportion, and indeed it should not be less; less would not fulfil his end, which is the solid peace and satisfaction of his peo­ple, in the enjoyment of him; and also the subjecting and subduing of their spirits to his government: No proportion of love loss then the greatest, could work these things.

But besides this, there is such a through change by reason of this Interest, as no Inte­rest in the world doth work, though the closest and the nearest: For the habit and disposition of the spirit of a man is altered in closing with God, and he becomes a new creature, he is not what he was. It is true, that in all friendship that is with men, there is a kind of change on both sides, because there must be a due and necessary applica­tion of themselves to each others spirits; [Page 185] but that change is unspeakably inferior to this, in those who have been wrought upon to beleeve, and have obtained this mercy to close with God: for they are changed to the proportion of as great a distance, as death is distant from life, and darkness from light; for they are brought off from the love of all that, on which their hearts were set, even to a hatred of it; and are sub­jected, subordinate, and conformed to the Will of God.

There is another thing in this Interest, which belongs to the nature of it, and so discovers it, and that is, a mutual conversing with each other with contentment. Jonathan and David had much pleasure in their mu­tual conversings with each other, and in drawing forth their spirits one to another. This is much more strong in Beleevers, then can be in any relation between husband and wife, or between the father and child. This must needs be so:

For, first, The love wherewith they love God is the highest love: Therefore many will not go for Christians, that pretend to be such, because their hearts are not brought up to this. The highest Love acts highest, it takes the highest delight and contentment in its Object. In Cant. 2.3. As the Apple trees among the trees of the Forrest, so is my Beloved [Page 186] among the sons: I sat down under his shadow with great delight, &c. In Psal. 73. saith Da­vid, It is good for me to draw near to God: That look as others find contentment in the things they love, and draw near to them; so the Saints find much more contentment with God, and therefore draw near to him.

Again, Friends cannot always enjoy these Converses: Oftentimes they are parted, and so cannot have this felicity of expressing mutual love; but God is ever with them. In Psal. 73. Thou art my strong habitation, to whom I may have a continual resort: I may always come to thee.

3. There is a third thing in Interest, and that is mutual Communication. Love is a spring, which flows forth; it doth enjoy what it hath rather for its friend, then for it self: Gods Love hath this excellency more abundantly and transcendently. Take the dearest friends that live at the highest rate of love, they cannot maintain a constant Com­munication; partly because there is not al­ways an equal necessity and capacity, partly because there is not always the same power to give forth. But our necessities are always very great and vast, and Gods power is al­ways the same; so that here is always a per­fect Communication of Love that ceaseth [Page 187] not, but flows forth as beams of light from the Sun.

Now as effects discover their causes, so then especially when they are most full and perfect. As you may better know any tree by its fruit, then when it is in the bud and blossoms; and you may better know it when the fruit is in its fulness and in more abundance, then when there are but a few; if there be but one or two upon a tree they may be hid, but when there are many, the testimony is the more abundant: Abundant are the testimonies of the fruits of Gods Love in what he hath done for his. So that upon this account, no Interest is more know­able then that of a Beleever in his God.

Secondly, A second thing to be pro­pounded, is this; That though no Interest be more knowable, yet ordinarily no Interest is less known then this. This we need not prove; I think it's a Question out of que­stion with us all. The unevenness of the ho­liness of Beleevers in their walkings, the in­constancy of their rejoycing, are two strong demonstrations of this, that they do know but little of their Interest in God. It springs from such unhappy Causes as these, That abiding Unbelief, that bitter root that hath taken such strong hold of the nature of man, that till the whole house be pull'd down, it [Page 188] will not be wholly eradicated and destroy­ed: This is that weight the Apostle speaks of (in Heb. 12.) that hangs on us so fast, as is manifest by the Apostle's scope, who per­swading unto faith, and the workings of faith; this is that (saith he) that so suppress­eth and bears us down from those heights of heavenly joy, from that sweet contentment and rest of spirit whereto we are called.

Beleeving is the first stone that is layd in a Christian. He that comes to God, must beleeve that he is, and that he is a Rewarder of those that seek him, Hebr. 12. And as there is a spirit in all Beleevers that tends to the set­ling of them upon a sure foundation, that they may stedfastly beleeve: so there is a spirit that works to unbelief, perplexity and dissettlement. While unbelief works in us, it must needs be, that there will be a great want of that through knowledg of Inte­rest.

Another Cause of this great misery of man, is, That Gods communications of him­self to us, and entertainments of us, are not always in intelligible forms, so that we can­not presently take them up, and understand the meaning and good-will of God in them. The fault is in our minds. The print is good, but cannot be read, because the eye is dull and dark. Sometimes God comes to us wrapt up [Page 189] in Clouds, and indeed he varies his dispen­sations, that he may attain his End: His End is this, that he may work his people to a strength of Faith and Love mixt with Fear; that's the proper constitution of a Christian, and the truest temper of one that is marked out to eternal life. Therefore God sometimes displays his greatness in the sight of his people, far above all the mani­festations of the sweetness of his mercy; that the spirit of a poor man is overborn, shakes and trembles at the presence of God: So it was with Moses, Heb. 12.21. The sight was so terrible (though God meant no ill to Moses) that Moses shakes and quakes for fear, he was sore afraid. Sometimes God comes with the manifestations of his fatherly displeasure and dislike, and then how can it be but the Soul must dwell in bitterness? mourning, heaviness and trembling must needs possess us.

A third Cause why so little is known of this Interest, that God is our God, though he be so, is our unhappy diversions. We are oftentimes turned off from that one thing necessary, and our spirits run otherways, out of light into darkness. Alas, Solomon mind­ed not this matter, or to little purpose, when he poured out his Soul after vanities; and for this God pleaded with him, 1 King. 11.9. [Page 190] that he had departed from him; The Lord was wrath with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.

CHAP. XVI.

THese things being premised, now I come to shew you how we may attain this blessed knowledg, that God is ours, and so quiet our hearts in this assurance, that he is our Portion.

First, Let it be the true desire of thy Soul to have this question determined and conclu­ded, that God is thy God. Certainly many are careless concerning this business, that never much debate the matter, whether God be their God, or no. Others there are that have care enough, but it is a perplexed care, a care sowred with unbelief; there is a desire indeed raised, but it's mixed with per­turbation; [Page 191] the Soul is indeed in motion af­ter it, but it is a very disorderly motion; working with fretting, and such disturbing fears, that they leave themselves without judgment. Exod. 6.9. It is said concerning the Children of Israel, that when Moses spake to them they would not hear him, for their an­guish of spirit, and for their cruel bondage; for the shortness and straitness of their spirits. Fears do straiten.

Secondly, A second Means is this; Come with a spirit free to yield to the determination of truth one way or other; take your an­swer from God as he shall give it. Certain­ly there are a generation that know that they are very partial and foolish in this business, that fly from the decision and determination of this question, from a secret strong suspi­cion that all is not well with them; and therefore they will rather flatter themselves with the uncertainty of their own estate, then affright themselves with the clear knowledg of their unhappy condition. As a guilty prisoner fears to think of the time of Judgment, because he knows there is just cause of suspicion that it shall go ill with him. Poor man! what shall it profit thee to carry things thus? If God be not thy God, what hurt is it for thee to know it? He that lives thus refuseth the judgment of [Page 192] God, and as much as in him lies hates the judgment of God. There can be no greater evidence of a right spirit, then for a man to put the question home, whether God be his: for that man is not willing to be the Lords, that is not willing to have it determined, whether he be his or no.

Some again are so possessed and overcome with fears, so ready to self-condemnation, to what ever may afflict and oppress them, that they wrap themselves up in thick clouds, lest any light should spring forth upon them: These are like unjust Judges, that are preci­pitant in their proceedings, that hear only one party. It is a dangerous thing for a man to mistake in Judgment; as the Wise-man speaks concerning Civil Judgment, Prov. 17.15. He that justifies the wicked, and con­demns the just, even they both are an abomina­tion unto God. You displease God, and sin against Truth and Righteousness, when you bear down your selves, and pronounce a sentence of death upon your own Souls, when God hath passed the sentence of life and peace upon you: You cross the design of Jesus Christ, which is a design of love and peace: You offer violence to that light, reason and spirit which God hath set up in you: You tempt God to say as you do, and to make good your words. Be therefore [Page 193] willing to hear what God shall say to you, as they in Acts 10. said to Peter, We are all here ready to hear the things that are command­ed thee of God.

Thirdly, A third Means is, To proceed and argue by proper Mediums, by such Argu­ments as are proper to the Question. Some work themselves into a good opinion by false discourses; concluding upon insuffici­ent grounds that God is their God, either from an empty appearance of good, or else from a real presence of the life of such things as may flow from other principles then the spirit of Adoption; as the fear of God, mourning for sin, subjection of spirit to the Commands of God; which things indeed are good, but may flow from another spring then the spirit of Adoption.

But if you would conclude in a right way of reasoning, that God is your God, argue then by such things as are proper to that state and relation wherein you suppose your selves to be toward God; and that is, in one word, a spirit of true Love: You shall find that working thus; it will carry thy Soul in propensions towards God, equal to thy consolations: The Soul that loves, is carried unto God with desires equal to its refresh­ings, yea and more; for when it cannot taste the comforts of the Almighty, yet it is [Page 194] carried after him in desires, and saith, Lord, I will love thee, though thou wilt not love me. This love also will work resignation of our selves to God, equal to all our enjoy­ments and expectations from God. David was much taken with Gods love to him that tendred him in his distresses, but withall saith he, Lord, I am thy servant, Psal. 106. He gave himself to God in the sense of the sweetness of that mercy he had from God. Yea this will exceed also; for he will give himself to God, when he knows not but that God hath hid himself from him. This love will work equal melting of spirit with re­joycing of spirit, and fill a man equally with shame and joy. True love makes a man as happy in sorrowing, as in rejoycing; and he never more abounds in godly sorrow, then when he abounds in the manifestation of Gods love to him. In Psal. 32. you may see how David was taken after he found mercy with God, see how he breaks forth detesting his own nature, and the natures of all men; he compares them to the horse and mule: like Asaph in another case, So brutish was I and ignorant as a beast before thee. Now if you would know whether God be your God, what do you find of such a spirit in you?

Some conclude too well in a false way, [Page 195] by false Arguments. Some indeed too who beleeve, conclude too ill, to their own wrong, by mistakes also; as because they find their feet slipping, and their ways not so even, therefore they conclude their spirits are crooked, and there is no streightness in them: whereas it is not the action, but the disposition, whereby we should judg our selves; nor is it this or that tripping that discovers a man, but the inward frame of his spirit.

Again, They conclude, Surely God is not my God, because I feel my love so faint, my faith so feeble; whereas it is not the degree, but the truth of grace, that must discover our estates.

Fourthly, A fourth Means is this, Labor to be more full in closing with God, and in the resignation of your selves to him, and in con­versing with him, in all delightfulness, and in whatsoever it is that shews your Interest in God: For as there is a light in all these, by which they bear witness of themselves, and of your happy state; so the fuller and stronger they are, the more clear, full and vigorous is their testimony. A tender plant newly springing from the ground doth not so well discover what it is, as when it is grown up to a full body; now it is easily known. This is certain, things are more [Page 196] significant as they are more perfect. A little smoak discovers fire, but more smoak is more full in its discovery: This the Apostle Peter intimates, 2 Pet. 1.9. If these things be lacking, if men be but weak in these, if men be not only not sound, but little in these; they are dark-sighted, they cannot well discern things; their judgments will be very much clouded and darkened in the things that con­cern their peace. Be frequent therefore in those works that discover your Interest, be frequent in conversing with God, frequent in expressions of the sincerity of your Love: for it is with God as it is with us; disco­veries of our Love make discoveries of his Love. When I say to a friend, Sir, I love you, you are dear to me, and I am wholly yours; his heart opens to me, and there is an eccho in his spirit to my Love. When you come to God, and say, Father, I am thine, and will be thine, wholly thine, and always thine; if your Love can make you say so to God, much more the Love of God will make him say so to you, Thou art mine. In Zech. 13. They shall say, Thou art our God, and I will say, Thou art my people. Therefore be much in this.

Fifthly, Be true to your Interest, walk with a streight spirit, make streight paths to your feet; for upon such shall peace be: Psal. 119. [Page 197] Great peace have they that keep thy Laws. God bears the clearest testimony, where there is most excellent walking. Usually his testi­mony is according to the measure of grace, as the co-operation of the Spirit also is: And as God comes with the most terrible convictions upon highest transgressors, so he comes with sweetest consolations to those that walk most evenly. Uneven walking carries a shew of insincerity, and puts a dif­ficulty upon beleeving. David had much ado (in this case) to conclude himself to be Gods; was a shattered man, and had lost his confidence. The Conscience of guilt to an Unbeleever is deadly, and even to a Be­leever it is a wound. You put a sword into your enemies hand, when you walk not up­rightly: You arm your unbelief against your selves; that is too strong without your help. This is certain, that no hope conquers fear, but that which conquers sin; for they have both one foundation. If therefore now you would know, and would walk in this light, that God is your God; then you must walk uprightly and faithfully in your Interest.

Lastly, Take answers of Love when they are given you, and keep them, treasure them up as most precious things; bless Jesus Christ by whom it is that you enjoy them, and suf­fer [Page 198] not the great question of thy Soul to be always in agitation: Suffer not thy self to be brought to endless disputes, when the cause is once heard and concluded. It is as well sinful to make voyd the grounds of our Consolations, as to break the bonds and cords whereby God holds us to obedience. You put gold no more to the touch-stone when it hath once passed the furnace; you say it is gold. Suffer not your selves to be tossed in whirls of amazement, when God hath said he is your God. It is true indeed, there will be objections, and they cannot be shunned, they are often injected; yet these things must sometimes pass undisputed. Mark the season when these things are dis­puted in your Souls; commonly at the worst season, when a man is at greatest dis­advantage. When Job's spirit was disturb­ed, you know what amazement he fell in­to; and what advantage did it take of him?

Another season is the season of transgres­sion. The Devil so works in our unbelee­ving hearts, that we oftentimes put that to the question, that God before hath put out of question. Offences should not work in us amazement and fear of our former bon­dage, but they should work in us brokenness and shame. Lord, pardon me, saith David, for [Page 199] my sin is very great. The greater our trans­gression is, the more we should have recourse to God and his goodness; but by no means fly from him. Certainly Gods design is to break sin by sin, and his aym is to out-shoot the Devil in his own Bow. Oh! they love much to whom much is forgiven. The end of this discourse is, that you would be seri­ous, solemn and impartial in debating of this business; for when God hath cleared the matter, it is to thy hurt to bring it about to be disputed again.

CHAP. XVII.

IN this Chapter I would make Exhorta­tion to all that have Interest in God, to live upon it: Only first I will shew what it is to live upon God, as our God. And it is,

First, To cleave to God with joy of heart, to live in the affectionate embraces of God in Christ, and delightful conversings with him; to have God for our life; as it is said of Ja­cob concerning Benjamin, His Soul, his life [Page 200] was bound up in the life of the child, Gen. 44.13. that is, they had one lot, if one lived the other lived, their joys were the same, they could not be severed or parted, they were but as one: So we should be towards God, our lives should be so bound up in him, we should be one with him.

Secondly, To live upon God, is to con­tract all our desires into God, to have none but what are for him, and according to him. This is the way of life indeed, when God is a mans all, when the language of his Soul is, Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? Thus to have desires to God, that he rests not in any thing beneath God, nor seek any thing be­sides God; that is to live in God.

Thirdly, To live in a faithful real resigna­tion of ones self unto God. If you be his, you know that he hath taken, chosen and set apart the good man for himself, Psal. 4. And so must we live as sequestred persons, as those that are his; that as the holy things of the Temple were for no other use, so must we be only for God. In Hos. 3.3. 'tis said, Thou shalt abide with me many days, thou shalt not play the harlot, thou shalt not be for another man, but shalt be unto me; so will I also be for thee. God will stand close to that spirit, and be the comfort, stay and life of it, that re­serves it self for him.

Fourthly, It is to contract and draw all your expectations upon God, to lay all your weight there. If there be any thing thou promisest thine own heart, let it be from the bosom of God; if there be any answer that thou makest to the fears, doubts and troubles of thy spirit, let it be from the voyce of the Lord. Thus David in Psal. 62.2. He only is my Rock, and my Salvation; he is my de­fence, I shall not be greatly moved. And he saith at vers. 5. My Soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him. He tells you what God is to him, and what indeed he looks for from God: What God is to him, He is my Rock and my Salvation, in God is my Salvation and my Glory, he is the Rock of my strength. He tells you also what he expects from God; My Refuge is from him: so that if I need safety or refresh­ing and supply of any good, mine eye is up­on him, and from him I look for all. This is to live upon God.

Having expressed in a few words what it is to live upon God; Now take those Con­siderations which perswade to live such a life as this.

First, There is no other life for you: This is appointed for you, to this you are called, for this you are fitted. Fishes may as well live in the ayr, as you live in the world. You [Page 202] may try and weary out your selves in vain, but God is your life. This be sure of, if you neglect this life, either dulness and benum­edness will fall upon you, so that you will grow sensual, brutish and earthly, strangers to the joy, activity and tenderness of holy Christians; or you shall fall into a dis-rest, an unsufferable unquietness of spirit, while you are as a rouling thing in the wind, ha­ving no consistence, because you are out of your place. You shall be afflicted within; and this will be your great evil, that you lived not in God: And now because you seek life in other things, you shall dig for your own death. And if you have any rea­son, it will work to your own affliction, vex and torment your Souls night and day, be­cause you did not walk in the counsels of the Most high, and the embracements of his Love: Your sweetest enjoyments will be all sowred, like the waters of Jericho, bitterness will be in them not to be endured.

Secondly, This is a life that should be most pleasing, and amiable unto our spirits; and certainly we are dead and alienated from God, if there be not an incomparable sweetness to us in it. For,

1. It is the fullest life. The life of all other things hath something mixed with it; the life of your enjoyments, your pleasures [Page 203] and relations, is a mixt life; there is death in all your comforts, and you taste it, and are sick of it many times; you know it well. It is true, there is nothing that God hath made and appointed for our use, but brings in some portion of life; our garments give a little, and our food a little, and friends give something; but how little do all these give? But now this life is all life; the life you have from other things is a short poor narrow life, but this life is more compleat. Take the life of a man that hath whatsoever his heart can wish, his comforts strike but upon his sense, or at best have but some light touch upon his spirit: Alas! the Souls of men cannot drink at these Cisterns: Life that comes from these things, hath not im­mortality in it; such things are as far from immortality, as they are from sufficiency. The wisest, the richest, and most honorable, that have the fullest life, dye, because the life they have by such things cannot hold pace with the Soul, nor communicate a life of consistency: But the life we have with God, extends to the whole course and ca­pacity of the Soul; it fills up every corner, and leaves no want.

2. It is a life that gives perfect satisfac­tion; he can ask no more that hath it.

3. It is a life that beautifies the Soul. Mens [Page 204] complexions usually are as their dyet is: Oh, he that feeds on God, what a rare com­plexion is his Soul of? It makes him like to God; it reduceth a Soul from a miser­able separation, into a blessed and orderly union. Our life being in one God, one Good, which is all Good; he that lives this life, would dye ten thousand deaths rather then part with it. Thou well knewest Peter what thou saidst in Joh. 6. When Christ said to his Disciples, Will ye also go away? then Simon Peter answered, To whom shall we go, Lord? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Whither dost thou think we can go? when we knew thee not, we could indeed be with­out thee; but now we know thee, whither shall we go? When Nature comes to a state of Consistency, it rests, it seeks no more: That man is in such a state, that is in God, that enjoys him and his Love, and rests in him; he lives in an holy content­ment and a glorious rest in all things that are according to God, and in a hatred of all things that are in opposition to God. If any thing come into the ballance with God, if it be like God, he loves it; but if it be con­trary to God, he hates it: having once drunk of the new wine, he desires not the old harsh spiritless wine.

You may remember the Catalogue of [Page 205] Saints in Hebr. 11. when you are come to their pitch, then God will be dear to you, and there will be a flatness upon all things else. The life of every thing is according to its compass, and the thing by which it is maintained. Men have a better life then beasts, for they have better things to live on: Princes live better lives then beggers, and Angels then men, because they have better things to live on. Now then, if your life be in God, you have the best and sweetest life. We judg of lives in the world by the con­tentment they have that live in them; now in this life you find innumerable Angels, the spirits of just men made perfect; Jesus Christ lives this life, and thinks it enough, he desires no better life; God himself lives this life, he lives in himself.

Thirdly, A third thing is, That if you do not maintain this life, you offer unspeakable violence to that blessed station and happy re­lation wherein God hath set you. One of these two things you must needs acknow­ledg.

1. If you live not on God, God is not your portion; you have not taken him for your God, you have not clos'd with him, and then you are undone.

2. Or this must be granted, If you have closed with him, you wrong God and your [Page 206] selves extreamly, because you live not on him. Hath God taken you? and have you taken him? Hath he said to thee, My Spouse? and hath thy Soul said to him, My Lord and my Husband? And shall we live upon other things, and not upon our Husband? Shall the child live on strangers bread, and not upon his Father? Shall the son of a Prince hang as a begger upon others doors, and be a stranger to his Fathers love, to his Fathers house and fulness? This is certain, that so far as you do this, you are not children, but Prodigals (in Luke 15. last) dead and lost. While you are out of God, and your hearts set on other things, you are in a state of dead men, in an absolute indisposedness and inca­pacity, either to the fulfilling of that which lies upon you as the Law of your relation unto God, or to the enjoyment of that which is the sweetness, priviledg and com­fort of your relation unto God. Is she a wife think you, or doth she not offer violence to the Law of her Relation, that refuseth bed and board with her husband? You should drink water out of your own Cistern, from your own Head and Spring; who is that but your Lord and Head whom you have chosen? God will not endure that you should wander; He will hedg up your way, as he speaks in Hos. 2. and those hedges will [Page 207] teer you. He is pleased with you when you lean on him, and take of his Love, and then his joy is fulfilled in you, you do what he loves, he takes contentment in it. Other comforts are stoln; sweet they may be in the taste, but they will be bitterness in your bow­els; it must be so: for when you live any where but in God, you cross his great de­sign, which is to make himself your Center, wherein your Souls should rest: He hath appointed no place for thy Soul to rest in but his own bosom; You despise him when you suffer the joys of your Souls to be clouded. If Elkanah could say to his wife, Am not I better to thee then ten sons? Surely God may say much more, Am not I better to thee then ten such things as these that thou art troubled at? So that if your hearts go out any other way, it is against all reason. Christ in John 4.10. made account, that the Soul hath enough that tastes of this; for he saith, he shall never thirst more. Go no more then to the hedges and high ways; thou that hast such a God and such a Friend, be quiet and rest in his Love: He rests in his love to you, Zech. 3.17. And will not you rest in it, and lie down in his arms and embrace­ments, and say, It is sweet, it is enough? Is not he always embracing you, and cheering you, and holding forth the brests of his con­solation [Page 208] to you? wooing and winning you, and using all means to fill your Souls with himself, and to make you blessed in the en­joyment of him? If then you have any fear of his displeasure, if you have any sweetness and comfort of the Love of God, if you have tasted and known how good the Lord is; then keep fast to him, and maintain your Souls in a constant living communion with him: If you keep near him, you shall find that there is life in him; Psal. 69.32. They shall live that seek the Lord.

CHAP. XVIII.

A Fourth Argument is, That this life we speak of is most present, it is nearest at hand, most attainable, being wholly mental and spiritual, and those works are quickest done. All other life comes in by parcels and pieces: If a man would live in honor, what a deal ado is there? what a compass must he fetch to maintain good thoughts with this man and with that man? and his honor riseth by degrees: The like may be said [Page 209] concerning pleasures and riches. Nay na­turally what a course doth the Soul take to bring in that meat which supplies our life, in eating, concocting and digesting it, and carrying it to every part? The labour of Nature is great. But this life is maintained by a sweet and silent working of Spirit; it is a life that is got, kept and cherished by the sweetest actings of the Soul. In Psal. 63.6. saith David, I shall be fill'd as with marrow and fatness, when I remember thee upon my bed. And in Psal. 20.7. you have this exprest by the like words, Some trust in Charets, and some in Horses: Great preparations they make; but what is his trust? I will remem­ber the Name of the Lord our God. This is life, to remember the Name of the Lord our God: It is the best exercise of the most noble part of a man towards the most excellent Object. And what should we love more to look upon and to remember, then God? Do not you find how a few affectionate thoughts of him come down in showres of spiritual blessing and consolation? Both the Goodness of God and the Love of God makes this work sweet. He that seeks to live this way, hath not only sweetness in his end, but in the way to it. Remember how suc­cessful you have found this course: What unspeakable effusions of inward refreshing [Page 210] have you found upon turning of your spirits unto God, upon the very cast of your eye upon the Father of Mercies? Alas for those poor Souls, those wandering Beggers, even all men that do not come in, and that have not God for their God in Christ! It is pity and grief to see what a poor life they live, and they know it not: How do they sweat and toyl for that which they never get? They get but the image of what they aim at: For what do they work? For life, they think; but they work themselves out of life, not into life: they are knocking always at that door where nothing is, where vanity and emptiness dwells; they are digging pits that will hold no water; they are seek­ing grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles. But this way is sure and sweet; you are sure to find; and your sweetness is as well in seeking as in finding.

Let Christians then endeavor to live this life: How can we without shame complain, that we are dead and broken in spirit, that a weight lies upon our Souls, that we are emp­ty, when life is so near us? when the Well is not deep, and we might take of the water of Life, and drink freely? Men will not improve the activity and nimbleness of their Souls to enrich themselves. We oftentimes charge God with hiding his face from us, [Page 211] but wrongfully; he turns not away his face from us, we turn from him: we go out of the Sun-shine into the cold shade, and then we shake by reason of cold. But those looks of God, which are easily had in Jesus Christ, warm and chear the Soul. Have not such a thought in your hearts, that holy Consola­tions are hardly gotten: You wrong the Fountain of Life, if you think that you may draw and find nothing; or that you may let down your bucket, and bring it up emp­ty: these are blasphemies, which our unbe­leeving hearts form against God. Certainly God is easie to be entreated, and to be found of those that seek him. David in Psal. 32. had hard thoughts of him; but when he once tryed him, though he came in the blackness and dread of his Soul, covered over with shame and confusion, yet he found God to be to him according to all his Name, and according to all his Word; his tears were wiped away, and his broken bones were set again, and he was satisfied.

I would yet a little more clearly express this thing, and winde up the Exhortation to its just height, in two words.

1. That we endevor to live this life in the highest degree, that is, to live very much in God; not only to have a true life, but a life proportionable to our relation unto him. [Page 212] Princes should feed as Princes, and their life should be like their place: So should Chri­stians have their life proportionable to what God is. What God is in himself, he is to us, if we have accepted Salvation by Jesus Christ. Meer peace is too low a temper for a Christian; he is never like himself, ex­cept he live in joy: his principles reach to all joy; and for that the Apostle Paul pray'd, Col. 1.11. Saints might as well live like Princes in faith and joy, as with feeble hopes, some weak consolations; they might as well drink a full draught, as taste of the goodness and kindness of God. Who strai­tens you? What is your life, but a continu­al espousing of your selves unto God? and should not there be much joy on the Marri­age day? Therefore the Apostle prays in Rom. 15. The God of peace fill you with all peace and joy always, [All peace, and al­ways.]

2. A second word is, That you maintain this life in every state. No variation of our outward estate in this life, should be any di­minution of the glory of this life. The re­joycing you have by Faith, and spiritual en­joyments, should not be dampt by any thing. Is our fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ? Can we say so? Then what should all the turnings of this [Page 213] world be to us? How unsuitable to this Communion is it, to have our spirits turned, and our joys changed with outward things? Suppose it be well with us in the world, and we be pleased; yet is it fit for the Expect­ants of eternal life, who have also a sense of the sweetness of enjoying God, to be much taken with these things? Is there not a Crown prepared for us? Is not God our God? Can we be content to be so taken with the dishes at a feast, as to forget our friend at the table, and that our best friend? Suppose it be ill with us, as we commonly account ill; though the truth is, it is never ill with a good man, it doth but appear ill; it seems ill, but it is all good and well; for all is from goodness and love; therefore though it be ill with us, in this sence, yet let us be in our own temper, that is, rejoyce in God: Though nothing be the same, yet if God be the same, let us be the same. Meditate up­on that famous place, Habak. 3.17. Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the Olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Salvation. This is that which God calls for, that you live in him always. Whatsoever fails, say as [Page 214] the Psalmist, Psal. 73.26. God is my portion for ever. I have a Father in Heaven, and so though I find things bad enough here, yet it is well, it is well, well above and well within.

CHAP. XIX.

LEt us now take a few things more into consideration, to promote our living in God; for we have need of all cords to draw us and bind us to this life.

1. The first is, the unutterable difference that is between this life, and any other at­tainable or imaginable. Harken to all that can judg, every thing speaks in the Case; especially take the testimony of God, and of those whom he hath blessed with the best enjoyment of himself: You know what God saith of himself, and what glorious de­scriptions he hath made of that absoluteness and incomprehensible goodness which is in him: You know what he hath said of all things [Page 215] else, that they are broken Cisterns. Ask the Saints also, and the spirits of just men made perfect, take the Angels too; they live in God, and are confined in that life, they go no further; yet their confinement is no impri­sonment, but it's a confinement of love and li­berty, it's from the satisfaction of their Souls. You know that perfect rest is from a per­fection of estate. This life, and the wants of it, always breed motion; the spirit is still moving out of one condition unto some­thing better. The constant Rest of those glorified spirits in God, is a plain demon­stration that there is no Life like that. They know the life that we live in this world, they know what honours, pleasures, and such things are; but they are so beneath them, that they do no less overlook these, then a Prince doth overlook the poorest Cottage, or the vilest things of this world. Nay the Saints on Earth too, when they are them­selves, do not only prefer a Life in God be­fore all things, but with contempt of all things: Paul puts a note of superexcellency upon the knowledg of Christ, and pro­nounceth all things else but dross and dung, Phil. 3. In Heb. 10.34. They suffered the loss of all things for this life with joyfulness; it did not grieve them to see their goods and estates taken from them, because they saw [Page 216] this loss make for the further enlargement of their life in God. And those in Rev. 12.11. loved not their lives to the death for Christs sake. When Solomon had traversed all these things, (and I make no doubt but he had many that traversed them with him,) you know what he saith of them, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, and vexation of spirit. But why should I dwell upon outward te­stimonies? Make use of your own under­stands, give them full scope to search, and then think what proportion there is between that life that is upon things finite, mixed, mu­table, and of short continuance, and that life that is in him, that is infinite, and all good, always the same, abiding for ever. Descend lower then your understandings: Call in the sense and experience of those several states of life which you have passed through in the world; as that of childhood, of manhood; of a single estate, of a married estate; of a meaner and of a fuller condition; take the best of them, what did you find in them in compa­rison of that life that you have in God? Remember all the sense you have had of the sweetness that is in the enjoyment of God, and then upon the verdict of your sense and inward experience, you will find that there is no comparison between the one and the other. How often have you said, when you [Page 217] have been hunting after and wearied your selves in the vanity of this world, I will re­turn to my first Husband, for then it was better with me then now? Hos. 2.2.

2. What a deplorable loss to our spirits is it when we suffer a day to pass without living in God? That day we dye, when as we might have been as they in Heaven. What shadows of death have covered your Souls when you have been out of God! What bondage and weight are cast upon mens spirits? how are they as reeds, of no strength, shaken with every wind, with the turnings of the things in this world, if their hearts be out of God? We are chargeable with many sorrows and heart-breakings, and God might put them upon our account; God may visit us for many of our tears and complaints. What, will not the Fountain give water? will not the full brest give milk? It is a wrong to say so of God: We are the cause of our own harms and losses. The rest and chearful vigor of a mans Soul is of more worth then a world, and that we lose whilest our spirits roul up and down. Who can utter what those joys are, what that sweetness of the taste of the Soul is, which it hath in its sincere and secret ad­dresses to the Father of Life, in its secret conversings with him, and enjoyment of [Page 218] him? What a holy forgetfulness of all things hath this wrought? what a holy mag­nanimity? what peace passing all under­standing? what joy unspeakable and glori­ous? And shall we lose all this by not main­taining our life in God? Our experience and knowledg of these things should be as an attractive Load-stone, and the sadness of our Souls under the heavy loss of this should be an enforcement upon us to keep near unto God. The Apostle, Hebr. 12.5. gives this as a reason why they were so weak; You have forgotten (saith he) the ex­hortation or consolation that speaks to you as children.

3. A third Consideration is, The sweet and powerful attractions and invitations of the Spirit. How often may that be said to us, which Christ saith to them, Rev. 3.20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man will open to me, I will come in and sup with him? How often and how strongly hath Wisdom cryed from Heaven, and uttered her voyce, saying, I have built my house, I have prepared my feast; come, my friends, all is prepared for you; come and eat, and rejoyce in the fulness of my Love? Christ hath followed us, as the waters followed them in the desart, mercy and goodness hath followed us all our days. Hath not God by his Spirit [Page 219] urged us from all things, from all conditi­ons and relations, from every thing that strikes upon our senses, or that comes within the compass of our knowledg? As his de­sign is by all things to work us to himself; so hath he not by all things pleaded with us to come home, and to stay at home, that we might be blessed in the enjoyment of the sweetness of his presence? He hath layd up something even in death it self, to bring us to him. A Crown was once found in a thorny bush. Surely then if God be so rea­dy to meet us, and doth so seek us; if he have so richly prepared for us, and set things before us; we should provoke our Souls to feed on these precious things, and to live that life of the enjoyment of God, which only is Life.

4. If we will not live this life in God, it may be we shall not. If nothing will prevail, but we will live in the flesh, and pour out our Souls upon vanities, and will be wan­dering in this world, travelling in the desart, and forsaking the fulness and sweetness that is in God; surely it may be, that shall be our portion all our days: God may, and he doth hide himself from the Soul, when the Soul hides it self from him: God calls, and they will not hear; he invites, and they are careless: Well, saith God, seeing they will [Page 220] not come, they shall not come; but shall live like servants and strangers, and shall have no more of the Childrens bread then will maintain them in a state of life, but not maintain them in a state of peace. Sorrows and troubles will seize upon men, because they would not embrace sweet mercies. Do you think we can violate all the mercies and goodness of God, and be born with? No, no: Remember that example in 1 Sam. 2. Eli had many and great manifestations of Gods love, but his sin of fond love to his wicked children, would not be done away with sacrifice or burnt-offering; God said he would bring evil upon the house of Eli, and he did it.

As a fundamental assistance to all this, Look to the setling of your Souls in a firm belief of the Gospel; for so far only as we beleeve the words of eternal life, they are of power to us. Remember that in Heb. 4.2. The Gospel came to the Jews, but it did not pro­fit them, because it was not mixed with faith. The weight of words lies in the truth of them, and not only in the worth of them: For if you speak of mountains of Gold, of heaps of Pearls, though these are rich words; yet if there be not as much truth in them, they are but an empty sound, and take not the heart. Converse much with all the [Page 221] witnesses of the Scriptures truth, converse with and call to mind frequently that in­ward Seal which is upon your own spirits, that living and effectual force and vertue which the Word of God hath had upon your hearts, unto a thankful embracing of it, to a holy subjection to it, to a couragious and chearful dependance upon it, to the melting of your hearts, and the pouring out of your spirits unto God. Remember these things; for Gods appearances in his Word are as so many seals and witnesses from a­bove; Rest not till you can say with that Angel, Rev. 19.19. These are the true sayings of God: And with the Apostle in Joh. 21.2. We know that his testimony is true: For while this is not done, our comforts and rejoycings in God cannot be high, they cannot exceed our faith.

Then, let no dark clouds remain upon your spirits, so far as you can; if you have re­ceived a little light, make it to encrease more and more to the perfect day. Observe the language of the people of God, I know that my Redeemer lives; I know that thou art with me. How often have you these expressions in the first Epistle of John, 2.3.4. and 5. Chapters; We know that we are of God; We know that God dwells in us; We know that we have passed from death to life; We know that [Page 222] we are in the truth? Endeavor to come to this.

Again, Be frequent in drawing comfortable and reviving inferences from your Interest in God. Mark what inference the Church makes, I will wait upon God, my God will hear me. Faith, and a lively enjoyment of God, is full of argumentation, and that is the life of the Soul: It is not maintained by a specu­lation of God, but by arguments, reason­ings, and such conclusions, as are meat and drink indeed to the Soul.

CHAP. XX.

HAving said much to this Point, I will shew now what great need there is that so much should have been said, and much more also, for the furtherance of this life in God; take therefore into your hearts these few things.

First, We are naturally in greater affinity and capacity as to the things of the creature, then to the things of God. It is was not so [Page 223] from the beginning, but our Apostacy cast us into this unhappy state; that whereas we were nearest unto God, now all things are nearer unto us then God; we are grown strangers to that life. As the child of a Prince that goes away in his childhood, and is trained up in a beggers house, he contracts a beggers spirit, and grows a stranger to a Princes life: So it hath been with us. As Nebuchadnezzar lived like a beast, and for­got the life of a Prince, yea of a man; so we are strangers from the life of God. What God saith in Hosea 8.10. is true of us all, We account his things as strange things, as things that we are not acquainted with; we have neither a pleasing sight of them, nor a pleasing taste of them; but they are to us as meat that we cannot relish, that suits not with us. Nothing was more natural to man then to live in God, as we came out of Gods hand. It was not more natural for the fish to live in the water, then for us to live in God; and that was a blessed state. The brest is not more natural to the child, then that life was to us; that was our first life, and it was sweet, though it was short. It was a blessed life; for God let out himself in so much fulness, as took the heart up into intimate acquaintance. We were made up­right, that is, such as God delighted in, such [Page 224] as we should be; now we are altered, our spirits are divided and scattered. In as much then as we have not altogether cast off our depraved natures, we have need to be thus called upon, we being more enclined to the creature then unto God.

Secondly, Naturally we have a greater propensity to observe the Law, then the Go­spel; to do what we are bid, then to take what is offered and given to us in the Gospel: For the Law is natural to us, it is written in our hearts; the things that are revealed in the Gospel, are above Nature. This disposition the Apostle found in those, Rō. 9. latter end, Israel which followed after the Law of Righte­ousness, did not attain unto the Law of Righte­ousness: Wherefore? because they sought it not by Faith, but as it were by the Works of the Law; for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. It was a stumbling stone indeed to them; they rather chose to make their way to life by the Law, then to accept of life ac­cording to the propositions of the Gospel; be­cause the Law was more near to them, it was more natural to them; but the Gospel is supernatural. Children are nearer to, and more apt to receive those things which are by Nature, then those things which are by instruction and appointment. It is natural for a child to eat, he need not be taught it; [Page 225] but for a child to learn, that is hard, he is at more distance from it: So it is more easie for us to form our selves to the obedience of the Law, then to the Gospel.

Thirdly, We are naturally more apt to converse with God immediately, then by a Mediator: Because this is still according to the natural course and original appointment of God in the first Creation of Man. Though then there was a very great dispro­portion, an infinite disproportion between God and us; yet because there was no Conscience of guilt, no matter of offence, this poor Creature, though but dust and ashes, could come to God, and did converse with him immediately. But now since his going away from God, God hath declared that man should come no more immediately to him, but by the Door which he hath ap­pointed: He hath made Jesus Christ that Door; and whosoever entereth by him, hath life, and none else. You may knock at the door of Mercy, and spend your days in tears and prayers, but not be heard, unless your way be through Christ: Therefore, 1 Pet. 1.21. the Apostle speaks thus, Through Him we beleeve in God. And Heb. 10. He saves those that come unto God through Him. We are very apt rather to come to God as he is the great God, our Creator, then to come to [Page 226] him through a Mediator: Therefore since there is no other way of life but this, we had need be taught it.

Fourthly, We are apt to think it almost impossible to live such a life as this. Oh how do we greaten the matter of our duty! We make mountains of mole-hills: The fault is not in God, but in us. Certainly we might have more: What saith the Gospel? Doth it not call us to all joy, all peace, and to rejoyce always? What's the meaning of this? Doth not God speak realities? Shall we rather have hard thoughts of God, then of our selves? No, no; it is because we will not, we thirst not: It is not because water is not to be had, but because we will not take the pains to draw it: We say, the Well is deep, and the water will not come; but he hath said, he will meet those that rejoyce and work righteousness, and that he will draw near to those that draw near to him; and he will be as good as his word. Certainly the fault lies either in our not seeking, or not seeking as we should, or in our not taking what is offered to us. Do you not find, that when you come to the door of grace, it stands open, and that God is ready to give the comfort and re­freshings of a Father, when you come over­whelmed with sorrows? Is not he always the same? Will he hear one prayer, and not [Page 227] another? If you did continue in prayer and seeking, might you not have more? It is very ill to fancy such impossibilities. Why do you set bounds where God hath set none? and make that so hard to get, which God is so willing to give? and so straiten your selves, when you have license to ask?

Lastly, We are apt to live much by pat­terns and examples. We see how Christians live at the common rate; it's neither night nor day with them; they have a trembling hope, a mingled joy, a mourning life; some­times bright, sometimes clouded: and this sight doth form other Christians to the same life, and makes them say, Seeing others live so, I'le live so too. Examples are mighty. Of what force was Peter's example of to the Galatians in another case? Beggers form one anothers spirits to beggery, and a poor kind of life.

Remember that counsel of the Apostle in Rom. 12. Be not conform'd unto this world. Make no patterns to your selves further then they agree with the Rule that you are to go by. How low did the Jews bring themselves by the traditions of their Fathers? Their Fathers did so and so: That's a poor beg­gerly life. Shall I say one thing more?

We are subject to slothfulness: It's strange that a Christian should be slothful of all [Page 228] men. Should we not wonder if we saw a man slothful to gather up Pearls and Jewels of great worth? Was ever any man so slothful, that he would not take the pains to eat his meat when he was hungry? Can a poor man be so slothful, that he will not dig a Myne of Gold when he may have it? What should make a Christian slothful? What, is it the difficulty of this Life? Cer­tainly if we say so, we speak evil of God and his goodness, as those Spies did of the good Land. What, is there difficulty in eating and drinking? Our way all along is pleasure; even the pleasure of living in God, and en­joying of him. Or is the work unsuccessful? Dare you say you have let down your bucket, and drew up nothing? Dare you say, that you went sincerely to God, and could not procure him to hear you? No, you cannot: for when his servants have come to him in their worst conditions, he hath received and embraced them. Could a man come to God in a worse condition then David did? Psal. 32. When he had run from God desperately, and stayed out a great while, you may well think how often he quenched the spirit in that time, and con­tended with God; and yet when he return­ed and came home, God did not despise him; God did not say to him, Away [Page 229] wretch, what hast thou to do to expect mer­cy? but pardoned, refreshed and cheered him; and David tells it abroad: For this, saith he, shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayst be found. Say not then with thy self, that thy coming shall be unsuccessful.

To that which hath been said, we may add these pertinent Considerations.

1. If we live in God, and fetch all our peace, strength and satisfaction from him, we shall have the best enjoyment of all things else: The taste of Gods love sweetens all enjoyments.

2. This puts the Soul into a secure state against all dangers; it cannot be ill with him that enjoys God: It puts a man into a state of conquest and victory over all things: When a man enjoys God, and lies upon his Love, he is above all things.

3. This fulfils the end of our Creation: For this was Gods appointment, that we might be for the demonstration of his infi­nite Excellency, and to the enhappying of our selves in the enjoyment of him.

4. This keeps the Soul in a preparedness to all holy walkings and obedience. When a man lives in God, his heart is tuned to all duties.

CHAP. XXI.

I Proceed now to answer two or three Questions, which concern this Doctrine and Truth.

1 Quest. Seeing the Saints have this way for Life, and that their Interest in God doth so ballance their Souls; whence is it that they are so frequently dejected, so under hatches?

2 Quest. If Interest in God be so effectu­al to lift up Christians spirits, whence is it that there are so many weaknesses, defor­mities and contrarieties to God in their spi­rits?

3 Quest. Whence is it that they who have no Interest in God, oftentimes seem to go through very great troubles with much strength?

1 Quest. If the Saints life springs from their Interest in God, how is it then that they are so often broken in spirit, that there dwells with them heaviness, confusion and [Page 231] distraction oftentimes as with others?

Answer. In the first place let us know, that the Saints do not all live this life equally; they have not all received such measures of grace, that they can with equal magnanimity pass through their troubles in this world. Some pass through trouble with a spirit of glory, being highly lifted up above their suf­ferings: So Paul in Rom. 5. We glory in tri­bulation. In Heb. 10.34. They s [...]ffered joyfully the spoiling of their goods. And Acts 5. when the Apostles were scourged, they went away rejoycing, that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the Name of Jesus. Others go not on triumphantly, but stedfastly; though their afflictions be not so much under them, yet they are above their afflictions; though they cannot go on their way with so much gallan­try as others, yet they are not turned out of their way. So Job, that pattern of patience, was sometimes up, and sometimes down; but he had the Conquest. It is with Chri­stians as it is with the Ayr, which is some­times bright and sometimes cloudy, some­times stormy and sometimes calm. A Ship at anchor rouls in the Sea, but is safe: So Christians have many tosses in this world, but are secure. Peter is an instance of this truth. And some of our own Martyrs and others might be produced, who have shewed [Page 232] a very trembling spirit, a misgiving heart in the time of their tryals. Some have begun to fret at their condition; as that good man Asaph did in Psal. 73. because he saw God did not do for him as for others, was angry, and disputed the matter. Jeremiah did so in the 12 Chapter of his Book: Jonah did so with a witness: David sometimes, Why hast thou forgotten me? saith he. Sometimes they are brought to use ill means to help them­selves; Asa did so in 2 Chron. 15. Because God did not help him, he would see if he could help himself; he struck a League with the King of Assyria, and thereby pro­voked God.

The Reason of this Inequality that is be­tween Christians compared one with ano­ther, or that is to be found in themselves at one time compared with themselves at ano­ther time, lies in such things as these.

1. Some sufferings are more sweetened with the divine presence then others: God attends some afflictions with more inward Consolati­ons and manifestations of his Love, then o­thers. Those sufferings that are for his Names sake, are usually thus sweetened. The Apostle Peter, 1 Pet. 4.14. saith, If you be reproached for the Name of Christ, happy are ye: What follows? For the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon you. These two, [Page 233] sufferings and rejoycings, are mixed and put together: In 1 Thes. 1.6. You have received the Gospel in much affliction, and joy of the Ho­ly Ghost: Much affliction, much persecution, and therefore joy in the Holy Ghost. Suffer­ings for God and Christ, are no bars to the sweetest serenity and most perfect calm of the Soul; notwithstanding these, joy oft rises to the highest, even unto extasie; as some have found: God usually pours out himself very fully at such times. Light, though but a spark, will appear against all the darkness of a whole spacious room; The little light of a twinkling Star, prevails against the darkness of the night: How much more will the light of Gods face, when that shines upon the Soul, prevail a­gainst all the darkness of sufferings that are upon a man? When Peter and Daniel were in great afflictions, God sent his Angel to comfort them. We have examples in our own stories, that do sufficiently witness what the sight and taste of divine Love will do in sufferings: Have not some called the flames beds of Roses? not only things without pain, but of pleasure? Eusebius tells of one that writ to his friend from a stinking Dungeon, and dated his Letter, from my delicate Orch­ard. God so sweetens every condition, even the worst that they undergo for his sake, [Page 234] that they have more contentment and satis­faction of Soul, then a Prince on his Throne. Therefore the Apostle 2 Cor. 7.4. hath these expressions, Great is my boldness of speech to­ward you, great is my glorying of you, I am fill'd with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulations. Strange matter of Joy! He was very glad to hear that they were hunted and persecuted of this world for the Name of Christ, as himself was; because now he knew they should enjoy more of God, and of that which the world knew not. There­fore the Apostle James saith, Account it all joy when you fall into such temptations, when you suffer thus. Other afflictions and tryals usually have less of sweetness in them.

Secondly, True Interest in God, is not al­ways of equal strength and power with Christi­ans. Let a man be supposed to be of a vast estate (such things have been found,) if he doth not keep an exact account of what he hath, he may think himself worse then no­thing; and then will be as a Begger, though he be rich: So a Christian not keeping the account of his Interest clear, may suffer in his Spirit as one that is without God, when indeed he is in the bosom of God. Oh how is our unhappy spirit subject to excursions and wanderings from God! and these are the destruction of our peace, and bring our [Page 235] Souls into a night of sorrow. Asah (of whom I spake before) was out upon this ac­count, because he had lost the sweetness of the enjoyment of God.

Thirdly, God sometimes leaves his people, not only to their sufferings, but to grief, yea and to faintings under their burdens. When God comes in way of Correction, he will have his Rod known to be a Rod, it shall smart. It is true, the ultimate end of it, is to make us more partakers of his holiness; His end is cure, but the way is by grief, and we shall know the weight of his hand when he comes thus: When God comes to visit us, it will be a sharp season. He will not always deny us some comfort from the manifestation of himself to us; but he will so manage the matter, that we shall know he is not pleased with us. But however, there is a vast differ­ence between the people of God, and others; between their impatience under their bur­dens, and that of the world; for God doth maintain his presence in his people, and they find it; it's attended with such a Spirit as this, usually in the worst times they can still plead with God. You have an example in Psal. 44.17. All this is come upon us; yet we have not forgot Thee, nor dealt falsly in thy Co­venant: Our hearts have not turned back, nei­ther have our steps declined from thy Way: [Page 236] And yet they had complained very much in the words before, and shewed a deep sense of the burdens and troubles that lay upon their spirits; yet for all this God was their God, and they had not departed from him. So in Isai. 26.8. In the way of thy Judgments, O Lord, we have waited for Thee; the desire of our Soul is to thy Name, and to the remembrance of it. This is the frame of the spirit of Gods people, that although they complain and be full of sorrows, yet still their affections are towards God; they are unmoveable and unchangeable; our desires are still towards Thee. You know that famous speech of Job in Chap. 13.15. Though he kill me, yet will I trust in him; and yet Job spoke many hard things, and was full of bitterness. And the Church here in this Micah 7. saith, She will wait, and bear the indignation of the Lord, which was heavy upon her, till God came and shewed mercy to her.

Again, Though they are born down, they rise again; all the hurt of their spirits ends in a sweet recovery. In Jer. 31.18. it is said concerning Ephraim, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised; I was as a Bullock unac­customed to the yoke: See what a carriage here was; he was smitten and smitten, but still stout and unquiet, restless and kicking against the Rod; but afterward he saith, [Page 237] Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; though there was before a froward spirit, there is now a praying spirit, that he might be brought unto himself; I was ashamed, saith he, and confounded, because I did bear the re­proach of my youth. The return of Saints is with this double excellency.

1. With a deep self-abhorrency when they find they have fainted in the day of their tryal; when they reflect upon the ill carri­age of their spirits toward God, there is a deep shame falls upon them. Job is an in­stance in Chap. 42. when he saw God, and remembered his own carriage, he saith, I abhor my self in dust and ashes, [in dust and ashes,] that is, he was very much afflicted; for that was the manner of the afflicted, as you may read in Jer. 26. Oh daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and Wallow in Ashes: So in Isai. 61. I will give them beauty for Ashes; that is, in stead of a mourning con­dition, I will put them into a joyful. So in Psal. 73. that good man confesseth concern­ing himself, I was foolish and ignorant, even as a beast before Thee; my carriage was brutish and absurd.

2. They attain also more subjection unto God then before, they have their hearts more bowed to him then before: Discoveries of sin, and restored mercies, do mightily work [Page 238] upon their spirits. In Psal. 39. David after his dis-rest yielded to God, and came to more calmness of spirit; I held my peace, be­cause it was thy doing. The Lord will not lose his people; his end when he comes to smite them, is not to drive them from him: They can say to God, as he said to his Ma­ster, when he was driving him from school with a staff, It's not thy staff can drive me from thee. What father ever used the rod upon his child, that he might alienate the heart of his child from him? Nay, if a father had power to bring the spirit of his child to his own heart, he would do it: God can, and therefore he will. It cannot stand with that infinite goodness which is in God, by afflictions, or any thing else, to separate his people from himself, he having set his own Image upon them: What, would he give the blood of his own Son for them, and suffer them to be thrown away? No, nei­ther will he suffer them to throw themselves away.

CHAP. XXII.

A Second Question is, Quest. 2 If Interest in God be so effectual to lift up Christians spi­rits, whence is it that there is such a poor ragged spirit appearing in some Christians, and that so many weaknesses and frailties are upon them? that so much of contrarie­ty to God and deformity is sometimes in their carriage?

Answer. It is a most deplorable Truth, and to be lamented of all the generation of the righteous, That very few of those that beleeve, do enjoy a clear and constant sight of their Interest in God. Many do often­times bring a damp upon it by their going out from him, they dwell not in him and the hope of glory; for the nature of that is to sanctifie and bring us into a conformity to God. 1 Joh. 3.3. He that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself as he is pure: And, Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not: So far as a mans abiding is in God, so far he is at [Page 240] a greater distance from sin.

2. There is something in the natural temper (I may call it rather unnatural) that very much clouds the beauty of a Christians Conversation. Some things will be in Chri­stians according to that state of the body which they have here: Let a man be strong­ly disposed to anger, fear, grief, or sorrow, these passions will oftentimes appear, be­cause they are in the constitution of the bo­dy; and grace is not so perfect a Physician as to alter the state of it: The end of grace is to bring the worser part into conformity and obedience, and it will do it at last; and in the mean time, where it cannot govern, it will cry out and complain, as the Apostle in Rom. 7. O wretched man that I am, &c.

3. In great tryals the spirits of men are apt to be more serious, solid and contracted, then in smaller matters. A Soldier gathers up his courage, puts on his armor, and will stand to it, when he is assaulted for his life; where­as he minds not the little dog that bites him by the heels. Great spirits oftentimes are mov'd at small things, that are not mov'd at all at greater things. Aaron was sometime stir'd at a less occasion; yet when that sore tryal was upon him, mentioned in Levit. 26. Aaron held his peace: He had a plain sig­nification of the Mind and Will of God [Page 241] in the thing, and he was quiet.

4. Assaults upon our outward man are more visible then corruptions that dwell in us: Sin comes oftentimes stealing and creeping by degrees: so it did upon Solomon; though he was a wise man, yet he was not aware whether he was going.

5. Afflictions and sufferings being things without us, corruptions and sins within us, it's easier for us to bear one then the other. A Gi­ant can bear a burden upon his shoulders, but is not able to bear a little stone in his bladder. The Earth that is not moved by all the storms without, is shaken with a little wind in the body of it.

6. Outward sufferings and tryals usually are more consistent and abiding; but miscarriages, obliquities and deformities are transient things, more sudden, and so surprize us.

The third Question is, Quest. 3 How men that have not God for their God, nor ever tasted the sweetness of his Love, do go through very great tryals and sore afflictions with much strength?

It is to be granted that they do so many times, but never as the Saints do. Answ. Look up­on Saul and David, and see the dispropor­tion of their spirits in their tryals. In Saul evil wrought like it self: The natural pro­duct of affliction is depravation. Affliction [Page 242] stirs up, and puts life and activity into sin: as when you beat a Wolf, you make him more a Wolf then he was before. In 2 Chro. 28.22. it's said of Ahaz, that in the time of his affliction he did add to sin against God; he sin'd more and more: This is that Ahaz; or as some read, This is Ahaz the King, the same. A like phrase you have in Psal. 102.23. Thou art the same. Saul fretted and was angry; his Soul was at dis-rest, and in a rage within him, because he was cross'd, and suffered a frustration of his hopes and designs. This is the natural operation of evil upon such spi­rits; as the Wise-man hath it in Prov. 29.3. The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord; he is an­gry with his condition, and, in that, with God. But see Davids carriage in Psal. 39. I layd mine hand upon my mouth, I held my peace, because it was Thou, O Lord, that didst it. It was a patience not constrained, but from satisfaction of spirit; he saw love in his af­fliction, and that sweetened his Soul. I know, saith he, that in very faithfulness thou hast af­flicted me, Psal. 119.17. Faithfulness is a reach beyond Justice, there is something more of sweetness in it, and that David saw. Saul went out and did not keep his way, but David made streight steps unto his feet. In Psal. 18.21. he gives an account of himself; [Page 243] I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God; or, I have not done wickedly from God; or, as the Chal­dee, I have not walked in my wickedness from God; for all his Judgments were before me, and I did not put away his Statutes from me: they were before me, in mine eye, for obser­vation; before me, in mine heart, for de­light and contentment, and I did not turn my back upon them; or as it is in 2 Sam. 22.23. I turned not away from them: so is the expression there; I was also upright be­fore him, or with him, or I was perfect to him, I was upright to him; all the while I was un­der my sufferings, my wishes, mine affecti­ons, my intentions were unmoveable, they were still toward God, I did not change in my spirit toward God, though he made me to know many changes in my condition; I was tempted to impatience and revenge, but I kept my self from mine evil dispositions and workings; I bridled my spirit, and so preserved my self in his ways.

To be short, Take the most noble and generous spirit in the world, that hath not attained to an enjoyment of God, and you shall find that it is far beneath that spirit which a sight of Interest in God works in his people. Look upon the strength that such a man may possibly have, it is either [Page 244] from meer Reason, whereby he may per­swade himself to patience by the necessity and mutability of things, &c. but this can never lead him into those depths, whereby he shall be filled with those joys and comforts which the sight of Interest in God fills the Soul withall: Or it may be from natural courage; and every man hath something of this, and many beasts have more then men: Job hath told us of the courage of the Horse in Job 39.20. Canst thou make him afraid as the grashopper? And in Chap. 41.33. con­cerning the Leviathan, he saith, that upon the Earth there is not his like, which is made with­out fear; he beholdeth all high things,—he is a king over all the children of pride. But there is often an addition to this natural courage in men from pride both against God and men, and by an influence from this world that strengthens them in their sufferings and hardships. But see a little further the rea­son why many times those men carry it out so stoutly; they do not understand the sig­nificancy and import of their sufferings, as the people of God do: It is true, God intends more evil unspeakably in the sufferings of the one, then of the other; but one hath a hint of it, more then the other: The Unbe­leever understands it not, receives not the message into his judgment, he conceives not [Page 245] that these are tokens of the displeasure and anger of God against him; but the sight of the displeasure of God to a good man is more then any Rod.

Once more, No wonder that they bear so strongly, for it is their Judgment: God pours out a spirit of stupidity and senslessness, a spirit of hardness upon them; as you have it in Rom. 11.8. He pours on them the spirit of slumber: The word properly signifies com­punction, or remorse; but so it reaches not to the Hebrew Text, for the words in the He­brew are in Isai. 29.10. He poured on them the spirit of deep sleep. Some therefore be­cause they see the Hebrew doth speak this, have made the Greek word to speak in ano­ther sence then it is translated; they read it the night, and so make this spirit of com [...]unc­tion to be the spirit of the night: However that may be something strained, yet cer­tainly the word must answer to the Hebrew, and that is a spirit of deep sleep. Now as a man that is asleep hath not a sense of things, so it is with these men. The Apostle useth another expression in the words before in vers. 7. of Rom. 11. The rest were hardened. It was with them as it is with a man that hath a thick skin drawn over him, that hath a part of his flesh become brawny, he cannot re­ceive the sense of things; no more can these: [Page 246] therefore it is no wonder they bear their sufferings so stoutly as they do; it is their Judgment.

CHAP. XXIII.

I Will shut up this Discourse by drawing one Inference from what hath been pre­mised. The Inference is this, If Interest in God be so sweet, so powerful and mighty, how precious and excellent is the enjoy­ment? For that take these few Considera­tions.

First, To have an Interest in God, is much less then to enjoy God. A great difference there is between the meanest Saint and a glorified Spirit; and yet the meanest Saint hath as well an Interest in God, as the highest Crea­ture in Glory. Interest in all things is less then possession. An heir hath not so much sweetness and content in his right and title, as when he comes to have actual possession of that he looks for. A state of meer Interest [Page 247] is a state of expectation; and where there is hope, there is always grief: it's a state of desire, and that imports want; for when there is fulness, desire ceaseth. Therefore you find this to be the temper of the people of God, that having seen their Interest, they long after enjoyment. In 2 Cor. 5. We sigh and groan, saith the Apostle (and he heaps one word upon another) till we come to the fulness of that which we have Interest in.

Secondly, Consider this, That though Interest here be not without some enjoyment of God, yet that enjoyment is far less then it will be. There be four things that make up en­joyment of God.

1. A gracious presence, a sweet effusion or communication of himself to the Soul. It must not be a bare presence, but an active pre­sence; God pouring forth himself. A Child that hath the brest, doth not enjoy it, when he cannot draw the milk. A Garden is not enjoyed by him whose it is, that hath neither flowers nor fruits from it. That which we have of God here, though it be more then we had reason to look for, and is that which the Angels wonder at; yet it is very little to that which we look for in Heaven; it's called the first fruits: it is but the infancy of that blessed state whereto we are adopt­ed. All the enjoyment we have of God in [Page 248] this world is not effectual to the removing of its contrary, that is, to cast out all fear and heaviness, all sorrow and dejection out of the mind. That enjoyment of God which Christ himself had here on Earth did not keep out all fear and sorrow. Fulness is re­served for Heaven.

2. A second thing is, A mind enlightened and enabled to a just comprehension of the ex­cellency of God, and of the sweetness of the pre­sence and love of God. By comprehensive, I mean as much as the faculty can reach and extend unto. But now the mind cannot have an observation of all the emanations of di­vine Love; more then a Child can count the drops of milk which it sucks: We may as well tell the drops of rain in a showre, as tell the particulars of the love of God pour­ed forth upon us: Our minds cannot extend to a just comprehension of that sweetness and love that is in God. It is with us as 'tis with a child that hath a Jewel put into his hand of exceeding great value for the mat­ter of it, and of greater worth for the signi­fication, being the Seal of a Crown to him, but the child knows it not: So the mercies of God are more in their nature and in their end then we can comprehend, they are far above our reach. Our minds are so straiten­ed, that we cannot have a full enjoyment of [Page 249] God here; but if in this life we find so much sweetness in what we do enjoy, what will it be when our Light shall be like the Sun at noon-day?

3. There is requisite a lively sense of the presence of God. The Soul hath its sense as well as the body; nay more, for it's the fountain of sense to the body. In Phil. 1.9. the Apostle prays, that they may abound in all knowledg and sense of the things of God. As the body receives its life from things by the senses, so doth the Soul also receive its life in the sweetness and comfort of the presence of God by its spiritual sense. Take away sense, and a man is as a dead thing, and all things are dead to him; and the presence of God would be a dead thing to the Soul, if it were not for the Souls sense of it; I mean the spiritual sense, which the Church speaks of, Cant. 2.3. I sat under his shadow, and his fruit was pleasant to my taste. But now the sense of the Soul hath here a dulness upon it, it's short of that quickness to which it was appointed; therefore we cannot have that full enjoyment of God here, as hereafter. But if what we do enjoy now be so sweet, what will the enjoyment be, when the Soul shall be so full of sense?

4. A perfect love of God is required to a full enjoyment of God. Love must be in its ut­most [Page 250] height and heat, if the Soul have a compleat and full enjoyment of God. Take two persons never so qualified and furnished to make the life of both comfortable, if there be not love, there cannot be a happy enjoyment of these two. As a man loves a thing, so he enjoys it when he hath it: So, as a man loves God, so he will cleave to him, and pour out himself in a blessed frui­tion of him: As our love is, so is our life and enjoyment. Though our enjoyment of God here be imperfect and weak, yet it's of that strength, that it conquers and bears up the heart against all afflictions whatsoever: Therefore there must needs be a far great­er sweetness in the fulness of this Enjoy­ment.

Thirdly, A third Consideration is this; Let our enjoyment here be what it will, it is mixt with many sorrows, many wants, ma­ny straits, both within and without: our life is such here, that our afflictions many times seem to out-weigh our enjoyments; they strike quick upon the sense, and come too near the spirit: Hence it is that you some­times find good men complain more of one affliction, then they mention a thousand mercies. Our life here is mix'd: 1 Thes. 1.6. You have received the Word with much afflic­tion, and with joy; they are mingled. Now I [Page 251] say, If the Consolations of God from that little enjoyment of him here in the midst of many sufferings be so sweet and precious, that it bears the Soul up above all; what then will the full enjoyment of God be in that Land of Rest, where is light and no darkness, life and no death, all good and no evil?

Fourthly, The enjoyment of God here is subject to many interruptions. Sometimes by our sinful diversions from God, the Soul goes out from the bosom of the Father, minding other things, and so our hearts are taken and brought into an estrangedness from God, to a poor kind of delight in o­ther things. As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that is out of his place, Prov. 27.8. Surely a man is never more out of his place, then when he goes out from God; and then he is like a bird that is gone from her nest; she knows not where to rest, but is troubled to find the way home again, and to recover the loss that she hath brought up­on her self by her foolish wandering.

Sometimes there is an interruption by the appointment of God. God will not always have you lie at the brests of Consolation; nay, saith God, when his people are sitting by the Well of the Water of Life, This must not be all your work, I'le have you [Page 252] about this business, and that employment: Now these interruptions do lessen our life and our happiness; but the time will come when we shall always live in the presence of our Father, and our minds shall be encum­bred with nothing else, but we shall be filled and blessed with the vision of God.

Sometimes this interruption is caused by Gods going out from us; there be recesses and retreats of God; he sometimes out of his wisdom shadows his love and favour: but in Heaven there will be always a full, visible and clear presence.

Fifthly, The enjoyment of God must needs be sweet, because it is such as fills the whole ca­pacity of the Soul; and when there is fulness, there is rest. When a man hath what he can wish, he can go no further. At thy right hand are Rivers of pleasure, and in thy presence is fulness of joy for evermore, Psal. 16. ult. The Apostle in Acts 2.28. something alters the expression that is used in the Psalms, Thou hast made me glad with thy Countenance. The sense of the good presence and favour and love of God, doth fill the Soul with plea­sure; and when it can hold no more, it hath enough.

Let the issue of all this Discourse be to set our hearts a longing and wishing, O that I were blessed with a full enjoyment of God! [Page 253] O that I had as much of him as ever I shall or can have! The Soul that is thus in tra­vel, travels without pain. The Mind reach­ing after other things, oftentimes out­stretcheth it self: There are usually, if not always, pains with desires, especially in de­sires after the Creature, because that often­times there is a frustration of our desires, or an elongation of the things, the things are far off, hard to come by; our desires often­times are mute, they speak not; or the things that we desire, know not our minds: but our desires after God always speak, they are open unto God, he heareth their voyce. All my desires are before Thee, saith David, Psal. 38.8. and my groanings are not hid from Thee. Therfore it must needs be sweet, when the Soul lies thus open unto God. Other desires do not assure and secure a man in the things he desires; a man may wish this, and wish that, and go without both: but the Soul that thus longs after God, is instated in his wish, hath a present enjoyment, and certainly shall have a full enjoyment of him. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him, God will hear them, Psal. 145.16. They that long most, receive most; it's the hungry spirit that feeds best, and fares best. When the Church was sick of love, being very much taken with what she had, and much [Page 254] longing after what she wanted; then she could say, I am my Beloveds, and my Beloved is mine, his desire is towards me, in Cant. 7.10. That refreshed her; the Greek reads it, his Conversion is towards me; indeed God will turn to those that go out toward him: In Isai. 64.5. He meets those that work righteous­ness, and seek him in his ways.

Again, Consider this, That longing after a full enjoyment is the natural effect of a known Interest in God. Look through all the Orders of the Creation, and you shall find that eve­ry thing seeks the enjoyment of its Interest; Angels do, Men do, Beasts do, they seek their own, their own pastures, their own young, their own mates. Can you imagine that we should be the Children of God, and account him our Father, and not long to enjoy him? A child hears from his father, and receives tokens from his father, but he is not con­tented, he would be with his father: So it is truly with a Child of God; so far as he hath received of that Spirit, he longs to en­joy God. Interest in God works by a pow­er of its own, and God works in it too: God pursues his Interest in us to the utmost; therefore he is working us to himself by all means, all ways, by good and evil, by life, by mortality and death, by the senses, by Ordinances, by his Spirit; He is always at [Page 255] work to bring us home, that we may be in his possession, and enjoy him. And to make it the more full, he hath appointed the breaking of these bodies, that our spirits may come more full to him; nay, and he hath appointed a day of Resurrection, that our bodies may come full to him; and this is one great end of Christs coming again, in Joh. 14. that we may be with him in his Fa­thers house. If God so drives on his Interest to make us perfect with him, let us drive on our Interest to make God fully ours in the enjoyment of him.

Lastly, There is nothing to hinder in this Case, that you should not drive on to a full and perfect enjoyment of him. Are you full in this world? should your full enjoyments of the world hinder your full enjoyments of God? Is not God better then these things? Are you scanted in this world? The more need you have then of the fullest enjoy­ments of God. Have you much of God? You know the more what God is, and can you chuse but desire him? Have you little of God? Then you need more, and should drive on to get more. Are you sure of your Interest? Where Interest is most sure, there is most love; and where the Soul loves most, thither it drives most. Do you fear your Interest? You have so much the more [Page 256] reason to seek after a full enjoyment of God to the satisfaction of your Souls. What do you think should stand in the way? You must part with the world; What is this world to your Fathers house, and to God himself? You must dye; What is death? Cannot that everlasting life recompence you infinitely? Therefore there is nothing to hinder you. Then seeing God invites you and provokes you to seek more of him in this world, though you cannot have all, I conjure you by all the sweetness that is in God, and that you have found in God, that you obey his Word herein, and drive on more dili­gently and strongly to a more full enjoy­ment of God.

CHAP. I.

I Have chosen this excellent Pattern (to propose to you and to my self) of an ingenuous spirit. David, a man after Gods own heart, would be saved, but not after the manner of the men of this world, that would be saved to be their own, and to enjoy themselves at their own wills; but he in being saved would be Gods, and at his disposing; I am thine, save me. There are three things here that would be thought on.

[Page 2]1. What David means when he saith, I am thine.

2. What the Reason should be that we should use such an acknowledgment of our selves to be Gods when we pray to him.

3. What force there is in this argument to be pleaded with God, I am thine, save me.

Thine] We are said to be Gods, either by way of affection, as the Church, Cant. 2.16. I am my well-beloveds, and my well-beloved is mine: Or in respect of that Interest that God hath in us. The Interest of God in man is upon a twofold Foundation and Ac­count.

1. Upon account of the Law of Nature, the natural Law, which doth set God as Lord over all, and acknowledg him su­preme Commander of every thing, because he is the Original and glorious Fountain of all Being. Upon that account it is that in Psal. 89.11. it is said, The Heavens are thine, and the Earth also is thine; as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. There is the ground of that Dominion which God hath over all things; they are his off­spring, things that himself hath made. And in Psal. 50.12. God owns himself in this So­veraignty; The Heavens are mine, and the Earth is mine, and all that in them is. To be [Page 3] able no otherwise to say, I am thine, is but sad. In a family, the meanest things that are scarce fit to be retained in the house, are his to whom the house belongs: All things are Gods, even the meanest creatures; and to have no other relation to God then this, is but to be in the condition of things most contemptible. In Deut. 10.14. God speaks of a better relation to his people; Behold, the Heavens, and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lord thy Gods, the Earth also with all that therein is: Now the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and chose his seed after them, even you above all people, as appeareth this day. We must be his upon a better ac­count then that of Creation.

There is a second Interest that God hath in man, and that is acquired; and that partly by Redemption, God having redeemed both by price and power a certain number to himself out of the lump of mankind; these in an especial manner are his. So Isai. 43.1. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel, Fear not, I have re­deemed thee, I have called thee by name, thou art mine. [I have redeemed thee,] that is, I have delivered thee from the great power of the mighty Ones that bare Rule over thee, and under whom thou sufferedst hard things: Therefore thou art mine. This [Page 4] we know is a Law that is amongst men, That those that are conquered, and saved from the sword, become his by whom they are so subdued.

There is a second acquired Interest that God hath in man, and that is by Contract; wherein man engageth himself to a resigna­tion of himself to God: In which sence David spake also, when he said, I am thine. The Contract between God and man, which is the foundation of this Interest, is a mutual engaging to be each others, according to their capacities. I'le not insist upon opening this description, but will a little hint at some of those strange things that are in this Con­tract between God and man: And,

First, A word as to Gods part. It's a Con­tract where there is the greatest disparity that is imaginable between the two parties: For here is he that is the highest, and the other party that is lower then the lowest and meanest creature, more contemptible then the worm. Princes do not make con­tracts with beggers, and yet they may have need of such, though not for their assistance, yet as theaters to display their bounty and goodness on. God needs not the whole Creation to set forth his glory, who is abso­lute in himself, God al sufficient.

To this add that disparity that is between [Page 5] the things which God requires of man, and the things which God engageth himself to do for man. Was there ever such a Con­tract made? Saith God, Do you but your part, which is not a thousand part of what is due, and I'le do my part; What is that? More then he did at first indent for; I'le give you an eternal, immutable life, and that in my own Presence and Kingdom.

You may cast your eyes from that again, and wonder more at the Mediator, by whom and through whom this Covenant, this Contract was made: God sends his own Son into the world, both to bespeak man to be willing to enter into this Con­tract, and to seal up the Contract with his own blood.

That part which concerns man, his re­signing of himself unto God, which is an absolute parting with himself, and putting himself everlastingly under the power, wis­dom, and soveraignty of God, to be com­manded, ordered and disposed in all things by him according to his Will. I shall now set before you certain peculiar things that are proper to this engagement of man, and resignation of himself unto God.

1. In resigning of our selves to God, there is an act springing from the greatest necessity, and wherein there is the greatest li­berty [Page 6] and freedom of spirit. It was ill done to put these two into a contrariety and oppo­sition, Necessity and Freedom, which do most perfectly agree: By how much the more any creature is excellent, by so much the more he is necessarily what he is, and yet most freely such. The Angels love God necessarily, and yet most freely: Nay God himself is good most necessarily, and yet is so, and doth good most freely.

This might be manifested in sundry In­stances, where there is some degree of neces­sity, and also a very excellent freedom and willingness. As for example; Take two friends fully suited to each other, their hearts are necessarily carried to mutual em­braces, and yet most freely. It is in this case as in flying from evil; a man flies from evil by a kind of enforcement, and yet freely, especially from some great evil; when he sees there is a necessity to fly, he cannot but fly, and yet doth it freely.

In resigning of our selves to God, that which is the fundamental reason of it, lays upon the Spirit of a man a strong necessity, and yet leaves that spirit in a very sweet and excellent freedome, Psal. 110.10. You have both these exprest, Thy people shal be willing in the day of thy power, in the day when thou putest forth thy power, who wilt [Page 7] rule in the midst of thine enemies, and raise up to thy self a Kingdome not onely among strangers, but Rebels; in this day of thy power thy people shal be willing, yea willing­nesses, very willing: they shall come to thee, with all earnestness. The will of a man may truly and in good fence be subject to com­pulsion, and yet not limited in its free­dom, it may be compel'd; how? Not by meer physicall power acting upon the Spi­rit of a man, but by a moral power, by force of Arguments and Reasons proposed, and set on the soul; so Sauls servants com­pel'd him to eat bread, 1 Sam. 28. And they were sent to command and to compell them to come to the Feast. Indeed this inforcing and commanding reason is the great instrument of the power of God, whereby he com­mands the spirits of those whom he loves in­to obedience to himself. This is the key that opens the heart, as it is said, Acts 16.14. God opened the heart of Lydia. Resignation of a mans self to God is from the efficacie of Gods mighty appearance and manifestation of himself to the soul of a man, by which he is over powr'd and cannot deny God; but notwithstanding this necessity he doth most freely fall under the power that acts upon him.

2. A second thing concerning Resigna­tion, [Page 8] is, that Self is saved by being destroyed, it lives [...]y death; A man finds himself by losing himself, and doth best enjoy himself by parting with himself. There is a great mistake, and it is the fascination and witche­ry of the powers of darkness upon the spirits of men, that by Nature (corrupt nature) we are apt to think, that the giving of our selves to God, is the giving of our selves away to our loss; whereas it is our making; it's not the straitning, but the perfecting of our free­dom▪ Take it in this Similitude. A poor woman that lives in rags, hath the honor and happiness of being wife to a great Prince offered her; for her now to give up her self, is no way to straiten her freedom, or di­minish her happiness; for she will enjoy her self better as a Queen, then as a Begger. So by resigning our selves unto God, we lose no liberty, nor any thing that is good; but enjoy our selves in greater amplitude and fulness of all happiness. So that for a man to give himself to God, is self-love in the height of it, and there is no true self-love but this: for a man to think to love himself in ways of separation from God, or in op­position to God, is to hate himself, in the appearance of love; but this is true self-love, that makes me give my self to God, and be subject to him.

[Page 9]3. Resigning of our selves to God is an act of the greatest joy, and the greatest grief. Of the greatest joy and contentment; for when once the Soul is blest with such a life from above, as over-powers a man, and makes him surrender himself to God, now he is in his first and proper Center. The whole state of men out of God, is nothing but a constant course of confusion, and rest­less motion; who by reason of darkness and want of judgment, by reason of hard­ness and want of sense, may think they are well, may think they are at home, when they are not; but are like men fallen asleep in a strange place; so is every man that is out of God. But when the heart is brought home to God, it is in its place. Do you think the Prodigal had not more rest in his Fathers house, then among the Swine? Now a man sees what a blessed change is wrought in his condition, that he is come now into a state of Reconciliation with God, and of unspeakable advancement of his nature; that he is advanced to the great­est freedom, to the greatest honor and riches, to the best life every way; and so this Resignation is an act of the greatest Joy.

It's likewise such a work as is with the greatest grief. These two will stand toge­ther, [Page 10] neither can they be parted; every mans grief is as his joy is. Consider these two things.

1. That when a man is brought to God, he is put into a state of Judgment and Inge­nuity; so that now he sees things as they are, and looks upon the wrongs he hath done against God with another eye: an in­genuous spirit can no more forbear mourn­ing, then a stone can forbear falling to the Center.

2. Think on this also, that Gods end in bringing back the creature, is such as cannot be accomplished without this mourning. For his end is the Exaltation of his Grace: Grace is no grace to an unbroken spirit; Sermons of mercy are but empty sounds to a man that knows not what sorrow is. God intends to make Christ precious; but what is a salve, a plaister, though the best in the world, to a man that is whole? Christ came indeed to save the miserable; but that man that is not brought to see his misery, and mourn over it, cares not for Christ.

Gods end is the engaging of the Creature to himself: but that man will never think himself beholding to God, that knows not what he hath done against God. But when he sees what a wretch he hath been, and his heart is stricken within him, and he lies [Page 11] melting in sorrow, and clothed with shame before God; now he thinks body and Soul too little for God; now if he had a thou­sand lives, they should all go for God; now he saith, What can I render to the Lord? &c.

Gods end is to bring his people in so, that they may be fast when they are in, that they may not go forth again. But he that thinks himself off from sins that he never mourn'd for, and thinks he hath escaped evil courses that he hath not been broken for, will return again. A mourning spirit makes a Christian stedfast in his course, and this will be a bar between him and his lust; He that knows not to mourn, knows nor to stand fast: Certainly where there is not a spirit of mourning, that man hath not re­sign'd himself to God to this day: For that which is the principle of such self-resigna­tion, doth by its vertue also work mourn­ing, abasement, and brokenness of heart. If the sight of God in all his goodness be that which moves and draws the Soul as with a cord unto God, that very goodness of God which is so apprehended will also break and melt the Soul. In Jer. 8.6. saith God, I harkened and heard, but they spake not aright; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battel. This peo­ple [Page 12] made many promises, that they would walk better with God; but being not touch'd with an effectual sense of their inju­rious dealings with God, they repented not; Therefore they returned every man to his own ways, &c.

If any one now should say, I have little of this sorrow, and therefore do suspect my self;

I answer, 1. There is a passionate mourn­ing, which lies in weeping, crying and howl­ing; and this every one hath not.

2. There is a mental mourning, where a man sees the things to be mourned for, and where he hath such a spirit, that carries him against his way, and against himself, and is full of wishes; O that I had never been so against God, and O that I might never do so again; and makes the Soul walk hum­bly; it cannot be proud now, nor lift up it self, because it remembers what it hath been and done against God. Canst thou find these things in thy self?

3. Again, There is a mourning of pure necessity; not willingly and contentfully, but so as a man cannot avoyd it: God presents himself angry, and shews sin in its colour, and then not an Ahab nor a Judas can for­bear mourning; but this mourning is bit­terness: But true mourning is sweet, sweeter [Page 13] then all the comforts in the world: A right spirit puts the sweetness of Heaven in mourning; God cannot please him better with any thing, then by touching his spirit, and laying it low before him. If then thine heart be touched of God, and thou love him, and feel some meltings, thou rejoycest, and purst not off this sorrow, but bids it welcome; and when God as a Father re­bukes thee, thou blessest him, and lovest him.

4. There is a mourning that is by fits, not habitual. The veriest hypocrite in the world you may find sometimes in his closet before God, and he will be weeping and mourn­ing, and taking on heavily by fits; but take him a while after, and he is like the dry ground after a Land flood, hard as a stone. True mourning is another frame of spirit, wherein the spirit in an usual course is car­ried with abasement, and a secret lamenting within; O wretch that I am! how have I lived? thus and thus have I done: He min­gles the comforts of this world with these sorrows, and will have place for this mourn­ing in the midst of all things, and cannot but oftentimes have his eye upon himself, like Paul, I was a Persecuter, and a Blas­phemer, &c.

5. Again, There is a mourning that is [Page 14] afflicting, but not changing. Many trouble and vex themselves upon the remembrance of their ways, a fire burns in their bowels that they cannot extinguish, but it doth not purge them from their dross; their tears be salt and brinish, but not healing; they hang down their heads, and walk sadly, but carry the same spirit still against God: so Ahab; so they in 1 Sam. 7.6. Upon Samuels coun­sel to them; they gathered together at Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured out before the Lord, and fasted, and said, We have sinned a­gainst the Lord. [They drew water,] It's con­ceived, that this drawing of water is an ex­pression of their mourning, and their ex­ceeding mourning; and they fasted, which is an addition, and confessed, saying, We have sinned against the Lord: But it came to lit­tle, as you may see in the eighth Chapter. Thou mournest aright when thine heart is changed, and when thy mourning tends to the killing of thy sin.

A fourth thing concerning this Resigna­tion, is, that it is but in part, and yet is cer­tainly in the whole. It is in part, for no man hath actually, perfectly given himself to God; in this very gift and holy act of Re­signation there is imperfection, and some­thing wanting, and much more in the execu­tion of this engagement all along: Yet not­withstanding [Page 15] this Resignation is whole and entire, partly in Gods acceptance; God is pleased to take it so, to take a part for the whole, as much as man can do, as if all were done. And it is whole and entire in mans intention and desire: Though the desire be not perfect, and the intent not perfect as to the degree, yet both reach to the extent of of that which God calls for: Less then this cannot be in a good man, and a man beloved of God; A man cannot say, I am thine, if he come not to this. For consider, God treating with man about this work, when he comes to plead for a Resignation, he treats not for part, but for all. Besides, when man comes to plead with God, he pleads not for part, but for all; he would be saved, not in body alone, but in Soul too; he would be perfectly saved. And take this also, that God gives himself wholly unto man; if he did not give him his Wisdom, and Power, and Love, man could not love him; for how could we love him, if his Wisdom, Power, or any of his glorious Attributes, were against us? God gives himself to man wholly.

Again, God cannot take less then all: for to accept of a partial resignment, and to in­dulge a man a right and power over himself to live according to his own will, is to act [Page 16] against those very Laws of his, which Na­ture cannot dispense with: As to take that which is the first and fundamental Law, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy Soul, and with all thy might.

If any now upon the apprehension of the truth of this should say, This makes me fear and suspect my self, because I do not find that this giving up of my self is so entire and compleat;

I would have such consider, that Resig­nation lies not so much in doing and being all that God requires, as in willingness to be and to do all. It is necessary to be and to do all that God requires, and we are obliged to this; but this Resignation lies chiefly in this, in being willing to be and to do so: that is a speech methinks that falls pat with the condition of the people of God, Neh. 1.11. O Lord, let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy Name.

But let there be no mistake; for when I say, Resignation lies chiefly in a willingness to be and to do all that God requires, mark what kind of willingness it is, it must be such as is vigorous, as puts on to endevors, so that it sets the Soul down mourning when it finds shortness of power. I add this, lest any (as the world oftentimes doth) should hurt [Page 17] himself by such an excuse as this, I confess I do not, but I would do well; my ways are not good, but I like them not; my heart is better: The world will one day see how destructive and fallacious these pleas are.

Again, There is a great difference between sin dwelling in us, and sin entertained by us; between sin remaining, and sin reserved: Re­servation of sin is against the nature of this absolute Resignation; but a man that truly resigns himself, may and doth want power to cast forth of doors every sin, and every de­gree of it: No man that hath resigned him­self to God, doth entertain it; he doth not like it, nor comply with it; he doth not plot, conspire, or devise how he may save and en­joy his sin; he lives not in the purposes of it; this is against the nature of resigning our selves to God.

5. This work of Resignation is a work once done, and yet always doing. When God hath so wrought upon the heart by effectual perswasions, and his mighty power, God saith, I am thy God, and the Soul answers in truth, And I am thine: Now is the Resigna­tion actually made. But though this be done, yet it is still always doing while we are in this world; nay to Eternity: for it's a thing that consists of an iteration of multi­plied acts. As Wedlock is not one single act [Page 18] of giving of persons each to other; but if they live like married persons as they should, there is a dayly giving of themselves each to other; their hearts go out every day with complaceney and delight, rejoyc­ing in renewing the bond, and making the league yet firmer and firmer. It's so be­tween God and us.

6. This Resignation is such a thing, as when 'tis once done, is never undone. Herein this Contract of man with God differs from all others in the world, for all other Con­tracts have a time to cease: By Contract one becomes another mans servant for a time. The most durable Contract is that of Marriage; yet it admits of a double breach, by death or by divorce: But here neither of these take place; there's no divorce after marriage with God, and no death comes unto that Soul which becomes his: for these two things hold such a man.

1. The infinite goodness of God, with which the Soul is so satisfied and contented, that it cannot in any constant course and stay continue, and give up it self to any o­ther thing; no more then a man can be willing to leave the light of the Sun, to go to live where there is no light but of a Can­dle; or to forsake Paradise if he were in it, to live in a Desart.

But besides, There is not only infinite goodness as an attractive object to hold the Soul of man when once come to God, but the almighty Power of God that holds us to himself, and keeps in his way the spirits of such as have resigned themselves unto him. If he that had a bird fly into his brest at Sea would not kill it, because it came thither for refuge; how much more will God pre­serve those who commit themselves to him? You are kept, saith the Apostle, 1 Pet. 1.5. by the mighty power of God through faith unto Salvation.

If any should say here again, Is it so where there is a resignation of the Soul to God? I fear I am mistaken that break my Covenant dayly; I have said I would be his, but have broken my word, in many things have walked after the counsel of my own heart:

I answer; The Covenant between God and Man in Christ is not broken in particu­lar actions, but when violence is offered to the whole Law of this Contract. There is this difference between this Covenant and the first Covenant made with Adam; Man stood so engaged, that one breach, one fail­ing undid him, and discharged God; but this Contract is of a more excellent nature, so that it is not this sin and that, nor another [Page 20] sin that dissolves the Covenant; though they be sins against it, and injuries against God, yet God doth not hold himself dis­charged to cast off his people for them. As it is with a father and his child, and with the husband and the wife; every angry word or neglect of carriage in either, is a sin a­gainst that relation, but not to occasion one to cast off the other: but when violence is offered to the whole Law of that relation, this makes a dissolution.

And then though all the People of God have cause to be humbled f r sinning against a Covenant so firm, and against such grace and mercy therein; yet let them know they have no reason to be discouraged: for though through sin that dwells in them they may be over-ruled in this or that, yet that very sin tends to the destruction of sin, and God doth break sin by sin, as one wave breaks another, or as one heat destroys ano­ther: And as inward diseases are cured by breaking out; and Rats and Mice, by com­ing out of their holes, being discovered, are destroyed; and as evil roots that are in the Earth, when they appear and shew them­selves, it tends to their eradication: so God out-reaches the Devil in his design, who thinks by sin to destroy the Soul, and God by sin destroys sin.

The Consideration of the nature of that Engagement wherein the Souls of Saints have engaged themselves to God, should be such, that sin should be more bitter to them, more dreadful then Hell it self; and it is hardly possible that a man upon the know­ledg of the excellency of that grace in this Covenant, should embolden himself to sin against God.

CHAP. II.

NOw we come to consider the End of this Resignation of our selves to God, to what end or for what we do resign our selves unto him. I shall express it in these two things.

First, To be governed and ordered by God in all our motions, both inward and outward. When we come to God, we come in a state of subordination, as inferiors; and the end of our coming to God is [that he might] restore us to our primitive state, with some additional grace and favor; which state was a state of Communion with God, but yet in subjection to God. To be under the [Page 22] government of God, lies in these two things.

• 1. To have the Will of God to be our Bounds.
• 2. To have it to be our Pattern and Rule.

The Will of God is that which must so circumscribe and confine us, as that we are not left at liberty to any action of our own, but we must do it by order. There is no creature which God hath made, but he hath set certain limits to it, which it should not pass; as David speaks of the Sea, Psal. 104.9. God hath set bounds to it, which it cannot pass, which it cannot go beyond. So God, though he hath given unto man a larger compass in point of activity, yet he hath not left him without bounds; he hath bounded his time, and hath set bounds to his power; as Job speaks, Chap. 14.5. His days are de­termined, and the number of his months are with thee: Thou hast appointed him bounds, which he cannot pass. Laws are very often expressed by the name of Bounds; and in Hos. 5.10. it's said concerning the Princes of Israel, that they were as those that removed the bounds: That is, as fields are set out by Boundaries, and every man thereby knows his own, and is to keep within his compass; so God hath bounded these Princes and all [Page 23] the people by Laws and Constitutions which he had given them; but they offered violence to his Laws, and removed the Bounds, to enlarge themselves unduly.

To be bounded by God, is to do nothing but what God either doth command or war­rant. In 1 King. 14.8. it's said to Jeroboam, God rent the Kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee; and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my Commandments, and followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; that is, it was his dayly disposition, de­sire, intention, and endevor; not that he did so indeed; for God himself in the very next Chap. makes an exception, at ver. 5. he saith, that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. That is to be bounded, when a man doth nothing but what he is commanded or warranted.

All things are not commanded that we may do, but Commands and Warrants are the utmost latitude of that freedom which is left to us; we have no further to go, indeed we need not; there is scope enough to keep within these limits. Psa. 119.96. saith David, I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy Commandments are exceeding large: That is [Page 24] as if he should say, I have walked over the fair fields of every creature, I have looked to the extent of all goodness in them, and I could see beyond it; but when I look upon the Commandments of God, the Word of God, as it is either mandatory or promisory, it is of so vast dimensions, so exceeding great, that it exceeds all things in this world; here is room enough for the spirit of a man that is in true subjection unto God.

Nay, as we have no need to step beyond this bound, so if we do, it is extravagancy and dan­gerous, and not freedom, but bondage; it is but as a man that steps out of his way, and falls into a pit; or as a man that steps from his habitation, and slips into a prison; it is a dangerous thing for us to enlarge: Hosea 4.6. For this very thing God threatened them; he saith, Because they had withdrawn from him, that he would feed them as a lamb in a large place: Israel slides back as a backsliding heifer; now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. Like a lamb in a large place; What's that? Like a lamb not kept within her fold, and appointed pastures, under the super-vision and care of a vigilant Pastor and Shepherd, but left to ramble at its own will: Indeed God saith, Because they would not be content to live within the bounds that he had set them, he would en­large [Page 25] them by captivity, they should wander from Country to Country.

And as to have the Mind of God our Bounds, is to do nothing but what is agreeable to his Will, so it is to do all that he requireth. This is that which the Lord thy God requireth of thee, to do all these things that he hath com­manded thee, saith Moses. All must be done, both that wherein we are concerned in com­mon with all men, and that which we receive by particular charge from God. Every one of us, besides the general bonds that lie upon us as men, hath something that lies upon us in respect of our particular charge, place, relation, and condition. Look to your selves in this, that you find your selves bounded here by God, else you are at large, and free from righteousness. You have many people that will in some measure keep pace with the Commandment in general things; the worst of men will hear, and pray, &c. but look to them in their places, and there you shall find them extreamly deficient, refrac­tory, and exorbitant: So far indeed as a Command of God falls in with their inte­rest and advantage, they will own it; thus even the worst of men are often diligent in their callings, because they live by them: But look upon those Commands that do most try them, wherein they have most oc­casion [Page 26] to discover what their spirit is, and there you shall find them like wilde Asses, untamed creatures, children of Belial, with­out yoke, living according to no Rule. Those relations especially which are in sub­ordination, are so ill managed through a spirit of pride, that hates all superintenden­cy, and whatsoever is above it, that to this day they are the burden of the world. But whosoever it is that doth not own God in all things, that man is not bounded by God, and so is his own man, he is left to the guidance of a miserable and destructive creature.

When we give our selves to God, to be commanded and governed by him, it is to a subjection that is absolute, and not conditi­onal. When you take a servant, it may be he'l say to you when you bid him do this and that, It was none of my bargain, I am contented to be your Steward, but not to serve you in the Stable; I am contented thus far to serve you, but here is my bounds. But when we come to God there is no such treaty; we come to serve God absolutely, to be at his command absolutely in every thing whatsoever: For the Law of God is indivisible and indispensible; if you cannot give your selves to the obedience of all, you have done nothing: He that offends in one, is [Page 27] a transgressor of the whole Law, Jam. 2.10. that is, he transgresseth the authority of the whole Law, and he transgresseth the sence and meaning of the Law; which was, not that we should hold our selves obliged in many things, and free in some other, but that we should subject and submit our selves to God in every thing; you do nothing, if not all things. As in a journey of a hundred miles, if you be content to go ninety nine and no more, you lose the end if you stop there. If God tell you, These are my words, and I'le have them all looked to; and you look to many, but not to all; at that one gap you enter into death, and by that one thing neglected you shut your selves out of eternal life: If there be any one way where­in you do not submit unto God, in that you are lost. Numb. 14.24. it's said of Caleb (in comparison of the rest of the people) But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit, and followed me fully. The people did some­thing, yea many things that God required of them, but at some they stuck, and came not off with subjection; But saith God, My servant Caleb had another spirit, and he follow­ed me fully, or wholly; he did whatsoever I commanded: and that must be the compass of our obedience. The Will of God must be our bounds, which we must not pass; [Page 28] and to the utmost compass thereof we must endeavor.

2. To be under the Command and Go­vernment of God, is when the Will of God is our Rule and Pattern; so that we act not the things only that are enjoyned, but as they are enjoyned and commanded. You have an example of this in that holy man, Ezra 10.3. When as Ezra, and others of the Rulers with him, had declared themselves against the sin of the Congregation in min­gling themselves in marriage with strangers, and had humbled themselves before God with the people; Shechaniah stood up, as in vers. 2. and saith thus, Now therefore let us make a Covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, accord­ing to the Counsel of the Lord, and let it be done according to the Law. The Law in case of transgression, what doth it require? That we return from our obliquities and wander­ings with mourning and with abasement; that we reform speedily and vigorously, with a deep sense of our going from God: So would he have their strange wives and children to be put out from among the peo­ple of God without delay, and with a deep sense of that transgression by which they had offended God.

This may suffice to have spoken of the [Page 29] first Branch of the end of our Resignation, that is to be commanded by God, and to be under his Government.

The second is, That we be disposed by him according to his Will: Now that lies in these two things.

1. In a contentation of mind in every con­dition wherein God sets us; to be at peace and silent in our spirits towards God, to be an­swered in our hearts, what ever condition God in his wisdom sees good to put us into. This is a blessed Lesson to them that have learned it: Paul had, and every good man hath in his measure; Phil. 4.11. I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. The Greek word for contentment imports self-sufficiency: That man is well that doth thus; he is as if he had all, as pos­sessing all things, and yet wanting all things. Our English word and the Latin imports a spirit bounded, the spirit of a man contained and kept within his compass, and not like water let out of a vessel, that runs hither and thither, and is lost, but kept within its bounds.

There is a contentment from the object, the thing we enjoy, as when that doth fully an­swer our expectation: but that is not thank­worthy; when a man hath what his heart desires, when nothing is wanting, there not [Page 30] to quarrel is no great vertue. But it's a Con­tentment that ariseth from Reason and Judg­ment, when though a mans condition be not so pleasing, yet in respect of him by whom he is disposed, and in respect of the end of it, and in respect of the ingredients wherewith God mingles his state, he is at rest. Not that this requires an excluding of all desire to have his state otherwise, or an excluding of all grief under the sense of any evil of a mans condition; but that the heart run not inor­dinately and impetuously with desires after change, when it is not well with us; nor are we dejected and sowred in our spirits, because it is ill with us. When Christ was near unto death, and that Cup ready to be reached in­to his hand, he had a desire to escape it, and vented his desire in prayer; If it be possible let this Cup pass from me. But as it was the glory of Jesus Christ to submit to his Fa­thers Will, so here is the excellency of Con­tentment in a Christian, when though he can truly say, and may say, My case is hard, and there is much in it to afflict nature; yet I will lay my hand upon my mouth, that I offend not with my tongue; I will lie quietly under the Hand and Will of God.

That's one Branch of our Willingness to be disposed by God, to be contented in eve­ry [Page 31] state wherein God sets us; and he that understands not this, hath not yet known God, nor seen him; I mean, he that doth not this, nor can do it, is a stranger to God.

2. A second Branch of being willing to be at Gods disposing, is an indifferency of mind in respect of any possible change where­unto we are called according to the Wisdom and Will of God; to be willing to be changed, and poured as water from vessel to vessel according to the Will of God. You shall find an eminent example of this in David, 2 Sam. 15.25. When Zadock was by the Ark, the King said to him, Carry back the Ark of God into the City; if I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me hither again, and shew me both it and his habitation; but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee, be­hold, here I am, let him do with me as seemeth him good. This must be the language of eve­ry spirit that doth own God as his Sove­raign, to whom he hath subjected himself: What are those that are the people of God, but as sheep before the Shepherd, that must change their pasture at their Shepherds will and wisdom? What are they but as Soldi­ers that must march hither and thither as they are cammanded? or as vessels in the house, that stand to be filled or emptied ac­cording [Page 30] to pleasure? or as servants that must go and come as they are bid, and not to stay in any place at their wills? There are two things contrary to this frame of spi­rit, which must be looked to, and taken heed of.

1. The first is, An eager and over-vehe­ment prosecution after any good that we want, any thing that we would have, or be in this world; as it was with Rachel, Give me chil­dren, or else I dye. The Soul that runs out thus after any thing in this present world, is a Soul without bounds, hath cast off God, denyed his Soveraignty, Authority and Command over him.

2. A second thing that is contrary to this, is an obstinate cleaving or holding to any state or condition in the world, be it never so amiable, sweet or suitable to our desires: To hold this fast, and not to be willing to go out of it when God bids us, is to deny God; it is not to own God in his power of disposing us ac­cording to his Will. We must endeavor, and it must be in our measure with us as it was with Abraham; Abraham was at ease; Well, saith God, Get thee out from thy fathers house, and from thy Country; do as I bid thee, leave all, and go to a Land which thou hast not seen or known: and Abraham went. There are some that in the midst of their enjoy­ments [Page 33] are as men in chains, they are marri­ed, and cannot endure to think of a divorce from that state; it's death to them to think of a change. To be brought into disgrace after honor, and after the sweetness of free­dom to be brought into bondage, they can­not brook it. The Prophet Habakkuk in Chap. 2.6. speaks of some, that lade them­selves with thick clay. What's the reason that the treasures of this world are compared to thick clay? Because when men get into the possession of them, they commonly stick fast, as men in the mire. But if thou stick fast in the Creature, thou art separated from the Creator; if thine heart be in conjuncti­on, and a state of confederacy and agree­ment with any things in this world, thou art at odds with God, and hast shaken hands with him. This is the first thing which was propounded to be spoken of, What Resig­nation of our selves to God is.

CHAP. III.

2. THe second thing is, Why we must do this when we come to pray?

Consider, If you come to God to ask any thing at his hands, which you would enjoy, and of which you have great necessity, with­out such a disposition and frame of spirit, as you have heard, you pray, but not in truth: there is no truth in your recourse to God; thine action is false, treacherous and deceit­ful, there is no truth in it. For consider, when you come to God, you come with a professed sense of your indigence, and your dependance upon God; if you did not want, you would not ask; you come with a professed sense of the all-sufficiency of God and his dominion over you, and you come and say, Lord, and great God, and Ma­ker of the World, &c. Now what false deal­ing is this with God, to call him Lord, and not yield obedience to him? What absurd dealing is this with the holy One, the true [Page 35] God, the only wise God, to come in this fashion to him? It is true, he is near to those that call upon him, but it is to those that call upon him in truth, Psal. 145.18. You have an example of such false dealing with God in Psal. 78.36. And they remembered God their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer; ne­vertheless they flattered him with their mouths, and lyed to him with their tongues; for their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his Covenant. It was an usual thing with this people to come in their trou­bles and distresses, and say, Arise, O Lord, and save us, and we will walk with thee; but they did lye with their lips, and flatter God with their false and dissembling words, and minded not what they spake, but were De­ceivers.

Further, When a man comes to God up­on any occasion, as a Suiter, not giving him­self to God, he speaks no sence at all; his prayer is a piece of non-sence, there is no judgment nor reason in it, but a heap of con­tradictions and folly. If any should come to God persisting in the evil of his ways, not having his heart set toward God to be­come subject to him in all things, he contra­dicts himself praying against evil, and yet loves evil: We pray against a particular evil, and we love the greatest evil; that [Page 36] which is all evil, and the cause of all evil. What contradiction is here? We pray for mercy, O that God would shew me mercy in this thing! and yet we shew no mercy to our selves; but do that by which we weak­en, poyson and destroy our selves, and with contentment; and yet we come to God, and say, Lord have mercy on us: This is folly, extremity of folly.

When you come to God, you come for this or that good; Lord, give me health, or give me enlargement, or supply me in my ne­cessities; deliver me from this danger, &c. Men come for some particular good, and they hate that which is all good, the chief and universal good. Thou wouldst have life and health in this world, but not Jesus Christ; thou carest not for eternal life. What contradiction and folly is this, while you cry for good, and hate good? You walk in ways of contradiction against God, and hate him in your hearts: You say, Lord save me; when, it may be, you have some sense upon your spirits of the sad condition of men gone out of the world, and of your own present state to be like theirs. Thou wouldst have God save thee, and yet thou destroyest thy self: What sayst thou, O man? wilt thou depart from the evil of thy ways? O no, saith the Soul. Will any man [Page 37] hold forth his hand to a Chyrurgeon, and pray him to cure him, and at the same time gash and wound himself? Would any man pray to the Judg, O Sir, pray save my life, and at the same time drink down poyson? And yet this is the dayly dealing of men with God; they pray to him, but they are fools; they offer up most intolerable con­tradictions to him.

3. Except a man come to God with an heart submitting to him, he imposeth most strange and horrid things upon God: For ei­ther he saith in his heart, that God knows not what his intentions are (he never means nor hath an heart to forsake this or that sin) which is to make him no God; or else, if he thinks that God knows his heart, and yet he will take the boldness to come to God, and cry for mercy, and to be helped and re­lieved: Mark what he imposeth upon God hereby, he would have God act strangely against his own Wisdom; the language of that mans prayer is, Do but save my life at this time, and I will sin more and more a­gainst thee; Do but let me enjoy mine estate, and it shall be the fomentor of my lusts, and the weapons of mine unrighteous­ness against thee; do but take off my bur­den, and I will be like an untamed Ass in the desart. God hath declared and revealed his [Page 38] wrath from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men that hold the truth in unrighteousness; men that know what they should do, and do it not; yet they are so un­righteous to God, and to themselves, that they will not suffer this truth to work upon their spirits: these men call to God for mer­cy, when as God hath declared that he will shew no mercy to men that walk thus in the stubbornness of their hearts; but that his wrath shall burn against them, that he will be their Enemy, and oppose himself to all their wickedness. When thou knowest thy heart is stark naught, and art privy to thy secret mischievous intentions unto God and to his Truth, thou comest to beg of God to shew thee mercy, which so much goes a­gainst his Will; see what thou imposest up­on the Nature of God, who is most good and holy; thou in the baseness and rotten­ness of thy heart, which holdest a confede­racy with sin, comest to God in this infinite contradiction wherein thou standest to him, and beggest of him that he will take thee in­to his bosom, and be kind unto thee. Was there ever such a request made to a man, that he would take this Serpent and that Toad into his bosom? I know God doth so in effect, but then they cease to be such: Never doth a man put up a prayer to God [Page 39] with a purpose of continuing in his sin, but he imposeth a strange thing on the Will of God. Micah 3.11. It is said, They build Zion with blood, and yet will they loan upon the Lord. And you have a pregnant example, Jer. 3.5, 6. Wilt thou turn when we cry to thee, my Father? will he reserve his anger for ever? Here is a great sense of evil; but saith he, Thou hast spoken and done evil things; and at that very time was the hearts of this peo­ple set against God, when they came beg­ing, praying and crying that God would help them and shew them mercy. That shall suffice for the second thing; Why, when we come to God, we must come with resigning of our selves, with a hearty giving up of our selves to his Commands, and in all things to be disposed of by him.

A third thing propounded was, What Argument this is, or wherein the force of it lies, that we should plead this with God, [Save me, for I am thine?] There is a three-fold strength in this Argument.

1. The Law of Nature, which obligeth a father to be good to his child, the husband to his wife, &c. And God hath subjected himself more unto the Law of Nature, he lies more under it, then any of these; and doth more perfectly, fully and gloriously fulfil this Law of Nature, then any; ther [Page 40] is no father like him, no friend, no husband like him. Can a mother forget her child? can she? Yet I will not forget thee, Isai. 49.4. A mother can hardly do it; Nature teacheth her to have bowels, and a merciful remem­brance toward her child; much more will I, saith God.

2. When we can say to God, I am thine, we plead the Covenant that God hath made with us, wherein he is become our Father and Friend: And this is that which was pleaded in Isai. 63.16. Doubtless, or surely thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledg us not, (because they are gone, and so have no cognisance of us now;) yet Thou, O Lord, art our Father and our Redeemer; thy Name is upon us. See what a conclusion here is made; Doubtless thou art our Father, and therefore we call to thee for help.

3. There is this encouragement and strength that the spirit of a man receives in thus arguing with God, that if he can say in truth, I am thine, God much more will say to the creature, I am thine. If we have so much love to offer our selves to God, to become his; much more will the love of God make him to become ours: for God loves first, and most, and surest. If mine heart rise to­ward God, much more is the heart of God [Page 41] toward me; because there Love is in the Fountain.

CHAP. IV.

NOw I come to the Application. Ʋse. If there must be such a Resigning of our selves to God, when we come to him, then truly you need never fear the prayers of the men of this world; assure your selves they wish you as much evil as it is possible, and their hearts cannot love you, they envy all your welfare, and the constant vote of their spi­rits is, that your day were turned into night, and that in stead of light darkness should be round about you; but it matters not; though they put up such prayers to God, they are but bruta fulmina. The reason of it is, because they come to God without that which is the nerves and sinews of prayer: If they come to God, and bow the knee be­fore him, that God would bless them, and prosper them; poor Creatures! they speak [Page 42] to no purpose, because they deal hypocriti­cally with God; for they bow the knee, and call him Lord, as if he were their Lord; but they do what they list, and are their own Lords, Rulers and Commanders. Hos. 7.14. God saith the people of Israel dealt so with him, They did not cry to me with their hearts, when they howled upon their beds, and assembled themselves for corn and for wine, and rebelled against me. They pray that God would do so such a good turn for them, but they shut their hearts against God, and had a rebellious spirit at the same time: Though I have strengthened their arm, yet they imagi­ned mischief against me; They are no friends of my Cause and Kingdom in this world, but wish their overthrow, though I have shewed them mercy. In Hos. 4.7, 8. it's said, They have set their hearts on iniquity, and it shall be like people, like Priests; and I'le punish them for their ways, and reward them for their doings; or as the word is, I will cause their doings to be turned upon them. Men may think when they come to God, that the sins of so many years past are forgotten, that God will not reckon with them for sins so long past; and so they come to God in their filth, and with their hearts unwashen: But saith God, They are deceived, I will turn their ways upon them; and though they be [Page 43] sins of so long time backward, yet I'le re­member them. In Hos. 8.3. Israel cryed to me, My God, we know thee: What saith God? Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the E­nemy shall pursue him; They have set up Kings, but not by me, &c. They say, My God, we know thee; No, saith God, I'le not know you, thou hast cast off the thing that is good. Mal. 2.2, 3. You have God expressing him­self to this purpose, If you will not hear, and lay to heart, to give glory to my Name: A man dishonors God, and puts the greatest indig­nity and affront upon God that can be, when he refuseth to hear and obey; Then I'le curse your blessings, and cast even the dung of your solemn Feasts on your faces, &c. That's a strange thing, but it was so; their solemn Feasts were as dung to God, and God saith he will cast them as dung in their faces; and they shall be a dunghill which my Soul abhors. You need not fear the prayers of such men as are without yoke, and fear not God; but the prayers of Saints are to be dreaded, because they have power with God; if they come to God and say, Save me, I am thine, God will answer, I am thine, I will save thee.

2. If when we come to God, we must make a resignment of our selves to God, and acknowledg we are not our own, but [Page 44] his; Then we learn secondly, that the sins of a praying people are the greatest sins; there be no sins that are so out of measure sinful, as the sins of those that pray, and pray most. Hath God made thee as a Prince with himself? hath God set open a door that thou mayst have access to him? hath he given thee leave in the day of thy straits to pour out thy Soul? hast thou in the midst of those mercies, in the sense of the sweetness of those visions, said to God, that thou art his? and hast thou departed from him? hast thou given to him a withdraw­ing shoulder? (as it's said of them:) This sin is of the highest nature, for it is a renew­ed Apostacy. Those that are without God and Christ in the world are Apostates, but it is by one Apostacy, it is a continued act wherein they are held; but now thou art gone out from God, after thou hadst return­ed to him; thou hast gone from the un­speakable refreshings of the Father of mer­cies, and hast offered violence to the many engagements which thou hast layd, yea which they have layd upon thy Soul; thou hast broken the bonds of them all. Sins after Resignation, and after the matter of difference is taken up between God and the Creature, are not to be easily passed over; they are the worst sins. Remember your [Page 45] selves, as many as have known Jesus Christ; when you said to God, that you would walk with him, did you mean it? And hast thou fallen from the truth into a lye? The world many times come to God, and say many good words, that they will be his; but, as it's said of them in Psal. 78.36. They flattered with their lips, and lyed with their tongues; their hearts were not stedfast in the Covenant with their God. They minded no such thing, but thou didst; and therefore boundst thy self more, thou didst intend to be bound: When thou engagedst thy self to God, thou didst it upon the greatest rea­son, through the enforcement of the highest Arguments: thou feltst the power of God conquering and subduing thee, and thou yieldedst thy self to be his for ever: And re­member how often thou hast said this to God. Is not the voyce of thy Soul still in his ears? Doth not he remember the language thou hast uttered? And after thou hast said it again and again, that thou wouldst do no more so; after thou hast said, Thou art and shalt be my God; for thee to draw back, and start aside, it's a sin that wants a name, it's so haynous in its kind, so horrid in its nature. What high injustice is this in thee, to arro­gate a liberty to thy self, whē thou hast so so­lemnly parted with it into his hands whose it [Page 46] was? Nay was it not after thou hadst ex­perience of walking in thine own ways? Didst thou not know what sin meant? It's an argument the Apostle useth, Colos. 3.6. [Wherein you sometimes walked.] You know what it is to be in your sins. Did you not in the day of your sorrow say in your heart, I will go to God again? Oh! how happy was it when I was with him? How sweet were those days wherein I walked under the Government of Jesus Christ? and was blessed with the con­stant communication of the counsel of the Spirit of life and peace? Was not that thy speech which was the Churches? Hos. 2.7. I'le go and return to my first husband, for then it was better with me then now. Now after all this to sin against God, to indulge your selves to take a liberty and freedom to transgress a­gainst him, to whom you have so engaged your selves; what a breaking of heart, what shame of face should this be? When now thou hast put weakness upon the strongest bonds, what hast thou said? Christ is nothing, of no account; there is more in my sins then in Christ; there is more in the satisfaction of my own desires, then in the enjoyment of Jesus Christ: for thou hast left one for the other. Thou didst think it was best, when thou didst give thy self to him; and what injury hast thou done to the great and holy one? [Page 47] Thou hast set light by him, to whom to be given thou thoughtst it thy happiness; thou thoughtst it wonderful mercy that he would enter into a new Contract with thee; thou thoughtst that should be an everlasting bond of Love upon thy Soul, that God should a­gain take thee a Run-away, that he should again admit thee a Rebel and a Traytor; and hast thou forgotten all this? Is God after all this to be set by? that thou canst walk so, and do as thou list? Therefore up­on all Considerations, the sins of those that are much with God, are greatest; because upon their conversings, parlies and treaties that they hold with God, still they acknow­ledg themselves not to be their own, but his; such therefore shew not the candor and sin­cerity of a right spirit. It's a sad demonstra­tion of a heart not under the power of divine Love, and very much alienated from God, that upon sight of such miscarriages is not broken and melted. I do as much wonder at the spirit and doctrine of some men, as at any thing in the world; that are lifting the heads of Christians above all sorrow, that would absent them from all mourning, that would have them to be all joy. Poor men, their language is unnatural: They must mourn, and cannot but mourn, if their hearts be right; He that knows and loves God, [Page 48] cannot but feel the pain and burden of of­fences against him. It's as impossible that Nature should cease to feel the smart of stripes and wounds, as that a spirit filled with or acted by divine Love, should not feel the wounds and wrongs that it offers to his Maker. Hezekiah shewed indeed his frailty, 2 Chron. 32.26. But [notwithstand­ing] Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart: That [notwithstanding] is a word to be observed: When a mans heart wax­eth proud before God, and he can lift up himself and transgress with an high hand; when the heart glories in any thing, and by the brightness of other things, a darkness is cast upon the spirit towards God; when this man comes to be humbled, it's a great thing: Hezekiah was in such a case as this, yet [notwithstanding] Hezekiah humbled him­self.

Ʋse. 3 We may further improve this Truth by way of Exhortation, partly to those that yet have not given themselves up to God, that have not said in truth, I am thine; and part­ly to those that have done it. There is a generation of men that are under no bonds to God, they acknowledg him not, that are free from righteousness, as the Apostle saith, Rom. 6.20. They have not so much many of them as felt the breakings of God, and those [Page 49] contentions whereby he strives with their unkindness and frowardness; they never so much as came to debate the matter; or treat with God about this great business, whether they should be his or no; but live at peradventures, and are at their own swinge, walking after the will of the mind and of the flesh, as the Apostle speaks.

There is another sort that have felt many tuggings of God upon them; God hath been hammering the matter upon them, but they have stood it out; sometimes he hath brought them upon their knees, and to tears; nay to self-judging, to condemn themselves in his presence, sometimes they have cryed and roared in the presence of God: such wretches there are in the world, which have out-lived the workings of the power of God upon their spirits; as those of whom it is said, Gen. 6.3. My Spirit shall no longer strive with man. God spoke of that evil and wretched world, that though he had striven, not only by the preaching of Noah, and of the Ark (which was a very loud Sermon,) but also with his Spirit; for there is no ge­neration of men that are ever free from those contests of God, but the light that is in them hath pleaded Gods cause against their wickedness and lusts: Well, saith God, now I see they have stood out all this while, my [Page 50] Spirit shall no longer strive with man; Let them alone, as he said concerning Ephraim, Hos. 13. The Apostles language, 2 Cor. 10.5. (besides many other Scriptures) supposeth that there is often a fight in our Souls a­gainst God; Bringing every thought of the heart into obedience. That word, bringing into obedience, signifies a taking of the spirit of man as with a sword or spear; God comes and arms himself against men; and when he comes thus in power, they yield them­selves to him, and they are blessed. But there are such that always stand out, that resist the Holy Ghost; as those stiff-necked Jews in Acts 7. Or if they yield, yet not in sincerity, not in truth; but as it's said, Jer. 3.10. Yet for all this her treacherous Sister did not turn to me with the whole heart, but feignedly, or in falshood. Now concerning these persons I shall say but very few words. Canst thou come to God with such a spirit as this? What state art thou in, O man? Thou must not, thou canst not forbear praying: At one time or other the worst in the world lift up their eyes and hearts to their Maker: The very Heathens do not, cannot withhold from this. If not the light that is in men, yet their straits and afflictions will cause them to come as Petitioners to God: and wilt thou come to God with a petition in one hand, [Page 51] and with weapons of defiance in the other hand? Wilt thou come to God with the face of a Petitioner, and with the spirit of a Rebel? What infinite boldness is this with God? I have before shewed you the hor­ridness of this kind of prayer, and the horrid things that such prayers impose upon God. But consider further, whilest thou retainest a resolution and bent of heart set towards thy sin; and yet wilt pray; thou art in a neces­sity of sinning, do thou what thou canst: If thou dost not pray, thou sinnest, by breaking of a Law of Nature, which enjoyns the creature to acknowledg his dependance up­on his Maker, by prayer and supplication: If in the day of thy distress thou comest to ask mercy, thou sinnest more. So that thou art as a Ship between two Rocks, that must needs perish upon one, there is no escaping: so is thy Soul in the midst of sin; and to be in the midst of sin, is to be in the midst of death. And thou every day makest thy con­dition more unhappy; that wherein thou blessest thy self, and rejoycest, thy prayers are so far from being any reasonable relief unto thee, that they are matter of amaze­ment and astonishment to a man that right­ly understands. What have I done? [may such a man say:] I have been with God, and mock'd him to his face; I have called [Page 52] him Lord, but I am not his servant; but serve my self and divers lusts: I called my self his Subject, but I am a Rebel. Nay this is a blaspheming of God: Men commonly are afraid of blasphemy; but thou that comest to God praying, but sinning, (that is, having thy heart upon thy evil ways,) thou that comest praying, but not yielding; thou blasphemest God to his face, thus; to make thy self equal with God is blasphemy; it was so judg'd in the heart of that people, Joh. 10. but they mistook in the Case: But when thou makest thy self the chiefest of thine own affections, thou makest thy self equal with God, whose priviledg and supre­macy it is to be chiefest in the affections of his Creature, and to have the highest super­intendency over the spirits of his people, to command them. Nay thou makest thy self greater then God, because thou thinkest it nothing to transgress, to offend, and offer vi­olence to his Commands; but thou takest all pleasure and contentment in gratifying thine own wicked spirit. Thou makest that greatest to which thou most yieldest; when thou then yieldest unto sin, and leavest God, hast not thou made thy self greater then God? Very high dishonors are offered to God in such a course, past expression. Mark that in Mal. 2.2. If you will not hear and lay to [Page 53] heart, to give glory to my Name, I will even send a curse upon you. If you will not hear and yield your selves to my Commands, to give me glory: [As if he had said,] If you will not acknowledg me to be what I am, but deny me; if you will not submit to the Authori­ty and Wisdom of my Commands, I'le send a Curse upon you. And by this means thou dost as thou canst destroy that which doth only difference thee from Devils; for the Devils are cast into that condemnation which shall come upon the world, but Man hath a possibility to escape: Now thou dost what thou canst to make thy Salvation im­possible, and to fasten and tye up thy Soul to the condemnation of those apostate An­gels; whilest thou refusest to turn unto God, from whom thou hast departed; and dost not acknowledg the grace and mercy of that open door for poor creatures to re­turn again to the God of mercy.

And be sure of this, If you be not the Lords, the Lord will not be yours: You have such a passage, They are not mine, break down their bulwarks; I'le take no knowledg of Jerusalem, because she takes no knowledg of me. What a thing is this, that God stands with both hands to give out mercy to the Creature, (as it is said of Wisdom, Prov. 3.16. Length of days is in her right hand, and in [Page 54] her left hand riches and honour,) and that the Creature shall bend both his hands against God? Such a passage you have in Micah 7.3. Men do evil with both hands earnestly. Now then consider how much it concerns every one of you that have not yet given your selves to God to do it now. What an unhappy creature art thou if God shall shut out thy prayers, when straits, fears and death come? Thy prayers are no more then the howling of Dogs and Wolves, because thou prayest to God, and thy spirit is not given up in obedience to him.

I shall now turn to those who have given up their spirits to God; You must do it still when you come to God. Faith and Love, which are two fundamental graces, of uni­versal influence to all the rest, are to be con­tinually used and acted: Others are to be acted upon occasion, but these have their constant work, every day these must be act­ed. When I say, that upon our coming to God, there must be a giving up of our selves to God; I mean these three things:

1. That there must be a willing and hearty acknowledgment, that we are Gods, and not our own: We must see the bonds of God upon upon us, and like it, and own it; we must hate all other freedom that is offered us, we must account it true bondage, and be glad [Page 55] that such a day is come, wherein God took us out of our own hands, and hath taken us into his. Psal. 119.106. I have sworn, and will perform; I confess, Lord, that is my hand and my bond; I will not for a thousand worlds go back. Certainly, there should be no other spirit in you, when you come to God, but to acknowledg your selves to be his, and under his Commands; a Christian cannot but do it. Partly, because he sees his happiness lies in this; he sees in his coming again to be the Lords, there is a restitution of all that blessedness from which he fell by his Apostacy. By becoming Gods, he sees that God also is become his. How may the Soul raise it self in joy, when it can say this, God is my God, all he hath and is, is mine; he is mine to all Eternity. The acknowledging of this engagement wherein he stands to God, and of Gods engaging of himself to him, is all his happiness, from whence springs all his power and confidence in prayer; I can go boldly, saith he, to Heaven, because God is my God; I can go and ask all things, be­cause he is mine, and I am his. Partly also, because he loves him with a love of complacen­cy; the Soul hath all contentment in him: Never did a spouse speak to her husband, whom her Soul loved to the highest, more willingly, and say, I am thine, then the spirit [Page 56] of an upright man saith to God, Lord, I am thine. And he loves him with a love of thank­fulness: Hast thou given thy self to me, saith he, and shall I then withhold my self from thee? Hast thou, who art so great, done all this for me? and shall I stand out against thee? He will willingly acknowledg him­self to be his; the Saints often do this: Da­vid above twenty times comes with this ac­knowledgment in this Psalm, and in Psal. 116.16. I am thy servant, I am thy servant. To say it once was not enough; he saith it again, to shew the sincerity of his spirit, and to witness that his heart was fully pleased with this, that he was not his own, but the Lords.

2. There must be a perfecting and com­pleating of our Resignment: All beginnings are but cold; yet there are some excellencies in our primitive and first resigning of our selves to God, which without great wariness are not preserved till after times. In the day of love, when God first comes with terms of peace, O how freely doth the Soul go out! and how willingly doth it offer it self to him? The flower and beauty of this first love, how hardly are they maintained? But what ever spirit there is in our first love, it is certain that it's imperfect, and we therefore live to make it compleat: Compleat exten­sively, [Page 57] as our spirits and minds come to be enlarged in the knowledg of the Will of God, as God makes himself more known; I, saith the Soul, I will do that, and that too. And so intensively, the heart and Soul cleaves unto God in more height and vigor of affection; as it is said of Jehosaphat, who walked with God before and was the Lords; yet in 2 Chron. 13.6. Jehosaphats heart was lifted up in the ways of God: His spirit was raised before towards God, but now raised to an higher pitch, and greater strength; he did encourage and fortifie himself in the ways of God.

A third thing that must be done, is this; After any unfaithfulness, treachery, or base de­parting from God, there must be a renovation of our Resignation: We must again give our selves to him. Having offered this injury to God, to deny him his right, we cannot again come to him, but we must restore it, and ac­knowledg our selves to be his. It was good counsel given Job, by that friend of his, Job 34.31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have born chastisement, I will not offend any more: that which I see not, teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I'le do no more. With such a spirit you must come to God; I con­fess I have offered violence to that right thou hast in me, but I'le do so no more; and [Page 58] here I am a straying sheep, I have a foolish rebellious heart; I offer my self again to thy Government, and to the Conduct and and Command of thy spirit. There must be in those that have given themselves to God, a resigning and giving up of themselves in prayer. Consider it, in vain else do we pray: God hath given us leave to come to him, and hath engaged himself to hear us; but upon condition; there must be a hearing on both sides: He hath said, that if any man come to him in the stoutness of his spirit, he will not regard him; he hath abundantly in the Scripture disliked such, and their prayers he hates. In Jer. 11.13, 14. you have a full expression of this. Concerning this resign­ing of our selves to God, it cannot be dis­pensed with; God hath sworn this shall be done: Rom. 14.11. As I live, saith the Lord, Every knee shall bow before me. God will have it done: He hath put conditions upon prayer; partly, because he loves his people; he knows there is no greater happiness to them, then to cease to be their own, and be­come his. As a father pities his child that wanders abroad in the desart, and tells him, Except he will submit himself to him, he will never take him into his house; He doth this, because he knows the happiness of his child lies in a sub [...]rdination to his father. [Page 59] Again, God doth it to put his people into a capacity of having and enjoying the things they ask: For what art thou fit for, O man? If thou comest to God as a petitioner, and come with thy heart lifted up against him, either the good thou desirest cannot come to thee, or it will come as a rod, and a snare; at the best it will be be bitterness to thy Soul.

Consider, Not to come in sincerity, to yield your selves to God, is not to come af­ter the Law of Prayer. When you come to ask of God, God then asks of you; the re­quests are mutual and reciprocal: when you come to God, it is not your business a­lone, but God hath something to treat with you about: It is fit if you ask, and would have God hear you, to have God grant your things; but you should grant him his, espe­cially considering he is free; He needs not give what thou askest, but thou art bound to give what he asketh; there is no proportion between that which thou askest of God, and that he asks of thee: God asks of thee to give up thy self; and what art thou fit for? A creature more contemptible then a rotten Carkass that lies in a ditch: Wel, saith God, as bad as thou art, let me have thee, give up thy self to me. And what dost thou ask of God? Pardon and eternal life. Besides, God spake [Page 60] first: You come indeed and ask, but God spake first: Thou sayst, Lord, hear my prayer; but saith God, My words are gone out first, hear me. God prevents thee with requests, and hath been long waiting upon thee, that thou wouldst come in, and give up thy self to him.

Consider, what it is that you come for, what do you plead with God for? You would have God to be yours, to do you good to the utmost, not to withhold any good thing from you; then will you grant God this one request, when you ask so many of him? You ask a thousand things of God, God asks but this one of you, Give up your selves to him. You would have God to be yours for ever; if you ask so great things, is it not meet that you should restore God his ancient Right? Surely God is full of grace and mercy unto his people; they can set their seals to this, that he is a God hear­ing prayer: See what an ingenuous acknow­ledgment the Apostle makes of the good­ness of God; 1 Joh. 5.15. We know that he hears us, what ever we ask of him; and we know that we have the petition that we desire of him. It's in effect as much as this, we can have what we will of God. You that walk with him, what is it that you may not get of him? You never come for any thing, and [Page 61] go away empty; he hath not denyed you even to himself; therefore it much concerns you when you come to God, to give up your selves to him. Certainly this Resigna­tion is a work of a sad import; we must re­sign our selves, we must be Gods; we were his before: this imports that dreadful vio­lence that man hath exercised upon Gods patience, that should humble us, and for­ward the work when we come to resign our selves, because we were before his.

Let me shut up all with this Exhortation: That when you have been with God, and made this acknowledgment, that you are his, and have dealt in truth with God, and when God hath shew'd you the mercy you came for; now stand fast in your own word, and perform it; break not your word with him to whom you have thus engag'd your selves. If you mind, you may have a true description of your own spirits, you shall see the right face of them upon change of seasons. Hast thou been a begger in the day of thy distress? Art thou enlarged? Is the mercy come? Now observe thy spirit, now see what frame thy spirit is in towards God, when thy way is made smooth, and storms are layd, and thou art at rest. Ob­serve it, Men are very apt to promise in a day of trouble, Oh, upon a sick bed, if God [Page 62] would restore me, I would walk more ex­actly with him; in a day of fear, what is more common then to say so? And as in Deut. 27. when they heard the Word of God repeated to them, they shut up all with a pro­fessed willingness to submit; and when the Curse was read, all the people said, Amen, so be it; but it was not so. In 2 Chron. 12. you have that wicked King coming to God, crouching before God, and offering himself before him, but it was not done effectually; what ever thoughts he had at that time that he would be the Lords, they went off again. Men come to God by the enforcement of distress, and say much, but are the same af­terwards; they take up new words, but their hearts are what they were before. Jer. 2.20. I have planted thee a noble vine; I have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds; thou saidst, I will not transgress: But what was the temper and frame, what was the spirit of this people indeed? When under every high hill, and every green tree thou playest the harlot. She had a whorish and a wicked spirit, even then when she said to God, I'le not trans­gress. So in 2 Chron. 34.29. you see what a fair appearance there was: Josiah being stir'd in spirit to think that the Lord God should be so far out of sight, and mind, and knowledg; and knowing what danger they [Page 63] were in, because of neglecting the Com­mandment of God; He humbled himself, and the people joyned with him, and enga­ged themselves unto God, and there was great joy and alacrity among them, and there was such an appearance, such a Pass­over, as never had been: Notwithstanding, at Chap. 26.16. it's said, that they mocked the Messengers of God, and despised his Word, and misused his Prophets: So false are the hearts of men: It concerns you therefore to look to your intentions in this thing.

Consider, That the word is gone out of thy mouth; thou hast promised to God, that thou wilt be his; if thou hast not done it for­mally, thou hast done it virtually: There is of the nature of a promise in all prayers: No man can come to God as a petitioner, but he comes with an acknowledgment of him as his Lord; therefore having promi­sed, thou oughtst to stand to it; a promise binds always, but chiefly in such cases as these.

1. Where the thing we promised was due before it was promised: so was this; if thou hast said, thou wouldst give thy self to God, that was due before.

2. Where the performance of the promise brings no loss or detriment; if thou fulfil thy promise, thou losest not by it; thou partest [Page 64] with nothing that will do thee good; in that thou thy self becomest the Lords, it is thy perfection, and thy happiness, it is a coming to the very state of Angels. No creature can possibly be happy, but in a subordination to him that is the supream God, blessed for ever: Having promised therefore, make good thy word.

2. Consider, That by being with God, and having obtained the things you sought for, you have now an advantage to walk as the Lords; to make good your word. Partly, because your way is enlarged: It's a hard thing to walk with God in ways full of bryars and thorns; it's hard to walk through Seas of blood, and mighty storms and tempests. But now when God smooths thy way, and removes thy fears, and gives thy spirit more composedness, it's a mighty advantage in thy hand, and therefore to be improved. David was of this spirit, Psal. 119.32. I will run the ways of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart: The meaning is, Fears and sorrows compress and burden me, and make me walk heavily, as a man under a weight; but if thou wilt scatter these clouds, and deliver me from these straits, and comfort my Soul; if thou wilt cheer, refresh and enlarge me, then I will run thy ways; I'le not only walk in them, but walk [Page 65] with all alacrity and celerity: I entered upon these words, when the sword was upon the march, and fear was upon us terribly. Hath God ap­peared, delivered, and saved you? yea, are the clouds of blood scattered, and fallen up­on the heads of our enemies? You have the desire of your Souls; the bryars are remo­ved, your way is plain; now walk with God, fulfil your word to him, to whom you have given up your selves.

This advantage also you have from the greatness of the mercy; Great mercies do a­waken the Soul, renew, refresh and enliven the Souls of men. Now, if God hath put thee upon the wing, defer not, but now up and be doing; pay thy vows before thy heart grow cold: It is a great thing to lose impressions; when they are lost, they are hardly regained. David lay long, before he was the same that he was before his fall; it cost him much pains: It may be if thou grow cold again, that God will heat thee in a fiery furnace; He hath ways enough to visit upon thee the neglects of the seasons of grace. You may see how he expresseth him­self in anger against his people, Hos. 7.13. Wo to thee, for thou hast fled from me; destruc­tion unto thee, because thou hast transgressed a­gainst me; though I have redeemed them, they have spoken lyes against me; though I have [Page 66] strengthened their arm, yet they have imagined evil against me. When a people are bound by mercies, and yet obey not, it displeaseth. God was very angry with Hezekiah; for what? because he did not return according to the mercies he had received. Surely the mercy you have received is great; it must be mea­sured by years and ages; it is not one mer­cy, but a multitude, a heap of mercies: Look how many mischiefs the wrath of malicious men would have heaped upon you, look how many evils your own fearing hearts could devise and suggest; so many mercies are in this one. If therefore thou hast sought God, and God hath heard thee; remember when thou didst come to God, thou didst come upon such terms, not to receive only, but to give: Thou hast promised to be his, make good thy word: Thou didst say in thy distress, I am thine, Lord, save me; say now in the day of thy deliverance, I am thine, Lord, for Thou hast saved me.

CHAP. V.

THere is yet something more in the words worthy of our consideration; [I am thine:] What's the fruits of this ap­prehension of God? his drawing near to God; I am thine, save me.

The knowledg of our Interest in God doth much further our approaches to God. Doctr. When a man is once assured, and can say with a clear spirit, I am thine; this man is a man of prayer, he is much in addresses to God, and conversing with him. I shall give you the sence and import of this Point in these two or three things.

First; That when God out of his unspeak­able goodness hath broke through the dark Cloud that was between him and us, and hath made this good to our hearts, that he is ours; this begets an inclination and propen­sion, an aptness to have recourse to God, and converse with him. A child that knows his father, though strangers pass by him, and take no notice of him; yet he loves to be [Page 68] with him; and the more he hath the nature of a child, the more he loves to be where his father is. So much more is the conjunction of the Soul with God, and the enjoyment of God, the portion of a child of God: there it loves to be; and, if it might, there it would be, and no where else. This Interest is such, that it begets desire upon desire, that the Soul hath never enough of God; there is a constant spring of motion toward God, that makes the Soul to hang after him, as after that in which its life is. In Psal. 63.1. saith David, O God, thou art my God: What then? Early will I seek thee, my Soul thirsts for thee, my flesh also longs for thee, &c. Such a man needs not much driving, when he is himself; he is drawn of God, he needs not much to be driven by other things. [My Soul thirsts.] You need not force a thirsty beast to the river; do not withhold her, and she will run her self: There needs no Law to bind a man that is hungry to eat his meat; do but set meat before him, and he will eat willingly, he will not withhold his hands. That man that hath this sealed up in his Soul, that God is his, cannot, nor will for ten thousand worlds be held from communion with him; he breaks through all things; he accounts all other time (but what is ne­cessary) ill spent, in comparison of that time [Page 69] he spends with God: If he were at his own choyce, he would have no other employ­ment, nor be put upon any other service, then to wait upon God, and be wholly his. An ingenuous child that carries his father in his heart, though at his fathers command he be content to go hither and thither, as David, to keep sheep in the field; yet he had rather be at home, where he may speak with his father, and hear his voyce, and have commu­nion with him. God is so good to his, that where once a man finds himself to be his, he finds such streams of mercy and goodness flowing forth, as knit his Soul to him. When he comes to him, he comes not as to a great God, but as to his own Father; and God entertains his not as strangers, but as chil­dren with the entertainment of a Father: His entertainments are so sweet, that they are new invitations; so that a man who hath been with God in a right spirit, is not glad that the time is past, but longs for that sea­son to come again. Yea, God shews himself kind with the best advantage; kind in great things, and those things that are the very de­sires of their Souls; those things that men cannot be without, without pain, anguish, and bitterness of spirit, those he gives. When their Souls are in trouble, then he easeth and comforteth them: How often have his peo­ple [Page 70] come to him in tears, heaviness, and much mourning, and he hath wiped away their tears, and scattered the clouds that were about them, and given rest to their Souls? In Psal. 116. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my prayer, and the voyce of my supplication; because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me a­bout, and the pains of Hell caught hold on me; I found trouble and sorrow, &c. The force and spirit of it is this; I came to God in a sad time, and God shewed me kindness season­ably; seeing he hath been so kind to me, I will call on him as long as I live, I'le go oft­en to him, I'le live in the presence of God; I'le be much with him, because of his kind­ness to me.

Interest will carry a man according to the worth and sufficiency that is in him, in whom he hath Interest, and according to his own wants and indigency. Now the Interest of the peo­ple of God in God, is in one that is most glorious, and it's the Interest of such as have most need: None can do for them what he can do. Now if a man have treasure of his own, will he want? will he not go to it? If a man thirst, and have rivers that run by him; if he have springs of his own, will he not drink of them? So it is with the people [Page 71] of God; when they see God to be their God, they see all to be their own in God; and therefore will not suffer want, but will go to him. Yea, indeed the Interest of the people of God in God, is mingled with such ingenuity, and such a spirit of Love, that when they have not much cause to go to God as beggers, when necessity doth not pinch and enforce them, then they go upon friendly visits. It's great content to a child to see his father, though he ask him nothing. It's great content to an ingenuous spirit to come to God as his friend, to behold him, and refresh himself in that infinite glory wherewith he is clothed; though for the present he be not much pinched with neces­sities and straits. So David, Psal. 5.7. As for me, I will come into thine house in the multitude of thy mercies. [In the multitude of thy mer­cies:] Not only that I will make this mine Argument, which I'le plead with thee, not that this shall be that on which my Soul shall lean; but even when thou art very good to me, in the multitude of thy mercies towards me will I come: not as others that come only when they need something, but when thou art most gracious to me, then will I come. Thus the knowledg of a mans In­terest in God, works in his heart, an inward inclination and strong propension to make [Page 72] his addresses to God, and converse with him.

Secondly, The knowledg of this Interest, carries the spirit of a man to God, in a due frame and posture; that is, it maintains the Soul in its addresses to God in joy and con­fidence, cheerfulness and hope; yet with in­termixtures of awful fear. A man that knows God to be his God, when he goes to him, he goes not as he to whom Augustus said, What dost thou come to me as to a Lion? He comes not with that astonishment, dread and amazement that men do when their Consciences are defiled, and in whose spirits the fire of Hell is. He is not afraid, notwith­standing the infinite distance between God and him, to lift up his face before the Al­mighty: He comes with boldness and con­fidence, when once he is in the sight of this, that his name is written in the Book of Life, and that God hath taken him into the num­ber of those whom he hath chosen out of the world. He comes and speaks to God, and his language is as to one with whom he hath power: Psal. 104.6. I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my God; hear the voyce of my supplication, O Lord. He tells you what lan­guage he useth to God; I said, Thou art my God, therefore hear me when I come unto thee: and this argument is very strong. So [Page 73] in Micah 7.7. you have the Church express­ing her self thus; Therefore will I look to the Lord, and wait for the God of my Salvation; my God will hear me: The conclusion is very strong. So in Psal. 67.6. God, even our own God, shall bless us. When a man once comes to know that God hath taken him into the number of his, into his flock and fold; now saith he, God is mine, my own God shall bless me.

That faith which makes a man see his In­terest in God, makes him see that it's more to have an Interest in him, then to obtain all things from him; he therefore goes with courage to God, because he hath obtained that already which is more then all comes to, that he shall have by asking. It was a greater favor for God to give us himself to be ours, then for him to give us a portion among the Angels in the glory of Heaven.

God being our God, stands engaged; he is not his own, but ours also: therefore when a man sees this, he comes to God for all things as to his own, and he comes for his own. As a child that is in want speaks to his father for supplies; he speaks to him, as one in whom he hath Interest, and pleads with such a spirit, as knowing that he like­wise hath interest in his fathers estate. In­deed this Interest is the best of all, it's found­ed [Page 74] upon all Reason: Which ways soever a man comes to have Interest in another, so many ways hath God exprest our Interest to be in him, and more also. By Creation; He hath made us, we are not our own, Psal. 100.3. or, He hath made us, we are his. It's founded in Redemption; in Isai. 43.1. Thus saith the Lord that formed thee, O Jacob, and created thee, O Israel, Fear not, I have redeem­ed thee, I have called thee by name, thou art mine; I have made thee, and I have bought thee. It's likewise founded in that Union that we have with Jesus Christ; God is become ours, because Christ is become ours: The Sons Wife calls his Father, her Father; he is become a Father to her in his Son. If God takes notice of Israel upon this account, that they were the seed of Abraham his friend; how much more will he own his people that are members of the body of his own Son? In Isai. 41.8. Thou Israel art my servant, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. We become his, and he ours, by his actual admission of us into the number of those that are his own, and of the houshold of God, Ephes. 2.19. They are said to be a people near unto him, Psal. 148.14. All Souls are mine, saith God in Ezek. 18.4. But those whom he admits into his family, he takes peculiar notice of, and they are in a more [Page 75] especial manner his. And also by actual Communion he becomes ours: As the wife becomes the husband's, not only by contract and marriage, and receiving her to his habi­tation, but by actual communion: so we are the Lords, because of that actual con­verse that we have with God, and by his communication of those fruits of his Love which he reserves for his own. Thus then the knowledg of our Interest with God, clothes the spirit with fit dispositions and af­fections, in addresses unto God, as to joy and confidence. Now on the other side it works also in the Soul an awful reverential respect, such as becomes the relation of a poor crea­ture to his Maker, and that infinite distance that is between the high and holy One, and a lump of dust; which also belongs to the true temper of a man in communion with God. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoyce with trembling, Psal. 2. And Mal. 1.6. If I be a Master, where is my fear? It's a dangerous thing, for a man upon presumption of his Interest in God, to have a boldness without a mixture of this fear and awfulness. Such joys are not from above, nor is it the Spirit of Truth that bears witness to them, when they do not lay the Soul much under God. Of all men, they come with the greatest fear of God, that have the fullest knowledg of [Page 76] their Interest in God, and who have their hearts most spread with joy and gladness, because God is become their Portion. In Heb. 12.28. Wherefore receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace where­by to serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. That seems a strange Inference, Having received a Kingdom, therefore serve God with fear: I, saith the Apostle, [therefore,] and God looks for it; and know if it be not done, there will be hazard in it, for our God is a consuming fire. A stranger passeth by a man, and takes no no­tice of him; but a child that knows him to be his father, comes toward him with respect and honour; the very interest he hath in him, and the relation wherein he stands, strikes on his spirit an awe towards his fa­ther. So it is with those that call God Fa­ther.

See what account Nehemiah gives of his just walking, in Nehem. 5.15. Other Rulers did so and so, but I did not; for I feared God. The assurance of the Love of God, and of a mans eternal life, begets fear; not that fear which hath torment, as the Apostle speaks; but it begets an awful caution and wariness, as is meet in a business of so great concern­ment. He is more afraid to offend God, that knows God to be his God, then that man is [Page 77] whom God threatens every day with ever­lasting death. Mark that of the Prophet, Hos. 3.5. It is spoken concerning the time when they should be restored to a better state; Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their King; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. [Shall fear the Lord and his goodness.] No father is more feared of his child, then the best father, that walks towards his child in the greatest wisdom, goodness, meekness, and bounty. So that the kindness of God, and tastes of his Love, do not lift up the Soul, and make it proud. That man is the most humble man in the world, that hath the most knowledg of the Love of God towards him in Jesus Christ. This Fear and Faith do so stand together, that they cannot be separated. In Act. 9.31. They walked in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. It's the right tem­per of a true Christian, to have the comforts of God in his Soul, and yet to be with fear and trembling. It's a fear that doth inevita­bly arise upon a rectified nature, from a sight of the disproportion that is between God and us. This is in Heaven it self, where the Angels in glory beholding God so infinite­ly lifted up above them, cannot but have reverence, fear and dread in their Souls to­wards [Page 78] him. And it's a fear likewise of dan­ger; not the danger of eternal death, for from that they are saved, the knowledg of the Love of God assures them for that; but from the danger of other things, which to them are as bitter as death is to the world; and those are the frowns of God, the re­bukes of God, the suspensions of Love, and estrangedness of God towards them, the stripes of God: these things, when God doth as a Father to his that know him, they are most grievous and smarting; and their Souls groan under these more, then worldly men under worldly danger. Therefore he that knows God, and what it is to be in the light of his Countenance, he that hath tasted the bitterness of the loss of this, lives in fear, lest he should provoke God as a Father to deal thus in severity with him. And I speak all this the rather, because some do blas­pheme that which is the spring of life and peace to the Saints, saying, That for a man to have the knowledg of God to be his God, and everlasting Portion, is a snare to bring that man into a forgetfulness of God, and his Duty; and to blow up the spirit with pride, and lull him into a sinful sleep. Such like things as these have been and still are (not without much cause of grief) cast upon this blessed Doctrine of the knowledg of [Page 79] our abode with God: Whereas the true knowledg of God being ours, is that which doth effectually and firmly work the heart to all diligent watchfulness, tenderness and sedulity.

Thirdly, It disposeth a mans spirit to the best entertainment of all divine Determinations that are upon a mans addresses to God upon any occasion. Let the answer be what it may be, what seems good to God; that man that knows God to be his God, is best enabled to receive his answer, be it I or No: whether his prayer succeed or not, he is put into such a frame, that he can say Amen to the Will and Word of God; and go from God without murmuring and repining. If God hear him, he is glad, but yet not so glad of the thing, as of his Interest; he is not so taken with any thing he obtains, but God takes him more: If therefore he receives any thing, he rejoyceth in it as the fruit of Love, and makes a grateful return to God again. In Psal. 119.137. Save my Soul, and it shall praise thee. He rejoyceth in this, to see how welcome he is to God, and that his prayer is accepted; others come, and are not regarded, but he hath audience: The things that God gives out, to him have ano­ther form and taste, then to the world; they come all with tastes of love to him: In love [Page 80] to my Soul, saith Hezekiah, hast thou delivered me, in Isai. 38.17. And whatsoever he hath, he hath a better enjoyment of it then others, by reason of his Interest in God; he hath nothing from God as a meer gift, but he hath God with it▪ God saith to that man that hath Interest in him, There, take that which thou askedst for, and me with it; that is thine, and I am thine; and the enjoyment of God is more to him then all the world. This spirit is upon all that he hath, My Fa­ther gave me it, it is the fruit of the love of the God of my life; therefore I must use it in order, according to order from him, and not after my mind only. All things are best enjoyed when they are enjoyed according to Rule. We spoil the sweetest things when we take them according to our wills, and so use them, then they become another thing. When a man can sit in his enjoyment of all things, and see God, this is a drop from the Fountain of Life; and it is more then they have, that seem to enjoy a thousand times more of the things of this life, whose corn and oyl increase.

And if he be denyed, if God see it not good to give him the things he desires, yet he is satisfied; he doth not contend with God, nor doth his spirit rise up against his Maker; he hath a word ready in his spirit, [Page 81] Not my will, but thy Will be done; he saith, If my God will not give me this, it is well that he will give me himself; I may be without this, but I could not be without him; and seeing he hath given himself to be my Portion, I will wait with patience, and be content all the days of my life. In Eccless. 5. ult. saith Solomon, If God give a man the joy of his Soul, he shall not much remember the days of his vanity. When God denies him any thing, he remembers that he comes not to God for this particular thing, but for the best good: We come not to God for any thing but that which is for our good. A good man saith, If I had this thing, it may be it would not do me good; and herein his spirit is satisfied: he saith, God knows bet­ter then I what is good for me; and if he thinks not such a thing meet for me, I must think so too. So you see how the knowledg of a mans Interest furthers his approaches to God, and helps him in these three respects that we have mentioned.

CHAP. VI.

IN this Chapter I shall in some particulars shew how the knowledg of our Interest in God, doth promote and further our walk­ing with God in all holiness.

In the first place: When a man hath tast­ed those comforts that flow from this Inte­rest, Sin to that man is sin indeed; it's out of measure sinful. An assurance of our proprie­ty in God, represents sin in its deepest co­lour, and causeth it with the most afflicting resemblance to reflect upon the spirit. The knowledg of our pardon doth not put an end to our sorrows, it rather begins them. The sight of God reconciled doth not work that peace that is without sorrow, but makes those streams run deeper and purer. The more a man knows that he shall not dye for sin, the more he is under a necessity of be­wailing [Page 83] his sin; and it's as natural an effect of the sight of God, to have the heart pierced and wounded, as healed. David, when Na­than told him, that he had sinned, and when he knew that his sin was done away, then was he most candid, most serious, and strong in his humiliation before God. Those men that pretend to have their joys from their pardon, and reckon God to be theirs, and yet can pass over their sins with dry eyes, drink their refreshing waters not from him who is the Well of Life, but from beneath, and are under a spirit of depravation and delusion, and such a spirit as will seal them up to everlasting condemnation. Nothing becomes the Saints more then mourning. The proper working of love in Heaven, is joy, because there is nothing but good; but the proper working of love here, is joy with grief, because though God be good to us, yet we are evil against him. In Ezek. 36.31. you have this expression by God himself; Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and shall loath your selves for your iniquities, and for your abominations. [Then:] When? If you look in the verses before, it is when God should come to do them the greatest good, when he would cause his face to shine upon them, and make his footsteps to drop down [Page 84] blessings: Then, saith God, when I have you upon the knee, and satisfied your Souls with goodness; then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that have not been good; and you shall loath your selves for all your abominations. The knowledg of absolution in Heaven, breeds the severest condemnation in the hearts of the Saints; the more they see they are ac­cepted, the more that voyce sounds in their ears, Thou art comely and fair, my Beloved; the more do they point at their spots, and have an eye upon their own spirits; I am black, saith the Church, the Sun hath stained my beauty, though God said she was all fair and comely. Christ saith to Paul, Thou art a chosen Vessel: What saith Paul of himself all along? I was a Persecutor, and a Blasphemer, &c. He read it as if it were wrote in a table al­ways before his eyes. Not only sin in act, but sin in temptation, the very solicitations to sin, are grievous to that man that hath re­ceived a testimony from Heaven, that his name is written in the Book of Life, and that God, whose Name is, God blessed for ever, is his God and Father. Remember Joseph what he said, Gen. 39.9. How can I do this great evil, and sin against God? Above all, sin in their nature, as it dwells in them, and acts in them incessantly, and renders them in [Page 85] such a contrariety to the Nature and Will of God, this is that which doth mightily humble and abase them; not only as it is displeasing to God, but also as it puts them into an incapacity of serving him, and ha­ving communion with him. The more sin is in us, the less we see of God. Matthew 5. vers. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [See him,] not only in Heaven, but as they are pure and are san­ctified, as they are more filled with the spirit of holiness, so they shall have clear vi­sions of God, and more full acquaintance with God here. Now the assurance of our Interest in God making sin to be thus vile, and setting the Soul at such a distance from it, is a great furtherance to holiness: It sets the judgment against it, and not only the judgment, for so it may be in the worst of men, but it puts the nature of the man a­gainst it. A child knows in his judgment he ought not to wound his father; but there is something in his nature that he cannot do it, besides the over-powering force of his judg­ment: As Esther in Chap. 8.6. expresseth this natural force, How can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? or, how can I endure to see the destruction of my kin­dred? See how resolution wrought with her; [How can I endure,] how can I endure [Page 86] to see these things? So saith the Soul that hath a sight of God, How can I do thus a­gainst God? That's one thing.

In the second place; The knowledg of this blessedness, that God is become ours, calms, quiets, and moderates the heart towards all things: So that there is neither that inor­dinacy of reaching after or holding fast these present things, as there was before. Besides this, it works an holy contentment in our present estate, an holy indifferency to any future possible condition according to the Will and Wisdom of God. When once a man hath tasted of this Interest, and hath seen the favour of the great God in the face of Jesus Christ, he looks no more after o­ther Lovers, but shakes them off according to the measure he hath attained. As in a house more noble things take place, and dust and things of no value are cast out: so when this Pearl of infinite worth takes place in the Soul, when once a man lives in an en­joyment of God, he dyes so far to all things else. In Gal. 6.14. saith the Apostle (having said before that Christ lived in him) I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to me: The world looks on me as a dead thing, with whom it would not converse; and I look on the world as a dead corps, and have nothing to do with it, it is of no value [Page 87] with me. When Ruth was married to Boaz, she forsook the field, and gleaned no more; when she had got Boaz's estate, she minded no more to gather handfulls of Corn by gleaning. If any man (saith Christ) drink of these waters, he shall never thirst; he shall not need to dig any other pits, these waters shall content him; his desires shall be so confined, contented and contracted to this one thing. A mans interest in one is accord­ing to the person in whom it is: He that hath interest in a Prince, will not be drawn away by beggers. When Saul had found a Kingdom, he minded no more the Asses which he was seeking. When the people of God had freedom to come to Jerusalem, they were willing to leave Babylon. This is a great piece of holiness, for a man to be sepa­rated from this world in his affections, that he can steer through the world untouched, that he may be in the use of creatures, but not come in bonds under the power, go­vernment, and force of them: Now when a man sees God to be his God, this makes him to be as Christ speaks of his, They are not of this world, as I am not of this world, Joh. 17. This comfort dissolves all bonds, and sets free from a confederacy with other things, and now the whole world is of little force with him. Moses is a pregnant example of [...] [Page 88] this in Hebr. 11.24. By faith Moses when he was come to years (or when he became great) refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs daugh­ter, chusing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. What was the Reason? The Text gives you these Reasons, that he had respect to the recompence of reward, at the twenty sixth Verse, and because he had seen him who was invisible, at the 27. Verse; So that the sight of God, and the sight of our Interest in him, lays the world dead, casts a darkness upon the glory of it; and the soul is taken with nothing in compa­rison of him.

Thirdly, The sight of our Interest holds the soul in bonds unto God, it doth not onely bind it, but hold it bound. The love of Christ, saith the Apostle, constrains us, 2 Cor. 5.14. It holds us to God, that though there be something in us that makes us apt to excur­sions, to go out from him, yet we are held in by bonds of love. This Interest must needs be of a mighty force to those that see it, because its the highest Interest in the sweetest way: God gives us such an Interest in himself, as a child hath in his Father, and as a Spouse hath in her husband; which are Interests of greatest Love. Its an Interest of constant communion, there are constant [Page 89] effluxes, out-flowings of the kindness of God upon that soul, that knows God to be his; which do bind him every day more and more, and leave him less his own. This is the nature of the Spirit of Adoption, that makes a man cry Abba, Father, it makes him more a child; as willing to acknowledg himself in that state of subordination, as a child; as he is to look up to God in a way of hope, as he is the Father of mercies.

The assurance of the love of God as it comforts, so it conquers the soul. It doth not work it into a strange kind of mad rejoycing, such as the Spirit that is gone forth begets in the hearts of many at this day, who are strangers to the life of God, yet boast as if they had drunk deep of the cup of consola­tion; whereas they are loose and careless, and can do all evil against God, and be free from him, and not have their hearts touch'd with it at all. But now true Gospel com­fort, that which he who is the God of all comfort gives, by the manifestation of him­self in conjunction with the creature, doth overcome the heart, and put it into a willing necessity, and strengthens it to walk in all well-pleasing before him, so that the soul cannot go from him. In Psalm 63. v. 7. David expresseth this, Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings [Page 90] will I rejoyce, my soul cleaveth unto thee, for thy right hand upholdeth me. As if he should say, Thou hast done me good, and thine hand hath supported me, else I should fall at e­very step; I live upon thee, therefore my soul followeth after thee, or is glued to thee; the expression of thy love and constant goodness towards me is that which binds my soul unto thee.

Fourthly, When a man knows God to be his God, and there is no more remembrance of sin against him, and that he is received into the inheritance of the Saints, and of Christ himself; and that God is become his Father; Now all his ways are made easie, this facilitates all. For what are those things that are wont to burden a mans spirit in the race which is set before him? It is either because there are such sad things in his way, or because a man fears whether his work and service shall be accepted, or because he doth not like his work, or because he is not satisfied about his wages; Now it is manifest that the knowledg of this, that God is our God, removes all these things; he cannot dislike his way that sees God in it, he cannot dislike that work which God sets him about, he cannot but think he is accepted, and that his wages is more then sufficient recompence, that knows God to be his God. 1 Joh. 5.3, 4. the Apostle saith, [Page 91] That to him that loves, the Commandment is not grievous. It is no burthen in compa­rison; so far as a man loves, so far his work is easie and sweet to him: What's the rea­son? Its given in the next words follwing, Because he hath overcome the world, for there is nothing except darkness upon a mans spirit, which is a spring of fear and doubt, concerning his acceptance with God, that clogs a mans spirit in the ways of God, that sharpens and imbitters the things which we must grapple withall; I say, nothing can hurt him but this: Now a man that sees God to be his God, hath overcome the world. And if his case be dangerous, such wherein he is tempted on the right hand, he saith with Paul, I pass not, I care not for all these things, as Moses cared not for all the riches of Pharaohs Court. And as Paul when he was tempted upon the left hand, I pass not for all these things neither shame, trouble, reproach, stripes, imprisonments, and the like. And Esth. 4.16. In that ser­vice for the people of God, I see (saith she) it's the will of God I should do it, Ile go, and If I perish, I perish; such an impression doth the sight of God leave upon the Spi­rit, that nothing can stop the soul in its course, no more then the Sun in the firma­ment. Others go heavy and are soon tyred, [Page 92] as God complains in Mal. 1.13. They say also, What a weariness is it? that is, to attend up­on God in his worship: And they snuff at it, in way of dislike, or as men that would blow away something which lies in their way, and which they dislike. Upon all these Consi­derations nothing promotes holiness more then the knowledg of this, that God is ours. To that which hath been said, I will only add a double advantage that this assurance gives to our meeting with God.

1. That it doth allay that unquietness that is ready to rise upon the thoughts of dissolution, and the remembrance of that day of Doom, when one word determines a mans estate to all Eternity. To know that a man is going to his God and Father, to be able to say, as Christ said, I go to my Father; this will banish those fears from the Soul, and make a man to go out of the body with peace, as one that knows whether he is going, even out of an unquiet Sea to a quiet Harbor, which he sees fair before him, and where he shall be free from danger. This is that which John speaks of, 1 Epist. 4.17. Herein is love made perfect, the love of God is herein per­fected, hath its utmost sweetness, efficacy and operation, that we may have boldness in the day of Judgment. It doth secure and quiet our spirits, and doth answer all sad thoughts [Page 93] of the Soul; that we may have boldness in that day, because as he is, so are we in this world: Because as he is faithful and real in his love to us, so we are faithful and real in our love to him; so that there is a firm uni­on and conjunction between God and us.

Another Advantage is, that Assurance makes the heart to long after God, and to be with Jesus Christ. That most assured Saint Paul was by faith put into this temper, and having a sight of those things within the vail, and looking at them as before him; how abundantly (as one burdened) doth he groan and sigh that he may be in the enjoy­ment of those things whereof he had a sight and hope? So that it is of very great con­cernment, for a man to know God to be his God in reference to his appearance before him at the last day.

My Exhortation to you all therefore shall be, That you would labor to make your In­terest certain, that you may be able to say with Job, I know that my Redeemer lives; and as David in the Text, I am thine. A man cannot be a good man that drives not after this; he knows not God at all, that hath no desire of this assurance. That man also, what ever he knows of God, is in a sad, miserable and wretched condition, that doubts whe­ther God be his God; that lives floating [Page 94] between hope and fear, and yet lives without vehement desires and endeavors to have this question cleared. Certainly you cannot be right, if you have not such a desire of the enjoyment of this Interest, to be able to say, God is my God. This we are to seek in truth and purity; not to the quieting of our spirits only, or to the indulgence of the flesh, (as many seem to long after the consolations of God, that know not what they are,) but that God having so filled us, we may become a sacrifice to him. You must effectually pro­secute this also in the utmost improvement of your might and power, without ceasing, till you have obtained it, till you have that word sealed up in your Souls, Son, daughter, be of good comfort, for thy sins are forgiven thee; lift up thy head, for thy Maker is thy Husband. It is the greatest folly in the world for Christians to pretend a life of faith, and cut the life and sinews of just and necessary endeavors for the attaining assurance of the love of God. A man should take heed of presuming upon God when he cannot say, God is his God; and he must take heed of pretending to live a life of faith in such a way that weakens his endeavors after assu­rance. Certainly, the same principle that carries a man from the world to God, will make a man restless till he knows that God [Page 95] is his God, and what things are contained in that Interest: which things, as it is a great grief not to know, so if they be clouded, it is usually from Gods displeasure, by which the Soul is left fluctuating, tossing, rouling and wasting it self in anxieties, clouds and perplexing doubts. I say not, that it's always from displeasure, because God hath other ends then he hath acquainted us withall; yet I say, usually it is so. But as a wise father full of bowels, if he be strange to his child, or take any relation of love, if it be clouded and darkened, it usually betokens all is not well, something is amiss. So I say, thou mayst justly suspect, and take occasion to make a search, what is the difference be­tween God and thee; and what is the cause of those clouds that are interposed between God and thy Soul. In Isai. 54.8. God tells us the spring of this evil, In a little wrath, for a moment I hid my face. [In a little wrath.] So that the suspending of comfort from our spirits, leaving the Souls of men dubious and anxious about this great matter, doth usually betoken displeasure, all is not well.